They say, and I've heard this
and it may work, as you get older, change up the things that you
do. Take a different way home. They say take a different way
home. It'll help your mind. It'll make you think. It doesn't? Oh well. But anyway, let's turn back here
to chapter 16. And the title of the message
is The Ministry of the Holy Spirit, Part Two. We looked at this last
week, and I want to take another look at it before we move on
to Chapter 17. It is sad how abused he is in this
day, this day of religion. False religion has him doing
everything except what the Scripture says he's come to do, to glorify
Christ and to comfort God's people. When I see these religious hooksters
on TV speaking in gibberish and acting like the Holy Spirit is
doing physical healing through them, it makes me sick to watch
them pin that on him. It's like if you know someone,
say you have a friend, and you hear someone saying something
about him, you say, that's not so. I know that person. And that's when I see these religious
hooksters on TV doing these things, it makes me sick. Because that's
not so. That's not what the Scripture
teaches about him. That's not what the Scripture
says he will do. When he comes, And His presence
is among us. When His presence is among God's
people, here is how you will know it. He will take the things of mine,
the things that belong to Christ, and we will see that that is
everything, because He said, all that belongs to the Father
belongs to me. But he will take the things of
Christ and show them, reveal them to God's people. When Christ
is exalted, when he is being lifted up and he is being glorified, you can be sure the Holy Spirit
is among that congregation and speaking through that preacher.
God's servant. He never comes to entertain sinners
on their way to hell. He does not come to beg sinners
to accept Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. A place I used
to go to, at the end of every service, someone was going to
go down an aisle and just absolutely beg, especially if a stranger
came in. They would beg and beg and talk
and talk and the service would go on another 30 minutes. You
might as well go on up front if you want to get the service
over with. I'm serious. That's the way it
happened. It happened time after time after time. He does not
beg sinners. He arrests sinners. He arrests
them. God's not in the begging business.
You and I are the beggars. We are the ones begging for mercy.
We are the ones suing for mercy. We are the ones seeking for forgiveness.
He's not a beggar. He's God. He's God. And when He comes, He will glorify,
magnify, and lift up the Lord Jesus Christ. And He will guide
wisely, Powerfully, He will guide you into all truth. You see,
I can guide you to the truth. I cannot guide you into the truth.
I have more to say about that in a little bit. Now, our Lord
says in verse 12, I have yet many things to say unto you,
but you cannot bear them now. You're not mature enough. You
see, we are begged. We start out begs in Christ and
we have to go to kindergarten. And then we go to grade school
and then we go to high school. You can't take someone in kindergarten
and throw calculus on them. They don't have anything to receive
it with. And that's why he's saying what I have to tell you,
you cannot bear it now. Not now. We learn truth one step
at a time. We do. You know, we learn it
in the Scriptures. I read you in Psalm 11, it said,
The Lord trieth the hearts. You see, we learn it from a pulpit.
We learn it from reading the Word of God or a preacher standing
preaching the truth. And we hear it. We believe it.
Then there comes a time. There comes a time when God tries
the heart. And then you learn it by experience.
There comes a time when the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin, of
righteousness and judgment. And you are convinced. You don't
just believe it because, you know, what was it they said when
the woman at the well, she went back and she said, tell me here
a man who told me everything that I ever did. And they all
came out and they said, now we believe you, not because she
said so, but we've heard you. Job said, by the hearing of the
ear I heard of thee, but now mine eye seeth thee. And that
statement right there tells me why God tried Job. to bring him
to that point. I've heard of you, but now I
see you. And it was worth everything he
went through to get to that point. He was a child of God, but I
tell you what, he learned a whole lot more about God after that
than he did before that. We learn truth one step at a
time. We learn truth from the truth.
Knowledge builds on knowledge. You have to learn step number
one before you can go to step number two. You know, I've got a set of steps,
and I'm sure most of you have at the house. You have a set
of steps. You know, they start out with one first step, but
now do away with all the other steps. How are you going to get
from the bottom to the top? How are you going to do it? You've
got to go one step at a time. That's how we learn truth. A
good teacher, a good teacher will know how to take you from
one step to another. A good teacher will. Generally
speaking, I thought about this because, you know, I know for
me being in school, my boys going through school, if you have a
bad teacher in grade school, it's going to show up in high
school. It's going to show up in high school. What you had
down here is going to show up up here. We have the best teacher in the Holy Spirit, for He's
God. He is infinitely wise. He's all-knowing. He's infallible. His teaching
is infallible. And He's always with us. The Holy Spirit is always with
us. He's always with God's people.
He's always, now I'm telling you, even when we don't realize
it, He's always instructing. The things, the path we take,
the things we go through, the things we encounter, He's always
teaching. And sometimes we just don't realize
it until someday we think, oh, now I see it. He's always with us. And it's
hard to get lost if the guide is always with you. When all commentaries fail, you
know, you come across a portion of Scripture that's hard to understand. You go and you open up Matthew
Henry. You open up John Gill. You open up our Pastor Henry. You open those up when they fail.
He never fails. He never fails. If you truly
want to know a Scripture, and believe me, I'm learning this
more and more as I sit in that study. If you really want to
know a Scripture, ask Him to open it. Ask Him to show you
the meaning. And if He doesn't, leave it alone,
leave it to His wisdom when to do so. He knows when you and
I are ready. He knows. And how be it? In verse 13, 14, 15. When He,
the Spirit of Truth, has 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 show it unto you.
All things that the Father hath, all that belongs to the Father,
are Mine." Boy, does He have a lot to show us. Therefore said I that he shall
take of mine and show it to you." First of all, I've already touched
on this, but let's realize this. Let's realize his person. The
Holy Spirit is not an influence. The old writer said he's not
an emanation. He is a real person. A real person. He's the third
person in a trinity. If you'll notice, there are three
people spoken of or mentioned in these verses. The Father is
spoken of in verse 15. The Spirit is spoken of in verse
13, 14 and 15. And the Son is spoken of in verse
14 and 15. There are three distinct persons.
However, there's only one God. There's only one God operating
in three distinct persons. Do I understand this? Can I comprehend
this? No. Oh, I can't. No. Do I believe it? Yes. Yes. The Word of God teaches
us that there are three distinct persons in the Godhead. Listen
to 1 John 5, 7. For there are three that bear
record in heaven, the Father, the Word, which is the Son, and
the Holy Ghost. And these three are one. They're one God. They're one.
We are told to pray. When the disciples said to the
Lord, they said, teach us to pray. And He said, here's how
you pray. They said, Our Father. Our Father. Then we are told to pray in His
name, Christ. That's the Son. And then we are
told that the Spirit makes intercessions. He literally makes intercessions
for us. Listen in Romans 8.26, I wrote
these down. Likewise, the Spirit also helpeth
our infirmities. For we know not what we should
pray for as we ought. We've prayed here what? One,
two, three, three times this morning? And we've prayed for
what we think we ought to pray for. But we still don't know
how to pray as we ought. He does. And He makes intercession
for us even this morning as we pray. He makes intercession for
us. But the Spirit itself makes intercession
for us with groanings. Oh, if we could truly see our
needs this morning, we would be groaning. If we could see
how important it is to worship Christ this morning, we'd be
groaning. Lord, help us to do so. Well,
He does. There is one who did this morning,
the Holy Spirit of God, with groanings which cannot be uttered. And then we have his chief purpose.
First, he comes as a guide. A guide is someone who knows
what he's doing and where he's taking you. That's what a good
guide is. It says here, He will guide you
into all truth. Now I know many, many people
may count doctrine or truth, that's what true doctrine is,
it's the truth. You know, there's only one truth,
and in that one truth there are many truths. Christ is the truth,
and in Him there are many truths. And He'll guide you into these
things. A lot of people don't count doctrine or truth to be
of any real importance. A lot of people look at it like
it's some cold and dry, like going and sitting in a class,
but that's not so. Not if He teaches you. I assure
you, if He teaches you the truth, if He guides you into truth,
there'll be passion there. You'll love it. You'll love His
teaching. You'll love the truth. You'll
love it. If the Holy Spirit guides you
and I into truth, it will not be cold, dry doctrine. It won't. And it will always
be concerning Christ, who is the truth. He'll be the very
center of it. Let me give you a few benefits
here from Him, from the Holy Spirit guiding us into all truth. First of all, it gives us assurance. When He guides you into truth
and teaches you in truth, He reveals it to you, and you see
it. You see it. Listen, when you understand how
God can be a just God and a Savior, when you understand something
of how God can justify you in Christ, and how He can wash away
your sins by the blood of Christ, and you stand holy in His presence
in the righteousness of Christ, Boy, does that promote assurance?
Yes, it does. And the more we learn of truth
as it is in Christ, the more joy we will have in the Lord. Boy, if we could just learn the truth
as it is in Christ, boy, the joy that we'll find in Him. And
listen, learned truth never leads to bondage, but freedom. You
shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. It
never leads to despair, but joy. Joy in the Lord. Knowing the
truth will keep you from danger. Oh, I'm glad my parents told
me the truth when I was growing up. Don't you go over there. They told me the truth. They
kept me from danger. Knowing the truth can keep you
out of places Dangerous to your soul. Knowing the grace of God
in Christ teaches us to deny ungodliness. That's what the
scripture says. Truth makes us aware of evil. You're not so easily deceived
when you know the truth, when you know it. Not just as a fact,
but as a reality, as an experience. Knowing the truth makes us fit
for the Master's use. It makes us fit. We're not fit
for anything in God's kingdom until the Holy Spirit guides
us into all truth. Would I be fit to stand up here
and preach the gospel if the Holy Spirit did not guide me
into all truth? Well, you'd be in danger. You'd be in danger. So would
I. And then knowing the truth gives
us the right understanding of ourselves. Until we know the truth, we have
a high opinion of ourselves and a low opinion of God. That's
why the scripture says over in the Psalms, you thought I was
altogether like yourselves. That's a very low opinion of
God, if you ask me, and a very high opinion of myself. And then knowing the truth enables
us to worship God in spirit and in truth. If God is to be worshipped this
morning, the Scripture teaches us that it will be in spirit
and in truth, for He's not worshipped. And then notice, He will guide
you into all truth. As I said, I can guide you to
the truth, but not into truth. I may be able to convince you
that the Bible teaches that God has chosen a people in Christ
before the world began, but I cannot enable you to love it. I may
be able to convince you that God did choose a people. He has an elect people. And I
believe there are a lot of people convinced of that. But they don't
love it. I love the fact that God chose
me. I wouldn't have a flip to do with him if he didn't choose
me. I rejoice in that doctrine. But
now, if I've just been guided to it and not into it, I'll never
love it. Turn over to 2 Thessalonians. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. Look in verse 7, For the mystery
of iniquity doth already work, only he who now let it, or hinders
it, will hinder, until he be taken out of the way. And then
shall that wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with
the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness
of his coming, even him whose coming is after the working of
Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders. and with all
deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish, because
they received not the love of the truth." And I bet you some
of them believed the five points of Calvinism, but they didn't
love the truth. They didn't love it. They did
not love it. They received not the love of
the truth. that they might be saved. Oh, what a difference! There's
a difference in receiving some doctrine you're convinced that,
well, the Bible does teach that. And then loving those doctrines.
Loving them. Because you can't love Christ
and not love His doctrine. You can't do it. I can bring you to total depravity. Total depravity, total inability. But I cannot make you feel it. I can't do it. But He can. He can. He can make me, He can
make you like that sinner, that publican who cried, God be merciful,
smote upon his breast. God be merciful to me, the sinner.
He felt it. He felt what he was asking for.
He felt what he was praying about. He felt it. Through his very
core, he felt it. Listen to Romans 8, 28. And we
know that all things work together for good to them that love God,
to them who are called according to His purpose. Now, do we know
this because the Bible says so or because the Bible says so
and the Holy Spirit has burned it into my soul? Now if he's burned it into my
soul, then when things come along, I can say somehow this is going
to be good. Because the Word of God tells
me so, and experience has told me so, and the Holy Spirit has
just burned that into my soul. Spurgeon said this, a Christian
should do with the truth as a snail does with its shell. Live inside
it. live inside it as well as carry
it on his back and bury it perpetually about him. Many have learned what is called
the doctrines of grace. They believe them to be so, but
they have not the love of it in their souls. I mean to love
it. You cannot love something without
it having a real effect on you. You can't do it. That's why it
is written in Colossians 3.1, set your affection on things
above where our Lord sits at His right hand. Whatever has
your affection, whatever it is, that's what has your love. That's
what has your love. Now, He comes, it says, to guide
into all truth. for the purpose of glorifying
Christ. He shall glorify me. His chief
purpose is to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ. His chief purpose. That which is of the Holy Spirit
always glorifies Christ. If you want to know if a man's
ministry or the ministry of a church in an area is of God, If the
Spirit of God's there, ask this one question, who's getting the
glory? Who is getting the glory? Now,
how does he glorify Christ? Well, he tells us right here
in the scriptures, for he shall receive of mine and shall show
it unto you. He comes to Christ himself and
takes the things of Christ and shows them, reveals them unto
us. Now, what are these things? Well,
he says here, all things that the Father hath are mine. Well,
what does the Father have that Christ has that belongs to Him? God. Thy throne, O God. He says to the Son, Thy throne,
O God, is forever and ever. This man is God. He's God in every way. He's God
the Creator. He created all things. He's God
in sovereignty. He rules over all things. Is
the Father sovereign? So is the Son. So is the Son. He's immutable. What's it say
about Him in Hebrews? Jesus Christ the same today,
yesterday, and forever. The same. Is he omnipotent? Is God omnipotent? So is the
Son. So is the Lord Jesus Christ.
He said, all power is given unto me in heaven and earth. Did he
not say that? He's omniscient. He knows all
things. How many times did he know their thoughts? Read through
the Gospel. How many times did he know what
they were saying and what they were thinking? It's what they
were thinking. He knew it. He's the one who
said, I have many things to tell you, but I can't tell you now.
There's a lot of things I know that's going to come to pass,
but you're not ready for that now. But in another place, he
said, I tell you these things now before they come to pass,
that when they come to pass, you might believe. He knows all
things. He knows all things. All that God is, so is this man,
Jesus Christ. Then he takes his glorious manhood.
Boy, I tell you, have you ever really stopped to think about
this man? Pilate brought him out on that
porch and said, behold the man. This man. You know, when I think
of Adam, I think what a glorious man he must have been. He was
made in perfection. I'd say Adam and Eve were just
stunningly beautiful. And just perfect in every way.
But still, not to be compared to this man. This man knew no sin throughout
his whole life. Spotless. Spotless. He reveals his substitutionary
work. Living. Dying. Not for himself, but for another. for His own people. He reveals
that. He glorifies Him in revealing
His offices as prophet, priest, and king. He reveals His glory in His mediatorial
reign. Right now, there is a man seated
at God's right hand ruling all things. Principalities, powers,
the universe. Seated at God's right hand. And
he glorifies Him in His ability to save unto the uttermost. And
His willingness to save unto the uttermost them that come
unto God by Him. And the work of the Holy Spirit
of God is absolutely necessary. Our Lord said, Nicodemus, you
must You must be born again. And the only way that can happen
is by the Spirit of God giving life. That's the only way it
can happen. Without the Holy Spirit, we would not even know
God. We would not know God. We would not know Christ. We
would not know truth apart from Him. We would not even be born
again. We would not know conviction
of sin, righteousness, or judgment. We wouldn't know any of these
things. We'd be lost. We'd be lost. We need Him to
guide us, for the truth is hidden from the natural man. The truth
stood in front of men. How many men did He stand in
front of? Our Lord. And they missed Him. He came unto His
own, and His own received Him not. They missed Him. They missed the truth. Stood
right in front of Him. If He didn't reveal the truth,
we'd never know Christ. If we need Him to guide us because
there's still so much sin in us, we'd still miss it. If it
were possible, they would deceive what? The very elect. There's still so much sin in
us, we'd still miss it. If He allowed it. And then listen. I want you to get this. We need
Him to guide us for the path of truth is so narrow. It is so narrow. If we move one
jot or tittle to the left or to the right, we just lost the
truth. Now think about that. If we deviate,
I mean just a hair, if we deviate just a jot or a tittle from the
truth, you've lost the truth. That's how narrow truth is. If
you move just a tad, just a tad, it becomes a lie. That's why we need him to guide
us into all truth. The scripture says in Proverbs
14, 12, there is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but
the end thereof are the ways of death. Now in closing, I want us to see the results
of His work in showing us the things of Christ. Here's the
result. Here's one of the results, besides
conviction of sin, righteousness, and judgment. We know that. He
convicts us and convinces us of those things. Comfort. Comfort. Where do you find your
comfort? Christ is glorified and the saints
are comforted. And I can assure you that every
time Christ is glorified, the saints are comforted. They're
comforted. When we are able to look to Him,
to look to Christ, Under the power of the Holy Spirit, we're
comforted. When we feed on Christ, we are
comforted. There are some foods that we
call comfort foods, you know. I have a lot of them. But I love fried potatoes, lentil
beans. I grew up on that stuff. I grew up in a home. It was a
quiet home. It was a good home. And I grew up on fried potatoes,
pinto beans, cornbread, and I tell you right now, I love those things. And I realize now why I love
them. They're comfort foods to me. It's just like they bring
back that place of comfort. Christ, I'm telling you, Christ
is our comfort food. when all is going south. And
I'm telling you, if we love Him, if we believe Him, and the Holy
Spirit brings Him before us, we find Him to be our comfort
food, the bread of life. And when Christ is glorified
in your heart, He becomes your source of comfort. Now, how do
I know Now He is at work in me. I want to know that. How do I
know that He, that what's going on in here is of Him? How do you see sin? How do you
see yourself? Paul said, O wretched man that
I am. Before, he didn't say that. Before God saved him, he never
said that, never would have said that. Sin, when he convinces
you of sin, he convinces you of what you are, sin. And whose
righteousness do you depend on? The Lord, our righteousness.
He's the one I depend on for righteousness. In his substitutionary work, Do you find some joy in that,
real comfort in that? I know we still have the old
sin nature that raises its ugly head up and we try to produce
something right or thinking that God's going to accept us on that.
I know we still have that old part that we have to deal with. But I'm telling you this, I'm
convinced that my judgment, that God's judgment on me was taken
out of Calvary. And in Christ, I'm free. My sins
were dealt with. His substitutionary work is enough. It's enough. And then last of
all, truly, where do you find your comfort? Where? The believer finds his comfort,
his real comfort at all times. in Christ. He's my comfort. I tell you, I'm convinced, I'm
convinced of this. Mike sings it from time to time.
Give me Christ or else I die. He's all I need. In Him, in Him,
you are complete. And that's comforting. That's
comforting.