The Holy Spirit & You, Part 1 | What the Holy Spirit Does

A New Beginning presents a book about the greatest evangelist of the 20th century, Billy Graham, written by his friend, Pastor Greg Laurie. I bring insights that maybe other books have not really touched on. I also weave in a lot of my personal experiences, one-on-one with Billy, things he said to me, and things I gleaned by watching him. So if you want to learn more about this man that changed the world, get your copy of Billy Graham, The Man I Knew.

Yours for a gift of any amount at Harvest.org. Today, Pastor Greg Laurie brings us an overview of the third person of the Trinity, known as the Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit. It's a little tricky to wrap our mind around God as the Holy Spirit. However, the Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit is going to do a unique work in your life. He's going to seal you, He's going to guide you, He's going to advocate for you, He's going to empower you, and He's going to fill you again and again. You may encounter the Holy Spirit or His work in your life on a daily basis, but you may not realize it. Yet His work is vital in keeping us spiritually energized and headed in the right direction. Well, today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie has insight as he continues his series called Timeless, Unchanging Truths in a Changing Culture.

Invite someone else to hear this at Harvest.org and look for the title, The Holy Spirit and You, Part 1. We're in the Gospel of John, so turn in your Bibles to John 14. You know, the Bible, of course, tells us that God is a Father in heaven. That's how our Lord taught us to pray. In this way, He said, pray our Father who art in heaven.

And for most of us, we can grasp this. Some of us had great fathers, some of us not so great, some of us didn't have a father. But maybe we know a father out there so we can sort of get a picture in our mind of God as a Father. In fact, in the parable of the prodigal son that Jesus told, He compared God to a father who had two sons.

And when one of the sons went astray, the father missed the son and was anxious for his return. So God has presented to us as a Father. And then God has also presented to us as the Son.

Jesus said, He that has seen Me has seen the Father. So you wonder, what is God like? Look at Jesus. That's what God is like because Jesus was and is God. So Jesus was walking among us as a human being.

He was hungry, He was thirsty, He was tired. He experienced joy, anger, all the things that we experience as human beings. But of course, He never sinned. And for the most part, we can wrap our mind around the idea of God as the Son. The Son of God, God the Father. Then there is the Holy Spirit. And because God is a triune being, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, it is a little tricky to wrap our mind around God as the Holy Spirit. It doesn't help that the King James Version calls Him the Holy Ghost.

Now it is just getting weird. What the Holy Ghost? I heard about a little five-year-old girl who didn't quite grasp the concept of God as a Holy Spirit. So she said, praise Father, Son, and Holy toast.

And so she wasn't still trying to figure it out. Or we might think of the Holy Spirit as kind of a force. Sort of like Star Wars. Trust the force, Luke, you know. So we think the Spirit is like a force. There is God the Father. There is God the Son. And there is this kind of force out there called the Holy Spirit.

But that is actually not true. Now maybe we think that because in Scripture the Holy Spirit is compared to wind, fire, and comes on Jesus in the form of a dove. However, the Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit has a distinct personality. And it also tells us that the Holy Spirit is God. In fact there are even specific sins we can commit against the Holy Spirit. Including grieving, quenching, resisting, and most notably blaspheming Him. And in fact, blaspheming the Holy Spirit is the only sin that is actually unforgivable.

And I will talk about that at the end of the message. But it is interesting grieving the Holy Spirit. You know only a close friend can be grieved. You know if somebody cuts me off on the freeway it doesn't grieve me. It just ticks me off.

Right? But if my wife cuts me off, or my son cuts me off, or someone that I love, well that might be more grieving. If a stranger insults me I am irritated. But if your best friend or your spouse insults you, you are grieved.

You see it is different. Because it is a relationship we can grieve the Holy Spirit. Why did the Holy Spirit come? What is the purpose of the Holy Spirit? What does the Holy Spirit want to do in our lives? We will read about that in just a moment.

But sort of to set the stage here. We are in John chapter 14. And it is open with these very familiar words of Jesus in verses 1 to 3 that Jonathan shared with us last Thursday.

Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God. Believe also in me. In my Father's house there are many mansions.

If it were not so I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you I will come again and receive you unto myself.

That where I am you may be also. These words of Jesus have brought comfort, hope, and perspective to millions and millions of people for over 2,000 years. To people who are grieving. To people who are afraid. To people who are stressed out and are agitated. To people well just like us. Jesus says let not your heart be troubled.

Neither let it be afraid. And we live in such troubled times right now. You know recent research has shown that the US is the most stress ridden nation on the planet.

And guess what? The onslaught of technology has only added to that. Because now we get everything on demand right. I mean the moment a news story is breaking our phones are blowing up in our pocket right. Because you are getting the news feed. Our friends are texting you. Are you watching what is going on.

And we click a link and we are watching live video. These are the days we are living in. This generation according to experts is the most stressed out generation in American history.

Some research was done that revealed that college students have the anxiety level of psychiatric patients in World War II. Can you imagine that? These are the days we are living in. So these words of Christ are so relevant. Let not your hearts be troubled.

Neither let them be afraid. But now Jesus continues on in verse 16 of John 14. And I pray the Father that He will give you another Helper.

Underline those two words. Another Helper. That He may abide with you forever. This Spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive.

Because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you know Him for He dwells with you and shall be in you. I will not leave you orphans. I will come to you.

A little while longer and the world will see Him no more. But you will see Me because I live. You will live also. And at that day you will know that I am in the Father. And you in Me and I in you. And He who has My commandments and keeps them. It is He who loves Me. And He who loves Me will be loved by My Father. And I will love Him and will manifest Myself to Him.

Or reveal Myself to Him. Judas, not as scary yet, said to Him, Lord, how is it that You manifest Yourself to us and not to the world? Jesus answered and said, If any man loves Me, he will keep My word. And My Father will love Him. And we will come to Him and make our home with Him. He that does not love Me does not keep My words. And the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father's who sent Me.

These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all things that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give you. Let not your heart be troubled.

Neither let it be afraid. We will stop there. So this is the pivotal point in the Gospel of John. Jesus is saying to His disciples, It is true, I am going away. And where I am going, you can't come right now. But I don't want you to be stressed out and agitated and worried. I have gone to prepare a place for you. And I am going to come back and receive you to Myself. But in the meantime, I am not going to leave you alone or comfortless. I am not going to leave you without help or hope. I am going to send the Holy Spirit. Verse 16. I will pray the Father who will give you another Helper that He may abide with you forever.

Another Helper. This is interesting. This is from the Greek word parakletos. Parakletos.

It is funny. I do spell check on my notes and my spell check kept wanting to spell it as parakeet. No. We are not talking about a parakeet. I used to have a parakeet. I don't know if you ever had one. Good little bird.

No. This is the parakletos. This is the Holy Spirit. And what it means is, parakletos means one who is called alongside to help. And another translation of the word is an advocate. Even another translation puts it this way. Another friend for you.

Another friend for you. So when Jesus walked this earth, those disciples had a privilege that we don't have. They could reach out and grab Him by the shoulder. They could ask Him a question. They could look into His eyes. They would hear the timbre of His voice.

They were with Him in person. And there He was. But now He's saying, I'm going to leave you. But I'm going to send the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit is going to do a unique work in your life. He's going to seal you. He's going to guide you. He's going to advocate for you. He's going to empower you.

And He's going to fill you again and again. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. We really enjoy hearing when Pastor Greg's teaching and preaching touches lives. Pastor Greg Laurie, I start my day every day by listening to your podcast.

I love it. You make me laugh and I love your teachings. Even though I was baptized back in 2010 and I considered myself a believer, I wasn't very good at reading the Bible. And now I read it every day and it's changed my life. I purchased your New Beginners Bible.

I've read and listened to the Audibles, Jesus Revolution, Billy Graham. And I'm going to finish them all. But I so enjoy them and I've watched all your documentaries, too. And they're just so inspiring. And I share them with others. So I just commend you, Pastor Greg Laurie. I'm so glad I found you.

And thank you again for all you do. How have these studies in God's Word touched your life? If you have a story to share, why not call us and let us know? Call 1-866-871-1144.

That's 866-871-1144. Well, we're learning today about the perichletos, about the Helper, the Holy Spirit, and His work in our lives. Pastor Greg continues now. You know, another way the word perichletos is used is one who pleads a cause before a judge, like a legal assistant or an advocate, or for lack of a better word, an attorney or a lawyer. The Holy Spirit comes to our side, studies our case, and helps us to plead this to someone else, and that is the judge. By the way, this same word, perichletos, is used to describe what Jesus does as our advocate. In 1 John 2-1, we read, My dear children, I am writing this to you so you will not sin. If anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father who pleads our case before the Father.

He is Jesus Christ, and He is truly righteous. So wait, you're thinking, wait, wait. So wait, who's my advocate? Is it Jesus Christ, or is it the Holy Spirit? Okay, you ready for this? Both. You have two advocates.

You want to talk about a dream team? Here's how it works. You're in a court of law. God the Father is the judge. At the right side of God the Father is God the Son, who is your advocate. He's your attorney. He's talking to the judge. Meanwhile, your other advocate, the Holy Spirit, is standing by your side and helping you, directing you, so you can plead your case. And here's one other great thing to know. By the way, the judge, his son, is your attorney.

Okay, so that works out really well in your favor. Because when things start falling apart, the son turns to the father and says, Hey dad, we know that Greg is guilty of the things he's charged with, but we all know what I did for him at the cross of Calvary. You say, oh, I'm not worthy to approach God.

That's right. You're not worthy, and you never were, and you never will be. Can we just get that out of the way once and for all? Because I hear people say, I'm just not worthy. You never were worthy. On your best day ever, you weren't even close to being worthy. You know that day when you got up at five in the morning and read the Bible for an hour, and then you prayed for people all around the world, and you shared the gospel 18 times, and you went to church that night? Remember that day?

That really awesome day? You weren't even worthy on that day. And then you weren't worthy on the next day when you slept in and forgot to read your Bible. You didn't tell anyone about Jesus. In fact, a few people were offended by your behavior.

And then he missed his service that night. No, you weren't worthy on that day, and you weren't worthy on your best day. It's never been about your worthiness.

It's always been about your advocate. Jesus Christ, who paid the price for your sin. And the Holy Spirit, who helps you to plead your case. Now, there's a lot of misunderstanding concerning the role in working of the Holy Spirit in the lives of both believers and unbelievers. Remember, I said the Holy Spirit is not an it. It's a him. It's a personality. Because later in John 16, 8, Jesus says of the Holy Spirit, When he has come, he will convict the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. So again, the Holy Spirit is not an it.

He's a him. For a being to be considered a person, he or she must possess certain characteristics. First among those is intelligence. Then there is will. Then there is emotion. So to be a person, or to be a personality, you must have intelligence, you must have will, and you must have emotion. Trees don't have emotion.

Rocks don't have emotion. Cars don't have emotions. Sometimes we may think of a car as someone we talk to. I've talked to cars before. Usually old cars that don't start.

Because old cars are cool to look at, but they always are breaking down. And you're going, really? Are you serious? Are you going to do this to me right now?

You're like talking to the car, right? But we know that's not a real personality. You know, animals have personalities.

They have will. They have emotion. And you always know he is down with the dog, right? Dogs are so expressive. Sometimes it even looks like they're smiling, you know? They're just, tongue's hanging out, tail's wagging, everything's good, you know. They lick you. Cats, no one can figure them out.

And even when they lick you, their tongue is like sandpaper. But they do still have a personality. A bad one, but a personality. Reptiles are beings that have will, very limited intelligence, and not much of a personality. They collect reptiles. I don't know why now, in retrospect.

But I had turtles and snakes and lizards and you name it, I had it. And not a lot of personality. But in contrast, God is a person. He has a personality. So the Holy Spirit has a personality and the Holy Spirit has intelligence.

He has intelligence. 1 Corinthians 2.10 says, God has revealed these things to us by His Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. No one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. So the Holy Spirit knows the thoughts of God. Objects don't know things. Fires don't know things.

Plants don't know things. But the Holy Spirit knows things. Also, the Holy Spirit has a will.

He has a will. Because we read in 1 Corinthians 12, speaking of the gifts of the Spirit, that God's Holy Spirit distributes, it says, He gives to each one these gifts as He wills. It's a Holy Spirit who decides what kind of spiritual gifts each believer will receive. In Acts 15.28, the apostles were talking about different issues and they said it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us. So the Holy Spirit had a will and the Holy Spirit expressed His will.

Listen to this. The Holy Spirit has emotion. I mentioned He can be grieved, quenched, resisted, even lied to.

A little bit more on that in a moment. But the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer seeks to convict them of their sin or a better translation would be convince them. There's nothing I can do to convince you that you're a sinner in need of a Savior. No clever analogy.

No illustration is going to do it. Only the Holy Spirit can do that. And I trust in the work of the Spirit when I present God's Word that He will touch a person's heart and show them their need for Christ.

That's why we need to pray for people as we share the Gospel. And once a person believes and is convinced of their need for Christ and asks Christ to come into their life, it's the Holy Spirit that gives them the inner assurance that they're a believer. Romans 8 18 says His Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we're the children of God. How many of you are children of God?

Raise your hand up. Now I would just dare to say the reason you know you're a children of God is you have that inner witness. It's not just that the Bible says you are. You believe the Bible and what it says. But there's something deep inside of you that says, yes, I am a child of God. And I know I am a child of God.

You know where that came from? From the Holy Spirit. His Spirit is bearing witness with your spirit that you are a child of God. And not only can I sense that I'm a child of God, but I know it when I meet another child of God. Maybe we've only known each other for five minutes, but, boy, there's an immediate connection because they're a fellow believer and the same Holy Spirit that lives in me lives in them as well. Those are things that the Holy Spirit does. Pastor Greg Laurie with insights on what the Spirit does in our lives.

And there's so much more to come here on A New Beginning. But, Pastor Greg, maybe there's somebody listening who isn't sure they're a child of God. Or they don't know how to become a believer, a child of God.

What would you say to them? What I would say is he's only a prayer away. Which means if you will call upon the name of the Lord right now through prayer, he will hear your prayer and answer your prayer. Listen, if you want Jesus Christ to come into your life, if you want him to forgive you of your sin, if you want to know that you'll go to heaven when you die, just pray this prayer right now after me. Just pray, Lord Jesus, I know that I'm a sinner, but I know that you're the Savior who died on the cross for my sin and rose again from the dead. I turn from my sin now and I choose to follow you from this moment forward as my Savior and Lord, as my God and my friend. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

Amen. And listen, if you have just prayed that prayer with Pastor Greg and meant those words sincerely, we want to welcome you into the family of God. And let us help you get started walking each day with the Lord. Pastor Greg wants to send you his New Believer's Bible, absolutely free, along with some other helpful resources. Let us know you prayed with Pastor Greg and you want the New Believer's Bible when you call 1-800-821-3300. We can take your call anytime at 1-800-821-3300, or just go online if you'd like to harvest.org and click the words Know God. And then let us take a moment to thank you for praying for this ministry and for supporting it through your generous donation.

It's an investment in kingdom business. Isn't that right, Pastor Greg? Yeah, it's really true, Dave, and I believe it's so important because, you know, the gospel saves lives. It saves eternal lives because when a person believes in Jesus, according to Scripture, they pass from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to the power of God. And then, of course, that changes the course of their future.

That impacts their children and their children's children. The gospel changes everything, and thousands and thousands of people respond every single year. Thanks to the Lord. Also, thanks to you for your investment in this ministry, enabling us to reach people wherever they are. So if this is something you care about, I encourage you to make a financial investment in A New Beginning and Harvest Ministries. Yeah, that's right, and we really do appreciate your support. Thanks for partnering with us today.

It can make a real difference, not just for today or this week, but for eternity. So get in touch with your support today by calling 1-800-821-3300. That's a 24-7 phone number, 1-800-821-3300. Or write A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, California, 92514. Or go online to harvest.org. Well, next time, we'll continue to dig deep into the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Join us here on A New Beginning with pastor and Bible teacher, Greg Laurie.