What is the Holy Ghost given for?
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God is in His church.
William Branham.Read the full account in...
What is the Holy Ghost given for?.John 14:26,
But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all these things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.Last night we were speaking what it was: What Was The Holy Spirit? And we found it to be just about everything that God promised to us. In it we found just what God's church would need. We found it to be a seal, a comforter, the rest, and the joy, and the peace, and the resurrection. And all that God promised to His church, lays within the Holy Spirit.
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Now, tonight we're teaching on, What was the purpose of God sending the Holy Spirit? What's it for? If it's such a great thing, then why did God send it? Then, tomorrow night we want to talk on: Is it for you; and how do you get it; and how do you know when you've got it?-----
Now, the purpose.... What was God's purpose in sending the Holy Spirit? (Now, I would mark that down, John 14, beginning at the fourteenth verse and reading through the chapter for the basis.) God's purpose we find here, in sending the Holy Spirit, was one purpose: that God, Himself, might dwell in His church and continue His plans through the church— that God was in Christ continuing His plans through Christ, out of Christ into the church, continuing His work through the church.Now, we know what the Holy Spirit is. We found out last night that it's God. Now, when we think of God the Father (as Jesus spoke of here), His Father, God the Son as Jesus, God the Holy Spirit, as what we call it today... Now, that does not mean that there is three individual, distinct gods. It means that there is one God in three offices.
May we say it like this: All that God was, He poured into Christ, because He emptied Himself and poured it into Christ. And Christ was the fullness of the Godhead bodily. All that Jehovah was, He poured into Christ. And all that Christ was, He poured into the church, not into one individual, but into the entire body. There, where we come together in unity, we have power. All that God was, was in Christ, and all that Christ was, is in you. “For God was made flesh and dwelt among us.” (I Timothy 3:16 if you're putting it down.) “Without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness, for God was manifested in the flesh.” We handled Him, God, Jehovah, made flesh and walked on the earth, and we saw Him with our eyes.
You know, in the same chapter of John 14, Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and it will satisfy us.” Jesus said, “I've been so long with you, Philip, and you don't know me. When you have seen me, you have seen the Father. And why sayest thou unto me, 'Show us the Father.'?” God was made flesh.
Now here it is; the Father was God over you. We're saying we've been since Adam. God the Father was over Moses and the children of Israel in a pillar of fire. Then God with us, in Christ, walked with us, talked with us, ate with us, slept with us. God over us, God with us and now, God in us. All God was, come into Christ; all Christ was, come into the church. What is it? God working in you. Anywhere in the world, if He'd want to call on you, you're right there; working in you to do His good will. How we ought to thank God for that! God the Holy Spirit is sent for the purpose of God living in His church, moving through each age, working out His divine will.
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And that's the way God did; followed His own laws. God cannot give you one law to follow and Him follow another. He follows His own laws. Then God, in order to redeem the lost church, the lost world, the lost creation.... God, who is infinite in Spirit, to redeem the lost human race, God Himself become kinfolks, a man, a Son that He created in the womb of Mary. And then, He made an ensign or a testimony. Outside the gates of Jerusalem He was lifted up between the heavens and earth, and died, and redeemed everything! And in bleeding, He sanctified a church that He Himself might live in, and fellowship, and commune with, that lost spot of fellowship from the garden of Eden where God came down every evening, church time. Did you notice, God came down in the cool of the day, the setting of the sun. There's something about when it starts to get night: people think of church and of God— Christians. You see the sun setting; you realize that your sun is setting.And in the cool of the evening He would come down and commune with them. And there He lost that fellowship, because sin would not let Him do it. And then, He was made flesh and dwelt among us in order that He could come back again to man, and live in man, and restore a man to a state of communion with Him again, and give him back his God-given rights. That's what He did.
That's the purpose of the Holy Ghost: It's the Father again, God the Father, dwelling in you, working out His plans to finish His plan of redemption, working through you, making you a coworker with Him, giving you a place, giving you a part for your fallen lost brother and sister, giving you His Spirit and His love to go hunt the lost as He did in the garden of Eden. “Adam, Adam, where art thou!” That's what the Holy Spirit does to a man or a woman. When it strikes into their heart and takes its abode, there's a thirst and a hungering for lost souls! That's what's the matter with the meetings today: There's not enough Spirit touch in it. Go for the souls of the lost and the dying. It's more to make a name, or a church, or a building, or a denomination, instead of a soul winning program. How pitiful. We could stay on that much.
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Now, in this age that we're now living, this age, it's beyond Pentecost. Pentecost has settled itself into organizations and started faking whole lot about organizations. “We are this, and we are that.” That's just nature; you just can't help it. It's nature; they'll do that. It's the plan for them to do that. But the church has moved on. It's gone into greater, more powerful.... It's the restoration of gifts. And many Pentecostal people does not believe in divine healing, ministry of angels, and powers of God. Many Pentecostals calls these visions that I see, the devil. Many organizations won't even have nothing to do with it in Pentecost. See, we've moved beyond that. Just as Methodists called Pentecostal “crazy” for speaking in tongues, just as Lutheran called Methodists “crazy” for shouting, see. But it's all a coming forth of the Holy Spirit till the great church is being filled up and chugged full (Hallelujah!) of the great powers of Almighty God, until it's got to a place until the very works that Jesus done is manifesting itself right in the church now. We're close, friends.Let me stop here just for a minute to get what God put the Holy Ghost in the church for, give you another type so that you'll know. Back in the Old Testament when a child.... A man made himself a home; he got his bride; that's the first thing. Then he become a great man, like an organization. That was good. The next thing happened, there come a birth into that home. That's when the Holy Spirit (see)— another spirit— came in, which was a son. That son, he was not in full charge, neither was he an heir until he got a certain age; and he had to be proved first. Yes! And then, they had the law of adoption. (To you ministers, the placing of a son is what I'm speaking of now.) Then when he come to a place to where he was adopted....
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You are not converted until you've received the Holy Ghost. That's right. You are believing unto.... The Holy Spirit has spoke to you, and you've publicly confessed Him. The devil has the same thing. “I believe Him to be the Son of God.” So does the devil. But you're walking on towards Him. When Peter had been called and justified by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ.... And in John 17:17, Jesus sanctified them through the Word, for the Word was the truth, and He was the Word. I John says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.” He was the Word, so He sanctified them. He said, “Father (speaking to the Spirit in Him), I sanctify them through the Word.” Himself, laying His hands upon them. “Thy Word is the truth.” Just merely spoke Him into existence in the womb of a woman. Oh, totally impossible for Him to be any other way than this Word of God to make Him manifest. “I sanctify them.”-----
Now. “The works that I do....” God is in His church to continue His works. That's why He sent the Holy Ghost. Now, He knowed that. He knowed it couldn't be done that way, by otherwise, so He had to send. The Father sent the Son; put all that's in the Son in you. And the same works that He did, the same very works now that Jesus did, you'll do also, the church. Wouldn't you like to do the works of God? Jesus said, “If you want to do the works of God, believe on me.” How do you believe on Him? You can't do it till you got the Holy Ghost, because no man can say He is the Son of God.... You're saying what somebody else said.“The Bible said that He's the Son of God; I believe the Bible.” All right. “The Bible says He's the Son of God; I believe the Bible. The pastor says He's the Son of God; I believe the pastor. Mama says He's the Son of God; I believe Mama. My friend says He's the Son of God; I believe my friend.” But the only way that I can say He's the Son of God, is when the Holy Ghost comes in and bears record of itself! Then I know He's the Son of God.
No man can call Jesus “Christ,” only by the Holy Ghost. There! No man speaking by the Spirit of God called Jesus accursed, or say He was something that day and something else today. That makes Him weak and faltery. No, sir! He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. Any true spirit will bear record of that. All right.
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The Holy Ghost come to give you power. I got some more scriptures here, just a minute. The Holy Ghost come to give you power (You can find this. I'm just too much of away, tonight), give you power, power in prayer.You take a person that's lived a good life, but they're always defeated, “Oh, I tell you....” Good person. “Oh, sure I love the Lord, Brother Branham.” Always defeated; they never get a prayer answered. You fill that little woman with the Holy Ghost one time. Watch what takes place! When she goes before God, she's not defeated. She comes boldly to the Throne of God, believing! She has a right, because she's a daughter of God by a birth. Take that little man, so cowardly. The boss kick him all over the place. Say, “Wait a minute here now.” Something changed, see. He's got the Holy Ghost. He gives you power; your life is full of power.
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Oh, my! I was talking on power of prayer; power of speech; power for a holy life. Amen! That's what the Holy Ghost is to do. Some of you people walking along, saying, “Well, I just can't quit drinking. I just can't quit this.” The Holy Ghost comes to live in you to make all these can'ts get away from you (that's right!): make women stop cutting their hair, make them quit wearing shorts and slacks (no excuses!), make them quit tattling. Oh, yes! That's what it's for, to make you a holy life. It'll follow the instructions of the Bible every time.A woman say, “It's just too hot. I just have to wear these. Gives me a headache if I let my hair grow.” But there's no excuses with the Holy Ghost. It's there to make it so. It'll follow the Word just exactly! That's what the Holy Ghost is to do. It's to make you men turn your head from them half naked women and quit lusting after them. Yes, church members. That's what it's to do.
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What is the Holy Ghost given for?.
God is in His
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His works.
That's why
He sent the
Holy Ghost.
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