Turn with me tonight, if you
will, to John Chapter 14. One of the laws that Parliament,
the Parliament of England passed after or during the Reformation
was that They could not, no church could observe the Lord's Supper
without preaching a message. There had to be a message preached
along with observing the Lord's Table. And the reason for that,
of course, was because they were coming out of Catholicism and
the teaching of the Mass. And you know, the Lord's Supper
is not the Mass. Some people still get that mixed
up today. They think, well, that's just
the Lord's Supper. No, no, it's not either. The mass is teaching
that Christ is literally present, that the bread is turned into
his flesh and the wine is turned into his blood, and that we eat
literally his flesh and his blood. I do not believe it would be
an exaggeration to say that a preacher could preach from this chapter,
John chapter 14, for months. There's so many glorious truths
presented to us in these 31 verses. And that's true of all the word
of God, the inspired word of God. Think of some of the great
truths that are revealed to us in the scriptures. the Trinity
of Persons in the Godhead. What a mystery. And yet, that
is revealed to us in this book. One God, and yet He exists in
a Trinity of Persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Not three gods, one God, but three Persons in the Trinity. And then one of those Persons,
the Eternal Son, He became flesh. the incarnation of Jesus Christ,
our Lord. What a great mystery is that. In fact, Paul said, great is
the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. His one sacrifice, one sacrifice
by which he has put away forever all the sins of all of his people. His glorious resurrection and
His resurrection declares our resurrection as well. His continued
intercession for us with the Father. We have an advocate with
the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He's always there
at God's right hand. In the middle of the night, in
the middle of the day, makes no difference. He's always there
making intercession for all of us who come to God by him. But
tonight I want us to thank for just a brief period on one of
these glorious truths that is revealed to us in this chapter,
and that is that God the Holy Spirit indwells all believers. That God the Holy Spirit indwells
all Christians. Look in verse 16. Our Lord is
alone with the eleven apostles. This is the night that he would
be arrested, and I will pray the Father, and he shall give
you another comforter, that he may abide with you forever, even
the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because
it seeth him not, neither knoweth him, But you know him, and notice
this, for he dwelleth with you and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless. I will come to you. And if you have a Bible with
a margin, you see that word comfortless, I will not leave you comfortless,
could be translated, and maybe even better, orphans. I will
not leave you orphans. A number of years ago, I remember
reading that Charles Spurgeon, I think, was meeting with some
of the directors of his orphanages. They had several of them there
in London that God supported. But they asked someone, what
does an orphan need? What does an orphan need? Someone, of course, said, well,
they need food. They need shelter. They need
an education. One man spoke up and said, they
need a mother. They need a mother. In other
words, if they were given a mother, all these other things would
be added. And the same is true of God's
children. The Lord said, I will not leave
you comfortless. Yes, I'm going away, but I will
not leave you like orphans in this world. I will come to you. And he said here that he would
give them another comforter who would never leave them, but would
dwell in them. Now some might think, well, that
promise was especially to the 11 disciples, the 11 apostles
who were there with him in his room. Now there may be some words
here that applied directly to the apostles, but not this one. Not this one. It applies to all
of God's children. The Holy Spirit indwells all
believers. Again, Spurgeon said one time,
he said, I don't know what is the greatest amazement that the
eternal Son of God came into this world as a man, or God the
Holy Spirit comes into our hearts to live within us. But he does. And so just three
points tonight. First of all, let's look at a
few scriptures which declare this truth, this truth that God
the Holy Spirit indwells every believer. If you are one of his
children tonight, if you know him, if he has been revealed
to you and you have faith in him tonight, God the Holy Spirit
dwells in you. I have four scriptures I want
us to turn to. First of all, if you will go
with me to 2 Timothy. 2 Timothy, chapter one. The apostle writing to this younger
man, he wasn't young by our standards, but he was younger than the apostle
Paul. In verse 14, he said, that good
thing which was committed unto thee. Now, what was that good
thing that was committed unto Timothy? Well, I believe it is
the gospel. The gospel was committed unto
Timothy. The gospel is committed to every
man that God calls and puts into the ministry. He doesn't call
men into the ministry who do not know the gospel, to whom
he has not revealed the gospel. But when God calls a man to be
a pastor, he commits unto him the gospel. And it's all important,
it's all important as far as I'm concerned, that we hold this
good thing, this gospel, we hold it and we pass it on to the next
generation. Just like men in a relay race,
they have to pass that baton on to the next man. And so one
generation passes the gospel on to the next generation. And it's so important for every
preacher to keep that in mind. Let's read on. That good thing
which was committed unto thee, keep, keep by the Holy Ghost,
now notice, which dwelleth in us. He dwells in us. God, the Holy Ghost, the Holy
Spirit dwells in us. I heard a radio program recently
and a lady called in and she said, I don't understand why
some places He's referred to as the Holy Ghost. In other places,
he's referred to as the Holy Spirit. Well, the same word,
fuma, is used in all the places. And for us, because the word
ghost, the meaning of that word's kind of changed maybe over the
years. And for you and I, for this generation,
I prefer to use this word, the Holy Spirit. He dwells in us,
in every one of His children. Now look back a little bit to
Galatians. There's a second verse. We're
certainly not going to look at all the verses which tell us
that the Holy Spirit dwells in us, but just a few. In Galatians
chapter four and verse six, And because you are sons, God
hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying,
Abba, Father. The Spirit of His Son, now who
is it? That's God the Holy Spirit. He
proceeds both from the Father and the Son. The Spirit of His
Son, God the Holy Spirit, God sends in, and notice where He
sends Him, into your hearts. into your hearts. That's where
the Holy Spirit comes. Now, when we read here that the
Holy Spirit comes to dwell in our heart, we recognize that
this means we have been given a new heart. Every child of God
has been given a new heart. In Ezekiel chapter 11 and verse
19, God said, I will give them one heart. And I will put a new
spirit within you, and I will take the stony heart out of their
flesh and give them an heart of flesh. And we know from the
word of God, and we know by experience that all men come into this heart,
come into this world with a deceitful heart that is desperately wicked. It's a divided heart. And it's
referred to as a stony heart. A stony heart. Four things about a stone. And
that pictures the heart that lost men have. Number one, it's
hard. A stone is hard. And a lost man
has a hard heart. Number two, it's cold. Stone
is cold. The heart, the new heart that
God gives us is warm. It's warm by the Spirit of God.
Number three, it's barren. You could have a thousand acres
of property, it's all stone. You couldn't grow a turnip. Brother Scott Richard said, Scott
Richard one time said that Cain was a turnip farmer. Someone
asked him, Scott, how do you know that he was a turnip farmer? He said, because you can't get
blood out of a turnip. He brought his offering, but
he didn't bring a blood offering, did he? And his offering was
rejected. Abel's offering was accepted
because it was a lamb, a slain lamb. Heart of stone is hard, cold,
barren, and dead. Dead. Now, in regeneration, when
God gives someone a new birth, in regeneration, God gives a
new spirit, a new heart, rather, and God, the Holy Spirit, comes
to dwell in that heart. Another verse, if you will, in
1 Corinthians chapter three, First Corinthians chapter three,
the apostle is writing to believers, know you not that you are the
temple of God and the spirit of God dwelleth in you. The Holy Spirit dwells in believers. Our bodies become his temple,
the temple of the Holy Spirit. And then turn to one other place
in Romans chapter eight, Romans chapter 8 and verses 7
and 9, Paul said, but because the carnal
mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law
of God, neither indeed can be. So then, they that are in the
flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh,
but in the spirit, if so be. that the Spirit of God dwell
in you. Now, if any man have not the
Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." And I would like to
remind us of Paul's question that he wrote to the Galatians
in the letter of Galatians. He said, this only would I learn
of you. I've got this one question, and
he's writing to those who profess to know Christ. This only would
I learn of you. Received you the spirit by the
works of the law or by the hearing of faith? There could only be
one right answer. Men do not receive the spirit
trying to keep the law, trying to obey the law. But it is rather
under the preaching of the gospel, that is the hearing of faith,
that's the gospel that we preach and command all men everywhere
to repent and to believe the gospel. That's the way God the
Holy Spirit communicates himself into the hearts of his people. He begets them again with the
word of truth. We sing that hymn, I know whom
I have believed and am persuaded that he's able to keep that which
I've committed against him, against that day. One of those verses,
I think it's the third verse, but it says this ever so well. I know not how the spirit moves. The spirit is sovereign. The spirit is sovereign and nobody
knows how he moves. Convincing men of sin. You can
have a church building full of people and the gospel is preached
and maybe one here, one there, one back there. They're convinced
of the truth of the gospel. And have a concern for their
soul. And others, they can tell you how many towels are in the
ceiling. Because that's what they've spent
their time doing, counting the towel. No interest, no concern,
dead in trespasses and sins. I know not how the Spirit moves,
convincing men of sin, revealing Jesus through the Word, creating
faith in Him. It's so important to attend the
preaching of the gospel. So important, because God has
chosen by the foolishness of preaching, he said, to save them
that are lost. All right, here's my second point.
Let's look at two scriptures that mark this truth. Because
certainly every one of us tonight would ask this question. The
Holy Spirit preacher, you said, dwells in every Christian and
every believer. Does he dwell in God? Does God the Holy Spirit dwell
in me? Well, let's answer that from
the word of God. Look here in John chapter 16.
Verse seven, our Lord said, 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. And notice, and when he is come,
he will reprove. I like the word convince. Either
word is fine. He will convince. the world of
sin and of righteousness and of judgment. So the question
to ask is, has the Holy Spirit come to me? Has he convinced
me of sin? Is sin real to you or is it just
something that you've heard all your life? The church and the
preachers talk about sin. But have you been convinced of
your sinfulness? Not just that you've made a few
mistakes. Most everyone will admit to that. But when the Holy
Spirit comes, he convinces men of sin, of our sinfulness. What sin is it? Well, it's the
awful sin of unbelief. Notice in verse nine, of sin,
because they believe not on me. The Holy Spirit, he convinces.
We receive the Holy Spirit and we know that we receive the Holy
Spirit because one mark is that when he comes, he convinces us
of sin. And then notice those other two
things, the righteousness. Am I, have I been convinced of
sin? Have I been convinced that I
am a sinner? Nobody else may need a savior. I don't know, but I know I do. I know I do. When I look in the
mirror, I see a sinful person looking back at me every time,
every time. And I know from the word of God
that anything that I can do will be polluted because of my sin. And for it to be accepted, God
said this, for it to be accepted, it must be perfect. It must be perfect. And have
I been convinced of righteousness? You notice he said, of righteousness
because I go to my Father and you see me no more. Has the Holy
Spirit convinced me of the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ? Now
he said, he claimed that he's the Son of God. Do you think he could have ascended
back to the Father if he had been a deceiver, a liar? Of course not. Of righteousness. His righteousness. He is righteousness. And then
third, of judgment. That the prince of this world,
our Lord says this later or earlier in John, the prince of this world
cometh and findeth nothing in me. the prince of the power of
the air, that is Satan, he was judged at the cross. He received
a death blow, it wasn't just a wound, it was a death blow
at the cross. And then, not only that verse
there that tells us how we may know if we have received the
Holy Spirit, but look at this, this may be even more important,
in chapter 15, John chapter 15, in 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. Has He come to me? Has He come
to you? When He comes, He testifies of
Christ. In other words, he leads us to
Christ. He leads us to Christ to see
that he is made of God unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption. In other words, all that God
can require and all that I need as a sinner is found in Christ,
only in him. All right, here's the third point.
Let's look at a scripture which speaks to us of the comfort of
this truth. Turn with me to Ephesians chapter
one. The Holy Spirit dwells in every
believer, and we know if he has come to us, if we have been convinced
of sin and been led to Christ, to look to Christ, to trust in
Christ alone for all our salvation. Ephesians chapter 1 and verse
11 through Paul emphasizes this truth, 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 will, his own will, that we should be to the praise of
his glory. who first trusted in Christ,
in 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 the Holy Spirit of promise, which
is, that is God the Holy Spirit, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the
redemption of the purchase possession under the praise of his glory. We have an inheritance. Every
child of God, we have been begotten again onto a lively hope. And we have a great inheritance
that involves the glory and the happiness of heaven. That's our
inheritance. And all believers have obtained
this inheritance through Jesus Christ. And the Holy Spirit,
you see, dwells in every believer as the earnest of this inheritance. The earnest of our inheritance
until the redemption of the purchased possession. Now, that word until. When he comes to dwell, he's
not leaving. He's not leaving until he takes you all. When
he comes to dwell in every child of God. And he himself doesn't
say he is a seal, but it does say that he is the earnest. The
earnest of our inheritance is God, the Holy Spirit. Now, in conclusion, When most
of us, the only time we, I guess, for myself I'll speak, ever used
this term earnest was when buying a house. And the realtor shows
you the house and if you want to buy it, they've listed it
for a certain price and you give some earnest money, some earnest
money in the contract. And that is delivered to the
man who is selling the house. But think of these four things.
The earnest money involves some delay. Let's say tomorrow you
go and get a contract on a house and put down earnest money, but
you don't move in tomorrow. No, no, you don't move in. The earnest money Reminds us
of some delay and yes God the Holy Spirit has come to live
in us But he doesn't immediately take us to heaven does he he
did that thief and he could everyone But we know he leaves us here
that we might serve him and glorify him but we have him as the earnest
God the Holy Spirit lives in us as the earnest of our inheritance
and And second, the earners' money is just a part, just a
part of the price. A man's asking $100,000 for this
house, and let's say you get a contract and give him a check
for $100. That's just a part of it. And God the Holy Spirit
dwelling in us, we've received just a part of our inheritance
until we cross that river. and go into his presence, then
we will receive the entirety of our inheritance. The earnest
money, a third thing, the earnest money is security to the one
who receives it. If you make the contract, you
give him a check for $100, then that man, the man who's selling
the house, that is security for him. In other words, Someone
else may come along tomorrow and say, hey, I'd like to have
that house. No, I've already got a contract.
Man's already put down earnest money on it. It secures to the
man who receives the earnest money, and it secures to him
that this man means business. He means he's going to buy this
house. And number four, the earnest money remains with the recipient. until the bargain is consummated. In other words, the earnest money
remains with the seller and the Holy Spirit is the earnest of
our inheritance and he remains in us until we receive our inheritance. Arthur Pink in his book on the
Holy Spirit, the chapter on on the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
Let me quote you this. God then grants his people a
taste. He grants his people a taste
in this world of what he has prepared for them in the world
to come. The gifts and graces of the Spirit
in the elect affirm the certainty of this glory that awaits them. God the Holy Spirit dwelling
in every child of God, it does guarantee the inheritance. It's reserved. Isn't that what
Peter said? Reserved for you in heaven. Nobody else can take it. It's
yours. He chose you for it, He predestinated you to it, and
He's given you His Spirit as the earnest of the inheritance.
May the Lord bless this study tonight. Now, if you will, men
of the church, the deacons, if you will come, we will give out
the elements We try, we have for many years
tried to do this.