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Well, for a few minutes, you and I are going

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to have a good heart -to -heart talk about a

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person who is most important. Some time ago,

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a representative of a ministerial association

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asked me to speak at their ministerial meeting.

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I smiled and I said, oh, sir. Those men are so

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much more intellectual than I am. What in the

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world would they like for me to speak about?

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And immediately the representative turned without

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hesitation and said, they have asked me to ask

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you to tell them the secret of your ministry.

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I said, go back. Tell those gentlemen that I

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can give them that answer in just one word. The

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Holy Spirit. The secret of this ministry, the

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secret of the power in this ministry, the secret

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of the hundreds of lives that have been transformed

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by the power of God, the secret... of the power

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in the healing of sick bodies in this ministry

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can be attributed to the third person of the

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Trinity, the Holy Spirit. You want to know something?

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Theoretically, thousands of professing Christians

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worship the Holy Spirit every time they sing

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the doxology. Every Lord's Day morning, literally

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hundreds and thousands of good, honest Christians

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stand in their churches. And as they sing the

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doxology, praise God from whom all blessings

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flow. Praise him, all creatures here below. Praise

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him above, ye heavenly hosts. Praise Father.

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Son, and Holy Ghost. Theoretically, they worship

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the Holy Spirit every time they sing those words.

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And yet, few believe in Him as a person. It's

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one thing to sing words, and quite another thing

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to realize the meaning of what we say. are what

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we see. I can prove to you from the Word of God

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that the Holy Spirit is a person, as definitely

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a person as Jesus Christ, the Son, is a person,

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as definitely a person as God Himself is a person.

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And remember, the doctrine of the personality

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of the Holy Spirit, is of the highest importance

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from the standpoint of worship. If the Holy Spirit

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is a person, and a divine person, and He is,

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and if you and I do not know Him as such, if

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we think of the Holy Spirit merely as an impersonal

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influence or power, as so many do, then we are

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robbing a divine person of the worship. which

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is His. We're robbing a divine person of the

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love which is due Him and of the faith and confidence

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and surrender and obedience and worship which

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are His. It is most important that we realize

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that the Holy Ghost is a definite person with

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a definite personality. Pause with me just a

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few moments as I give you proof of the personality

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of the Holy Spirit. All the distinctive marks

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or characteristics of personality are ascribed

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to the Holy Spirit in the Word of God. What are

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the distinctive marks or characteristics of personality?

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What are they? Knowledge, feeling, and will.

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Any being who knows and feels and wills is a

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person. Oftentimes when you say the Holy Spirit

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is a person, people understand you to mean that

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the Holy Spirit has hands and feet and fingers

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and toes and eyes and ears and mouth and so on.

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No, not at all. These are not the marks of personalities.

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Know that. The marks of personality are knowledge,

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feeling, and will. And any being who knows, any

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being who thinks, feels, and wills is a person,

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whether he has a body or not. You and I, if our

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earthly life ends before the Lord's return, will

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cease to have bodies for the time being. For

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the word of God says, to be absent from the body

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is to be present with the Lord. We shall not

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cease to be persons. We will be persons still,

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even though we have no body. I will be me forever

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and ever. You will be you forever and ever and

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ever. If in this moment my whole heart should

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stop its beating, and word would go forth that

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death had come to Catherine Cooman, I would not

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cease to exist, even after they have placed my

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body in the grave, and that body begins to deteriorate.

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It does not mean that I have ceased to exist.

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For the very moment that my heart would take

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its last beat, my personality, that which will

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be me forever, my spirit and my soul would go

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to be in the presence of Almighty God. I would

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continue to be a personality. In exactly the

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same way, beloved, we take the body, the person

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of Jesus. Consider something that is most important.

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Before death came to the Son of the Living God,

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in that split second, he dismissed his own spirit.

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All on earth that was placed in that tomb was

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the... body the personality of jesus the son

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of living god was never placed in that tomb for

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he dismissed his own spirit before death came

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to the body no tomb ever held the personality

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of the son of living god before death ever came

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to that physical body, before they ever took

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that body off the cross, Jesus, the person, the

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personality of Jesus, had gone to paradise to

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give deliverance to the prisoners of hope. It's

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there. It's recorded in the third chapter of

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1 Peter, the 18th verse. For Christ... also hath

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once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust,

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that he might bring us to God, being put to death

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in the flesh. And it's that flesh that they put

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in the tomb, but quickened by the Spirit, by

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which also he went and preached unto the spirits

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in prison. To whom? Does this scripture refer,

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when it says, to the spirits in prison? Why,

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bless your hearts. The spirits of the Old Testament

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saints, the Old Testament prophets, Abraham,

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Isaac, Jeremiah, those Old Testament saints,

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who had confidence in Almighty God, who waited

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for the crucifixion of the Son of the Living

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God, that the law might be justified, that the

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penalty might be paid in full by the shedding

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of the blood of the Son of the Living God. Their

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bodies, the bodies of the Old Testament saints,

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were lying in graves or in tombs someplace out

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there yonder on the hillside. But their personalities

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were in... paradise, waiting for that moment

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of deliverance. It was not the body of Jesus

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that went to paradise. It was his personality.

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Know that. In exactly the same way, beloved,

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the Holy Spirit is a person with a very definite

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personality. And he is now... in this earth,

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willing to do everything for you and for me that

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Jesus would do, were He here in person. I pray

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that this shall be made very real to your heart.

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Turn in your Bibles, please, to 1 Corinthians,

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the second chapter, the 11th verse. For what

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man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit

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of man which is in him? Even so the things of

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God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Here

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knowledge is ascribed to the Holy Spirit. Influence

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does not have knowledge. A person has knowledge.

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And here knowledge is ascribed to the Holy Spirit.

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Now turn to 1 Corinthians. The twelfth chapter.

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But all these things worketh the one and the

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same Spirit, dividing to each one severally,

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even as He will. The thought is that the Holy

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Spirit is not merely a divine power that we get

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hold of and use according to our will, but that

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the Holy Spirit is a divine person who gets hold

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of us and uses us according to His will. And

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this is one of the most fundamental truths in

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regard to the Holy Spirit. And we must ever bear

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it in mind if we are to come into right relationship

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with Him and continue in right relations with

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Him. Countless earnest -minded Christians are

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going astray at this point. They're trying to

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get hold of some divine power which they can

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use according to their will. I... Thank God for

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the day when I learned that the Holy Spirit is

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not a power, a person that I can use. The Holy

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Spirit is a person that uses the individual.

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There is a divine person. who can get hold of

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me and use me according to his wise and loving

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will. Now then, turn to the 8th chapter of Romans,

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the 27th verse. And he that searcheth the hearts

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knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because

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he maketh intercession for the saints according

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to the will of God. What I wish you to note here

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is the expression, the mind of the spirit. An

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influence does not have a mind. Only a person,

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a personality, has a mind. Now we turn to a most

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remarkable passage in the 15th chapter of Romans.

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I read it to you. Now I beseech you, brethren.

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For the Lord Jesus Christ's sake and for the

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love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with

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me in your prayers to God for me. Oh, what I

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wish you to notice here, all these five words,

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the love of the Spirit. It's a wonderful truth.

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It teaches that the Holy Spirit is not a mere

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blind influence or power. He is a divine person

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loving us with a tenderest love. I wonder how

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many of us have ever thought much regarding the

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love of the Spirit. I wonder how many of us ministers

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have ever preached a sermon on the love of the

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Spirit. I wonder how many of you ever heard a

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sermon on the love of the Spirit. And yet this

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portion of the Word of God teaches definitely.

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that the Holy Spirit loves. To sum it all up,

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the Holy Spirit is a person. Theoretically, we

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probably all believe that He is an influence,

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that He is a great power. but how many of us

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treat him as a person? Do you really regard the

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Holy Spirit as a person, as much of a person

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as Jesus Christ, just as loving, just as wise,

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just as tender, just as strong, just as faithful,

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just as worthy of your confidence in your love

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and surrender as he? It will be the greatest

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day of your life when you realize that the Holy

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Ghost is a person and the secret of the success

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of this ministry is found in and through the

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person of the Holy Ghost, the mighty third person

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of the Trinity. Amen.