Touré Roberts - Understanding The Holy Spirit

God is good! We’re going to cover quite a bit of ground today. I’m really passionate about teaching this message to you. You know, there is a passage of Scripture in Hebrews that talks about a time when we ought to become teachers. I want you to understand the Holy Spirit so well. The Holy Spirit is God, so you won’t perfect your understanding of the Holy Spirit because God is just bigger than our comprehension. However, I do believe that you can become proficient in your relationship with the Holy Spirit through understanding who He is. I want to teach you this abundantly, going verse by verse and line by line because I want you to grasp this—you’ve got to get this!

So, we’ll start in John, the 14th chapter, reading verses 16 and 17. I know you’re standing; if you’re not, please stand up really quickly. I want us all to be in agreement as we stand. It says, «And I will pray the Father.» This is Jesus speaking to His disciples as He prepares to introduce the Holy Spirit. He says, «And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of Truth whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.» Do me a favor, just put your hand on your stomach and say, «In me.» Awesome! Before you take your seat, greet somebody and say, «It’s going to be good today. It’s going to be real good today.» God bless you! You may be seated.

Hallelujah! As I was studying about the Holy Spirit, this has been an amazing journey because God is teaching me; He’s taking me deeper in my understanding of the Holy Spirit, and it has been life-changing for me. I’m excited to share. You know me—I like to go back and look up some of the words in the original language to really capture what God is trying to communicate to us. When He says in verse 16, «And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper,» that word «Helper» is so much more than just a helper. It’s the Greek word «Parakletos,» which means intercessor or advocate.

Everyone knows about advocates and advocacy; these are buzzwords in our popular culture, and they are wonderful and necessary. But how many of us know that the Holy Spirit is our full-time advocate? I feel the Spirit of God; I have my own personal advocate in the Holy Spirit! The more we learn, and I’ll show you some things today, the more I’m discovering about the Holy Spirit is that His job is simply to advocate for us as intercessors. Let me show you something. Go to Romans chapter 8 really quickly; this blew me away. My personal intercessor; He’s my advocate! That lets me know that when nobody else is fighting for me, God is fighting for me. Come on, somebody, that’s good news! When I feel like I’m by myself, the Holy Spirit, the Helper, the Comforter, my Advocate, my Intercessor, is working on my behalf. My personal advocate is full-time—not just one day and then stabbing me in the back the next day. I’m talking about someone who is committed to seeing me grow into my full potential.

You’ve got to see this! Look at Romans 8:26. It says, «Likewise, the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses, for we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.» That’s incredible! But we will keep reading. It says, «Now He, this is God, who searches the hearts, knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He—the Spirit—makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.» That’s amazing!

So, that word «Parakletos» means intercessor and advocate. Right now, I thank God I’ve got wonderful intercessors in this church, wonderful intercessors in Denver, and people who pray for me all over the world, which is fantastic. But even if I didn’t have any of them, the Holy Spirit is my intercessor! I’ve got somebody praying for me; I’ve got somebody advocating for me; I’ve got somebody calling my name in the heavenly realm. It is absolutely incredible! What I love about those two verses is that they speak of this divine phenomenon in the heavenlies where God, who loves us and is on our side, is for us, and the Holy Spirit is interceding for us—all happening according to the will.

I feel the Holy Spirit! Turn to your neighbor and say, «You can’t fail when God is on your side.» When you yield to the Holy Spirit, there is no failure! I feel God because God has a plan. You’ve got the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is praying even when you don’t know how to pray! Even when you don’t…