1.     The big difference between adherents of true Christianity and followers of false Christianity (for example, the cults) is their understanding of the Lord Jesus Christ.

2.     For example, the Jehovah's Witness cult denies that Jesus is God.

3.     Another error common to all cults is their doctrine of works-salvation.

4.     And yet another mark of the false cults is their erroneous understanding of the Holy Spirit.   For example, the Jehovah's Witnesses teach that the Holy Spirit is "the invisible active force of God, and not a separate Person in the Godhead."

5.     However, while true Christians claim to believe in the person of the Holy Spirit, and the deity of the Holy Spirit, many do not really know the Holy Spirit.

6.     But Jesus said in John 14:17, "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."

7.     One hundred years ago, evangelist J. Wilbur Chapman said, "Nothing could be more important, in these days, than a clear discernment of the character and the work of the Holy Spirit. There is perhaps more ignorance concerning him than any other part of revealed truth.  By many he is regarded as an undefinable influence.  By many others he is supposed to come and go in a vague sort of way" (Received Ye the Holy Ghost?)

8.     Before one can correctly understand the work of the Holy Spirit, he must first of all know the Holy Spirit himself.

9.     Today many churches are dryer than a bird's nest.  The preacher is dry, the members are dry, the singing is dry, etc.

10. The baptistery is dry too because no one is getting saved, and no one is getting baptized.

11. On the other hand, some churches are quite lively but there is much immorality, false doctrine, and emotionalism.  In fact, many Christians mistake emotionalism for the work of the Holy Spirit.

12. Evangelist R. A. Torrey said, "A frequent source of error and fanaticism about the work of the Holy Spirit is the attempt to study and understand His work without, first of all, coming to know Him as a person."   "To know Him as a person" is what I would like to preach about this morning (cf. John 14:17). 

I. THE PERSONALITY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

1.      Regrettably, to many people the Holy Spirit is merely a gracious influence emanating from God or some mysterious power that God imparts to us.

2.      But according to Scripture, the Holy Spirit is a real Person, just as real as the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.

3.      In John 14, 15, and 16, the Lord Jesus explains that the Holy Spirit is our Comforter -- an ever-present, loving Friend and Helper, who is always by our side.

4.      Furthermore, our Lord said in John 14:17 that "he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you."

5.      The Holy Spirit dwells in our hearts permanently -- "that he may abide with you for ever" (John 14:16).

6.      The Holy Spirit dwells in our hearts every day and every hour, and that cannot change because the Bible says we are "sealed" with the Holy Spirit (Eph. 1:13; 4:30; II Cor. 1:22).

7.      R. A. Torrey said, "Thousands of ministers, Christian workers and Christians in the humblest spheres of life have spoken to me, or written to me, of the complete transformation of their Christian experience that came to them when they grasped the thought (not merely in a theological, but in an experimental way) that the Holy Spirit was a Person, and consequently came to know Him."

8.      When we say the Holy Spirit is a person, we do not mean that the Holy Spirit has hands and feet and eyes and ears and mouth, and so on.  These are not the characteristics of personality, but of bodily existence

9.      When we say the Holy Spirit is a person, we mean that He has feelings, intelligence, and a will. Any entity that thinks and feels and wills is a person.

10. All of these characteristics or marks of personality are repeatedly ascribed to the Holy Spirit in both the Old and the New Testament.

11. We read in 1 Corinthians 2:10, "But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God."

12. Here intelligence and knowledge are ascribed to the Holy Spirit.  The Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit is not merely an influence that illuminates our minds to comprehend the truth but a Being who Himself knows the truth.

13. In fact, our Lord referred to Him as "the Spirit of truth" in John 14:17; 15:26; and 16:13.

14. In 1 Corinthians 12:11, we read, "But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will."

15. Here will is ascribed to the Spirit (cf. Acts 16:6-10).

16. Romans 8:27 refers to "the mind of the Spirit."  This passage teaches that the Holy Spirit helps us when we pray.  "Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered."

17. Romans 15:30 refers to "the love of the Spirit."   We often dwell on the love of God the Father. "For God so loved the world..." (John 3:16).

18. We often dwell on the love of the Lord Jesus Christ. Revelation 1:5 says, "Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood."

19. But we do not consider "the love of the Spirit" (Romans 15:30).

20. The Holy Spirit is not an impersonal influence or power that comes into our lives; He is a holy Person, who comes to dwell in our hearts by faith.

21. Ephesians 4:30 says, "And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption."

22. You can only grieve a real person. Here grief is ascribed to the Holy Spirit.  Regarding this Scripture, R. A. Torrey said, "I know of no thought that will help one more than this to lead a holy life and to walk softly in the presence of the holy One."

23. Dr. Torrey went on to say the Holy Spirit "dwells in our hearts, if we are really Christians, and He sees every act we do by day or under cover of the night; He hears every word we utter in public or in private; He sees every thought we entertain, He beholds every fancy and imagination that is permitted even a momentary thoughts in our mind, and if there is anything unholy, impure, selfish, mean, petty, unkind, harsh, unjust, or any evil act or word or thought or fancy, He is grieved by it.  If we will allow those words, 'Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God,' to sink into our hearts and become the motto of our lives they will keep us from many a sin. How often some thought or fancy has knocked for an entrance into my own mind and was about to find entertainment when the thought has come, 'The Holy Spirit sees that thought and will be grieved by it,' and that thought has gone."

24. Revelation 2:7 says, "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches."   The Holy Spirit speaks!  Are we listening?

25. Galatians 4:6 says, "And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father."  The Holy Spirit cries out in the heart of the believer.

26. A similar statement is found in Romans 8:16 -- "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God."

27. Some have wondered -- why did the King James translators translate the word "itself" instead of "Himself"?   This is a good question.  Grammatically "itself" is correct because the Greek word pneuma is neuter.  However, theologically the personal pronoun "Himself" is better because the Holy Spirit is a Person.

28. We see the same thing in Romans 8:26 where we are told the Holy Spirit helps us when we pray.  The Holy Spirit is not merely an influence that prompts us to pray, but a Person who Himself prays in and through us.

29. The Holy Spirit will take our Lord's promise in John 14:13 and 14, and make it real to the believer who is filled with the Spirit.

II. WE CAN DO "GREATER WORKS" THROUGH THE INDWELLING HOLY SPIRIT (14:12).

1.      Our Lord said in John 14:12, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also."  That is a wonderful statement, but then our Lord goes on to say something even more remarkable -- "and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father" (14:12b).

2.      "Greater works" because our Lord has ascended into heaven and has sent the promised Comforter (14:16, 17; 16:7-11).

3.      When Jesus said, "and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father" (14:12b), He meant that in a few short days He would be going to the cross to die for our sins (cf. John 17:4).  Therefore, we can do "greater works" because of Christ's death and resurrection. 

4.      About 27 years after Calvary, the apostle Paul wrote in Romans 1:8 -- "First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world."

5.      "Throughout the whole world."  Consider the fact that the Lord Jesus rarely went outside the borders of Palestine. 

6.      Remember that when our Lord hung on the cross only a handful of followers stood by Him.

7.      According to Acts 1:15, there were only "an hundred and twenty" believers in the upper room. 

8.      But then when Peter preached on the Day of Pentecost, "three thousand souls" were saved (Acts 2:41).

9.      In Acts 4:4, the number increased to five thousand.

10. In Colossians 1:6 we read that the Gospel was then "in all the world."

11. Then in that same chapter, in verse 23 it says the Gospel "was preached to every creature which is under heaven."

12. Our Lord had told His disciples, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:15).

13. And according to Colossians 1:23 they did!  How were they able to accomplish that?

14. Jesus said in Luke 24:49, "And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high."

15. And He said in Acts 1:8, "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth."

16. In Acts 17:6, we read that the Jews in Thessalonica said the apostles had "turned the world upside down."

17. 17. Actually through sin the world had been turned wrong-side up!   The apostles were busy turning it back the right way.

18. But my point is that the apostles were doing "greater works" just as our Lord had said.

19. Beloved, this promise of "greater works" (John 14:12) was not just for the apostles.  It is for all Christians.

20. Jesus said, " Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me..." (John 14:12).  Do you believe on Him?

III. BEING FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT

1.      Many Christians are familiar with the doctrine of the Holy Spirit.  But to them He is just a doctrine and not a person.

2.      A man can hold correct doctrine and not be filled with the Holy Spirit.  But Ephesians 5:18 is a command -- "And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit."

3.      Some think this must refer to an overwhelming overflow, but that is not necessarily true.  F.B. Meyer said one can fill a cistern with water just as surely by letting little drops of water fall into it as by pouring in great barrels of water.

4.      In Luke 11:13, our Lord said, "If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?"

5.      Therefore, we must ask.  We must be surrendered to the will of God and desirous of the fullness of the Holy Spirit.

6.      John 14-16 deal extensively with the fullness of the Holy Spirit, and in this discourse our Lord kept stating over and over, "Keep my commandments" (14:15, 21, 23; 15:10, 12).

7.      First Thessalonians 5:19 says, "Quench not the Spirit." Disobedience quenches the Holy Spirit.

8.      Ephesians 4:30 says, "And grieve not the holy Spirit of God."

9.      Disobedience grieves the Holy Spirit.

10. Acts 5:32 says God gives the Holy Ghost "to them that obey him."  

11. Galatians 3:14 says, "that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith."

12. We received the Lord Jesus Christ by faith, and we receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit the same way.

CONCLUSION:

F. B. Meyer said, "We cannot expect to have the Holy Spirit’s fullness in our lives if we are quite content to live without it. Our Father is not likely to entrust this priceless gift to those who are indifferent to its possession. We must, therefore, stir up the gift that is within us by a quiet consideration of all that is meant by becoming Spirit-filled."