Alright, let's turn back to John
chapter 7. John 7 and let's look at verse
37 again. It says, In the last day, that
great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any
man thirst, Let him come unto me and drink. He that believeth
on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall
flow rivers of living water. And as I said, our text is verse
39. And this whole verse is in parentheses. And it's in parentheses
explaining what our Lord just said. If any man thirst, let
him come unto me. He that believeth on me, as the
scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living
water. Verse 39 says, But this spake
he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive. For the Holy Ghost was not yet
given, because that Jesus was not yet glorified. Our Lord talked about them coming
to Him. And He talked about them believing
on Him and being satisfied in Him. Verse 39 says, But this
spake He of the Spirit, which they that believe on Him should
receive, For the Holy Ghost was not yet given because that Jesus
was not yet glorified. God is a Trinity. God is a Trinity. And that's
something that's vital for us to always remember. God is three
persons. Father, Son, and Spirit. And these three are one. These three are one. If we want to learn something
about our God, then it is vital that we realize that these three
are one. They're one in mind. One in will and purpose. Look over a couple of pages to
John 5. John 5 verse 19 says, Then answered Jesus, and said
unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, the Son can do nothing
of himself, but what he seeth the Father do. For what things
soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. For the Father
loveth the Son, and showeth him all things that himself doeth,
and he will show him greater works than these that you may
marvel. Verse 30 says, I can of mine own self do nothing.
As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not mine
own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me." They
are one in mind. They are one in body. They are one in body. Go with
me to Colossians 2. And we're going to turn just
a little bit this morning and see it for ourselves in the Word. Colossians 2 verse 9 says, For
in Him, that's Christ, For in Him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. All the fullness of the Godhead
bodily. God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Spirit. They are all fully set forth
in one body. Our Lord said, if you've seen
me, you've seen the Father. Our Lord said, ìA body hast thou
prepared me.î They are one in mind, they are one in body, and
they are one in spirit. Go with me to Ephesians 4. Ephesians 4 verse 4 says, ìThere
is one body And one spirit, even as you are called in one hope
of your calling, John four says, God is a spirit. God is a spirit and turn over
to first Corinthians 12. 1 Corinthians 12 verse 13 says,
For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether
we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free, and have
been all made to drink into one Spirit. One Spirit. Back over in John 7, our Lord
said, If any man thirst, let him come unto Me. Me. And drink. He that believeth on Me. Me. Not the five points. He that believeth on me. Although I love the five points
and I'm preaching them right now. We're using the five points to
see Him. As the scripture has said, out
of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. But this spake
he of the Spirit. which they that believe on him
should receive, for the Holy Ghost was not yet given, because
that Jesus was not yet glorified." He said that because the Holy
Ghost was not yet given. Now let me ask us a question.
How vital is it that God sends His Holy Spirit to us? When we pray, oh, the number
one thing we're praying for is, Lord, send us your Spirit. Send
us your Spirit. How vital is it that God sends
His Holy Spirit to us? How vital is it to our salvation? How much does our spiritual life
depend on God sending His Holy Spirit to us? Turn back to John
6. Verse 63 says, It is the Spirit
that quickeneth. The flesh profiteth nothing.
The words that I speak unto you, they are Spirit and they are
life. Turn back to John 4. Verse 24 says, God is a spirit
and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in
truth. Go to John 3. Verse 5 says, Jesus answered,
Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water
and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. James said, the body without
the Spirit is dead. That's pretty plain, isn't it?
It's pretty plain. Go over to John 16. John 16, verse 7, the Lord said,
Nevertheless, I tell you the truth, it is expedient for you
that I go away. For if I go not away, the Comforter,
and that's the Holy Spirit, will not come unto you, but if I depart,
I will send him unto you. The Lord said it's expedient,
and here's what that word means. It means the means to the end. It's the means to the end. He said, I must go away that
the Spirit might come. Now turn with me over to Romans
8 and we're going to slow down from turning here in just a second.
Romans 8. Verse 9 says, But you 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. How vital is it that God sends
His Spirit to us? It is life and death. It's life and death. Now, here's
my next question, and this is a vital question to me. And this
is the title of this message. Have I received God's spirit? Have I received God's spirit? Well, sure you have. You're a
preacher. I don't mean anything. Many shall say to him in that
day, Lord, Lord, we prophesied in your name. And He'll say,
depart from Me, you that work iniquity, I never knew you. Have I received God's Spirit? Somebody might say, well, I did
feel real happy. Some real happiness came over
me. I did get all caught up in the
moment. Something did overtake my emotions. I don't know what it was, but
something squeezed me. I was laughing, I was crying.
You've heard people say, I could have jumped the pews. And some
people do. Is that what happens when somebody
receives God's Spirit? Let's find out. Go with me to
Revelation 1. Revelation 1 verse 10, John writes,
I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day and heard behind me a great
voice as of a trumpet. saying, I am Alpha and Omega,
the first and the last, and what thou seest, write in a book and
send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia, unto Ephesus,
unto Smyrna, unto Pergamos, unto Thyatira, unto Sardis, unto Philadelphia,
and unto Laodicea. And I turned to see the voice
that spake with me, And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks,
and in the midst of the seven candlesticks, one like unto the
Son of Man. Clothed with a garment down to
the foot, and gird about the paps with a golden girdle, his
head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow,
and his eyes were as a flame of fire, and his feet like undefined
brass, as if they burned in a furnace, and his voice as the sound of
many waters. And he had in his right hand
seven stars, and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword,
and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. And when I saw him, I fell at
his feet as dead." What did God's Holy Spirit cause
John to do? fall down at the feet of Jesus
Christ like a dead man. Have I received God's Spirit? Go with me to Ezekiel 1. The Lord God came to Ezekiel
and Ezekiel describes what he saw. Ezekiel 1 verse 26, it says,
And above the firmament that was over their heads was the
likeness of a throne and as the appearance of a sapphire stone.
And upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the
appearance of a man above upon it. And I saw as the color of
amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the
appearance of his loins even upward, and from the appearance
of his loins even downward. I saw as it were the appearance
of fire, and it had brightness round about, as the appearance
of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain. So was the
appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance
of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it,
I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake. And
he said unto me, Son of man, stand upon thy feet, and I will
speak unto thee. And the Spirit entered into me
when he spake unto me, and set me upon my feet, that I heard
him that spake unto me." The Spirit of God came to Ezekiel,
and what did it cause him to do? Start dancing in the aisles?
No. He fell on his face. Emotions are not the evidence
of God's Spirit. Emotions are not the evidence
of God's Spirit. I'm saying that to myself. I'm
not just saying that to them. And here's why. I have felt things
in the preaching. Do I want to latch hold of my
feelings? Well, I'm just not feeling it,
so it must not be of God. Well, that ain't true. Not according
to God's Word. Do I, through the Word of God,
fall down at the feet of Jesus Christ? It's vital that I receive His
Spirit. It's vital. What is the work
and the evidence of God's Spirit, His Holy Spirit? Go back with
me to John 16. John 16, verse 7 says, 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. And when he is come, He will
reprove, and that word means convince, the world of sin. Have I received God's Holy Spirit? Well, let me ask you this. Are
you a sinner? A sinner. I'm talking about sin. Sin, so vile and so stinking
and so wretched, you can't even put it into words. Are you from the crown of your
head to the sole of your feet, nothing but wounds and bruises
and putrefying sores? The world says, no. No, I'm not. Only the Spirit can convince
a man or woman of that. Only God's Spirit. Men and women by nature, if they're
left alone in their flesh, they're going to say, I hear what you're
saying. It's registering and I'm computing
it. But you're describing me way
worse than I really am. I'll go along with it, and I'll
listen to it, and yes, I'm not perfect, but I'm actually not
quite as bad as what you're saying. But you ask a sinner whom God's
Spirit has come to, God's Holy Spirit, are you that bad? And here's what he's going to
say, I'm convinced of it. I'm convinced of it. John 16
verse 8 says, And when He is come, He will reprove the world
of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment. He'll be convinced. And that convincing is going
to bring fear. Fear. That's why John fell down
like a dead man. Fear. That's why Ezekiel fell
upon his face. Fear. I am a sinner. Me. Righteousness is what is required. I'm convinced of that. There
is none righteous. No, not one. I'm convinced of
that. Judgment is coming. I'm convinced
of that. Have I received God's Spirit? In our text, the Lord was in
a place preaching to a crowd who had not received God's Spirit. That's what it said. What was the confirmation of
that? What was the proof that God's
Spirit wasn't there? Hold your place right here in
John 16 and go back over to John 7. clear as crystal. It just doesn't
get any more clear than this. John 7 verse 39, the end of it
says, for the Holy Ghost was not yet given. Here's how you
can know. Because that Jesus was not yet glorified. How can it be confirmed if God's
Spirit is not in a place or not in a person? The Lord Jesus Christ
will not get all the glory. That's how you can know. If the Lord Jesus Christ is not
completely glorified in all His works, in all that He has done,
in all that He accomplished on that cross, in all that He fulfilled
with God the Father, then God's Holy Spirit is not in that place
or He's not in that person. Let me show you how I know that.
Go back over to John 16. Verse 13 says, How be it when
He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth,
For he shall not speak of himself. Nobody is going to walk out of
that place going, boy, the Spirit was here. We had the Spirit. If you want to experience the
Spirit, you go to that place. He is not going to speak of himself.
But whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak, and he will
show you things to come, Verse 14 says, He shall glorify Me. For He shall receive of Mine
and shall show it unto you. God's Holy Spirit glorifies the
Lord Jesus Christ. That is His work. Look at chapter
15, verse 26. It says, But when the Comforter
is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the
Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify
of me." When God's Spirit is inside a sinner, that sinner
stops saying, I, I, I. Well, let me tell you about me.
First, I was bad. But then I got saved. And I decided
right then and there, I'm going to go to church. And I made my
decision. And I gave my heart to Jesus. And I was baptized. And now I live for Him. And I
know I'm going to be with Him. Because I love to hear me say,
I. That sinner is going to stop
saying that. And that sinner is going to start saying, He,
He, He. I was running. He grabbed me. And He pulled
me in. And He sat me down. And He opened
my eyes, and He opened my ears, and He put His Spirit inside
me, and He caused me to cry out, I have a Father, and He grabbed
me and baptized me into His Spirit. And then He laid it on my heart
to confess Him in water. And He's going to keep me. And
He is going to bring me to God. He chose me, I didn't choose
myself. He saved me, I didn't save myself. He called me and He drew me,
I did not come on my own. He's going to keep me, I can't
keep myself. If I make it to glory, all of
the glory is going to go to Jesus Christ. In our text it says,
Jesus was not yet glorified. That's talking about His death,
His burial and His resurrection. We're going through Acts 2 at
Pentecost. Right before that, the Lord was
carried up into glory. And the Holy Ghost was sent with
the Word of God for the purpose of being the written Word of
God And everything that Peter spoke and everything that the
men spoke was about his death, his burial and his resurrection. That's what God's spirit talks
about. Not morality, living right and
feeding the homeless. Although all those things are
good. But God's Spirit talks about
His death, His burial, and His resurrection. And that's what
every sinner who has received God's Spirit talks about. He
shall testify of me. Now I have one more question
for us this morning. The first question was, how vital
is it that God sends His Holy Spirit to us? The second question
was, have I received God's Spirit? And here's one more question
for us this morning. Is God's Spirit at Kingsport
Sovereign Grace Church? I love you and I know that you
love me, but don't answer yes just because you love me. You need to listen to what this
vile sinner is saying. Does God get all the glory here? All the glory here. From the cradle to the grave,
from eternity to eternity, does God get all the glory here? Because your soul is on the line.
I have been weighted by this. Here I stand and all of our souls
are on the line. Go with me to 1 John chapter
4. 1 John 4, verse 1 says, Beloved,
believe not every spirit, and that means preacher, but try the spirits, whether
they are of God, because many false prophets are going out
into the world. When our Lord says many, He doesn't
mean a few more than a few. He means many. He means it is
hard to find the truth. He means straight is the gate
and narrow is the way and few there be that find it. Is God's Spirit here or is this
a house of lies? Verse 2 says, Hereby know ye
the Spirit of God. Every spirit that confesseth
that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. It doesn't
just say every spirit that confesseth that Jesus has come in the flesh.
It says Jesus Christ. That's not only his name, that's
who he is. God manifest in the flesh. It was the highest God who came. Every place and person that glorifies
Jesus Christ as the highest God is of God. Is that this place? Is that us? Do we give man any part in the
work of salvation? Is there anything you have to
do? Well, you know, if you want to
be saved, you're going to have to do this. You're going to have to
do that. Do we give man any part in the
work of salvation? Or is it totally in the hands
and in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ? is God's Spirit
here, because verse 3 says, Every spirit that confesseth not that
Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God. And this is that
spirit of Antichrist, whereof you have heard that it should
come, and even now already is it in the world. Antichrist. That's not some beast
that's going to appear at the end. Any heart that says, I was
baptized, I accepted Jesus, I made my decision, that heart is taking
the glory of the work of salvation away from the Lord Jesus Christ,
and that is Antichrist. Lord, keep the banner of truth
here. Keep the banner of truth here. There have been men in the grace
circle who once were in the grace circle. And when I say that,
it means they were clearly preaching the truth, weren't they? Where
are they now? God, send us your spirit. Keep
this vile sinner and keep these vile sinners. Send us your spirit. If the preacher does not glorify
Christ, then he's not of God. And if the message does not glorify
Christ, then it's not of God. And if a heart does not glorify
Christ, then it's not of God. The Holy Ghost has not yet been
given. There's hope until that soul
dies. God, send us your Spirit. Send
us your Spirit. But listen to this, listen to
this. Is the Spirit of the Lord here?
Have I received God's Spirit? If a sinner has seen the glory
of Christ, if a sinner has seen the glory
of His love, can you believe the glory that the highest God
of heaven, would come down so far for a worm like me. Can you believe the glory of
His love? The glory of His grace? God gave
His only begotten Son. The glory of His mercy. If we
have seen Him, high and lifted up. And if we love His majesty. and His authority and His power,
then what that means is we have received God's Spirit. That's what it means. And right
here in 1 John 4 verse 13 says, Hereby know we that we dwell
in Him, and He in us because He hath given us of His Spirit. And we have seen and do testify
that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior, the total,
complete Savior of the world. Whosoever shall confess that
Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God."
What do you and I confess? Is all your hope of salvation
in Christ Jesus alone? Then you have received the gift
of God's Holy Spirit. I want that to be my hope. My
hope that it's in Christ alone. And
I want to receive His Spirit. And if we do, we're going to
give God all the glory for that, aren't we? To God be the glory. All right, let's stand together.