But ye know him, for he dwelleth
with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless.
I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world
seeth me no more. But ye see me, because I live,
ye shall live also. At that day ye shall know that
I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. He that hath
my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me,
and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will
love him, and will manifest myself to him. Judas saith unto him,
not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself
unto us, and not unto the world? Jesus answered and said unto
him, if a man love me, he will keep my words, and my Father
will love him, and will come unto him, and make our abode
with him. He that loveth me not keepeth
not my sayings, and the word which ye hear is not mine, but
the Father's which sent me. These things have I spoken unto
you, being yet present with you. But the Comforter, which is the
Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach
you all things. and bringing all things to your
remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. Peace I leave with you, my peace
I give unto you, not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let
not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Now this is
continuing discourse with the disciples which we looked at
this morning when we looked at verses 1 to 7. So this is a continued discourse
of that time of our Lord with his disciples. And we'll continue
to look at this here tonight, considering the verses which
we just read. Considering the verses which
we just read. Now Philip asked a question to the Lord in verse
8, asking the Lord to show them the Father. And our Lord, in
verses 9 to 12, brings forth here His oneness with the Father. He brings forth that He is God. That He is God. His oneness with
the Father. Look at verses 9 to 12. Jesus
saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet has
thou not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen
the Father. And how sayest thou then, show
us the Father? Believest thou not that I am
in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I speak
unto you I speak not of myself, but the Father that dwelleth
in me, he doth the works. believe me that I am in the Father
and the Father in me or else believe me for the very works
sake for the very the very works that he did because the works
that he did only God could do those works beloved only God
could do those works Verily, verily, I say unto you,
he that believeth on me, the works that I do, shall he do
also, and greater works than these shall he do, because I
go unto my Father." Now notice in verse 16, our Lord promises
to send the Comforter to His disciples. So He's still speaking
to His disciples here, and He promises to send the Comforter
to His disciples after His death. Look at verse 16, and I will
pray the father and he shall give you another comforter that
he may abide with you forever, forever. So he's assuring them
that he must die. He must die, but he will not
leave them comfortless here, not leave them comfortless. He
must go. He must go and die on Calvary's
cross. He must ascend into glory. So
that the Holy Spirit comes. And He's letting them know that
this would occur after He died. And remember, remember how He
says, I'll not leave you comfortless, right? He's God. And the Holy
Spirit is God too. And so He's saying to them, I'll
not leave you. And remember, even before the
Holy Spirit was sent, God was still with them. The Father's
watching over them, isn't He? Oh, yes. God is still watching
over them. There's never a second when we're
not in the eyes of the Lord. Never a second. Let's look at that again. In
verses 16 to 18. And I will pray the Father, and
He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever.
Forever. even the spirit of truth whom
the world cannot receive, cannot receive because it seeth him
not, neither knoweth him, but ye know him for he dwelleth with
you and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless.
I will come to you. Now note there, note there in
verse 18, I'll not leave you comfortless. You know what the
Greek word there for comfortless is? You know what it means? Orphans. I'll not leave you orphans. Isn't that amazing? I'll not
leave you orphans. Think of this. What does Ephesians
tells us? We're adopted in Christ. I'll
not leave you fatherless. I'll not leave you fatherless.
That's wonderful, beloved. That's wonderful news. I'll not leave you orphans. Now
when a father dies, he leaves his children as orphans, doesn't
he? He leaves his children for others
to care for and to raise. But our Lord continues in the
text saying, I'll come to you. I'll come to you. The reference
here is not to the return of Christ, but to the presence of
the Holy Spirit of God. Because they're all God, the
Father's God, the Son's God, and the Holy Spirit's God. So, to have the Spirit of Christ
is to have Christ. To have the Spirit of Christ
is to have the Father. Listen to what the Scriptures
declare over in Romans 8, verse 9. It says this, But ye are not
in the flesh, but in the Spirit. If so be that the Spirit of God
dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit
of Christ, he is none of his. So He's called the Spirit of
God in that verse, and the Spirit of Christ. Romans 8, verse 9. Also note that the Lord is in
these verses, in verses 16 to 18, brings forth before us the
unity of God, of the Godhead. He brings forth the unity of
the Godhead. Saying here, pray to the Father, and the Father
will send the Spirit. And the Holy Spirit, what does
He do? He regenerates us and points us to Christ. And He's
our comforter. And He teaches believers the
things of Christ. Everything that we know, everything
that we've learned, is attributed to the work of the Spirit. Because without Him, we would
know nothing about God. We'd know nothing about Christ.
Nothing at all. And also, remember, not only
is He our Comforter, but we're being conformed to the image
of Christ. My! And note how the Lord comforts
the disciples. He must soon leave them. We know
that. He must soon leave them. He must
soon go to die upon the cross to redeem His people. How? By the shedding of His own precious
blood. He must soon go to purchase the souls of all that the Father
gave Him. He must soon go to satisfy God's
law and justice in their place. And note how he comforts them
by bringing forth that the Holy Spirit will never leave them
once he comes. Look at this in verse 16 again. And I will pray
the father and he shall give you another comforter that he
may abide with you forever. God will never leave his people.
Never. Again, we looked at As we looked
at this morning, what great comfort this would bring the disciples
and what great comfort it brings. We who are God's people to know
these truths, to know these truths, to know that our great God and
King will never leave us or forsake us. People in our lives may leave
us. People in our lives may forsake us. God will never leave us nor
forsake us. Never. Absolutely never. Never. And in the scriptures
we'll be looking at tonight, we'll see our Lord's teaching
to the church about the person and glory of God, the Holy Ghost. And for future study at home,
you'll see that this teaching continues. If you continue to
read in chapter 15 and 16, that he continues to teach them about
the Holy Ghost. And how needful it is in our
day with all the false teaching about to have a proper understanding
of who God, the Holy Spirit is. in His person and in His character.
And I hope and pray that God the Holy Spirit will illuminate
the Scriptures for us and be pleased to teach us tonight that
we might glorify our great, sovereign, almighty God. God the Father,
God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Now this study will be
no way exhaustive. You could study each member of
the Godhead for a lifetime and never exhaust who they are. It's
just endless. It's just endless who He is,
who they are. Now we know from our studies
of the scripture that God the Father, God the Son, and God
the Holy Spirit are one and yet three distinct persons. I heard
somebody give the analogy of water is water, ice is water,
and steam is water. It's all water. I thought that was a pretty neat
analogy. But God, the Holy Spirit, is
our comforter. Three in one, yet distinct, but
yet one. And look in our study here, look
at how this is bought forth in verses 16 to 18 again. And I will pray the Father, God
the Father, and this is Christ speaking, Christ the Son, and
He shall give you another comforter, God the Spirit, that he may abide
with you forever, even the spirit of truth, whom the world cannot
receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him, but
ye know him, for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless.
I will come to you." So again, we see the whole Trinity right
here in action. In unity. In unity. And then look at John 14, 26,
just a little further down. 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 things to your remembrance, whatsoever
I have said unto you. Now the Comforter, again, is
the Holy Spirit. It is he who takes the things
of Christ and reveals them to those who are born again by the
Holy Spirit of God. Reveals them to God's elect.
Turn a few chapters over again and we'll look at John 16 verses
13 and 14. Look at what it says here. And think again. Think of how
we knew really nothing about Christ before we were saved. Now we may have heard about Christ
and heard about God, but I'll tell you this, I did not know
who God was. I did not know who Christ was
until I was born again by the Holy Spirit of God. I thought
I knew, I had in my mind who he was, but I found out that
that God, who I thought he was, was nothing but something that
came out of the idol factory in my heart. And he wasn't the
God of the scriptures. I'll never forget, I'll never
forget when someone asked me if I knew Christ, and I said
yes. And he said, no, do you know
the Christ of the Bible? And I said, well, yeah. He says,
no, you don't. That was the beginning of the
crumbling of the refuge lies that I trusted. And then God
taught me who he was after I was born again by the spirit, and
I know it's so for you. You're not in your head. I know
it's so for you because that's what happens. He reveals to us
who he really is. Who He really is, not who we
think He is, but what the Scripture says He is. Oh, look at this though. John
16, verse 13 and 14. And think of that. So we knew
nothing about Him. And think about what we've learned
now. And really what we've learned is just a scratch on the surface
of who God really is. But we marvel at it, don't we?
We marvel at it because we're just filled with amazement that
we had no idea who He was and now He's revealed Himself to
us. And it just gets better and better and better as we hear
the Gospel preached, doesn't it? It just gets more and more
amazing who He is. And look at the reason why that
happens. Look at this in John 16, 13,
and 14. How about when He, the Spirit of Truth, has come? He
will guide you into all truth. He does it. It's all the work
of God, beloved. See, we can't take credit for
nothing we know. We can't boast in what we know. Because we've been taught by
the Holy Spirit of God who Christ is. It's all the work of God,
beloved, and it's marvelous. He will guide you into all truth.
Who's the truth? We looked at that this morning.
Who's the truth? The Lord Jesus Christ. He says on the way of
the truth in life, no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. He's
the truth. And God's God's guided us into
truth, and he's shown us who Christ is. And that's why we
love to hear the gospel preached. That's why we won't settle for
anything else. A preacher told me a long time
ago, he says, once you hear the gospel of God's grace in Christ,
it ruins you for everything else. It does. You don't want to hear
nothing else but what he's done for us. It's wonderful. And because
we've been guided into all truth, for he shall not look at this
now. Now, there's huge movements out there that that emphasize
the Holy Spirit, right? To to it says here, hear not
speak of himself. You're not speaking of himself.
But whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak, and he will
show you things to come. Look at this. This is the kicker
right here. Look at verse 14. He shall glorify me. The Holy
Spirit glorifies Christ, points the believer to Christ, guides
us to all truth. And who's again truth? Christ.
You're not speaking of himself, beloved. He points you right
to Christ. He reveals Christ to you. And
the only way we know who Christ is, is after we're born again
of the Holy Spirit of God. And then we live a life, I mentioned
this this morning, we live a life of learning who Christ is then.
And then we have the honor and the privilege and the great blessing
when we breathe our last breath to see Him face to face. Oh my,
oh my, it's all the work of God. Look at this. He shall glorify
me, for he shall receive of mine and show it unto you. He reveals
Christ. That's the work of the Holy Spirit.
We're born again by the Holy Spirit of God. He regenerates
us and sheds God's love. He sheds God's love in our hearts.
That wasn't there before we were saved. We had no love for Christ. We had no love for the word.
We had no love for the gospel. We had no love for God's people.
But after we're born again, he sheds that love in our hearts.
And we rejoice over the gospel. We rejoice over Christ. We praise
God when we never praised him before. It's incredible. It's absolutely incredible. And
then we learn more and more about Christ through the teaching of
the Holy Spirit of God. And what do we learn? Well, we
learn that we're completing Christ. We learn about a successful Savior. He's not trying to save His people
from their sins. He's done it. He's done it. And we learn that salvation is
all of the Lord, from beginning to end. He guides us to all truth. Again, who's the truth? Christ
and Christ alone. We learn of what Christ has done.
That He died on the cross for His people. The Holy Spirit teaches
the believer. This is what the Holy Spirit
does. He comforts the believer with the truths of the Scripture.
We get comfort, don't we, when we hear the gospel preached?
It comforts our souls. When Christ is not preached,
when men seek gifts and healing rather than mercy and grace and
redemption in Christ, then one can be certain that it is not
the Holy Spirit of truth who's speaking. When men are seeking
after gifts, when men are seeking after healings, and I'm talking
the Pentecostal, Word of Faith movement, all them folks. The
Holy Spirit is not in that. Not at all. Not at all. And how do we know? Because he
teaches us the things of Christ. He points us right to Christ.
And all those things do, all that movement does is glorify
man. That's what it does. It glorifies man. Notice in verse
17, we have one of the titles of the Holy Spirit here. He's
called the Spirit of Truth. He's called the Spirit of Truth. Oh, my. And that's what he is.
He's the Spirit of Truth, Beloved. He's the Spirit of Truth. Whom the world cannot receive.
Even the Spirit of Truth. Whom the world cannot receive.
Cannot receive at all. Because it seeth Him not, neither
knoweth Him. But ye know Him, for He dwelleth
with you, and shall be in you. Now I want us to think upon some
things here. When we're born again by the
Holy Spirit of God, it is He who regenerates us. It's all
the work of God. It's all by His divine power.
And again, He sheds God's love in the hearts of believers. He
teaches us and guides us, teaching the believer in Christ, the things
of Christ. And He abides with us, always,
as the pledge or earnest of our future glory. And beloved, it
is He who will guide you into all truth. He's called the Spirit
of Truth. It's He who will guide you into all truth. He gives
us understanding. I remember when I read this book
before I was saved, it was just paper and ink. Before I was born again in the
spirit, I didn't understand this book. His brother Norm Wells and I
say, now we're getting on the phone together and we're saying, boy,
is the ink still wet or not? I never saw that before. God shows us the truth in the
scripture, doesn't he? He reveals things to us. And
it's marvelous, we give Him all the glory and it's the Spirit
of Truth who's revealing that to us. He gives us an understanding
and teaches us the things of Christ through the preaching
of the Word or through the reading of the Scriptures. And He makes
it clear to believers, doesn't He? There's no confusion that
way. Now we might not, we may come
across many times, come across passages we don't understand.
And I like, I again like what Norm said, he says, there's truth
there, the Lord just hasn't been pleased to reveal it to us yet.
That's true. Because that's why later on when
you read it after about 100 times and all of a sudden it just lights
up on you and you're going, wow, I never saw that. Well, it's
the spirit of truth revealing that to you. It's now the time
for you to know that. And isn't it amazing that usually it's
times when we really need that, when that happens. It's times
when we really need that. We just need that. Oh my. But
he always reveals Christ to us and the things of Christ. And again, we saw there in chapter
16, verse 13, He did not speak of Himself, He glorified Christ.
Always remember that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are one.
And what the Father purposes, the Son purchases, and the Spirit
applies. The Father purposed our salvation,
the Son purchased our salvation, and the Spirit applied our salvation.
It's wonderful. It's wonderful. And the Holy
Spirit of God will guide the believer into all truth. Because
He's the Spirit of Truth. He reveals to us the things to
come, concerning our Lord's return and the certainty of it. We know He's coming back, don't
we? We know He's coming back. Oh my. And the Holy Spirit uses
the Word of God, the Scriptures, to teach His people. Teach the
people of God. He does not use dreams and visions. You hear about that stuff nowadays.
Dreams and visions and special revelations, like people have
a hotline to God that someone else doesn't have. Don't ever
listen to that stuff. That's just the blind leading
the blind, beloved. Oh my. And those things are prevalent
among the false teachers of our days, and those things were prevalent
for, they've been prevalent for years. But the Holy Spirit of
God teaches us what? The things of Christ. And that's
what the believer desires. We desire to hear the things
of Christ. We desire to hear His precious, precious word.
Turn if you would quickly just to 2 Timothy chapter 3. 2 Timothy
chapter 3. And then put your finger in 2
Peter chapter 1. 2 Timothy chapter 3. But keep your finger back in
John 14 because we'll be going back there. I've got you in three
different places right now. 2nd Timothy chapter 3, 2nd Peter
chapter 1, and then we'll go back to John 14. Look at verse 15 to 17 in 2nd
Peter chapter 3, speaking of the scriptures and knowing that
That it's through the Word of God and through the preaching
and teaching of the Word of God that we grow in our knowledge
and even we grow in our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, don't
we? Because our faith is stronger now than it was when we... isn't
it? It is. Because we've been taught and
we've seen the faithfulness of the Lord through our lives and
through our journey so far in this world. Look at this, 2 Timothy
chapter 3 verses 15 to 17. and that from a child thou hast
known the holy scriptures which are able to make thee wise unto
salvation, how? Through faith which is in Christ
Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration
of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction,
for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect,
thoroughly furnished with all good works. Now the Holy Spirit
takes the Word of God and makes it profitable for us, beloved.
Makes it profitable, sometimes for reproof. Sometimes for correction. I know I've been listening to
the messages and got it right between the eyes sometimes. And
the preacher don't even know that I got it between the eyes.
Oh my. For instruction in righteousness,
that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all
good works. It's amazing. And now go over to 2 Peter and
we'll look at verses 20 and 21. And remember, we did not know
any of these things about the Lord before the Lord saved us. Now, we may have had a head knowledge
of things, but it wasn't the heart. It wasn't. It wasn't in
the heart. It wasn't in the heart, was it?
Oh, my. Look at this in 2 Peter 1, 20
and 21. Knowing this, first, that no prophecy of the Scripture
is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in
old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as
they were moved by the Holy Ghost." Well, that sure does in those
people who are talking about dreams and visions and special
revelations, doesn't it? That just destroys them right
there. Knowing this, first, that no prophecy of the Scripture
is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in
old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as
they were moved by the Holy Ghost. So we saw over there in John
16 that the Holy Ghost glorifies Christ. He speaks of Christ,
He reveals Christ and enables believers to grow in grace. And
grow in the knowledge of Christ. As we grow in grace, two things
happen that I'm aware of. It's happened in my life, I see
myself more and more as a sinner, and you grow in the grace and
knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Again, we can't see our own growth,
but we can look back and see what we knew when the Lord first
saved us, and see what we know now. Now, that progression happened
without us even really, we're amazed at what we know now. We
still can't even boast in that, can we though? We can't boast
in anything but Christ, and Christ alone. We don't want to boast
in what we know. Because like I said, what we
know is just a little scratch on the surface. Just what God
wants to reveal to us. And we glory in that. We glory
in the Lord Jesus Christ that he's pleased to show us these
things. It's amazing. It's truly, truly,
truly amazing grace. So we learn of Christ, we learn
of what he's done. And the Holy Spirit comforts
the believers through the teaching and preaching of the Word of
God. Look again at verse 17, Even the Spirit of Truth, whom
the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth
him. But ye know him, for he dwelleth with you, and shall
be in you. Why is the Holy Spirit called
the Spirit of Truth again? Because He guides the born-again
believer into all truth, and it is He who reveals the truth
contained in the Scriptures. And we know that the Scriptures
point to the One who is called the truth, the Lord Jesus Christ. This book, this book testifies
to Christ. This book points to Christ. And
it points the believer to Christ. All by the Holy Spirit revealing
to us the Lord Jesus Christ. Now the natural man cannot receive
the things of God. Because they're dead in trespasses
and sins. They're blind and deaf spiritually to the things of
God. And we who believe know we were in that state. That was
our state at one time. Like I said, we may have known
some stuff about the scripture, we may have known some truth
even from the scripture, but we didn't really know it. Because we didn't really know
Christ. But when he revealed himself to us, oh my, everything
fell into place, didn't it? It's incredible. And then we,
as I said, we just continually learn about who Christ is. And
it's God, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, who gives us
eyes to see Christ, and gives us ears to hear, through the
preaching of the Word, the Shepherd's voice. It's wonderful. It's wonderful. Now this is brought forth real
clearly over in Matthew chapter 13. Turn up there, if you would,
over there. Matthew chapter 13. We're given eyes to see and ears
to hear by God Himself. God the Holy
Spirit. We're born again. Matthew 13
verses 13 to 16. And in 16, we'll look at that
a little bit, but 16 is amazing when you consider that we're
born dead in trespasses and sins. Look at this though in 13. to
them in parables, because they seeing not, and hearing they
hear not. Neither do they understand. Well,
that was my state before I was born again in the Holy Spirit.
Was it yours? And in them is fulfilled the
prophecy of Isaiah, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and
shall not understand, and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive. For this people's heart is waxed
gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have
closed. Lest at any time they should
see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand
with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal
them. Now look at this for God's people. Let's bring this right
home. Every one of us here who are
born again, this speaks of us. But blessed are your eyes, for
they see. And your ears, for they hear. That's the work of God, beloved.
Someone who was blind and deaf can now see and hear. All by
the divine power of God. All by the regenerating power
of the Holy Spirit. Now as a result of our fallen
Adam, men are born dead spiritually. you must be born again our Lord
proclaim and we know this is all by divine power and all by
the power of the Holy Spirit of God and only then will we
see Christ only then will we understand the things of the
kingdom of God only then will you love God and love the gospel
and love Christ whom the gospel proclaims and love the brethren
only then only then only when you're born again born again
believer knows God he knows the redeemer he knows the spirit
of God who dwells with him And in Him. And the distinct person
of the Holy Spirit of God is bought forth both in the Old
Testament and in the New. Turn if you would to Job chapter
33. Job chapter 33 and then we'll
come back to John 14 and we'll look at verses 26 and 27. The
distinct person of the Holy Spirit is bought forth in the Old Testament
as well as in the New. Job 33 verse 4. The Scriptures declare, the Spirit
of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given
me life. Well, we know that He gives us
life physically, but He also gives us life spiritually too,
doesn't He? We who believe. Look at that. The Spirit of God
hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me
life. Now turn back to John 14, if you would. John chapter 14. We're looking
at verses 26 and 27. 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 things to your remembrance, whatsoever
I have said unto you. Peace I leave with you, my peace
I give unto you. Not as the world giveth, give
I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled,
neither let it be afraid. Now we can see here, the Holy
Ghost is God. He is gone. Take note that He
is the teacher again of God's people. As we looked at earlier
in John chapter 16. Oh my, look at here in verse
26, it says, He shall teach you all things and bring all things
to your remembrance. See, the Lord is saying it again. In chapter 16, He is saying again
what He said here. It's the Holy Spirit who teaches
us the things of Christ. Now a man can learn a lot of
things. We can learn a lot of things. We can learn a lot of
worldly wisdom, couldn't we? Right? We can. And sometimes
we can even learn stuff from the scripture but not really
know what it really says. But we can learn a few things.
But when the Spirit of Truth reveals who Christ is, when He
reveals to us Christ, we are absolutely in awe of who God
is. Because we get a glimpse for the first time of who our
great God is. of who our great God is. He'll teach us all things. So
we see plainly in Scripture that God the Holy Spirit is a person
equal in every point of view with the Father and the Son. Turn if you would to 1 John 5.7.
There's a wonderful verse over here in 1 John 5.7 which brings
forth the Father, the Son, and the
Spirit. Now let us always remember that God the Holy Spirit is a
person equal in every point of view with the Father and the
Son. He's equal in glory. He's equal in all divine perfections
with the Father and with the Son. He's no less equal in acts
of love and grace towards the church, the elect of God. And the three persons of the
Trinity, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit
work together Three are one, distinct, yet acting as one.
Look what the Scriptures proclaim in verse 7 of 1 John 5. For there
are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word,
and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one. One God, yet three distinct persons. Let us remember that God the
Holy Spirit He is the third person of the Trinity, a member of the
Godhead, one with the Father and one with the Son, blessed
forever. So let us consider a few scriptures
that bring this forth. Turn, if you would, to Hebrews
chapter 9, and then put your finger in Isaiah, Isaiah chapter
4, Hebrews chapter 9. We know that God is eternal,
and the Holy Spirit is called the Eternal Spirit over here
in Hebrews chapter 9. Hebrews 9, verse 14. How much more shall the blood
of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself without
spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the
living God? We see there, spot forth, that
Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself out, note,
without spots. That's key right there too. Oh
beloved, don't let those little words slip by there. Look at
that. Sinless. Perfect. And when did
he offer himself out without spot to God? On Calvary's cross.
On Calvary's cross. Offered himself without spot
to God. Purge your conscience from dead works to serve the
living God. Now go over to Isaiah chapter
40. The scriptures declare the everlasting God, the Lord, the
creator of the ends of the earth. Let us remember that this is
God the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, because they're
one in the Godhead. They're one in the Godhead. Isaiah
40, verse 28. Hast thou not known? Hast thou
not heard that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of
the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? There
is no searching of his understanding. The everlasting God, God the
Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, the three who
are one. The everlasting God, beloved.
Turn, if you would, to John chapter 4. John chapter 4. Look what the scriptures declare
here. John chapter 4, verse 24. God is the Spirit, and they that
worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. God is the Spirit, and they that
worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. Moses
declared that it was Jehovah alone which led Israel in the
wilderness. Over in Deuteronomy chapter 32 verse 12 it says,
So the Lord alone did lead him, and there was no strange God
with him. Isaiah confirms this same truth and say that it was
the Holy Spirit of God which led the people with His glorious
arm over in Isaiah. So God the Holy Spirit is one
with the Father and one with the Son in all the attributes
and perfections of God. Turn if you would to Philippians
chapter 2. We are told in scriptures that
it is God which worketh in his people, both the will and the
do of his good pleasure. You ever think of that? God works
in his people, both the will and do of his good pleasure.
Think of that in light of your salvation. Think of that in light
of you being born again by the Holy Spirit of God. This is incredible. Absolutely incredible. Philippians
chapter 2, look at verses 12 and 13. Wherefore, my beloved,
as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now
much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear
and trembling. Look at this. Look at verse 13. Now, this destroys
works-based salvation. This absolutely destroys it.
For it is God which worketh in you, both to will and to do of His
good pleasure. Think of that in light of us
being conformed to the image of the Son, too. My! It's God who worketh in you,
both the will and the do of His good pleasure. I'll turn over,
if you would, to 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians,
and then we'll go back to John. 1 Corinthians. Chapter 2. We'll read verses
1 to 11. verses 1 to 11. Now concerning spiritual gifts,
brethren, I would not have you ignorant. Ye know that ye were
Gentiles carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led. My oh my. Look what it says right there.
And remember that the false gods that we work out in our minds
are like dumb idols. Oh, I'm sorry, it's 1 Corinthians
chapter 12. 1 Corinthians chapter 12, verses
1 to 11. Look at this. Now, concerning
spirits are gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant.
You know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb
idols, even as ye were led. Wherefore I gave you to understand
that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed,
and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the
Holy Ghost. Now there are diversities of
gifts, but the same Spirit. So God, the Holy Spirit, gives
gifts to the church, but they all come from the same Spirit,
the Holy Spirit of God. the Holy Spirit of God. And there
are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there
are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which
worketh all in all. But the manifestation of the
Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. For to one
is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom, to another the word
of knowledge by the same Spirit, to another faith by the same
Spirit, to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit,
to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, which is
preaching, to another discerning the spirits, to another diverse
kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.
But all these worketh, that one and the same self-spirit dividing
to every man severely as he will." It's a gift to the Holy Spirit
of God. So if a man has a gift to preach, he can't boast. It's
a gift from God. It's a gift from God. Now there's
not one perfection of Jehovah in the scripture that's not ascribed
to the Holy Spirit of God. He's our comforter. He's ever
with us. He guides us. He's the giver of spiritual life.
Again, we're born again by the Holy Spirit of God. In all the
almighty perfection spoken of the Father and Son, the Spirit
has them too. The father is said to have life
in himself. Listen to this. The father is said to have life
in himself. For as the father hath life in himself, so hath
he given to the son to have life in himself. John 5.26. The son
is said to be the life and light of man. Over in John 1.4 it says
in him was life and the life was the light of man. The Holy
Ghost is said to give life, it says in 2 Corinthians 3, 6. Who
hath made us able, ministers of the New Testament, not of
the letter, but of the Spirit. For the letter killeth, but the
Spirit giveth life. All three. The same thing ascribed
to all three. For there are three that bear
record in heaven. The Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost.
And these three are one. Eternal life is said to be of
the Son, it says, and this is the record that God hath given
to us eternal life, and this is in the Son, 1 John 5, 11.
Romans, chapter 6, verse 23, says, for the wages of sin is
death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ
our Lord. And then in Galatians 6, 8, the
Scripture says this of the Spirit, for he that soweth to his flesh
shall of the flesh reap corruption, but he that soweth to the Spirit
shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. So now everlasting
life is described to all three of them. Because they're all
God. One God, beloved. The three in
one. So we see God, the Holy Spirit's
person and the fact that he is part of the Godhead. And how he is endeared to the
church, beloved. Oh, how the Holy Spirit is endeared
to the church. And his place in the everlasting
covenant. God the Father gave a people.
to Christ in the everlasting covenant. And Christ redeems
those people. He's redeemed that Calvary's
cross. And beloved, the Holy Spirit regenerates those people.
He regenerates them. He regenerates all those to whom
the Father gave to Christ. He regenerates all those for
whom Christ died for on Calvary's cross. So marvel you who are
redeemed. Marvel at this. Marvel that you're included in
that number. Marvel at that. Marvel that you are one whom
the Father chose in eternity in Christ. And have you ever thought of
how before this wondrous act of regeneration is wrought out,
which is again all by the power of God, and all according to
His will, and all done by the Holy Spirit of God, that before
the child of God, when he's dead and trespasses and sins, when
he or she is dead and trespasses and sins, we are unconscious
of our high birth, as one commentator said. And the only reason they
said high birth is because we're heirs and we don't even know
it. You ever thought of that? We
had no idea. We knew nothing of the Father's
love or the Son's grace. We knew nothing
of the purposes of Jehovah to the Church from all eternity.
We had no idea. We had no idea. We had no idea about the everlasting
love of God towards His people. It was hid to us in that state.
It was hid to us in that state. What Christ had done for us was
hid from us in that state. We were dead in trespasses and
sins. The truth of the only acceptance with God for the sinner being
in Christ was hidden from us. Now, we may have heard it, but
we didn't believe it. We didn't believe it. But one
day, one day when it pleased the Lord, and all by His power,
we were born again of the Holy Spirit of God, And we had these
things revealed to us. We had revealed to us that we
are great sinners. There's one dear sister I talked
to that attends here said, she said, and oh, it just made me,
it just put tears in my eyes to hear this. She said, one moment,
Wayne, the Lord revealed to me that I was a great sinner. And the next second after, He
revealed Christ to me, the Holy Spirit revealed Christ to me.
Oh my, isn't that wonderful? That's what it is. And we believe
because we're born again by the Holy Spirit of God. It's amazing. It's absolutely amazing. Our
eyes were open to behold the fountain open to the house of
David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Our eyes were open
to the only savior of sinners, the Lord Jesus Christ. And then with our lips and our
hearts, we praise now the great three-in-one, giving God all
the glory and all the honor and all the praise for what He's
done for us. And that glory and that honor
and that praise is only due Him. Only due Him. Heavenly Father,
we thank you for the time that we could spend tonight looking
in thy word, oh Lord. We thank thee for sending the
Holy Spirit of God, our great comforter, who guides us into
all truth and, oh, who revealed you to us, to we who are your
people. Oh, we pray, Lord, if it's your will that the Holy
Spirit would reveal Christ to a lost sheep of his. Through
the preaching of this message, oh Lord, use it for your glory
and honor and praise, we pray. We'll be quick to give you all
the glory, all the glory for it. We love you because you first
loved us, in Jesus' name, amen.