Tonight on the Holy Spirit will contain four headings. One, the Holy Spirit and leadership
or guidance. The second is the Holy Spirit
and prayer. And the third heading is the
Holy Spirit and the church. And then if we have time, the
Holy Spirit and the symbols which are used to designate him, his
person and work, in the Bible. Now first of all, and I think
this will be beneficial to all of us, the Holy Spirit and guidance
or leadership. Now, all true Christians are
forever seeking the will of God for their lives. All true Christians,
all true believers are concerned about having the direction of
the Holy Spirit for their lives. They want to know that what they're
doing, whether it's in the church or in the home or at work, is
in the will of God. Now then, there are two types
of guidance, two ways that the Holy Spirit will lead us when
we're seeking the will of God. The will of God is not easy to
find in some areas. In some areas, it is easy to
find. The first one, always, it's easy,
because that is biblical leadership. There are two ways that the Holy
Spirit will lead a believer to find the will of God. And first of all, it is biblical
leadership. Now here are some examples. For
example, here is a young woman or young man who is about to
be married. And this individual is a true
believer, is a Christian, knows the Lord, loves Christ. But the
person that the girl is going to marry is not a believer. Or
the person that the young man is going to marry or is thinking
about marrying is not a believer. So the boy or girl goes to prayer
and seek the leadership of the Holy Spirit concerning their
marriage. Or it may be a person who has
husband or wife has died. Perhaps a wife is dead or a husband
is dead and you want to remarry. And you want the will of God
for your marriage. How are you going to find the
will of God if the person that you're thinking about marrying
is unsafe? It's very easy. Turn to 1 Corinthians
7, verse 39. There's no problem at all. Here
we have an example of biblical leadership. You're not permitted
to marry an unsaved person. It's very clear. You don't need
to spend any more time praying about it. You don't need to spend
any more time seeking the will of God. It's just forbidden in
the Word of God for a Christian to marry an unsaved person. It
says in 1 Corinthians 7, verse 39, the wife is bound by the
law as long as her husband liveth. But if her husband be dead, she
is at liberty to be married to whom she will. What's the next
three words? Only in the Lord. So you see,
it's very clear. You can't marry an unsaved person
and be in the will of God. So if we're seeking the will
of God, there are two ways that God leads. One is through the
Word of God. If the Bible's clear on something,
don't go to the Holy Spirit and seek guidance and seek leadership
and spend your time sweating and weeping in prayer, I want
this, I want that, you want it, God doesn't want it, so forget
it. It's right here in the Bible. That's biblical leadership. That's
very clear. Only in the Lord. Only in the
Lord. That's what it says. All right,
here's another example. Suppose a man is confronted with
this decision. There are a lot of churches in
our area. There are hundreds of churches.
Here a man is a believer. He's a child of God. So he's
going to pray and seek the will, the leadership of the Holy Spirit.
Where should I go to church? Where should I go to church?
It's very clear in the Word of God. If a church over here is
prominent socially, It's a prominent church as far as organization
and entertainment and those things are concerned, but it doesn't
preach the gospel. You're not supposed to go there.
If a church over here, you know that's where the gospel is preached
and Christ is lifted up and Christ crucified is proclaimed, that's
where you ought to go. It says here in 1 Peter 2, verse
2, as newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word, that
you may grow thereby. You go where you hear the word
of God. And the Apostle Paul said, if any man preach any other
gospel, let him be accursed. You don't want a part of his
curse, do you? And when we bid Godspeed to the heretic, we're
partakers of his evil deeds. Like Barnard used to say, anybody
who supports the ministry of a man who doesn't preach the
gospel is as guilty as the bank robber that drives the getaway
car. He sits out there and waits on the fellow to go in and rob
the bank and provides him with transportation to his hideout.
And if we're supporting ministers who are not preaching the gospel,
we're providing them transportation to their hideouts and to their
false refuges. So it's clear in the Word of
God. There's no need seeking providential guidance when you've
got biblical guidance. Here's another example. And that
man right here in this congregation has talked to me about this.
Here's a man employed at Armco Steel, or Ashland Oil. And I know that the practice
where a lot of men work is if you find a tool out there, if
you want, just stick it in your lunchbox and take it home. Or
if there's a roll of copper wire there and you're doing a little
job at home, just take the copper wire and throw it in your toolbox
and take it home. Or if there's something else out there at the
mill that belongs to the steel mill or the oil refinery that
you could use around the house, just put it somewhere, hide it,
and take it. Everybody's doing it, that's what they tell me.
Well, let's seek the will of the Holy Spirit on the matter.
What does the Bible say? Thou shalt not steal. That's
what the Bible says. Thou shalt not steal. So there's
no need in me going to the Holy Spirit and saying, is it all
right for me to do this? And seeking the will of God when
the Bible clearly says, let him that stole steal no more. And that's what it is. It's stealing.
Anytime you take something that doesn't belong to you, you're
stealing. So there's no need seeking the
will of God. That's biblical leadership. That's how God leads
people. That's the first area. He leads
them through the Word of God. All right, here's a man who has
some people employed under him. How should he treat them and
how should he pay them? Well, turn to 1 Timothy 5. It's
very clear. You don't need to spend a whole
lot of time in prayer about how you should treat a man working
for you. It's clear in the Word of God. In 1 Timothy 5, verse
18, it says here, For the Scripture saith, Thou
shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. And the
Scripture says, The laborer is worthy of his reward. The laborer
is worthy of his reward. And again in the Scripture, I
didn't look it up, but it says again in the Scripture, that
when we withhold from those who are employed by us, that we're
going to do business with God someday about the matter. It
says that in the Word of God, that we're going to be brought
into judgment if we mistreat those who labor in our fields
and in our vineyards. So God guides us through His
Word. If we're seeking the will of
God and the leadership of God, it's right in the Word of God.
How much should I give to the church? Well, it says everybody's
to give. not just some, but everybody.
It says everybody is to give cheerfully, as unto the Lord. And it says everybody is to give
in proportion as God's blessed them. In other words, the burden
is not to be upon a few, the burden is to be upon everybody.
And as the Lord has prospered us in proportion as he's prospered
us, we're to give. And that's taught in the Word.
But there are times, and here's the second way that God leads
us. He leads us through biblical guidance. And we need to become
thoroughly acquainted with the Bible. When we're having discussions
with people about our relationship to God and our conduct here on
the earth and our behavior and holiness and those things, as
best we can, let's use the Bible to answer people. It's like this
article we have in the paper tonight. Talk about peace on
this earth. Well, the Bible says there's
not going to be any peace on this earth, wars and rumors of
war. You turn to the Word of God. When you want an answer
to a question, an answer to these things, if you can find it in
the Bible, use the Word of God. Because the Scripture says, if
they speak not according to the law and the prophets, it's because
there's no light in them. We don't go before people and
say, now I think this, and this is what I think, and this is
what I've always hailed to. See what God says. And let that
be our standard, let that be our compass. But now, there are
times when right and wrong, morally speaking, are not involved. We
have decisions to make where right and wrong are not involved,
that is morally speaking. For example, I'll give you some
examples of that. What job should I take with what
company? Here's some young boys here, one of these days, going
to be 18, 19, 20 years of age, out of college, or out of trade
school, or out of high school. Now what career shall I seek? What career shall I follow? Right
and wrong is not involved there. You can't go to the Word of God
and find there what career you'd have followed. I've known people
say, now I'm going to close my eyes and turn to a place in the
Scripture and put my finger down where it says that's what I'll
do. Be careful. That's superstition. And I always think of that little
story about the fellow, you know, that he pointed and it said Judas
went out and hanged himself. And he knew that wasn't it, so
he gave the Bible one more chance, and he closed his eyes and pointed
again and said, Go thou and do likewise. And the possibility
of ever falling out that way is very slim. But he tried again,
he put his finger down and said, What thou doest do quickly. But
here's another issue. Should I be a missionary? Should
I be a missionary? Should I be a minister? Should
I be a preacher? Perhaps some of these boys are
thinking about that. Should I be a missionary or a minister? Should
I be an elder or a deacon? Should I accept a Sunday school
class? The pastor comes to you and says,
now what about teaching your Sunday school class, teaching
and taking a Sunday school class? Should I do it? Is that the will
of God? Let's not do it. It's not God's will. Well, how
are you going to find out? And the other preacher comes
to you and asks you to resign your class. Should I do that? I've got to find God's will.
Should I send a special gift to a missionary? I've had men
come to me and say, I want to send a special gift to a missionary.
Which missionary? How much? Should I build a new
house? I know somebody's wanting a new
house here tonight, this time next year. Should I do it? Or
should I rent a house? Or should I buy one already built?
How does one go about finding God's will? Suppose another church
were to ask me to become their pastor. Should I leave this church?
Should I accept the church somewhere? Now, how do you find God's will? How do you find God's will? Well,
let me suggest, I mean, how do you find God's will in the matter
where right and wrong are not involved? How do you find God's
will in a matter where, morally speaking, We have no issue at
stake. It's a matter for your personal
life and your personal happiness. How do I find God's Word? Well,
let me suggest about three things that I try to employ, put in
practice. Number one, we should take as
much time as possible. I think this is where most of
us go wrong seeking the will of God. We want to know the will
of God right now. If not right now, at least by
tomorrow, or maybe by the weekend. You don't find God's will that
way. The Lord is never in a hurry, and we need to take as much time
as the psalmist keeps saying, wait on the Lord. wait on the Lord. Moses was out
there on the back side of that desert forty years. Forty years. Did you know the
Apostle Paul, after God saved him, went down into Arabia, wasn't
it Arabia, and stayed three and a half years and did nothing
but study, but received the gospel from God. Did you know that John
Bunyan stayed in prison prior to the most effective days of
his ministry for twelve long years. Don't you know he was
impatient? Is this your will for me, God,
to sit in this prison for twelve long years? God's not in any
hurry. We are, but God's not. We count
time by days and hours. God doesn't. And we must wait
upon the Lord. Sometimes we run too quickly. I say most of the time we run
too quickly. We get in a hurry. I used to
have, well, Don Fitzer did too, and Ronnie and Martha, and these
others who went to Tennessee Temple. We had a professor, and
I think all of them would agree that he was our favorite of the
whole group, Dr. John Herman. And he used to tell
us preachers, he'd come in, there'd be some preachers in the class,
he'd say, you preachers need to learn something. If you've
got ten minutes to shave, spend eight minutes getting ready.
And then the last two minutes will be so easy if you spend
the eight minutes getting ready. And the same thing is true in
this work of God. If I teach a Sunday school class
for only three Sundays, if I know them in God's will, if I've been
led there by God, if I've been prepared by God, if I've been
put there by God, those three Sundays can be the most effective
days of my life as far as those young people are concerned. I
may not preach but ten years. David Brainerd died at 29. Robert
Murray McShane died at 29 and a half. John Calvin wrote his
Institutes when he was 25 years of age. And so we must find God's
will, but we must not be in a hurry. We must take time to find God's
will. Weigh all the factors involved. Seek the wisdom of those who
are there, and just wait. Just sit down and be still. Be
still, God says. and know that I'm God. Be still. Now that's the first thing that
I always suggest, that a person take as much time as possible. Make the decision when it must
be made. Make the decision when the time
comes when a decision has to be made. And until that time
comes, use all the time you can in seeking the will of God and
giving it plenty of time. If we're going to seek the providential
leadership of the Holy Spirit, secondly, we should pray for
the Holy Spirit to strengthen our natural powers, our natural
powers of reason and judgment and common sense. Now, a man's
got no business trying to be a preacher who can't talk. If
he doesn't have lung power and if he doesn't have powers of
expressing himself, If he doesn't have a love for study, if he
doesn't like to sit and read and study and prepare, he's got
no business going into ministry. That's just common sense. There
was an old boy out one time in the field, and he came running
in to his dad, and he said, Dad, I'm going to be a preacher. And
his dad said, Well, where on earth did you get an idea like
that? He said, I got a sign from the Lord. And his daddy said,
well, what was the sign, son? He said, I was down there on
the bottom 40, laying under a tree and looking up at the sky, and
the clouds formed two letters, G-T. And I know God means go
preach. Oh, his daddy said, son, what
time of the year is it? He said, it's March. He said,
those two letters meant go plow, son, not go preach. That's what
God wants you to do. Well, we must ask the Holy Spirit
of God, give me judgment, give me wisdom, give me common sense
so that I might make a wise decision. Increase my powers of wisdom
and judgment and common sense. If I'm going to build a house,
if I'm going to build, I've got that. Our Lord said Himself,
no man goes and builds a house until he sits down first and
counts the cost. anything that I do, if I'm going to purchase
an automobile, if I'm going to move to another city or something
like that. We need to use our wisdom and
ask the Holy Spirit to increase that wisdom and reason and common
sense so that we might make a wise decision. And then thirdly, we
should ask God to control the circumstances and to open the
doors and provide the means if it's in his will. If you want
me to do this, Lord, if you sought God's will, if you've given it
time, if you feel it is the will of God, I guarantee you if it's
the will of God, He'll open the door. He'll provide the means. Now that's what the men of this
church are trying to do in regard to this property back here. We're
not in any hurry. We're waiting on the Lord. We're
asking God to give us wisdom and reasoning power and common
sense about this matter. What's the best judgment? No
need buying a piece of property two blocks away. We've got to
use wisdom and common sense. And this is what we've asked
too, Lord. If it's your will, then open the door. And the door,
it looks like, is being opened. Now, the house behind us, we've
bought. The next house, the man came
in to study the other day. Now, it's going to cost $21,000.
The man came in to study who owns it. And we've been praying
about this matter. We hate to go down and borrow
$42,000 for these houses. and buy them and pay all that
interest, you know, for the next two or three years. Well, he
came in the study the other day and he said, Brother Maynard,
he said, You won't be using that house for about two years, will
you? I said, No, we've got to pay for this and behind us. And
we really don't need yours and the one next to you for a while
yet. He said, Why don't I just live there? And when you get
ready to buy it, you can have it for the price I quoted, $21,000.
But in the meantime, you don't have to buy it. I'll just live
in it. And when you get that and paid for, then you can buy
this one at the same price." Well, I think that's God opening
doors. I think that's God controlling
the circumstances. This man's mother died, and she
willed him that house. And if he sold it now, he'd have
to pay a whale of a lot of income tax on it. But if he moves in
it and establishes residence, and lives there a while, then
he doesn't have to pay as much tax. He saves money, we save
money. So God controls the circumstances,
death, wills, long-range capital gains, and all those things,
I think, to reveal to us what his will is. The man on the corner
said he didn't want to move yet. He was going to stay there. When
we needed it, he hoped by that time he found him a place to
live. So we may wait three years to buy that one. But I think
that's the Lord providentially leading. And I would advise those
things. I wrote to a young minister recently,
a missionary on the field, one of our missionaries, who is going
through a period of a little discouragement right now. And
he wrote to me, and then I wrote back. And this is what I said
to him. Don't you ever close a door of service and ministry
till God opens another one. That's a serious mistake. Don't
ever close a door. until God opens another. But I want to be used of God.
And let me tell you something that I learned a long time ago,
and I believe it's something that needs to be emphasized.
Everybody wants to be used of God. Every Christian. I don't know a Christian that
doesn't desire to be used of God. But oftentimes it's not
the person who desires to be used. that God uses. It's the person who's willing
not to be used. That's right, because in that
way, God can get all the glory. You see somebody who is just
straining, straining to serve, straining to go to the front,
straining to do these things, zealous to be used of God. And
here's a man reluctant Not reluctant to be used, but willing not to
be used. Willing not to go to the front.
Willing not to be in the limelight. He's the one God will reach back
off the mountainside and put out there. Because he's willing
not to be used. And that's something we, I believe,
we need to learn. God says the first shall be last
and the last shall be first. And we must wait upon God. How
old was the Lord Jesus Christ before we ever started ministry?
Thirty years of age. For thirty years he had no public
ministry to speak of. And then it was only three and
a half years long. Not the person who desires to
be used that God always uses. It's the person who's willing
to be faithful in few things. That's the one God makes ruler
of many things. Sometimes we overlook places
of service trying to get out here for a bigger place. And then here's some errors to
be avoided. Now, this is very important here
when we're seeking the will of God, some errors to be avoided. And I've checked two or three
references here, and all of the writers about this matter agree
on these things. Don't establish conditions for
God to meet. Now, don't try to duplicate Gideon's
fleece. Was it Gideon who put the fleece
out? Don't try to duplicate that. One young lady said, I read this
illustration, she said, I'll go to India as a missionary if
I ever see the word India in letters six feet tall. Well,
lo and behold, she went to a Bible conference, a missionary conference,
and was walking around through the booths and the exhibits,
and she came to the Indian booth, and what do you think they had
over that booth? They had the word India in letters six feet
high. So she tore out to the mission
field, and she's back home in less than two years. Don't ask
God to give some supernatural sign. A young man, here's another
example, a young man and his wife decided to buy a house.
He asked God, here's the condition, here's the fleece he put out.
He said, Lord, if you don't want me to have that house, when I
go down to the bank to borrow the money, make the banker turn
me down. Well, bankers are in the business
of lending money. And if you've got a pretty good
credit rating, it's a good chance you're going to get the money.
And it wasn't long until they were in real trouble. Don't ask God to wet a fleece
or to leave one dry. That's an error to be avoided.
And then here's another error to avoid. Don't ask God to speak
audibly to you as he spoke to Philip and as he spoke to Paul
and as he spoke to Abraham. Someone said, I believe it was
John Gill I was reading today, the canon of scripture is closed. The canon of Scripture is closed. The thing for us to do in seeking
the will of God is not to ask for supernatural signs, not to
ask for an audible voice, but look to the Word of God. Secondly,
take time. Wait on the Lord. Ask the Holy
Spirit to increase your powers of wisdom and reasoning and judgment,
and then ask God to provide the means and open the door. You
won't believe this, but I have a preacher friend who now lives
in Georgia. He did live in Tennessee, and
he was trying to put out a little paper. I forget the name of the
paper, but he mailed it out. He wrote sermons in it, and he
collected sayings, and he mailed it out. And he wrote to me one
time, and he said he wanted our church to send him some money.
And I wrote back to him and I said to him, called him by name, I
said, I think you ought to cut down a little bit on what you're
trying to do. I think that you ought to just
go as far as your means will let you go, as far as your church
and your salary will let you go, and not get beyond those
means. Boy, he wrote me and he said,
I know that this paper and my broadcast are in the will of
God. Because he said, I've mortgaged my car, and I've mortgaged my
home, and he said, I've mortgaged my books, and I'm in debt as
far as I can go. I know it's the will of God because
it's costing me so much. I don't believe that. I believe
God pays his bills. I believe if God wants the 13th
Street Baptist Church to extend this ministry, he'll send the
money. I believe if he wants us to extend our missionary effort,
he'll provide the means. God pays his bills. And for us
to say something is the will of God because we're bankrupt,
because we've mortgaged everything we've had, and because we're
a total failure in it, that's not the will of God. That's not
good wisdom, and that's not good judgment. Now let's look at the
second thing, the Holy Spirit and prayer. One of the most important
parts of Christian life is prayer, and the Holy Spirit is the main
spring in prayer life. Now, this is not a study of prayer.
I'm not bringing a study on prayer tonight, but I'm bringing two
or three remarks on the part played by the Holy Spirit in
prayer. Now, first of all, all real prayer. Turn to Ephesians chapter 6.
All real prayer is in the Spirit. It's in the Spirit. Without the
Holy Spirit, prayer is impossible. Ephesians 6, verse 18 says, with all prayer and supplication
in the Spirit. Whether I'm praying publicly
or praying privately or praying audibly or praying silently,
I need to seek the Holy Spirit in prayer. If He's not in it,
it's not prayer. Praying in the Holy Spirit. In
Jude, the book of Jude, verse 20, It says the same thing practically. In the book of Jude, verse 20,
the scripture says, Jude 20, "...you, beloved, building up
yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost."
Zechariah 12.10 says the same thing. The Holy Spirit teaches
us what we should pray for. Romans 8.26 says, We know not
the things for which we should pray. Now let me be honest with
you here. Let me be honest with you. I think a lot of times we make
a mockery of this matter right here in prayer. Somebody comes
and says, Brother Mahan, my neighbor down the street has a cousin
who is sick, and I want you to pray that God will make him well. Now, brethren, for me to get
on my knees and say, Lord, make Mr. Joe Black well, a man whom
I've never met, never heard of up until this moment, never encountered
in any way, do you think that I've found the will of the Holy
Spirit when I do that? Now, I can do this, I can say,
Father, Mr. Black has requested that we,
well, he didn't do it, somebody else did. He didn't even ask
us to pray for him, somebody else did. This person, let's
be honest, this person has asked me to pray for this man. I don't
know him, Father, and I don't know what your will is. And I'm
not going to ask you to make him well. I'm going to ask you to let your
will be done in his life. Now, one of you come to me and
say, Brother Man, I'm sick. Pray for me. I want God to make
me well. I know you. And I can say, Father,
I want this. I want this very much. I don't
know what your will or not, but I know I want it. And I want
you to touch the body for the glory of Jesus Christ, of this,
my friend, whom I know and whom I know loves Christ and whom
I know will glorify Christ if he does it. I can pray that way.
But I'll just be honest with you. A lot of requests for prayer
I think sometimes if we're sincere before God and we go to Him in
prayer and ask Him for something, we better want it or we better
not ask it. And we better know what we want and why we want
it and why we're asking for it. Or now, we're playing in prayer.
This thing of just playing with words and playing with words,
I believe, is dangerous when we go before God. I'm sincere
with you now. It's a real problem with me.
We know not the things for which we should pray except the Holy
Spirit should teach us. Do you know what you ought to
pray for? You ought never pray contrary to God's will. You ought
never ask God to do something where he can't get glory for
it. You ought never ask God to intervene in something where
he can't get the glory and the praise and where it's going to
make a mockery of his righteousness. And we do it though. Bless everybody
everywhere. God's not going to bless everybody
everywhere. He's just not going to do it. That's like that old
song the English sing, bless them all, bless them all, the
long and the short and the tall. Well, God's not going to bless
them all. And that's not praying. And I'm just confessing to you
sincerely how I feel about it. Turn to Hebrews chapter 11. I
really believe that we ought to make a study of this thing
of approaching God, whether it's in worship approaching God in
prayer. God's in his holy temple. God's on a matchless, sovereign,
holy throne. We let your words be few, the
scripture says. If you're going to say anything,
wait around a little while and find out what you ought to say.
In Hebrews 11, 6, without faith it's impossible to please God. He that cometh to God must believe
God is, and that he is the rewarder of them that diligently seek
him." Now, my time is not too valuable, but what if people
came by the study and they didn't bring just one request? By the
way, I want you to do this. They brought a whole arm load
of them, you know, here, and they're not really concerned
about any of it. I'm just throwing all those things
on the desk. Why don't you do all these things? Well, chances
are I'll just push him all in the waste can. But somebody comes
by, he's thought out one request. He's thought it out, he's studied
it, it's what he wants, he believes that I'll do it. He comes by
and he says, I just want you to do this. Would you do this
for me? I'll do it right now. Or first thing in the morning.
And I want us to examine our prayers sometimes. I may be,
sometimes I go in the hospital and visit people and don't pray.
And I know I get criticized for it. But I ain't going to pray
unless I feel led to pray, because I'd rather them criticize me
than God criticize me. Sometimes I go in there and I
pray. If I feel led to pray, I'll pray. If I don't feel led
to pray, I'm not going to pray. Now that may sound a little stubborn
to you, but now which is best, to keep your mouth shut when
you're not sincere before God, or just go through some little
old ritual, some little old ceremony, you know? to make somebody think
you're religious. God knows you're not religious.
And God knows it's a mockery. I think we need to handle this
thing a little more carefully about praying, sanctified prayer,
sincere prayer, Spirit-led prayer, calling on God in time of need,
calling on God in time of sincerity. Now, don't retreat to the other
end and say, well, we're not going to pray at all. That's
not what I'm talking about. But I think that we're too wordy.
I think we go through too many little ceremonies and too many
little rituals, and God's not anywhere around it. When we do
business with God, I think we ought to be doing business with
God, God Almighty, in the power of the Holy Spirit. We pray in
the Spirit, and if we're not—now listen, if you're saying the
blessing at the table, it's just that little old six and seven,
you know, thank you for the food, amen, don't do it. Now, that's
just a ceremony. When we pray, we better pray
in the Spirit. Now, this is serious business, because prayer without
the Holy Spirit is impossible, and it's a mockery, and I think
God's not pleased with it. And then secondly, we pray by
the Holy Spirit. Turn to Romans 8, Romans chapter
8. I'll tell you something else.
I went to a meeting one time at King's Point Baptist Church. First night there, on Monday
night, I was supposed to preach at 7.30. Well, along about 7
o'clock, I drove up and got out of the car, and one of the deacons
said, we're having a prayer meeting back in the back room. Would
you like to join us, the evangelists? I said, yes, I'd be glad to.
So I went back in the back room. And there were about eight or
ten men, and the pastor was there. He said, let's go to God and
pray. I looked around. All the men were getting on their
knees, so I got on my knees. And one man said, Our Father!
And about that time, they all bust out. And I'm telling you,
I've never heard such a confusion. There were ten people all praying
at the top of their voices at the same time. Do you think God's
in that sort of thing? It was such a din and such a
mass of confusion, I couldn't even think, let alone pray, let
alone meditate, let alone groan before God, let alone seek the
Holy Spirit. Listen to Romans 8, verse 26. The Spirit of God helpeth our
infirmities. And boy, you can underscore that.
We've got a mess of it. We know not what we should pray
for as we ought. But the Spirit itself, or himself,
maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the heart,
the Holy Spirit, knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because
he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will
of God." He's always in the will of God. Now, Mr. Gill says that this has a twofold
meaning, and I wrestle with this a little What does it mean the
Holy Spirit makes intercession for us? Christ is our intercessor. Christ is our advocate. Christ
is the high priest. There's just one. Christ is the
one through whom all prayer goes and all worship and everything
spiritual. Gil says the Holy Spirit intercedes
for us by causing us to intercede. He says the Holy Spirit establishes
in us the desire, the need, the will, the hunger in our hearts. And the Holy Spirit intercedes
for us in that He stirs us up to prayer. He burdens us to pray,
and He puts the words in our mouths. Or in the case where
there are no words, He puts the groaning there. The Spirit doesn't
groan. We groan with groanings which
cannot be uttered. But then someone else said, the
Holy Spirit actually intercedes for the believer beyond the believer's
understanding. And let me give you an example
of that, and I think this is a good example. I went down to
the radio station, and I'm very serious about these radio broadcasts. I try real hard. And I went down
there the other morning, And I played my first song, and then
I switched over on the microphone and started preaching. And I'm
telling you, I said the words, but I didn't feel any power.
I was just, all the time I was preaching, I was wishing that
clock could move faster. It moved so slow, you know. And
I kept trying to preach and trying, I was saying the right things,
but I didn't feel any power, any presence of God, didn't feel
any response, I didn't feel anything. And I left the studio almost
crying. I was so heartbroken over that
broadcast, just about ready to quit radio broadcasting altogether. And I went to the post office
and then drove back up here to the church, and I thought, well,
I'll just play that tape, see what a mess I did make. And I
put that tape on, and honestly, that's the best sermon I've preached
in a month. Honestly, I'm telling you the truth. That's the best
message I've preached in a month. And that's the Holy Spirit speaking
beyond our understanding. The Holy Spirit speaking beyond
our comprehension. The Holy Spirit speaking beyond
our ability. When we utterly fail, Paul said,
when I'm weak, I'm strong. And when I'm strong and I think
I've knocked the home run, I'll bet you anything that's when
I struck out. That's when God does not get the glory. So I
think in this matter of prayer, I think we may get all our words
just right, and all our sentences just right, and all our statements
just right, and walk out of the room and somebody says, But sometimes when we say, Lord,
we don't know how to pray, we don't know what to pray for,
and, oh God, help me, I'm such a wretch, I'm such a sinner,
I need your grace, I don't know, just lay there and groan, that's
when heaven is open to receive our cry. I think that's what
that's talking about. The Holy Spirit maketh intercession. The Holy Spirit. And then we
pray for the Spirit. The Scripture says, Be filled
with the Holy Spirit. Now I want to give you this quickly,
and I'll close. The Holy Spirit and the Church. Now, God has
a church made up of all believers, a universal church, the family
of God, the kingdom of God. And this church is formed, is
established by the Holy Spirit. Except you're born of the Spirit,
you cannot enter the kingdom of God. The Holy Spirit baptizes
us into one body. We're baptized with the Holy
Spirit into the body of Christ. But in the local church, the
Holy Spirit unifies the church. He not only establishes the Church,
but he unifies the Church. Now, I want to show you that.
Turn to Ephesians 2. Ephesians 2. In Ephesians 2,
verse 21, the Holy Spirit unifies the Church. It says in Ephesians
2, 21, "...in whom all the buildings fitly framed together groweth
unto an holy temple in the Lord." in whom you also are built together
for the inhabitation of God through the Spirit." You are put together
by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit puts each stone,
each living stone, in the temple of God. He puts you there, and
me, and you, and you, and you. He unites and unifies the Church. And now in 1 Corinthians 3, verse
16. Let's look at that a minute.
1 Corinthians 3, verse 16. Know ye not that ye are the temple
of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in you." Now, this unifying
of the Church by the Holy Spirit, bringing it together, it's important
to note that this union of Christ's body is not just a union of feeling. It's not just a union of bodies. It's not just an merely an organization,
but every living stone that is put in the temple of God and
every part of the body of Christ that's
put there by the Holy Spirit, there is, joining them together,
a mystical union of heart and of soul and of being, compared
in the Scripture to the Trinity. I've heard some of you say...