NASHVILLE, Tennessee (NRB) – Anne Graham Lotz spoke on the Holy Spirit during the Closing Gala Dinner at the NRB 2020 Christian Media Convention in Nashville, Tennessee, on February 28.
Lotz, President of AnGeL Ministries in Raleigh, North Carolina, and daughter of the late Billy Graham, reminded the audience of seven aspects of the Holy Spirit found in John 16:5-15.
Lotz’s first reminder: The Holy Spirit is a person. Eleven times in the 10 verses, the Holy Spirit is referred to as “He” or “Him.”
“The Holy Spirit is not an it. He’s not a dove. He’s not a flame of fire. He’s not an ecstatic experience. The Holy Spirit is a divine, invisible person. He has a mind to think. He has a will to act. He has emotions to feel.”
Lotz’s second reminder: the Holy Spirit’s presence. Ever since Pentecost, believers have had the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
“When we come by faith to the cross, claim Jesus as our Savior and our Lord, open up our hearts and receive Him into ourselves, He comes into us in the person of the Holy Spirit. He will never leave us, and He will never forsake us. It’s a permanent relationship. Praise God.”
Lotz’s third reminder: the Holy Spirit’s power.
“Today in our politically correct culture, as we’re in this moral and spiritual free fall in our nation, it’s going to take Holy Spirit courage, boldness, and strength to stand against that tide and hold the line for the Gospel and the Word of God.”
Lotz’s fourth reminder: the Holy Spirit’s precepts. In John 16:13, he’s referred to as “the Spirit of truth.”
“So get out the Word, read it, take it in for yourself, and then get it out as much as you can. He works through the Word that He has breathed Himself. … Read the Word with a heart that believes every word is from the Lord, and you listen for Him to whisper to you through the pages.”
Lotz’s fifth reminder: the Holy Spirit’s purity. She defined holiness as being like Jesus.
“In Jesus, there’s no meanness. There’s no unkindness. There’s no selfishness. There’s no unforgiveness. There’s no pridefulness. There’s no bitterness. There’s no sinfulness at all. And when the Holy Spirit comes into you and me, He begins to make us holy as He is holy.”
Lotz’s sixth reminder: the Holy Spirit’s prayer. He prays for us when we don’t have words to pray (Romans 8:26).
“The Holy Spirit takes my cries before the Father. He puts words to them, dresses them up, and turns them into prayers. He can take what I’m feeling and thinking — how I’m hurting on the inside — and translate it into a prayer before the Father.”
Lotz’s seventh and final reminder: the Holy Spirit’s priority (vv. 13-14).
“The Holy Spirit’s priority is the written Word of God. He draws us into the written Word that we might know the Living Word. His priority is Jesus, and He wants us to know Jesus, to love Jesus, to obey Jesus, to serve Jesus, to bring Him glory. So He draws us into the Word of God that we might know Him like that.”
By Michael Smith
