There is in all of us a horrible,
horrible love of hypocrisy and Pharisaism in all of us. It is our nature to measure others
by our own yardstick. It is our nature to want to set
in judgment over others. And it is true with regard to
all things that that is our nature. But nowhere is this nature more
horribly displayed than when men and women, saved by God's
free grace in Christ, dare presume to set themselves as judges to
determine whether or not you're saved. Much, very much of the preaching
I have heard and read since God saved me by His grace these past
47 years, has been, it appeared to me, more inclined, more designed,
to make one doubt his relationship with God and doubt God's grace
and doubt his experience of grace than it was to confirm that experience
of grace and encourage confidence and faith in Christ Jesus. Let
me give you two very clear examples of what I'm talking about. Some
of you are familiar with the ministry of Brother L.R. Shelton
down in the lower part of Louisiana many, many, many years ago. Shelton
was a preacher and had been a preacher for a long time when God saved
him. And after God saved him, he was
greatly used in many, many parts of the world. And his ministry
is still very, very useful in many, many ways, going out over
the radio and various other media. But Shelton began to teach a
doctrine that was a horrible form of bondage. because he had
been a professed religious fellow, because he had gone so long in
religion before he ever found out he was lost. Then he went
through a time of deep conviction, of deep sense of his sin, of
deep sense of his lostness, if you can use such a word, before
God revealed Christ to him. And he and almost everyone who
followed him for the rest of his life judged whether or not
you were saved depending on whether you'd had the same experience
they'd had. And they'd talk about being lost sinners. I recall
once years ago I was preaching to a group of folks who'd been
under Shelton's influence for many years up in Michigan. First
time I was ever in Almonte and one of the fellows said to me,
Sitting right beside his pastor talking to me and I guess wanted
to impress me with his spirituality. He's a Sunday school teacher.
Imagine this, he's a Sunday school teacher in the church. He said,
I've been a lost sinner for 20 years. I said, do what? He said, I've been seeking the
Lord for 20 years. I said, that's not so. If you'd
been seeking him for 20 years, you'd have found him. That's
just not so. You're hiding in a religious
refuge or making a refuge that doesn't exist. That's just not
so. And then about 33 years ago, I was down in Albany, Georgia,
and a friend I've known for his entire life had come up with
an idea that in order to be saved, you've got to know so much. You
got to know so much about election and predestination and so much
about what Christ accomplished in limited atonement and all
those things. You can't be saved if you don't
know these things. And he's teaching that you arrive at a saving knowledge
of Christ by your knowledge of doctrine. And I was sitting in
his living room and looked at him. And I said to him, what
you're teaching is damning heresy. It's as damning as any subtle
system of works you can possibly imagine. Now, please, my friends,
hear what I'm about to tell you. Hear what I'm about to tell you.
Anything that's put between Christ and the sinner is works. Any
condition, the sinner has to meet. Anything the sinner has
to know, anything the sinner has to experience, anything the
sinner has to feel. Well, if you didn't know this,
if you didn't feel this, if you didn't experience that, who was
preaching when God saved you? Those things, Lindsay Campbell,
don't matter at all. Now, I meant to say what I said.
They don't matter at all. It doesn't matter whether you
were saved under the ministry of Ralph Barnard or Henry Mayhem
or under the ministry of some fellow standing on a stump downtown.
It don't matter. It don't matter. The point is
your past experience must not be, I hope it's not your hope. That's not it. That's not it.
How do you know you're alive? I carry my birth certificate
around with me all the time to prove it. That'd be kind of dumb, wouldn't
it? You'd lock me up in a loony bin.
But religious people carry a spiritual birth certificate around all
the time to prove they're safe. I know I'm safe. This is when
it happened. That's what happened. That's what I felt. That's what
I knew. Oh, if you got to go back to this morning, or you
got to go back to yesterday, or you got to go back to your
childhood, or you got to go back 20 years to find proof of your
salvation, you ain't saved. You just don't know God. Our
Lord Jesus asked that man who had been born blind, out of whom
he cast the devils and whose eyes he made to see, one question,
just one question, and he asked it in the present tense. He said,
Dost thou believe on the Son of God? And he said, Who is it,
Lord? Who is it? And Lord said, You
look at him, the one who calls you to see. He said, oh, I believe. I believe. The Lord Jesus asked
Simon Peter, he said, who do men say that I am? They said,
Jeremiah, one of the prophets, somebody raised from the dead.
Who do you say I am? He said, thou art the Christ,
the son of the living God. He said, flesh and blood have
not revealed it unto thee, but my father, which is in heaven.
This is the only issue for your soul. Now listen to me. This is the only matter of concern
with regard to your relationship with God. Not when did you believe,
not what did you believe, not who did you believe, but who
do you believe? Dost thou believe on the Son
of God? I do. I do. I do. Now, let's see why. Turn to 1 John chapter 2. 1 John chapter 2. I've spent a
good bit of time on these verses of Scripture, verses 20 through
27, because this is such a very important subject, and yet such
a very simple subject. The title of my message tonight
is The Efficacy of the Unction. In the Old Testament, in Exodus
chapter 30, That holy anointing oil had a purpose. It was put
on the high priest, and the prophets, and the kings, those who were
set aside by God to be his holy ones, his holy servants. And
that anointing oil, that holy anointing oil, made people who
were priests holy. But it only made them ceremonially
holy. Aaron's sons, Nadab and Abihu,
who were killed in the sanctuary, were killed because they didn't
have any holiness. They were killed because they
offered strange fire to God. Eli's sons were those sons who
defiled God and the people of Israel at the very door of the
tabernacle. And God said, I'm going to take
the priesthood away from you forever. And the Lord God took it away.
But they were anointed as priests. They were ceremonially holy.
But that ceremonial holiness pointed to a real holiness. A
real holiness wrought by God the Holy Spirit in this unction
that he is given to us by Christ Jesus the Lord. First John chapter
2 verse 20. But ye have an unction from the
Holy One. This is God the Holy Spirit,
this holy unction given to us, this divine comforter given by
Christ Jesus our Lord, the Holy One. God the Holy Spirit fulfills
the type of that holy anointing oil described in the 30th chapter
of Exodus. By the gift of this unction,
the gift of God the Spirit bestowed upon us in the new birth, Christ
is revealed in us and revealed to us. By this unction, we who
are born of God are taught of God. And that faith given to
us by God, that teaching of God in us, causes us, effectually
causes, irresistibly causes, all who are born of God and taught
of God to come to Christ. It causes us to come to Him initially
when He gives us faith. And it causes us to come to him
continually throughout the days of our lives as he continually
feeds faith and works faith in us. Now, hold your hands here,
John 1, John 2. I want you to look at some scripture
in there. Back in John 6. John 6. I want you to see that what I'm
saying here is exactly what John's referring to. John 6, verse 44. You have an unction from the
Holy One, and ye know all things. You know it because God taught
you. John 6, 44. No man can come to me. That's a word that speaks of
ability. He didn't say no man may come. He said no man can
come. He doesn't have the ability to come. Except the Father which
hath sent me draw him. Now if the father draws him,
now he can come, because now he has the ability to come. God's
drawn him, but he don't. And this is what happens when
God draws a sinner. And I will raise him up at the
last day. It is written in the prophets,
and they shall all be taught of God. It is written in the
prophets, Jeremiah 31, Ezekiel 36, they shall all be taught
of God. Every man therefore every man
therefore that hath heard and learned of the father Cometh
unto me look at just a couple of pages over at John chapter
16 John chapter 16 Our Lord Jesus said nevertheless
verse 7 I tell you the truth I It is expedient for you that
I go away. It's best for you for me to leave
you. They couldn't imagine that. They couldn't imagine that. Matter
of fact, this fellow who said that you had to know so much
in order to be saved, they said these fellows were all lost. The apostles were all lost. They
didn't know God at all until after the resurrection. They
didn't know Him at all because they didn't have the right kind
of knowledge. They thought it was best for the Lord to stay
here. They were confused. They were confused about a lot
of things. One time the Lord came walking to them across the
sea and they thought they saw a ghost. They were confused about
a lot of things, like you and like me. Confused about a lot
of things, often confused. But our Lord said to them, it's
expedient for you that I go away. For if I go not away, the Comforter
will not come unto you. The Comforter. He's talking about
God the Holy Spirit. And people talk about the Holy
Spirit as the Comforter and they talk so sweetly about it. But
they missed the whole thing. They missed the whole thing.
What's the comfort? How is it the Holy Spirit comforts
folks? Read on. But if I depart, I'll send him
to you. And when he has come, he will reprove the world. He'll
convince God's elect scattered all over the world of sin, of
righteousness, and of judgment. This is how he comforts. He convinces
you of your sin, your need of Christ. He convinces you of righteousness. Righteousness established by
Christ. And he convinces you of judgment. Judgment fulfilled
and satisfied by Christ. So that you, being taught by
God the Spirit, understand that God Almighty, God Almighty, though
justly angry with you, has fulfilled all righteousness by the obedience
of his Son, and has satisfied all justice in the sacrifice
of his Son for you. He convinces you of that. That's
what the anointing does. You have an unction, back here
in 1 John 2, you have an unction from the Holy One, and you know
all things. That teaching of God, That effectual,
irresistible teaching that brings us to Christ in faith is not
a learning process, but rather it is a divine gift, a revelation
of grace, fulfilling God's covenant promises given to his elect in
Christ before the world began. Now, you don't need to turn there,
but please write these down and look at the references. Jeremiah
chapter 31. In Jeremiah 31, the Lord God
gives us his covenant. He gives it to us in plain language.
It's a covenant spoken by his prophet to the people of Israel
with regard to their Babylonian captivity and their deliverance
from that. But if you read it just in that historic light,
it's talking about the Jews, Babylonian captivity, and their
recovery from Babylonian captivity, you may as well tear that paste
out and lay it on the shelf and never read it again. You've got
that thing learned. That's just history. That's just
history. This book's not about history.
Bill, this is a picture. This is a picture of God's grace
and redemption and the covenant God made on your behalf with
you and for you in his son before the world began. And we know
that's the case because the Holy Spirit tells us so in Hebrews
chapter 8 and in Hebrews chapter 10. Listen to what it says, Jeremiah
31, Behold, the day is come, saith the Lord, that I will make
a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house
of Judah, not according to the covenant that I made with their
fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them
out of the land of Egypt, which my covenant they break, although
I was a husband unto them, saith the Lord. But this shall be the
covenant that I will make with the house of israel after those
days saith the lord listen to this I will put my law In their
inward parts and write it in their hearts He said I will forgive
they shall know me from the least of them to the greatest of them
saith the lord and they shall know me for I will forgive their
iniquity and will remember their sins no more He says much the
same thing in Ezekiel chapter 36. He says, then will I sprinkle
clean water upon you. He's not talking about sprinkling
water as a baptism on you. He's talking about the purifying
work of God the Spirit. And you shall be clean from all
your filthiness and from all your idols will I cleanse you.
A new heart also will I give you and a new spirit will I put
within you. I'll put my spirit within you
and cause you to walk in my statutes and you shall keep my judgments
and do them. I will also save you from all
your uncleanness." Now you compare that with what you read in Hebrews
chapter 8 and Hebrews chapter 10, and God the Holy Spirit says,
this covenant is fulfilled in you. It's fulfilled in you by
the unction, the unction you have from the Holy One. This
covenant fulfilled by God giving you His Spirit. Now look at the
next line here in 1 John 2.20, and ye know all things. Ye know all things. God the Holy
Spirit is the infallible teacher of his people. God the Holy Spirit is the infallible
teacher of his people. Brother Todd Knobbett and I,
as you know, often discuss biblical things, doctrine, theology, various
things. and say something to him, he said, that's got to be
so. That's got to be so. And this
is the reason he gives it. I've heard him say this 25, 30 times at least. He said, for
a believer, he hears something, and first time he hears it, he
knows it's so. That's truth. First time you hear it, that's
it. That's it. He goes, that's it. How does
he know? Because he heard the shepherd's
voice. And he heard the shepherd's voice, now listen to me, because
he knows the shepherd's voice. He knows the shepherd's voice.
He speaks from within. That's how he hears his voice.
Brother Joel Terrell wrote an article years ago. He said, do
you remember the days of dog whistles? Y'all remember dog
whistles? I never had one, but I saw other
fellas, I guess they worked, I don't know. But there were
little whistles that folks carried around. And you couldn't hear
them. You couldn't hear them. But a
fella blow that whistle, I mean blow it to his cheeks, puff that
like Dizzy Gillespie playing a trumpet. And they just blow
that whistle. And dog couldn't run them. And
you couldn't hear it. You couldn't hear it. How come? Because you
had to have dog's ears to hear it. But if the Savior says concerning
his sheep, I'll hiss for them. The word is whistle. I'll whistle
for them. If he whistles for you, you'll
hear his whistle. And the fellow sitting beside you won't hear
it. Because it's a whistle, you got to have sheep's ears to hear.
Understand that? It's his call. You hear the truth
and you know it's true because God spoke within you and reveals
the truth. You know all things. This unction
gives spiritual eyes and gives light to the eyes. This unction
softens the heart, searches the understanding, and becomes the
oil of joy and gladness in our souls, giving us the mind of
Christ and the knowledge of Christ, the knowledge of all things needful
for our souls, particularly and distinctly sin, righteousness,
and judgment. Sin, righteousness, and judgment. Did you get that? Sin, righteousness,
and judgment. So that every person who has
this unction of the Holy One, this unction from Christ, this
anointing of the Spirit, by which sinners are taught all things,
they are taught all things needful for their souls. Not all things
with regard to science and arts and politics and history and
all this stuff. No. Matter of fact, You will
rarely find God's people in doctor's offices with a smock on. You'll rarely find them in the
lawyer's offices investigating a case. You'll rarely find them
in the chemistry labs searching for something. You'll rarely
find them among the elite learned of society. You will rarely find
them there. You see your calling, brethren?
Read 1 Corinthians 1, verses 26 through 30, or just look around
you. Better than that, look in the
mirror. Most of us, David, just ain't much to brag at. That's just fact. Just not much
to brag at. Where'd you come from? Nowhere.
Who were your parents? Nobody you'd know. And if you
did, you wouldn't speak to me. What have you got to impulse
us? Not a frazzling thing. And that's
where you find most of God's people. Read the book of God. Read the book of God. He's chosen
the foolish, the base, the nothings of this world. Oh, thank God
he did. Thank God he did. He hides things
of God from the wise and prudent and reveals them to babes. You're
taught of God and you know your sin. And you'll never know it till
you're taught of God. I can't convince you of it. I
can't argue into knowing it. I can't go down to the police
station and find your rap sheet and find all the bad stuff you've
done and say, look here, you know you're a sinner. I can't
do it. I can't do it. I remember the first time I was
talked into making a profession of faith when I was seven years
old. Kneeling down at the morning bench at the altar, whatever
they called the thing. May as well have been in a confessional
booth in a Catholic church. But I was kneeling down there. And
the fellow, he was sincere as all get out. Sincere as all get
out. Had his arms around my shoulder. Great big fellow. I remember
him well. Remember him well. He was an
airline pilot for Piedmont Airlines. He put his arms around me, and
he was just as sincere as he could be. Tears running down
his eyes, tears running down mine, because I scared to death
and didn't know why. And he said, Don, son, you know you're a sinner,
don't you? And I said, what do you mean? I was seven years old. What does a seven-year-old know
about sin? What do you mean? Wait, did you
ever tell a lie? Yeah, I did that. Did you ever
do something you weren't supposed to do? You haven't done that?
Well, you're a sinner. And were you willing to confess
that? Well, yeah, I just did. I just did. No, that's not what
he's talking about. That's not what he's talking
about. When God the Holy Spirit comes, He convinces you of your
sin. Makes you to know the burden
of guilt. Guilt before God. So that you
are crushed with a load of guilt before God, knowing your sin. And He convinces you of righteousness. Of righteousness. I keep stressing
this because I can't stress it enough. He convinces you of righteousness. Not that God is righteous in
his character. Everybody knows that. Not that God demands righteousness.
Everybody knows that. That's the law of God written
on your heart by creation. God demands righteousness. You
know that. You know that. You can go to New Guinea and
everybody knows you're not supposed to steal, not supposed to murder,
not supposed to commit adultery. Everybody knows that. Everybody
knows that. Everybody in the world knows that. Throughout
history, everybody knows that. Well, what's he talking about then?
He's talking about righteousness brought in by a substitute. He's talking about the righteousness
of God in his son. God Almighty only demands what
he gives. And what he gives, nobody else
can perform. That righteousness of God is
the righteousness of Jesus Christ, our Redeemer. His obedience to
God in our room and stand. God demands righteousness. And
here I am a sinner. How can I ever come to God? He
convinces you of judgment. Of judgment. Judgment's over! Judgment's over! Judgment's over! Are you convinced? Judgment's
over! Judgment's over! It's over for
every sinner who believes on the Son of God. Are you convinced? I am. I am. I'm either convinced or I'm a
liar. You can take your pick. You can take your pick. I am
thoroughly convinced that God Almighty cannot, in His holy
character, in His strict justice, require any more of me than He
found in His Son when His Son cried, it's finished. Judgment's
over. There is therefore now No condemnation
to them that are in Christ Jesus. To them who walk not after the
flesh, but after the spirit. That is to those who believe
on the Son of God. The grace of God that brings
salvation, though it appears to all men in the preaching of
the gospel, it comes to us in effectual, irresistible power,
teaching us. teaching us. The grace of God
that bring us salvation teaches us to deny ungodliness and unrighteousness
and live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world,
looking for the Lord Jesus Christ from heaven, our blessed hope. Looking to Him and looking to
Him continually. Now, to the next line. Verse
21, I've not written unto you because you know not the truth.
That's never in a routine, but because you know it and that
no lie is of the truth Who is a liar? But he that denieth that
Jesus is the Christ He is Antichrist That denieth the father and the
son whosoever denieth the son the same hath not the father
But he that acknowledgeth the son hath the father also John
tells us here that all who deny that Jesus of Nazareth actually
accomplished everything the prophets said the Christ, the Messiah
would accomplish, they're anti-Christ. They're anti-Christ. And this
is where the rubber hits the road. This is where the rubber
hits the road. This is where the issue is. The issue of the
gospel. The issue of the gospel. Well,
to God, I hate everybody's ear, but I've got yours. I've got
yours. The issue of the gospel is not
what you eat, and it's not what you drink, and it's not how you
dress, and it's not what you know, and it's not what you feel,
and it's not what you experience, and it's not what you do. The
issue of the gospel is the person and work of God's son, Christ
the Lord. That's the issue. The one who
is himself God incarnate, the woman said. The woman said. Folks have trouble with the doctrine
of Christ eternal Godhead. Two natures of our Savior have
difficulty with that. They try to figure every way
in the world to get around it. And you can't prove that. I don't have to. I know it. I
know it. I know it. He's God. He's God. I know it because He lives in
me. Understand that? I know it because I've experienced
the power of His Godhead. None but God could put away my
sin. None but God could heal my soul.
None but God could forgive me. None but God could give me peace.
Jesus Christ. The man of Nazareth. He is God
in the flesh. The only man. who ever could
and the only man who most certainly did magnify God's law and make
it honorable by his obedience and his death at Calvary. Some
folks talk about, the theologians do, they talk about the active
obedience of Christ and the passive obedience. They talk about his
active obedience being his life and his passive obedience being
his death. Let me tell you something, Adam, there was nothing passive
in him about his death. Oh no, it was a death which he
accomplished at Jerusalem, the prophet said. A death he accomplished
at Jerusalem. The whole of his obedience is
his willful, deliberate, active obedience, accomplishing eternal
redemption for us by the sacrifice of himself. He is that one who
satisfied divine justice, who put away sin, who saved his people
as the book said he would. Look at verse 24. Let that therefore
abide in you, which you have heard from the beginning. If
that which you have heard from the beginning shall remain in
you, ye also shall continue in the Son and in the Father. Now,
don't you love the way John here by the Holy Spirit admonishes
us for the stability of our souls? Abide in him. Let that therefore
abide in you. This unction you have from the
Holy One. And if you continue in the Son, abide in Him. What
it's telling us is this, a close adherence to Christ, snuggling
up as close as you can to Him, all the time, is the safest,
most comfortable thing you can do. A close adherence to Christ,
snuggling up as close as you can to Him, all the time, in
all circumstances, safest, most comfortable thing you can do.
What does that mean? It's looking to Christ always,
trusting Christ always, resting in Christ always, living upon
Christ always, living for Christ always, looking to Christ always. Hawker summed it up this way.
Where this abiding in Christ is, there will be an increasing
desire after him and an unceasing delight in him. Abide in him. Abide in him. Now look at verse
25. And this is the promise that
he has promised us eternal life. Titus chapter one, God promised
eternal life to us before the world began. In John chapter
10, the good shepherd promises eternal life to all his sheep.
In the third chapter of John, the triune God promises eternal
life to everyone who believes on the Son. And the Lord Jesus
promised to give eternal life to all that the Father has given
him from eternity in John 17. Now, look at verse 26. Verse
26. These things have I written unto
you concerning them that seduce you. John's purpose, he tells
us in writing these things, is about the unction and anointing
of the Spirit, is to give us security against those Antichrist
seducers. What a word. What a word. I just read the other day Proverbs
chapter 7 again. Talking about the whorish woman,
seducing with her subtlety and her lies. False religion is never
open and honest. False religion is never open
and honest. It's seductive. It's seductive. Never comes out openly with anything. It's seductive. Antichrist religion
is what it's talking about when you talk about these seducers
here. Free will works religion. They would seduce you away from
Christ. They would seduce you away from
the simplicity that's in Christ, particularly in this passage.
John is telling us the reason saved sinners are not duped by
antichrist. Saved sinners will not be duped
by Antichrist. You remember how the Lord said
concerning the false Christ and false prophets and false religions
of this day? He said it's so great that were it possible,
even the elect of God would be deceived. But bless God, that's
not possible. That's not possible. How come?
Because they have an unction, the anointing of God, the Holy
One, the Holy Spirit. They've been taught of God. They've
been taught of God. When John speaks of this anointing,
to what it says in verse 24, I mean verse 26, but the anointing
which you have received, verse 27, I'll get it right in a minute.
The anointing which you have received of him abideth in you.
And you need not that any man teach you, but as the same anointing
teacheth you of all things, and there's truth, and there's no
lie, and even as it hath taught you, you shall abide in him. In the 24th verse, he told us
to let the unction abide in us. Here he tells us we shall abide
in him. When John says these things,
he's quoting the prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel, I read to you earlier.
And he said, you need not that any man should teach you. What's
he talking about? Well, I don't need a pastor.
Don't be a pastor, teach me things of God. No, that's not what he's
saying. That's not what he's saying. That would be flying
in the face of Ephesians chapter 4 and Hebrews chapter 13. No,
God gave pastors to teach you the things of God that you might
be established in the things of God and not tossed here and
there with every form of doctrine, every wind of doctrine. What's
he talking about? What's he talking about? I can
learn things of God on my own, just study the Bible, everything
will be all right. No, that's not what he's saying. We don't
need the teaching of those anti-Christ. That's what he's saying. We don't
need the teaching of those seducers because we know the truth. We
know the truth. I don't pay any attention to
them. I don't listen to them. I'm not inclined to their voice
because I've been taught of God. I've been taught of God. I keep
telling folks this. Sometimes folks pay attention
and listen. There's a lot of garbage out there. There's a
ton of garbage out there. And you can chase rabbits and
read the garbage and listen to the garbage all day if you want
to. But I don't see any sense in
it. I just don't see any sense in it. I mentioned Sunday morning. I know folks are surprised by
this. I like good food. I really like
good food. Good food. If there's sitting
in front of me, as there will be when I get home tonight, my
wife's homemade chicken pot pie. There it is. Can you smell it?
Oh, man, that's good stuff. And there's some stuff that she
dumped in the garbage yesterday sitting right there. And I should
get down on my knees and go grabbing food out of that garbage can.
You'd probably, if you knew about it, call and have me committed
somewhere. But that's exactly what folks do with regard to
religious things. You need to hear this first.
Why do I need to hear that? You need to read this. Why do I need
to read that? No. There's good stuff to hear and
good stuff to read. Stay away from the garbage. Just
stay away from it. Feed upon the green grass of
the Word, fed to you by faithful men, writing and preaching the
gospel of God's grace as you are taught of God the Holy Spirit,
knowing all things, all things. All things needful for your souls. As Peter put it, his divine power
has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness
through the knowledge of him that has called us. What's he talking about here?
That very thing I read to you, John 14, John 16, that God, the
Holy Spirit teaches us. Sin, your sin, and righteousness,
his righteousness. and judgment, judgment finished
by Jesus Christ our Lord, having sacrificed himself for us. So that now, being taught of
God, born again by God the Holy Spirit, God the Spirit comes and sprinkles
clean water upon us. He comes and immerses us in the
work of Christ. He comes and immerses us in God
Himself. He comes and puts Christ in us,
sprinkling our consciences so that we stand before God being
made holy by Christ Jesus the Lord. And He convinces us of
our sin, of His righteousness, and His judgment. And for the
first time in our lives, We lift our hearts toward God and say,
My Father. God is my Father. God is my Father. God is my Father. How do you
know? I have an unction from the Holy
One. I've been taught of God. How
about you? How can I know, Pastor? Answer
yourself a question. Just one. Just one. Dost thou believe on the Son
of God? Do you? Do you? I do. He that hath the sword
hath life. Oh God, help you to believe. Amen.