If the Holy Spirit has divine qualities, should
we worship him as we do father and
son?
If no, why?
If so, why are there no references to
such in the New Testament?
Good question.
All three members of the Godhead are equal,
but they don't all have the same function,
do they?
Jesus is never called father.
The Holy Spirit is never called father.
Different functions are assigned to different members of
the Godhead.
Sometimes those functions overlap.
All three members of the Godhead are spoken
of in connection with creation.
Sometimes they do overlap, but at other times
they are separate and distinct.
And one of those distinctions is that the
Holy Spirit inspires worship, but he's not presented
as the object of worship.
Now, we certainly do acknowledge him as God,
and we thank God for the Holy Spirit
and for his ministry, but he's not spoken
of directly as the object of worship.
In Ephesians chapter 2, verse 20, I think
you have the normal order, 20 and 21,
you have the normal order of approach in
connection with the Trinity.
It says in verse 20, "...and are built
upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets,
Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone, in
whom..." Oh, I've got the wrong one.
Just a minute.
No, it's verse 18, "...for through him, through
him, the Lord Jesus, we both have access
by one Spirit unto the Father."
I think this is the normal way of
approach in connection with the Godhead.
We come to the Father through the Lord
Jesus by the Holy Spirit of God, empowered
by the Holy Spirit of God.
And so the function, one of the functions
of the Holy Spirit is to inspire our
worship rather than to be the object of
it.
If that doesn't answer your question, maybe you
could see me afterwards and elaborate on it.
Here's another question.
Could you explain Acts 19, verses 1 through
7, a little further?
Let's turn to it first and then I'll
read the rest of the question.
Acts 19, verses 1 through 7.
And then I'll read the rest of the
question.
It says, "...and it came to pass that
while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul, having passed
through the upper coast, came to Ephesus, and
finding certain disciples, said unto them..." And here
I'm going to read from the Revised Version,
"...Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you
believed?"
Not, have you received the Holy Spirit since
you believe, but did you receive the Holy
Spirit when you believed?
"...and they said unto him, We did not
so much as hear whether the Holy Spirit
was given.
And he said, Unto what then were you
baptized?
And they said, Unto John's baptism.
Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the
baptism of repentance, saying unto the people that
they should believe on him which should come
after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.
When they heard this, they were baptized in
the name of the Lord Jesus.
And when Paul had laid his hands upon
them, the Holy Ghost came upon them, and
they spake with tongues and prophesied.
And all the men were above twelve.
The question was, were these men Christians yet,
or only ready to believe, having been convicted
of sin?
And the answer is no, they were not
born again believers as yet, until they were
re-baptized, had the Apostle's hands laid on
them, and received the Holy Spirit.
Were these men Christians yet, or only ready
to believe?
They had been baptized with John's baptism.
John's baptism was a baptism of repentance.
What it said was, we take our place
with a repentant remnant of the nation of
Israel, ready to receive the Messiah.
That was John's baptism.
It was nothing about faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ as such.
And so when they heard the word of
God more perfectly, they were re-baptized.
They had been baptized with John's baptism.
Now they were baptized with Christian baptism, or
what we call believer's baptism.
Maybe I should just pause before we go
any further and mention something that I find
very helpful in this connection.
Some of the brothers who came up after
the meeting last night asked about it.
There are four companies of believers in the
Book of Acts, and the order of events
in connection with the reception of the Holy
Spirit is different in all four.
Maybe if some of you are taking notes,
you want to take this down.
There are four companies of believers in the
Book of Acts, and the order of events
in connection with the reception of the Holy
Spirit is different in all four.
Remember the other night I said that when
I read the Book of Acts, I don't
see a neat formula being followed.
I see the sovereignty of the Holy Spirit
of God.
Let me give you the four communities of
believers, and then I'm going to go over
them individually with you.
Acts chapter 2, Jewish believers.
Tell me if I'm going too fast.
Acts chapter 8, Samaritans.
Acts chapter 10, Gentiles.
Acts chapter 19, John's disciples, what we just
read.
Acts chapter 2, Jewish believers.
Acts chapter 8, Samaritans.
Acts chapter 10, Gentiles, Cornelius' household.
Acts chapter 19, John's disciples.
Now turn to Acts chapter 2, and it's
Jewish.
I don't think I have to explain that
to you.
Verse 37, Now when they heard this, they
were pricked in their heart, and said unto
Peter and to the rest of the apostles,
Men and brethren, what shall we do?
And Peter said unto them, Repent, and be
baptized every one of you in the name
of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins,
and ye shall receive the gift of the
Holy Spirit.
What did the Jews there have to do
to receive the Holy Spirit?
They had to repent.
It doesn't say faith, but I would put
faith there in parentheses because nobody's saved apart
from faith.
They're not saved by repentance.
They had to believe on the Lord Jesus.
Repent, faith, be baptized, receive the Holy Spirit.
Is that what it says?
Repent, be baptized every one of you in
the name of Jesus Christ for the remission
of sins, and ye shall receive the gift
of the Holy Spirit.
Acts chapter 8, a different order, a different
order.
Verse 14, we're up in Samaria now.
Verse 14 of Acts chapter 8, Now when
the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that
Samaria had received the word of God, they
sent unto them Peter and John, who when
they were come down, prayed for them that
they might receive the Holy Ghost, for as
yet he was fallen upon none of them,
only they were baptized in the name of
the Lord Jesus.
Then laid they their hands on them, and
they received the Holy Spirit.
Here you have a different order.
They believed, it says that in verse 14,
they had received the word of God.
They were baptized, verse 16, the apostles' hands
were laid on them, and they received the
Holy Spirit.
Different from Acts 2, isn't it?
There was no laying on of apostles' hands
in Acts chapter 2, but here the apostles'
hands were laid on them.
Acts chapter 10, Cornelius' household.
Verse 44, While Peter yet spake these words,
the Holy Ghost fell on all them which
heard the word, heard meaning believed, heard receptively,
heard and trusted the Lord.
Doesn't mean just hear with the ear.
The Holy Spirit fell on all them that
heard the word, and they of the circumcision
which believed were astonished as many as came
with Peter, because on the Gentiles was poured
out the gift of the Holy Spirit.
They heard them speak with tongues and magnify
God.
Then answered Peter, Can any man forbid water
that these should not be baptized which have
received the Holy Ghost as well as wheat?
And he commanded them to be baptized in
the name of the Lord.
Then prayed they him to tarry several days.
What is the order here?
Notice, believe, receive the Holy Spirit, be baptized.
They were baptized after they received the Holy
Spirit.
You with me?
And the two previous ones, they were baptized
before they received the Holy Spirit.
Here they're baptized after they received the Holy
Spirit.
Acts chapter 19.
These people had been baptized with John's baptism.
They were told that they should believe on
him, which should come after him, that is
on Christ Jesus.
When they heard this, they were baptized in
the name of the Lord Jesus.
Paul laid his hands upon them.
The Holy Spirit came upon them.
In other words, they believed, they were baptized,
Paul laid his hands on them, and they
received the Holy Spirit.
A different order again.
Now, of course, the question is, which group
do you belong in?
Can anybody tell me the answer?
Gentiles.
Sure, Acts chapter 10.
You fit in Acts chapter 10.
What's the order?
Believe, receive the Holy Spirit, be baptized as
believers.
Well, you say, why the different orders?
Well, one reason is because the Holy Spirit
is sovereign.
He can do as he pleases.
And you can't put him in a straitjacket.
And you better get used to it.
You're going to be a Christian and study
the Bible.
But there's a good reason too, I think,
and I would suggest to you, I would
just suggest to you why the order was
this.
For instance, in Acts chapter 2, we're talking
to Jews, Jewish believers.
They repented, they believed, they were baptized, they
received the Holy Spirit.
Why did they have to be baptized before
God would send his Holy Spirit on them?
I would suggest this to you.
They had been members of the nation that
crucified the Lord of glory.
And God would not send his Holy Spirit
on them till they had taken themselves off
Jewish ground and put themselves on Christian ground.
How did they do that?
They did that in the waters of baptism.
When they were baptized, they said, I no
longer belong to that nation that crucified the
Lord of glory.
I'm a Christian now.
I said, okay, I'll send my Holy Spirit
on you.
Mind you, the way of salvation was the
same.
There's only one way of salvation, that's through
faith in the Lord.
In all dispensations, that's the way of salvation,
faith in the Lord on the basis of
whatever revelation he has made.
But God has different administrations of the gospel.
And here he's saying, look, you Jews, save
yourselves from this untoward generation.
Verse 40 of Acts chapter 2, and with
many other words, did he testify and exhort,
saying, save yourselves from this untoward generation.
How did they save themselves from this untoward
generation?
The next verse, then they that gladly received
his word were baptized.
That's how they saved themselves from the Jewish
nation.
They took themselves off Jewish ground and put
themselves on Christian ground.
I said, now I feel free to send
my Holy Spirit on you.
Now in Acts chapter 8 with the Samaritans,
there was the additional factor of laying on
of apostles' hands.
Why was that?
Well, the general explanation and the one that
I accept is that there was a great
danger at this juncture because of the animosity
between the Jews and the Samaritans.
And I tell you, that was really animosity.
Between the Jews, there was a tremendous danger
of a rift in the church at the
very outset.
Here you have a Jewish church in Jerusalem
and a Samaritan church in Samaria, and the
Jews and the Samaritans have no dealings with
one another.
God said, I've got to get on top
of that right away.
And so he had the Jewish believers, apostles,
coming up from Jerusalem, and that spoke of
the unity of the body of Christ.
God anticipating a great danger that would happen.
But then you come to the Gentiles in
Acts chapter 10, and that's where we fit
today, of course.
Of course, the Jewish believers fit there today,
too, don't they?
Today there's no difference to all the sins.
I'm sure of the glory of God.
The same Lord is rich unto all that
believe.
But there the order is so simple.
They believe, they received the Holy Spirit, and
they were baptized.
And then Acts chapter 19, we've already mentioned,
once again, these were John's disciples.
These were Jews.
They had repented.
They had indicated their readiness to receive the
Messiah.
But there had been no faith in the
Lord Jesus.
So they were, they believed, they repented, they
believed, they were re-baptized.
And Paul laid his hands on them, and
they received the Holy Spirit.
That would be somewhat similar to Acts chapter
2, wouldn't it?
Well, I hope that's clear.
I think it helps greatly in the understanding
of the book of Acts.
And it also answers the question of people
who insist that baptism is essential for salvation.
They go to Acts 2, 38.
Had to be baptized before they were there.
I know, a handful of Jews.
But no Gentile was ever told to be
baptized for the remission of sin.
No Gentile was ever told to be baptized
for the remission of sin.
Only Jews.
Paul, arise and wash away thy sins.
Arise and be baptized and wash away thy
sins.
What sins?
The sins of being connected with the Jewish
nation.
Get rid of that.
And come out on Christian ground, which he
did, of course.
Okay, well, thanks for the questions.
I didn't know that they would lead to
this long a dissertation, but that's okay.
I think it's profitable just to say.
Maybe we can just review the material we've
been over so far on the ministries of
the Holy Spirit of God.
We mentioned, first of all, that he convicts
the unsaved of sin, one of his great
ministries, to show men that they're helpless and
hopeless and doomed without the Lord Jesus, to
make them miserable because of their sins and
make them in a hurry to trust the
Lord Jesus as Savior.
Secondly, he regenerates the marvelous, mysterious, supernatural work
of the Spirit of God, taking a man
dead in trespasses and sin, giving him new
life in Christ, regeneration, the new birth.
Then at the moment of conversion, the Holy
Spirit baptizes believers into the body of Christ.
He makes the members of that wonderful body
the one and only true church.
Next, he indwells believers.
He indwells believers.
This takes place automatically at the time of
conversion.
Nothing you have to do about it.
You don't have to pray for it or
anything else.
The moment you get saved, you're indwelt by
the Spirit of God.
He indwells the church as well, 1 Corinthians
3, verse 16.
Then he gives the believers the consciousness of
sonship.
We mentioned how when a person is first
saved, one of the first things he does
is look to God in prayer and calls
him Father.
Father.
Doesn't have to be taught to do that.
That is by man.
The Spirit of God teaches him to do
that, a consciousness of sonship.
And we've mentioned that sonship places a believer
as a mature adult son in the family
of God.
And then at the close of last night,
we were talking about the seal.
The Holy Spirit is a seal.
When you're saved, you receive the Holy Spirit.
That's the seal that brands you as belonging
to God.
And it's a symbol of security.
You know, they used to take a document
and they would put a wax seal on
it.
Security.
Well, God puts a seal on us, and
that seal is the Holy Spirit.
And then the seal also has the idea
we mentioned yesterday of destination.
It looks forward to that time when we
will receive our glorified bodies, be with and
like the Lord Jesus forever.
But that brings us to the next, which
is closely linked in the scriptures with the
seal, and that is the earnest.
The Holy Spirit is in earnest of our
inheritance.
Let's look at those verses, if you will.
The earnest.
2 Corinthians chapter 1, 22.
We've looked at them before, but we'll look
at them again.
2 Corinthians chapter 1, verse 21.
Now he which establishes us with you in
Christ and has anointed us is God, who
has also sealed us and given the earnest
of the Spirit in our hearts.
The earnest of the Spirit.
The earnest is a down payment.
The earnest is a pledge.
When you are saved, God gives you the
Holy Spirit.
You don't get all the benefits of the
atonement at the time you're saved.
Think of that.
You don't get them all when you're saved,
but you get the Holy Spirit.
And as sure as you get the Holy
Spirit, you're going to get the whole inheritance.
You say, what don't I get when I'm
saved?
Well, the most obvious thing you don't get
is the glorified body.
You still get the common cold every once
in a while.
But you get the Holy Spirit, and the
Holy Spirit is the guarantee.
Just as sure as you have him, it's
all going to be yours in a coming
day.
Everything that God has promised to the believer
is the Lord Jesus Christ.
It's going to be yours.
It's something like an engagement ring, isn't it?
Oh, the sisters, their hearts are going to
flutter when I mention that.
But you know what it means.
I don't have to expatiate on that, do
I?
The engagement ring, it's a pledge, isn't it?
It's a pledge that marriage is going to
follow with all the bliss and joy that
could be associated with this.
And notice, he is the earnest until the
redemption of the purchased possession, Ephesians 1, verse
14.
Ephesians 1, verse 14.
That's just exactly what it says in that
verse.
It says, which is the earnest of our
inheritance until the redemption of God's own possession
unto the praise of his glory.
The redemption of God's own possession.
That's the glorified state of the believer.
Wonderful, isn't it?
This is very strong on the eternal security
of the believer.
We believe in the eternal security of the
believer.
We don't believe in the eternal security of
the profession.
A lot of people profess to be believers
and show by their lives that they never
were born again.
We don't believe in eternal security for them,
do we?
The eternal security of those who genuinely had
a work of grace in their lives and
show it by a transformed life.
And even those of us who are saved
by the grace of God and are eternally
secure should remember that we have our eternal
security, but God still has his woodshed, and
you can't get away with sin.
And God will take us out in the
woodshed and give us a good spanking if
we try.
I think it's important to remember that.
Eternal security is never presented in the scripture
as an excuse for sin, but it's one
of the greatest motivations for holy living.
You can't get away.
The believer can't get away with sin.
He just can't do it.
And God has an interesting way of allowing
sin to work itself out.
He does.
And you've seen it.
And perhaps experienced it in your own life.
I think you'll have a lovely picture of
the earnest back in Numbers 13, verse 23,
where the spies went into the promised land,
you remember, and they saw all of the
beauties of that land.
And then they brought back some of the
fruit, the grapes of Eshkol.
Let's just read it.
Numbers 13, 23 says, and they came unto
the valley of Eshkol and cut down from
thence a branch with one cluster of grapes.
And they bear it between two upon a
staff, and they brought of the pomegranates and
of the figs.
The place was called the Brook Eshkol because
of the cluster of grapes, which the children
of Israel cut down from the land.
Well, that's kind of beautiful, isn't it?
They go into the land, they see these
luscious grapes there and pomegranates and figs.
And now they're going back, some of them
are going back with evil hearts of unbelief,
but Caleb isn't and Joshua isn't, and they
bring these things back.
What were those things?
They were a pledge of what lay before
the children of Israel when they entered the
land.
That's what they were.
They were in earnest.
Look at the grapes and you'll see what
kind of a land it is that we're
going to.
In Romans chapter 8, verse 23, you'll have
the expression, the firstfruits of the Spirit.
Let's look at it and see it in
its context.
Romans chapter 8, and verse 23, says, Not
only they, but ourselves also, which have the
firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves grown
within ourselves, waiting for the adoption to wit,
the redemption of our body.
The word adoption has different meanings in the
New Testament.
It has one meaning in Galatians 4, it
has a different meaning here.
Adoption here means the glorified state, the redemption
of the body.
And we already have the firstfruits of the
Spirit.
He already gives us the grapes of Eshcol
in our souls, as it were, and that's
the guarantee that the rest is going to
come.
The Holy Spirit as the earnest of our
inheritance, the down payment, it's all going to
come.
Okay, we go on to the next one.
The Holy Spirit is spoken of as another
comforter.
Let's look up these passages of Scripture.
John chapter 14, verses
16, 17, and 26.
The word comforter, actually, we don't have a
good word in the English to express what
is meant here in the New Testament.
In other words, what it says in the
original language of the New Testament, we don't
have a complete word that says it.
It really means one called alongside to help.
That's really what it means.
When we think of a comforter, we think
of somebody who comes to us in time
of sorrow.
Well, it includes that.
It includes that.
The Holy Spirit does that, but it's more
than that.
In any time of need, he comes alongside
to help.
Notice he's called another comforter.
There are two words for another in the
New Testament.
One means another of the same kind.
The other means another of the different kind.
And this is another of the same kind.
The Lord Jesus is a paraclete.
The Holy Spirit is another paraclete of the
same kind.
John chapter 16, verse 7.
Nevertheless, I tell you the truth, it's 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.
Now that is really wonderful.
I don't think we realize how wonderful it
is.
Do you know it's more wonderful to be
living today in 1986 than to have been
living when Jesus was on earth?
It really is more wonderful because of the
Holy Spirit.
Let me explain that to you.
Supposing Jesus were here, supposing he were sitting
down here, bodily present.
He'd be closer to the gym than he
would be to love.
Today, by the Holy Spirit, he's just as
close to everybody in the room.
Not only that, but in the days when
Jesus was on earth, Matthew saw him through
Matthew's eyes.
Mark saw him through Mark's eyes.
Luke through Luke's eyes and John through John's
eyes.
We see him through all their eyes.
That's more wonderful.
That's why when Mary tried to cling to
the Lord Jesus, she wanted to maintain that
relationship that she had always known.
She wanted to know him as a man
here on earth.
He said, Mary, don't cling to me.
I've not yet ascended to my father.
When I ascend to my father, you're going
to know me in a more wonderful way
than you ever knew me here on earth.
That's true.
Just think of the wonderful way we know
the Lord Jesus through the New Testament.
Marvelous, as the Spirit of God makes him
real to us.
We're all familiar with the children's hymn.
I think when I read that sweet story
of old, when Jesus was here among men,
how he called little children as lambs to
his fold.
I should like to have been with him
then.
Well, I can sympathize with that sentimental wish,
but really it's better to be with him
now.
It really is.
Especially when we live, when I believe it's
the very end of the dispensation before he
comes again.
So the work of the comforter is not
just comforting in time of sorrow, but it's
a work of encouragement.
It's a work of exhortation.
It's a work of consolation.
Some people compare the comforter to a nurse
in the hospital.
You're there in the hospital and you need
help and she comes to your side after
you've run a few times.
It always seems that way, doesn't it?
Especially when you're not feeling good, it really
just seems that she takes forever to come.
It isn't probably true.
I think it's good for us just to
stop every once in a while and think
how much we owe to the Holy Spirit
at God.
I think that's very, very profitable exercise.
We're driving along in the car.
I've been very conscious of the presence of
the Holy Spirit.
I'm not the world's best driver.
I might be the worst.
I might do some very foolish things and
get in some very bad situations.
I often tell about one time I was
driving through Indiana.
It was afternoon.
The sun was shining in my eyes and
I was tired and was driving a lot.
And the car in front of me, I
saw the red lights go on and it
stopped and I had to stop.
And I had no time to stop.
Then a train went right in front of
that car in front of me.
No gates, no nothing.
I thought, oh, the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit's there.
He protected me in that moment.
He had that car in front of me.
If that car hadn't been in front of
me and stopped, I probably would have been
on the track.
Wonderful, isn't it?
Well, when we get to heaven, I think
the Lord is going to roll up the
blueprint and the record and show how he
helped us in so many of those experiences
in life.
Pretty thrilling.
Okay, let's move on to another ministry of
the Holy Spirit.
He's spoken of as the anointing, the anointing.
And I want you to look at these
passages of scripture because they really raise problems
in people's minds.
And I tell you, they raise problems in
my mind until I can see what they
really meant.
1 John 2, 20 and 27.
1 John 2, 20, it says, but you
have an unction, that word is anointing.
You have an anointing from the Holy One.
Notice, and you know all things.
Huh.
Why don't I ask you, dear Christian friend
today, you know all things.
Don't be silly.
Well, it says here you do.
Problem, huh?
Okay.
Verse 27, it says, but the anointing which
you have received of him abideth in you
and you need not that any man teach
you.
But as the same anointing teacheth you of
all things and is truth and is no
lie.
And even as it has taught you, you
shall abide in him.
You don't need a teacher.
What am I doing standing up here today?
Let's call off the conference.
No, we're not understanding it right.
It means exclamation.
John chapter 14, 26, we've already read, but
let's read it again.
John 14, 26, but the comforter, which is
the Holy Spirit 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.
John 16 verses 13 through 15.
How be it when he, the spirit of
truth has come, he will guide you into
all truth.
He shall not speak of himself.
That really means he shall not speak from
himself, but whatsoever he shall hear that shall
he speak.
And he will show you things to come.
He will glorify me for he shall receive
of mine and shall show it unto you.
All things that the Father hath are mine.
Therefore said I that he shall take of
mine and shall show it unto you.
I would just, to make it simple for
our hearts today, I would suggest to you
that the anointing refers to the teaching ministry
of the Holy Spirit of God.
This might be oversimplifying a little, but I
have a tendency to do that.
As the anointing, the Holy Spirit enables us
to know the truth and to distinguish truth
from error.
That's an amazing thing.
There was a young fellow in Oakland some
years ago and, and privately, he trusted Christ
as Savior.
He worked for the post office and he
used to turn on the radio and listen
to the religious broadcasters on the radio.
And when I first met him, he was
just a young babe in Christ.
And yet, untaught in some way, he could
tell me which of those speakers were sound
and which were not.
He recognized the voice of the good shepherd
in John MacArthur, Chuck Swindoll, Vernon McGee.
Ah, but he could name some others that
he heard on the radio.
And it was a tinny voice.
They weren't speaking the language of Canaan.
How did he know the anointing, the ministry
of the Holy Spirit in his life?
Now, let me explain these difficult things.
First John 2, 20, it says that the
believer knows all things.
Not absolutely.
Actually, in heaven, we're not going to know
all things, are we?
We're not going to have perfect knowledge in
heaven.
Heaven is going to be a place of
progress where we're going to go on learning
for all eternity.
Praise God.
I'm happy for that.
But this says, when it says, you know
all things, it means potentially you have, through
the word of God and the spirit of
God, the ability to discern between truth and
error and to know all that God wants
you to know down here.
You see, it's good to know the background
of this letter.
When John wrote this letter, there were a
group of false teachers known as the Gnostics.
That word comes from the word meaning knowledge.
And these people professed to have superior knowledge.
And what they would say was, well, what
you folks have there in your little assembly,
that's good, but you'll never really be mature.
You'll never really be fulfilled.
You'll never be happy until you enter into
the deeper mysteries that we have.
You have to be initiated into the deeper
truths that we have.
But those were truths that were in addition
to the word of God.
And John is saying it, you don't need
that.
You don't need that.
You know, all the false cults have some
authority in addition to the word of God,
don't they?
Hmm?
Mary Baker Eddy, Science and Health and Keep
the Scriptures.
A friend of mine calls it ignorance and
illness, the padlocks of the scriptures.
That's good.
It's not science and health at all.
Jehovah's Witnesses, they have their own writings.
Mormons, the Book of Mormon, every one of
them, they have something in addition to the
scriptures.
The Gnostics had that.
They had truths in it.
And John is saying, you don't need that.
You have the word of God.
You have the spirit of God.
You have the potential for knowing all that
you need to know and to recognize what
is true and what is not true.
And when it says in verse 27, you
don't need any man to teach you, it
doesn't mean that you don't need Christian teachers,
because in Ephesians chapter 4, the teacher was
one of the gifts that God gave, wasn't
it?
He gave the gift of teachers.
This means you don't need those teachers like
the Gnostics who come to you and peddle
something beyond the Bible.
You don't need them.
Don't need that anybody like that should teach
you.
I think if you see that, it helps
you in understanding these passages of scripture.
The anointing which you have received of him
abides within you and he need not that
anyone teach you as the same anointing teaches
you of all things and is true and
is no lie.
And even as it has taught you, you
shall abide in him.
And so John is saying throughout this epistle,
look, you've got the word of God, stick
to the word of God.
And that really is, it really is wonderful
when you see that.
I know there are some people that say,
and they go to the other extreme.
They say, I never read any books.
I never read any commentary, just the Bible,
just the Bible for me.
Well, I think that denies the value of
the teachers that God has given to the
church.
God has given teachers.
Some of them give the teaching in oral
ministry.
Some of them give in written ministry.
What difference does it make?
He gave them for the edification of the
church.
Okay.
Another ministry of the Holy spirit, that is
the filling of the Holy spirit, Ephesians chapter
five and verse 18.
And this is as far as we will
get today.
Ephesians chapter five verse 18 says, and be
not drunk with wine wherein is excess, but
be filled with the spirit.
Now, most of the things, most of the
things that we've had up until this point
were automatic.
The moment you were saved, you didn't have
to do a thing about it.
You were regenerated.
At that moment, you were baptized into the
body of Christ.
At that moment, you were indwelt by the
Holy spirit.
At that moment, you had a consciousness of
sonship.
At that moment, you were sealed.
You received the earnest, you received another comforter,
you received the anointing.
All automatic.
The moment you were saved.
Break.
Now it's different.
The filling is a commandment with conditions to
be met.
I think it's very important to see that.
We mentioned before that the baptism of the
spirit and the filling of the spirit are
not the same thing.
No, they're not.
They're often confused, but they're not the same
thing.
The filling of the spirit is a command.
It says be filled with the spirit.
Be not drunk with wine wherein is excess,
but be filled with the spirit.
That's a funny thing, isn't it?
To link drunkenness with the filling of the
spirit.
Well, there's a good reason for it.
When a man is drunk, he's under the
influence of intoxicating spirits.
We use that word, don't we?
When a man is filled with the spirit,
he's under the control of the Holy spirit.
When a man is drunk with wine, he
doesn't have to go around telling it.
You can tell it.
You can tell it by the way he
walks.
You can tell it by the way he
talks.
He's drunk.
When a man is filled with the spirit,
he doesn't have to tell you he's filled
with the spirit.
In fact, if he is, if he does
tell you, it's probably not true.
When a man is filled with the spirit,
you can tell it by the way he
walks.
You can tell it by the way he
talks, too.
All he has to do is open his
mouth and talk, and you can tell whether
he's filled with the spirit or not.
So, there's a good reason why those things
are linked together in the Bible here.
Be not drunk with wine, but be filled
with the spirit.
Before I go on, let me just say
this.
I believe that in the New Testament, there
are two types of fillings with the spirit.
I believe there's what we might call a
sovereign filling of the spirit that we don't
have anything to do with.
You don't have to worry about it.
It says in Luke chapter 1, verse 15,
that John the Baptist was filled with the
Holy Spirit from his mother's womb.
That's strange, isn't it?
Now, that's different from the passage in Ephesians
5.18, isn't it?
There is a commandment.
John couldn't have been commanded to be filled
with the spirit.
He was filled with the spirit from his
mother's womb.
What's that all about?
Well, I believe this, that God filled him
sovereignly because of the work that he had
to do.
He was going to raise up John the
Baptist to be the forerunner of the Messiah,
greater than all the prophets traditionally.
And so, he just sovereignly filled him with
the Holy