UNDER THE INFLUENCE

John 14:16 - 17

16  And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 

17  Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. 

The Englishman, John Newton, whose

hymn ‘Amazing Grace’ was poured

from his repentant spirit after years of

running slave ships, once said that

there were some books, which he

could not read. They were good and

sound enough; but, he said, "they are

books that you have to read so

much of them before you get any

value from them; there are other

books that are better. But I have

one book that from beginning to end is

valuable. Every page is of great value."

Every time that I preach to you I

come from that book that contains

valuable information for life. Today’s

is a message on one of the most

precious promises of Jesus Christ.

UNDER THE INFLUENCE

In our scripture today, Jesus is

teaching his disciples about the

person and work of the Holy Ghost. We

are so accustomed to hearing about

the influence of the Holy Ghost in our

lives and its sacred work, that we are

apt to forget that the Holy Ghost is

actually a person – one of three

persons in the Godhead. Some think

of the Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit as an

emotion flowing from the Father and

the Son.

Our perception is influenced by our

secular beliefs about ghosts. We

seldom think of the Holy Ghost as

an actual person. I know it is not easy

to envision the Holy Ghost as a

person. It’s easy to think of the Father

as a person, because we can

understand His actions. We live in the

world He has created. We can conceive

of Him as a person, because we

behold his creations – the rising of the

sun, the burst of stars in the nightly

sky, the cry of a newborn baby. We can

realize Jesus, the Son of Man, as a real

person, because he was made flesh

and lived among mankind. It doesn’t

take a great stretch of the imagination

to picture the babe in Bethlehem, or to

behold the "Man of sorrows and

acquainted with grief" who was

persecuted in Pilate's hall, and nailed

to a cross on Calvary for our sins. And

we don’t find it difficult to imagine

Jesus sitting on his throne in heaven,

calling the earth to judgment, and

interceding for us when we pray. But

when it comes to the Holy Ghost, his

operations are so mysterious, his

doings are so secret, his acts are so

removed from everything that makes

sense to us, that its difficult for us to

envision Him as a person.

BUT, a person he is! And as a person,

the Holy Ghost has a personality. So

today, I want to focus on three points

regarding the Holy Ghost – His

personage, His personality, and man’s

rejection of Him.

First, the Holy Ghost is a Person.

The Holy Ghost is not some influence,

some emotion, some stream of

something flowing from the Father. He

is an individual specified characteristic

of the Father. He as much an actual

person as God the Father, and God the

Son. The first proof we have is found in

our baptism ceremony. At baptism, we

pronounce these solemn words, "I

baptize you in obedience of the

command of our Lord Jesus Christ in

the name of the Father, Son, and Holy

Ghost."

Notice that I said IN THE NAME, not IN

THE NAMES. Everyone who is baptized

according to the true form laid down

in Scripture must receive all three:

otherwise his baptism is not complete

and he himself is a deceiver and a

hypocrite or is being deceived before

God. The unified three are mentioned

individually for a reason – each is a

PERSON of the Godhead. But because

they are unified into ONE PERSON, we

say that we baptize in THE NAME OF,

rather than in the NAMES OF the

Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. If

the Holy Ghost were nothing more

than a mere influence, he would not

be mentioned in conjunction with the

person of the Father and the Son.

Another proof that the Holy Ghost is a

person is in the actual appearance of

the Holy Ghost on earth.

He has shown himself to man. He has

put on a form, so that, though mortal

man has not actually seen Him, we

have seen His presence with our eyes.

At the river Jordan. Jesus Christ, the

Son of God, emerges from a great

crowd and descends into the stream,

and John the Baptist plunges him into

the water.

Suddenly, the doors of heaven are

opened and the Spirit of God descends

in the form of a dove. He rests on

Jesus. And God the Father said that

this is my beloved Son in whom I am

well pleased. (Matthew 3:13-17) He

descended like a dove from heaven to

show that it is from God alone.

But this is not the only time when the

Holy Ghost appeared in a visible

shape.

Another proof recorded in Acts,

chapter one. The disciples are

gathered together in an upper room;

they are waiting for the promise from

the father Then suddenly, there is a

sound, like a rushing mighty wind.

Cloven tongues of fire sit upon them.

What were these marvelous

appearances of wind and fire, if they

were not the visible manifestation

of the Holy Ghost in person?

I declare that if the Holy Ghost can

manifest himself VISIBLY, He must be a

person. An influence or an attribute

cannot do that. We cannot see

attributes; we cannot behold

influences. The Holy Ghost must, then,

be a person, the third person of the

Godhead.

Second, the Holy Ghost has a personality.

For the best description of the

personality of the Holy Spirit, we need

to read 1 Corinthians 2:9-11 . "But as it is written, eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepare for them that love him. But God have revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? Even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God."

It’s clear that the power of God’s

knowledge is part of the Holy Spirit’s

personality. He has a specific duty to

perform at the command of the Father.

And He is given the power to do it. But

there is also a WILL ascribed to Him.

1 Corinthians 12:11 says, "But all these worketh that one and the self-same spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will."

When it comes to spiritual gifts, it’s

the Holy Spirit who decides WHO gets

WHAT by the direction of the Father.

So it’s clear that the Holy Spirit has a

WILL. His will is always in keeping with

the will of the Father. So the

personality of the Holy Spirit consists

of POWER and of WILL.

He used His POWER to impregnate the

earth with life. This world was once a

mass of chaotic matter, there was no

order. But God the Holy Ghost spread

his wings over it and sowed seeds of

life into it. He used His WILL to

influence the work of the patriarchs

of the faith. "Holy men of old spake as

they were moved by the Holy Ghost."

When Moses penned the Pentateuch,

the Holy Ghost moved his hand. When

David wrote the Psalms, and played

sweet music on his harp, it was the

Holy Ghost who gave his fingers their

motion. When Solomon dropped from

his lips the words of the proverbs

of wisdom, or when he hymned the

Canticles of love, it was the Holy

Ghost who gave him words of

knowledge and hymns of love. It was

the Holy Ghost’s fire that touched the

lips of Isaiah, and moved to protect

Daniel in the lion’s den. It was the

Holy Ghost who took Ezekiel and

made him speak words from God. It

was the Holy Ghost who made Amos,

the herdsman, a prophet. It was the

Holy Ghost who taught the rugged

Haggai to pronounce his thundering

words.

Who was it in each of these “called”

men of God, if not the Holy Ghost, who

spoke in and through these ancient

witnesses? And the Holy Ghost is still

dealing with us today. It’s the power

and the will of God through the Holy

Ghost that regenerates your soul and

‘quickens’ you. Ephesians 2:1 says

"You hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins"

It is the Holy Ghost who pricks our

heart, convincing us of sin, of

righteousness, and of judgment

to come. And it is the Holy Ghost, who,

after that flame is kindled, fans it with

His breath to keep it alive.

Yes, the Holy Ghost speaks to us

through His power and will to direct

our every move. But there are other

aspects of His personality that we

need to consider.

He is sensitive. Ephesians 4:30 says

that the Holy Spirit can be grieved:

"Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God,

whereby ye are sealed unto the day of

redemption." He can be annoyed or

irritated. Isaiah 63:10 says, “But they

rebelled, and vexed his Holy Spirit;

therefore he was turned to be their

enemy, and he fought against them."

He can be resisted. Acts 7:51 says, "Ye

stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart

and ears, ye do always resist the Holy

Ghost; as your fathers did, so do ye."

And He can be challenged. In Acts 5:9,

Peter said, "How is it that ye have

agreed together to tempt the Spirit of

the Lord?"

All of these emotions can only be

ascribed to a PERSON.

Which brings me to my final point about the Holy Ghost…He can be rejected.

Till now, we have only discussed

matters of pure doctrine…who the

Holy Spirit IS, and what He DOES. But

this third point is a matter of what

man does.

Our text says that God would send the

Comforter, who would abide in the

saints forever. This Comforter, the Holy

Ghost, would dwell with them, and be

in them. "Know ye not that ye are the

temple of the Holy Ghost? for he

dwelleth in you"?(1 Cor. 3:16)

But our text also reads that the world

cannot receive him because it seeth

him not, neither knoweth him.

So why do people reject Him? The

scripture says the world cannot

receive Him, because it does not see

Him, and does not know Him. In other

words, you have to KNOW Him to SEE

Him (John 14:17). The unregenerate

world of sinners despises the Holy

Ghost, "because it seeth him not."This

is the great secret why so many laugh

at the idea of the existence of the Holy

Ghost – it’s because they can’t SEE

Him. They are looking for something

tangible; something they can put their

hands on, or feast their eyes upon.

But child of God you know him, for he

lives with you and is in you. 

And since you’ve been saved you have

lived under the influence of the Holy

Ghost.

Believers know when to call for help

from the Holy Ghost. When we have

difficulties, we ask for the direction of

the Holy Ghost. When we do not

understand a portion of Scripture,

we ask God to allow the Holy Ghost to

shine the light of understanding upon us.

When we are depressed, the Holy

Ghost comforts us. And the Spirit

does more…much more. Romans 8:26

tells us that the Spirit helps us with

our infirmities, and makes intercession

for us. In other words, the Spirit helps

to clean us up and keep us holy. The

Holy Ghost pulls back the hand of the

saint who is about to touch something

forbidden; He prompts us to be true

with our words; He binds our feet, lest

they should slip and fall into sin. He

restrains our heart, and keeps us from

temptation.

Am I preaching to anybody under the

influence of the Holy Ghost right now!

If you are under the influence of the

Holy Ghost, let me hear you shout,

YEAH!!!

(Holy Ghost take us home.)