The Person of the Holy Spirit

(Billy Wilson:)  Welcome to World Impact. I'm Billy Wilson and today on World Impact you are going to be blessed.  Today we’re talking about the power and person of the Holy Spirit in the 21st century. In fact today we have a very special guest preacher. Robert Morris, the pastor of the great Gateway Church in Dallas, Texas, will be sharing a message on the Holy Spirit. Recently we had a conference at Regent University in Founders Inn in Virginia Beach, Virginia, called Converge 21. Actually the Converge conference was part of the Empowered 21 effort that our ministry is serving and facilitating around the world. Empowered 21 is a focus on the next generation, the power of the Holy Spirit and the 21st century. We are serving the entire Spirit-empowered movement from charismatic Catholics all the way to historic Pentecostals, uniting them together for a fresh outpouring of God in our generation. We believe that if we all work together as we head toward the 2000-year anniversary of the first day of Pentecost as recorded in Acts chapter 2, that we can see a fresh outpouring of God and see every person on this planet touched by the power and presence of the living God in our generation. Now in today’s sermon Pastor Robert is going to share a message about the person of the Holy Spirit. If God talks to you today and touches your heart, I want you to call us at 1-800-95-SHARE or go to our website, WorldImpact.tv. Stay with us now. We’re going to Virginia Beach, Virginia, to Founders Inn and listen to Pastor Robert Morris as he shares with us about the Holy Spirit.

(Announcer:)  Empowered 21, a network of Christian voices gathering together for one vision, that every person on earth would have an authentic encounter with Jesus Christ through the power and presence of the Holy Spirit by Pentecost 2033. This is a big vision. Right now, leaders, scholars, and next generation voices are making connections spanning the globe. These networks host intergenerational gatherings year round and large regional events each day of Pentecost, all in preparation for a 2015 global celebration in Jerusalem. But the vision isn’t just about hosting large events. It’s about empowering Christians to take the Gospel of Jesus Christ to every person on earth. To do that we need the power and the person of the Holy Spirit.

(Pastor Robert Morris:)  I did write a book on this subject, but that’s why not why I’m speaking on this at all, but I just like the title that we came up with for it and I want to call it “The God I Never Knew,” because I grew up in a church that did not talk about the Holy Spirit very much at all. As a matter of fact, much of the conversation that we had about the Holy Spirit was negative. It was to be cautious, to be careful about people who believe in the Holy Spirit and talk about the Holy Spirit. So I actually had prejudice toward the Holy Spirit that I didn’t even realize it, because of the way I was raised. And I want to say some things about the Holy Spirit and talk about Him, and I want to emphasize that word Him, because the Bible never calls Him an it. So I want to share some things with you about the Holy Spirit. John 14, 15, and 16, most of you know. You may have preached series on these. Most theologians believe this is the conversation Jesus had at the Last Supper. You know, the twelve disciples, Jesus, and Leonardo da Vinci over in the corner was painting. John 13, He washes their feet. John 17, possibly the prayer in the garden, probably the prayer in the garden. John 14, 15, and 16, His last meal. And He says to them, you know, "Don’t be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. I’m going away. I’m going to prepare a place for you. You can’t have a relationship with the Father right now, but I’ll go take care of that where you can’t Have a relationship with the Father." And much of the body of Christ, and again I know this is a shocking statement, much of the body of Christ has not said good-bye to Jesus, as far as the person of the Trinity that leads us and guides us and directs us and brings to our remembrance all things that Jesus said and empowers us and anoints us and calls us. That’s the Holy Spirit. And in old King James it translates this word Comforter. Do you remember that? Any of you remember that? The Comforter. Well, when I got saved that’s all I had. I memorized most of the Scripture. I memorized it in the first few years I got saved. I memorized old King James, you know, and so I memorized Scriptures about the Comforter. And I remember thinking, the Comforter, and I got this picture in my mind. And we had a comforter that I would have called a bedspread, you know, that like came over on the Ark. You know it was real thin. And so one time she said, our friends had the big, thick comforters and so she said, “Can I go buy a new comforter?” And I said,  “Yeah. That’d be great.” So she went a brought this comforter. And I came home from work. And she said, “Come. Come here. See it." And we went in there and there was this, the thing I remember was the thickness, not the color, thick. And I thought, wow, what a great comforter. I just can’t wait, you know, to get under that comforter tonight. So we ate dinner, watched a little TV or whatever, went in the bedroom to get ready for bed. And someone had stolen our new comforter and put the old comforter back on the bed. Now all of you ladies know what happened. The men actually think someone stole the comforter but obviously what happened was Debbie had taken the new comforter off the bed and put the old comforter back on. And I said, “Where’s the new comforter?" She said, “That comforter is not for use. It’s for looks.” Now I have since learned that many things in our home are not for use. They are for looks. We have towels that you can use that I can’t use. Here’s what she said. “That comforter is not for use but just for looks." How many believers, how many churches, how many pastors, have a comforter today that’s not for use but just for looks? I’m telling you, according to Jesus He’s for use.

(Craig:)  Hey my name’s Craig. I’m a local youth pastor in Cleveland, Tennessee. And here today I just want you to know about "This is That." It’s a book that I've just personally gotten to in the last few weeks. And I tell you this is a phenomenal resource as it relates to the person of the Holy Spirit. I tell you in reading this book one of the things I love so much about it as a pastor is they’ve done a phenomenal job of compiling together some great contributors. Really over the past a hundred years, the past century, some of the wisest and most sagacious, really, men and women of God who speak about the Person of the Holy Spirit. And this book will ignite a passion and fire in you, really a desire for an experience with the Holy Spirit. And it’s what I love so much about it. And you need to get "This is That," a great resource for you, your family, maybe those who are in ministry. You will not regret it whatsoever. Incredible resource for you and your library.

(Announcer:)  If you desire a real encounter with the Holy Spirit, the essays, reflections and journaling sections of "This is That" will help you explore Him beyond measure. Call 1-800-95-SHARE or go to WorldImpact.tv today.

(Billy Wilson:)  Our home ministry at the International Center for Spiritual Renewal is facilitating Empowered 21 around the world. It is our heart to help the next generation connect with the power of the Holy Spirit. So be sure to connect with the resources we’re offering today on this show. You can go to WorldImpact.tv. You can also leave your prayer request there. We’d love to minister to you in prayer as God ministers to your heart. Pastor Robert Morris is preaching on today’s show. He’s talking about the Holy Spirit being our Comforter, our Helper, and he’s going to focus today also on the person of the Holy Spirit and I know you’re going to be blessed. Pastor Robert in Gateway Church, along with hundreds of other churches around the world, are partnering with us on what we call the Pentecost Sunday Initiative. We are calling pastors around the globe to preach and teach on the Holy Spirit on Pentecost Sunday. Now I know the seems like a no-brainer that anyone would want to do that. And yet in many Pentecostal and charismatic churches we have missed this day that should have been a great celebration of the Holy Spirit in our congregation. I want you to go right now to our website at Empowered21.com and you can sign up to say I will join you on Pentecost Sunday from where I live in my part of the world to preach and teach on the Holy Spirit. You can count on me. There are resources there that will help you preach and teach on the Holy Spirit on Pentecost Sunday, some of them from Pastor Robert Morris. We’re going back into the message now, and I know you’re going to be blessed. Virginia Beach, Virginia, Converge 21 is part of Empowered 21 in a thrust to reach the next generation with the power of the Holy Spirit.

(Pastor Robert Morris:)  So I’ll tell you three things about the God I never knew growing up, okay? I have to put my thoughts in three points because it helps me to remember them, so and organize it. So here’s number one. He’s my Helper. He’s my Helper. Jesus said, now listen to this, “It’s better for you that I go away and that He come." Now what do you think about that? That’s hard to believe. "I tell you the truth. You’re not going to believe what I’m telling you." And one reason is simply geographical. That’s just one reason it’s better. If Jesus were still on the earth today, He could only be in one geographical place at one time. So that’s one reason. The Holy Spirit helps me. He helps me to know what to say. Have you ever had someone pouring out his heart to you, or her heart and you’re thinking to yourself, what do I say? That’s the Holy Spirit. He tells you what to say. He tells you what not to say. You know, you come home, hard day at work, Debbie’s had a hard day and you’re just about to say something and the Holy Spirit says, “I wouldn’t go there if I were you." 8 through 9, if you’re still in John 16, it tells us how He helps us. And I want to help us understand this cause I really saw these Scriptures wrong for years. Verse 8 says, “And when He has come, He will convict the world,” now notice the three categories, “of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.” And then He’s going to give each one and He’s going to tell us why He does that. Sin because they do not believe in me. Listen, the Holy Spirit is the one who shows us our need for Jesus. I grew up in church and did not get saved until I was nineteen years old in a motel room called Jake’s Motel. And I had never really thought I was lost until that motel room. So that’s the first thing is sin. Verse 10 says, "Of righteousness." It’s important, righteousness. Doesn’t say righteous living. Righteousness, because I go to my Father and you see me no more. In other words, I go to make it right. So He says of righteousness and then verse 11 says, “Of judgment because the ruler of this world is judged.” The way I used to hear those Scriptures is, the Holy Spirit’s job is to convict of sin, righteousness, and judgment. He’s what I used to hear. He’s going to convict you that you’re a sinner, and you’re no good, and you’re not living right, and God’s going to get you. That’s the way I interpreted that but that’s not the way it is. Here’s what it is. He’s going to convict you of your need for Jesus. Once you accept Jesus that you’re now made righteous in His sight and Satan has no more authority over you.

(Billy Wilson:)  I hope you’re enjoying today, as I am, the wonderful ministry of Pastor Robert Morris from Gateway Church in Dallas, Texas. Robert is teaching on the power of the Holy Spirit. Now we are calling pastors all around the world to join us through the Empowered 21 network, in preaching and teaching on the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost each year. Pentecost Sunday comes every year on the church calendar and we need to utilize it in a way to lift up the Holy Spirit so a new generation can experience Him. If you will preach and teach on the Holy Spirit on Pentecost Sunday this year I want you to go to our website, WorldImpact.tv, and sign up. Say Billy, we’re going to join you, and in our local church, wherever you are in the world we’re going to preach and teach on the Holy Spirit and invite a whole new generation to know Him. Stay with us during this program now and in just a few moments we’ll be going back to Robert Morris’s teaching and preaching Regent University in Virginia as we’re in the Converge 21 conference.

(Pastor Robert Morris:)  Here’s number two. He’s my friend and He’s not weird and He’s not spooky. You know Deuteronomy 13 talks about prophets and it says, “I don’t want anyone who does fortunes or omens or conjures up the dead or does spells.” Let me just put it in another word, one word. I don’t want anyone in my church that’s spooky. I don’t like spooky people. The Holy Spirit is not spooky and He is not weird. Now let me just, just to clarify cause I know you’re probably thinking of some things. Let me just say, people are weird. But please hear me. They would be weird without the Holy Spirit. They are weird people. That’s all there is to it. You do not have to be weird to believe in the Holy Spirit. You know we’re talking about trying to get every church in the world to celebrate Pentecost by 2033. That is phenomenal to me. I’m excited about that. When I heard that vision I bought into that vision. The word Pentecost though is not a scary word and we don’t have to make it a scary word. okay. Let me tell you how scary it is. Most of you know this. Pentecost. Here’s what it means. Listen how scary this is. Fifty. That’s scary isn’t it? Fifty. That is all it means. You can come up with everything you want. Pente means five. Coste in the Greek means to the tenth power. That is it. It means 50. Fifty days after Passover. Fifty days after Passover, God descended on Mount Sinai. There were loud noises. There was fire. Three thousand people died and God wrote His law on tablets of stone and in Acts chapter 2 when the day of Pentecost fully came there were loud noises. There was fire. Three thousand people got saved and God wrote His law on tablets of flesh. If 120 people got filled with the Holy Spirit and turned the world upside down what could 600 million do, or a billion or two billion? Turn the world upside down.

(Announcer:)  If you desire a real encounter with the Holy Spirit the essays, reflections, and journaling sections of "This is That" will help you explore Him beyond measure. Call 1-800-95-SHARE or go to WorldImpact.tv today.

(Amanda:)  My name's Amanda and I’m currently studying pastoral ministry. One thing I’ve noticed is as we’ve been studying, there have been a lot of talk on who God is and who the Son is. The Holy Spirit is often seen as an afterthought. We have to recognize that the Holy Spirit is God. "This is That" is an incredible resource to have. It has contributors from the last 100 years. Aimee Semple MacPherson, Frank Bartleman, E.M. Bounds, all the way up to Ron Luce and Mark Batterson. If you’re part of the older generation looking for sons and daughters to pour into, or if you’re part of the younger generation looking for a spiritual mother and father, this book really encourages intergenerational communication. I would encourage you to get "This is That" and use it as a resource to talk about what you have in common, to talk about what you’re hungering for in the power of the Holy Spirit. 

(Billy Wilson:)  In Acts chapter 2, people from around the world asked the question, “What is this?” Peter said, “This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel.” He led them to experience what they were seeing. Today you can experience the power of the Holy Spirit. Maybe if you watched this show you realize, you really don’t know this person called the Holy Spirit and you want to know Him more. You can call us right now, 1-800-95-SHARE or go to the website WorldImpact.tv. Tell us your story. Leave us your phone number. Someone from our ministry will call you back or connect with you and help lead you to the fullness of the power of the Holy Spirit. I want to be honest with you. Without the Holy Spirit I could not do what I do. I lean on Him. I rely on Him. He is my helper and my strength every day. He is the one that empowers me to do the work and the will of God. I’ve been all over this world and He has been with me every step of the way, and He wants to be with you. Call us right now. 1-800-95-SHARE or go to the website, WorldImpact.tv. The Holy Spirit wants to change your life forever. We’ve been enjoying the ministry of Pastor Robert Morris on this World Impact program today. Robert is preaching this message at a Converge 21 conference that happened recently at Regent University in Virginia Beach, Virginia. He’s talking about the person and power of the Holy Spirit. We’re going back to his message now and I believe God is going to touch your heart so open up and you can experience the Holy Spirit.

(Pastor Robert Morris:)  So here’s number three. He’s my God. He’s my helper. He’s my friend and He’s not weird, and He’s my God. Now, you know, I said at the first of the message it’s very important people see Him as a person so they will develop a personal relationship with Him. Well, every now and then, and I’m sure all of you have experienced this as well, I have ideas that would help God. And so a while back I had an idea that, I said, "God, this will help you. This will help you in your marketing. We’re pretty successful at marketing. This will help you. If you had given the Holy Spirit a different name, it would probably help people relate to Him more as a person." You know, the Holy Spirit, it’s just not personal. And I got to thinking about it and I thought, "You know, if You had given Him a name, let's say, like Bill, I think it will work out well because then the formal churches could call Him William and the wild churches could call Him Billy." Well, okay, so, and here’s what, I’m telling the Lord this, telling Him how I could help Him, and He said, "I did give Him a name. His name is God." God, see the Holy Spirit is His descriptive name but His name is God. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. His name is God. Let me just show you a few Scriptures that have the Trinity in one verse, okay, and some of them we read so I’m going to reread them to you. John 14 verse 16, “And I,” that’s Jesus, “will pray the Father and He will give you another Helper.” Father, Son and Holy Spirit all in the same verse. John 14:26, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit”, there’s the Holy Spirit, “whom the Father,” there’s the Father, “will send in my name,” Jesus. All three in the same verse. John 15:26, “But when the Helper comes, whom I,” Jesus, “shall send to you from the Father.” Luke 3:22, “And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him,” Jesus, “and a voice came from heaven which said you are my beloved Son and I am well pleased.” There’s all three in the same verse. Matthew 28:19, “Go therefore, make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.” We need a new recognition in the body of Christ that He’s God. He’s God. We need to worship Him as God. He is God. He is the third person of the Trinity. He is God. What He says goes. One that, well, if you want to see very clearly that He is God, Acts 5 verse 3, Peter said, “Ananias why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit”? Verse 4 says, “You have not lied to men but to God.”

(Billy Wilson:)  Our prayer is that the clarity of teaching today given to us by Pastor Robert Morris from Gateway Church will help clarify in your heart and mind the role of the Holy Spirit in your life. Now you may still have questions or you may just simply want to experience the fullness of God. If that’s true I want you to call me right now, 1-800-95-SHARE or go to our website WorldImpact.tv. At our website people are visiting us literally from around the world every day. They’re leaving their prayer requests, sharing their story and giving us their testimony. I want you to go there right now, WorldImpact.tv and tell us what you need the Holy Spirit to do in your life in the 21st century. We believe that the Holy Spirit as a person can lead us and guide us into all truth and into the fullness of God. God wants you to know Him. So please open your heart today and let this teaching of God’s Word seep way down inside. God will comfort you, He’ll help you, and more importantly He’ll guide your destiny by the power of the Holy Spirit if you’ll listen to His voice. If you want to know more about that call me at 1-800-95-SHARE or go to our website WorldImpact.tv. On this program today we’ve been listening to Pastor Robert Morris from Gateway Church in Dallas, Texas. Robert preached this message at a Converge 21 gathering which was sponsored by Empowered 21 USA at Regent University in Virginia Beach, Virginia. I hope you’ve enjoyed this message today and more importantly I hope you’ve opened your life in a fresh way to the Holy Spirit. Here at World Impact we are convinced that God wants to cover the earth with the knowledge of His glory in our generation. As we approach the day of Pentecost, or Pentecost Sunday 2033 we realize we are coming up on the 2000 year anniversary of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit as recorded in Acts chapter 2. What could happen if the people of God unite together hand in hand, heart in heart, all around this world to bring God’s presence to our generation in the 21st century? We believe that the knowledge of the glory of the Lord could cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. Because of that, we’ve asked people all over the world to help us with this cover the earth strategy. For $21 a month or $210 a month, you can join the team and say, Billy, I want to help cover the earth with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord until it’s covered like waters cover the sea. Go to the website, WorldImpact.tv. $21 a month or $210 a month to help us cover the earth. I’m Billy Wilson. Today on World Impact we’ve been talking about the Holy Spirit and sharing Jesus with the world.