The True Identity of the Holy Spirit

SPEAKER 02 : 0:01

Welcome to the In Touch Podcast with Charles Stanley for Monday, August 18th. Who is the Holy Spirit and what exactly does He do? If you don’t know how to answer those questions, then today’s podcast begins with an in-depth series that will help you understand the crucial work of the Holy Spirit of God.

SPEAKER 01 : 0:19

There is no subject in all the Bible around which there has been so much controversy, so much divisiveness, and so much confusion as the subject of the Holy Spirit. It has divided friends, families, and churches. There are those on the one hand who feel like it’s the only subject to talk about, the Holy Spirit and His gifts and what He’s doing and how to get His power and how to get Him. On the other hand, there are those folks who are totally ignorant of what the Holy Spirit is all about, who want no part of Him because of excesses on the part of others. Both sides are wrong. There is no way for a believer to live the Christian life happily, victoriously, nor to serve God in any fashion in a way that is pleasing to God apart from the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit in their life. The failure to understand who He is and what He does is a disaster in the church. In fact, one of the primary reasons there is so little power in the church is So little power in the life of believers is because of our ignorance of who He is, what He does, and how He operates in the life of the believer and the unbeliever alike. Now, a lot of people think about the Holy Spirit in terms of a power, of a force, something that is intangible. And oftentimes, you’ll hear the emphasis on getting the Holy Spirit or getting the power of the Holy Spirit as if the Spirit of God is something that we get in order to use for ourselves. And oftentimes, that is the conception that the Holy Spirit is something we get, that is the power of the Spirit is something we get in order to use for ourselves. That is never the implication of Scripture. There’s not one verse of Scripture in the Bible to imply that. He is not something. Now, one of the reasons I think probably some people have a little bit of that impression is in this second chapter, if you’ll notice in these verses we read, he talks about the Holy Spirit coming as a noise. like a violent rushing wind. It filled the whole place, he says, and then he speaks of it as tongues as of fire. So all of these things would lead some people to think in terms of the Holy Spirit as being a thing or something or a force or power, not a person. I can remember the first time someone ever confronted me with the fact that the Holy Spirit was a person. I’d been in seminary maybe a couple of weeks or so, somewhere thereabouts. And at the dinner table one night, most everybody there was a stranger. We were talking. Somehow we got off on that subject, I think because someone had spoken in chapel. And I said something about the Holy Spirit and referred to him as an it. One of the fellows across the table said to me, he said, Charles, why don’t you come by my room after dinner tonight? And I happen to know that he was a doctoral student. And so I said, well, fine. So I went in, and when I went in, I noticed that every inch of the wall space was covered with bookshelves full of books except the windows and the door. So I was very impressed. And so we talked a few moments, and he handed me a Greek Bible. I said, I’ve only been here a couple weeks, and I didn’t know but a few Greek words to my name. He said, that’s all right. So… He said, I noticed at the table tonight when we were talking about the Holy Spirit, you called him an it. I said, yeah. He said, he’s not an it. He said, and he understood my frustration about it. He said, here’s what I want us to do. I want us to go through the New Testament and I want you to find out who he really is. So he would turn to a passage and then he would translate the verse. And he took me through the New Testament for about an hour or so. And he said, the one thing I want you to remember is don’t ever call him an it anymore. And I want us to understand in this series many things about the Holy Spirit. But first of all, I want us to nail down the simple truth that he is a somebody. And the Bible says that he is. Now, let’s think about what does it take to make something a person? That is, what are the qualities of a person? John chapter 14 says, If you’ll notice in verse 16, he says, and I will ask the Father, Jesus doing the speaking, and he will give you another helper or another comforter. Now, that has to be, in other words, helping and comforting has to be the work of a person. He says that he may be with you forever. And then if you’ll turn over to chapter 14, verse 26, he says, but the helper, that is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send forever. In my name, he will teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance. So it is only a person who can teach us and remind us and bring things to our remembrance. And then the 16th chapter, look there for a moment, if you will. He says, it is expedient of you that I go away, but if I do not go, the helper, that is the Holy Spirit, shall not come. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment. And then, of course, there are many other verses that deal with the things that the Holy Spirit does, guiding and teaching and so forth. So the actions of the Holy Spirit cannot be the actions of anything. It has to be a person. And then if you recall in those verses how Jesus referred to him, when he, the Holy Spirit, comes, when the Father sends him, of whom I have spoken, all of these refer to the Holy Spirit as a person. So when somebody says to you, who is the Holy Spirit? The first thing you can say is the Holy Spirit is a person. He has knowledge, he has emotions, and he has a will. And his actions are the actions that can only be the actions of a person. Now, the Holy Spirit is not only a person, but the Holy Spirit is a part of the Trinity. I want you to go back, if you will, to Genesis chapter 1. He says, And let them rule over the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the cattle and over the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. Now, when He said, let us make man in our image, what in the world did He mean when He talked about making man in our image? Well, He’s certainly referring to God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. They are the Creator. Now, when He said, make man in our own image, what did He mean? Eyes, ears, hands, feet? No. The image of God… is the capacity to know. The image of God is the capacity to feel, to have emotion. The image of God is a mind that is able to will to make decisions. God is spirit and the Holy Spirit is the person who now lives within us He is not limited by a physical body. He who is God, who is a person of the Trinity, is now living within us. The Bible says that all of us who are saved by the grace of God are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. We have the Spirit of God indwelling us, and that is what identifies us and separates us from the rest of the world. You see, what separates you and me from the unbelievers is not the fact of our conduct. Some of those folks oftentimes act better than we do. It is not our benevolent spirit. Some of those folks are more benevolent than we are. What is it that makes the difference between us and the unbeliever? Look, if you will, in Romans chapter 8. Listen to what Paul says in this passage. Romans chapter 8. He says, beginning in verse 9. He says, However, you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. That is, unless the Spirit of God is indwelling a person, that person is not saved. And you see, the Bible says that the Holy Spirit is God’s seal of ownership and possession. The presence of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer is God’s contract with us that we are forever a child of God. So the Holy Spirit is a person and the Holy Spirit is a part of the Trinity. And thirdly, the Holy Spirit is the promise of the Father. And I want you to look at several scriptures and see how very important it was to Jesus that they understood that he was making them a promise. And that promise was coming at a certain time for a very specific reason. Now go back, if you will, to Luke chapter 24 and verse 48. You are my witnesses of these things, of the truths that I’ve taught you. And behold, I am sending forth the promise of my father. Jesus says, I’m about to leave you. I’m going to send you the promise of my father upon you, but you to stay in the city until you be clothed with power from on high. Now look at this. The last phrase of verse 49, power. The first part of verse 49, promise. And back to verse 48, witness. Now, I want you to listen carefully. Every single time, with no exception, the Spirit of God fills or is given to men for the primary purpose of serving God. The primary purpose of the coming of the Holy Spirit in our life is that you and I may serve God in the power of the Spirit, not to make me feel good, not to make me be able to rejoice, not to give me something somebody else does not have, not to make me feel anything superior, but in order that you and I may serve God out of the resource of the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit who indwells the believer. He says… And ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you. And the next phrase says, And ye shall be my witnesses. And he said in this passage, he said, You’re not ready to carry out the great commission. He’s the great commission is going to all the world, preach the gospel, every creature. You’re not ready. What do you mean? I’m not ready. I’ve watched you heal. I’ve watched you raise the dead. I’ve watched you do miraculous, marvelous things. Walk on water. You name it. I’ve seen, you know, he said, you’re not ready. You’re not ready until you be clothed with power from on high. That is the promise of the father, the promise of the coming of the Holy spirit. The spirit of God is referred to as the gift of the spirit. And so when you look at this passage of Scripture, what do you come up with? You come up with this. Very simple. The Holy Spirit of God is a person. The Holy Spirit of God is a person of the Trinity. The Holy Spirit of God is indwelling us. Listen to this. In fulfillment of a promise Jesus made 2,000 years ago to a group of men in an upper room, He says, My Father is going to send you the Holy Spirit. He is coming. He is coming. And the Bible says that when he ascended to the Father’s right hand, he sent him at Pentecost. And the Holy Spirit has been in this earth ever since, indwelling and sealing and working and teaching and guiding and gifting and equipping and empowering every single believer to live and to do the thing that God wants us to do. But there’s one thing else. And that is, not only is the Holy Spirit a person, not only is He a part of the Trinity, not only is He a promise to the Father, but the Holy Spirit is the power of the believer. Now, you should have already gotten that by now. I’ve been saying it time after time after time. He says, you’re not ready until you are clothed with power from on high. I want you to turn, if you will, to Ephesians chapter 1 for a moment. Listen to what Paul said about… Power. And all through his epistles, major emphasis on the Holy Spirit. In the book of Revelation, great emphasis on the Holy Spirit. All through the New Testament. All through the Old Testament, we see the work of the Spirit. But look, if you will, in chapter 1 of Ephesians and verse 18. Here’s Paul’s prayer. Listen to what he’s praying. I’m going to give you about four verses here. Look, 18. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened. He says, I want you to see something. So that you may know what is the hope of his calling. That is, God’s calling has given you a tremendous hope. What are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints? That is, the riches that God has in his inheritance in us. And then he says, I want you to also know what is the surpassing greatness. He says, indescribable. The surpassing greatness of his power toward us who believe. Or in us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might. And there are four words there. Power, working, strength, might. All four different words which speak of power. Then if you’ll turn to chapter 3. Let’s look at this passage for a moment. Look if you will in verse 7 of chapter 3. Paul’s talking about his call to the ministry. And he says in verse 7, He says it’s the power of the Holy Spirit within him. Look, if you will, in verse 16. that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner man. Paul knew that it was the Holy Spirit working within him. When he said, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, right. The Christ who received the Father’s right hand, living within him by the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, he knew that when he said that I can do all things as a result of the release of the Holy Spirit’s power within me. Look in verse 20. Now to him who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works within us. You know what he’s saying? He says, God is willing to do in and through you and me more than we could ever even dream of as a result of the working of the power of the Holy Spirit within us. Now, let me bring your mind back to something and then I want to ask you a very important question. And I want you to whisper a prayer in just a moment. God, help me to be honest. Listen, the Holy Spirit is a person. He is a part of the Trinity. The Holy Spirit was the promise and is the promise of the Father. And the Holy Spirit is the power of the believer. Now, the Holy Spirit works freely in the life that is pure and obedient to Him. So I want to ask you two questions. Number one, Do you really and truly want to reach the maximum of your potential as a child of God? I mean, do you really and truly want to become everything God planned you to be? If I ask you, more than likely, most of you would raise your hands and say, boy, I sure do. I don’t want to miss that. Then let me ask you another question. What sin… In your life, do you cherish? Do you grasp? Do you want? Do you desire? Do you intend to hold on to, even if it costs you, your greatest potential with God? What is it? Let’s put it this way. Are you willing to allow some sin in your life to cheat you out of God’s wonderful plan for you? Some of you are young people, single, you’ve never been married. You’re going to have it your way. Are you willing to lose God’s best choice for some sensual, sinful, selfish choice that you have? You see, everything in our life that we hold on to that is not of God, separates us to some degree from the work and the will and the purpose and the plan of God in our life. And it’s like water. You can reach under the speaker and grab it. What have you got? Nothing. And there’s so many people who are so deceived who think, I can’t afford to give all this up to be obedient to God. What do you have? Well, it looks like you have a lot. But if you see it from God’s perspective, it’s like holding your hand in the water faucet and closing it real quickly, taking it out and opening it up. You may have a damp hand, but you don’t have anything else. The power of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer equips us, empowers us to achieve, to do, to be, to accomplish. what is absolutely impossible any other way. And you see, not a single one of us know what our potential is, not a one of us. And here’s what I’m asking you. What is that sin in your life that you keep confessing but will not give up? What is that sin in your life that you keep telling God about, but you absolutely will not relinquish? What is that sin in your life that you confess everything, but over here, deep down inside, you’ve got a little hidden spot where you want God to just keep his nose out of that business? What have you continued to rationalize in your life? Well, nobody’s perfect and everybody has their weakness and everybody does something. That’s the devil’s snare. Trap. It is the devil’s deception to keep you from being the man and woman God wants you to be. Listen to me. There isn’t anything in the world worth losing the power of God in your life over. Nothing. Nothing is worth losing that over. So I want to ask you to be real quiet for just a moment. And I want you to ask yourself this question. Father, Is there anything in my life that I’m willing to risk holding on to to miss your best? A wise man or woman, listen, a wise man or woman will never sacrifice God’s best for something that is deceptive, that promises what it cannot fulfill, and that only gives momentary pleasure. Wise men and women won’t do it. May God grant you the wisdom to let the Holy Spirit clean up your life in order to fill you with His big purpose.

SPEAKER 02 : 19:31

Thank you for listening to The Holy Spirit, His True Identity. If you’d like to know more about Charles Stanley or InTouch Ministries, stop by InTouch.org. This podcast is a presentation of InTouch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.