Who Is He?

Pastor Robert begins The God I Never Knew series with a message titled, “Who Is He?” where he teaches us about the character of the Holy Spirit.

they had thousands saved in the day

healed the sick cast demons out of

people raised the dead

and turned the world upside down that’s

what was said about him these who

have turned the world upside down and

come to our city too now

[Music]

i’m talking about the holy spirit and i

want you to know a little bit about who

he is now in um we’re going to read in

john 14 15 and 16.

uh this is a conversation that takes

place most theologians believe in the

last 12 hours some would say 15 14 to 15

of jesus’s life

uh chapter 14 he’s in

uh the uh he’s in the of the room the

upper room we would say even though it’s

not the one at pentecost an upper room

and a home at the last supper talking to

his disciples

at the end of 14 verse 31 he says arise

let us go from here so they start going

to the mount of olives most people

believe again most theologians believe

that chapter 15 he starts it when he

enters the garden because he stops maybe

beside an olive tree he starts with i am

the vine you’re the branches you’ve read

that john 15. so john 14 15 and 16

are the last things that he says to his

disciples before he’s crucified

and the the main context of what he says

is

i’m going away

don’t be troubled though

because i’m going to send someone else

and he’s introducing them

to the holy spirit so john 14 look at

verses 16 and 17.

he says and i will pray

the father now that might not jump out

at you but he jumps out of me because i

would think he would say and i will pray

to

the father but just to give you a little

background this word this is not the

normal greek word for pray this is a

word that simply means ask most of the

time it’s translated ask so when you

read it that way it makes more sense he

says and i will ask

the father

and he will give you another

helper notice the word helper we’ll see

it four times

that he may abide with you forever the

spirit of truth whom the world cannot

receive because it neither sees him nor

knows him i’m underlining these words he

and him for a reason i’ll tell you in a

moment but you know him for he dwells

with you and will be in you now here’s

the reason i underlined the words he and

him

the bible never ever refers to the holy

spirit as it

never because he

is not an it

he is a person and if you don’t see him

as a person

then you won’t develop a personal

relationship with him you develop

personal relationships with

people with persons and so it’s very

important to understand he is the third

person

of the trinity all right now look down

at verses 25 and 26 of john 14

these things i’ve spoken to you

while being present with you

but the helper second time he uses that

word the holy spirit whom the father

will send in my name he

will teach you all things that’s

incredible

and bring to your remembrance all things

that i said to you then look at chapter

15 verse 26

but when the helper third time we’ve

seen that word comes whom i shall send

you from the father the spirit of truth

who proceeds from the father

he

will testify of me

and then look at chapter 16 john 16

verse 7 nevertheless i tell you the

truth in other words it’s going to be

hard for you to believe what i’m about

to tell you

it is to your advantage that i go away

for if i do not go away the helper

fourth time we’ve seen the word will not

come to you but if i depart i will send

him

to you now we’re going to read verses 8

through 11 in a moment later in the

message but look down at verse 12 now of

chapter 16.

i still have many things to say to you

now i want you to think about what

you’re reading the bible right now

jesus said i still have many things to

say to you watch

but

you cannot bear them now however

when he

the spirit of truth has come he will

guide you into all truth for he will not

speak on his own authority but whatever

he

hears he

will

speak now that settles all argument

about whether the holy spirit speaks

because jesus said he will speak

and he will tell you things

to come

so he’s going to talk to us okay this

word helper

that we saw four times it’s only in the

bible five we just read four of them uh

it comes from a greek word para platos

i’m saying it to emphasize both parts of

the the the word that makes up the word

all right paracletos

um

you’ve heard people say pericle that’s

an english pronunciation of it but para

clatos is the greek word para means

alongside

klatos means to come

to come alongside in other words jesus

said i’m going to send you someone who’s

going to come alongside you and he’s

going to help you so this word can be

translated helper it can be translated

consoler intercessor i’m going to send

you another consoler i’m going to send

you another intercessor i’m going to

send you another advocate it’s

translated first john is advocate okay

but the old king james which many of us

grew up on that translates it as

something that you might remember it

translates this word as

comforter

i’m going to send you a comforter

now i remember when i thought about that

all of us probably have something in our

homes

that’s called a comforter

right when they and i first got married

we lived in a trailer and and all of our

bedding and all our dishes they were all

handed down so we had really a bed

spread we didn’t have a comforter we had

a bedspread we went over someone’s house

they were showing us around they had

this thick

comforter and debbie said to me that

night she said you know i really want to

buy a comforter and i said hey that’s

great i thought that thing was beautiful

you know so she bought a comforter i

went to work i was working for my

father’s company in the survey land

surveying division i was a surveyor i

wasn’t even saved at the time uh we’d

been married a few months

and so i came home that night she said

come see the new comforter went in saw

the new comforter wow it’s great uh then

we ate some dinner watched some tv then

we go in to go to bed

and when i walked in you’re not going to

believe what happened

someone had stolen our new

comforter and put the old bed spread

back on the bed

i don’t where where’s our new comforter

and debbie went like this to me and i

don’t know why you women do this but she

goes

[Laughter]

she said robert

that comforter is not for use

it’s for looks

i i have since discovered we have many

things in our home

that are not for use

they’re for looks

we have towels that you can use that i

can’t use

[Applause]

those are the guest towels don’t touch

the guest towels robert

okay

but go back now to her state her

original statement about the comforter

when we were first married here’s what

she said that comforter

is not for use

it’s for looks

how many believers

have a comforter

that’s not

for use

but just for

looks hear me the holy spirit

is not for looks

he’s for use

he wants to empower us and to enable us

to live this life so let me tell you

three things about who he is all right

here’s number one he’s my helper

he helps me he helps me to know what to

say

sometimes someone will ask you to pray

you’ve had this happen and you will pray

and a scripture will come to your mind

and you’ll pray that scripture and at

the end they’ll say to you

i can’t believe you said that scripture

i read that scripture this morning

i can’t believe you say it and of course

i say well i’m a great person

no

i say well that it was the holy spirit

how else could i say the same scripture

that you just read how could i say that

without the holy spirit

so he helps me to know what to say

sometimes he helps me to know what to

say not to say sometimes

you come home and your spouse has had a

long day and and uh you start to say

something and the holy spirit says i

wouldn’t go there if i were you

so he helps us but i want to show you

john 16 three

ways specifically that he helps us and

again i want to use this as an analogy

of how we have misunderstood the holy

spirit and how he’s gotten a bad

rap in the church so john 16

uh

look at verse eight

and when he has come

he will convict the world of sin

and of righteousness

and a judgment

so he’s going to convict the whole world

of three things

sin

righteousness and judgment now

again we’ve seen these negatively but

they’re not negatively the next three

verses explain each one and it has the

word because

and because helps us to understand so

look at verse 9 of sin

because they do not believe in me okay

let me tell you why god convicts you

while the holy spirit convicts you of

sin

because if you don’t understand and un

believe that you’re a sinner you’ll

never believe you need a savior

see you can’t get saved until you know

you need a savior

so the holy spirit convicts us

of sin i got saved in a motel room most

of you have heard that i got saved in

jake’s motel i was not in church

when i got saved i’m sorry by the way

you don’t and you don’t have to be

in church to be saved you know that

don’t you you know you don’t have to die

in a funeral home it’s convenient but it

probably won’t happen

but i wasn’t in church when i got saved

i was in a motel room let me tell you

what i remember most about that motel

room the conviction

if you’ve been saved

you know what i’m talking about

you felt so

convicted

that’s the holy spirit as a matter of

fact first corinthians 12 3 says no one

can say that jesus is lord except

by the holy spirit it’s the holy

spirit’s job to lead us to jesus so

that’s why see this is not negative he’s

going to convict the world of sin

because they don’t believe in jesus so

that we’ll believe in jesus all right

here’s the next thing he does verse 10

of righteousness because i go to my

father and we’ll see you no more and not

talk to you anymore i’m going to my

father okay so you’re not going to see

me you know why because i’m going to be

at the right hand of the father

i’m going to be making intercession for

you i’m going to be bringing the two

together you can’t have a relationship

with a holy god because you’re sinful

i’m going to take care of your sin from

now on you and the father can talk and

have a relationship so i’ll be at the

father righteousness he said i’m going

to convict them of righteousness not

righteous living

now the holy spirit does convict us of

righteous living we i believe we should

live righteously but that’s not what

this is talking about righteousness

righteousness means right standing with

god

he wants now let me give you another

word by the way uh for convict that

maybe you can remember

convince

when you’re convicted you’re convinced

if you have a conviction you’re

convinced in that area that you should

live a certain way okay he wants to

convince you

that because you have believed in jesus

you are now in right standing with god

think about that that’s a pretty good

conviction to have so he convicts us of

sin so that we’ll believe once we

believe he convicts us now we’re in

right standing with god and then look at

verse 11 of judgment because the ruler

of this world is judged

the ruler of this world is judged and at

this point the ruler of the world was

satan at that point

and let me show you why we know that

john 12 31 now is the judgment of this

world now the ruler of this world will

be cast out

and then john 14 30. i will no longer

talk much with you for the ruler of this

world is coming and he

has nothing

in me

so he’s talking about satan he’s telling

him listen satan is about to be

dethroned

i’m going to take away his authority

i’m going to uh strip him and make a

public show of him and take away all of

the authority he is and i’m going to

take dominion back so

let me tell you how we’ve misunderstood

what the holy spirit does this is the

way many people have understood this you

know the holy spirit comes to convict

you of sin righteousness and judgment

this is the way we’ve understood he come

to see he’s coming to convict you that

you’re a sinner that you’re not living

right and god’s going to get you

you’re a sinner you’re not living right

god’s going to get you no that’s not it

he’s coming to convict you of your need

for a savior and once you accept that

savior he convicts you that you are now

in right standing with god and now that

you’re in right standing with god he

also convicts you that satan has had all

of his authority taken away and has no

more authority over you that’s what he

wants to convict you about

that’s what he wants to convict you

about

so

he’s

my

um he’s my helper he helps me here’s

number two

he’s my friend

and he’s not weird

he’s not weird

i know this because he’s my friend

now here’s the problem we’ve seen people

who talk about the holy spirit

and they’re weird

right

can i tell you something they would be

weird without the holy spirit

they’re they are just weird people

you know there’s a poll out that show

one in three people are weird

that’s true one and three are weird okay

i want you to do something look to the

person on your left

just look personally that now look to

the person on your right

okay now if neither one of them look

weird

[Applause]

i’m sorry that’s

that’s actually not true it’s not it’s

not as there’s no

it’s not one in three it’s it’s one and

two all right here’s the point okay

many many people see weird people

and they think

the holy spirit must be weird

if you don’t hear anything else today’s

message hear this you can be a normal

person

and believe in the person and the power

of the holy spirit

you don’t have to be weird you don’t

have to be goofy

and again i’m not trying to make fun of

a conviction that a group of people have

i’m just trying to say satan twisted

and he says to the rest of us

if you believe in the holy spirit

this

please hear me

you can be normal and believe in the

holy spirit who who you think

made us afraid

of the holy spirit

satan

i mean because when the first church

received the holy spirit

they had thousands saved in the day

healed the sick cast demons out of

people raised the dead

and turned the world upside down

that’s what was said about him these who

have turned the world upside down and

come to our city too now

the power of the holy spirit the power

of the spirit so when the power of the

holy spirit the revelation the

understanding of the holy spirit was

returned to the church

mainly around the 20th century the turn

of the 20th century

late 1900s early 20 2000 when the holy

spirit was really when people began to

understand i think satan said

i’ve got to mess this up

so he created all this controversy

he put the focus on one gift

and he got people afraid of the holy

spirit

he’s done a good job

we even say things and i’m again i’m not

trying to put down those that use this

language but we use the word evidence

i’d rather use the word benefits

here’s the reason

first of all i don’t think you should

put the focus on one gift

although that gift is valid it has not

passed away if you’ve heard that

nothing has passed away

uh heaven and earth will pass away

before one word of this book will pass

away

but here are some evidences or benefits

of the holy spirit one is power you

shall receive power when the holy spirit

comes upon you power to witness by the

way specifically power to witness

another one is love

first corinthians 13 talks about love

12 and 14 talk about the gifts and in 13

paul says if you don’t have love i don’t

care how many gifts you have

you need to have love

fruit is the benefit of the spirit the

fruit of the spirit and then gifts and

that’s all the gifts not just one

power love fruit and gifts

so

here’s number three

he’s my god

he’s my god

now

i just want to show you

how some of us have been taught

negatively about the holy spirit

um when i say he’s my god

if i said the father is my god

and you don’t have any problem with that

or if i said jesus is my god and you

don’t have a problem with that but if i

say the holy spirit and you have a

problem with it

something’s wrong

because he’s part of the trinity

there are many many verses that that

talk about the trinity just in the ones

we just read

let me show you the father son and holy

spirit in one verse one verse

uh john 14 verse 16

and i that’s jesus

will pray the father and he will give

you another helper there’s jesus father

and holy spirit same verse

john 14 26 but the helper the holy

spirit

whom the father will send in my name

holy spirit father jesus same verse

john 15 26 but when the helper comes

that’s the holy spirit whom i jesus

shall send you from the father and then

here’s one where the father son and holy

spirit are actually all in the same

place at the same time

and many of us have never connected it

it’s when jesus was baptized

in luke 3 22 and the holy spirit

descended in bodily form

like a dove upon him that’s jesus and a

voice came from heaven which said you’re

my beloved son in you i’m well pleased

the father son and holy spirit

defer to one another

the father glorifies and magnifies the

son

the son only does what the father says

the son tells you that the holy spirit

is coming when he’s coming the holy

spirit leads you to jesus

if we could listen in on a conversation

between the father the son and the holy

spirit it would sound something like

this you know you’re wonderful no you’re

wonderful no you’re wonderful no you’re

wonderful no you’re wonderful

god

here are two verses that outright prove

that the holy spirit’s god

acts chapter 5 verse 3

peter said ananias why has satan filled

your heart to lie

to the holy spirit and then verse 4 says

you’ve not lied to men

but to god

you lied to the holy spirit

so you lied to god

uh i read something years and years ago

in a commentary

i wrote it down and then i kind of

rewrote it uh because it was old english

and it was hard to understand so i can’t

this is not something i wrote but it’s

something that i

changed a little bit that that a

commentator wrote right

but all of these sentences have a

scripture to back them up and

many of these sentences have multiple

scriptures to back them up so let me

read you about the holy spirit

the holy spirit intercedes through us on

earth

the holy spirit calls and qualifies

ministers for their work

it is the holy spirit who makes them

overseers over the flock

he hears

speaks

teaches and guides us into all truth

he glorifies christ receives from christ

shows us christ and brings all of

christ’s words to our remembrance it is

better for us that jesus left so he

could come he shows us things to come

knows the deep things of god searches

all things and reveals all things where

he is there is liberty the writers of

the bible spoke as they were moved by

him we are warned not to grieve him or

quench him the sin against him is

unpardonable because sin against him is

against the only one who can reveal the

son to us unless a man is born of the

spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of

god we are convicted by him born again

by him led by him filled with him and

sealed by him

is that good

that’s the holy spirit

so let me tell you one more thing i was

i was ministering in a church one time

years ago

and it’s back when uh

ministers would sit on the platform and

so i was seated on the platform it was

another church that i was visiting to

speak

and during worship um i saw this lady in

the congregation and the holy spirit

spoke a word to my heart

so when i got up to speak

i said to her mom would you stand up uh

the holy spirit’s giving me a word for

you

she stood up

and i said to her during worship i saw

you and the holy spirit said to me

robert do you know her past

and when i said that she literally put

her head down

i think in shame obviously but you have

to understand that’s not where the holy

spirit left it

so i said to her i said the holy spirit

said to me robert

do you know her past

and i said no lord i don’t

and he said

neither do i

and i said to her now mom i know god’s

omniscient i know that i know he knows

everything

but the bible says that he has chosen

to remember our sins no more

and god wanted me to tell you since he’s

chosen

not to bring it up again why don’t you

start choosing not to bring it up

anymore

and she got this big smile on her face

see the person who told me to say that

is not a weird person

he’s a wonderful person

and he wants to get to know you better

the holy spirit is our helper

our friend

and our god

i’m so grateful that you watch and i’m

so grateful that

you are hungry to know god and to know

the holy spirit i want to encourage you

to do something and that is to get the

entire series the god i never knew

the reason is that many many times

we watch a program and we hear something

and god starts something in us but we

don’t allow that to grow or to be

finished in us

and as i said i grew up thinking that

the holy spirit was weird or someone to

be afraid of but he’s not he’s a

wonderful person and i know that you

want to know him better so i want to

encourage you to get the entire series

this was our first message in this

series and i’ll be back again sharing

six messages in this series on the god i

never knew i love you so much i’ll see

you next time