Do You REALLY Know The Holy Spirit? #129

You probably know that the Holy Spirit is the third member of the Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit.) You might also know that He is our Comforter, Counselor, Helper and Intercessor.  Some of you may even be aware that He was present at the creation of the world.  But do you really “know” the Holy Spirit?

Many Christians think it is enough to be saved and baptized in water.  But that is just the beginning of what God has planned for all of us. There is so much more available when we open ourselves up to the work of the Holy Spirit.  He is ready to transform you into a spiritual powerhouse.  He can help you resist temptation, discern evil and good and guide you into all truth!

If you want to take your Christian faith to a higher level than you ever thought possible then don’t miss this edition of Finish Strong.  

Transcript

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Dan Wheeler: 0:00

Dan, you may know about the Holy Spirit, but do you know the Holy Spirit? That's the topic of this edition of finish strong. I'm Dan Wheeler. Brian Rowland and Terry Steen are here. And guys, the Holy Spirit is so important in the life of a Christian. I mean, there's so many things he can do for us, and we're going to talk about that and who he is, but then we're going to get in the Bible and help people discover how they can really know him and experience His power in their life. Guys, this is a really important topic for Christians.

Terry Steen: 0:37

I'm so excited about it because it's something that it it couldn't be more important to our Christian walk, but yet it's something that many people and many Christians don't have an understanding or a feel for who he is.

Brian Roland: 0:54

Yeah, it kind of reminds me of a kid when, when I was a kid and nobody wanted to, wanted to preach on the book of Revelation, and also you won't understand it. You know, it's too difficult. That's what it seems like, too. Nobody could understand who the Holy Spirit is or what he you know, they know he's part of the Trinity, but they they didn't know what the Holy Spirit who he actually was. That's why I'm excited about this show, too, so that we can really get into depth and explain.

Dan Wheeler: 1:20

Well, let's start right there, Brian, because in the Bible, he's described as many things. Why don't you run through that? Okay?

Brian Roland: 1:27

He is the third person of the Trinity. We know that Father Son and Holy Ghost. I can break all these now too. I'd like to he is a source of strength. He's a counselor, a comforter, a life giver. Saint Paul actually proclaimed that he is the Holy Spirit. Is the spirit of life. I thought that was great. But if you look at these words, says the source of our strength, Bible backs it up in every way. Paul wrote in Ephesians, 316, I pray that out of his glorious riches may he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit and your inner being. So he'll, he'll put strength in your spirit. And that's what the Holy Spirit. He lives in us. He lives in us as we're a temple of God. And

Dan Wheeler: 2:11

beyond just strength, power, I think of acts one eight, But ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you. Mm, hmm.

Brian Roland: 2:20

And it does. It gives you part. I've seen people that are shy as could be, Daryl, your neighbor, shy as could be. But boy, the Holy Spirit was with him when he came in to deliver that message to Beth.

Dan Wheeler: 2:32

And I asked him, I said, Daryl, where did that message come from? He said, It was the Holy Spirit. It wasn't me.

Terry Steen: 2:39

Well, I think about Peter. I think about Peter walking out of the Upper Room. Those guys were timid. They were hiding basically out of tents, yeah, and the Holy Spirit came upon him, and just like that, he walks out, talks to 1000s and 1000s with strong conviction and courage and leads 3000 to the Lord. I mean, that is power,

Dan Wheeler: 3:07

yeah? Just

Brian Roland: 3:08

before that, he was denying a

Unknown: 3:11

right

Brian Roland: 3:13

turn around. Excellent example, right there, yeah, but he's also a counselor, and the Holy Spirit guides us and into all the truth, takes the things of the Lord Jesus Christ and discloses them to us, which I love, that John 414, 26 says, but the advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, in my place, to represent me and act as my behalf, will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have said to you, so everything that we're that we learn, that we're reading, we can recall. God gives us that ability recall through the Holy Spirit, and it because it lives in us, and this is burning it in our heart. And I love that, that he is a counselor. I like that to us.

Dan Wheeler: 3:58

It's funny. I just looked up that same verse, and in my in the King James, it says, But the Comforter. So he's a counselor, and he's a comforter. And boy, do we feel his presence in times of need. Yeah.

Brian Roland: 4:10

And as a comforter I got in John 1416, and I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another comforter that he may abide in you forever. So although Jesus may have gone into heaven to prepare a place for us, He sent the Holy Spirit to take his place right here. He's here with us now. So we can't say that. Well, I don't see Jesus anymore. You need him. He could feel he lives inside you. Once you accept Christ into your life, and the other one

Terry Steen: 4:37

was and with him being God, He knows everything about us. He knows our feelings. He knows when we're going through something that we can't handle ourselves. And he wants to be there. He wants to be there to comfort us. He wants to be there to help us through each of those situations.

Dan Wheeler: 4:57

But Terry, do you think a lot of people don't. Ask him, because they're not sure how the Holy Spirit works. He is part of the Trinity. He's a person, a sacred person, but we need to invite him Come Holy Spirit. I need Thee.

Terry Steen: 5:11

Yeah,

Dan Wheeler: 5:12

I don't think, I think a lot of people, we talked about this before the podcast, that they get saved and they get baptized, and then that's it, and they don't explore the deeper relationship that the Holy Spirit can provide.

Terry Steen: 5:24

Yeah, yeah. They know that God's up in heaven. They know that Jesus is up sitting at the right hand, making intercession. So we're saying our prayers and he's making intercession. But the peace they, many times, miss, is that the Holy Spirit is indeed God here on earth for us as part of the spiritual kingdom, as part of God's kingdom. And we'll talk about that in a greater way, as far as he literally lives in us, right? I mean, and people just don't quite catch that concept, do they?

Brian Roland: 6:05

Yeah, but with that, he is a life giver, which I think is great, because, yeah,

Dan Wheeler: 6:11

no, just go ahead, because when I go into my first verse, I'm going to talk about that more. But okay,

Brian Roland: 6:16

in Romans eight two, it says, because you belong to him, the power of the life giving spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. So he is a life giver to us. He is a source of strength. He's a counselor, he's a comforter, he's a life giver. Not only is he that, he produces that in our lives too, because we have him living in us. That's what I think is so neat. He is this, but we could be that too.

Dan Wheeler: 6:41

And he's been there since the beginning. In fact, when God created the earth, God, the Father was there. Jesus was there, because in John one, it says, In the beginning, was the Word, the Word was with God. The Word was God. All things were made by Him. And then it goes on later in that chapter to say, and he and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. So that was Jesus. But then when you look at Genesis, one, verse two, the second verse in the Bible, and the earth was without form, and void and darkness was on the upon the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. It's like the spirit was preparing the way for God to say, Let there be light. Boom. And then in chapter two, this is interesting, verse seven, where it says, in the Lord, God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul. The word breathe and the word breath both come from a Hebrew word that's used there called ruash. And ruash can mean the wind. It can mean breath or spirit. So the Holy Spirit breathed life into man, and I think that's fascinating, that he was there and he you mentioned life giver, Brian, yeah, well,

Brian Roland: 8:07

like you said, the spirit, that's that's what lives in us. That's what's making me do this, because when that's gone, there's just a shell. And yeah, he breathed that into us,

Dan Wheeler: 8:16

and then he prepared the way for Jesus birth. We read, let me see here. One Luke, 135 says, And the angel answered and said unto her, the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee. Therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. That's the angel talking to Mary. So the Holy Spirit was the life giving force for Jesus. Yeah, perform Jesus the human side. Isn't that something

Terry Steen: 8:52

that's amazing? Yeah, it's so incredible to me that in all the key things in the Bible and events and times, many of them reveal all three of the Trinity, just like you're talking about it. And there's more. When we go to Jesus's baptism, when, when he went and had John baptize him. Listen to what it says in the the third chapter of Matthew, it says, As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water, and at that moment, heaven was opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. And it goes on to say, And a voice from heaven said, This is my Son, whom I love, whom I well please. So Jesus was being baptized. God was speaking and affirming Jesus, but at the same time, the Holy Spirit was there, hovering over so that just reinforces all three of those that. Parts of the Trinity and the Holy Spirit being there at that time. And then that carries right over into Acts the second chapter, which is like that is the true unveiling of the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit that fell upon the disciples. And we'll we can talk about that further as we go, but it's one thing to be saved, and when you're saved, you do have the Holy Spirit come into your life, because you believe in Jesus and you believe in God, and the Holy Spirit comes with that package, but there's so much more, and that's what Acts talks about the beginning of that second chapter. When the day of Pentecost came, they were all in one place. Suddenly, a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came upon each of them. We know that fire is a symbol of the Holy Spirit in Scripture, and all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit, and they began to speak in tongues as the Spirit enabled them. So that was an outward sign of that speaking in tongues, that they were filled with the Holy Spirit that was something supernatural that took over them, took control of them. Many times, people talk about how, why were they speaking in tongues? Well, the one thing that we do not want to give up control is our tongue. That's kind of the last thing to give up, and the Holy Spirit took over their entire being, including their mouth

Brian Roland: 11:47

wait while you were talking before, especially at the baptism, and the Holy Spirit came down upon him. The Christians at that time, or people that were even following Christ, they didn't have the Holy Spirit, but yet, Christ was the one performing the miracles. And that's the Holy Spirit that was in him. And notice, in other parts of the Bible there's there's times when before something would happen with with people like Paul or Peter that the Bible will talk about, and the Spirit came upon them. He already had the Spirit in them, but when the spirit comes down upon them, the miracles were happening. And that's what I just thought of. Jesus had that, they didn't, but then they received it on the day of Pentecost.

Dan Wheeler: 12:25

And Pentecost was a fulfillment of a promise Christ made before he left. He said, I will send the comforter. And then he said, ye shall receive power, and you'll preach the gospel to the entire world. And the disciples, as we mentioned earlier, were transformed into these powerful, bold people preaching the gospel, like you said, Terry, 1000s coming to know Him. And the fact is, we can know Him, right? Terry, we can know the Holy Spirit.

Terry Steen: 12:54

We can know the Holy Spirit and the power of that Holy Spirit, and that's something that I think it's worthy of spending some time talking about. I was reading in some book just recently, and it talked about a Chinese scholar who was searching all these religions and reading and trying to understand God. And so he read every one. He finally got to the Bible and read the Bible, finished that, and one man said, so. So what was the most amazing thing that you got out of the Bible, out of the entire Bible? And he said, The most amazing thing is that your God lives inside you. Christianity is the only religion in the world where a God, a man's God, comes and lives inside him. Then he quoted Ephesians, 222, it says, and in him, you two are being built together to become a dwelling place in which God lives by His Spirit. It's the Holy Spirit which is God that lives in us. And the Bible says in first Corinthians that our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, literally God within us. And how many times do we ignore it or not realize it, or think about the impact the Holy Spirit has on our body, on our mind, on our soul, on our heart.

Dan Wheeler: 14:35

You know that's that story about the difference having God inside us reminds me of a story I read recently. I just did a morning cup of inspiration on this. A friend of mine, who's the district superintendent for the Northeast for the Assemblies of God, posted this, and it was a story about a famous actor who was invited to host a large gathering of people, and he was asked. To recite his favorite passages from many great literary works. And there was an old preacher who happened to be there, and he went up to the actor before the event started, and he said, Could you do me a favor? Would you recite the 23rd Psalm? And the actor agreed to do it on the condition that, after he recited it, that the the preacher would recite it as well. Then he agreed, so the actor delivered it beautifully. I mean, his intonation was incredible. His he had perfect dramatic pacing. It was powerful. And after he ended, he got a long applause, and then the old preacher stood up, and his voice was not nearly as good as the actors. It was worn. It was horse from years of preaching the gospel, and he His diction wasn't that great. He didn't have the pacing, but he recited the Lord the 23rd Psalm, and when he finished, there wasn't a dry eye in the place. And someone asked the actor afterwards, what was the difference? And the actor said, I know the psalm. He knows the shepherd. And I just think, when you talk about the Holy Spirit, and when you know the Holy Spirit, two different things, that's

Terry Steen: 16:20

kind of like, it's kind of like reading somebody's biography, or driving over to their house and sitting down and talking with them, getting to know them. It's one thing to read about the Holy Spirit the Bible. It's another thing to acknowledge it and sit and talk with the Holy Spirit, yeah.

Brian Roland: 16:41

Well, I have an Acts Eight, two through 17, a little story here.

Dan Wheeler: 16:46

I think 12. You know,

Brian Roland: 16:48

are you going to do two through seven? Oh, no, 12 through 17. That's gonna say that'd be a long one, but go ahead, it sure would. And then, yeah, I don't know how that one got out of there, but it says, But when they believed Philip as he proclaimed the Good News of the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Simon himself believed and was baptized, and he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and he saw the miracles that he saw when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the Word of God. They sent Peter and John to Samaria. When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers that they are there, that they might receive the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them, they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. I just love that, because again, the Spirit came on them. They came here and they delivered it. I I see that Philip, who was, I think Philip was John the Baptist. Was always with John the Baptist before he became a disciple, if I remember, right, and he knew the baptism of water. But when I see this John and and Peter, who had received that, I don't know, felt that maybe he hadn't received that yet, but he was, he was used to the salvation in the baptism in water. But as John excuse me, Peter and John arrived and laid hands on him, that spirit flow through that guys,

Dan Wheeler: 18:22

we might have some people that don't understand the term baptism of the Holy Spirit. How would you explain that to someone that has no idea what that means? They think of water baptism being totally immersed and risen? Is it being totally immersed in the Holy Spirit?

Terry Steen: 18:42

I think that's a good example, because, as you say, the water is for a public confession, and it's being immersed totally. And the Holy Spirit is another dimension. It's it's an enhancement or an increase in power beyond the initial power of the Holy Spirit that He's given us. So there's different we can ask for and receive different levels of power and presence of the Holy Spirit like you can you can know God and you can sense God, just like you can sense the Holy Spirit, but if you have devoted yourself and committed yourself many times, if if you fasted, or if you've gone an extensive prayer, there's just something about that intimacy, that closeness, that just makes God's presence almost overwhelming. And it's the same thing with the Holy Spirit. If you're seeking the Holy Spirit in a greater way, he will come and overwhelm you, and in that overwhelming and in that power, all the things that he offers becomes a part of what's available for you. You

Dan Wheeler: 19:58

know, it's interesting. You. Two Sundays in a row. I was in different churches, and they both sang the song holy forever by cc Winans, and on the first notes, out of nowhere, the Holy Spirit just came upon me, and I just was weeping and praising the Lord and thank him, and I couldn't stop crying, which is often how I experience that. Like from the top of your head, the bottom of your feet, feel this warmth, and you're just so grateful. And I just love that song. And when I hear it, I just because she talks about the angels cry holy. Angels cry holy. And it just kissed me every time. And that's how the Holy Spirit works. Sometimes you ask for it, you pray for it, and sometimes, out of nowhere, he gets you by surprise. Have you guys had that happen?

Brian Roland: 20:52

Yeah, that one, one thing that what Terry was talking to us, and you were saying about the baptism by water, and it's a confession. There's people see that that is what I just, just hit me that, like, board hit me this, that that is on the outside. Water baptism, it's the outside. The Holy Spirit's on the inside. Yeah, lives in you on the inside and comes out. I thought, Wow, thank you Lord. Just said just Yeah, you were saying, I'm going outside, inside. Exactly how it works. We're covered that way. We covered in the outside world. We're proclaiming him, and then he lives within us so that we can lead others to him and be and be bold in our in our preaching and in our speaking and in our leading

Dan Wheeler: 21:32

others to Christ. I like that. It's an internal baptism of the soul that's good. Well, acts 19, one through six. And this, when you think about when I say, read this passage, consider that this was, you know, many years after Pentecost, it says. And it came to pass that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul, having passed through the upper coast, came to Ephesus and finding certain disciples, he said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since you believed? And they said unto him, we have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. And he said unto them, unto what then were you baptized? And they said unto John's baptism. Then said Paul, John, Verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him, which some should come after him, that is on Christ Jesus. When they heard it, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spake with tongues and prophesied. And you know, he and then, and he was speaking boldly in the synagogue, but this was quite a ways after Pentecost, interesting, though. They said they didn't know the about the baptism. He said, Do you want to receive it? They said, Yes. He laid his hands on him and prayed for them. They did,

Terry Steen: 23:02

and he realized how important it was that they have that, you know, he made sure that just just because they were saved, being saved may not be enough to live the kind of victorious life that God wants us to live, and that can only come through a greater power of His Spirit, who can, as we've talked about all the things it offers, that's what allows us to get through this Christian walk in this world with the Victory, with finishing strong, which is what we want to Do. And we need the Holy Spirit to finish strong. That's

Dan Wheeler: 23:43

a great point. Brian, you know, being saved, you're going to get into heaven. But when you're baptized, the Holy Spirit, it gives you the power to accomplish great works for the Kingdom. The power of the Holy Spirit. Can you talk a little bit about what that can help us with?

Brian Roland: 23:59

Well, the power of the Holy Spirit. I was thinking about this, and we're looking over in Ephesians 423, to 27 it tells us that where it says you are to be made new in the attitude of your minds and to put on the new self created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we shall we are all members of one body in your anger, do not sin. Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry. Do not give the devil a foothold. Now I read that because the power of the Holy Spirit helps us resist temptation to temptation, it helps us in decision making and in discerning evil and good. So in resisting temptation, the Holy Spirit convicts us to push back, to say no and to do what is pleasing to God. He helps us, because He lives within us. I like that about Don't, don't go away angry. I. Know, or in your anger, do not sin. And I look, look at that, and say, well, but anger, what's anger? Isn't anger or sin. Because, you know, going off. He doesn't want you to go that far. And this was, this is what the Holy Spirit helps you to pull back on. Jesus got angry. He overturned the the money changers there in the temple, but he didn't sin. And we can be angry about something, but that doesn't mean we take it to another, another degree, and that's where the Holy Spirit helps us on resisting that temptation and that anger. And

Dan Wheeler: 25:30

another thing I'd add is in John 16, 1314, it talks about how he will guide us into all truth, really a source of wisdom, and you mentioned discernment later on. I've got a story about that, but all good stuff. Brian, well,

Brian Roland: 25:47

then let's decision making the Spirit's leading. Spirits leading helps us to make choices that are consistent with God's word, especially when the Bible does not address the issue specifically and directly. Learning to the zoom. The voice of the Spirit is a process, but it's that voice you hear, but you're not sure you hear this, and you're going, what? What voices? Does it my head, just talking. Or the spirit will talk to you. It'll talk to you, and you feel it, but then you I hear it. I mean, you're saying this, I don't do that. I mean, it's I've heard that, or if I got still small or something. Yeah, exactly, yeah, still small voice, but, but it's there, and that's the Spirit working in decision making and helping us with that.

Dan Wheeler: 26:28

And then you're right, Brian, sometimes I go, is that my voice and my time? But, but you know it when you hear it. Still Small Voice,

Brian Roland: 26:35

you know when you hear it, and you know it's right. And if it's not right, then you know it's not what you're thinking, but it's, you know, you just know. It's There's something about having the spirit in you, which is a feeling all in itself, I think, too, and especially when we see the spirit, but that when you're making a decision and you know it's right, you just know. And so you take, you take that stuff,

Terry Steen: 27:00

you know, Gary and I are in the middle of doing a Wednesday night Bible study, and one of the A couple weeks ago, we talked about the Holy Spirit. And one thing that came up along this same line that just came back to my mind was how the the Holy Spirit works through our conscience. Sometimes we realize it. Sometimes we don't even realize it. There's many times that a thought will come into my head, a reminder of something, and I'll be like, where did that come from? And realize, Well, that wasn't me thinking that that was the Holy Spirit putting that in my mind. And so sometimes he just, we're going about talking, doing our thing, and he is in our subconscious or in our conscience speaking to us as well.

Dan Wheeler: 27:54

And knowing the word helps with that, but he helps you recall those verses. Yeah,

Unknown: 28:00

right, right, yeah. And then there's

Brian Roland: 28:03

a discerning evil from good, and as we are filled with and controlled by the Spirit of God, He makes us discerning. God's Holy Spirit allows a person to determine the source of a spiritual manifestation of good and evil. It's how many times we thought, Should I do this or not do this? You know, it's like off my shoulder, you want to go one way and say, No, you know, you know the right way to go. And that's that's what the Spirit does to you. It helps you discern that good and evil.

Dan Wheeler: 28:33

It helps us keep our priorities right, too.

Terry Steen: 28:35

Terry, yeah, it does. And you know, before we move off that, I don't think we should get through this podcast without reflecting on the fruits of the Spirit. We talk about the power of the Holy Spirit and what it offers and does for us, but there are specific fruits that the Bible talks about that the only way we can have them in abundance is having the Holy Spirit in our life, things like love. He wants us to love. That's like, how people know that we're Christians and we can't truly love unconditionally without His Holy Spirit. So we have joy. We want to have joy. We want to have peace. It's hard to be patient. He gives us patience. He gives us kindness. He gives us goodness, all these things, faithfulness, gentleness, a real tough one, self control. All those things are fruits of the Spirit. And as we have more of the Spirit in our life, we have more of the love, have more of the peace, have more of the joy. It's kind of an ebb and flow based on how much we allow the Holy Spirit into our life, and it's so important because the Bible says Seek first the kingdom of God. And how do we do that? How do we seek for what's the kingdom of God? The kingdom of God involves his. Holy Spirit. It's seeking God. It's seeking His Spirit. There's a great verse in Matthew the Seventh Chapter, a couple verses that I want to read. It says, Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my father, who's in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and perform miracles? Then I will tell them plainly, I never knew you away with me, you evil doer. And to me, the one thing we talked about it in the in other podcasts, the one thing is what we have to figure out, and that's seeking the Kingdom of God. It's knowing the Holy Spirit. How tragic would that be if we got up to heaven and we heard what this just said? We did all these things. We did prophesied in his name, we drove out demons, we performed things that man thinks are incredibly high, spiritual things that should make us so close to God. And he's not concerned about that. He's concerned about us knowing Him, knowing the Holy Spirit. If we don't know the Holy Spirit, then he's going to say, I never knew you,

Dan Wheeler: 31:38

and backing up into the chapter before, Chapter Six of Matthew, verse 33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. And all these things shall be added unto you. Keep the main thing. The main thing, it is the one thing we talked about in a podcast earlier. He's gotta be first, and then he adds all that the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit can literally change us when you talk about the fruits of the Spirit. Now, Terry, we're getting near the end, guys, and we kind of have to pick it up, maybe just a little bit. You talked about the priest and what the priest had to go through to meet with God, and it's similar to what when we really want to get close to God, what we have to go through, could you explain that? Yeah,

Terry Steen: 32:23

I thought it was a great example where you go back to the Levitical priests, and, you know, there's the temple, and there was the holy place, and then there was the Holy of Holies. That was the ultimate place that only one priest a year could go into. And it was interesting the preparation for that, because the high priest needed to go through three stations. So the first thing was there had to be a sacrifice of an unblemished lamb. And obviously we know the symbolism of that, as Christ being sacrificed as our unblemished lamb, and then he had to go to this basin filled with water, and he had to wash his hands. He had to ceremoniously clean himself. And we kind of take that to the baptism of water, where ceremoniously we cleanse ourselves. We die to ourself, and we come out a new creature.

Dan Wheeler: 33:24

So we're saved through the sacrifice of Jesus, and then wash in baptism of water. Okay, yeah, but

Terry Steen: 33:31

it doesn't end there. He has to do one more thing. He has to go to a place where they anoint him with oil. They just pour oil all over him, which is, of course, symbolic of the Holy Spirit. And then after he has the oil all over him, after he is anointed with the Holy Spirit that allows him to approach the presence of God in the Holy of Holies. If we want to be in the true presence of God, if we want to be in the Holy of Holies, we have to allow that oil of the Holy Spirit just to envelop us, and that opens the door to allow us Now, fortunately, it's not once a year for us. We can do it every day. We can do it every moment of our life by just seeking and having that Holy Spirit in us. It's

Dan Wheeler: 34:35

an awesome comparison that God gave us that in the New Testament. Well, I like to end with just a personal story from each of us about how the Holy Spirit's helped you, how he came upon you at a time. And I'll start I remember praying by the altar at camp when I was about 10 years old, and the Holy Spirit coming over me for the first time. And. Just praising God and trying to praise him with my own words, but different words came out in a different language. And that was my first experience with the Holy Spirit. And then one other example is Brian. You had mentioned earlier how, earlier, how he can give us discernment. And I was in a store. Kirsten and Kelsey were little girls. Kirsten was maybe 10, Kelsey was maybe four, and a guy walked by us, and I just sensed evil. I mean, if ever I felt evil, it was then, and I grabbed my girls, I said, we're getting out of here. And we left immediately. And they're like, Dad, why'd you do that? I said, guys, the Holy Spirit told me there was something not right with that man, and we had to get out. So I'm sure you each have a story or two.

Brian Roland: 35:49

I shared with Ben earlier too, that when I talk about how the Spirit comes upon the different disciples and that and how they had this power, and when my sister told us that she had multiple sclerosis. My mom just sat there and says, Nope, we're not we're not accepting this. And she she asked anyone to leave the room that did not believe God can heal her, but she asked me to bring get some oil, and I brought some olive oil in, and she started praying for my sister. She prayed the house down. You could just feel the Holy Spirit come through. There it was, I can't explain it. It swirled around you, and she laid hands on my sister and prayed for her, and my sister said she felt the heat go through the top of her head to the bottom of her toes. That's the power of the Holy Spirit right there. And she was healed? Was it instantly? It was over time, she kept getting better and better better. She never got worse until they can't even find out that you ever had it. They can't find anything that has to do with that messenger system. But that just shows me, because she was in the second stage already going to the third so it was noticeable. But I saw that happen. I thought I just witnessed the Holy Spirit at work. That was the real deal. It came down. And what went through my mom and went through my sister, and that's what happened.

Dan Wheeler: 37:06

And how long ago was that Brian,

Brian Roland: 37:09

1973 I think it was 7574

Dan Wheeler: 37:15

and she's still around, and she's doing great to this day.

Brian Roland: 37:18

Oh yeah, yeah, that's amazing. The Tulsa,

Terry Steen: 37:22

wow. I love it. You know, I'm a little bit like Dan in that when I sense the Holy Spirit really on me, I tend to weep. I tend to feel his presence, and I'm just broken in His presence. But if I were to think of specific there's been so many times where I felt him in a real way, so many times that he's spoken to me in little things or brings a scripture that he might have just shown me, and then someone comes and talks to me and maybe wants some counseling or input, and I realized that scripture that I just read was exactly what he needed. You know, we kind of do that with our morning cups. You know, we trust and pray the Lord to speak to us to to do that. So there's so many things on a daily basis, big things, small things, but one specific thing that happened to me a number of years ago. I was leading worship in church one Sunday morning, and I was getting ready to start that that service, it was just a typical Sunday, and I don't even know where the thought came from, but before I started, I apologize to the congregation for playing church, and I don't know that I realized I thought I was playing church. That's what came out of my mouth. We started and began the worship service. During that first song, people just started leaving their seats and coming to the altar and pray, kneeling down. The next thing I know, the altar is full of people crying, seeking God, trying to get back to God. It went on for two hours. We never had a sermon, and God was just moving and and we just have to be an open vessel. We just have to say, Lord, allow your spirit to move through me. Stay what you want me to say, May it not be me. May it be you, and God will do that. That's where our effectiveness, that's where our power comes from. That's where us being a vessel and a tool of what he wants out of our life is through listening to the Holy Spirit. And that began a revival in our church that went on for months, and it was just by the Holy Spirit speaking to me in that one thought that was pretty powerful.

Dan Wheeler: 39:57

I remember when you shared that story with me. It's amazing. Amazing, because you had no forethought of this happening, right, right. Wow, it's amazing, yeah, yeah, when we make ourselves available, huh? Well, I'll tell you what, what. Another great podcast, guys. I I love these because I learned so much from you guys and from the research that I do, and we all come at it with different stories, and hopefully it blesses people as well. So the Holy Spirit as we desire to finish strong, I know that we've all, the three of us, we pray before we do a morning cup. When I'm lost for an idea, I feel dry, I'm like, Lord, put something in my path, and then I'll go about my day, and then something will happen. I'll go, that's it. That's what I'm supposed to talk about. Or I'll see something. It's amazing. But we want to have God's power, the power of the Holy Spirit, to help us overcome temptation, to stay pure, away from sin because we're in ministry. And you know, Satan likes to attack people are in the ministries. But we, we, we need the Holy Spirit's guidance, his wisdom over our decisions. We need him to transform our minds daily, as in Romans, 12, one and two. I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service, and be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God and the Holy Spirit helps us with that. That's how we that's how we finished strong, right? Guys, that's it, yeah,

Terry Steen: 41:44

come near to God and He will come near to you. James 48 Yeah,

Dan Wheeler: 41:49

Terry, would you close us in prayer as we wrap this edition up? Sure,

Terry Steen: 41:53

sure, father. Thank you Lord for this opportunity to share with one another and to share with our listeners. God, the importance and the power of your Holy Spirit. We know, Lord, how important it is for us to know the Holy Spirit and have it prevalent and active in our lives. And we just pray for anyone listening today, if this has piqued their interest, if they don't sense if there's a little void there, if they don't feel like they have the full power of your Spirit, if they don't feel like they're walking in those fruits of the Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit, yes, Jesus, and having that discernment, and having all those things, God, we pray that You would give that to them even now as they open their heart to you, as they seek to come near to you, that your Holy Spirit would just penetrate them, overwhelm them, give them a sense Lord of your presence, help them to walk into the Holy of Holies, that they would sense your presence as never before, and that you would give them that courage and that strength that Peter had when he came out of that upper room. Lord, Yes, Lord, we know you can do it. The power is there. You want to give it to us all. So we ask Lord that you would do it, and we're going to thank you for it now in advance, God for what you're going to do through this podcast and bringing more people into a powerful, powerful walk with you so they truly can finish strong with their with their lives. God, we thank You for it in your name. Amen. Amen.

Dan Wheeler: 43:41

Amen. Thank you, Terry, thank you Brian and thank you. John Matarazzo, thank you for watching and listening. Just ask the Holy Spirit. Say, Come Holy Spirit, I need you, and he'll be there. I hope you'll tune in next time for another edition of finish strong. God bless.

John Matarazzo: 44:01

Thank you for listening to finish strong. For more information about finish strong and fearless faith, check out their website, F faith.org make sure that you rate and review this podcast to help more people accomplish their God given purpose so that together we can finish strong. You.