Live In-Depth Holy Spirit Seminar | David Diga Hernandez

Father, in the name of Jesus, I thank you for the privilege of being able to know your word. And we pray, precious Holy Spirit, that you would give us not just information but revelation. Let there be deep deposits in the spirit here tonight. Let your word be planted as a seed, and let that seed bring forth fruit. Amen. Let your word go forth as a hammer Shattering ungodly mindsets, shattering religious mindsets. Let your word go forth as water, refresh us tonight. We thank you for your truth. We love you, Lord. We bless you, Lord. In the mighty name of Jesus we pray. And the church said? Amen. So let's begin by answering the question, who is the Holy Spirit. If you think the Holy Spirit is an it, you'll want to use it. But when you know the Holy Spirit is a person, you'll say, Holy Spirit, use me. In John 15:26, we read, But I will send you the Advocate, the Spirit of truth. He will come to you from the Father and will testify all about me. Notice here that Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as a he. In John 16:13-14, we read, but when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak of his own initiative, but whatever he hears, he will speak. And he will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify me. That's gonna be key for later. And by the way, There will be several portions of scripture that we repeat over and over again, because many of these scriptures are foundational to your understanding of the person of the Holy Spirit. And we're gonna cover several different topics concerning the Holy Spirit so that you have both a foundation and a building. So we're gonna go deep, we're gonna go foundational, we're gonna have basics, but then we're also going to be gleaning treasures of truth deep deposits of the Holy Spirit that we can take and come into greater understanding of the person of the Holy Spirit through. So John 16:13-14, but when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak of his own initiative, but whatever he hears, he will speak, and he will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify me, for he will take of mine and will disclose it to you. In 1 John 5:6-8, we read, And Jesus Christ was revealed as God's Son by his baptism in water and by shedding his blood on the cross, not by water only, but by water and blood. And the Spirit, who is truth, confirms it with his testimony. So we have these 3 witnesses, the Spirit, the water, and the blood, and all 3 agree. So notice that these references teach us that the Holy Spirit is a person. Amen. Now, when I say that the Holy Spirit is a person, I don't mean that the Holy Spirit is fallible. I don't mean that the Holy Spirit is mortal. I don't mean that the Holy Spirit is physical. I don't mean that the Holy Spirit is human. Rather, I'm talking about the personal nature of the Holy Spirit. I'll never forget when I first met the Holy Spirit. as a young boy several years ago, it changed everything about my Christian walk. Because before you know the Holy Spirit as a person, you view God as off at a distance. God seated on the throne, Christ Jesus seated at his right hand, and then we think of the Holy Spirit as a force, a feeling. But in fact, the Holy Spirit can be known as a friend. Amen. So that we know he's not just God at a distance on the throne, seated at the right hand, but he is God with us, God living in us, the Holy Spirit dwelling with us, the 3rd person of the Trinity. He speaks. Acts 8:29, the Holy Spirit said to Philip, go over and walk along beside the carriage. So he speaks. He has a will. 1 Corinthians 12:11, but all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will. There we see the will of the Holy Spirit. He has feelings. Ephesians 4:30 declares, and grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Now think about this. The way you behave can hurt the Holy Spirit. I don't mean that you can weaken him or damage him in the physical sense. I mean that you can hurt him emotionally. Here the scripture tells us plainly that the way we behave can grieve him. can make him sad. But here's the flip side of that. If the Holy Spirit loves you enough to be grieved by your disobedience, then the Holy Spirit loves you enough to be pleased by your obedience. And when you disobey, you can feel the grieving of the Spirit. But when you obey, you can feel the joy of the Spirit. You'll notice this, maybe when you go to pray and you're tempted to pick up the phone, you're tempted to watch television, you're tempted to allow some disruption during that prayer, and you choose instead to focus on the Holy Spirit by setting aside the distractions of the world, there will be moments where you can feel almost a burst of joy coming from the person of the Spirit, rejoicing at your obedience. Or when you wanna say something to that one person who's always getting on your nerves, Or you wanna type that post on Facebook or Instagram, and you're not really gonna name the person, you're just gonna kinda hint at it because you really want them to know what's on your mind. And the Holy Spirit says, no, don't post that. He may say, no, don't go there. No, don't do that. No, don't think that. No. No, don't look at that, don't listen to that, don't speak that. And as you obey or disobey, you will sense either his pleasure or his displeasure. I remember one time I was up in Northern California with one of our ministry's top donors. This was someone who had given a lot to our ministry financially. And I'll never forget that I was in the car with him. I forgot where we were going, what we were doing, but I was in the car with him and I get a phone call from my brother who was operating the phone lines for the ministry. And my brother tells me, I just received one of the strangest phone calls. He said, one of our donors called and was very upset at a stance that we took. And they pretty much yelled at me and hung up. And it was a really ugly phone call. And I wasn't gonna change my stance. We're not controlled by money. We follow after the leading of the Holy Spirit. But here's where I made my mistake. I hung up the phone with my brother and my high donor asked, what was that about? I said, oh, there was just some donor who was upset about some stance that I took, but I'm not worried about it. I said, by the way, we have you as a source. And I felt the grieving of the Spirit come on me. The moment I spoke that, I felt like my face went flush, like a heat filled that car. And my donor turns to me and he says, did you feel that? I said, yes. And I said, I am so sorry, Holy Spirit. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. Why? Because what I spoke was revealing something in my heart that I was trusting in man in that moment and not the Holy Spirit. So there was the grieving that I sensed. And by the way, that's a mark of a sincere Christian. It's not possible for a true Christian to go on in disobedience and be happy. One of the marks of the true Christian is that in their compromise, they're uncomfortable because of the grieving of the Spirit. And by the way, When you make a mistake, the Holy Spirit doesn't leave, he grieves. Many Christians think that they make a mistake, the Holy Spirit flutters away like a sensitive dove. And then when they start to obey again, God says, okay, you've earned the Holy Spirit back. Now I'm not saying he excuses your wrongdoing. I'm saying that the Holy Spirit abides and helps you to get it right by convicting you when you're wrong. The Holy Spirit, As I said, speaks, has a will, has feelings. He can fellowship. 2 Corinthians 13:14, may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Fellowship is communion, conversation, familiarity, friendship, not in a dishonoring way, but in a relational way, the Holy Spirit can be known as a friend. Amen. So that as you go throughout your day, whether you're up or down, in a season of great favor and blessing, and we're always blessed, but I think you know what I mean, in a season of conditions that are preferable, And in a season of conditions that are not so ideal. When you celebrate an accomplishment, he's there. When you have a victory in the Spirit, he's there. When you make a mistake, he's there. When you sense the boldness of the Spirit upon you, and you're ready to move mountains and take down giants, He's there. And when you feel afraid, inadequate, like Moses before the Lord, you got the wrong guy. The Holy Spirit is there. When you feel his presence, he's there. When you don't feel his presence, he's there. He's on the way to work with you. He's sitting with you in class. As you're taking that important test. He's with you in the delivery room as you're welcoming a new child. He's with you, sitting beside you at the funeral, as you say goodbye to a loved one. He's there at the beginning of things, at the end of things, big things, little things, moments of joy, moments of sorrow, moments of confusion, moments of clarity. Moments of peace, moments that cause you fear, he's there. Faithful friend, the precious Holy Spirit. Philippians 2:1-2, is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? They make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and one purpose. The same Holy Spirit in me is the same Holy Spirit in you. That's how we can have unity, because the Holy Spirit in me loves the Jesus in you, and the Holy Spirit in you loves the Jesus in me. And even when it's difficult to see Jesus in other people, the Holy Spirit can see Jesus in other people. He's a person. He has feelings, so it's possible that he can be hurt. He has a will, so it's possible that he can be resisted. He has a voice, so it's possible that he can be ignored. He desires fellowship, so it's possible that he can be rejected. He is a person, so it's possible that he can be known. Now, He is not the Father or the Son. I won't be able to get into a deep explanation of the Trinity. Frankly, it's out of my depth if I try to explain it. That's not my specialty. There are many theologians who could explain the Trinity to you far better. So I'm just gonna give you some very basic doctrine when it comes to the Trinity, as it relates to the person of the Holy Spirit. So, we read it earlier, 2 Corinthians 13:14, may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, there's the Son, the love of God, there's the Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Here we see that Scripture makes a distinction. In Matthew 3:16, the Bible declares, after his baptism, as Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and settling on him. And a voice from heaven speaks, this is my beloved Son, in whom I'm well pleased. There's the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. The Son being baptized, the Spirit settling on him like a dove, and the Father speaking from the heavenly place, his pleasure over the Son. Matthew 28:19, therefore go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Now, here's what's interesting is we accept readily the deity of Christ, which we should. We accept readily the deity of the Father, and we should. But isn't it interesting that there's this hesitation when it comes to accepting the deity of the Holy Spirit? And we won't outright say that, We won't outright say, oh, the Holy Spirit maybe is or is not God, or maybe is or is not a lesser form of God. But in the way we ask our questions, in the way we talk about him, we reveal that there is this hesitation when it comes to the person of the Holy Spirit. If I say you can pray to the Son and you can pray to the Father, no issue there. But then we ask, is it okay to pray to the Holy Spirit? If I say you can worship the Father, you can worship the Son, no issue there. But then we ask, is it okay to worship the Holy Spirit? And we feel that we committed maybe some type of misdemeanor idolatry. Or if I say to you, Jesus loves you, you can accept that. The Father loves you. You can accept that. But think about this, the Holy Spirit loves you too. Now, the Holy Spirit is referred to as the Lord. 2 Corinthians 3:17. Now the Lord is that Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. Now, I wanna show you something here. Go to Isaiah chapter 6. And I know we have a lot of scriptures we're jumping around on. So you watching online, pull out a Bible app or something. Isaiah chapter 6, verses 8 and 9. Also, I heard the voice of the Lord saying, whom shall I send? And who will go for us? Then said I, here am I, send me. And he said, go and tell this people, hear ye indeed, but understand not, and see indeed, but perceive not. Now, who here is speaking to Isaiah the prophet? It says right here, I heard the voice of the— Lord. Lord, okay? So we know this is God speaking to Isaiah. Now watch this, go with me to Acts 28, Acts 28:25-26. After that, they had argued back and forth among themselves. They left with this final word from Paul. The Holy Spirit was right when he said to your ancestors through Isaiah the prophet, Go and say to this people, when you hear what I say, you will not understand. When you see what I do, you will not comprehend. So by cross-referencing Isaiah 6 and Acts chapter 28, we see something powerful revealed, that it was the person of the Holy Spirit speaking to Isaiah the prophet. And we imagine that the Holy Spirit wasn't active until Acts chapter 2. In fact, you can't even get to the 2nd verse of the Bible without seeing that the Holy Spirit was active from the beginning. Genesis 1:2, the Spirit of God hovered above the face of the deep. So the Holy Spirit is there. The Holy Spirit there in Genesis 1:1 and 2 is called the Spirit of God. So, so far we've seen that the Holy Spirit is personal. The Holy Spirit is distinct from the Father and the Son. And we are seeing now that the Holy Spirit is equal in divinity to the Father and the Son. And that, by the way, is the simple basis for the doctrine of the Trinity, distinct from one another, equally divine. Now watch this, 1 Corinthians 2:10-12, 1 Corinthians 2:10-12. But it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God's deep secrets. No one can know a person's thoughts except that person's own spirit, and no one can know God's thoughts except God's own Spirit. And we have received God's Spirit, not the world's spirit, so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us. The Spirit searches out everything. And he shows us God's deep secrets. The Holy Spirit knows the mind of God. The wisdom of the Father is the wisdom of the Spirit. The thoughts of the Father are the thoughts of the Spirit. The will of the Father is the will of the Spirit. But it doesn't stop there. We receive this revelation By the Holy Spirit. So the Holy Spirit searches out the deep things in the Father, understands those mysteries, and then reveals them to us. But in order to reveal them to us, he must know them himself. Therefore, the Holy Spirit, if he knows the mind of God, is omniscient. He's all-knowing. In Luke 1:35, We read, the angel replied, the Holy Spirit will come upon you. And this is the angel speaking to Mary. And the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy and he will be called the Son of God. Notice here now that the Holy Spirit comes upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the Holy Spirit brings with him the power of the Most High. Therefore, the Holy Spirit is omnipotent. In Psalm 139:7, we read, I can never escape from your Spirit. I can never get away from your presence. And there, of course, we see that the Holy Spirit is omnipresent, everywhere at all times. So then, the Holy Spirit is called the Lord, The Holy Spirit is the one who spoke to Isaiah the prophet. The Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit is omniscient or all-knowing. The Holy Spirit is omnipotent or all-powerful. The Holy Spirit is omnipresent, everywhere at all times. My friend, the Holy Spirit is God. Amen. And the scripture reveals it clearly. So the Holy Spirit is personal. He can be known as a friend. He is distinct from the Father and Son in that he is a distinct person, not a different personality, not a different title, not a different function. He is a distinct person and he is divine. So the truth that each are distinct from one another, yet equally divine and one God, is the basis of the Trinity. And I think, and this is just my opinion now, I think Hebrews 9:14, encapsulates this truth very well. I think if I were to pick a scripture that best encapsulates the Trinity, I would point to Hebrews 9:14, but again, that's just my opinion. And there, the writer of Hebrews says, just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deeds so that we can worship the living God. For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God As a perfect sacrifice for our sins. Now, much of the content that's being taught here this evening is from my latest work, Holy Spirit: God Within You. And this is something that I've been working on for quite a while. By the way, we're gonna get into the ministry of the Holy Spirit in just a minute here. But Holy Spirit: God Within You was a real passion project for me. And it's available right now at encounterthespirit.com. And in this book, there are a lot of foundations laid concerning the person of the Holy Spirit. I'll read to you just some of the chapters here. My Friend the Holy Spirit, this is my personal testimony of having experienced his presence and power. The Identity of the Holy Spirit, The Baptism with the Holy Spirit, The Fruit of the Holy Spirit, The Holy Spirit and Prayer, The Holy Spirit and the Word, The Holy Spirit and Worship, The Power of the Holy Spirit, The Language of the Holy Spirit, that's the gift of tongues, The Gifts of the Holy Spirit, The Voice of the Holy Spirit, and The Friendship of the Holy Spirit. We'll be going over many of the things contained herein, but I wanted to mention this to you because it's just at the time of this livestream, it's just been released. And I'm very excited about the way it's being received already. Many testimonies coming in of people having encounters with the person of the Holy Spirit. So I wanna encourage you right now, go to encounterthespirit.com and make sure that you order your copy. I'll be giving you more information about the book throughout this seminar here. Okay, let's talk about what the Holy Spirit does. This is the ministry of the Holy Spirit. And this is the effect of his power on your life. He is that power that rests upon you. Acts 1:8 declares, and ye shall receive power after that the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and ye shall be my, what? Witnesses. Witnesses. The purpose of power is proclamation. The power is not for show, it's unto a purpose, soul-winning, ministry work, kingdom expansion, edifying one another. There is always a purpose to his power. And we see, number one, that he is heaven's greatest evangelist. John 16:7-11. But in fact, it is best for you that I go away, because if I don't, the Advocate won't come. If I do go away, then I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God's righteousness, and of the coming judgment. The world's sin is that it refuses to believe in me. Righteousness is available because I go to the Father and you will see me no more. Judgment will come because the ruler of this world has already been judged. These are the 3 convictions of the Holy Spirit. I talk more about it in Holy Spirit: God Within You. But for now, I wanna focus in on the fact that the Holy Spirit is the one who calls sinners to repentance. The Holy Spirit works on their heart. We, as preachers, sometimes see ourselves as salesmen trying to sell the gospel message. You don't need to do that. Believer, you present the gospel, the Holy Spirit will persuade of the gospel. I'm not saying we don't need a reason for the hope that's within us. I'm not saying we shouldn't be prepared to answer some common objections, But when it comes down to it, only the Holy Spirit can draw someone into the light. I was preaching a revival service in Southern California several years ago. And I paused for a moment as I often do, and I told the congregation, everyone just begin to pray in the Holy Spirit. So the congregation begins to pray in the Holy Spirit. And as they're praying, this was a storefront church, Off of the street, in walks in a young man, walks straight in, kneels down at the altar and begins to weep. Whoa. And so I had everyone stop. I interviewed the man. I said, why are you crying? He says, because for so long I've been trying to find God and today he found me. Well, what do you say to something like that other than, that was the Holy Spirit? Now, of course, we are to preach the gospel. You've heard it said, preach the gospel and if necessary, use words. Don't listen to that, it's nonsense. The gospel must be presented as a message, okay? But the Holy Spirit is the power behind it. He is the greatest evangelist of all time. Now, so much evangelism today is done with emotional pleading and pressure tactics. And sure, again, we should be persuasive. We should plead with the unbeliever, all the while relying upon the power of the Holy Spirit. Carnal efforts cannot produce spiritual results. That which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Luke 12:11-12 says, and when you are brought to trial in the synagogues and before rulers and authorities, don't worry about how to defend yourself or what to say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what needs to be said. Next, we see that the Holy Spirit is a masterful teacher. John 14:17, He is the Holy Spirit who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him because it isn't looking for him and doesn't recognize him. But you know him because he lives with you now and later will be in you. John 14:26. When the Father sends the Advocate as my representative, that is the Holy Spirit, he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you. The teacher has a twofold job. He reminds and he reveals. What does he remind you of? The sayings of Jesus. What does he reveal? Any other truth you need to learn on top of that. So he reminds and he reveals. He reminds you of what you've heard, but how is he supposed to remind you of a teaching you haven't heard? How is he supposed to remind you of a portion of scripture you haven't read? We must be faithful to receive the word. And the word is the substance with which the Holy Spirit builds your spiritual life. It's like this. God the Father has commissioned a work of art. Jesus is the model. The Holy Spirit is the painter. And your life, when it is yielded to God, is the blank canvas upon which the Holy Spirit paints the countenance of Christ. He's crafting in you the image of Jesus. He's perfecting you, removing that which is not of God and adding that which is of God. But He does this through the Word. John 16:13, but when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth, He will not speak on his own, but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me. 1 John 2:27, but you have received the Holy Spirit and he lives within you. So you don't need anyone to teach you what is true, for the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know, and what he teaches is true. It is not a lie. So just as he taught you, remain in fellowship with Christ. Now, this doesn't literally mean that we don't need any teachers ever, because Ephesians obviously tells us that God has given to the church teachers as a gift that we need. Rather, he is the one who confirms the truth of the gospel message at its foundational level. He's that inner witness that reveals to you truth, not just to the mind, but to the Spirit. Now, I struggled for several years to understand the scripture. And what I used to do was get my Bible, and maybe you can relate to this, I would start reading. Let's say I'm on Ezekiel 9, verse 1, 2, 3. By the time I got around to verse 10, I would stop and go, wait a minute, I didn't understand anything I just read. And I'd say, okay, start over, focus now. And then I would begin to read the portion of scripture again. And then I would realize maybe by the time I got to the end of the chapter, wait a minute, I zoned out. I wasn't listening to anything that I was reading there. Or I would listen to these preachers on the radio, on television, and I would hear them preach with such precision. And there was such revelation behind what they were saying. There was weight behind the words. And I would read the scripture, not see anything. Then I would hear the same scripture preached and they would preach with eloquence. And I'm thinking, how did they see that in there? It's because I was trying to do it through carnal efforts. I was trying to do it on my own. And so I remember as an 11-year-old boy reading James chapter 1, In James chapter 1, there's a promise that if any of you lack wisdom, as an 11-year-old boy, I could say I lacked wisdom. If any of you lack wisdom, you can ask God for it. He'll give it to you. He's not gonna be angry with you for asking. So I simply prayed, Lord, you said, if I ask for wisdom, you'll give it to me. And so that's exactly what I did. Amen. And I can't say that there was perfect precision from that point on. No, of course, even to this day, there are still things I'm learning. We all should remain students of the Word of God. None of us have arrived at the place where we don't have to do any more learning. But there, I now was able to have the teacher alongside me. You realize that you can have the one who authored this book sit alongside you as you read it and teach you. Now, of course, we must study to show ourselves approved unto God. There's a way to rightly divide the word. It's not just like a horoscope where you can point to a verse and say, well, there's that verse and this is what it means to me today. The Holy Spirit, when he inspired the scripture, inspired the scripture with intention, with meaning. And you have to ask, what is the original intent of what was inspired in the word? And as you give yourself to do the practical study, the Holy Spirit will do the supernatural and give divine revelation. So information informs, revelation transforms. He's the ever-present Comforter. John 14, beginning at verse 15. If you love me, obey my commands, and I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him because it isn't looking for him and doesn't recognize him. But you know him because he lives with you now and later will be in you. No, I will not abandon you as orphans. I will come to you. So there we have the ever-present Comforter, the Holy Spirit abiding with us to encourage us when we feel discouraged, to comfort us when we face tragedy, I think one of the greatest misconceptions in terms of doctrine today in the church world is this doctrine of entitlement, where we imagine that if we do everything this book says, that we will never have a struggle, that we will never have a problem. Nothing could be further from the truth. Jesus lived in perfection, and the will of the Father was for him to be crucified. So if Jesus was persecuted, we'll be persecuted. Amen. The rain falls on the just and the unjust alike. The sun shines on the just and the unjust alike. We are all going to face trials. The question is, are you one who has the Holy Spirit within you as a believer, or are you going through this life without his help? And as Christians, we have the Holy Spirit, but are we aware of that presence that abides with us? The Holy Spirit is the mighty intercessor. I love this right here, Romans 8:26-27. Romans 8:26-27. And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don't know what God wants us to pray for, but the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. I feel like I have to stand up to preach this part here. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God's own will. Okay, there's so much here. We're gonna unpack this right now. The Holy Spirit, first of all, prays, and the Holy Spirit prays for you. He helps us in our weakness. For example, we don't know what God wants us to pray for. Have you ever gone to the prayer room and not know what to say? Or maybe you've heard these sermons from pastors and teachers who talk about how they prayed for several hours and you're going, well, what did you say that whole time? Were you pacing? Were you sitting? Were you lying down? Were you praying in tongues? Were you praying for others? Were you praying for yourself? Were you praying out loud? Were you praying in your mind? Did you pray in tongues at all? These are the questions that arise, aren't they? Yet the Holy Spirit, when we don't know what to pray, is praying for us. Now remember, where does the Holy Spirit dwell? In us. So the prayer's coming from deep within. That's why, have you ever noticed, maybe you have a bad week, and I mean spiritually, you feel a little dry, You miss a couple moments of prayer. You're not reading as much of the scripture as you know you should be. And there's just this lack of spiritual enthusiasm. Maybe Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, you're feeling this Thursday, but then all of a sudden you wake up on a Friday morning and there's this fresh wind that moves through you. Where did that come from? You didn't do anything to cause it. It was the Holy Spirit praying for you. It was the Holy Spirit interceding. And that prayer broke through. We don't know what God wants us to pray for, but the Holy Spirit prays for us. Watch this, with groanings. What does that mean? There's fervency. There's passion, zeal. The Holy Spirit doesn't just whisper little prayers for you. He prays with fire. His voice would shake the building. So these strong, passionate prayers that cannot be expressed in words, he's praying for you. The Holy Spirit knows you better than anyone else knows you. He knows the good things you think. He knows the bad things you think. He knows when you obey and he sees the compromise. He knows your motives. He knows your secrets. He knows your past. He knows your future. He can hear conversations that people are having about you that you cannot hear. He can see the intent in the heart of the people, in the hearts of the people around you. And the Holy Spirit who knows you better than anyone else knows you, prays for you like no one else can pray for you. And it's with passion and love and care down to the last detail. How many of you have ever seen the passion of a praying mother? Or the passion of praying grandparents? I have my grandparents right here on the front row. This is a powerful, Holy Spirit-filled couple right here. Amen. We call them Poppy and Nonny. And yes, they're your Poppy and Nonny too. So if you see them, that's Poppy and Nonny, okay? And if that doesn't suit you, Pastor Manchas. Pastor, yeah, Pastor Mancha. Now, think of the love they pray with, but the Holy Spirit prays for you With more love, more passion than a parent would pray for a child. He prays for you with more love, more passion than a grandparent would pray for a grandchild. Noni, I don't know if you remember this. I was a little boy, and this is a good story, by the way. You all may hear it and misunderstand, but I understand. It's a— we as a family understand. But she sits me on the bathroom sink. I think you were combing my hair. And you begin to tell me about how much you love me. And I say, well, do you love me more than this person or that person? You're saying, yes, yes. Yes. And I said, well, what about Jesus? Do you love me more than Jesus? You said, no. You said, I love Jesus more than I love you. Now, some might say, that's so cruel. How could you tell a child that? But my confidence wasn't shaken. I didn't mope and say, oh, I guess my grandmother doesn't love me that much. I thought, I know how much my grandmother loves me. Remember, Noni? Higher than the mountains, deeper than the sea. That's what she would tell me. She still does. So what I said was, she must really, really, really love Jesus. And so that love, is a perfect example of the Holy Spirit's love for you. And he prays for you 24/7. You've got prayer support. You know, some people you call, they would answer if they were awake. I have very good friends. If they're awake, they'll answer my call if I need prayer. But if they're asleep, there's no answer coming. And maybe family members misunderstand you. And maybe certain friends have abandoned you. And sometimes you feel like you have no support, no connection. My friend, the Holy Spirit's praying for you constantly. And he prays precise, perfected prayers. Praise the Lord. Tailor-made for you. So the Holy Spirit is a mighty intercessor. Now, this next one, I wanna be careful with the way I describe it. I first wrote about this concept back in 2015 in my book, Carriers of the Glory. I'm gonna say the phrase and then let me explain it first. The Holy Spirit is the one who makes Jesus real. Now, I am not saying that Jesus is not real. is fake until the Holy Spirit comes along. I'm not saying that Jesus is immaterial until the Holy Spirit makes him material. I'm saying the Holy Spirit makes you aware of the reality of Jesus. Now, we've already read John 15:26, he will testify all about me. John 14:13-15, the Holy Spirit will glorify me, is what Jesus said. Anything that is Spirit-filled will be Jesus-centered. That's how you know. In fact, Paul the Apostle in 1 Corinthians chapter 12, right up until I believe verse 3 or 4, he shares with us how we can discern between demonic power and the power of the Holy Spirit. Remember, because when he was writing about the spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12, he was writing to former pagans. He says, I don't want you to misunderstand these spiritual gifts because of your former lifestyle. They had tapped into demonic power and he didn't want them mixing this up and confusing Holy Spirit power with demonic power. He's saying it's very different. He says, so no one speaking by the Spirit will say, Jesus is cursed. And no one can say, Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit. Now, he wasn't saying that you couldn't say the phrase, Jesus is Lord. You know, I like to say I'm charismatic to the bone. And if you call me hyper charismatic, I'll take it as a compliment, not a criticism. But we have our charismatic myths, if you will. So we have this idea that if someone's, not a believer or someone's demonized, they can't say the phrase, Jesus is Lord. That's where it comes from, that portion of scripture. But he wasn't talking about the phrase, you can't say Jesus is Lord. He's saying the message you speak, your lifestyle won't point to Jesus being Lord if you're operating in demonic power. And so the Holy Spirit, his power will always point to Jesus. And you've gotta be very careful, especially if you operate in healing ministry, deliverance ministry, prophetic ministry. Now you can, with any gift, make the mistake of glorifying a man or a woman, but especially with those supernatural demonstrations, people begin to credit you or see you as greater than, and that's very dangerous. The human ego was not meant to handle that type of praise. I remember one time I was shaking hands with people after a service, and a woman came up to me very quickly, said, hey, I just, I was healed, I just wanna thank you. I said, God bless you. I turned to the next person. It was a little bit of a rush because we needed to clear the building, and I was trying to say hello to as many people as possible. And as she's walking away, the Holy Spirit convicts me and says, you go tell her you didn't heal her. That's right. And so I had to go find her and tell her and say, listen, I know you know this, but I need to say this. And I was saying, Holy Spirit, why did you have me do that? He says, it's because that's how it starts. You take just a little bit of the credit, but the Holy Spirit's always gonna point to Jesus. Why? Because he vivifies the Savior. When we were hosting one of our first Encounter services, this was in a city called Paramount, California. I was probably about 16 or 17 years old at the time. And I remember we were preparing for the service, and I was there with the worship team and the ushers, and we were praying over all the seats in the sanctuary. And I remember I was joining hands with all of the different volunteers and members of our team, and we began to pray. And all of a sudden, I could sense the manifestation of the presence of the Holy Spirit. Many of you who've been in our services, you know what I'm talking about, or watched it online, you know what I'm talking about. It's like the air becomes thick all of a sudden. Okay, so I'm standing there, the presence of Jesus becomes real. I feel like weeping, I feel this weight, I feel that the glory, the beauty, the majesty, that inspires reverence in my heart. And I became so aware of the presence of Jesus. I said, Jesus is here. And my team just kinda said, amen, praise God. I said, no, no, no, no, no, no, Jesus is here. I was seeing it, they weren't. I said, no, no, Jesus is here. They said, yes, amen, praise God. I said, no, listen. Jesus is here. When I said that again, that glory thickened. It became weightier. And one of the team members falls to the ground, begins to weep. The other one starts literally running around the building. The presence of the Holy Spirit caused the reality of Jesus to become manifested before our very eyes. And then that manifestation carried over into the service. A woman came out of a wheelchair that night, was healed. It was very, very, very heavy manifestation of power. Now, these are deep realities of the Spirit. There is the omnipresence of God. There is the indwelling presence of God. There is the manifested presence of God. The indwelling presence, that's the Holy Spirit. Now, I'll say it this way. The Holy Spirit is always with you. We say things like, oh, during the worship, the power of the Holy Spirit fell, or the presence of God came into the room. My friend, that's not what's happening. It's not that the presence is coming closer, it's that you're becoming more aware by the Spirit. Amen. So the indwelling presence, that's the Holy Spirit within you. Now get this, the omnipresence of God is his awareness of everything, but the manifested presence of God is your awareness of him. So this is why sometimes you can feel the power of the Holy Spirit on you and sometimes not. You think I feel the electric currents of God's healing power all the time? No, not while I'm changing diapers. Not while I'm arguing with my daughter about going to bed and she's acting shocked Every single night, as if it's never happened before. And I'm telling her, Aria, every night, the same thing happens, and you're shocked all over again. Or when I'm tired after a long trip, and I come home, and I'm just resting on the couch with my family, or I'm being forced to sing a song again, and again, and again, and again, and again, which I love doing. But when you're tired, you know, your vocals. I'm not feeling the tangible presence of the Holy Spirit 24/7, but there are those special moments. Amen. And see, here's the problem is so many believers are obsessed with, I have to have an encounter with God. I have to have the experience is what they mean by that. Encounters with God, you should live in an encounter. And you do by the Holy Spirit. But we become so obsessed with what I'm gonna feel in my body emotionally, what I'm gonna see in the prophetic. Those are wonderful manifestations, but they're not 24/7. And you couldn't function if that was 24/7. You should see our services, people being carried off the platform. I pray that lifts before they drive home. Amen. These are temporary physical manifestations, but they're of the Holy Spirit. And so the Holy Spirit will intensify the reality of Christ before you. He does it through the Word and he does it through worship. And so that's one of the works of the Holy Spirit. He makes Jesus real. And there's so much more that he does. He helps us to pray. Zechariah 12:10 tells us that he's the Spirit of prayer and supplication. Do you realize that you can pray anytime you want to, but the Holy Spirit is the one who gives you the want-to? Can I pray anytime I want? Yes, but you're only going to want to pray when you're invited. Therefore, the desire to pray is itself an invitation to prayer. The Holy Spirit is calling you in. You ever sense those nudges throughout the day where the Holy Spirit will say, come away just for a moment? Yes. Or wake up just a little earlier and spend some time with me, or stay up just a little later. Or if you're like me, he's waking you up at 2, 3 in the morning often, and he's giving you people to pray for, things to pray for, situations to pray over. So the Holy Spirit gives you the desire to pray. The Holy Spirit gives you the power to pray. The Holy Spirit gives you the faith when you're praying. The Holy Spirit gives you the persistence in prayer. He gives you focus while you're praying. From beginning to end, the Holy Spirit is the one who helps you to pray. He's our power unto holiness, Galatians 5:16. You walk in the Spirit, you will not fulfill desires of the flesh. Now, some believers think, and I mentioned this at the top of the message here, Some believers think that when you make a mistake, the Holy Spirit just flutters away. And this kind of becomes a burden on God's people, doesn't it? Where you feel like, I have the Holy Spirit, I don't have the Holy Spirit. I have the Holy Spirit, I don't have the Holy Spirit. I have the Holy Spirit, I don't have the Holy Spirit. This week I did good. I prayed every day, I read the Bible every day, I went to church a couple of times, I donated some money, the Holy Spirit is in me now. Amen. But you know what, yesterday I skipped prayer. Maybe the Holy Spirit fluttered away. It's within you, without, within you, without, within you. That's not the way it works. He that is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him. If I were to take 2 glasses of water and pour them into one vessel, you could not tell one water from the other apart. Nor could you separate for yourself the waters again. Merged with you, one with you, union with the Holy Spirit. Ask yourself this, what sense would it make for God to remove from you your only power to be holy as a punishment for you not being holy? So the Holy Spirit Abides to help you walk in holiness. The Holy Spirit helps us to worship. John 4:24, we are to worship in spirit and in truth. What does this mean? You can sing without a revelation. You can clap your hands without a revelation. You could dance around the church, wave your flags, wave your hands without a revelation, but you cannot worship without a revelation. Revelation is something that takes place in the Spirit. All true worship is a response to a revelation. Look all throughout the scripture. When did they cry, holy, holy, holy? When they saw him. When they would catch a glimpse of him, they would fall before him in worship, awestruck by the majesty, the beauty, the splendor of who he is. So that revelation, that seeing him by the Spirit, That revelation of his nature, of his power, of his will, that is what causes within us a spiritual reaction, not an emotional one, not a physical one. And many Christians try to begin worship in the physical and the emotional. Can we get deeper in this just a moment here? Remember when I talked about that which is born of the flesh is flesh, that which is born of the Spirit is spirit? Here's what many believers do. They attempt to conjure a connection with God through exterior expression. Now, let me be clear. Clap your hands, all you people, shout unto God with a voice of triumph. That's biblical. You should clap, you should sing, you should shout, you should dance, you should rejoice in the presence of God. Nothing wrong with that, that's biblical. However, if you are trying to work up an encounter with God through those actions alone, that is an attempt to connect to the Spirit by the flesh. If you're trying to conjure a connection with God through emotion alone, if I cry enough, if I yell enough, if I get really, really tense and I really, really want that, Then maybe I'll have an encounter with God. Wait a minute. To attempt to connect with the spiritual through physical means is by its nature religious, because religion is always ritualistic. Emotion, that's just our own attempt at manipulating God into a response. We cry because we wanna guilt him into doing something for us. But God isn't moved by emotion. He's moved by faith, and faith is of the Spirit. And so what happens is, maybe I'll be reading the Word, and that truth gets deposited into my heart. And the Holy Spirit, as he did in Genesis 1:2, begins to hover over that spoken Word, begins to cultivate it, begins to give me revelation of it. He brings it to life for me. And then when I see it, something erupts. That worship comes from the Spirit through the emotions. Yes, it'll affect your emotions. And it comes out as an expression of hands lifted or a shout or tears. That begins in the Spirit. So Spirit and truth. Truth is the revelation of the word, the revelation of who Jesus is. And the Spirit is the Holy Spirit using that revelation to inspire worship. All true worship is a response to revelation. Worship is giving God glory as I see his glory. And that's by the Spirit. Let me show you something in Romans 8:15, another work of the Holy Spirit. Romans 8:15. Romans 8:15. This is what Paul writes. So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God's Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him Abba Father. I'll read verse 16 too. For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God's children. Okay. One of the greatest works of the Holy Spirit is to convince you that you belong to God. Because isn't the battle for your identity one of the toughest battles you face? Yeah. You ever gone to church and you see people worshiping and praising, and you know what you did that past week and you feel like a hypocrite? You may come around people and feel like, well, I'm not really one of these, or I don't really belong. And that's the enemy lying to you. You may say, I feel like a fake. And I wanna tell you something to encourage you, so don't take this the wrong way. The good news is when you sin, you are absolutely a fake. You're a fake sinner. That's not who you truly are. You are not a wolf in sheep's clothing. You are sheep in wolf's clothing. You are acting outside of the new nature. And so when we feel distant from God, When we feel like we don't belong to him, the Holy Spirit affirms, this is a son of God. This is a child of God. This one belongs to me. Think about this. Your struggle with your flesh is proof you belong to God. Amen. You say, how can that be? Because if you didn't have the Holy Spirit, you wouldn't be struggling with sin, you would just be sinning. The fact that there is a resistance to that sin, the fact that there is a resistance to those desires, the fact that there's a fight for holiness is proof that the Holy Spirit is in you fighting for that holiness. Amen. So the struggle is proof you belong to him. This is not an affirmation of your compromise. This is a call to act in your true nature. Because even when you struggle, the Holy Spirit is fighting on your behalf. He affirms that we are children of God. Amen. The Holy Spirit gives you boldness. Boldness is not a personality trait, it is a spiritual trait. In Acts chapter 2, we see that Peter, who denied Jesus, Stands up on the day of Pentecost and preaches to thousands, and 3,000 are added to the church number that day. Think about this. How many times did Peter deny Jesus? 1, 2? 3. How many thousand did he win at Pentecost? 1, 2? 3,000. 3,000. I'm not saying it was denial. I'm not saying it was his denial of Jesus that won those souls. I'm saying that's redemption. For every time he denied Jesus, the Holy Spirit turns it around and he wins 1,000 to Jesus. Amen. That fresh boldness, where in one instance, he was afraid to say he was associated with Jesus, in the very next instance, he's standing before thousands declaring the gospel message to listeners who didn't even readily receive it completely. Some did, the 3,000 did, but not everyone. appreciated that message. And so the Holy Spirit gives you that boldness. Now, next I wanna show you how you receive the work of the Holy Spirit in your life. How can you experience the ministry of the Holy Spirit through you? I'll be sharing that with you in just a moment. But first, let me take a moment to tell you about my book, Holy Spirit: God Within You. This material is in the book and so much more. We cover things like embracing your divine identity as a vessel of God's Holy Spirit. You need to prepare to discover and activate the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit. There's a whole chapter on the gifts of the Holy Spirit, things like prophecy and healing and discernment. I show you how to be empowered with righteousness if you're struggling with sin, boldness, if you're a little afraid to share the gospel, joy, if you're down, and peace, if your mind is tormented. I show you how the Holy Spirit helps you to go deeper in prayer, the Word, and worship. And there's a whole chapter on hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit, very clear, practical keys to hearing him speak to you. And these are some of the topics that are covered in there. There's so much more. It's also filled with stories and experiences that I've had with the Holy Spirit. I'll share with you one of my favorites. I don't know what it is, but something about chapter 3 that to me, it was just, I guess it just represents a very special time in my life. But I'll show you just a section here, and it's found in chapter 3. Begin reading now. The spiritual momentum had returned. This time I knew it didn't depend upon me. I knew it was all him. I grew confident that he would remain with me. It was from that place of trust and rest that I enjoyed communion with the Holy Spirit. Without fail, at almost the same time every night, I could feel the air around me thicken, as if the waves of reality were themselves being altered. It almost seemed that even the color tones in my room shifted. The essence of God pressed against the room, and the earthly realm stood at attention. For hours, I would weep and tremble under the weight and beauty of God's presence. Once during that season, after falling asleep while praying and singing a worship song, I was awakened by something unusual, a breath that filled my body with an energetic cool. The sensation of that breath was so intense that it shocked me awake with a gasp. The breath I took felt like a drink of icy water, refreshing. It was like God breathed into me. My skin tingled with divine life as it surged through me. I sat up and glanced around my room, which was quiet and still. Joy filled my heart. It was as if the Holy Spirit woke me up just to say hello. Like he wanted me to finish the song, I fell asleep singing to him. Let's go to section 3 of this seminar. I wanna talk to you how to receive the work of the Holy Spirit. And one more time, you can get that book at encounterthespirit.com. Now we know that the Holy Spirit has much to offer, but sadly, many leave the reserves of the Holy Spirit's power untapped. They're not making use of that which has been deposited in them. So I wanna share with you the secret to unleashing the power and ministry of the Holy Spirit. But first, I need you to understand the nature with which God formed you. Now, man consists in 3, but unlike the Trinity, we are not 3 persons, okay? If you think you're 3 persons, I have a book on deliverance we can talk about. We'll pray over you, get you some help, okay? Man is not 3 persons, but there are different compartments, components of aspects of man's nature. So let's take a look at those 3, and then I'm gonna show you how the baptism with the Holy Spirit works. 1 Thessalonians 5:23, please. 1 Thessalonians 5:23. Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. So here we see your whole spirit, soul, and body. Type that in the comment section: spirit, soul, body. Everyone here say this: I am a spirit. Who has a soul. Who has a soul. That exists in a body. That exists in a body. Okay, so let's look now at the body. 1 Corinthians 6:19 says this, what know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? Your body, we shall call your earth suit. It's how you exist on this plane. It's how you interact with the people around you. It is your connection to this world. That's why to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord, because your body is what tethers the soul to the earthly realm. Now, it is not inherently evil. Religion will teach you that your body is evil. Well, if that were true, why would the Holy Spirit make it his home? Why would we present our bodies as a living sacrifice if our bodies were inherently evil? Your body is not inherently evil, but it can be used as a tool for evil. So when you read the writings of Paul, sometimes when he uses the word flesh, he's talking about the sin nature. And other times when he uses the word flesh, he's talking about your physical body. This is why you have to look at the context The context will dictate the meaning of the word. This means that you can enjoy a good meal with your spouse and not feel guilty. This means you should take your children to the park and have a nice day. Enjoy the sunshine, enjoy the grass, enjoy the greenery, enjoy a nice swim, enjoy a day out. God gave us blessings even in this world. He created this earth. This earth reflects the tastes of God. When God formed the earth, he saw that it is good. So he gives us blessings to enjoy. Many Christians are of the belief that the more miserable they are, the more spiritual they are. But this is not an evil vessel unless it's used for evil. So, Your spirit and soul and body are to be kept blameless, meaning your body can be blameless because it's a vessel of the Holy Spirit. Now, when you try to connect with God from this realm, again, we call that religion. Next, we see your soul. This is the realm of decision, mind, will, emotions, personality. Your mind, what you think. What you think. Your will, what you desire, your emotions, what you feel, your personality, how you are. This is the neutral ground. And when you try to connect with God from this realm, it's emotional, or be careful, sometimes even New Ageism. To try to connect with God from the mind alone. That's an exterior layer of who you are. So the body, soul. Matthew 10:28 says, don't be afraid of those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Now notice when Jesus is talking about the soul and body being destroyed in hell, he does not mention the spirit being destroyed in hell. This is because those who are born again of the Spirit do not go to hell. And you can say, thank you, Jesus, for that. He redeemed us from sin and hell. He saved us. So the Spirit, once it comes alive, that is your connection with God. Now, 1 Corinthians 2:9-16, we read this portion earlier, but it's important here that we repeat it. No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him. Stop, listen. That verse, we always, I shouldn't say always, we all too often use as a reference to heaven. But this is not a reference to heaven. Look at what it says in verse 10. But it was to us that God revealed these things. That's past tense, by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God's deep secrets. No one can know a person's thoughts except that person's own spirit, and no one can know God's thoughts except God's own Spirit. And we have received God's Spirit, not the world's spirit, so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us. When we tell you these things, we do not use words that come from human wisdom, Instead, we speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit's words to explain spiritual truths. Watch this, verse 14. This will explain a lot about you here. But people who aren't spiritual can't receive these truths from God. It all sounds foolish to them. They can't understand it. This is you. For only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means. Those who are spiritual can evaluate all things, but they themselves cannot be evaluated by others. This is why people have a hard time understanding you. You're of the Spirit. For who can know the Lord's thoughts? Who knows enough to teach him? But we understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ. Amen. Now, after studying this myself, I would say that the mind of Christ is another title for the Holy Spirit. That is my opinion that I've concluded through study. I could be wrong, but that's just something I've observed there. This could be another title for the Holy Spirit because here Paul is describing this relationship that the Holy Spirit has with the Father, how the Holy Spirit receives that revelation and then gives us that revelation. We have the mind of Christ. So this is your connection with God, the source of your identity. This is who you are. You are not your body. You are not your soul. You are your spirit. That is your true identity. So watch this now. As a believer, the depths of God are already known by your spirit. I want you to think about that. You already know God. You're already connected with God. In fact, I often say we don't pray, We don't worship to connect with God. We pray from connection with God. We worship from union with God. The union's already yours the moment you were born again. And so in your spirit, you already have power, peace, love, joy, boldness, holiness, power. Hallelujah. revelation, clarity, all that God offers exists in you now by the Holy Spirit. And to be clear, no, you are not God, not even a little god. I wanna be clear on that because these are the teachings that get twisted sometimes in New Ageism. You are not God and no, you are not a little god. God is the only light. We are simply reflections, and we can only reflect him when we face him. Amen. And so that deposit has been made. 1 Corinthians 6:17, but the person who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him. Now watch this, Psalm 42:7, deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts. All thy waves and thy billows are gone over me. Okay, what is deep unto deep? Deep my spirit unto deep his spirit. No one knows you like your spirit knows you. No one knows God like his spirit knows him. And these 2 commune, these 2 are united. Therefore, spiritual growth isn't even really your spirit growing. It's when who you are in the spirit begins to affect every other aspect of your being. Revelation is not the receiving of spiritual knowledge. Revelation is when what I know in my spirit is manifested in my natural mind from deep within. So then you don't need more power. He lives in you. You don't need more peace. He lives in you. You don't need more love. He lives in you. It's not a matter of you getting more of the Holy Spirit. It's a matter of the Holy Spirit getting more of you. And that's what the baptism of the Holy Spirit is. So I wanna do away with some of the confusion because people often ask, well, when is the Holy Spirit received? If you reference Romans 8:9, Romans 8:14-16, Ephesians 1:13-14, you'll see quite clearly that the Holy Spirit lives in you the moment of salvation. That is the baptism with the Holy Spirit. And this can sound confusing because I already know we're scratching our heads going, well, what about that secondary experience where you pray in tongues? We're gonna get to that because that is also The baptism with the Holy Spirit. You say, how can that be? It's because the baptism with the Holy Spirit is both a well and a river. It's both an initial experience and a continual state of being. I'll put it to you this way. At salvation, the Holy Spirit fills you like water in a cup. Throughout your life, the Holy Spirit will fill you like wind in a sail. Ephesians 5:18, that term be filled in the original language is speaking of a continual flow of the Holy Spirit's influence and power. So if Romans 8:9, for example, says that you need the Holy Spirit to be a child of God, that means you can't be a child of God unless you have the Holy Spirit. But then what about this second experience? Well, let's look at a few examples. John 20:22, Jesus breathes on his disciples, says, receive the Holy Spirit. Many of these same disciples are found in Acts chapter 2, when the Holy Spirit comes upon them. And then we see Saul, for example, he was converted, And after he was converted, he receives the Holy Spirit, but Ananias calls him Brother Saul, meaning he's already a born-again believer when he prays over him to receive the Holy Spirit. Think about Acts chapter 4, where even after having received the Holy Spirit in Acts chapter 2, many members who were present at the day of Pentecost also received the Holy Spirit. These aren't measures of receiving the Holy Spirit as in they didn't have him. They're not getting more and more. I got a little piece of his power there, and I got a little piece of his power there, and a little piece of his power there. That deposit was made. Rather, what's happening here is that as they are surrendering, that influence is being given a place in their life. Amen. So you're not receiving more of him, he's gaining more influence in your life. So the Holy Spirit upon you and the Holy Spirit within you are 2 different expressions of his presence. The Holy Spirit is within me for salvation, upon me for service. The Holy Spirit is within me for fellowship, upon me for ministry. The Holy Spirit within me stills me. The Holy Spirit upon me stirs me. These are different facets of his nature. And so then we look at what it means to be baptized with the Holy Spirit. I'll show you now, John 7:38-39. So remember this picture, body, soul, spirit. Spirit dwells in you, union with God, all that you need, He has for you within. Now watch this, this is powerful. I'll read it from the NASB, John 7:38-39. This is Jesus speaking now. He who believes in me, as the scripture said, from his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water. But this he spoke of the Holy Spirit, Whom those who believed in him were to receive, for the Spirit had not yet been given because Jesus was not yet glorified. Now wait a minute, wait a minute. Therefore, the baptism with the Holy Spirit, we've always pictured as rain from above, right? Baptize me in the Holy Spirit. What does it mean to be baptized? It means to be immersed, to be overcome. It's to absorb the essence of who God is. Well, the baptism with the Holy Spirit is not rain from above, it's a flood from within. So then, as I yield to the Holy Spirit, the floodwaters overflow. So to be baptized with the Holy Spirit, that happens at salvation. I'm one with him, I receive him, and now I'm drinking of the influence of that baptism for the rest of my Christianity. And as I surrender, he fills. The Holy Spirit can only fill that which is empty, and many believers who cry out for the Holy Spirit are too full of themselves to receive of his influence. Ephesians 5:18 says, don't be drunk with wine because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit. So surrender is the key. I'll tell a story and then I wanna pray for you. Years ago, I had a dream. And in my dream, I'm standing before a cavern. An opening, looked like a cave. And beside me on my right, I could see a brilliant light shining. I knew that that light represented the presence of Jesus in my life. Now, the opening of this cave was dark. I couldn't see. And I remember that the Lord asked me if we could enter the cave together. I said, yes, Lord. And we entered the cave. And the moment we stepped in, the brilliance of his light filled that space to where I could make out all the details of the cavern. And then we came to another chamber, and the Lord asked me, can we enter here? I gave him permission and we entered, and his light filled that portion of the cave. There were tunnels and openings and twists and turns, and as the dream progressed, We entered various different spaces with his light filling those spaces each time that we entered. And then we came to a certain section. And the best way I can describe this is the opening of this section was a deeper darkness. And I could feel the Lord looking at me. I was completely transparent to him. He knew my thoughts, my secrets, my motives. Everything. And his look was piercing. I could feel it piercing my soul. And the Lord asked me if we could enter this room. And I don't know why, I've asked the Lord about it. I have some speculation, but nothing very deep that I can think of. I'm saying, Lord, what was this? And I think it was just an illustration he was giving me because there was this hesitation. I was fighting. I was nervous. I was saying, Lord, I don't know. I don't know if I wanna let you in that room. I don't know if I wanna give you everything. And I fought and wrestled. And finally I just yielded. And I, he was very patient with me. Finally I said, okay, Lord, let's enter. We enter. His light filled the room. And then I woke up. And I asked the Holy Spirit about the meaning of this. And the Holy Spirit revealed to me that these were, sections of my heart, different areas of my mind, my life. And isn't that what we do sometimes? Holy Spirit's all in. He's never held anything back from you. Don't hold anything back from him. He's never given you a reason to doubt him. He's never failed you. Give him the unforgiveness. Let his influence fill that space. Give him the secret sin. Let him cleanse you. Give him the stubbornness of your heart. Let him break you. Give him your pride. Learn to rely on him. Give him the depression. Let him be your joy. Give him the anxiety. He'll fill you with peace. Give him the confusion. He'll show you the way. Give him your time. He'll speak to you. Give him your attention. He'll reveal himself to you. Obey what he's told you to do and he'll bless it. Stop doing what he's told you to stop doing and he'll favor you. For every way you surrender, he'll bless you. And for every chamber You give to him, he'll fill you with power from on high. How do you experience the influence of the baptism with the Holy Spirit that you received at salvation? Trust and obey. Obey him. Obey him when it's convenient. Obey him when it's inconvenient. Obey him when it makes sense. Obey him when it doesn't make sense. Trust and obey. Everyone, hands lifted, praying out loud in the Holy Spirit, please. Father, in the name of Jesus, teach us to yield, Lord. Teach us to surrender that we might experience more of the influence of the precious Holy Spirit. May we say in our lives, may we say in our ministries, may we say in our minds and hearts, welcome Holy Spirit and do as only you can do. We give it to you. Precious Lord, fill us, every aspect of our being. And help us to surrender in Jesus' name. That flow of his power, his Spirit begins within. And when it affects the soul, it's clarity, it's joy, it's peace, it's righteous thinking. When it reaches the exterior aspect of your nature, when it reaches the body, It becomes healing and deliverance and prophecy and ministry and the gift of tongues. Well, that's what it is. It's the flow of his power. So Lord, let that power flow in our lives every day. Help us to yield more and more. And everyone present said amen. Type it in the comment section if you believe that. Say amen. Amen. Amen. One more time, I want to mention, Holy Spirit: God Within You. Hear his voice, experience his presence, and move in his power. Everything we covered here in this seminar is covered in the book and much, much more. Now go out and get your copy. Get one for a friend. This book is already gaining so much momentum. I'm overwhelmed at the response. that we've been seeing. But church, it's time that the Holy Spirit be introduced to this generation. It's time again to see the power of the Holy Ghost in our churches. It's time again to see his influence. I don't know about you, but I'm tired of seeing the Holy Spirit be pushed back to back rooms and special services, not in front of the visitors, Not in front of the new converts, not in front of the critics. I'm not ashamed of the Holy Spirit. I say, welcome, Holy Spirit. Welcome, Holy Spirit. And so if that's you, you wanna join this movement, because really it's a movement, it's his movement, and there's nothing that's gonna stop it. So you might as well get on board. But help us spread the word about the influence of the Holy Spirit, about his power, about friendship with the Holy Spirit. And get Holy Spirit: God Within You one more time, available at encounterthespirit.com. You can also pick it up at your local bookstore, but you can help add momentum to this steam that this book is gaining by going out today, right now, as soon as you hear this message, and getting your copy. I thank you. I love you in the name of Jesus. And until next time, remember, nothing is impossible. Nothing is impossible. With God. Clear?