Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / Functions of the Holy Spirit │ Msg 416

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Functions of the Holy Spirit │ Msg 416 · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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Speaker 1: Perhaps one of the most challenging subjects in all of
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Speaker 1: Scripture to tackle is the subject of the Holy Spirit.
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Speaker 1: For many years, there has existed confusion and controversy over
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Speaker 1: the role, the nature, and the function of the third
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Speaker 1: person of the Trinity. I confess to you that after
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Speaker 1: decades of studying the Scriptures and teaching about the ministry
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Speaker 1: of the Holy Spirit, I too have many unanswered questions.
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Speaker 1: Much remains a mystery. In one delightful account of a
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Speaker 1: children's Sunday school class studying the Trinity, the teacher asked
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Speaker 1: her students, can any of you tell me who makes
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Speaker 1: up the Holy Trinity?
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Speaker 2: The children excitedly raised their.
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Speaker 1: Hands, begging to reply. Unwilling to wait, one little boy
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Speaker 1: blurted out, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Smoke.
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Speaker 1: Now that's a funny story, though not far off from
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Speaker 1: describing the confusion many people experience about the nature of
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Speaker 1: the Holy Spirit. Thankfully, God's Word, and particularly this section
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Speaker 1: from John's Gospel, dispels much of the fog with clear
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Speaker 1: teaching about on the functions of the Holy Spirit. But
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Speaker 1: you'll need to listen carefully to get these distinctions. So
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Speaker 1: I invite you to join me in your Bibles as
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Speaker 1: I read John chapter 16, verses 4 to 15. It's
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Speaker 1: a brief passage, but it will serve as our backdrop
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Speaker 1: for all we will consider today in our study of
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Speaker 1: the Holy Spirit. I'll read John 16, 4 to 15
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Speaker 1: from the New Living Translation. Jesus is speaking. Yes, I'm
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Speaker 1: telling you these things now so that when they happen,
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Speaker 1: you will remember my warning. I didn't tell you earlier
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Speaker 1: because I was going to be with you for a
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Speaker 1: while longer. But now I am going away to the
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Speaker 1: one who sent me. And not one of you is
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Speaker 1: asking where I am going. Instead, you grieve because.
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Speaker 2: Of what I've told you.
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Speaker 1: But in fact, it is best for you that I
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Speaker 1: go away because if I don't, the advocate won't come.
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Speaker 1: If I do go away, then I will send him
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Speaker 1: to you. And when he comes, he will convict the
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Speaker 1: world of its sin and of God's righteousness and and
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Speaker 1: of the coming judgment. The world's sin is that it
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Speaker 1: refuses to believe in me. Righteousness is available because I
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Speaker 1: go to the Father and you will see me no more.
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Speaker 1: Judgment will come because the ruler of this world has
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Speaker 1: already been judged. There is so much more I want
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Speaker 1: to tell you, but you can't bear it now. When
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Speaker 1: the spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into
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Speaker 1: all truth.
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Speaker 2: He will not.
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Speaker 1: Speak on his own, but he will tell you what
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Speaker 1: he has heard. He will tell you about the future.
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Speaker 1: He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he
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Speaker 1: receives from me. All that belongs to the Father is mine.
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Speaker 1: This is why I said, the Spirit will tell you
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Speaker 1: whatever he receives from me.
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Speaker 3: One of my most unforgettable moments came when I was
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Speaker 3: about 10 or perhaps 11 years old. It was on
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Speaker 3: the heels of the Second World War, and it relates
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Speaker 3: to my father, who was just a little bit too
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Speaker 3: old for the draft or for voluntary service in the military,
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Speaker 3: and chose to spend his days in the war in
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Speaker 3: a defense plant. where he built all sorts of interesting
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Speaker 3: equipment for the great massive tanks or the planes that
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Speaker 3: flew and the bombers that did their work in the war.
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Speaker 3: But he worked too long and he worked too hard
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Speaker 3: and he suffered a physical breakdown. Along with it, an
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Speaker 3: emotional trauma that simply puzzled the doctors to the point
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Speaker 3: of dismay.
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Speaker 2: They had no answer.
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Speaker 3: And I recall when we came to the end of
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Speaker 3: our rope with no counsel from any physician, I was
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Speaker 3: convinced in my heart that he would die. It seems
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Speaker 3: as though he was also because he called me into
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Speaker 3: his room.
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Speaker 2: One night.
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Speaker 3: And I remember as a little lad walking to his
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Speaker 3: bedside and he could hardly speak above a whisper. And
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Speaker 3: he spoke to me in terminal turns. I thought I
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Speaker 3: was hearing him for the last time. And he gave
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Speaker 3: me counsel on life. How I should live, how I
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Speaker 3: should conduct myself, as his son.
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Speaker 2: I remember the.
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Speaker 3: Council wasn't long and then I left and went across
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Speaker 3: the hall in that little home where we lived to
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Speaker 3: the room that I shared with my older brother. No
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Speaker 3: one else was in the room and I closed the
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Speaker 3: door and I laid down and sobbed. Convinced that I
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Speaker 3: probably would never see him alive again. That scene haunts me,
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Speaker 3: even though I am now an adult and many years
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Speaker 3: removed from that time with my dad.
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Speaker 2: I remember.
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Speaker 3: The night he talked with me. There's something that is
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Speaker 3: very significant about final words. isn't there?
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Speaker 2: In less than less than 12 hours.
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Speaker 3: After the night the disciples were with their Savior, he
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Speaker 3: was nailed to a cross.
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Speaker 2: And in a few more hours, he was dead. And
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Speaker 2: that moment that they spent with him, I call it
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Speaker 2: a moment.
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Speaker 3: Because it must have passed as fast as light passes
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Speaker 3: through space. That moment with him was so significant because
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Speaker 3: it was his last council. And he gave them truth
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Speaker 3: for living that would indeed carry them for the rest
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Speaker 3: of their days. Transforming truth in that little room where
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Speaker 3: they pushed aside some wooden bowls and cups And every
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Speaker 3: eye fell on him and every ear was attentive to
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Speaker 3: his voice. They sat hearing the words of their Lord
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Speaker 3: regarding how they might live on without him. Now as
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Speaker 3: I uncover this information from week to week with you
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Speaker 3: on Sunday mornings, I at times remember that scene with
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Speaker 3: my dad. And it comes upon me in such a
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Speaker 3: way that the passage, each one, seems to come alive
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Speaker 3: as I'm reading living truth from dying lips, recorded by
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Speaker 3: a man who was there and had meditated upon them
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Speaker 3: about 60 years before he put them into writing. The
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Speaker 3: only one on earth who ever wrote what was said
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Speaker 3: that night. So we have a unique body of truth
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Speaker 3: regarding the Christian life. There is nothing more significant than
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Speaker 3: this upper room discourse. And I hope as you turn
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Speaker 3: to John 16 with me this morning, that if nothing more,
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Speaker 3: just the setting of that event will attract and alert
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Speaker 3: your attention to the truth we are going to see today.
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Speaker 2: As a matter of fact, as I read through these verses.
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Speaker 3: Beginning in chapter 13 and ending in chapter 17, I
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Speaker 3: come to the conclusion that first of all, they didn't
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Speaker 3: take more than 30 minutes to say.
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Speaker 2: You can read it all in less than 30 minutes.
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Speaker 3: So it wasn't a lengthy discourse, but also I come
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Speaker 3: up with two secrets that Jesus gave his men. He
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Speaker 3: said many things about many related subjects, but at the core,
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Speaker 3: There seem to be two columns of truth that support
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Speaker 3: all the others.
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Speaker 2: Two great massive pillars.
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Speaker 3: That bring everything to bear upon life after his death.
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Speaker 3: The first related to him and the second related to them.
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Speaker 3: The first had to do with something that happened when
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Speaker 3: he came. And the second had to do with something
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Speaker 3: that will happen when he leaves.
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Speaker 2: And has since happened. Let me give you the truths.
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Speaker 2: The first one is this.
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Speaker 3: The secret of his victorious life was his vital union
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Speaker 3: with the Father. And he mentioned that time and again
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Speaker 3: as he talked with his men that night.
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Speaker 2: He told them that when he.
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Speaker 3: Came to earth, it was with the Father's blessing. It
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Speaker 3: was in the Father's power. It was through the Father's
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Speaker 3: guidance that he was able to minister. It was the
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Speaker 3: Father's will, the Father's word, and because there had never
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Speaker 3: been a break in that vital union, he had been
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Speaker 3: able to live a perfect life to die as the
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Speaker 3: sin offering before man.
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Speaker 2: But he didn't stop there. The second secret was this.
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Speaker 3: That their victorious life would have to do with a
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Speaker 3: vital union with the Holy Spirit. And if they would
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Speaker 3: be habitually empowered by the Spirit that indwelt them, they
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Speaker 3: could know the kind of life he had lived. Ian
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Speaker 3: Thomas put it this way, the life that he lived
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Speaker 3: qualified him for the death that he died. And the
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Speaker 3: death that he died qualifies us for the life that
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Speaker 3: he lived.
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Speaker 2: That's profound.
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Speaker 3: But he doesn't tell us how that life can be lived.
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Speaker 3: Jesus tells us that the life that he lived is
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Speaker 3: possible to be lived again and again when we draw
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Speaker 3: upon the Spirit of God who lives within us. You see,
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Speaker 3: this is so vital to life that it's as though
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Speaker 3: you're stepping into the chamber with Jesus his last night.
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Speaker 3: and hearing his final words telling you how to go
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Speaker 3: on without him. Now as I read the passages, I
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Speaker 3: come to the conclusion that there is a growing panic
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Speaker 3: in the heart of the disciples. They might have wept.
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Speaker 3: They certainly were filled with remorse. So much so that
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Speaker 3: their mind was paralyzed. They couldn't even ask curious questions
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Speaker 3: about his destiny. And Jesus told them that their reaction
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Speaker 3: was because of their fear, because of their grief. Let's look,
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Speaker 3: for example, at verse four down through verse six. Follow
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Speaker 3: along and notice the reaction. There has developed what I
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Speaker 3: call an orphan syndrome. They have felt like orphans and
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Speaker 3: therefore they can't take in what he's saying. Verse four,
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Speaker 3: these things I've spoken to you that when their hour comes,
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Speaker 3: you may remember that I told you of them And
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Speaker 3: these things I did not say to you at the
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Speaker 3: beginning because I was with you. But now I am
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Speaker 3: going to him who sent me. And none of you
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Speaker 3: asks me, where are you going? Let me pause just
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Speaker 3: a moment and have you notice that Jesus points out
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Speaker 3: that they haven't even been curious.
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Speaker 2: They were curious.
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Speaker 3: Unable to cope with that information of his departure. Just
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Speaker 3: as I, as a little boy, couldn't cope with the
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Speaker 3: fact that my dad quite possibly would be gone by morning.
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Speaker 2: And wrestling with that and unable to handle it, I
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Speaker 2: dissolved in tears. Jesus tells us that sorrow filled their heart.
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Speaker 3: See verse 6? Because I've said these things to you,
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Speaker 3: sorrow has filled your heart. The Greek word means grief.
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Speaker 3: The same word that accompanies feelings when we lose a
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Speaker 3: loved one.
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Speaker 2: They were paralyzed by grief.
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Speaker 3: I could hasten on to the solution Jesus gave, but
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Speaker 3: before I do, I want to pause and point out
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Speaker 3: something that I see in between the lines of these
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Speaker 3: three verses. We all want very much to give the
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Speaker 3: impression that we can handle anything that comes. If there's
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Speaker 3: one thing we want to do as adults, it's appear secure.
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Speaker 3: We often appear very insecure while we are trying to
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Speaker 3: look secure. But the big lie is we can't handle everything.
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Speaker 3: Deep down within, we long to be kept. We long
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Speaker 3: to be held securely. And when for some reason that
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Speaker 3: keeping is taken from us, the whole moorings of our
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Speaker 3: foundation shift. It happens when we face the possibility of
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Speaker 3: a terminal illness, or open heart surgery, or imminent death
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Speaker 3: of a loved one, or danger.
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Speaker 2: In the battlefield.
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Speaker 3: How many go berserk on the landing craft before they
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Speaker 3: ever hit the water with their own body? You see,
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Speaker 3: the imminency of danger or separation brings about feelings of
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Speaker 3: desperate insecurity. And that's what happened with these men. And
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Speaker 3: Jesus said, look, man, sorrow has filled your heart. Grief
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Speaker 3: has paralyzed you. Then he went on to say, I
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Speaker 3: have an answer.
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Speaker 2: I have a solution for you.
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Speaker 3: And the solution that Jesus gave them was the person
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Speaker 3: of the Holy Spirit.
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Speaker 2: Before I look at that verse and then go on
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Speaker 2: in the passage.
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Speaker 3: I want to say that we are entering now a
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Speaker 3: doctrinal message.
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Speaker 2: And I'm glad.
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Speaker 3: Practical messages and biographical messages are great and have their place,
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Speaker 3: a la Moses, Elijah. Who can measure the benefit of
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Speaker 3: seeing truth lived incarnate in those men of God, in
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Speaker 3: those women of God? But there's nothing like grounding ourselves
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Speaker 3: in doctrine and finding out the delicate areas of where
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Speaker 3: we stand as we relate to God and life. in
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Speaker 3: light of scriptural truth. We have come to that place
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Speaker 3: this morning. The passage doesn't hang together on feelings. It's
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Speaker 3: linked together on facts, and it's like a series of
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Speaker 3: mathematical equations that lead you.
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Speaker 2: To an answer.
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Speaker 3: You can't go to sleep at any point, or you'll
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Speaker 3: never appreciate the end of the equation.
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Speaker 2: You've got to follow through, thinking along with the writer
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Speaker 2: as he builds the case that leads to.
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Speaker 3: An incredible truth. That we're going to uncover this morning.
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Speaker 3: It all relates to the Holy Spirit. Now first of
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Speaker 3: all he gave them the solution. Verse 7. I tell
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Speaker 3: you the truth said Jesus. It is to your advantage.
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Speaker 3: The word means profit. It is for your benefit. That
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Speaker 3: I go away. For if I do not go away.
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Speaker 3: The helper shall not come to you. But if I
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Speaker 3: go I will send him to you. There's the solution
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Speaker 3: to your trauma, to your sorrow. You struggle with insecure
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Speaker 3: feelings within that express themselves in inward grief. Men, I
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Speaker 3: promise you that in my going, I will send one
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Speaker 3: who will handle that problem. He will be the Holy Spirit,
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Speaker 3: the helper, the one called alongside to bring assistance. when
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Speaker 3: you need it the most. Question that comes to my
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Speaker 3: mind and probably yours is, why was it advantageous for
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Speaker 3: Jesus to leave? Why is it more beneficial for us
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Speaker 3: to have the Holy Spirit than Christ himself? That's not
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Speaker 3: too difficult to answer. Jesus Christ, while on earth, inhabited
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Speaker 3: a body. Therefore, he could be only one place at
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Speaker 3: one time. When he was in Nazareth, he was not
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Speaker 3: in Jerusalem. When he was in the northern shores of Galilee,
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Speaker 3: he could not be down near the Dead Sea. He
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Speaker 3: could only be one.
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Speaker 2: Place at one time.
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Speaker 3: However, when he left the earth and sent the Spirit,
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Speaker 3: the Spirit of God being omnipresent everywhere at once, could
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Speaker 3: fill and empower with the same power one man in Israel,
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Speaker 3: another man in Syria, and yet another in Italy. At
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Speaker 3: the same moment, you can experience power just like Jesus.
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Speaker 2: Experienced from the Father right here in the States.
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Speaker 3: And a believer in Angola or in Alaska or the
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Speaker 3: southern tip of Australia can be experiencing at the very
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Speaker 3: same time the same power. Why, it's advantageous that I go,
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Speaker 3: says Jesus. That way you don't have to be with
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Speaker 3: me physically anymore. to have my strength. I'll give you
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Speaker 3: that strength you need down inside and it will never leave.
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Speaker 3: That's a great plan. The reaction was fear. The solution,
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Speaker 3: the Spirit of God. And the functions of the Spirit
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Speaker 3: are numerous. I've outlined them on the back of the.
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Speaker 2: Insert you received in the bulletin this.
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Speaker 3: Morning and I I don't plan to go further into it,
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Speaker 3: simply to call your attention to the fact that those
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Speaker 3: functions are there. You will notice them as being divided
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Speaker 3: into several different groups, and I leave that for your
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Speaker 3: own study. But the passage of Scripture we're looking at
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Speaker 3: this morning deals with both sides of the cross, humanly speaking.
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Speaker 3: The Spirit of God has a ministry among the unsaved.
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Speaker 3: And the Spirit of God also has a ministry among
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Speaker 3: the believers. His ministry is divergent. It is always effective.
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Speaker 3: And how enlightening it is to discover those ministries of
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Speaker 3: the Spirit. Let me say to you, as you sit
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Speaker 3: here this morning, many of you children of God and
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Speaker 3: new in the faith, there is resident within your system,
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Speaker 3: your spiritual system, The very same power plant that was
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Speaker 3: implanted in Jesus Christ.
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Speaker 2: That's incredible.
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Speaker 3: The very same source of power he received from the Father.
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Speaker 3: You receive from the Father in the person of the
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Speaker 3: Holy Spirit. And he is there not to remain dormant,
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Speaker 3: but to be useful in the carrying out of God's
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Speaker 3: plan on earth. Now this morning in these verses that follow,
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Speaker 3: 8 through 15, I want to look at two realms
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Speaker 3: of the Spirit's ministry. The first realm has to do
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Speaker 3: with His ministry among those who don't know Christ. And
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Speaker 3: the second, of course, is among us who do. Those
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Speaker 3: of us who know the Lord What does he do
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Speaker 3: in our midst? The passage describes or answers that question.
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Speaker 2: Now, this is.
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Speaker 3: The fourth or fifth time that I have taught the
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Speaker 3: Gospel of John. And I freely confess to you that
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Speaker 3: every time I go back into a passage of Scripture,
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Speaker 3: I uncover.
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Speaker 2: Things I've never seen before.
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Speaker 3: It's not that I have come to the place to
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Speaker 3: say what I used to teach is wrong. It's just
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Speaker 3: that now I feel I have a fuller grasp of
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Speaker 3: what I once saw in part.
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Speaker 2: Let me explain it this way. The Orthodox position in
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Speaker 2: verses 8 through 12 is that the Spirit of God
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Speaker 2: works directly among the worldling to bring about conviction.
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Speaker 3: The Spirit of God works on the unsaved to show
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Speaker 3: him sin and righteousness and judgment. That is the most
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Speaker 3: common position and it is the accepted position. Traditionally, it
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Speaker 3: is the position I've held. I believe that there is
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Speaker 3: something I overlooked in coming to that position that I
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Speaker 3: want to show you now. It's found in verse 7,
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Speaker 3: and since these were never given as verses, but as
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Speaker 3: trains of thought, you can't separate the thoughts. Verse 7
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Speaker 3: in thought leads into the following thoughts, 8 and following.
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Speaker 3: Look at 7 again. I tell you the truth, it
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Speaker 3: is to your advantage that I go away. Mark it,
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Speaker 3: your advantage. For if I do not go away, the
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Speaker 3: helper shall not come.
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Speaker 2: To you.
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Speaker 3: Mark those words. Your advantage. The helper shall not come
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Speaker 3: to you. But if I go, I will send him.
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Speaker 2: To you.
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Speaker 3: Everything that follows must fit that thought. In other words,
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Speaker 3: the whirling never has the spirit. John 14 teaches us that.
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Speaker 3: Verses 15 and 16 tell us that the world cannot
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Speaker 3: receive the Spirit, doesn't know Him. But you receive Him
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Speaker 3: when you believe. We receive the Spirit of God. He
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Speaker 3: has come to the child of God.
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Speaker 2: Then, if He convicts the world, He convicts the world
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Speaker 2: through the believer. Now, doesn't that make sense?
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Speaker 3: Don't answer yet, because some of you would say, no,
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Speaker 3: it doesn't make sense. Let me show you in this
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Speaker 3: passage how it all of a sudden makes palatable and
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Speaker 3: meaningful verses that have rested on a doctrinal sheet in
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Speaker 3: our mind. When the Spirit of God comes, He will
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Speaker 3: come to you and, implied, through you, He will do
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Speaker 3: a work of convincing you of sin, righteousness, and judgment.
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Speaker 2: Look at verse 8.
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Speaker 3: He, when he comes, implied to you, will convict the
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Speaker 3: world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment. And now in
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Speaker 3: the next three verses, he amplifies that one, that verse.
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Speaker 2: Verse 9, concerning sin.
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Speaker 3: Then he amplifies it. Verse 10, concerning righteousness.
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Speaker 2: And he goes further. Verse 11, concerning judgment. And he
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Speaker 2: explains that.
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Speaker 3: In other words, all four verses, 8 through 11, are
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Speaker 3: talking about the convincing or the convicting of the Spirit
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Speaker 3: upon the world, I'm suggesting, through the child of God.
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Speaker 3: Now let me show you how it fits together. Concerning sin...
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Speaker 3: because they do not believe in me. The child of
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Speaker 3: God living on this earth, empowered by the Spirit of God,
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Speaker 3: is a living letter.
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Speaker 2: Observed by the world. As the world observes the child.
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Speaker 3: Of God, you and me, controlled by the Spirit, the
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Speaker 3: world witnesses a transformed life.
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Speaker 2: And that incredible life that's able to carry on in
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Speaker 2: a unique way in his.
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Speaker 3: Same world where he's failing or frustrated, he becomes aware
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Speaker 3: that there is a difference. And the Spirit of God
27:46
Speaker 3: convicts him of his unbelief in Jesus Christ as he
27:54
Speaker 3: discovers your source of power. When the Spirit of God comes,
28:00
Speaker 3: He will convict the world of sin. He will be
28:07
Speaker 3: aware of sin, not by looking at the mountains that
28:11
Speaker 3: tell of the glory of God, the nature that reveals
28:16
Speaker 3: the majesty and power of God. He will witness living
28:21
Speaker 3: truth and will be convicted thereby. Let me show you
28:26
Speaker 3: an example. First Corinthians chapter seven. Before I never connected
28:33
Speaker 3: these two passages, but now all of a sudden they
28:37
Speaker 3: fit together. I always wondered what it meant in detail.
28:43
Speaker 3: I wondered about this business of being sanctified as an unbeliever.
28:49
Speaker 2: Let me show you how it makes sense.
28:52
Speaker 3: 1 Corinthians 7 is a domestic passage. It talks in
28:57
Speaker 3: detail about a mixed marriage where there is a believing
29:05
Speaker 3: wife and unbelieving husband or vice versa. Verse 12, the
29:12
Speaker 3: middle of the verse continues, if any brother has a
29:15
Speaker 3: wife who is an unbeliever, now notice the man is
29:20
Speaker 3: called a brother, so he's born again. His wife is
29:24
Speaker 3: clearly revealed as an unbeliever, and she consents to live
29:29
Speaker 3: with him. Let him not send her away. It's clear,
29:35
Speaker 3: isn't it? Here is a believing man with an unbelieving wife,
29:39
Speaker 3: but she wants to live with him don't send her
29:43
Speaker 3: away stay together look at the next verse and a
29:48
Speaker 3: woman who has an unbelieving husband this is the contrastive
29:53
Speaker 3: illustration and he consents to live with her let her
29:57
Speaker 3: not send her husband away Here was a believing woman
30:02
Speaker 3: who has an unbelieving husband.
30:05
Speaker 2: And the Lord says, don't send that man away. Don't
30:09
Speaker 2: get a divorce. Why? Verse 14.
30:17
Speaker 3: For the unbelieving husband is set apart, sanctified, brought under conviction.
30:28
Speaker 3: made aware of sin, of unbelief, through his wife. And
30:35
Speaker 3: the unbelieving wife is the same through her believing husband.
30:41
Speaker 3: It even affects the children, goes on to say. Now
30:44
Speaker 3: back to John 16. This answers for me how or
30:50
Speaker 3: the mechanics of how sin or the awareness of unbelief
30:56
Speaker 3: is implanted in a heart. Now, I'm not saying that
31:00
Speaker 3: you and I are able to create a conviction of sin.
31:06
Speaker 3: The only thing that can break the barrier of an
31:08
Speaker 3: unbelieving heart is the Holy Spirit. But He works like
31:12
Speaker 3: an arrow. He pulls the arrow out of our quiver
31:16
Speaker 3: and sends it into that heart. And it penetrates deeply,
31:20
Speaker 3: revealing unbelief. Look at the next one, verse 10. Concerning righteousness...
31:29
Speaker 3: Because I go to the Father and you no longer
31:31
Speaker 3: behold me. Now, the same subject is the work of
31:37
Speaker 3: the Holy Spirit convincing of righteousness. This is the positive side.
31:43
Speaker 3: Sin is the negative. He's aware of his unbelief because
31:49
Speaker 3: he witnesses a righteousness that he can't produce. and realizing
31:56
Speaker 3: the incarnate righteousness brought about in that life, your life
32:01
Speaker 3: and mine, he is convinced or he is convicted it's
32:05
Speaker 3: not in his. You see, I never could understand the
32:10
Speaker 3: latter part of verse 10. I go to the Father
32:13
Speaker 3: and you no longer behold me. What does that have
32:16
Speaker 3: to do with righteousness?
32:18
Speaker 2: Well, this.
32:20
Speaker 3: As long as Jesus was on the earth, If anyone
32:23
Speaker 3: wanted to know what righteousness was like, travel to Israel
32:27
Speaker 3: and take a look at God in the flesh.
32:31
Speaker 2: But Jesus said, I'm going.
32:34
Speaker 3: They'll no longer witness righteousness in me.
32:37
Speaker 2: Where will they see it? In those who are filled
32:42
Speaker 2: with the Spirit.
32:44
Speaker 3: And through that witness, there will be created in that
32:48
Speaker 3: heart by the power of the Spirit, a realization that
32:52
Speaker 3: that that lifestyle he's living is unrighteous. He will see
32:57
Speaker 3: righteousness living before him. Third, concerning judgment. Because the ruler
33:08
Speaker 3: of this world has been judged. Now look and think
33:11
Speaker 3: very carefully. This is not talking about something future. This
33:18
Speaker 3: is talking about something past. How often I've heard verse
33:21
Speaker 3: 8 quoted, when he comes he will convict the world
33:24
Speaker 3: of sin and righteousness and judgment to come.
33:28
Speaker 2: That's not in the passage. The work of the Holy.
33:32
Speaker 3: Spirit is to convince and convict the worldling of unbelief,
33:38
Speaker 3: his lack of righteousness, and the fact that his ruler
33:43
Speaker 3: stands judged.
33:46
Speaker 2: Again, if I may use the same analogy, as he
33:49
Speaker 2: sees A new life lived under another ruler in the believer.
33:57
Speaker 3: One man writes it this way. The power of Satan
34:00
Speaker 3: is already broken in the lives the whirling observes. Here
34:06
Speaker 3: are people who live by different standards, follow a different
34:10
Speaker 3: system of morals. They're no longer tied up in themselves,
34:15
Speaker 3: bound up within, tortured by tensions and fears. When the
34:21
Speaker 3: world sees this, it sees a Christian. Or at least
34:27
Speaker 3: that's what the world should see. Personally, I find no
34:34
Speaker 3: contradiction in this amplified idea of these verses. Now I'll
34:40
Speaker 3: leave it with you for you to think upon it.
34:43
Speaker 3: I should add a couple of clarifying factors. First of all,
34:46
Speaker 3: not everyone who witnesses the saved will be saved. I
34:51
Speaker 3: wish they would, but that's not the Father's plan. He
34:57
Speaker 3: does say in his word that it is not the
34:59
Speaker 3: Father's desire that anyone perish, but unfortunately many will.
35:04
Speaker 2: Because they reject Jesus Christ. Not all will believe. That
35:10
Speaker 2: explains why in your family you've been saved, but so
35:14
Speaker 2: many have not. And you live the life of Jesus
35:18
Speaker 2: Christ as best you can by the power of the Spirit.
35:21
Speaker 2: And a few have responded, but not all.
35:24
Speaker 3: This is not a guarantee that every unsaved person will respond.
35:30
Speaker 3: He may live with that conviction, but not respond to
35:33
Speaker 3: Jesus Christ. Some of you have been made aware of
35:36
Speaker 3: a righteous life that is possible through Jesus Christ, but
35:40
Speaker 3: you have not yet given your heart to the Savior.
35:43
Speaker 3: You've not yet accepted the gift. And it's gone on
35:47
Speaker 3: year after year. And the conviction is increasing, just like
35:52
Speaker 3: the building of a pyramid. Now, the work of the
35:56
Speaker 3: Holy Spirit is to deal with your heart and to
36:00
Speaker 3: bring about that change that only he can do. Your
36:04
Speaker 3: Christian friend can't do it for you.
36:07
Speaker 2: If he could, he would. Some of us try, but
36:10
Speaker 2: it's in vain.
36:13
Speaker 3: Now, I feel a little bit like the Lord Jesus
36:15
Speaker 3: at verse 12. I have many more things to say
36:19
Speaker 3: to you, but I don't have the time right now.
36:21
Speaker 3: He didn't say time, but he had in mind the
36:24
Speaker 3: same frustration.
36:26
Speaker 2: I want to go deeper into this.
36:27
Speaker 3: There are some mysteries in it that I've thought about,
36:31
Speaker 3: but they're still at the heretical stage. And so I
36:34
Speaker 3: don't want to shock anybody at this point. I just
36:36
Speaker 3: want to leave this much with you. If nothing else,
36:40
Speaker 3: it will really motivate the godly life. when you realize
36:46
Speaker 3: you are in fact the only Bible that many read
36:49
Speaker 3: who come in contact with you. You're writing the Gospel
36:53
Speaker 3: of John chapter 16 tomorrow morning at work. You're finishing
36:58
Speaker 3: it tomorrow afternoon and you're writing the 17th the following morning.
37:02
Speaker 2: You're writing a gospel and the world reads it.
37:06
Speaker 3: And what it reads, they discover to be truth or
37:11
Speaker 3: false depending on its squaring with Scripture. Now, the Spirit
37:16
Speaker 3: of God uses that to reach lives. Now, if you
37:20
Speaker 3: think that's exciting, hang on. Look at verse 13. His
37:25
Speaker 3: ministry to us is even better than that. Look at
37:29
Speaker 3: what he's doing. When he, the Spirit of truth, comes.
37:34
Speaker 2: He will guide you into all the truth. Isn't that great?
37:45
Speaker 2: He knows the full truth of God.
37:49
Speaker 3: There is no mystery. There is no secret to the
37:51
Speaker 3: Holy Spirit's knowledge. I mean, he's in the Godhead. And
37:57
Speaker 3: he knows the Father's mind.
37:59
Speaker 2: He knows the Son's mind. But he is the link
38:03
Speaker 2: of communication. This is called the ministry of illumination. And
38:08
Speaker 2: the Spirit of God takes truth from God. And through
38:13
Speaker 2: the word.
38:14
Speaker 3: Of God, he communicates it to you and me. And
38:20
Speaker 3: his desire is to guide you into all the truth.
38:26
Speaker 3: Some of you are learning things this morning for the
38:28
Speaker 3: first time or they're being affirmed.
38:32
Speaker 2: You know who's teaching you? It's not I.
38:39
Speaker 3: In a beautiful, mysterious, divine fashion, the Spirit of God
38:45
Speaker 3: is hovering upon this place and he is separating truth
38:51
Speaker 3: and dispensing it into one heart after another, meaning one
38:57
Speaker 3: thing to one and another altogether to someone else. It
39:04
Speaker 3: is the divine encounter where the Spirit of God takes
39:10
Speaker 3: truth that is on this page and rivets it into
39:14
Speaker 3: your life and mine. Now, he guides us into all
39:19
Speaker 3: the truth. How can I know that it's the Spirit
39:21
Speaker 3: of God who is teaching me?
39:25
Speaker 2: Or how do I know that it is an error?
39:31
Speaker 3: Well, if you look closely here, you'll notice a couple
39:33
Speaker 3: of things about truth. When the Spirit of truth teaches,
39:39
Speaker 3: he first of all doesn't speak of himself, doesn't speak
39:43
Speaker 3: on his own initiative. And secondly, when the Spirit of
39:48
Speaker 3: God teaches, verse 14, He glorifies Christ. When you are Spirit-taught,
39:58
Speaker 3: you learn deep things of Christ and it exalts the
40:05
Speaker 3: Son of God. You know, I am a bit weary
40:09
Speaker 3: these days of people who are saying, if you really
40:13
Speaker 3: want to get into the deep things, you've got to
40:16
Speaker 3: get into the realm of the Spirit. Really? I find
40:24
Speaker 3: that when it is Spirit taught, it is the things
40:27
Speaker 3: of Christ that are exalted. The Spirit of God lives
40:34
Speaker 3: loathing the limelight. He does not even wish to be
40:39
Speaker 3: mentioned or exalted. He wants the Son of God to
40:45
Speaker 3: be exalted. And when the Son of God is exalted,
40:48
Speaker 3: the Spirit of God has performed one of his highest functions.
40:53
Speaker 3: Now let me wrap it up all together. I see
40:55
Speaker 3: something here that might help you put it together. He
41:01
Speaker 3: knows all that there is to know of God.
41:05
Speaker 2: The Bible is, of course, an open book. He wrote it.
41:10
Speaker 3: And so knowing the complete pleroma of truth, he is
41:16
Speaker 3: ready to give it all to you at once. But
41:20
Speaker 3: you and I can't take it like that. So he
41:24
Speaker 3: dispenses it piece by piece. A number of miles from
41:27
Speaker 3: the LA basin, there is a river. The river has
41:32
Speaker 3: been dammed up by man. And through the genius and
41:36
Speaker 3: innovation of engineers, they have put together a dam that has,
41:43
Speaker 3: in its process of working, housed electricity. Hundreds of thousands
41:49
Speaker 3: of volts that are fed into the L.A.
41:53
Speaker 2: Basin.
41:54
Speaker 3: And if you were to go to that area and
41:56
Speaker 3: see the source, the plant, and follow the lines that
42:00
Speaker 3: come in our direction, you would come to various places.
42:04
Speaker 3: Transmission plans along the way that would be marked danger,
42:10
Speaker 3: high voltage, no trespassing, danger. Hundreds of thousands of volts
42:18
Speaker 3: available in energy for your home and mine. But who
42:24
Speaker 3: needs 100,000 volts unless he wants to burn up his home?
42:31
Speaker 3: Knowing that, They have built into the system transformers. Not transmitters,
42:38
Speaker 3: but transformers. And the transformer does nothing more than break
42:44
Speaker 3: down into meaningful units just the electricity you need. And
42:53
Speaker 3: I have in my home, for example, another transformer. This
42:58
Speaker 3: past Christmas, I gave myself an HO gauge train. I
43:02
Speaker 3: put my son's name on it, but it was really
43:04
Speaker 3: for me. And if you don't tell him, he'll never know.
43:08
Speaker 3: So we had a great time getting it all together.
43:10
Speaker 3: And there's a little tiny unit called a transformer in
43:15
Speaker 3: that train set. And it breaks down the 110 from
43:19
Speaker 3: the wall to even less than 110. Why, if you
43:26
Speaker 3: plugged in a straight 110, that thing would go for
43:29
Speaker 3: one second and be burnt up, be one little crisp.
43:33
Speaker 3: But that transformer breaks it down to where that little
43:37
Speaker 3: tiny train whose engine can be held in your fist
43:41
Speaker 3: can just putt, putt, putt all around that train and
43:44
Speaker 3: entertain me for hours on end.
43:48
Speaker 2: Because there is a.
43:49
Speaker 3: Little transformer that dispenses it in the level I need it.
43:56
Speaker 2: But he, when the.
43:58
Speaker 3: Transformer has come, will take the majestic truth of God
44:05
Speaker 3: and will dispense it just the way you need it.
44:11
Speaker 3: Give it to you with handles that you can take
44:15
Speaker 3: and use. With some, it's an HO gauge. With others,
44:20
Speaker 3: it's a washer dryer. You need 220 from time to time.
44:25
Speaker 3: With others, it's a It's a can opener, a little
44:27
Speaker 3: electric can opener you plug in. But every one of
44:31
Speaker 3: us at various levels is in need of particular truth.
44:35
Speaker 3: And it is the Spirit's delight to take the full
44:40
Speaker 3: truth and make one thing meaningful to that woman, something
44:46
Speaker 3: altogether different to that man, and something altogether different to
44:51
Speaker 3: that fellow down here. That's the work of the Spirit.
44:56
Speaker 3: And having the mind of God, he never makes a mistake.
45:02
Speaker 3: He gives you just what you can handle. Now then,
45:07
Speaker 3: I find in this section a couple of sweeping practical
45:15
Speaker 3: principles that will make it stick. What does it mean
45:18
Speaker 3: to the saint, this ministry of the Holy Spirit? Well,
45:23
Speaker 3: I find two things. If I could just drill them
45:26
Speaker 3: on to your mind and let them stay for a while,
45:30
Speaker 3: you'll see what we've been trying to say.
45:32
Speaker 2: Here's the first.
45:35
Speaker 3: In convicting the world, the spirit desires to use a channel.
45:44
Speaker 3: This building doesn't convict the world. That piano doesn't convict
45:49
Speaker 3: the world. This wooden pulpit doesn't convict the world. The
45:55
Speaker 3: mountains as beautiful are the surf as majestic.
45:59
Speaker 2: They don't convict the world. You convict the world.
46:04
Speaker 3: Your life, your control under the Holy Spirit in a
46:10
Speaker 3: circumstance that is altogether impossible in the flesh. And you're
46:16
Speaker 3: handling that by the power of God is a conviction
46:19
Speaker 3: to the world. He's looking for channels. Mary Maxwell, a
46:23
Speaker 3: 20th century hymn writer, put words together and in the
46:26
Speaker 3: chorus she described what I'm trying to say. Channels only,
46:31
Speaker 3: blessed master, but with all thy wondrous power flowing through us,
46:36
Speaker 3: thou canst use us every day and every hour.
46:42
Speaker 2: That's the channel. Here's the second.
46:47
Speaker 3: In communicating the word, The spirit desires to see changes.
46:55
Speaker 3: In convicting the world, he desires to use channels. But
47:00
Speaker 3: in communicating the word, when he teaches, he desires to
47:05
Speaker 3: see changes. Any changes happening in your life these days?
47:13
Speaker 3: You know, he's not going to change your circumstance. He's
47:18
Speaker 3: going to change you. I cannot give you any promise
47:21
Speaker 3: that your circumstance will change. One song begins for the
47:26
Speaker 3: psalmist is on his face. Everything is broken loose. The
47:29
Speaker 3: rugs pulled out from under him.
47:30
Speaker 2: He has nothing to turn to and he's finished. He's
47:34
Speaker 2: complaining to God.
47:35
Speaker 3: And at the end, he's praising. Only took him probably
47:39
Speaker 3: an hour to write the whole song. Had his circumstance changed? No.
47:45
Speaker 2: He had changed. That's the work of the spirit.
47:51
Speaker 3: When you are transformed, you are the channel. It's change
47:57
Speaker 3: that makes the channel.
48:02
Speaker 2: So good.
48:04
Speaker 3: So good what the Spirit of God teaches. I got
48:07
Speaker 3: a letter this past week from a fellow in our church.
48:12
Speaker 3: I suppose if I were to give the letter a title,
48:14
Speaker 3: it would be two words.
48:16
Speaker 2: I'm transformed.
48:20
Speaker 3: It all began back in 1975 where the man began
48:24
Speaker 3: to experience through the ministry of the word and the
48:28
Speaker 3: ministry of the saints.
48:32
Speaker 2: Changes. Things weren't easy. His wife left him along with
48:38
Speaker 2: the children.
48:40
Speaker 3: His business built up into pressures that he had never
48:42
Speaker 3: known before. He was literally at the end of his rope.
48:48
Speaker 3: Then he said, with enemies all around, I suddenly discovered
48:53
Speaker 3: through the information I got from God's word that I
48:58
Speaker 3: could love those that hated me. And I didn't have
49:02
Speaker 3: to live with the acid of resentment eating away in me.
49:06
Speaker 3: And I could in fact pray for my wife, loving
49:11
Speaker 3: her as I love the little ones who've been taken
49:13
Speaker 3: from me. And he said, they've been the hardest circumstances
49:18
Speaker 3: I've ever known.
49:20
Speaker 2: But I am transformed. Isn't that miraculous?
49:26
Speaker 3: And he wrote just to say, praise God. He's still
49:32
Speaker 3: kissing frogs, you know. He's still picking up nobodies and
49:38
Speaker 3: making them into somebodies.
49:41
Speaker 2: The Spirit of God? The theoretical doctrine? No.
49:48
Speaker 3: He's truth spoken from dying lips to living saints. Let's
49:57
Speaker 3: bow this morning, shall we? I want to address my
50:03
Speaker 3: remarks to you that are without Christ. Please stay still
50:08
Speaker 3: and don't move about. I won't keep you unnecessarily long.
50:15
Speaker 3: You that are without Christ are surrounded by a strange
50:18
Speaker 3: group of people. They've sung to someone that they've never heard.
50:23
Speaker 3: They've prayed to a God they've never seen. They obey
50:29
Speaker 3: one whose original rules they've never witnessed.
50:34
Speaker 2: They worship.
50:37
Speaker 3: The invisible, God only wise.
50:43
Speaker 2: As silent as light.
50:48
Speaker 3: But if I read you correctly, you long for that
50:52
Speaker 3: kind of faith.
50:57
Speaker 2: I want you to know that.
50:58
Speaker 3: The Spirit of God has revealed this morning enough information
51:03
Speaker 3: for you to know that that uneasiness you're living with
51:07
Speaker 3: is conviction. You cannot put it off.
51:13
Speaker 2: You dare not. Others may, you dare not.
51:20
Speaker 3: A simple act, as simple as a child accepting a
51:25
Speaker 3: gift from his father, you can accept the gift God
51:30
Speaker 3: offers you. Ask Jesus Christ at this moment to become
51:37
Speaker 3: alive in you. Receive Salvation.
51:46
Speaker 2: You use your own prayer.
51:48
Speaker 3: Something like, Lord, I don't understand everything I've heard today.
51:55
Speaker 2: But I know I'm lost.
51:58
Speaker 3: Spiritually, I'm dead. I want life. I want direction. I
52:06
Speaker 3: accept Christ right now. It's never been the policy of
52:12
Speaker 3: our church to have you.
52:15
Speaker 2: Walk forward.
52:18
Speaker 3: Or demonstrate in some tangible way before everyone else a
52:24
Speaker 3: decision that you've made in the private chamber of your heart.
52:29
Speaker 3: But we don't want you to think that we're not interested.
52:37
Speaker 2: You might need real help.
52:38
Speaker 3: In knowing the techniques of living in a world that
52:45
Speaker 3: doesn't want Christ. You might be going home to a
52:49
Speaker 3: pressure that, man, nobody would believe. Maybe you've just received
52:56
Speaker 3: the Lord just this past week. You'd really like to
53:01
Speaker 3: know how to get it together. We want to respect
53:06
Speaker 3: your privacy. At the same time, we don't want to
53:10
Speaker 3: put off a decision that you need to make right
53:13
Speaker 3: now receiving Christ is not a matter of going to
53:17
Speaker 3: a room it's a matter of making a decision in
53:19
Speaker 3: your life right now if you have done that or
53:24
Speaker 3: wish to do that and don't know how we'll talk.
53:29
Speaker 1: About it.
53:32
Speaker 3: Children of God you've known most of your life about
53:37
Speaker 3: the Holy Spirit and it's about time that He brings
53:41
Speaker 3: some changes He's grieved that you're still calling your own life.
53:49
Speaker 3: He's jealous for the throne. He wants your heart submissive, meek, teachable, willing,
54:00
Speaker 3: especially willing to give up your own rights. And he
54:05
Speaker 3: might tell you what your rights are all about. Transform
54:09
Speaker 3: your whole system. Change you leaving your circumstances exactly where
54:16
Speaker 3: they are. Tell the Lord this morning that he's got
54:20
Speaker 3: your life without reservation. Abide in Christ and you will
54:28
Speaker 3: be able to face that circumstance regardless. Lord, thank you
54:35
Speaker 3: this morning for communicating to us.
54:40
Speaker 2: Living truth.
54:43
Speaker 3: That we have needed. Thank you for dealing with some
54:47
Speaker 3: who don't know the Lord. We pray that they might
54:51
Speaker 3: be brought face to face.