Good morning again. I've noticed
there's a famous saying in the world that seems to become more
popular. I hear people say it all the
time. It's all good. It's all good. They don't believe
that. They don't believe that. They
really don't. But we do. We do. It really is. That's just not
a way to somehow salve our anxieties and make us feel better about
things. We really do believe that it's all good. Tom's going
to come and lead us in the hymn on the back of your bulletin.
Would you stand, please? Glory to God the Father's name,
Who from our sinful race, Chose out His favorites to proclaim
The honors of His grace. Glory to God, the son be paid,
who dwelt in humble clay, and to redeem us from the dead, gave
his own life away. Glory to God the Spirit give
from whose almighty power our souls their heavenly birth derive
and bless the happy hour. Glory to God that reigns above
the eternal three in one, who by the wonders of his love has
made his nature known. Please be seated. Would you turn with me to Luke
chapter 11, please? We'll begin reading in verse
9. Luke chapter 11, verse 9. And I say unto you, well, there's
a, this is God speaking. This is God speaking, this is
our creator, the sustainer and giver of all of life, the lover
of his children. He's speaking to his people. I say unto you, ask, and it shall
be given you. Seek, and you shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened
unto you. You have not because you ask
not. Isn't that true? The Lord's wooing us to himself. Oh, child, ask me. I'll give
it to you. For everyone that asketh, receiveth. And he that seeketh, findeth.
And to him that knocketh, it shall be opened. If a son shall ask bread of any
of you that is a father, Will he give him a stone? And if he
asks a fish, will, for a fish, give him a serpent? Or if he
asks an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If your child asks
you for something that they needed, now here's the thing about it,
this is not just a, this is not a blanket invitation to just
ask for whatever your flesh desires, this is asking for your needs.
Asking God for your needs, he's not going to give you anything
other than what's good for you. If you then, being evil, know
how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall
your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them who ask him? Have you asked God to bless you
with His Spirit? To pour out His Spirit upon you? The Spirit of truth, the Spirit
of revelation, the Spirit of grace, Spirit of supplication. Oh Lord,
that's, you see, that is our greatest need. To have the Spirit
of God. Apart from the Spirit of God,
we have nothing to do with Christ. Let's pray together. Our Heavenly
Father, we ask that you would send your spirit in power to
bless your word to the hearts of your people. We pray that
he would do what you promised he would do. Lift up the Lord
Jesus Christ and cause him to be exalted. We pray that you
would send him as your comforter. To come along beside us and enable
us in our walk of faith. For we ask it in Christ's name.
Amen. Let's stand together again. We'll
sing him number 126. number 126 from the hardbacked
hymnal, Rock of Ages. Rock of Ages, clap for me. Let me hide myself in thee. Let the water and the blood from
thy wounded side which flowed be of sin the double cure. Save from wrath and make me pure. Could my tears forever flow? Could my zeal no longer know? These, for sin, could not atone. Thou must save, and Thou alone. In my hand, no price I bring. Simply to Thy cross I cling. While I draw this fleeting breath,
When my eyes shall close in death, When I rise to worlds unknown,
And behold thee on thy throne, Rock of Ages, cleft for me, let
me hide myself in thee. Please be seated. Could you turn with me to John,
Chapter 15, the Gospel of John, Chapter 15. titled this message, The Ministry
of the Holy Spirit. The Ministry of the Holy Spirit. Now I am fully aware of the abuses
that there are in man-made religion when it comes to understanding
the ministry of the Holy Spirit. I know that there are many who
consider the baptism of the Holy Spirit to be some sort of second
blessing. I know that there are those who
exalt the Holy Spirit as the gift giver and pretend to be
exercising supernatural gifts that were given to them by the
Spirit of God. Most, if not all, of that is
demonic. It's demonic. and we want nothing
whatsoever to do with it. That having been said, just because
there are abuses and errors when it comes to the ministry of the
Holy Spirit, what we don't want to do is react against those
errors by erring on the other side. That's always the case. When we react against an error,
we risk moving the pendulum too far the other way, and ignoring
altogether what the scriptures have to say about the ministry
of the Holy Spirit. Now we know that apart from the
Spirit of God, no one would be saved. No one would be saved. It is the Spirit of God that
brings the irresistible grace of God. It is the Spirit of God
that opens the eyes of our understanding. It is the Spirit of God that
takes out our heart of stone and puts in a heart of flesh. It is the Spirit of God that
unstops our ears. It is the Spirit of God that
dispenses the gift of faith on God's people. That's why the
Lord said to Nicodemus, As religious as you are, as committed to the
scriptures as you seem to be, you will never ever be able to
see the kingdom of God unless you are born of the Spirit. You've got to, he told Nicodemus,
he said, that which is the flesh is flesh. The flesh profiteth
nothing. The natural man cannot receive
the things of the spirit, for they are spiritually discerned.
So we are completely dependent upon the ministry of the Holy
Spirit. The Lord went on to tell Nicodemus,
Nicodemus, the spirit of God is like the wind. I'm very thankful
that hurricane didn't come to Florida the other day. But I
thought, as confident as all the weather guessers were that
it was going to go north, I thought, wouldn't it be just like the
Lord to send it this way? He could have. The Spirit of
God is like the wind. And the Lord would just humble
the pride of man by doing something that he just thought was impossible. But you don't know where the
Spirit is. The Lord said, He listeth with
us whoever He wills. He's going to blow when He wants
to blow, on whom He wants to blow. He's going to bring the
breath of life to God's elect in God's time. Heart from the
Spirit of God, what does this cause you to feel in your heart
right now? I hope that it's doing for you
what it's doing for me. Lord, give me your Spirit. If you being evil know how to
give good gifts unto your children, will not your heavenly Father
give the Holy Spirit to them who ask Him? That's, that's the,
when the Lord talks about asking and knocking and seeking, that's
what He's talking about. Lord, send me your Spirit. If
you don't send me your Spirit, I'll, everything I do will be
in the power of my own flesh. I'll have no blessing from God
apart from the illuminating power of your spirit. I hope that you
will pray with me for God to give you his spirit in regeneration. You have your Bibles open to
John chapter 15? If the Lord sends you His Spirit in regenerating
power, if He brings you to Christ, it's going to result in a radical
change in your life. A radical change. And I was thinking
this week, why would I believe what I believe? I mean, what
I believe puts me at odds with everything in this world. the
philosophies of this world, the direction of this world, the
values of this world. I'm standing in contrast to the
religions of this world. I stand in contrast to all of
it. Why do I believe this? Why am
I so different? Why? Why? Why? The only answer to that is, the
Spirit of God has made me to believe something that I would
otherwise not have ever believed. I wouldn't have believed it.
And you won't either. But if the Spirit of God comes, your life is going to be radically
changed. And if you've already experienced
that, you know it is. You know it is. Friendship with the world is
enmity with God. Men want to have it both ways.
They want to have the comforts of this world and peace with
men in this world. The Lord said, I did not come
to bring peace. I came to bring a sword. to set you at knot with
your very loved ones, your family members, so that your enemies
will be of your own household. Now who would want that? Who
would choose that? I don't like having enemies on
any grounds, particularly my family. I don't like having them
to be, why would I go there? John chapter 15, verse 18. If the world hate you, you know
that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world,
the world would love his own. But because you are not of the
world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the
world hateth you. You know anything about that? If the Spirit of God has come
to you, you do know something about this. If you say, well,
I don't want any part of that, then I know that you're not asking
God to send you His Spirit. If He sends you His Spirit, it's
gonna change, it's gonna turn everything upside down. You know,
the apostles were accused by the Sanhedrin of turning Jerusalem
upside down. Remember they brought Peter,
James, and John in? These men are preaching Jesus and they've
turned our city upside down. No! The problem was it was already
upside down. The gospel was turning it right
side up. And we live in an insane world,
a world that's in rebellion against God. And the gospel given to
us by the Spirit of God is the only thing that sets us in fellowship
with God. And in doing so, it sets us in
contrast with everything in this world. And what the Lord's saying
here is you can't have it both ways. You cannot have it both
ways. Remember the word that I said
unto you, the servant is not greater than his Lord. And the
Lord's comparing his people to himself. What if he had said,
well, now let's find some common ground here. Let's compromise
these statements that I've made and let's figure out a way that
we can all get along. What if the Lord had done that?
No one would be saved. The servant is not greater than
his Lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute
you. If they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. But all these things will they
do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that
sent me. Verse 26, but, When the comforter has come,
he's talking about the Holy Spirit. That word comforter, Adam, is
the word for attorney. It's the word for an advocate,
one who comes along beside and pleads your case to the judge. You just keep your mouth shut
in a court of law. If you're the defendant, you
don't want to say a word. You want your attorney to do
all your talking for you. And that's what the comforter
does. He comes along beside of us and he just, he comforts us. It's the same word that's used
in 1 John 2, verse 1, where John says, my little children, I write
unto you that you sin not, but if any man sin, he has an advocate
with the father, Jesus Christ, the righteous one. Same word,
advocate, comforter, paraclete. Here's the Lord saying, oh, in
your trials, in your troubles, you have a comforter. You're
not going to find any comfort in this world. Everything you
believe is going to be at odds with everything that this world
stands for. But I'm going to send you the
comforter. whom I will send unto you from
the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from
the Father, he shall testify of me, and you also shall bear
witness, because you have been with me from the beginning."
Chapter 16, verse 1. These things have I spoken unto
you, that you should not be offended. They shall put you out of the
synagogues. Yea, the time cometh that whosoever
killeth you will think that he's doing God's service. Now I'm
almost ashamed to read these verses in light of the circumstances
of the men that our Lord was speaking to. They all died martyrs'
deaths. And many generations of believers
have suffered the same fate, the same end. in their stand
for the gospel. And yet, I think that there are
times when we would stand for Christ if it meant being burned
at the stake and deny Him if it means just a little ostracizing. Isn't that the case? They think they're doing God's
service. They think you're a heretic. They think you're a cult. They think you believe something
strange. Oh, don't consider it to be a
strange thing when these fiery trials come to you. This is part
and parcel of the gospel. If you believe the gospel, you're
gonna be an oddball. I mean, you are. You're just
gonna be an oddball. And the more you grow in grace
and the more you speak up for Christ, you don't have to, I'm
not standing here telling you, you know, you just need to separate
yourself from the world. I'm not telling you that. I'm telling you that if the Spirit
of God blesses you with the light of the gospel and gives you grace
to speak for Christ, they'll separate themselves from you. And it'll be good because your
brethren who experience the very same thing will become more and
more dear to you. It'll be the only family you've
got. Verse three, and these things
will they do unto you because they have not known the Father
nor me. And the religious will be the
most zealous. The religious will be the most
zealous in cutting you off. But these things have I told
you that when the time shall come, you may remember that I
told you of them. And these things I said not unto
you at the beginning because I was with you. But now I'm going
my way. And I'm going to send the Comforter. I'm going to send the Comforter.
He's going to bless you in all your trials, in all your troubles. He's going to encourage you.
And He's going to teach you of Me. Here's the thing about the
Spirit of God. The Spirit of God doesn't call
attention to Himself. Look with me at chapter 14 of
John. Chapter 14 at verse 16. And I will pray the Father and
he shall give you another comforter that you may abide, that he may
abide with you forever. And you say, once you receive
the Spirit of God, you remember when Peter went to, was it Paul,
that went to the disciples of John and they said, he asked
them, have you been baptized with the Holy Spirit? We've not
so much as even heard of the Holy Spirit. They hadn't heard
the gospel. And Paul preaches the gospel
to them and they're baptized in the Spirit of God. Once the
Spirit of God comes to you, he'll never leave you. He'll never
leave you. even the Spirit of Truth, whom
the world cannot receive. The world can't receive the Spirit
of Truth. They know nothing about Him. God has to give us a new
nature before we can receive the Spirit of Truth. That's why
regeneration necessarily, in terms of order of events, precedes
faith. God has to make us a new creature
in Christ. He does that by the power of
His Spirit. Even the Spirit of truth in the world cannot receive,
because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him, but you know him,
for he dwelleth with you and shall be in you. I will not leave
you comfortless. I will come to you. Look at verse 26 in that same
passage, in that same chapter. 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 to you. Peace I leave you, my peace I
give unto you, not as the world giveth. This isn't having peace with
men. This isn't having health, wealth and prosperity, lifestyle.
No, this is peace with God. We have peace with God through
the Lord Jesus Christ, and it's the Spirit of God that confirms
that to our hearts. It's the Spirit of God that works
in our hearts. I can't convince you that you're
a child of God. You can't convince me that I'm
a child of God. You can't convince yourself that
you're a child of God. It's not your place. It's the
Holy Spirit's place. He's the one that has to convince
you. And I hope that everything I'm saying right now is causing
you to say with me, Lord, give me your spirit. Ask for him. If your child asks you for a
loaf of bread, are you going to give him a snake or a stone?
No! Your Heavenly Father loves you
more than you love your own children. If you ask Him for His Spirit,
He'll give Him to you. It will radically upset your
life. But only then will you know anything
about the peace of God that passes understanding and will keep your
heart and your mind in Christ Jesus, trusting Him for all your
salvation. Ask Him. Ask Him. Ask God, God give me your Spirit.
I don't want to live just, I don't want to be lost. I don't want
to be a part of this world. This world is slated for destruction. It is. The date is set. It's going to be consumed by
the fire of God. And the only hope that we have
is that God's fiery wrath was consumed upon the Lord Jesus
Christ as the sinner's substitute on Calvary's cross. Lord, let
me be found in Him. Let me be, let me have peace
with God. Peace with God. My peace I give
you, not as the world gives. I will give it to you. Let not
your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Oh, you're going to be at odds
with this world, but don't be afraid. In my Father's house
there are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have
told you. I go and prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare
a place, I will come again and receive you unto myself, so that
where I am there you may be also. The trials of this present life
cannot be compared to the glory that shall be revealed in us. If you've received the Spirit
of God, you have hope in Christ. You have hope. You're not like
the rest of this world, just placing your hope in Job put
it like this. Job said, the hope of the hypocrite,
that's the unbeliever, shall be cut off and his trust shall
be as a spider's web. Jonathan Edwards preached a message
centers in the hands of an angry God and he used this verse to
illustrate the lost man who is dangling over the fiery pits
of hell holding on to a spider's web. And that's exactly what
people do. When they're not trusting Christ
for their salvation, they're trusting a decision that they
made, they're trusting a prayer that they prayed, they're trusting
a work that they performed, they're trusting something that they
abstained from in their life, they're trusting a ceremony that
they participated in. And men do it all the time. And the hope of the hypocrite
shall be cut off. I read the story about the Tower
of Babel this week. And when the men got together
at the Tower of Babel, they said, let us make bricks out of clay. And let us pitch, let us mortar
the bricks with slime. And I got a picture of this Tower
of Babel, this teetering Tower of Babel. It was built with handmade
bricks and stuck together with tar. What a picture. The Lord said
they trust, they lean upon a teetering wall that's been daubed with
untempered mortar. And one day that wall is going
to fall. And it's going to destroy them all. Why? Because their
hope is somewhere other than Christ. Why? Because they have
not the Spirit of God. If the Spirit of God comes, the
Lord tells us in chapter 16, look what he says in chapter
16 of John, verse 7, Nevertheless, I tell
you the truth, it is expedient for you that I go away. It's
necessary for you that I go away. When the Lord was here in his
physical body, he was limited to time and space. The presence
and power of God was limited to the time and place where the
Lord was physically. And he's saying to his disciples,
it's good for you. It's necessary for you that I
go away. For if I go not away, the spirit of God will not come.
But when he comes, when he comes, he's not going to be limited
to time and space. He's going to inhabit the hearts
of my people in every age and in every place. The Comforter will not come. But if I depart, I will send
him unto you. And when he has come, he will
reprove the world of sin. Has he done that for you? Oh yeah, I feel guilty about
some of the bad things that I've done. No, no, no, no, no, no.
No. You don't need the Holy Spirit
for that. You have a conscience that you were born with, and
you've got the Ten Commandments of God's law written on your
heart from the time you drew your first breath. You know right
from wrong, and your conscience is sufficient to convict you
of the bad things that you have done. You don't need the Holy
Spirit for that. He will convict the world of
sin because they believed not on me. Do you understand? that your faith, your unbelief,
is the sin that doth so easily beset you, and that your faith
is not sufficient. Your faith is not sufficient.
You see, when we have faith, we're placing our faith in the
faithfulness of the Lord Jesus Christ. God requires perfect
faith for your salvation. Men put their faith in their
faith. Men put their faith in their
works. Men put their faith in whatever. But they don't put
their faith in the faithfulness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Believing
that he alone is the only one that ever pleased God. And unless
I'm found in him, I won't be accepted before God. What is the evidence? that you
have this hope. Faith. Faith, the scripture says,
is the substance of things hoped for. It is the evidence of things
not seen. It is my faith in Christ that
calms my fears, that gives hope to my soul. The Spirit of God had to convict
me that I was an unbeliever. of righteousness because I go
to my Father. The Spirit of God had to show
me that I have no righteousness, that I'm a sinner, that every
imagination of my thoughts are only evil and that continually,
that there's nothing in me that merits the favor of God. I need
a righteous one. I need an advocate. This is what
the Lord said the Holy Spirit would do. Has He done this for
you? Has he caused you to have faith in the faithfulness of
the Lord Jesus Christ? To trust Christ alone for all
your salvation, all your righteousness, and to believe, to believe that
he succeeded in what he came to do when he died on Calvary's
cross and destroyed the works of the devil and delivered once
and for all by the sacrifice of himself all those who were
taken bondage by Satan. all his children, all of his
people. He saved them. He accomplished
their salvation. That's what he said the Spirit
of God will do. He will convict the world of sin because they
believe not on me, of righteousness because I go to my Father, and
of judgment because the prince of this world is judged. How
be it? Look at verse 13. Howbeit, when he, the Spirit
of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth, for he shall
not speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he
speak, and he will show you things to come. He shall glorify me,
for he shall receive of mine and shall show it unto you. Does the Spirit of God keep you
coming to Christ? That's what the Lord said He'll
do. He's not going to draw attention to Himself. We're not going to
act like a bunch of fools and act like we've got some supernatural
power and start doing foolish stuff like people do when they
talk about the Holy Spirit. The Lord said He will not draw
attention to Himself. He'll point you to Me. He'll point you to the truth.
Most men don't want to know the truth. God has sent men a lie. Why? Turn with me to 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. Verse 10, and with all deceivableness
of unrighteousness in them that perish. That means that men are
deceived in trusting their righteousness for their salvation. Because
they receive not the love of the truth that they might be
saved, and for this cause God shall send them strong delusion
that they shall believe a lie. They receive not the love of
the truth. When Pilate was talking with our Lord, he asked him, he said, are you a
king like they say? The Lord said, my kingdom's not
of this world. He said, well, tell me, what
are you here for? He said, for this cause was I born and for
this reason came I into the world that I might bear witness unto
the truth. They that are of the truth hear
my voice and they follow me. How do we do that? By the Spirit
of God. The Spirit of God enlightens
the eyes of our understanding, causes us to believe the truth
about ourselves, the truth that we're sinners, the truth that
we have no righteousness, The truth that apart from the grace
of God and the accomplished work of the Lord Jesus Christ, we
are hell-deserving sinners. That's the truth. Men don't want
to believe the truth. They don't want to hear the truth.
The truth about God. The truth that God is sovereign
in salvation. That He has the sovereign right
to choose according to His own will and purpose a people in
the covenant of grace before the world ever began. No man
can stay His hand. No man can say unto Him, What
doest Thou? He's God. He's got that right. That's the truth. Men don't want
to hear that. The truth about the Lord Jesus
Christ. He accomplished the salvation
of his people when he bowed his mighty head on Calvary's cross
and cried, it is finished. Father, into thy hands I commend
my spirit. He did it all, everything necessary. All my standing before God is
found in the finished work and glorious person of the Lord Jesus
Christ. I've got nothing outside of Christ.
I had all my eggs in one basket. That's the only place I know
to go. The Lord asked the disciples, will you leave me also? What
did Peter say? Lord, where are we going to go?
Where are we going to go? Thou alone has the words of eternal
life. And we know and are sure that
thou art the Christ, the son of the living God. You have shut
us up to yourself. We've got no place else to go.
How do you do that? By the spirit of God. Spirit
of God has to do a work of grace in the heart. He shall testify of me. The ministry of the Holy Spirit
is essential for our salvation. We'll never believe if he doesn't
make us to believe. We'll never see if he doesn't
cause us to see. And when he does, he sets us
at odds with everything in this world. And yet in doing so, he
promises never to leave us, to be our comforter, to be our advocate,
to be the one who's always there to encourage us, to speak to
us, and to point us to Christ. Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father,
we're thankful for the ministry of thy spirit. We ask, Lord,
that you would cause us to desire the Holy Spirit. Lord, even for
us to pray for your spirit is a work of grace. Lord, you've
got to make us want Christ, want the ministry of thy spirit in
our hearts. Lord, we pray that you would
do it for the glory of Christ, for the salvation of our souls,
for we ask it in Christ's name, amen. I'm gonna ask the men if
they'll come, please, and get the bread and the wine. Just remain seated and we'll
sing hymn number 191 from the Hardback Tymnal, number 191. Here, oh my Lord, I see thee
face to face. Here, O my Lord, I see Thee face
to face. Here would I touch and handle
things unseen. Here, grasped with firmer and
eternal grace, And all my weariness upon thee lean. Here would I feed upon the bread
of God. Here drink with thee the royal
wine of heaven. Here would I lay aside each earthly
load, Here taste afresh the calm of sin forgiven. I have no help but thine, nor
do I need another arm, save thine to lean upon. It is enough, my Lord, enough
indeed. My strength is in Thy might,
Thy might alone. Mine is the sin, but thine the
righteousness. Mine is the guilt, but thine
the cleansing blood. Here is my robe, my refuge and
my peace, thy blood, thy righteousness, O Lord my God. The night before our Lord's crucifixion,
he met with his disciples. It was the Passover, been celebrated
every year for 1,500 years by the Jews since the time that
they came out of Egypt. Now our Lord interprets that
Passover. He interprets himself as the
Passover lamb. He interprets the wine. as the
blood of that lamb that was necessary as a covering for our sins. And
he instructs us to do this, and as often as we do, to do it in
remembrance of him. So we take this unleavened bread,
mindful and believing that it is the sinless life of the Lord
Jesus Christ that is all our righteousness before God. At the end of the supper, he
took the cup and gave it to the disciples and said, this is the
cup of the blood of the new covenant. The shed blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ on Calvary's cross is the covering for our sin, just
like when that high priest went in and put the blood on the mercy
seat. There's a mercy seat in heaven that our Lord put his
blood on. satisfied all the demands of
God's justice and put away the sins of his people once and for
all. Every one of them. He said, do this in remembrance
of me. And all God's people said, amen,
amen. Lord, send us your spirit. Will
you pray that with me? Let's stand together. You all
know that Charles Pennington has suffered with a lot of physical
problems of late, and he had to go back home to Ohio Friday
to meet with his doctors this week. And so Cheryl's here by
herself, and Charles is up there. Robert, would you lead us in
prayer and pray for Charles, please? Did you hear me? Robert, by the way, I'm getting
hearing aids next week. I can sympathize with Robert.
Pray for Charles also. Charles Pennington. Okay, let's
stand together. Father, we come before you this
morning, Father, remembering the body and blood of our Lord
Jesus Christ and the way that you commanded us to do, Father. We can never appreciate what
he's done for us in his life, Father, but there will come a
day when we'll stand in his presence, Father, and we'll know him for
who he is, Father. We ask that you to this life, Father, with more
and more praise for a more understanding daughter and a deeper love for
the Brethren.