Somebody Loves You

Raul Ries: We tell the Holy Spirit, "Holy Spirit, wait out here while I sin out here. I'll come back out here, and then I'll take possession and we can go home." It doesn't work like that. That's why when you're a real child of God, you're a real Christian, and you go where you're not supposed to be going, what's the first thing that happens? You feel not condemned, you feel guilty. Why? Because the Holy Spirit warns you before you do it.

Guest (Male): Welcome to Somebody Loves You Radio, the Bible teaching ministry of Raul Ries in Diamond Bar, California. Today's lesson continues our study of the Holy Spirit and the influence and identity of this third member of the Godhead.

Raul will establish that God's Spirit isn't an unseen force, but in fact a person with a mind, a heart, and a will. He's also ever-present, continually at work, correcting us when we sin and guiding our minds in biblical truth. With the second part of our study, Who is the Holy Spirit, here's Raul Ries in Ephesians chapter one.

Raul Ries: Now when we look at the Holy Spirit tonight, let's begin by looking at the nature of the Holy Spirit, that is He is a person. What do we mean by He is a person? Well, He exercises the attributes of personality. For example, number one, He has a mind of His own. In Romans chapter 8 verse 27, He says this, "Now He who searches the hearts knows the mind of the Spirit is, why? Because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God."

Notice that the Holy Spirit is in tune with God the Father. So when I come and I pray to God, and if I don't want to pray in English, but I want to pray in the tongue that God has given to me in the Spirit, or I just want to groan within me, the Bible says that the Holy Spirit interprets what I am trying to get across and He interprets and God the Father and God the Son understand what my petitions are because they're done through the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is powerful, He is a person, and He has a mind. Secondly, the Holy Spirit not only has a mind, but He has a will. In First Corinthians 12:11, He says, "But one of the same Spirit works in all these things, distributing to each one individually as the Holy Spirit wills." You see, there it is, as the Holy Spirit wills. In the giving of gifts, in the working in the body of Jesus Christ concerning the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the Bible says that the Holy Spirit distributes as He will to each individual person.

Thirdly, He also has feelings. Did you know that when you sin, because He is a person, the Holy Spirit gets hurt? Yes, He gets hurt. That's why Paul the Apostle in Ephesians chapter 4 verse 30, He says, "And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God." The word grieve there in the Greek means to bring pain to the Holy Spirit. How do I bring pain to the Holy Spirit of God? When I sin against God because He's a person.

You see, one thing we must really get in our minds and our hearts is that wherever you go, wherever you sit, wherever you walk, wherever you lie down, wherever you go hide in a closet, you can't get rid of the Holy Spirit. He goes with you everywhere. He's omnipresent. You can't get rid of Him.

Sometimes we have this mentality that when we're going to sin, we tell the Holy Spirit, "Holy Spirit, wait out here while I sin out here. I'll come back out here, and then I'll take possession and we can go home." It doesn't work like that. That's why when you're a real child of God, you're a real Christian, and you go where you're not supposed to be going, or you do something you're not supposed to be doing, what's the first thing that happens? You feel not condemned, you feel guilty. Why? Because the Holy Spirit warns you before you do it.

He's a person. When He comes into your temple, when He comes into your life, He's living in the front room and He's making Himself at home. But sometimes when we sin against the Holy Spirit, instead of being in our living room in fellowship with us, He goes to the back room. Why? Because He's grieved. And it's not until we make things right with God the Father. Notice He doesn't leave the house. He stays in the house. How many times have you heard people say, "The Holy Spirit left, now He's come back." It doesn't work like that. He stays in that house.

But when the Holy Spirit is hurt and He's been grieved because of sin, then the Holy Spirit cannot do an effective work in your life and in my life until I fully repent of what I've done. And then the peace of God immediately comes to my life. But you see, you can't get away from the Holy Spirit. David said, "If I go to heaven You're there, if I go to hell You're there, wherever I go Your presence is there God." You can't get away.

Remember what Dr. Van Cleave taught when he came here. He says God is in front of you, He's behind you, He's above you, and He's below you. You cannot escape the presence of God. God sees everything you do. God hears everything you say. But He loves you. He loves you so much. Look how many opportunities He's given to you and He's given to me, even though we are wicked and sinful. The last time we sinned we should have been wiped out, but God gave us another chance because He loves us and because He cares about us.

Because the Scripture says that God is not willing that any should perish, but all should come to true repentance. So when the Holy Spirit is grieved, He has feelings, He's hurt. Listen to Ephesians 4:30: "And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption." You see, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit. We'll talk about this next week, what the seal is and the guarantee is of the Holy Spirit in your life.

But it's so important that we understand that the Holy Spirit has personality. Secondly, the Holy Spirit has personal activities ascribed to Himself. For example, He reveals all truth. For example, in Second Peter chapter 1 verse 21, this is what the Scripture says, "For prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit."

You see, the Holy Spirit is the one that brings inspiration, revelation, and illumination to the word of God. That's how the Bible was created. That's how God made the word of God. When men in the Old Testament were writing the Scriptures, it was actually being dictated by the Holy Spirit. They didn't just write a novel or common books today. They wrote as they were inspired, and the revelation of God was given to them by inspiration through the Holy Spirit. They wrote the very words of God.

Now you see in seminaries they don't teach this. They teach you that the Bible has mistakes, that you can't believe everything in the Bible. Wrong. You can believe everything in the Bible. It's God's word and it's legitimate. You say, "Well wait a minute, I've heard that the Bible has mistakes." The Bible has no mistakes.

The problem is that in the 1500s, they took what we call the scribes or the writers, those that translated your Bible into English and added chapters and verses. When they were making the transfer, they made the mistake when they were writing. They actually inserted the mistake, and the mistake is always in the center column. It tells you what was added by the translators to make it easier for you to read. But these are the very words of God.

And you'll always see italicized those words that men put in there, but the word of God is never italicized. It's always there because God put it there by inspiration and by revelation and by God's not only inspiration, but listen, by the power of the Holy Spirit as He gave it to these men to write it. So the Bible, you can trust it with all your life, believe me. It's God's holy word. And it's so important that we understand that He reveals everything to us.

Secondly, the Holy Spirit is a teacher. He teaches you. Now hear me well and don't misquote me. This is so important because many times people say, "Well wait a minute, what do you mean by that?" Let me say this, you become a young believer, you accept Christ tonight, you start reading your Bible, and for the next 30, 40 years you only read from Matthew to Revelation. You never touch the Old Testament.

The Holy Spirit as a teacher, the only thing that He's ever going to bring to your remembrance in your mind is only the things that you read. If you never read, then you have nothing to be brought forth. Understand that. You can't ever quote the Old Testament and you'll never understand the Old Testament unless you read it for yourself, the full counsel of God.

And this is why it's so important when we're quoting scripture, or you're talking to somebody, and you say, "Oh yeah, in the book of Samuel, or in the book of Ruth, or in the book of Haggai, or there in Habakkuk." Why? Because I've read it over and over and over, the full counsel of God, and the Holy Spirit brings to my mind not only the passage and the scriptures, but He puts them together so they're a theme and they fit together in harmony with the Holy Spirit and the teachings of Jesus.

That's why it's so important to read the whole Bible all the way through. That's why on Sunday evenings we go through the Bible systematically so that we can have the fullness of God's word in our hearts and in our minds and we can know the God of the Old Testament, that He is the same God of the New Testament. There are not two Gods in the Bible, one God, the same in the Old as He is of the New. A God of love and a God of grace, and also a God of judgment. So important to understand who we worship. He is the great teacher, the Holy Spirit was left here to teach us.

In John 14:26, this is what He says, "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 unto you." You see, the only things that God can bring to your mind are the things that you've been taught. That's it.

If you never read the book of Haggai or the book of Zechariah or the book of Malachi or Genesis or Exodus or Leviticus or Numbers or Joshua or Judges or Samuel or Kings or Chronicles, how in the world are you going to be quoting from them if you've never read them? The Holy Spirit can never bring them up. He can't do it. You've never read it and you've never studied it.

Guest (Male): You're listening to Somebody Loves You Radio with Raul Ries. You can email Raul anytime at pastorraul@somebodylovesyou.com with your Bible questions and prayer requests. And for Bible-rich resources to encourage and guide you on your spiritual walk, visit somebodylovesyou.com. Let's continue with the conclusion of our study, Who is the Holy Spirit? Here's Raul Ries.

Raul Ries: The Holy Spirit as you read the scriptures and you say, "Well you know, it's so hard to understand the Bible." Hey, pray, "Dear Jesus, teach me through Your Holy Spirit what You're trying to say to me through the scriptures," and He will teach you. He's been given to you as your teacher. Even though we have pastor teachers, the Holy Spirit confirms everything in your heart as He teaches you what is being taught. That's why He gave it to us. The Holy Spirit to teach us.

And then thirdly, the Holy Spirit is to become a witness. In Galatians 4:6 He says, "And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Holy Spirit of His Son into your hearts crying out Abba, Father." You see, the Holy Spirit has been sent by His Son Jesus Christ into our hearts so that when we pray or when we groan to God, we can cry out Abba, Father, Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, through the Holy Spirit.

And then fourthly, He's the great intercessor. He intercedes for you and me. In Romans 8:26 He says this, "Likewise the Spirit of God also helps our weaknesses." You see, when we pray, I don't know about you, but I know about me, sometimes I don't know how to pray. "Lord, I don't know what to say to You." I don't pray in New King James or in Old King James, or in Latin, or in Spanish. I pray in English.

But a lot of times when I don't want to pray in English and I pray in my tongue that is given to me in the power of the Holy Spirit, I pray with groanings which cannot be uttered. Why? Because the Holy Spirit in me is crying out to God for me. He's interpreting to God the Father and the Son what my needs are in my heart. Listen to what He says.

"Likewise the Spirit also helps our weakness, for we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be understood." So when you're standing before God, imagine what it would be like in front of people if we all groaned at the same time? Unbelievers would say, "These people are mad, let's get out of here, call 9-1-1."

But if you're in your closet and you're praying to God, and you're in deep prayer, and you're groaning and you're moaning before the Lord, listen, that's prayer to God. Those are not just noises. Because He says that sometimes when I don't know how to express myself, the best way to express myself in prayer is just to groan to God out of the deepest part of my heart to Him. He understands why. Because the Holy Spirit helps me. He becomes the intercessor before God the Father and Jesus Christ. I like that.

He lets them know what I need in my life, and how I'm hurting, and how weak I am in my life. And did you know that fifthly, the Holy Spirit also speaks? You know a lot of times we say, "Well, how does God speak to you?" You ever had your child come to you when he's done something wrong and he can't sleep and he's feeling guilty and he begins to confess to you? What a great lesson to say, "Son, it's not really your conviction, it's because God is speaking to you."

It's the Holy Spirit that speaks to us. In the book of Revelation chapter 2 verse 7, this is what the scripture says. Seven times He said this: "He who has an ear," do you have an ear to hear? I do, I want to. The problem with the church today and the problem with believers today is we don't give a clear ear to hear what God is saying. God is speaking not only through people, but He's speaking through nature, He speaks through people, He speaks through the word of God, and He speaks through pastor teachers, He speaks through people on the radio, people through TV.

But the problem is that so many times we're not listening when God is speaking to us. We always want a person, I say, "Man, I wish they were here so they could hear this." No, it's you and it's me. Listen, "He who has an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat of the Tree of Life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches." Are we listening when the Spirit speaks to us?

And then six, the Spirit commands. In Acts chapter 16 verse 6 and 7, He says this: "And now when they had gone through Phrygia, the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia. And after they had come to Mysia, they tried to go to Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them." He's speaking of Paul and Barnabas.

Did you know that the Holy Spirit like Paul and Barnabas when they wanted to go somewhere the Holy Spirit said to them, "Don't go." How did He speak? I believe at this particular time in chapter 13 of Acts He spoke through those men in the church when they were speaking through prophecy, and the Holy Spirit was speaking through men. He told them don't go there, Paul, the Spirit is forbidding you to go.

And other times the Holy Spirit will check in with you and somehow you'll have this feeling, not a good feeling, where the Spirit says don't go there, it's bad news. He warns you and He speaks to you. So important that we listen to the Holy Spirit when He speaks. He speaks all the time, 24 hours a day. He speaks to us and He's warning us of dangers.

And then seven, we can also blaspheme the Holy Spirit. Now you say, "Man, I'm a new Christian and I think," and this is one of the greatest things of new believers when they come in for counseling, "I think I have committed the unpardonable sin. I have blasphemed against the Holy Spirit of God." First of all, do you know what the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is? Let me tell you what it is. It's not just sinning.

It literally is according to Jesus in Matthew chapter 12 verse 31 and 32, it is when the Holy Spirit is working in the life of a non-believer and the non-believer continues to say no to the Holy Spirit for conversion and over and over and over the Holy Spirit works. There is a time, there is a place, there is a line where you can cross in not coming to Jesus Christ where you can blaspheme the Holy Spirit, where the Holy Spirit will say to you, "I will pray for you no more and you will never be saved ever again and you will be lost eternally."

And that is what? Rejecting the love and the grace and the mercies of Jesus Christ brings you to blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. Do I think that anybody here has committed the unpardonable sin of blaspheming the Holy Spirit? No, otherwise you wouldn't be here if you had. Listen to what He says, Jesus: "Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit of God shall not be forgiven men. Anyone who speaks a word against Jesus, the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him. But whosoever speaks against the Holy Spirit..."

What does the Holy Spirit do? He's convicting us of sin. So if the Holy Spirit is convicting somebody that is not a Christian over and over and over and they say, "No, I don't want to be a Christian. I don't want to be a Christian," and he's done it over and over and over, there will be a time, there will be a place where the Holy Spirit will stop conviction and he'll say, "That's it, you've crossed the line and you'll never be able to be saved. You've blasphemed against the Holy Spirit." And that person is cursed forever, not only in this life but the life to come.

Listen, pretty heavy: "But whosoever speaks against the Holy Spirit it will not be forgiven him, either in this world or the world to come." And that is rejecting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior can bring you to blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. That is a continual rejection over and over and over of Jesus Christ and never coming to conversion and accepting Christ as your Lord and Savior, that person can commit blasphemy. So important that we understand that.

And then there's another side to the Holy Spirit, that not only He possesses personality, but He is God Himself. He is God, Deity. He possesses Deity. Listen, in Acts 5:3 and 4 again Peter, referring to Ananias and Sapphira, refers there to the Holy Spirit being God.

He said, "Peter said Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and kept back part of the price of the land for yourself? While it remained was it not your own? And after it was sold was it not for your own control to sell and to give as you wanted? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? And listen, you have not lied to men, but you have lied to God." There theologically he makes the Holy Spirit that He is God. The Holy Spirit is God.

Secondly, Paul writes of Him, of the Holy Spirit as Spirit of our God. In First Corinthians 6:11 he says, "And such were some of you, but you have been washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ by the Spirit of our God." There again, the Spirit of God is God, Deity. He is God Himself.

Guest (Male): We hope this lesson has been an inspiration for you to spend more time in God's word as you listen for the leading of His Holy Spirit. You're listening to Somebody Loves You Radio with Raul Ries. Today's study was titled Who is the Holy Spirit? We've made an unedited version available to you for a donation of five dollars or more. To get your copy just call us at 800-634-9165.

We'd also like to offer you Raul's seven-part series: Filled, Empowered, and Equipped. It's available on CD and thumb drive. Further illuminating this Spirit's unique identity and pivotal role in the lives of Christians, this resource underscores why He's such a powerful testimony of God's great love for us. You'll see that a Spirit-led life is one filled with purpose, power, and peace, blessed by the Lord's richest eternal blessings.

Visit somebodylovesyou.com or call 800-634-9165 to order Raul's seven-lesson series titled Filled, Empowered, and Equipped. We'll send you the CD set for twenty dollars, or if you prefer the flash drive for just eleven. That's 800-634-9165. Or write to Somebody Loves You Radio, Post Office Box 4440, Diamond Bar, California 91765.

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Join us again next time as we dig deeper into God's word and open our hearts and minds to more of His eternal truths. Let's rejoin Raul now for a closing thought from today's study.

And then once again: "However, when He the Spirit of Truth has come, He will guide you into all truth, for He will not speak of His own authority, but whatever He hears, He will speak and He will tell you even of things to come." Notice what He says there, even of things to come.

And then He is also called the Spirit of Holiness, Romans 1:4. He's called the Spirit of Righteousness, Romans 8:4. He's called the Spirit of Grace in Hebrews 10:29. And then lastly, He's called the Spirit of Love. I love this one, Romans 15:30: "Now I beg you brethren through the Lord Jesus Christ and through the love of the Spirit that you strive together with me in prayers to God for me."

I hope and I wish for this body of believers here that we would strive for the Spirit of love. That love would be our motive, that love would be all of everything that we have to do with the Lord, to allow the Holy Spirit to come into our lives and to minister to us and even to baptize us with His power as we submit our lives to Him.

Guest (Male): This program is sponsored by Somebody Loves You Radio in Diamond Bar, California.