We've been having some good heart -to -heart
talks regarding the person and the personality
of the Holy Spirit. And I'm going to continue
exactly where I left off. And you know by now
that you're to have your Bibles out so that you
can follow me in every scripture that I give.
Because it is most important that I can back
up every statement that I make with the Word
of God. And it's just like that. The Word of
God, the Bible, is the final authority. I would
not dare give you my ideas. I wouldn't ask you
to. When I inject something that is my own idea,
I feel perfectly free to say to you now, you
don't have to accept it. Now, this is the way
I see it. But you do not have to accept it because
it's my idea. But neither one of us dare deviate
one iota from the Word of God. His Word is truth,
and there is no greater authority. Well, yesterday
we were talking about the Holy Spirit in the
Old Testament. And wasn't that sort of when you
saw the Holy Spirit in creation? You never dreamed,
did you, that the Holy Spirit had such an important
part in creation. But he did. He had an important
part in not only the creation of the earth, but
in the creation of man. We should have seen that
a long time ago. Because God said, let us make
man in our image and after our likeness. To whom
was he referring when he said, let us? He was
speaking with Jesus, with the Holy Spirit. Then
we saw the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament was
not universal in the way that he is universal
today. He came upon a very few selected individuals.
He came upon them for a very special purpose.
He came upon them to give them special privileges.
to empower their hands with skill and that to
me is very revealing extremely revealing to think
that the holy spirit came upon certain individuals
to empower their hands with skill or to open
their tongues to speak or to give them ability
to lead When you realize that he came upon Moses
and upon the 70 who assisted Moses to give them
ability to guide the nation Israel. But remember,
all of these experiences were a sovereign act
of God. The Holy Spirit in the Old Testament
was not... In each instance, it was a sovereign
act of God. Neither Moses, nor Joseph, nor Samson,
nor Gideon was indwelt because of some special
thing within the man. Or that they could demand
this special power because of some promise that
was universal. No. They did not do something
to get the Holy Spirit's presence. God gave them
that gift sovereignly. They had nothing to do
with it. Nor could they get it by asking for
it. There was no promise that they could claim
and say, now this is your promise. You promised
it unto me. No. God chose them and made them
his instruments. And the first important distinction
to observe then is that the Holy Spirit's indwelling
in the Old Testament was not universal for all
believers. But today it is. That's what makes
it so wonderful. That is why those words that
Peter spoke after his wonderful experience on
the day of Pentecost are so important. I'm going
to give you something that is vitally important
to every Christian listening to me this very
moment. It's directed to you if you have been
born again. If you are living this side of Pentecost,
then this promise is yours. And if you have not
received the promise, then you are missing one
of the greatest experiences possible to a Christian.
I repeat, if you are born again, whether you're
Catholic, whether you're Protestant, whether
you're Jew, whether you're Gentile, Your church
membership, your race has nothing to do with
it whatsoever. This is all inclusive. And if
you are living on this side of Pentecost, for
remember the Holy Spirit came on the day of Pentecost,
and as surely as the 120 were filled as they
carried and waited for him in the upper room,
This same experience is for you today. That's
the reason that Peter's words in the second chapter
of Acts, the 38th verse, are so vitally important.
Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized,
every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ.
For the remission of your sins. He's talking
about regeneration. He's talking about the new
birth experience. The first thing is repentance.
Regeneration. Repent. Be baptized. He's talking
about immersion. Every one of you in the name
of Jesus Christ. For the remission of your sins.
For the forgiveness of your sins. and ye shall
receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. This same
person that we're talking about. The same Holy
Spirit who came upon a very few select individuals
in the Old Testament. But now this wonderful
gift is universal. It is not just a sovereign
act. of God. Don't stop there because I can prove
what I'm saying. For the promise. What promise?
The promise of the Holy Spirit. The promise of
a life of power. This promise that only a few
enjoyed during the Old Testament dispensation.
For the promise is unto you. That's to those
to whom He was speaking to your children. There
goes your next generation. But he didn't stop
there. Knowing human nature as he did. And remember,
it was the Holy Spirit who was speaking. He was
using the vessel of Peter. He was using Peter
as the mouthpiece. But it was really the Holy
Spirit who was speaking. Don't stop there. And
to all that are afar off. And he didn't even
stop there. He knew human nature. Keep right
on going. Even as many as the Lord our God shall
call. That's right up to this very moment. And
if you have been called to be born again, if
you've been called to be a Christian, if you
have been called to... regeneration, the new
birth experience, if you are this very moment
born again, then this is a part of your inheritance.
You have a right to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
That's the reason anyone who says, that to be
filled with the Holy Spirit is not for the believer
today does not know the word of God. That one
who says that only those on the day of Pentecost
were to receive this wonderful experience do
not know God's word. Nothing could be plainer.
Nothing. What more could he have said? For the
promise, what promise? That ye shall receive
the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise,
this promise of the gift of the Holy Ghost is
unto you and to your children and to all that
are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God
shall call. Doesn't that do something to you?
You say, oh, Miss Coon, all this time I've been
just... Living on the surface, I've been eating
cheese and crackers. When there's all of this
wonderful roast beef and all this wonderful steak
and lobster and mashed potatoes and gravy. And
here I am just eking out a bare existence. Oh,
my goodness. I know. What more can I do to tell
you? But you would be amazed how the thousands
whose eyes are being opened, and very quickly,
and not only just here in the United States,
but around the world, thousands of eyes are being
opened to this glorious truth. And thousands
are going after and claiming that which is their
inheritance. And which was promised to them by
Jesus himself before he went away. Oh, I get
so excited. This is strictly. That's the reason
I say to you, let's get back to the word of God.
This generation, we seem to know about everything
else under the sun. We seem to be reading everything
else. Our mailboxes are filled with literature.
We stand the daily papers and even read the obituaries
and the want ads and the for sale ads and just
for something to read. Why not get back to the
word of God? You know, coming back again to the
person and the personality of the Holy Spirit.
For he is a person. Always whenever Jesus referred
to him. Always whenever he is spoken of. There's
always the use of the personal pronoun. He. The
Holy Spirit is a definite person. with a definite
personality. Now, the Holy Spirit's teachings
and communications are not his own, but Christ's.
I give you the word of Jesus. How be it when
he, and there's your personal pronoun, and it's
Jesus speaking, he, the spirit of truth, is come,
and he's talking about his coming, and he came
on the day of Pentecost. He will guide you into
all truth, for he shall not speak of himself,
but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak,
and he will show you things to come. He will
glorify me, for he shall receive of mine and
shall show it unto you. I'm reading from the
16th chapter of John. Here we have the office
work of the Holy Spirit in this dispensation.
And his office work is to reveal the things of
the glorified Christ to the church. If only I
could get you to see that the whole Bible is
the revelation of one person. Right from Genesis
all the way through to the book of the Revelation.
The whole Bible is the revelation of just one
person. Jesus. This is the Christian's message.
This is what it's all about. This is the message
of the church today. That's the reason we missed
it. We have been revealing everything else from
our pulpits but the person of Jesus, the very
son of the living God. We have been talking about
everything. From the weather to politics, you
name it, we've had it. We've been talking about
everything but Jesus. And sometimes those who
have just discovered this wonderful person, the
Holy Spirit, lose sight of the fact that the
Holy Spirit will glorify Jesus. And if you've
been filled with the Spirit, Jesus will be glorified
in your life. He'll be glorified through you.
Don't ever lose sight of Jesus. Sometimes I think
we get so involved with doctrine, so involved
with controversial things, that we lose sight
of Jesus entirely. But Jesus said, he'll not
speak of himself. But whatsoever he shall hear,
that shall he speak. And he'll show you things
to come, still speaking the Holy Spirit. He will
glorify me. That's the office work of the Holy
Spirit. Today, now, in this dispensation, to
glorify Christ to the church. And the work of
the church. Is to glorify Jesus. There's not
a message that's more important. Than to glorify
Jesus. Everything complements Jesus. So to this
end the preacher. The teacher of the word. Should
be a Holy Spirit filled person. Peter said. we
had preached the gospel unto you with the Holy
Ghost sent down from heaven. I believe that the
man who stands behind the pulpit today should
be filled with the Holy Spirit. Only the Holy
Spirit can rightfully teach the Word and reveal
the Word of God to the hearts of men and women.
That's the reason there are those who are denying
the deity and divinity of Jesus. There are those
whose doctrine is so wrong. Absolutely contrary
to the Word of God. Because they are preaching
man's interpretation. They are giving something
that they were taught in the seminary. We need
Spirit -filled men in our pulpits through whom
the Holy Spirit can speak, for He is the revealer
of the Word. I repeat what Peter said. We have
preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost
sent down from heaven. And what did Paul say?
And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing
words of man's wisdom, but in the demonstration
of the Spirit and of power. Education is not
enough. And don't you think for one second that
I'm decrying education. I am not. With regard,
I had more education than I have. Sometimes I
think it could have been a detriment to me. Perhaps
I would not have depended so much on the Word
of God, though, if I'd had more education. But
because of my lack of education, I had to depend
completely and... solely on the Holy Spirit to
be my teacher. The older I get, the more I think
it was a blessing in disguise. Education is not
enough. It's wonderful so far as it goes, but
sometimes it doesn't go far enough. The disciples
were in training with Jesus for three years.
Think about it, for three years. They were with
him constantly. And one would have thought that
they had the best spiritual education that anyone
in the world could have possibly had. But even
after three years of training with Jesus, he
forbade them to preach until they were endued
with power from on high. Peter the fisherman.
could never have preached the sermon that he
did on the day of Pentecost without the help
of the Holy Spirit. The preacher is to rightly
divide the word. And Peter could not have done
so in his apt quotations from the Scriptures
if the Holy Spirit had not aided him. The instrument
that the Holy Spirit uses to convict and convert
Men and women is the word of God. And the Holy
Spirit himself is the revealer of truth. God
bless you.