Let us turn once again to God's
Word and I want to direct you to the portion of Scripture that
we were considering last Lord's Day morning in John chapter 14
and reading again verses 16 and 17. John chapter 14 and verses
16 and 17. And I will pray the Father and He shall give you another
Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever, 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. In John chapter 14 and verses
16 17 we concentrated our attention
last Lord's Day morning on the 16th verse and the beginning
of verse 17 I will pray the father and he shall give you another
comforter that he may abide with you forever, even the Spirit
of truth." And I remark then that what we have here is very
much a Trinitarian statement. Three distinct persons are to
be seen in these words. We have the personal pronouns
used. Christ is the one who is speaking
and he speaks of himself as I, I will pray the Father," he says. And then he speaks of the Father
and says, he shall give you another comforter. And then he speaks
of that particular comforter in terms of a person that he
may abide with you forever, even the Spirit of Truth." It is then
clearly a portion of Scripture that sets before us the great
doctrine of God, the doctrine of the Trinity. We have the Son
in human nature praying to the Father for the Holy Spirit. Christ, of course, was about
to accomplish that mission that he had come into the world to
fulfill that that he had engaged to accomplish in the eternal
covenants. He was about to offer himself
as that great sacrifice after the discourses that we have here
in these three chapters 14 and 15 and 16 we come to chapter
17 and we see Christ more particularly
as a high priest as he prays that great prayer and then after
that in chapter 18 following we see him as the one who is
obedient unto death as he makes the great sacrifice for sins. He was about to die, he was about
to leave his disciples and now this was troublesome to them
In chapter 13 and verse 33 he says, Little children, yet a
little while I am with you, ye shall seek me. And as I said
unto the Jews, Whither I go ye cannot come, so now I say to
you. How these things that he was
saying were so confusing to them, and filled them with great sadness. Again in chapter 16 where we
read, verse 5 and verse 6, Now I go my way to him that sent
me, and none of you asketh me whither goest thou, but because
I have said these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your
heart. they were sorrowful at the prospect
of him leaving them and they couldn't understand what he was
saying about his departing from them and so his concern in these
discourses is to minister some comfort to them the beginning
of chapter 14 of course let not your heart be troubled You believe
in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many
mansions. If it were not so, I would have
told you. I go to prepare a place for you,
he says. And then again, he repeats that
at verse 27 here in chapter 14. 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 and what is
the comfort that he will minister to them we were thinking of this
last Lord's Day that comfort comes of course in the saving
knowledge of God himself to know God and to know that great salvation
that God has provided for sinners is the only source of comfort
in this fallen world in his prayer in chapter 17 he says this is
life eternal that they might know thee the only true God and
Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent how the father had sent him and
he had come in obedience to the Father and his concern was to
do the will of the One who had sent him and to finish his work. But not only the Father and the
Son, we must also know something of God, the Holy Spirit, and
it is the Spirit that he is so much speaking of in these discourses. Again there in verse 7 of that
16th chapter, He says to them, Nevertheless, I tell you the
truth, it is expedient for you that I go away, for if I go not
away, the Comforter will not come unto you, but if I depart,
I will send him unto you. Now, not only to know God the
Father and God the Son, they are to know God the Holy Spirit
also. There are three that bear record
in heaven, the Father, the Word and the Holy Ghost, and these
three are one. How necessary it is that they
should know this gracious ministry of Him who is to come and be
the one who applies all that great work that the Lord Jesus
Christ is now accomplishing. and which will ultimately end
in his dying as the great substitute for sinners. When John comes
to write in his first general epistle, he reminds those believers
of that ministry of the Spirit. You have an unction, he says.
You have an unction from the Holy One and ye know all things. There in 1 John chapter 2 and
verse 20, and again, In verse 27 he says, of him who is the
unction, that is the Holy Spirit, he says you have an anointing
and the anointing teaches you all things and is truth and is
no lie. How necessary then is this ministry
of the Spirit of whom the Lord Jesus Christ is saying so much
here. And this morning then, As we
continue with this same portion, I want to direct your attention
now to what Christ is saying here in verse 17, where He speaks
of the presence of the Comforter. This is the theme that I want
us to take up then, the presence of the Comforter who is the Holy
Ghost. Even the Spirit of Truth, He
says, 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. And as we come to consider what
the Lord is saying concerning the Blessed Spirit and His presence
to observe just two headings really first of all to notice
the fact that He is unknown in the world And yet, He is known
by His works. That is the division then that
I want us to follow as we come to examine these words in verse
17 of John chapter 14. First of all, the Lord Jesus
says quite plainly that He is unknown in the world. Even the Spirit of Truth, whom
the world cannot receive. Why is it that the world cannot
receive the Spirit of God? Because the world is too full. The world is full of rebellion
against God. The world, alas, is full of ignorance
and of prejudice. It's full of pride and self-righteousness. It is The world really is full
of unbelief and it cannot receive the spirit of truth. We can say
really in two words that men's hearts are full of self and they're
full of sin. The whole world, says John, at
the end of his first general epistle, the whole world lieth
in wickedness. It will not receive God, it will
not receive the things of God, it doesn't want to know anything
of the Spirit of God. Remember how John also in that
first epistle exhorts those believers to whom he is writing to, love
not the world, Love not the world, neither the things that are in
the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father
is not in him. And then he goes on to speak
of the world, and oh, it is full of all evil. The lust of the
flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. These
are the things that he speaks of in the world and it's interesting
to observe what he is saying there in that second chapter
of his first epistle on the 16th verse to compare that with what
we're told concerning the entrance of sin into the world when we
read in Genesis 3 of the fall of Adam and Eve We see it in
those terms, do we not? Back in Genesis chapter 3 and
verses 5 and 6, here is the serpent, the instrument of Satan as he
comes and tempts the woman concerning the fruit of the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil. would have her partake, you see,
of that that God had forbidden. And he says at verse 5 in Genesis
3, God doth know that in the day that ye eat thereof, then
your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing
good and evil. And when the woman saw that the
tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes,
and the tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the
fruit thereof and did eat, and gave also unto her husband wicker,
and he did eat." And I say we see those three things that John
speaks of quite specifically in that second chapter of his
first general epistle. Love not the world, neither the
things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the
love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world,
the lust of the flesh, And the lust of the eyes and the pride
of life is not of the Father but is of the world. The woman
saw. She saw. Here we have surely
the lust of the eyes. She sees something now in this
tree that she desires to partake of. And not only does she desire
but she actually does eat of that forbidden fruit. We have
the lust of the flesh. And what is it that the serpent
had said to her if she was to fall in with his temptation?
Ye shall be as gods. There we have the pride of life. Now these things mark the world
and the ways of the world. There is no room for God. And
no room for God the Holy Ghost. He is that one who is the author,
of course, of Holy Scripture. Those holy men of God, says Peter,
spake as they were moved by the Spirit of God. All Scripture
is given by inspiration of God. It's God's Word. And yet, we
find the Lord Jesus Christ here in John chapter 8 and verse 37,
saying even to the Jews who were so peculiarly fibrous, they were
those that God knew in the Old Testament Scriptures. You only
have I known of all the families of the earth, He says. What fibrous,
what blessings were bestowed upon the Jews as a people and
yet there in chapter 8 and verse 37 Christ says, My word hath
no place in you. The world has no place for the
Word of God, that Word that was given by the inspiration of the
Holy Spirit. Whom the world cannot receive
it, will not receive it. What does the preacher say in
the book of Ecclesiastes? The heart of the sons of men
is fully set in them to do evil. Men do not want the pure word
of God. They only want to satisfy their
own lusts, their own desires. The world then cannot and will
not receive the Spirit. He is unknown. unknown in the
world." Now look at what the Lord Jesus is saying here in
the text. "...even the Spirit of truth,
whom the world cannot receive..." And then He gives the reason,
"...because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him." "...it
seeth him not." Well, the Spirit cannot be seen. God cannot be
seen. He's not God spoken of as that one who is invisible. In the opening chapter of 1st
Timothy, see how the Apostle Paul speaks of God there, eternal,
immortal, invisible, God, only, wise. He cannot be seen. The Lord Jesus again here in
this Gospel speaks of God does he not to the to the woman of
Samaria in chapter 4 God is a spirit he says and they that worship
him must worship him in spirit and in truth God in that sense
surely cannot be seen it's not only true of the world it's true
of even those who are the the people of God we do not see God
and we are clearly forbidden in the commandments to make any
image or any likeness of God. It's true that the Lord Jesus
Christ comes in the fullness of the time, and he is spoken
of as the image of the invisible God, but we have no physical
description of the Lord Jesus Christ anywhere in the Scriptures. We're told nothing really with
regards to his physical appearance. He is God manifest in the flesh,
but when he comes to any representation we're not to make representations
of God, we're not to make any sort of images. God in that sense
cannot be seen. But of course here, as the Lord
Jesus speaks of the world, and speaks of the spirits whom the
world cannot receive because it seeth him not, you are to
understand the word in terms of their perception. They cannot
perceive him. They have no idea. With regards
to God, the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit
of God. They are foolishness to him, neither can he know them,
because they are spiritually discerned. to understand anything
of the Spirit of God a man must be spiritual. The natural eye
is altogether inadequate with regards to any understanding
of the Spirit of God. The rational mind cannot really
begin to comprehend. God in that sense is altogether
beyond our conception. We have those questions in Job
11, canst thou by searching find out God? Canst thou find out
the Almighty unto perfection? It is high as heaven, what canst
thou do? Deeper than hell, what canst thou know? The measure
thereof is longer than the earth, broader than the seas. In that
sense you see God is unknown. Or the natural man, he cannot
understand, cannot perceive any of these things. And yet We see
men satisfied in many ways with the fleshly religion. We can
think of the religion of Romanism, its forms, its rites, its ceremonies,
which has a wonderful appeal to the senses of men. And they
have their images, of course, and they would say, in excusing
these images, that they're simply aid to their worship. They're
not worshipping the image, they would say, but that is an aid
to the worship of God. But how all of these things,
in that sense, are carnal, and how these things are clearly
forbidden in Scripture. Look at what The Apostle says
when he writes to the Colossians there at the end of the second
chapter of his epistle to the Colossians. In Colossians chapter
2 and there at verse 20, wherefore says Paul if she be dead with
Christ from the rudiments of the world Why, as though living
in the world, are you subject to ordinances, touch not, taste
not, handle not, which all are to perish with the using after
the commandments and doctrines of men, which things have indeed
a show of wisdom in will-worship and humility and neglecting of
the body, not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh?"
He is speaking against all that religion that has to do with
the externals. And we see it again, do we not,
when he writes in the opening part of chapter 4 in the first
epistle to Timothy. He speaks of the latter times,
as some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing
spirits and doctrines of devil, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having
their conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry,
and commanding to abstain from meat which God hath created to
be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know
the truth. And these things speak so contrary,
you see, to the teachings of Romanism, with its emphasis upon
external things, and things that have a remarkable attraction
to the senses or the denial of these things but it comes nearer
home than that does it not? not only that the natural eye
is inadequate with regards to an understanding of the work
of the spirit the rational mind also is inadequate in and of
itself and there we need to be aware of that With regards to
the great doctrines of sovereign grace, as we've said many times,
there is an intellectual appeal concerning these things. And
in many ways, alas, popular Calvinism might appeal to that. A faith
that is nothing more than doing mental gymnastics in the head,
seeking to come to some understanding intellectually of the great truths
of the Word of God. And we read of those who have
a form of godliness, but deny the power thereof. We want more
than a faith that is simply in the mind. We might use the historic
expression a Sandimanian faith. that faith that is associated
with the teaching of that Scotch Baptist, Robert Sanderman, who
said that faith is nothing more than mental assent. We want more
than that. The mind of man cannot really
receive the things of the Spirit of God. And the mere form of
godliness is inadequate. The world cannot receive the
Spirit of God, because it seeth him not, it doesn't perceive
him. We need a spiritual mind, we need a new nature, do we not? The Kingdom of God, says the
Apostle Paul, is not meat and drink. It's not these outward
things, but it's righteousness and it's peace and its joy in
the Holy Ghost. It is that work of the Spirit
of God that must be performed in the soul of a man. The Kingdom
of God, says Christ, is within you. And the world knows nothing
of this. whom the world cannot receive
because it seeth him not. It doesn't perceive him. It knows
nothing of those gracious workings and those sovereign operations
that must come into the soul of man. A man can receive nothing
except it be given him from heaven, that blessed work of the Spirit
of God, how necessary it is. And here is the comfort, of course,
that we can have because we can ask God. How much more shall
your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask
Him? Do we feel that we have need
of the Spirit? And we want a religion that is
altogether wrought of the Spirit of God. And that that brings
us really to the complete and utter end of ourselves. We don't
just want a mental ascent to doctrinal truth. True religion
is more than notion. Something must be known. and
felt how true are those words. But what does Christ say? He
doesn't just say, because it seeth him not. He goes on to
say, neither knoweth him. The world does not know the Spirit
in any sense. We sang just now in the hymn,
What Comfort Can the Savior bring to those who never felt they
were a sinner? He's a sacred thing. The Holy
Ghost has made him so, and you may have noticed that there's
a little footnote. God's been there in his selection
as he makes use of that hymn of heart. He's concerned that
people shouldn't misunderstand what is meant by the sinner being
a sacred thing. In a sense, it's a paradoxical
statement, is it not? It's a contradiction, really.
There's nothing sacred about sin. Ah, but that sinner, who
is made aware of his needs, he knows, he knows something of
the gracious work of the Spirit of God in his own soul, does
he not? Again, in that hymn we sang the
lines, that all are sinners in God's sight. there are but few
so in their own. We know that all have sinned
and all have come short of the glory of God. There is not a
just man upon the earth that doeth good and sinneth not. Sin
is universal. We're all descended from Adam
and Eve who transgressed and we partake of that sinful nature. All are sinners. And yet, how
very few have any sense of their sinnership. How very few feel
anything of what it is to be a sinner. That's a very striking
sentence in one of Samuel Rutherford's letters when he says to his correspondent,
if you have never had a sick night for sin, you have never
yet lighted on Christ. Who did Christ come to call?
Not the righteous. but sinners or this man receiveth
sinners and eateth with them but the world knoweth him not
those in the world have no sense of their sin no sense of their
great need the world cannot receive him or the spirit must come and
he must do his work and so we come to the second part of what
I said I would seek to lay before you this morning, not only the
fact that the world knoweth him not, he's unknown in the world,
but the Spirit we see here in our text is known in his works
and is known by his works, but ye know him for he dwelleth with
you and shall be in you. What a contrast we have then,
here in this text of Holy Scripture. And how significant again is
that little word, but, it is this word that draws the contrast
between the world that lies in the wicked one, and those who
are the children of God. Remember the Lord Jesus Christ
is speaking to His disciples and He's seeking to minister
some comfort to them in the prospect of Him leaving them. And so He
says, He abides. Ye know Him. For they know the
Spirit. For, says Christ, He dwelleth
with you and shall be in you. The verb dwelleth here is in
the present tense. He is present, you see. He's
present there in the Old Testament. Of course he's there in the Old
Testament. And David knew that. When David sinned so grievously
against God, when he transgressed in the matter of his adultery
with Bathsheba, and the part that he plays in the murder of
her husband Uriah the Hittite, how he sees what he has done
when he comes to make his confession how the
prophet Nathan had dealt so faithfully with him told him plainly thou
art the man fingered his very conscience and David makes his
confession, you are familiar with the content of it there
in that 51st Psalm and what does he say amongst other things take
not thy Holy Spirit from them. He feared that he had grieved
the Spirit of God. The Spirit is there in the Old
Testament and so here the Lord Jesus speaks in the present tense. He dwelleth with you. Without the Spirit they could
never be his disciples. When the Lord Jesus meets with
them and calls them Do you remember how we have the record in the
Gospels of the call of the likes of Peter and James and John and
they leave their fishing nets and they follow Him. How was
it that they were able to follow Him, to obey His call? It was
by the work of God the Holy Ghost in their hearts. He was present. But here in these chapters the
Lord is speaking of the the glorious fullness of the manifestation
of the Spirit. This Gospel Day, which was ushered
in with the appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ here in the
world, in the fullness of the time, this Gospel Day is the
dispensation of the Holy Spirit. And He is ever-present. He is
ever-present, is He not? What do we have here? Well, we
have Christ's prayer and we have Christ's promise, do we not?
He says in the 16th verse that we were considering last time,
I will pray, I will pray the Father and he shall give you
another comforter 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 he shall be in you." Oh, there's going to be
that fullness of the coming of the Spirit, just as there was
that fullness of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. We know
that Christ also is there in the Old Testament. Abraham says Christ saw my day,
and he saw it and was glad. Those who were saved in the Old
Testament, they were saved by Christ, they were those who were
favoured with remarkable, what we call theophanies, appearances
of Christ before his incarnation, anticipating the fullness of
the time when he was manifested in the flesh. And so too with
the Spirit. As Christ comes in the fullness
of the time, so also does not the Spirit come in the fullness
of the time when Christ has accomplished His great work in the outworking
of the whole economy of grace. Remember what we read previously what we read previously there
in chapter 16 and verse 7 nevertheless I tell you the truth it is expedient
for you that I go away for if I go not away the Comforter will
not come unto you but if I depart I will send him unto you there is that sense aware of
all that I've just said concerning the Spirit and His presence there
in the Old Testament Scriptures, there is that sense as we see
in chapter 7 and verse 39 that He was not yet come. John makes
a remark there in verse 39 of chapter 7, the Holy Ghost was
not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified. All He was
to be given in all his fullness. And that giving, of course, occurs
on the day of Pentecost. That's the significance of Acts
chapter 2. What does Peter say in the course
of his preaching, in the course of his sermon? He tells those Jews and proselytes
about him, therefore being by the right hand of God exalted,
speaking of Christ's exaltation. He has received of the Father
the promise of the Holy Ghost and has shed forth this which
ye now see and hear." There we have the coming in state of the
Holy Spirit. And He comes now to do His great
works. Oh what remarkable works they are that the Spirit accomplishes. Look at how he is spoken of previously
here in chapter 14, the Comforter.
Verse 26 of chapter 14, 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. how he comes, you see, how he
comes to do this great work. And he is known, I say, in the
works. He is known in the works. And there are two aspects to
that work of the Spirit as Christ unfolded here in these discourses. First of all, the Holy Spirit
comes as that one who is to reprove of sin. That's what it says in
chapter 16, is it not? At verse 8, and the following
verses, when He is come, He will reprove, or the margin says,
He will convince. He will convince the world of
sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment. What is He? He is the Spirit of Truth. Yes, He is the Comforter. That's
the name that the Lord gives to him here in verse 16. Another comforter, he says, even
the spirit of truth. And several times he is spoken
of here, is he not, as the spirit of truth. Again, in verse 26
of chapter 15, the Comforter, we read of, even
the Spirit of Truth. And in chapter 16 and verse 13, Howbeit when He,
the Spirit of Truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth. This is an expression that John
uses concerning him. He is the Comforter, yes, but
he is the Spirit. And what sort of a Spirit is
he? He's the Spirit of truth. He bears witness to the truth.
Again, look at what John says in his epistle, that first epistle,
chapter 5 and verse 6, It is the Spirit that beareth witness,
because the Spirit is truth. Now what is the truth that the
Spirit bears witness to? He bears witness to the condition
of men in the world. When he comes to deal with the
sinner, he convinces the sinner of his sad condition. He takes
God's holy law and he makes the sinner understand the real significance
of that law of God. that it is a spiritual law. And
this was Paul's experience, was it not? As he says in Romans
chapter 7, we know that the law is spiritual. But I am carnal,
sold unto sin. When Paul was a self-righteous
Pharisee, he didn't know anything of the Spirit. And so he didn't
understand the true nature of the Lord of God, that it's a
spiritual law, he thought only in terms of the externals. And with regards to outward things,
he lived a most upright life. He sought to live the life of
a pharisee. Ah, but then the commandment
came. Oh, the spiritual nature of the Lord of God, the spirit
the Lord in the hand of the Spirit of God. When that came to him,
the commandment came, he said, sin revived and I died. Now, the Spirit, you see, is
the one who applies that law of God. And he makes the sinner to see
the truth with regards to himself and what he is. There is that ministry of the
law. Oh yes, the law was given to the Hebrews there at Mount
Sinai, but the law has a universal application, does it not? As
we're told there in Romans chapter 3 at verse 19, we know that what
things however the law saith, it saith to them who are under
the law, that every mouth may be stopped. and all the world
become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the
law shall no flesh be justified in his sight. By the law is the
knowledge of sin. The law brings that knowledge
of sin. This is what the Spirit does
in the Spirit of Truth. He shows us the truth concerning
our sounds and our sad condition. Who are we those friends who
are made aware of it? Though all are sinners in God's
eyes, there are but few so in their own. Are we those who have
been taught something by the Spirit? Do we know something
of the Spirit's works when He has come? But He doesn't just
come as that one who will reprove of sin, He comes also to reveal
Christ. He doesn't just come to work
conviction in the heart. It's not enough to know we're
sinners. We need to know what it is to
be saved sinners. And the Spirit doesn't just come,
you see, to convince. He comes also to comfort. And how does He comfort? He comforts
when He makes the Lord Jesus Christ known. And isn't that
very much what the Lord is speaking of with regards to His works?
In that chapter, that 16th chapter that we read? It's remarkable
what He says concerning the ministry of the Spirit. Verse 13, When
He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth.
And what is the truth He guides into? It concerns Christ ultimately. 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. This is His great
work, to bear witness to Him who says He is the Way, the Truth
and the Life. Now as we said last week, the
Holy Ghost is God, and He is equal to the Son and He is equal
to the Father. And yet His ministry is such
a self-effacing ministry in the whole economy of graciousness.
As the Son comes into the world to serve the Father in the fullness
of the time, God sends forth His Son made of a woman, who
it is the Son who is incarnate, God incarnate, manifest in the
flesh, And in the world, of course, he is here, as we said last time,
to do only the will of the one who has sent him. He serves the
Father. And so, also in the outworking of that covenant, that economy
of grace, we see the Spirit as the one who comes to serve the
Son, and to apply that great salvation
that was accomplished by Christ. And so the Lord says to His disciples,
Ye know Him, for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. All those works, those gracious
works, those sovereign operations, it's a mystery. That's how the
Apostle describes it there in Colossians chapter 1 and verse
27, the riches of the glory of this mystery which is Christ
in you. the hope of glory. He always, you see, He is always
directing the sinner to the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh yes, He shows
the sinner himself, but then He will have the sinner look
outside of himself. He will have the sinner to look
to Christ and to see all His salvation there in the Lord Jesus
Christ. He is the Spirit of Christ as
he is the Spirit of truth. And so he bears his testimony
to the Lord Jesus Christ. Again, at the end of chapter
15, what does he say concerning the Spirit which proceedeth from
the Father? He shall testify of mer. Oh friends, are we those who
are of the world? As I said at the outset, the
world has no room for the Spirit. The world is full of sin. Men's hearts are full only of
themselves. But those who know anything of
the Spirit, who are perceiving His ministry, who know anything
of those gracious workings and those sovereign operations, are
they not such as are looking to the Lord Jesus Christ and
trusting only in the Lord Jesus Christ? And there Christ comes.
and comes again and again to them by that ministry of the
Spirit. He goes on to say in verse 18,
I will not leave you comfortless, I will come to you. Oh how the
Lord does come. But He comes now not in any physical
form. He comes by and through that
gracious ministry of the Holy Ghost. 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." May the Lord be pleased then to bless to us
His Word. Let us conclude our worship this
morning as we sing the hymn number 28, the Tunis Jezer, number 164.
Hymn 28, Blessed Spirit, of truth, eternal God, thou meek
and lowly dog, who fills the soul through Jesus' blood with
faith and hope and love. The hymn number 28.