The New Testament "Great I Am"

2015 Heartland America Convention Message - July 17, 2015

In the Old Testament, we see the Creator identifying Himself to Moses as "I Am." Later the People would have some understanding of what the Father meant as their needs would be met. What they needed - the Lord would provide. In the New Testament, Jesus said that it was expedient that He go from His followers to make room for the NEW TESTAMENT - Great I AM.

Friends, We are in uncharted territory. We have the blueprint yet, we are working on an unfinished building. I believe we, like Abraham are..

 Looking for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.”  And, we need help finding our destination!

“And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” (Act 2:1-4)

 

 (Act 2:6-8) “And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, "Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born?”

After that day, and until this day, the world has never been the same because the Holy Spirit was introduced inside the hearts and lives of imperfect people, who, with all of their weaknesses and failures, became world changers.

In Acts 17:6 ".... These who have turned the world upside down have come here too,” - Oh, that this could be said of us!

I present to you this truth today, that among the three persons of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit is the most neglected, and misunderstood, and most underutilized of the Godhead. Because of His very nature, and the description He was given (Holy Ghost, Holy Spirit), we automatically dismiss our ability to identify (understand) His nature. 

We can identify with the Father – He made all, loves all, and knows all. He is a Father. Jesus, is also identifiable in the sense that He was God’s Son. Without fully understanding, we can more easily embrace those descriptions, more so, than One who is labeled as a “Spirit.” After all, you can’t see a Spirit. You can’t touch a Spirit. You can’t really define a Spirit.

Sadly, Sadly, Sadly, the references to the Holy Spirit (Holy Ghost) have almost left our teaching and preaching. There are many reasons for that, and we're not going to go into them - save to say that, because of certain disputes, theological understandings and interpretations of this great Person, many have just left Him aside because we've been fearful, and because of the excesses of some people within Christendom. We have become skeptical because of their abuses. I say to you this morning: all those things, though they may be valid in one sense, are really only excuses. They are only excuses for us neglecting the Holy Spirit who is the Person in the Godhead with whom we are supposed to have the most dealings in this present age. Let me repeat that: He is the Person in the Godhead with whom we are to have most direct dealings in this age.

John 14:1 "Let not your heart be troubled", we love that verse….. but we're not so familiar with the verses from 16 on, and those are the ones I want us to concentrate on just now. 

John 14:16 "I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter". Now, the word 'Comforter' there means 'to come alongside and help'. A solid translation here would be an , 'Encourager', or 'Strengthener'. 

When we think of a comforter, we sort of imagine someone coming along to us and patting us on the back, and saying: 'There, there, it'll be alright'. It may be what the Holy Spirit does that at times in our lives - but that is not what the Lord Jesus had in view here. As one person said, this is not a lullaby for the fainthearted, it is a blood transfusion to conquer life. So the Holy Ghost is to come alongside us and infuse us, as an encourager, with strength to live the life that God wants us to.

 John 14:17 “….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.”

So, He is....Encourager, Strengthener, and an Indweller.

(Joh 14:26) “But the Comforter, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance, whatever I have said to you.” 

So the Holy Spirit is an encourager, a strengthener, and an indweller, and now we're seeing He is a Teacher, & Remembrancer.   (Sounds to me like, He’s speaking our language!)

John 15:26 "The Comforter is come. . . He shall testify of me". 

So NOW -- He is also a Testifier, the Holy Spirit is a Witnesser to the Lord Jesus Christ.

John 16:7 ". . . He will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment".

Reprove simply means 'to convict', or 'to convince'. He will be a Reprover, a Convincer, a Convicter.
Our Canvas of understanding is filling up: He sounds more like the Great I Am all the time. He is the Encourager, Strengthener, Indweller, Teacher, Remembrancer, Testifier, Reprove, Convincer, and Convicter.

Verse 13 then says: "… He will guide you into all truth" - "For he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak", 

NOW - He's a Guide & Reflector. He doesn't have His own agenda, He takes the things of the Godhead and He reflects them to us. "And he will shew you things to come" - not only is He a Guider, a Reflector, He is a Revealer and He shows things prophetically that are to come to pass. Thus, He is an Encourager, Strengthener, Indweller, Teacher, Remembrance, Testifier, Reprover, Convincer, Convictor, Guider, Reflector, and a Revealer.

He is more! In  Acts 1:5 ….. He is a Baptizer.  and in Acts 1:8 …. He is an Empowerer!

He is the manifest Presence of the Most High God – the Great I AM!

I AM GOING TO GET PRESUMPTUOUS…… GO OUT ON A LIMB with this 2-Part Question: 

(1) What really happened to those people in the Upper Room, and (2) What do you suppose the message was that came out of the mouths of those newly FIRE-BAPTIZED AND FIRE FILLED MEN AN WOMEN ??

Remember – Jesus said from His own lips as He breathed His last breath on the cross, “It is finished.” The plan, the cost for the atonement for the sins of man had been paid. They were already “Believers” …. 

(1) WHAT HAPPENED TO MAKE THE WEAK KNEES STRONG, AND WEAK WILLS MIGHTY?  I PRESENT TO YOU.... WHEN THEY WERE IMMERSED IN THE OCEAN OF GOD’S GREAT PLAN FOR MANKIND….. SELF DIED. AND LIFE’S MEANING CAME ALIVE!

Oh yes, there were tongues spoken that day, and they spoke something understandable. 

(2) WHAT DID THE HOLY GHOST SPEAK THROUGH THOSE ON THE DAY OF PENTECOST? …….. Somewhere in the message the Holy Spirit delivered, He surely said, “LET’S DO THIS” ……

I believe “LET’S DO THIS” this became the motto of those Spirit-Fired Believers…. Let’s Do This! 

IT COST THEM…… EVERYTHING, BUT THEY DID THE GOSPEL AND THE WORLD WAS CHANGED FOREVER!

• Holy Spirit didn't come so much to make us feel good but to make us feel urgent.  If we've lost anything it's the feeling of urgency. “Somebody has to do something!!” The unction of the Holy Spirit is the urgency of the Holy Spirit.

• I fear we have sought tongues more than substance. We should be teaching our children and our youth and our newcomers about the truth of why the Holy Spirit came, and what the true evidence of His indwelling really is. That is - before conversion, our purpose is to receive the love of God in our lives and be reborn. After conversion, our purpose changes, and by the power of the Spirit, we share that message with others – no matter the cost.

• Many times people seek to speak in tongues for the euphoric feeling. I say we should be experiencing the same euphoric feeling when we lead someone to Jesus as when we experience the emotion of tongues.

• It’s okay to jump, shout, and fling about, run, skip, hop, and jump….. as long as when your feet hit the ground you can be identified as DOERS OF THE WORD……

I don’t think the Lord is impressed by how high we can jump, or how eloquently we can pray, but rather to see how far we can walk…….. through the stuff of life, and fulfill the purpose for which we were born.

Pastors & Leaders – get up! People – Get up!. Let’s Do This! Let us be partakers in this proclamation...... 

"THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE HAS ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR; HE HAS SENT ME TO HEAL THE BROKENHEARTED, TO PROCLAIM LIBERTY TO THE CAPTIVES AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET AT LIBERTY THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED; TO PROCLAIM THE ACCEPTABLE YEAR OF THE LORD."  (Luke 4:18-19)

If that’s happening…. Then the flood gates will open.

LETS DO THIS.... Be obedient. Be faithful. Be bold. Be intense. Be intentional. Be alive. Be determined. Be strong. ....BE A LEADER..... 

LETS DO THIS!