God, the Holy Spirit — Michael Koulianos

Pentecost, Waiting, and the Coming of the Holy Spirit

I want to talk to you today about the person of the Holy Spirit. Say amen. Last week we discussed Pentecost because last week was the celebration of the Feast of Pentecost. We talked about Pentecost also being known as the Feast of Harvest.

The word Pentecost means fifty. It is the celebration of fifty days after the Passover. Jesus, listen carefully, ascended on the fortieth day, right? After his resurrection he ascended on the fortieth day.

Pentecost took place on the fiftieth day. So the disciples prayed, what's fifty minus forty? We are the wisest church now in central Florida. They prayed for ten days, that's two hundred and forty hours of consistent prayer in one accord.

Praying in One Accord and Obeying the Great Commission

How do you pray in one accord? In a few ways. Number one, you monitor your heart. You can topically pray in one accord, but if there is division in your heart, it's not spiritually in one accord. Does that make sense?

So two people can pray for the same thing. If there is a division in their heart amongst each other, it is not praying in one accord. So that is one aspect of praying in one accord. But the other aspect is this.

The Lord told them what to pray for. And he told them to pray for the coming of the Holy Spirit that they may be endued with power. Jesus told his disciples, wait in Jerusalem until you are endued with power.

They were endued with power in Jerusalem, but many of them did not obey the Great Commission in many ways by going out into all the world. He said you will be witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, right?

All of Israel and then the outermost parts of the earth. That really didn't happen. So persecution made it happen. Persecution, if you study church history, persecution arrived to the church's front door and they dispersed.

How many of you know God is never shocked by persecution? God is never reactionary. The devil is a counterfeit loser. He lost and he is a loser. And I don't say that to mock him, but he lost big. And every time somebody gets born again, he loses again.

It is a reminder. And every time somebody is filled with the Spirit, he is reminded of the promise of the covenant. And every time somebody falls in love with Jesus, he is reminded of his great loss. And every time somebody is healed, he is reminded of the promise of the conquering God-man.

Power to Become Witnesses

So the coming of the Spirit endued the disciples with power not to merely witness. I want you to turn to Acts chapter 1 verse 8. It's a big difference between witnessing and Acts 1 .8. Don't throw stones at me.

I'm not telling you not to share your faith. Acts 1 .8, this is Jesus speaking of the coming of the Holy Spirit that was fulfilled at Pentecost. Listen carefully. You shall receive power. Say power. After the Holy Spirit has come upon you.

Say upon you. Say Holy Spirit. All right. Now here is the fruit of that. And you shall be witnesses. There is a huge difference between witnessing and being a witness. All right. We should train people how to share their faith.

Our students share their faith hopefully every day. For sure they share it every Thursday. There are many ways of sharing your faith. But you better include the gospel. I have a big issue with people who feel like I'm just going to make friends with the world to try to influence them, but they never share the gospel.

I have a lot of friends who began to find identity in cozying up to famous people in the club, going out at night, doing their thing. And I've never seen one who was not committed to the gospel ever make it out and not backslide.

Everyone who went that route. And for some reason, you young people, please hear me. The 70-year-olds are like, that's me. You're right. It is you. It is you. Listen to me. Anointing and following are not the same.

Anointing Versus Social Media Influence

Your generation is way too into influence. And if I hear the word influencer again, I'm going to throw up on the carpet. What does it even mean? Somebody called me an influencer a while back, a family member.

And I walked out going, what in the world? I want to influence the heart of Jesus. If I do that, I'm good. So do you really believe that the person with 200 ,000 followers is always more anointed than the person with 100 ,000 or 180 ,000?

This is a comparison-driven culture. What you don't know is a lot of people buy their followers. So if following were the litmus test, you just need to do it a certain way and hashtag a certain way, post in a certain rhythm.

It's all garbage. It's really easy to see if you're anointed. Do you move heaven and do you move hell? Period. There was a way to know, listen, Emily runs social media, she's like, no, no, I'm not saying don't have, I'm not saying don't have social media.

I'm not saying that at all. I'm just saying having a big following doesn't mean you're anointed. Having a little following doesn't mean you're not. And you know what that births? A church that really gets discouraged if people don't like them.

I have news for you. The devil doesn't like you. And neither do his children. And they never will. They're not gonna. There's an old saying, discouragement comes when we compare our real life to other people's highlight reel.

When people are posting their highlight reel, right? So the Spirit of the Lord has come to make you a witness, not to merely teach you how to do it. Now, teaching you how to do it is biblical as well.

Sharing the Gospel Through Kingdom Ministry

Jesus gave us a model. Preach the kingdom. In one case he said, have a meal, I'm like, I'm all in, I'm all in. Have a burger, perfect, all right. Preach the kingdom, heal the sick, cast out devils, raise the dead, cleanse the leper.

But leaving the gospel out is not the way to go about it. Do never believe that you're gonna befriend somebody for 10 years and then share the gospel when you're never probably gonna not feel like you're taking a risk when sharing the gospel.

Last night the Lord quickened me at about 11 .30 p .m. at the airport to go show the love of Jesus to someone. A lady cleaning the garage who was in her 70s cleaning the parking garage. She probably doesn't feel valued.

I wanted God to use me to be a witness, do you understand? You never really feel like that at times, but the moment you give your yes, the Spirit comes to quicken your obedience. All right. Absolutely true.

But you can't leave Jesus out of it. Now this is a little side tip. And for this one you're gonna have to swipe your square reader, your little debit card on the way up. No, I'm joking. All right, it's a joke.

It's a joke. Now listen, listen. I've actually seen that too, which is bizarre. All right. Make sure you find a godly spouse and don't believe the lie that you're gonna be their Savior. You are not their Savior.

Jesus is their Savior. I've seen that as well. I'm driving the media team crazy. I'm all over the place. Look how big my head is. All right. The Holy Spirit comes to make you a witness. Now the word there is power.

Jesus said you'll receive power. The Greek word is dhinami, or dynamite, power, ability, voltage. I'm not joking. Sunday night at Upper Room, man, I could feel power flowing through my head. I could feel power in the room.

That power comes, and by the way, that is the Spirit himself, comes to destroy the works of the devil. Does that make sense? Pentecost, as I said last week, is all about God doing the work. Babel, or the culture of Babylon, especially in the worship context, that's why you're seeing a great divide take place now in worship environments, of people who've joined an industry and people who minister to the heart of Jesus.

Pentecost, Babel, and Worship Without Self-Glory

The line is becoming more and more clear. It is. One is Babylon in nature. One is I write to get something, I write songs to get something, or I sing songs to get something. Another one is you give me the song, I'm giving it back to you, all for the glory of Jesus.

If I get something, that's completely up to you, and even when you give it to me, I'm giving it back. That's called casting down your golden crown. One day you're going to get a crown in heaven, should you walk with Jesus faithfully, and the right response would be, I don't deserve this, and throw it back down at his feet.

And then he's going to say, no, no, no, you put it on, because I'm that good, you're a son. And there may be a little back and forth there, who knows? Who knows? Probably not. Probably won't be any back and forth when he's shining brighter than the sun in your face.

But the right response, at least once, would be to throw it down at his feet, knowing Jesus is going to have you wear it forever. Isn't he wonderful? All right. Pentecost is about God building it from heaven, listen carefully, to the earth.

Babel was a tower that was built from earth to the supposed heavens, it wasn't the heavens, to low level heavens. The skies are the heavens. By the way, that is the domain of fallen powers, the heavens.

The tower of Babel came up from the earth through human agreement and human ability, human brain power. Nothing wrong with having a brain, by the way, that's why God gave you one, I'd encourage you to use it as often as possible.

So that tower is built from the ground up with human strength. Pentecost changed the game. Notice, at Babel, when they built the tower, they could all speak one language. It shows you the power of united speech.

When I was listening to Ryan preach right there, I go, oh, he's been here. He's been here. I could hear, he's been listening. It's in him. That's the power of unity, if it's purposed in the right place, all right?

When Pentecost came, the direction, the motion, the movement of what was being built was completely opposite. It was not from the ground up. It was from heaven downward, birthed in the heart of God. They also received a language, a heavenly language.

Earthly tongues came. Their tongues were redeemed by the Spirit to pray the mysteries of God, to praise God. You understand the difference? So Pentecost is about much more than just power demonstration.

Though it's needed, it is the ending of man, it should be, the ending of man doing it on their own, in their own strength, listen, to get eyes on them. There's a great man of God you should all study named William Seymour, a son of slaves, the father of the American Pentecostal movement, led the Azusa Street Revival.

William Seymour and the Danger of Drawing Attention to People

From that revival, you have the Church of God in Christ, the Church of God, you have the Assemblies of God, which, by the way, were one at one time. And when the glory of God would come upon Brother Seymour, he would cover his head in a box in the meetings, or hide behind the pulpit.

You know why? He did want all eyes on him. He knew that all eyes on him was a dangerous, dangerous temptation. I have had moments when God starts healing the sick, I'll be walking through the crowd, when I first started ministering to the sick, I'll never forget feeling like the Lord was leading me, but I could feel the devil behind me.

Just to add a little to the meeting that wasn't God. You know, add some volume. Maybe an extra hallelujah that I really didn't mean. Maybe juicing up something that God really wasn't doing. You know, if somebody's not getting healed, they're not getting healed.

You don't have to juice the thing up. Just be okay, you're not the healer. It's okay. But the devil will get behind you and whisper and try to get you to move the thing around and add a little bit of you.

No, never add Babel to Pentecost. Never do that. You don't need that. So Brother Seymour would hide his head in the glory, and that's the proper response. So that's part of the reason this is not Michael Koulianos Ministries.

Can I have 15 extra minutes today? Would that ruin your brunch? All right. It's okay, you'll get a six-pack. I mean in your abs, not... No. In your abs. Wouldn't that be a sign and wonder if everyone left with a nice chiseled six-pack.

All right. Genesis 1 -2. The person of the Holy Spirit. It's important we start there before we get into the work of the Spirit. Oh, you're about to get slapped. I don't know by who. Genesis 1 -1. In the beginning, God.

The Holy Spirit in Creation and the Trinity

That word is Elohim. It actually refers to the plural nature, the plurality within the Godhead, His Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. One God, three persons. In the beginning, God, this triune God, created the heavens and the earth.

The earth was without form and void, much like our hearts before we meet Jesus. And darkness was on the face of the deep. We are all children of darkness who come to Him in the night. And the Spirit, the ruach, the Spirit of God, of Elohim, so the Spirit of the Trinity, was hovering over the face of the deep, or face of the waters.

That word for Spirit is breath. The Holy Spirit is the literal, listen very carefully, the literal breath of the Godhead. This is very important that you understand this. The Holy Spirit is not an influence.

The Holy Spirit doesn't make average meetings better. The Holy Spirit doesn't get involved after salvation alone. He actually leads you to salvation, fills you at salvation, clothes you after salvation with His power and presence, and then you live in Him, as Paul said, and move and have your being.

The Holy Spirit is absolutely, 100 God. You've got to get this. Because for too long, we have made Him an influence, or someone who just merely helps me along, who makes me feel goosebumps. Now I've felt goosebumps.

I've felt goosebumps on my goosebumps. I am down with experiencing the presence of the Spirit, and being that He is a person, He must be experienced. I love how Bill says it, does anyone get married for the marriage certificate alone?

No. You actually get married to be with the person. The Holy Spirit, the person, and we're going to talk about this for a few weeks, is God. This helps you when you come into an environment like this.

Yielding to the Holy Spirit as God

It quickly teaches you, or He quickly teaches you, when you understand this truth, that we don't use Him. He uses us. Do you understand? It then begins to communicate the value of yielding to Him, if you realize He is God.

Does that make sense? So to say no to Him, is to say no to God. It's always a bad idea. So if the Holy Spirit comes and says, go this way, any other way, is wrong. Does that make sense to you? Now the Scripture goes on to say, and I'll let you dig this one up, now the Lord is that Spirit.

The Lord is the Spirit. So the Holy Spirit is God Himself. We see His nature here in Genesis chapter 1, and I want you to see the order by which God begins to move, to transform that which is dark and void into a perfect place, which is a type and shadow of our redemption.

Then God said, look at verse 3, let there be light, and there was light. I want you to look down at verses 1 through 3, and you tell me what happened first. Did the Spirit move first, or did God speak first?

Look down at it. This is Teacher Michael. I'd like all of you to bring me an apple on Sunday mornings. I'm going to get a cool pair of glasses to look smarter. A little whiteboard back there, a little stick.

What did the Lord do? What is this holy itinerary, the spiritual process? How does God move? Look, look, look. I'm telling you this will change your life. What does God do? Does He talk first or move first?

All right, all right. The Holy Spirit is the breath of God, God Himself, and until He starts moving, God is not talking. It's the way God does things. Now that word hover, in verse 2, hovering over the face of the deep, is likened to a mother eagle hovering over her nest of unhatched eggs that are about to come to life.

Now Jesse's been attacked by a hawk this year, attacked by a hawk at our house. Called the authorities. Oh man, did they help us. This is how I knew America needed revival. I'm not joking. This is how they helped us.

Well, you can't really do anything, but you can carry balloons through your neighborhood and the hawk probably won't attack you if you're carrying balloons. I said, I'm like, dude, I do cardio every day.

If I walk, if I walk through my street with balloons every morning, they're going to lock me up. I can't. Then they said, or you can just draw eyeballs on the back of your hat and maybe. I said, so let me get this straight.

That's the best you can offer us. That hawk's coming down. I mean, she went to the ER. Tore her up. And she was saying hi to the new neighbors. She's like, Hey, well, nice to meet you. Welcome. What a safe neighborhood.

She came in dripping blood. I had to rush her to urgent care and they want me to walk around balloons. God bless them. We love them. Lord, send your spirit, send your spirit. Now the spirit doesn't hover that way unless you make him mad.

The Spirit's Loving Work in New Birth

But these hawks now hover. They've been hovering over the nest. An eager expectation of the eggs coming to life. They warm the eggs, provide for the eggs and protect the eggs. That's the disposition of the spirit here.

Yes, formless and void. Yes, dark. Yes, chaotic. And that's what the word means. They're absolutely meaningless, which is the state of our lives prior to Jesus. The spirit comes as the first on the scene and begins to hover with love.

The moment actually comes where we're exposed to the gospel. And God says, let there be light in that soul. And the light goes on. We call that being born again. Well, I was right. That's Chanel. Is that Chanel?

Maisha. Well, I was right. Shepherds know their sheep voice too. This is the way of the spirit. He's the first on the scene. You know, before America goes to battle, special ops are on the ground. Sometimes for years.

That's kind of how the spirit is. So when Jesus tells the disciples, I have got news for you. You didn't choose me. I chose you. We think our salvation at times was strictly limited to our yes. But I have news for you.

The Lord said yes long before we said yes. And so it's the spirit who actually leads us to the moment by hovering over the waters of our hearts. Leading us to a moment where we can hear the word, the speaking, the gospel.

Let there be light. And it's spiritually responsible, theologically responsible to possibly take the let there be out. And just read it this way. And God said light. What does the Bible call us? Children of the light.

What did Jesus tell us to do? To let our what shine? Our light shine. Who is the light? The person of the spirit. It's what he does. He comes and hovers. He preps the ground. So if you are wondering why do they worship so long at Jesus' image?

Worship, God's Presence, and Hearing the Spirit

Now you know. I will not speak until I know he is here. It won't do anything. It might have a little influence. But I have learned when Jesus comes and sits, then lead people to his feet. Then they sit at his feet and learn of him.

That's why I tell the students all the time. He whispers more than he screams. You have to get close to hear him. Worship brings us to his feet. You understand? It preps the atmosphere. It's promised in his word.

He inhabits the praises of his people. All of it is by divine design. And that's why your hearts are being moved. That's why God is doing something in you here in this house. We didn't just stumble upon worshiping a lot.

It's in the scriptures. You have to come to Jesus to hear from Jesus. Now where the sermon is king, you will find a very limited environment. I'm not saying don't preach the word. I would love for everyone in the house to count how many scriptures I give you while I'm preaching.

Probably enough to make your ears burn. But I give you a lot of word. But I don't just aimlessly give you word. I want to give you word in his presence. That's the game changer. That's the game changer.

The Holy Spirit as the Power and Breath of the Trinity

The spirit hovered. God spoke. The spirit is the literal breath of the Trinity. He is the power of the Trinity. Genesis 41 -38. Listen carefully. Speaking of Joseph. Can we find a man like this? In whom is the divine.

In whom is a divine spirit. Genesis 6 -3. My spirit. This is the Trinity speaking. My spirit. The father I should say. My spirit shall not strive with man forever. The Holy Spirit is not separate from the Trinity.

And he is not less than the father and less than the son. He is equal with the father. And equal with the son. Just because we say father, son and Holy Spirit does not mean that they are not co-equal.

They are equal. That doesn't make sense in the earth because we attach value. Listen carefully. To authority structure. Or the roles among us. Unfortunately the role in a group. Somebody's specific role.

Can make them feel less than or greater than people. Around them. I'm no greater than the people running a camera. My assignment is different here. That's all. Do you understand? I'm no more human. I'm no more believer than Hope the Pope wherever she is.

Or our crew or Nico. Jesus doesn't love me more. He is not created in less of God's image than I am. So just because Jesus yielded to the father. Doesn't put Jesus on a lower pedestal amongst the Trinity community.

So the spirit of the Lord is the Lord. Absolutely your friend. Yes he came in the form of a dove. But he's not a dove. Yes he came like tongues of fire. But he's not limited to a fire. Yes he's a river inside of us.

But he's not just a river. Yes he's new wine. But you can't put him in a bottle. Do you know what I mean? He's the Lord. And Jesus was led of him. How could Jesus the second person of the Godhead. Be led of the spirit into the wilderness.

Be led of the spirit. Led of the spirit. Into the wilderness for fasting and prayer. If the spirit were less than him. You missed that. Do you think the second holy person of the Godhead. The manifestation of the Godhead in flesh.

Would be led of the spirit into the wilderness. If the spirit were not the Lord. The spirit were less than Jesus. Why did Jesus wait for the spirit to come upon him. Before he started his ministry. So I want us to start here.

And his name is not Holy Spirit. Like a name tag. It's okay to say the Holy Spirit. Now if you can't use the the that's fine. But that's not. He's the spirit of God. He is. It's okay. But I just want you to land here.

He is the Lord. He is the Lord. I want you to treat him as you treat the father. And treat him as you would treat the son. He is the Lord himself. This is very important. I took my 13 minutes. Our team has to actually break down and get ready for Sunday nights.

But our building is coming. Our building is coming. Our building is coming. Job 34 14. If he should determine to do so. If he should gather to himself his spirit and his breath. Job 33 4. Job 33 4. Job is the oldest book in the Bible by the way.

The spirit of God. The spirit of God. The spirit of the Trinity. And the breath of the Almighty gives me life. Now here we see that the spirit is God. And God's breath. Now I'm going to leave you dizzy.

Adam, Divine Breath, and Life in the Spirit

The Lord is. You're going to walk out of here staggering. And go into a, well, let me just keep going. I don't want to take my time. All right, listen. God creates Adam. He forms him out of mud. It had never rained.

All right. It had never rained. Adam didn't need to cry out for rain because he lived in the mist. You see, when you're in a real revival, you're crying out for Jesus, not revival. He didn't need to cry out for rain.

He lived in the moisture. I'm not saying it's wrong to pray for revival. But when you get there, you don't see the label of revival. You behold the Lamb. So Adam's living in this atmosphere of moisture that's coming up from the ground in the garden.

Which speaks of intimacy and fellowship. The only way to live in the moisture is to live in Eden, which means pleasure. God's going to build a garden in your heart in a place called pleasure. That's why Jesus said, I'm saying these things to you so your joy might be full.

The rivers flowed from Eden. If you want the rivers to flow from you, start to take pleasure in Jesus. It's okay to be happy in Jesus. It's wonderful. And then rivers start to flow and people come and drink.

Adam is formed there. And the scripture goes on to say, listen to this. I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Can you imagine God taking mud and carefully forming the body of Adam? It's amazing, the thought.

So Adam lay there still and lifeless in the hand of God. I could really go with that. But I'll just say this. No matter how beautifully we are designed, something needs to happen for us to come alive.

He has to breathe. Has to breathe. And that's why Jesus said to Nicodemus, who came to him in the night. Nicodemus wanted to know the way of God, the way of the kingdom, the way of salvation. And Jesus said, listen to this language.

The wind blows. The breath blows. Where it wills. And nobody knows where it's coming from or where it's going. He turns Nicodemus' attention to the breath. Nicodemus, a teacher of the law, that is perfectly designed.

Nicodemus is formed by God, made in His image. But until the breath comes, you're just like Adam, lifeless in the hand of God. All right? A church can be beautifully designed. But if the breath doesn't come, it is lifeless.

Anything can be perfectly designed, wonderfully made. The breath doesn't come. It's lifeless. And so God breathes into Adam's nostrils. That means he was face to face, eye to eye, nose to nose. And he breathes the ruach, the very spirit of his person, into Adam.

And the Bible says Adam became a living soul. All right. Quickly. Are you enjoying this? All right, very quickly. Let me end with this. God did not breathe into Eve. He didn't have to. He didn't have to because they had become one.

The Holy Spirit, Marriage, and the Birth of the Church

And that's why guarding your marriage is not an option. It's not up for discussion. Marriage is holy. And that's why a broken marriage... Listen, when sin comes in and a marriage is broken, it feels like murder.

Because it is a life separation. There's a breath issue. Eve literally took on Adam's breath. Yes, he gave the rib. But with the rib came the breath, came the very life. What happened on the cross? Jesus gave his side.

That's the rib. And the church was birthed. But in the Gospel of John, when God, when Jesus institutes the church, after he says, whoever sins you forgive will be forgiven, he had restored Peter, remember?

What does he do? Receive the Holy Spirit. What was he saying? I'm the God who formed Adam. And he came to life. He became a living soul. Now it's your turn. It's your turn. Come alive. And they, I believe in that moment, were redeemed and came to life.

There's a little argument there. But he breathed into them. So the Holy Spirit is not a side issue, you see. He is God. He is God Almighty. And so with everything in us, I want us to begin there in our fellowship.

I believe his divinity must be established in our hearts for us to fellowship with him properly. Does that make sense to you? I don't want us to be ones who argue with the Holy Spirit or change his word or deal with him like we're dealing with a friend here.

No, no. Yes, he's the best friend in our life. But he is God Almighty.