I hope you will listen carefully
today as I bring you a message from the Word of God. That's
all we attempt to do on this program, is to preach the Word
of God as it is. In the book of Jonah, chapter
2, verse 9, it says salvation is of the Lord. Salvation is
completely, 100% of the Lord. It is His will and His work. Today I want to talk to you about
the work of God the Holy Spirit in salvation. The last two weeks
we looked at God the Father and God the Son whom He sent to do
the work for His people. In short, salvation is of the
Lord, the triune God, the work of God the Father, the Son, and
the Holy Spirit. God the Father, His person, His
work, God the Son, His person and work, and God the Holy Spirit,
His person and work. God the Father elected a people,
chose a people and a covenant and a council before the world
began and gave those people to His Son. the Lord Jesus Christ,
who came to this earth to redeem those people, to establish a
righteousness for them, to redeem them from the curse of the law,
to suffer the wrath of God against their sins in His own body on
Calvary's tree, and thus paying for, paying the penalty for their
sin. And God the Holy Spirit comes
for all those that God chose and all Christ died for. By the
gospel of Christ, by the Word of God, he regenerates, he quickens,
he gives new birth and spiritual life to those God chose. The Word of truth, the gospel
of Christ is what the Holy Spirit uses. Now in John 17, The Lord
Jesus Christ said in verse 17, He said that the Holy Spirit
will sanctify through the truth. He is called in chapter 16 by
Christ the Spirit of truth. He said He will guide into all
truth. He will not speak of Himself.
The Holy Spirit will, whatever He hears, He will speak and He
will show these things to God's people. And I quote in verse
14 of John 16, Christ says, He will glorify Me. He shall receive
of Mine and show them unto you. He will not speak of Himself,
the Lord said. who will speak the things of
mine and show them unto you." He's called the Spirit of Truth.
This is the great and primary work of the Holy Spirit of God.
Through the preaching of God's Word, the Word of Truth, He will
take the things of Jesus Christ, the person and work of Jesus
Christ, and show them reveal them to all of God's people.
Now, first of all, let me say a thing or two about what is
passed off today as the work of the Spirit of God. Much is
said today and much is seen today that is called Holy Ghost, Holy
Spirit filled preaching and services. Spirit filled preachers and preaching
and services and people There's a lot of wildfire, a lot of emotion,
a lot of singing and shouting and tongues that goes on today
called the Holy Spirit. Well, let me tell you very plainly,
let me say this very boldly, that is all a hoax. It is a put-on
by false preachers. It is another spirit. It is not
the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit does the exact
opposite of what is passed off today as Spirit-filled services. Let me give you an illustration.
The Gospel of Mark and Luke is the story of a man who had an
unclean spirit. He would cry, he would shout,
he would act like a lunatic. like a wild man, like much of
what you see and hear in so-called Holy Ghost meetings today. But when the Lord Jesus Christ
came to save that man, after the Lord spoke to that man and
removed that unclean spirit from that man, that man was found
sitting clothed and in his right mind, the Scripture said. He
was sitting at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ, worshiping
the Lord Jesus Christ, hearing the words of the Lord Jesus Christ
with his mouth shut. The Spirit of God takes the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ, and operates upon a human being that
is dead in sin and acts like a blooming idiot and gives them
their right mind to think right thoughts of God, right thoughts
of themselves, right thoughts of Christ, shuts their mouths,
opens their ears, opens their heart to the truth. tell you what the Lord Jesus
Christ said the work of the Holy Spirit is. In the Gospel of John,
chapter 16, and I'm reading from John 16, verses 8 through 11,
the very words of Christ himself about the Spirit of God. He said,
in John 16, 8, He will reprove the world of
sin and of righteousness and of judgment. Of sin, because
they believe not on me. Of righteousness, because I go
to my Father and you see me no more. of judgment, because the
prince of this world is judged." So the Lord Jesus Christ says
the primary and principal work of the Spirit of God, the Spirit
of truth, also called the Comforter, is to take the things of Christ
and show them to the world, to reprove the world of sin, righteousness,
and judgment. When he says the world, he does
not mean every single person in the world. If that were so,
then every person would be saved. Every single person in the world
is not saved, will not be saved. Just as John 3.16 does not mean
every person in the world. God does not love every single
person in the world. Because every person God loves,
he saved. Every person God loves, he gave
to Christ in a covenant. And Christ came to die for their
sins. And every single person Christ
Jesus died for, he put away their sin. And all that the Father
gave to Christ, Christ said, will come to him. The Holy Spirit
of God will draw them through the preaching of the gospel to
the Lord Jesus Christ, give them repentance and faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Every single person. He's saying
concerning the world that he has a people out of every tribe,
nation, kindred, and tongue in the world. A people out of the
world. that He will convince every single
one of them that are in the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. He will convince, He will convict,
He will reprove them all, every single one of them, that he saves,
the Holy Spirit will reprove of sin, Christ said, because
they believe not on me. Of sin because they believe not
on me. This is the sin that all are
guilty of by nature. All men. Men aren't born with
faith. They must be given faith. This
is the sin that all are held accountable by God for, that
will be judged for. Unbelief. That all men and women
reject God their Creator, reject God the Son, the Redeemer, the
Savior. That they do despise under the
grace of God. They despise, they reject God's
Son, God's truth. Someone may say, no, that's not
me. That's not me. Well, do you bow
to the Lord Jesus Christ? Do you worship Him? Do you believe
Him? Do you call upon Him? Have you always called upon Him?
Do you submit to His will, His Word, and everything? Do you
give Him all the glory? Do you believe that He does all
to save Him? That all your salvation is in
Him? No, there are none by nature who have any interest in Jesus
Christ. They are dead in trespasses and
sin. This preacher who is preaching
to you There was a time when he didn't know God, didn't call
upon God, didn't believe God, didn't care that Jesus Christ
came into this world. But God, who is rich in mercy,
sent the Holy Spirit through the preaching of the gospel,
what I'm doing right now, and quickened or brought this dead
sinner to life through the preaching of the gospel, gave me ears to
hear the truth, gave me a heart to receive it and love it. cause
my knee to bow and my tongue to confess the Lord Jesus Christ
as all and in all, as all my salvation. None will believe.
None will call. None will come. except the Holy
Spirit draw them. Oh, many get religion. Many accept
Jesus as a fire escape from hell. Many get religion for gain and
for advantage, but don't believe on the Lord Jesus Christ truly. Don't believe He is God. Believe
He is sovereign. He is the only way, the truth,
the life, the only way to God, His will, His work, His blood,
His righteousness. Oh no, they don't believe Him.
They believe they let some Jesus into their heart. No, no. Salvation is to be made to know
and believe that Jesus Christ is Lord over all,
Lord of your salvation. He says in the next verse that
He comes, the Holy Spirit, and convinces and convicts of righteousness
because I go to my Father. And you see me no more. Christ
came down to this world, this earth, to establish a righteousness,
to fulfill the law of God, to glorify God as a man. No one
had. No one can. No one will. But
Christ did. In Psalm 24 it says, ìWho shall
ascend unto the holy hill of the Lord?î It says, ìHe that
hath clean hands, a pure heart, who has never lifted up his soul
unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.î Who can say that? No man. Well, Jesus Christ did, and he
earned heaven. He was given the divine right
to come into glory by virtue of his righteousness. And that
righteousness he worked out was on behalf of his people. He said,
I go to my Father, accepted of the Father, because of his perfect
holiness and righteousness. And what God the Holy Spirit
does is comes and shows his people through the preaching of the
gospel that Christ is their righteousness. That the Lord Jesus Christ is
their holiness, that He is their acceptance with God, that He
is their sin offering, their sin payment, their substitute,
the Lord their righteousness. Do you understand that? There's none righteous, no, not
one. And Paul said many go about to establish their own righteousness
through law, through works, through morality, through church going,
through works of charity, through their sincerity. God says it's
not good enough. It's tainted with sin, with pride,
with sin. Only Christ, only His righteousness
is good enough. Like the prodigal son, the father
brought home and said, kill the fatted calf and bring the best
robe and put it on him. And Christ said when he comes,
the Holy Spirit will convince of judgment because the prince
of this world is judged. That when Christ was on that
cross, he defeated Satan and his power. and that He took His
people out of the captivity of the God of this world, and now
He reigns and rules over those people. Yes, Christ is their
salvation. And this is what the Holy Spirit
comes and shows all of God's people. Has He shown you? Tune
in next Sunday until we bring you another message from the
Word of God. Amen.