Tonight, I want to talk about the Holy
Spirit and his service to you and to
me.
God has given us the Holy Spirit, first
of all, to bring us to the Lord
Jesus, and then after we become a Christian,
through simple trusting faith in Christ, believing that
he died for us, then he helps us
live for God.
And the Spirit's ministry to you and me
is a great ministry.
And in John chapter 16, we read, beginning
in verse 7, the Lord Jesus is the
speaker and he says, Nevertheless I tell you
the truth, it is expedient for you that
I go away.
Now I suppose that the disciples felt that
just can't be sold, that it's expedient for
us that the Lord leave us.
They so loved him, he was such a
part of their lives, and they so enjoyed
the Lord.
And here the Lord now is telling you,
it's better for you that I go away.
And then he says, For if I go
not away, the Comforter, and that's a capital
C, will not come unto you, but if
I depart, I will send him unto you.
And when he has come, he will reprove
the world of sin, of righteousness, and of
judgment.
Of sin, because they believe not on me,
of righteousness, because I go to my Father.
You see me no more, of judgment, because
the Prince of this world is judged.
Now, we just want to be sure that
the Comforter, with a capital C here, is
the Spirit.
So I'm going to read a little from
the 14th chapter of John, and here it
is.
John chapter 14, verse 16, And I will
pray the Father, and he shall give you
another Comforter, capital C, that he may abide
with you forever, even the Spirit of truth,
whom the world cannot receive.
Now, this doesn't leave us any doubt whatsoever
about who the Comforter is.
Because the Lord Jesus says, Even the Spirit
of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because
it seeth him not, neither knoweth him, but
ye know him, for he dwelleth with you,
and shall be in you.
I will not leave you comfortless.
To marginize it correctly, I will not leave
you as orphans.
I will come to you.
Now, back in chapter 16, now that we've
settled in our minds who this Comforter is,
it's somebody that comforts us, the Holy Spirit
of God, by the words of the Lord
Jesus.
Then he says in verse 12 of chapter
16 of John, I have yet many things
to say unto you, but ye cannot bear
them now.
Howbeit, when he, the Spirit of truth, let's
call that again, is come, he will guide
you into all truth, for he shall not
speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear,
that shall he speak, and he will show
you things to come.
He shall glorify me, for he shall receive
of mine, and shall show it unto you.
Now, the Lord Jesus says here, he shall
not speak of himself.
Now, I think we have put a wrong
construction on that scripture, that somehow we shouldn't
also speak of the Spirit.
Now, that's wrong.
It says he shall not speak of himself.
Now, it doesn't say we can't talk about
him, and we can, and we have a
right to, because the Spirit of God is
God as well as God the Father and
God the Son.
Now, we may have had some experience with
the Spirit of God already in our lives.
Now, the Spirit of God has a wonderful
ministry to carry out for you and for
me.
First of all, the Spirit of God is
that force in our lives, that prompting, that
still, small voice, that's something that tells us
you should be saved.
The Spirit of God will lead us right
straight to the Lord Jesus.
And he's in the world, as we read
in verse 7 here of John chapter 16,
Nevertheless I tell you the truth, it is
expedient for you that I go away.
I don't suppose they took that seriously.
For if I go not away, the Comforter
will not come unto you, but if I
depart I will send him unto you.
And when he is come, he will reprove
the world of sin, of righteousness and of
judgment, of sin because they believe not on
me.
All right?
Now, here's a little alliteration.
The word reprove there really means convict.
I think some translations have it convict.
It's not convict here in the authorized.
It's reprove.
But he is the Comforter for the Christian
and the convictor for the unsaved.
He convicts the unsaved, their need of the
Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, you notice, please, he says in verse
8, And when he is come, he will
reprove the world of sin, of righteousness and
of judgment.
He will convict the world of sin, of
righteousness and of judgment, of sin because they
believe not on me.
Now, we would think that that should be
written, that the Spirit of God will convict
us of sin because we've done something disgraceful.
It doesn't say that.
It says that he will convict us of
sin because we believe not on Christ.
Now, we have a conscience that convicts us
when we do something wrong.
God has given us a conscience.
We know when we do things that are
wrong.
The conscience will tell us, you did something
that was rotten.
Now, the Spirit of God may accentuate that.
But I really think what accentuates that sin
is the law.
For by the law is the knowledge of
sin.
But the Spirit convicts us about Christ.
Our conscience will convict us about sin.
The sin of neglecting Christ.
Now, we teach our children to be polite.
We teach our children to be kind, especially
to old people.
I like that.
Don't ask me why.
But we teach our children to be kind
and to be respectful and to be thankful.
We tell them, what did you say or
what did you forget to say?
Oh, oh, thank you, thank you, thank you.
We teach them to be that way.
Now, the Spirit of God would teach us
the same thing.
Be thankful there was somebody that loved you
so much.
That they died for your dirty sin.
The Spirit of God would train us.
The Spirit of God would convict us about
our relationship to Christ.
That's what he does.
And he will make us feel uneasy because
we have never bowed in thanksgiving to the
one who took our beating for us on
the cross.
Now, we teach our children to be thankful.
We teach them to be polite.
I ask you, is it polite to realize
that Christ died for you?
Not feel warm toward him?
Not thank him?
Not be moved in your heart and your
soul to thank and live for him?
Accept him as Savior?
The Spirit of God will do that.
The Spirit of God will come to you
in the middle of the night.
You're not saved.
You don't feel grateful to the Lord.
We ought to feel like healed if we're
not grateful to him for dying for us.
Now, that was our first contact with the
Spirit of God.
That was his first service to you and
to me.
That was the first experience that we had
with the Spirit of God.
Once when he convicted us of the fact,
you're not saved.
You haven't trusted the Lord yet.
You haven't thanked him yet.
You're not his.
You're holding him away at arm's length.
Not now.
You've got some things I want to do.
The Spirit will convict you about that.
Of sin?
Because they believe not on me.
That's why he will convict people.
That is the worst sin of the universe.
Holding out on Christ.
That's exactly what the Apostle Paul did.
He held out against Christ.
He was having trouble with his conscience before
the Lord appeared to him on the road
to Damascus.
Do you remember what the Lord said to
Paul?
When he was Saul of Tarsus yet.
He said, Saul, Saul, it is hard for
thee to kick against the pricks.
Do you know the Apostle Paul or Saul
of Tarsus at that time?
He wasn't the Apostle Paul yet.
He persecuted the Christians.
He went to Damascus to capture them and
bring them to Jerusalem.
In many cases, he incarcerated them and put
them in the prison.
And in some cases, he even voted for
their death.
But he saw Stephen die.
I think that there is where his trouble
began.
He saw Stephen die, the martyr's death.
And Stephen said, Lord, lay not this pen
to their charge.
He saw a man whose face was lighted
up with the light of heaven when he
was martyred.
I think Paul couldn't shake that.
They laid their clothes at Paul's feet so
they could throw the stones harder.
They took their coats off.
And they laid their coats at Paul's feet
so they could throw harder and kill Stephen
with stones.
And they laid them at the feet of
Saul.
You know, I think there was where Saul's
trouble began.
And the Lord Jesus said to him, it
is hard for thee to kick against pricks.
What did he say next?
Lord, who art thou?
The Lord Jesus said to Saul, not using
these words, I'm going to put it in
my words.
Saul, you're having trouble with your conscience.
Saul says, there's only one person in the
universe that knows I'm having trouble with my
conscience and that is God.
And so he says, Lord, who art thou?
You see, he was brought into the presence
of the Lord Jesus.
Now, the Holy Spirit of God will do
that for you and for me.
And he will let us know in no
uncertain terms, you haven't been polite.
You haven't been thankful.
You've been very, very selfish.
So the Spirit of God convicted us of
the fact that we had not come to
a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And we had our troubles.
Some of us held out.
Some of us kept him at arm's length.
Some of us refused to consider our relationship
with the Lord and the Spirit gave us
trouble.
We were very, very uneasy about it.
He strove with us.
He tried to make us realize, you're not
saved.
You need to be saved.
That's what the Spirit will do.
That's what he did with us.
That was our first contact with the Spirit
of God.
Was that a service?
Was it a service?
It was a service indeed.
I need to know that I need to
be in a right relationship with the Lord
Jesus because knowing him means that I have
eternal life.
He that hath a son, we read in
John 5, he that hath a son hath
life.
And he that hath not the Son of
God hath not life.
And I have life the moment that I
receive the Lord Jesus Christ as my own.
He grants me eternal life.
And the Spirit of God says, get this
matter settled.
And the Spirit of God is the convictor
of men and women and boys and girls.
Isn't that a wonderful service?
I'm glad that he held out with me.
I'm glad that he really convicted me of
the fact that I needed the Lord.
I couldn't cope with sin.
I couldn't do that which would be pleasing
to God and I needed a Savior.
Thank God for the convicting power of the
Holy Spirit.
We've got a lot more to talk about.
That was the beginning.
That was just the beginning.
Now, we are born by the Spirit.
We are not only convicted by the Spirit,
but we're born by the Spirit.
John chapter 3.
We're in John's Gospel.
We read something of the ministry of the
Spirit of God to you and to me.
And we read in John chapter 3, there
was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus,
a ruler of the Jews.
The same came to Jesus by night and
said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou
art a teacher come from God, for no
man can do these miracles that thou doest,
except God be with him.
Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily,
I say unto thee, except a man be
born again, he cannot see the kingdom of
God.
Nicodemus said unto him, How can a man
be born when he's old and enter in
the second time into his mother's womb and
be born?
Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee,
except a man be born of water and
of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the
kingdom of God.
That which is born of the flesh is
flesh, and that which is born of the
Spirit is spirit.
Now, the Spirit of God is the one
that makes me born again.
That's awkward language, isn't it?
The Spirit of God is that which accomplishes
the new birth.
That's better language.
Now, this is how he does it.
He points us to the Lord Jesus Christ.
He makes us feel our need of Christ.
And then he tenderly leads us to consider
that need to the point where we say,
Yes, I'll believe that he died for me.
I'll thank him.
I'll be glad.
I'll feel very warm toward him because he
died for me.
Now, the moment, and we can't go into
all the details of this, but the moment
that I put my trust in the Lord
Jesus Christ, the Spirit of God brings the
life of Christ and puts that life inside
of me.
Now, that's when I'm born again.
Now, that life is Christ.
That new life is just not a perfect
life.
That is the life of Christ.
It's a little extension of Christ.
And that comes inside of me.
Now, Paul says that.
He says, I am crucified with Christ.
Nevertheless, I live.
Yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.
When did he start that?
When the Spirit of God brought him inside
of us.
Now, somebody says, I don't know whether I
can handle this or not.
How do I manage this?
You don't have to manage a thing when
you trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, the
Spirit of God, does the work.
He'll do the work.
The poet has said, As soon as my
all I ventured upon the atoning blood, the
Holy Spirit entered, and I was born of
God.
And he brought the life of Christ within
him.
And that's the life that lives forever.
And he puts that life within me.
I'm born again.
The moment that I trust in the Lord
Jesus Christ.
Now, I don't have to worry about that.
I didn't even have to worry about my
first birth.
Didn't know anything about it.
Nobody asked me to come into this world.
And I don't remember a thing about it.
But I don't have a thing more to
do with my second birth.
Oh, I say that.
I better qualify that.
I can't accomplish the second birth at all.
But when I trust Christ, the Spirit of
God does the work.
He brings the life of Christ within me.
He saves me.
He gives me a new life.
And that life is filled with new desires.
Now, the unsaved oftentimes think that when you
become a Christian, that means that your chances
for fun are gone.
That's the lie of the devil.
There's more joy, more legitimate, clean joy and
satisfaction in the Christian life.
And you don't have a bad conscience to
go along with it.
For the unsaved.
Now, I don't mean by that that you
can just become a Christian and live for
the world.
I don't mean that for a moment.
But I do mean this.
The Spirit of God brings the life of
Christ within me.
And that life lets itself out.
And it's a whole new experience.
It's a whole new sphere.
It's a new birth.
It's a new beginning.
You're absolutely in a new sphere altogether.
Now, the Spirit of God does that.
He convicts us.
And then we're born of the Spirit the
moment that we put our trust in Christ.
Well, now He doesn't leave us there.
I mean, we won't leave the subject there.
And He just says, Now, look, I've saved
you.
You go out and see what you can
do about living a Christian life.
No.
He helps you live it.
There are lots of people, I think, there
are lots of people that aren't Christian because
they're afraid, Well, I can't live up to
it.
I couldn't be a Christian.
I couldn't accomplish these things.
Well, you don't do it on your own,
I'll tell you that.
The Spirit of God is the one that
does it.
He's the power of the Christian life.
And that's what He'll do for us.
Now, I want to talk about several things
that happen before we talk about the power
of the Spirit.
We are sealed by the Spirit.
He seals us.
Now, you'll notice that as we're taking this
up tonight that it's in what we call
a logical sequence, spiritually logical sequence.
It's as it happens.
Okay.
Now, the moment that we trust in the
Lord Jesus He brings the life of Christ.
The Spirit of God brings the life of
Christ within us.
He is in there to foster that life.
I'll tell you, we owe a lot to
the Spirit of God and to His ministry.
All right.
Now, let's turn to Ephesians chapter 1.
Ephesians chapter 1.
Just to see the ministry of the Spirit
of God within our lives.
Oh, it's hard to break in here.
I think we'll just have to break in
in verse 13 of the first chapter of
Ephesians.
In whom ye also trusted, that is Christ,
of course, in whom ye also trusted, after
that ye heard the word of truth, the
gospel of your salvation, in whom also, after
that ye believed, or the margin has it,
upon believing, ye were sealed with that Holy
Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of
our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased
possession under the praise of His glory.
Now, this is language that we can understand
today.
We are sealed with that Holy Spirit of
promise.
Now, we seal things today to secure them.
Now, it used to be, and it was
in Bible times, the seal was, you had
a ring.
You had a ring that was specially yours
and it was engraved.
And that ring, when anything belonged to you,
any document that was signed by you, any
document that you had to, today we would
say, notarize, you had your ring.
And it had this embossed or engraved, whatever
it was, shield or something that belonged superior
to you.
They poured wax upon the paper and then
while the wax was soft, the man put
his ring down on that wax.
And that was the seal.
Nobody had that seal except that man.
Now, when you and I were saved, we
were sealed by God.
God put His stamp down on us.
And He says, this property is mine.
And do you know what the stamp was?
The stamp was the Spirit of God Himself.
He is the earnest.
He is the seal.
Now, the earnest, we use this in the
real estate world today.
Same word.
Absolutely the same word.
We use it in the world today.
If you're going to buy a house, perhaps
some of you young people have not bought
a house yet, but you will.
If you're going to buy a house, then
you go to the realtor or the lawyer,
whoever is closing the deal.
And, well, first you have two contracts.
You have the contract to buy and then
you have the closing of the deal.
I'm not a very good realtor here.
I'm getting ahead of myself.
All right.
Now, when you say, I'm going to take
this house, you put down what is called
earnest money.
Now, that earnest money is a guarantee that
you're going to go through with the deal.
And when you put down that earnest money,
you are legally bound to go through with
that deal.
Now, God has given us the earnest of
the Spirit.
He's the seal and the earnest at the
same time.
The fact that the Spirit of God is
inside of it is God's impression.
This property is mine.
Why?
Because the Spirit of God is inside of
it.
That's the seal.
That's the earnest.
But the earnest means this.
There's more to come.
Just as I put down my earnest money
on the place that I'm going to buy
simply means that I'm going to go through
with the deal.
And God is going to go through with
the deal as far as you and I
are concerned.
The rest is coming.
That's just the beginning.
Think of it.
We have the Spirit now within us.
Think of all that God has got for
us.
That's just the beginning.
He's the earnest.
And so we read, which is the earnest
of our inheritance.
That's just the down payment, just the guarantee,
just the seal, just the earnest.
He's the earnest of our inheritance until the
redemption of the purchased possession under the praise
of His glory.
This is what the Spirit is doing for
us.
Now, we are taught by the Spirit of
God.
The Spirit of God is our teacher.
Somebody says, I don't know that I understand
it.
Does he talk to me so I can
hear?
No, he doesn't.
But I'll tell you how it happens.
You understand the Bible like you never understood
it before.
What's the difference?
You read it just as hard before, maybe.
I don't know.
No, that's not true.
More people read their Bibles after they get
saved than they did before.
But nevertheless, you read the Bible through a
dozen times.
You wouldn't get much out of it until
the Spirit of God came inside of you
and is your teacher.
Now, this isn't the Bible.
1 Corinthians 2.
1 Corinthians 2, verse 9.
But as it is written, I have not
seen nor heard, neither have entered into the
heart of man the things which God hath
prepared for them that love him.
But God hath revealed them unto us by
His Spirit.
For the Spirit searches all things, yea, the
deep things of God.
For what man knoweth the things of a
man, save the Spirit of man, which is
in him.
Even so the things of God knoweth no
man, but the Spirit of God.
Now, we have received not the Spirit of
the world, but the Spirit which is of
God, that we might freely know the things
that are freely given to us of God,
which things also we see, not in the
words which man's wisdom teaches, but which the
Holy Ghost teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
Now, I think that this is probably the
experience of everybody that is saved.
Immediately after they're saved, the Bible takes on
new meaning.
They never understood it before.
But now there's a floodlight of knowledge that
floods the souls.
Who teaches in person?
The Spirit of God.
He teaches us.
He shows us what's right.
I remember a young lady.
I may have mentioned it to you once
that she got saved.
Oh, this is years ago.
And she was so delighted that the Bible
was opening up to her.
The Spirit of God was teaching her, making
her see it.
Now, this is not mystical.
This is not magical.
What I'm saying is when she read the
Word of God, she understood it, and she
never understood it before because she couldn't.
But the Spirit of God makes it plain.
So she said to me, Would you believe
it?
Since I've been saved, I've started reading in
Matthew, and I've read clear through 2 Corinthians,
and in all that reading, there are only
two verses that I don't understand.
Well, I think I sympathize with that.
But as far as it was concerned, the
Bible had opened up to her.
The Spirit of God was teaching her, making
her see it.
So is our teacher.
Isn't that a wonderful ministry?
I thank some of the teachers that I've
had in school because of the introduction that
they've given to me to the subjects that
they taught.
I'm thankful to them.
But the greatest teacher of all is the
Holy Spirit of God that makes the Word
of God plain.
Have you ever read the Bible and you
say, Well, I never saw that before.
Well, why haven't you?
Well, because the Spirit didn't reveal it to
you.
And I think some of the times the
greatest things of the Bible that you understand
are the things the Spirit reveals to you.
You get them straight from the Lord.
Now, God gives gifts.
He gives the teaching gifts to men.
And it helps us.
But I say, and I say it again
and repeat it again, that the best things
you get from the Bible are what you
get straight from the Lord.
The Spirit of God teaches you.
He makes these things plain.
He can do it.
He can make it plain to us that
we need to be saved, too.
All right, we're taught by the Spirit.
Now, in Romans chapter 8, we're led by
the Spirit.
Romans chapter 8, verse 14, For as many
as are led by the Spirit of God,
they are the sons of God.
Now, sometimes we pray for guidance.
We say, Lord, lead me.
I don't know which way to go.
Lord, help me.
All right, He's given us the Spirit to
show us which way to go.
To lead us.
And He can do it.
The Spirit of God will lead us.
For as many as are led by the
Spirit of God, they are the sons of
God.
Now, I'm going to emphasize this.
They are the sons of God.
Now, a companion scripture to this is found
in Matthew chapter 4.
I want you to notice the language of
what we're reading.
Matthew chapter 4, verse 1.
Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit
into the wilderness to be tempted of the
devil.
That was a harrowing experience for our Lord
Jesus.
But He was the Son of God and
the Spirit led Him.
And the same thing is said of you
and me.
For as many as are led by the
Spirit of God, they are the sons of
God.
Not in the sense that He was the
Son.
Believe me.
But the Spirit leads sons.
Sons that have a heavenly Father.
Sons that acknowledge that Father.
Sons that are sons indeed.
The Spirit of God leads them.
Now, and you'll be reading this soon, so
we might as well read it now.
Luke chapter 2.
Luke chapter 2, verse 25.
Behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose
name was Simeon.
And the same man was just and devout
waiting for the consolation of Israel.
And the Holy Ghost was upon him.
And it was revealed unto him by the
Holy Ghost that he should not see death
before he had seen the Lord's Christ.
Notice, please.
And he came by the Spirit into the
temple.
And when the parents brought in the child
Jesus to do for him after the custom
of the law, then took him up in
his arms and blessed God and said to
him, Lord, now let us now thy servant
depart in peace according to thy word, for
mine eyes have seen thy salvation.
And he was looking at Christ, the babe
Christ.
Now, he was led by the Spirit to
go there.
God told Simeon, you're not going to die
before you see the Lord's Christ.
One day the Spirit of God said to
Simeon, these are my words, Simeon, this is
the day.
It was revealed unto him by the Holy
Ghost that he should not see death before
he had seen the Lord's Christ.
And he came by the Spirit into the
temple.
And when the parents brought in the child
Jesus, that was it.
He knew him.
This was the babe.
This was the Savior.
But he was led by the Spirit.
Now, that could be a little puzzling.
How do I know that I'm being led
by the Spirit?
I shouldn't have asked that question because it's
going to tie me up so tight.
I don't know whether I can get through
the rest of the points.
And I want to get through all these
points.
But let me just say this.
The Spirit of God can lead me and
I'll have the conviction that I'm being led.
The Spirit witnesses with our spirits that we're
the sons of God.
There is a consciousness.
There is a feeling of satisfaction that I'm
being led of the Spirit.
And we shouldn't move until we get that
conviction that God is in this and he
can give it to us.
Now, the subject of the leading and the
guidance of the Lord is a subject to
be dealt with all of its own.
And I can't go much beyond just saying
that.
The Spirit can lead us.
But he leads us always and ever in
accordance with the Word of God.
He does not lead us contrary to Scripture.
If you can condemn yourself in any pathway
that you have chosen by a single Scripture,
you weren't led by the Spirit of God
to take that path.
If you are in conflict with any of
the Scriptures in the Bible about your pathway,
the Spirit of God didn't lead you into
that conflict with the Word of God.
He leads according to the Word of God.
We should remember that.
He will be in accordance with the Scripture.
There are lots of people.
They want to do what they want to
do when they want to do it.
And they look for confirmation upon their pathway.
And they get a lot of signs and
a lot of indications that they've got the
green light.
But actually, they are the ones that created
the signs.
The Word of God can lead us and
the Spirit of God...
I'm going to leave the subject right there.
I'm going to say this.
The Spirit of God leads us by the
Word of God.
And he never leads us contrary to the
Word of God.
And if we can find out that we're
in conflict with the Word of God, we're
not being led by the Spirit.
All right, we're strengthened by the Spirit.
We promise that.
It's Ephesians chapter 3.
Ephesians chapter 3.
I thought I was going to be good
to you and let you get out before
8 o'clock.
And I'm afraid I can't do it.
Verse 14.
For this cause I bow my knees, I'm
of the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
of whom the whole family and heaven and
earth is named, that he would grant you,
according to the riches of his glory, to
be strengthened with might by his Spirit in
the inner man.
Now, the Spirit of God is the strength
of the Christian life.
Paul prayed that these people might be strengthened.
There's other scriptures to support this, but we're
not going to turn to them.
He prayed that God would grant you, according
to the riches of his glory, to be
strengthened with might by his Spirit in the
inner man.
The Spirit is the power of the Christian
life.
Now, we could go to the book of
Acts and we could see this in action.
And we're not going to do it.
But I'm going to say this.
There are many, many people that don't become
Christians because they think, I can't live up
to it.
The standards are too high.
I couldn't possibly live up to it.
Let me tell you, you're going to have
help if you know the Lord.
And if you're not indeed quenching that spirit,
if you're not grieving that spirit, you're going
to have help.
You can do it.
You can handle it.
You don't have to work for the Indian
Pacific to do it.
You can handle it.
The Spirit will strengthen you.
Now we're comforted by the Spirit.
We read that at the very beginning.
And here we are, back in John chapter
16 again.
I just want to note that a little
bit before we go on to our last
point.
John chapter 16, verse 7.
Nevertheless, I tell you the truth.
It is expedient for you that I go
away, for if I go not away, the
Comforter will not come unto you.
But if I depart, I will send him
unto you.
The Comforter.
Now the word Comforter here is the paraclete.
That's what it is in the Greek.
He is the divine paracletos.
He is one called alongside the help.
He's our helper.
And that is our comfort is that we're
not in this thing alone.
The Spirit of God is dwelling within us
to help me live the Christian life.
He's my Comforter.
He's the one that's called alongside to help
me.
Isn't that a comfort?
To know that you're not in this thing
alone?
God the Spirit is the power of the
Christian life.
He's the director of the Christian life.
He's the instructor of the Christian life.
He's the Comforter.
And how wonderful it is to be comforted.
Now his last ministry to us, Romans chapter
8.
Now I've gone over this rather hastily tonight.
The Spirit of God has more by way
of ministry to you and me than I've
mentioned.
But I want to cover this subject and
then you can fill in the details.
Verse 11 of the 8th chapter of Romans.
Now the Spirit of God dwells in me.
He is the one that quickens my body.
He is the one that gives me a
new body the moment that I am raptured.
The Spirit of God is in lying me.
The power is already there.
The power to transform me to be like
Christ is in me.
There's something very interesting about the Spirit of
God and his wonderful ministry.
He gave our Lord Jesus Christ his body.
He gives our Lord Jesus Christ his spiritual
body.
He will give to you and me our
glorified bodies.
All the ministry of the Spirit of God.
Read it again.
But if the Spirit of him that raised
up Jesus from the dead dwell in you,
he that raised up Christ from the dead
shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his
Spirit that dwelleth in you.
All right, the power is already there.
And all that power is waiting is a
shout from the right person.
And in the twinkling of an eye, I'll
be changed.
And the power is already inside.
What do you think of that?
I worked in the mines once.
And they loaded...
They had a saying in the mines.
We're loaded.
That means that all the holes have been
drilled and all the dynamite has been passed
back into those holes.
And then when they fire them, get out.
When they light the fuses, then get out.
I had occasion to be warned once as
I was going back into a drift.
That's a tunnel.
I was going back into a drift.
They said, you better get out.
We're fired.
We're loaded.
We're ready to go.
We're fired.
Well, the explosion went off and helped me
out a little.
It gave me a real boost.
It didn't hurt me any, but I was
on my way out of there.
But the acceleration, that was amazing.
But they told me, they said, we're loaded.
The fuses were set.
All right, we're loaded, but the fuse is
a sonic fuse.
Did you know there is such a thing
as a sonic fuse?
A right tone will set off an explosion.
They did that over in England.
Remember the Irish terrorists?
Did that?
Blew up a bandstand full of band people.
They planted the dynamite.
They put a fuse on it, a radio
fuse, and the terrorists went off and let
the band get to playing, and then they
turned on the power, and the electric impulse
went across there and blew up the bandstand.
Nobody was even near it.
They did it electronically.
Well, we've got a sonic fuse, and that
sonic fuse, I'm loaded with power, and that
sonic fuse is simply the shell.
The Lord Jesus Christ.
That shell is going to set that power
into action, and I'm going to have a
new body and the twinkling of an eye.
That's the Spirit of God.
Romans 8 and 11.
There it is.
That's the last ministry of the Spirit of
God to me that I'll experience on this
earth.
I don't think it's through with me yet,
but the Spirit of God is one of
the grandest persons, and he's going to make
me like Christ.
That's one of his ministries, is to conform
me to the image of Christ.
2 Corinthians 3, 18.
We didn't even touch on that, but it's
8 o'clock, so don't think the subject
is finished.
I just gave you what I could give
you conveniently, but he's conforming us to the
image of Christ.
Oh, he's a wonderful person, and we're not
in this thing alone.
We've got help.
Thank God for that.
Bruce, would you close me the other thing?