We've been having some wonderful heart -to -heart
talks regarding the Holy Spirit. And I still
contend that it stands to reason that if we would
pursue the same course of speaking and writing
about the Holy Spirit as we do about the person
and the work of Jesus Christ, much of the mystery,
much of the misunderstanding as to his person
and his work would disappear. So little is being
taught. So little has been taught regarding the
Holy Spirit that we more or less have accepted
him as a mystery. And now suddenly, when we see
the manifestation of his person, when we see
this great moving of the... Holy Spirit. Thousands
feel as though he is a new personality who has
just come on the scene. And yet, in our heart
-to -heart talks, we see that he has always existed.
He has existed with God the Father and Jesus
Christ the Son. All right. Now we go a little
deeper into the study of this person. And remember,
he is a person. Always. Whenever Jesus spoke
of the Holy Spirit, he always used the personal
pronoun. Always. He, the Holy Spirit, he will
guide you into all truth. The use of the personal
pronoun is always used. in the Word of God, whenever
it is referring to the Holy Spirit. Exactly where
I left off in our last heart -to -heart talk.
Remember, the Holy Spirit's teachings and His
communications are not His own. But that of the
Lord Jesus Christ. I quote from this Bible. Howbeit
when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, 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. Jesus continues, He shall glorify Me, for
He shall receive of Mine, and shall show it unto
you. Now, the office work of the Holy Spirit
is twofold. First of all, he will glorify Jesus
always. Without exception, the Holy Spirit magnifies
Jesus. He always glorifies Jesus. Second, The
office work of the Holy Spirit is to equip the
believer with power for service. You know, to
this end, the preacher and the teacher of the
word should be a Holy Ghost filled person. I
still contend that. The Bible teaches it. The
one who stands behind the pulpit. The one that
is used as the vessel. The one who has been called
out to preach the word should be a spirit -filled
person. There's scripture. And it stands to reason.
Peter said, you know, we have preached the gospel
unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven.
remember what paul said oh that glorious spiritual
giant the one to whom god entrusted such wonderful
knowledge i do not believe that the heavenly
father entrusted to any one individual greater
knowledge greater spiritual knowledge than he
entrusted to paul and yet paul said 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. Now see something. The
instrument that the Holy Spirit uses to convict
and convert men is the Word of God. That's why
I say to you over and over again, you and I have
got to get back. to the bible there is no substitute
for the bible i don't care how wonderful those
religious books may be i don't care who the authors
are there is no substitute for the word of god
the bible and the instrument that the holy spirit
uses to convict men and women, is the Word of
God. And the seed is the Word of God. That's
clearly stated in the 8th chapter of Luke, the
11th verse. But as in the natural world, the
seed must be alive to generate, and there can
be no life without pre -existing life. For if
there is no such thing as spontaneous generation
of life, so it is true also in the spiritual
world. The seed, the Word of God, must be vitalized
by the Holy Spirit. Otherwise, it's barren. This
explains why skeptics and scientists and philosophers
and others may know the Scripture, mentally they
know it, Look at Dr. Jarman for over 50 years.
He knew the scriptures so well, he had memorized
literally chapters and could stand behind his
pulpit, never reading from the Bible, but quoting
from memory, chapter after chapter. And he was
proud of the fact. And members of the congregation...
were proud to be able to say, we attend Dr. Jarman's
church. The man of great intellect. The man who
never has to read the scripture from the Bible.
He stands and quotes it perfectly. What was it?
He had a mental conception of the word of God.
He had memorized it beautifully. But there was
not the life in the word that the Holy Spirit
must give before it can convict of sin and of
the judgment to come. The letter killeth, but
the Spirit maketh alive. The Spirit gives it
life. I want to repeat it again. The seed is
the Word of God. But exactly as in the natural
world, the seed must be alive to germinate. It
has to be. And so in the spiritual world, the
seed, the Word of God, must be vitalized by the
Holy Spirit. Otherwise, just the Word itself.
is barren and there's no life there and that's
just exactly why there are thousands who stand
in their purpose today they can quote the scripture
glibly and yet nothing happens the natural man
receiveth not in other words the natural man
cannot understand the things of the spirit of
god for their foolishness unto him, neither can
he know them. Why? Because they are only spiritually
discerned. I can back every word that I've just
now told you. This is all recorded in 1 Corinthians,
the second chapter, the 14th verse. Mm -hmm.
You may wonder why you can't understand the Bible.
You've never been born again. You sit there and
read it. It's weak to you. Why? Because you've
never been born of the Spirit. There's no life
in the seed. The seed is barren. But oh, when
you've been born again and there's life in the
seed, something happens. The word of God is no
longer Greek to you. You read it and the Holy
Spirit gives you the understanding of the word.
I know what I'm talking about. I know what I'm
talking about because... I have had no training
whatsoever. I've never gone to seminary in my
life. Everything that I've gotten, I have had
to depend on the Holy Spirit to give it to me.
Every bit of revelation, every bit of spiritual
understanding, I have never gotten it secondhand.
I've gotten it... Straight from the Holy Spirit.
He has been my teacher. And you can get it the
same way. But if you're going to lean to your
own understanding, the word will just become
dead. If you're going to lean on your education,
the seed is barren. Only the Holy Spirit can
give life to that seed. The letter killeth, but
the Spirit maketh alive. All right, let's go
a little deeper. When we come now to the person
of the Holy Spirit, there's something that has
meant an awful lot to me, and I pray that in
the next several minutes, It will be one of the
most helpful things that I have ever given you.
It's Romans, the eighth chapter. I'm going to
read just two verses, the 26th, the 27th verses.
You know, I think one of the hardest things in
the whole world is to know the will of God. You
can come to me and you can say, Miss Kuhlman,
this is my problem. To you it is. Now, what shall
I do about this thing? I cannot tell you God's
will for you. The one thing that I can be dead
sure of, and that is the fact that if you're
not sure of God's perfect will regarding a certain
thing, His will will never be contrary to his
word. That's one thing you can be sure of. If
there's something right now that you're debating
about and you're seeking the will of God, the
first question I would ask you, if in making
one decision or the other, in making that decision,
it would be contrary to the teaching of the word,
then you know that one decision would be wrong.
His will under any and all circumstances will
never be contrary to his word. And you and I
will never be an exception. We like to kind of
kid ourselves, you know, once in a while. We
want something so much. Oh, we want it so much.
And we just started. Tease the Lord and say,
won't you just this once close your eyes to it
and don't look. Because I want it so badly that
make me an exception, you know. Sometimes we
all become little children. But the thing is,
you never argue God out of his word. You never
change his mind when it comes to his word. It
holds true to each individual. No matter how
much he loves us, many a parent, being teased
by a youngster, will give in to the youngster,
even though they know it will be detrimental
to them, but they, well, they do it for two reasons.
They keep the youngster quiet. You know, oh,
just stop teasing me. Please, anything for peace.
Yes, eat all the candy that you want to. But
just be quiet. And then there may be a parent
who will say, Oh, I can't say no to my child.
I love him so much. That's natural love. But
the Heavenly Father loves us with a perfect love.
And his love, because it is a perfect love, will
never give us something that would be detrimental
to us. And you can tease forever and ever. He'll
never give it to you. He'll never break his word
just to keep you from constantly teasing and
begging him. So in seeking for his perfect will,
always remember it may not be as great a problem
as you think it is. It may be answered even now
when you realize that his will will never in
any given matter be contrary to his word. Never.
But let's say that You're honest. Oh, I've gone
through this. Dear God, how often I've gone through
it. You see, I have some tremendous decisions
to make. I've got to live what I preach. I wouldn't
dare backslide for a day. Do you realize if I
would backslide for one hour, I'd be sunk. I'd
get myself in such a jam and so much trouble.
I've got to keep in contact with him. That line
from here to there has got to be kept open. And
power has got to keep flowing. My responsibilities
and to whom else can I go? I don't have anyone
else to whom I can depend or to whom I can go.
And it's a constant thing. Nobody but the Lord
himself knows the decisions that I have to make.
There's a ministry at stake. There are thousands
and thousands of lives who are dependent upon
this ministry. The responsibility sometimes is
overwhelming. And there have been times when
I've almost wished If he had called someone else,
it would have been so much easier. To have married
one of those Missouri farmers. It would have
been so peaceful out there with the chickens
and the cows on a Missouri farm. The responsibility
sometimes is overwhelming. And many a time, I've
come face to face with something not know what
decision to make. One was right, one was wrong.
My will was surrendered to His will. I was perfectly
willing to do either thing, and yet I didn't
know what decision to make. Here is when the
Holy Spirit is so important, and I read from
the Word of God, Likewise, the Spirit also helpeth
our infirmities. It means our defects, our personal
failing. For we know not what we should pray
for as we ought. But the Spirit itself maketh
intercession for us with groanings which cannot
be answered. And he that searcheth the hearts
knoweth what is in the mind of the Spirit, because
he maketh intercession for the saints according
to the will of God. Over and over again there
had been those who have said, Shall we pray?
Oh, this loved one of mine is in such great suffering.
My precious little godly pet. The suffering is
so tense, Miss Cooman. Should I pray that God
will take him, or shall I pray that God will
heal him? Let's get right down to where folks
live. This is practical. You've stood by the
bedside of your loved one, and you did not know
how to pray. should I pray that this one shall
be healed or should I pray that God will take
him? And when you can stand there with the will
completely surrendered to the will of the Father,
having no will of your own, and you just look
up with an honest heart and say, please, I pray
that in this moment, the Holy Spirit, who searcheth
and knoweth my heart. And he knows what is the
mind of God. Please, intercede for me before
the Father's throne and do the perfect will of
God. I've given you something. that I feel is
one of the greatest secrets that I could give
you when it comes to your prayer life. When you
do not know how to pray, turn it over to the
Holy Spirit. He knows the perfect will of God
in the matter. And you cannot, you will not miss.
God bless you.