Touré Roberts - Walking with God

The most critical insights I’ve ever gained regarding walking with God have likely been the sole reason I have been able to stick with God, grow in God, and ultimately be continuously blessed by God—not just naturally, but more importantly, spiritually. In other words, what I have today is something God began to teach me very early on when I started walking with Him. There is a difference between accepting God and walking with Him. I accepted God when I was nine years old, but I didn’t start walking with Him until I was 26. Quite frankly, I didn’t know that I could even walk with God; I didn’t even know such a thing was possible. The extent of my relationship with God was rooted in fear—I revered Him and believed in Him—but the depth of my relationship allowed me to do what I wanted, and because God was good and gracious, I would ask for forgiveness and be forgiven. The reality is that while that is true, I was forgiven, there was another level to my faith. God began to show me some things we are going to discuss today that radically transformed my life.

The reason I thought it was important to revisit the beginning, as we seek to understand the Spirit, is to help us glean some characteristics and functionalities of the Spirit. What is interesting about the Holy Spirit, particularly as we look at that passage, is that it is the only time in Scripture, in the very beginning, where the Holy Spirit was not associated with a human being. It says the Spirit of God was there as God was getting ready to create the heavens, the earth, and ultimately mankind. The Spirit was present and hovering. Every time you see the Spirit of God after that, it is associated with someone—the Spirit of God falling upon someone, filling someone, leading someone, or benefiting someone in some way.

One thing I want you to understand right off the bat: you should be taking notes today for sure. When I wear this, it means I’m not really going to preach; it means I’m going to teach. Some of you may not believe that, but the reason I wear this is that if I have the mic in my hand, I might get carried away, and I don’t want to do that today because we have some important topics to cover. So, if you’re taking notes, write this down: the Holy Spirit is the activation aspect of God. The Holy Spirit is almost like God’s enforcer; when God wants something to happen on the earth, the Holy Spirit becomes His activation agent. When God wants to act in this world, He does it through the Holy Spirit. However, I want you to notice that I say «His» job. The Holy Spirit has done it, and while we often refer to it as «it,» that is inaccurate. The Holy Spirit is a «whom,» and that whom includes Jesus, the Father, and the Holy Spirit. Thus, the Holy Spirit represents the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit all in one, and His assignment is to activate the intentions of God.

Are you tracking with me? His job is to move to you, to move in you, to move through you, and to move in the earth. I’ll say it again: His job is to move to you, to move in you, to move through you, and to move in the earth. I’m going to give you five things related to the Holy Spirit—five things that the Spirit does. We will look at some passages and grow this morning.

The first thing the Holy Spirit does is engage you. I love this: the Holy Spirit engages you! This means you don’t necessarily have to seek the Spirit out; the Spirit will seek you out. The Spirit knows you, loves you, and is for you, and understands that without Him, you can do nothing. Did you know that you can’t even come to the Lord without the Spirit engaging you and drawing you? This is the love of God. Many people get confused and start questioning things like, «What about the people who have never heard the gospel?» or «What about those who live high up in the mountains or the hills of China?» They seem to imply that God is ignorant. The Holy Spirit engages every soul that enters into this existence with truth. Let me show you: go to 1 Corinthians chapter 12, verse 3. It says, «Therefore, I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.» So you see, we cannot even confess this without His involvement.