to read four verses, two verses
from John chapter 14, one verse from John chapter 15, and then
one verse from John chapter 16. John chapter 14 and verse 16,
and I will pray the Father and he shall give you another comforter. that he may abide with you forever. And then in verse 26 of that
chapter, but the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father
will send in my name, he shall teach you all things and bring
all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you. And then in chapter 15, if you
will, verse 26, But when the Comforter is come,
whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of
truth which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me. And then in chapter 16 and verse
7, nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is expedient for you
that I go away, for if I go not away, the Comforter will not
come unto you. But if I depart, I will send
him unto you. This morning I want us to look
at these verses that I've just read in which the Lord Jesus
Christ was speaking to his disciples the night before his crucifixion. And the common word in all of
these verses that we've read is, of course, the comforter.
the Comforter. Our Lord identifies Him in verse
26 of chapter 14 that we read as the Holy Ghost, the Holy Spirit. We know that He is the third
person in the Trinity. The third person in the Trinity. We worship one God because there's
only one true and living God. And yet, he exists in a trinity
of persons. When we say salvation is of the
Lord, and we quote that from Jonah chapter two and verse nine,
salvation, your salvation, my salvation, the salvation of every
sinner that God saves is the work of the triune God. We worship
God, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Each person in the Godhead, and
that's the word the Apostle Paul uses in writing of the Trinity. The word Trinity is not in the
Bible, we recognize that, but the truth is revealed in the
scriptures. But Paul uses the word Godhead,
the Godhead, and the Godhead exists of the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Spirit. You say, I can't understand that,
how there can only be one God and yet there are three persons
in the Godhead. We can't understand God, but
we believe, I do, what God has revealed in the scripture. And
that's what he has revealed unto us. If you look over, if you
will, in 2 Corinthians, the last chapter of 2 Corinthians, and verse 14, 2 Corinthians chapter
13 and verse 14. This benediction here, we see
each person in the Godhead is mentioned here. The grace of
the Lord Jesus Christ. How could we do without the grace
of the Lord Jesus Christ? For you know the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes
he became poor, that you through his poverty might be made rich. How could we do without the grace
of the Lord Jesus Christ? But then, and the love of God. How could we do without the love
of God? For God so loved the world that
he gave his only begotten son. Whosoever believeth in him should
not perish, but have everlasting life. We never get over God's
love, do we? But that's not all. And the communion
of the Holy Ghost be with you all. God, the Holy Spirit, the
Holy Ghost, the communion that we have because of him. We have communion today. In this
place, those of us who are saved as brothers and sisters in Christ,
we have communion one with another because of God the Holy Spirit. I don't know if you've ever experienced
this. You probably have, but you've been maybe somewhere,
anywhere, and you just meet someone And immediately, there's a fellowship,
there's a communion, because that person also is a child of
God. You've had that happen, haven't
you? I know I have. What a blessing. Someone said
the great promise of the Old Testament was the coming of the
Son of God, and the great promise of the New Testament is the coming
of God the Holy Spirit. I want to remind us this morning
of six truths, six truths concerning every child of God's relationship
to God the Holy Spirit. Six truths concerning every child
of God's relationship to the Holy Spirit, your relationship
to him if you are one of his children today. First, He is
the one who quickened us when we were spiritually dead. That
is the work of God the Holy Spirit. If you're alive today in Christ,
it is because God the Holy Spirit quickened you when you were dead
in trespasses and sins. That's what the scripture says
in Ephesians 2 and verse 1. And you hath he quickened who
were dead in trespasses and sins. We couldn't quicken ourselves.
We couldn't make ourselves alive spiritually. No man can do that. Charles Spurgeon one time, he
made this comment. He said, we were spiritually
blind until the spirit takes the scales from our eyes. Isn't
that the truth? We couldn't see ourselves. We
couldn't see our need. We couldn't see the loveliness
of Christ. He was just a historical figure. We couldn't see. We were blind,
spiritually blind, until the Spirit takes the scales from
our eyes. We were spiritually deaf. We
couldn't hear the voice of the Savior, the voice of the shepherd
who calls his own sheep by name. We were spiritually deaf until
he unstops our ears. And he went on to say we were
spiritually dead until he gives us life. Every child of God,
this is the first relationship that we have with God the Holy
Spirit. that I want to mention this morning
is he is the one who has quickened us. Our Lord told Nicodemus,
except a man be born of water, even of the spirit, he cannot
enter into the kingdom of God. And one of the first indications
that a person is given life, that God the Holy Spirit has
quickened a person who is spiritually dead, one of the first signs
that a person has been quickened by God the Holy Spirit is, he
is convicted or she is convicted of his sin, her sin against God. That's one of the first signs
that God has quickened you and made you alive in Christ You
could take a corpse, this is an old illustration, but it's
still a good one. You can take a body, the spirit
has departed, and you could stack brick after brick after brick
after brick on that corpse and it would never feel any weight
of the bricks. Why? Because it's dead. And a lost man is dead in trespasses
and sins. And one of the first indications
that God has quickened the person, made him alive, is he feels the
weight of his sins. He feels the weight of her sin.
And it's sin against God. It's not just sin against my
neighbor or sin against my wife. And those things are important,
but sin to be repented of is sin against God. David said,
against thee, and thee only have I sinned and done this evil thing
in thy sight. Yes, that's the very first sign,
and it is God the Holy Spirit who convicts us of sin. Look
here in John 16 in verse seven and eight. We read here just
a moment ago, but Our Lord said in verse 8 of John 16, and when
He has come, He will reprove the world of sin. And if you
have a marginal reading, that word reprove could have been
translated convince, and it could have been translated convict.
He will convince the world of sin. And then He will convince
the world of righteousness. A righteousness that God requires
that we don't have. A righteousness that is only
found in the person and work of Jesus Christ. And he will
convince the world of judgment. Yes, there's a judgment coming.
The judgment the scripture tells us of, where every man will come
into judgment. And God the Holy Spirit is the
author of our life, our spiritual life. And as I said, one of the
first indications we have life is conviction of sin and faith
in Christ. We believe in Christ. His faith, listen, both repentance
and faith are gifts. I know the world is under the
impression that every man has faith. But that's not true. The
Bible plainly says all men have not faith. And faith is a gift
of God. For by grace are you saved through
faith and that not of yourselves. It is a gift of God. And so is
repentance. Christ has exalted a prince and
a savior for to give repentance unto Israel, unto the people
of God. Now, he doesn't repent for us
and he doesn't believe for us. I must repent. You must repent. I must believe. You must believe. But we recognize this, that apart
from the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we would never repent
and we would never believe in him. So that's the first relationship
to God the Holy Spirit, I would remind us of this morning. He
is the one who quickened us when we were spiritually dead. Second, he is the one who seals
everyone who believes in Christ as his Lord. Look with me in
Ephesians. Well, let's take the time to
look at some of these scriptures this morning. Ephesians, if you
would turn there. Ephesians chapter one. This is
the second relationship that every believer has with the Holy
Spirit. The Holy Spirit is one who seals
every child of God. Here in Ephesians one, beginning
with verse 11, in whom also we have obtained
an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him
who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will,
that we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted
in Christ, and whom you also trusted after that you heard
the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also
after that you believed, you were sealed with that Holy Spirit
of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the
redemption of the purchased possession unto the praise of His glory. I want you to look especially
at verse 13. Do we not see here the order
of salvation? A person trusts in Christ after
hearing the truth, the gospel. No one ever trusts in Christ
who hasn't heard the gospel, who hasn't heard the truth of
the gospel. You can't come back from some
place you've never been. And a person cannot believe in
one of whom he's never heard. And to me, this verse is so plain
and so clear and so important that we see that a person trusts
in Christ after hearing the truth, the gospel. And it's not hearing
anything else but the gospel. You say, well, preacher, would
you define the gospel? Well, I know this. When the gospel
is preached, these two things will always be very clear. And
that is, first of all, substitution. The gospel tells us of Jesus
Christ, God's son, who substituted himself in our place, that he
bore the penalty that our sins deserve. And number two, satisfaction. He satisfied God. He said, you
say, how do you know that? Because he walked out of that
grave. Amen. He walked out of that grave.
And a person has to hear a person not saved by believing a lie. And you know, there's Paul said,
there's many gospels. But there's only one true gospel,
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ that speaks of his death
according to the scriptures, his burial, and his resurrection
according to the scriptures. After you've heard, then you
trusted, and then notice what the apostle said, after that
you believed, you were sealed. Everyone who trusts, everyone
who believes, is sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise.
You see, the Holy Spirit, He is the seal. Everyone who believes
in Christ is sealed with the Holy Spirit. When I was in Bible
college, I worked for a trucking company, and we loaded trucks
up, moving freight across the country and things like that.
But you know, when we closed the door on that big 40-foot
van, I believe it was, 18-wheeler pulled it, you know, closed the
door, we took a seal and placed between those two connecting
things there. What was that for? It was to
show when it reached its destination that nobody had opened that door.
God the Holy Spirit seals. every person who believes in
Jesus Christ. He is the seal. He is the seal. In fact, in Romans 8, in verse
9, Paul said, Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ,
he is none of his. You know, there are those, and
I've, back years ago, Heard some people that were saying, well,
you know, after you are saved, then you've got to be baptized
and receive the Holy Spirit and speak in tongues. That's a lie,
my friends. That's a lie out of hell. A person
does not receive the Holy Spirit when he's baptized. A person
receives the Holy Spirit when he's saved. When he believes
in Christ, immediately he's sealed with God the Holy Spirit. Think
if that were true, and it's not, but if it were, what about the
thief our Lord saved that day on the cross? He wasn't baptized,
and yet he went to glory, went to paradise to be with the Lord
when he died. You say, well, he must have not
had the Holy Spirit. Oh, how is a person saved without
the Holy Spirit? No one is saved apart from God,
the Holy Spirit. That's a false teaching, and
it's usually accompanied by those who teach a person may be lost
after he's saved. You can be saved today and maybe
lose your salvation tomorrow. That's a lie. And I used to say
this when we had our television program, and I know I was preaching
on that television station, but probably most all of them believed
you could be saved and be lost. But I always try to point out,
if you believe that, then you believe in salvation by works.
That's all you can say. If a person believes that you
can be saved and then be lost, you believe in salvation by works,
which the scriptures clearly, plainly tell us is not so. We're saved by grace, by grace,
by God's sovereign grace, distinguishing grace. A person is saved and sealed
with God the Holy Spirit. If you still have your Bible
turned here to Ephesians, look over into chapter four of Ephesians
in verse 30. Paul tells these believers, grieve
not the Holy Spirit of God. That alone tells us he's a person,
doesn't it? For those who would say, well,
the Holy Spirit's not a person, it's just an influencer. No,
no, you can't grieve an influence. A person may be grieved. God
the Holy Spirit is a person, just like God the Son is a person
and God the Father is a person. Three persons in the Trinity. One God, yes. Grieve not the
Holy Spirit of God. Notice whereby you are sealed
unto the day of redemption. Now, what day of redemption is
that speaking of? Well, most people, most of the
writers believe it's speaking of the day when your body is
either changed or raised. That your body, that you seek
Christ redeemed, your body, soul, and spirit. Yes, when a believer
dies, leaves this world, his spirit goes to be with the Lord,
but what happens to his body? Well, it goes back to the grave,
to the ground, rather, to the dust, but it's still sealed. You say, how do you explain that?
I don't have to explain it. I believe it, and I'm preaching
it, and I hope God lets you believe it. that God one day is going
to come again, the Lord Jesus Christ is going to come again
with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and the dead
in Christ shall be raised. Yes, because we are sealed with
God the Holy Spirit. And I know you can imagine all
kinds of scenarios where how would you find the dust of this
person or that person? God. God, that's the answer to
that, my friends. Nothing is impossible with him. The third thing about the relationship
of a child of God with the Holy Spirit is he is the one who teaches
the children of God. We read that in that verse in
John chapter 14 and verse 26, when our Lord told his disciples,
when he has come, John chapter 14 and verse 26. But the Comforter, which is the
Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach
you all things. Now I know this is especially
speaking to the apostles of our Lord, but it is true that God
the Holy Spirit is the one who teaches us. Again, quoting Charles
Spurgeon, he said, the spirit does not merely give us light,
but he opens our hearts to receive it, enabling us to comprehend
and embrace the divine truth. Now that's not to say that God
doesn't use means to teach us, because he does. He's called
men and equipped men to preach the gospel, to study the word
of God, and to preach the word of God. And he used his men. He used the apostle Peter. After
Peter had failed, miserably failed, denied the Lord Jesus Christ
three times, and then when he was restored, the Lord asked
him, Simon, lovest thou me? And Simon said, yea, Lord. Simon,
lovest thou me? Yea, Lord. And that third time,
Lord, thou knowest all things. You know that I love thee. What
did our Lord tell him to do? Told him to feed, feed my sheep,
feed my lambs. We don't, when a person's born
again, he's not born an adult, is he? I'm not saying adults
are not born again. I'm just saying that when we
are born again, we are born as as babes in Christ, as lambs. And so the preacher, he is to
preach, to feed, to teach even the lambs of the flock as well
as those who are older in the faith. They're strong meat. They're strong meat here in the
word of God. Absolutely, but there's also
milk, milk for the babes. Yes, feed, but God the Holy Spirit
is the one who enables and blesses a man, making him apt to teach. I don't care how qualified a
person may think him to be, to public speaking and all of that,
apart from the Lord Jesus Christ, No man can preach the gospel
with any fruit whatsoever. It just cannot
be done. It's God the Holy Spirit who
must enable us to preach so that man may comprehend and grow in
grace and knowledge of the Lord. The fourth thing is he is the
one who leads the children of God. the Holy Spirit. He leads us. In Romans chapter
8 and verse 14, Paul said, As many as are led by the Spirit
of God, they are the sons of God. Now, He's sovereign in this,
as He is in all of His work, and He doesn't lead God's people
by any hard and fast rules. He may lead one person in one
way and another person in a different way, but he will never lead any
person contrary to his word. Never. He'll never lead any of
his children to do something contrary to the word of God,
but yet he does lead us. Sometimes he leads us through
providential circumstances. Sometimes he leads us by the
good advice of a fellow believer. In the Proverbs we read, a man's
heart deviseth his way, but the Lord directeth his steps. And the steps of a good man are
ordered of the Lord. Another proverb tells us, in
all thy ways acknowledge him, for he shall direct thy paths. A fifth way that he has a relationship
to every child of God, he comforts the children of God. Thus his
name, Comforter. He comforts every child of God. You know, he has, the Holy Spirit
has several titles. He is the Spirit. He is the Holy
Spirit. He's called the Good Spirit.
He's called the Spirit of Truth, but we see in these verses he's
referred to as the Comforter. And that's the ministry that
he exercises to his people. It's a lie to tell believers
that in this world you're going to have an easy road. Everything's
going to be smooth sailing now that you've trusted in Christ.
No. Our Lord told his disciples just
the opposite. In this world you shall have
tribulation. And God the Holy Spirit, he comforts
his children. Sometimes it is because of sin. In fact, many times it's because
of sin. You ever troubled about your
sins? You're a child of God and yet
maybe your sin comes back from 20 years ago, 50 years ago. Something you did, you'd put
it out of your mind and it comes back to you and you're troubled
over your sin. Maybe it was just yesterday.
Maybe it was today. And God comforts, the Holy Spirit
comforts his children concerning our sins. Yes, how does he do
that? By pointing us to Christ. by
showing us that Jesus is a savior of sinners. That when he first
began to work in our hearts, he came to us and we were nothing
but sinners and we're still sinners. We still fail. We still make
mistakes, don't we? Do things we wish we hadn't have
done and say things we wish we hadn't have said. Yes. God, the Holy Spirit comforts
us by reminding us that Christ didn't come to save saints. He
came to save sinners and make sinners into saints. Yes. Sometimes believers are troubled
over their circumstances providentially. How in the world did I end up
in this situation? And more importantly, how am
I going to get out of this situation? Yeah, sometimes believers are
troubled over their situations, but the Holy Spirit is a comforter,
and He reminds us of the many promises that God has given us
in the Word of God. And one of His great promises
is, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. What a promise
is that, my friends? No matter how dark the day may
be, how many clouds are in your life, in your situation yet,
The Lord has promised you He'll never leave you. When my mother
and my father forsake me, the psalmist said, the Lord will
take me up. And yes, eventually your father and mother will forsake
you. They'll leave you in this world.
Most likely they'll move on in death. But your Lord's not going
to forsake you. He's not going to leave you.
And the many promises, I think, of Romans 8 and verse 28, people
say, well, you quote that quite a bit. Well, it's a precious
promise, isn't it? For we know that all things work
together for good. But I don't understand this.
Why is this happening to me? Why is it that I am going through
this? Because God has ordained it for
your good. Yes, for his glory and for your
good. You say, I can't see that. One
day you will. One day you will, by God's grace. When our Lord was washing the
feet of his disciples, you know, Simon Peter, he said, you'll
never wash my feet. Well, if I don't wash your feet,
Peter, you have no part in me. Well, wash me all over then.
What did our Lord say? He said, you'll understand this
afterwards. Afterwards, you'll understand
why he was washing their feet. What a picture. Well, let me
give you this last thing. God, the Holy Spirit is the one
who shall change or raise the body, the bodies, physical bodies
of the children of God. Paul wrote, but if the spirit
of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, If the
spirit that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, and he
does, if you're a child of God, you're sealed with God, the Holy
Spirit. He that raised up Christ from
the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by the spirit that
dwelleth in you. If the Lord were to come right
now, If he were to descend from heaven right now, then immediately
these bodies would be changed. And who would do that? God the
Holy Spirit. And the twinkling of an eye.
And not only would our bodies be changed, but the bodies of
our loved ones who've gone on, who knew the Lord, they'd be
raised, and we'd be all caught up in the air, together in the
air to meet the Lord. What a wonderful time that will
be, right? I want to see Christ, don't you?
I've heard that song, a man supposedly died and went to heaven and they
were showing him this person, here's Timothy, here's Paul,
but I want to see Christ. I want to see him who loved me
and gave himself for me. I think that's true of every
child of God. But I tell you, there's some
believers that I've worshiped with, that
I've preached to. I look forward to seeing them
too. Don't you? Some have gone on to be with
the Lord. Praise God for God, the Holy
Spirit. For God the Son and for God the
Father. I pray the Lord bless these thoughts
and words to all of us. We're going to sing just a moment
before you get up. We're going to sing a hymn and
some of the ladies if you'd like to go on to the back and sometime
when we