Addresses on the Holy Spirit

… The normal presentation of teaching in the New Testament is that once we are blessed by God, in whatever way we are blessed, there should be a corresponding walk commendurate with the blessing. This is true in all dispensations, it was in relation to Israel, a nation taken up by God and blessed in such a single way. Now God demanded of that nation a higher form of conduct than he expected from the Gentile nations. They weren't blessed in the same way as Israel was. And this is true when we come to the New Testament, that normally speaking, blessings are placed before us, blessings are given and appreciated, and then following that, there is a call upon us to walk worthy of these blessings, sometimes expressed worthy of God, sometimes worthy of the Lord, sometimes worthy of the vocation wherewith we are called. Each context would determine the kind of response in the heart of the believer. Now in the Epistle to the Ephesians, I believe we have an unfolding of the truth concerning the Holy Spirit and his blessings to us, and also the responsibilities that flow from it that perhaps we haven't in any of the other epistles, with perhaps the exception of the Roman epistle. So I want to say a few words tonight about these exhortations that we have from Paul in chapters 4, 5, and 6 of the Epistle to the Ephesians, and to state briefly at the beginning the very wonderful things that are mentioned in the three previous chapters. You remember in chapter 1, Paul says, after he believed, he was sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession. Now there we have a cluster of wonderful blessings. First of all, what a wonderful thing to be led to believe, to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, to receive the forgiveness of our sins, and then to be sealed with the Holy Spirit, God placing his mark upon us, indicating that we belong to him, indicating that we are, if you like, the authentic article. God puts his stamp upon us. We belong to him. We are really his, and he delights to have us. And then to think of the Spirit as the earnest of the inheritance, that is, that he can give us a foretaste now of what shall be our eternal employment. That's a very wonderful thing. Before ever we reach glory, the Holy Spirit can produce in our hearts an enjoyment of things that we are going on to. Just two simple illustrations help us in this. You remember when Rebecca was secured as a wife for Isaac. You remember the servant. He brought forth articles of silver and gold and presented them to her and said now, well, he virtually said, this is what you can expect when you are the wife of my master. All that my master Abraham has, he has given to his son Isaac, and whatever he has is available for you once you become the wife. Now, that's a very beautiful picture of what the Holy Spirit is doing for us today, that before we get to glory, to enjoy all the wonderful things that are in the life of Christ, thank God we can enjoy something of them now. And then you remember when they went into the land of Israel to examine it, the spies they brought back that beautiful bunch of grapes from Eshcol, and that was really a foretaste of what they would enjoy once they possessed the land. And again, we believe a picture of the earnest of the Spirit helping us to enjoy things now before we actually possess them for all eternity. And oh, how wonderful to realize that we are sealed now. He is the earnest of the inheritance now until the redemption of the purchased possession. Now in the widest possible sense, we think of the possession as belonging to Christ and it will be redeemed, it will be secured for him, it will be liberated that he might have full sway over it, and of course that will involve for us the change of our bodies, and we'll be in glorified bodies to enjoy that inheritance along with Christ. Now these are marvelous things, tremendous things. They're far above anything that this world can possibly offer. These are the very best things that God has prepared for us. Tremendous blessings. Oh, how easily we forget them, and we grovel in the things of earth and time and sense. And occupied with difficulties upon earth, and forget the wonderful things that have been given to us and the wonderful things that are in store for us, every believer in Christ. What a wonderful thing it is to be a Christian. And the fact that we are sealed with the Holy Spirit is the divine guarantee that everything that has been promised will eventually be ours, and be ours in every detail that God has planned. When we move over to chapter two, we find a most wonderful thing stated, that through him, that is our Lord Jesus Christ, in the power of the one Spirit, we have access to the Father. Now that's a marvelous thing. In the old dispensation, there was the tabernacle of the temple, the veil was there, indicating that there wasn't free access into the presence of God. Only a privileged elite, the priests, who could go in and worship God. All others were barred, even the Gentiles barred from the court, just a special place for them. And so there wasn't free access. But now for every believer in Christ, in the power of the Spirit, and through Christ, there is access into the Father's presence. Now we might think it's a routine thing when we bend our knees and pray to the Father, but really what we are doing, we are taking advantage of what has been secured for us in Christ, and the Spirit makes it available for us, and it's a tremendous thing. We might get very formal and just do it as a matter of fact, but for believers today to enter into the Father's presence, knowingly, intelligently, and take advantage of it, is a tremendous blessing. Available for all, every true believer in Christ, brother and sister alike. And the reference to the One Spirit is a reminder that what was really the privilege of Israel through the priesthood is now available to the Gentiles. The One Spirit for the Jew, the One Spirit for the Gentile. No privileged company, no privileged nation, all believers in Christ have this wonderful privilege of free access to the Father. What a delightful name for God to have, the Father. Surely that gives a sense of nearness and relationship, that gives us encouragement. He's not a God that's a far off, He's not an austere God that has to be appeased by sacrifices of one kind and another. All that has been done for us in Christ, and because of Him and what He has done, we can approach freely, intelligently, happily, into the presence of our Father and take advantage of it. Then we find too, in that second chapter, that we are builded together in habitation of God in the Spirit. Unfortunately, we look at the condition of Christendom, its multiple divisions, its weakness, its sad departure from the Scriptures, and we get upset. And I think we should be affected by it, we should be concerned about it. Not a light thing to see, the Church of God divided as it is, and all the sorrows that beset it at the present moment. But it's good to see what is in the Divine Mind and what is actually taking place. Paul says we are built together, that's every believer, we are built together in habitation of God in the Spirit. And God is dwelling in the midst of His people, in the Spirit's power. This might be such a complex matter, such a tremendously, what shall I say, exalted matter that we are unable to properly apprehend it. Nevertheless, we believe the statements of Scripture, that yes, there is a dwelling place for God upon earth, He does dwell in the midst of His people, the Spirit's presence and power assures us of this. Wonderful blessings indeed. That doesn't belong to a particular company of believers, it's the blessing of all believers. All believers, built together in habitation of God in the Spirit. When we come to chapter 3, we read about the power that's working in us, we read about the revelation of the mystery, the highest truths that could be ever given to man, revealed in the power of the Spirit to the Lord's servant, Paul. We read about this wonderful strength that the Spirit gives in the inner man. Wonderful blessings indeed, and they belong to every believer. Oh, would that we were in enjoyment of them more and more, so that we can answer to these exhortations that we receive in these three chapters that we have read from. Now, in chapter 4, as we read together, Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye're sealed unto the day of redemption. Now, I want you to turn with me to Mark chapter 3, and this might help us to understand this expression, grieving the Spirit of God. Mark chapter 3, and verse 1. And he entered again into the synagogue, and there was a man there which had a withered hand. And they watched him, whether he would heal him on the Sabbath day, that they might accuse him. And he said unto the man which had the withered hand, Stand forth. And he said unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath days, or to do evil? To save life or to kill? But they held their peace. And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he said unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored whole as the other. He looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts. Now, that's a strengthened word there, a little different from the word we find in verse 30, grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, but coming from the same root. But that passage seems to me to indicate how the Holy Spirit is grieved. That is, if our hearts are hardened, we haven't compassion, we haven't care for each other, we're not concerned about each other's well-being, I believe this is a matter that will grieve the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit, Father, Son, co-equal in person and glory, and now we find that what grieved the Lord, very obviously, will grieve the Holy Spirit. Now, he was grieved because of the hardness of their hearts. Now, it seems to me what follows, bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, evil speaking, malice, these are all the things that come from a hard heart and indicate a wrong attitude towards each other, something that ought not to be there at all in the Christian company. And kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you. There is the attitude of the tender heart. There is the attitude of forgiveness, kindness, indication of a true heart, the kind of heart that you feel the Holy Spirit will support and encourage and stimulate in all the power that belongs to him. It's a marvelous thing, and it's been borne upon me recently in view of these meetings, tremendous blessing to take account of that the Holy Spirit indwells us. Think of that, that the Holy Spirit indwells each believer, a distinctive blessing that belongs to the Christian era, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, a divine person. We used to sing the children's hymn, we would like to have been at the time when the Lord was upon earth to have seen his deeds of kindness, to have heard his words of power, but how marvelous today that a divine person co-equal with the Son is here indwelling us. Oh, how important that we shouldn't grieve him. What a sad thing to grieve the Holy Spirit. There are various references in the Bible, for instance, Ananias and Sapphira, they sinned against the Holy Spirit, they lied to the Holy Spirit. We are warned not to quench the Spirit. He's a divine person. He's not someone that you can treat in a very ordinary way. He's infinitely glorious, infinitely greater than us, and yet he deigns to indwell us, to dwell with us, to abide with us forever, and he's here, holy. That's his characteristic name, and it seems anything that's unholy will cause him grief. Oh, how sad. If the Lord Jesus were here, we would never dream of inviting him to some place of evil repute. We would never dream of taking him to some place where his name was dishonored. Why, we would never cross our minds, and yet we may do that when we go to such places without thought, and we have the Holy Spirit indwelling us, how he must be grieved if he sees anything of an unholy character in our lives, in our thoughts, in our ways. Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby you're sealed unto the day of redemption. Seems to me that the day of redemption looms before us as this tremendous blessing that lies ahead of the believer. When set free from every hindering element, he is going to enjoy all that God has purposed for him, and in the meantime, there is to be no grief in the Holy Spirit by our demeanor, by our ways. Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God. Now, again, I say if we want to do the things that please the Holy Spirit, be kind to one another, be tenderhearted, forgive one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you. Well, we can all answer to this as we are helped by the Lord to do the things that please him, and we are sure that when we do this, we'll have the unqualified support of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. Not grieving him, but doing the things that are consistent with the blessing that we have. Now we move to chapter 5. Wherefore, be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. Seems to me that all that follows rests upon this, that we are intelligent as to what the will of the Lord is for us. And once we are intelligent as to that, then the rest will follow. That we'll not be drunk with wine, we'll not be intoxicated by anything that belongs to this world. Not necessarily wine, we might be intoxicated with ambition, we might be intoxicated with desires that are perfectly permissible amongst men, not necessarily gross evil, but things that will take us away from the will of the Lord. Now the apostle says, don't be marked by that feature, be filled with the Spirit. Now some time ago, I read a little book that changed my thinking about this being filled with the Spirit. Naturally, in our usage of the language we speak about filling up a bottle, it's something from the outside that fills the bottle. But this brother pointed out that's not the way we think of it in the Christian life. The Holy Spirit is indwelling us already. It's not that some part of the Spirit comes into us and then another part and another part until we're filled up, that's not the idea. He's already indwelling us. But to be filled means to be taken over completely by his control and power and means the exclusion of anything that's preventing that power from operating in our lives. Now it seems to me that's a reasonable way to view the matter and I quite like it. If you don't like it, please tell me. Being filled with the Spirit, that is, everything has to be excluded that hinders the Spirit's power. It's not 90% and 10% of my own will. Understanding what the will of the Lord is, that means for every Christian a 100% acceptance of the will of the Lord, no reserve, no reluctance, no dark patches, the whole life given over to the will of the Lord. And when that is so, oh how free the Holy Spirit is to operate in us and promote in us the things that are precious and abiding. Now look, I think this follows from being filled with the Spirit, speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things and to God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. I suggest that there are three features that will inevitably follow if the Holy Spirit really is controlling our lives. He is full, or rather we are full of the Holy Spirit, we are filled with the Spirit. This attitude of joy and singing, my in past years didn't we get a great deal of joy in standing around the piano and singing these wonderful hymns, what a comfort it was. And didn't it bind the saints together? The enemy knows that music binds people together. Was there ever such a time when music played such a part in ideologies in this world? It did so in Nebuchadnezzar's day when he set up his great image on the plain of Jura. All the music that was there was to bind these different nations together in one solid object and that was to bow down and worship this image. And so it is we get in that great city that's in opposition to the things of the Lord in the book of Revelation, all the music that we find in it was all to draw souls away with its sensual power, oh what an evil thing it is. Oh how wonderful that when the saint is set free, when the saint is filled with the Spirit it produces this, all together, all filled with the Spirit, singing, happy psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, compositions that make much of God, make much of Christ, make much of the Holy Spirit and all the divine blessings that we have. These compositions are really teaching compositions, joyous compositions, comforting compositions and thank God we have many of them. Now we say these are not the Old Testament psalms, not the psalms of David and we say you couldn't possibly sing them as a Christian, not them all, some you can, but you couldn't possibly sing about vengeance on your enemies, you couldn't sing to the Lord today to come down and deal with your enemies in a very summery fashion, that would be contrary to the things that we've already spoken about, being tender hearted. No these psalms are New Testament psalms, New Testament compositions and those who know something about the language tell us that in Paul's second epistle to Timothy we have one of those hymns and so psalms, hymns, spiritual songs, whenever they were composed, as long as they are truthful ones, thank God we can sing them. We can't sing them all, some are sentimental, some are not true, some don't bear the light of scripture, well we're not going to retain them simply because we like the tune or the lyric, no it's truth that matters in a psalm, in a hymn, in a spiritual song that we can sing to make merry before the Lord. And then giving thanks, oh dear brethren what a wonderful Christian attitude this is, giving thanks. It's easy to mourn isn't it and to think we could be better off than we are, it's easy to complain about things that come across our pathway and I suppose in one way or another we're all guilty of it, it's easy to get upset, when we sit down and take account of what God has done for us, as we mentioned in these three early chapters, when we take account of the blessings that we have, in spite of the difficulties, oh we have abundant reasons for giving thanks and this is surely a proper attitude of a Christian. If there's something less than being filled with the spirit, it's that little bit that will produce the niggling and the mourning and the complaining, it's that little bit that will bring us down below the standard that God wants us to maintain and so it's so necessary to be filled with the Holy Spirit. And then submitting to each other in the fear of God, that is no standing aloof from each other, happy to be submitting to each other, if you think that I'm happy to go in with it provided it's the truth of course, we're willing to help, willing to share the exercise, willing to take a low place, willing to think others better than ourselves, oh it's so easy to say these things, but if we're filled with the spirit, they'll be living realities, living realities, the spirit will produce them in our hearts, incidentally when we're talking about being filled with the spirit, I think the family, the parents of John the Baptist and John the Baptist himself, it must be the most marvellous family in the Bible, Zacharias was filled with the spirit, Elizabeth was filled with the spirit, John the Baptist was filled with the spirit from the day of his birth, what a tremendous family, what a happy family that must have been, it didn't mean that Zacharias didn't make a mistake, he did, but what a happy family it must have been to be filled with the spirit, all their thinking, all their behaviour controlled and guided by the spirit, oh what a wonderful thing is held out for each one of us, to be filled with the spirit, this is the only exhortation that I know of in this respect, to be filled with the spirit, and it's a glorious possibility for you, for me, for every believer. Now we come to chapter 6, and we have this well-known reference to the whole armour of God that enabled us to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand, now perhaps it's important to remind each of us here that this armour is not to be put on against men and women in the flesh, this is against spiritual wickedness in high places, this is a power of evil controlled by Satan himself, and it's a very, very powerful influence, and we're all affected by it every day of our lives, and more so now, I believe as we come nearer the end, when even in this so-called Christian country, Satanic forces are operating on a scale that they have never done before, a very solemn thing, we have idolatry actually in this country, we have Satanic worship in this country, we have all forms of wickedness and evil of a spiritual character, and the Christian is exposed to its power and its influence, and so he requires the whole armour of God, there are unseen influences around that would cause us to deviate from the Christian pathway, and we need this armour, every part of it, we can't miss one part out because that will be an opportunity for Satan's power to operate through that omission. So I'm not going to read them all to you, I'm going to refer again to verse 17, the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. I suppose you've heard the story, it's been in circulation for a long time, of the brother who said he'd forgotten his sword, and he was reminded that it wasn't his sword, it was the spirit's sword, if it were our sword, well it would have been blunted long ago, perhaps broken and cast away, but it's the spirit's sword, it's the sword that he can use effectively in dealing with this tremendous evil power. And when we speak about this, we remember a time when our master the Lord Jesus confronted Satan for a period of 40 days and 40 nights, and incessantly he was attacked by Satan, tempted by every conceivable form of temptation. Three temptations are recorded for us, and they are sufficient to show us that Satan was defeated by the Lord Jesus, quoting the word of God. What an important thing it is, not only to read the word of God, but to have it memorized, so that at the appropriate moment, we can quote it to defeat those evil insinuations that are put into our minds. It says, take the helmet of salvation, and I believe there is a direct reference to what we require to having our minds guarded against these evil insinuations that are placed there. And once they are there and they do come into our minds, I'm sure you'll acknowledge that, it's the word of God that can put them out. It's the word of God that can defeat those evil insinuations that Satan places there. And it's a very, very effective weapon indeed. You remember in 2 Corinthians, Paul says, the weapons of our warfare are not carnal. He says we might walk after the flesh, but we don't war after the flesh. The weapons that we use, he says, they're mighty to the bringing down of strongholds. Every high thing that sets itself up in exaltation against God. Now, I believe that one of the weapons the Christian uses is the sword of the spirit. You remember when the opposers came to the Lord Jesus and questioned him, he says, ye do err, not knowing the scriptures or the power of God. That's how he defeated them, by quoting the word of God. Now, I've encouraged young believers, and I suppose it's true for older believers too, that in conversation with people who are extremely intellectual and clever, it's no use trying to defeat them by argument. They can perhaps defeat us quite easily. The important thing for us is to quote the word of God. And when we quote the word of God, let me say it reverently, we give the Holy Spirit the opportunity to use the sword effectively against those who oppose the truth. Now, he can use it in a better way than we can. So one says how valuable it is to quote the word of God. When Jeffrey Bull was in prison, solitary confinement in Tibet when he was captured by the communists, there were loudspeakers blaring every hour of the day, 24 hours, blaring into solitary confinement communist propaganda. What was it that kept him from going mad? The fact that he had memorized the word of God. And by being able to quote the word of God for his own comfort was enough to defeat the power of Satan in this insidious propaganda. And we are exposed to it today too, through the media, in conversation with people, and things become commonplace, and they're so easily taken on, and before we know where we are, we are being taken away from the pathway of the will of God. But the word of God, the divine guide that has been placed in our hands is the power that the spirit of God can use to defeat Satan's ends, and so rid us from this terrible influence. And make sure, dear believers, it's a powerful influence. It will come in a very subtle way, but a powerful way. Oh, how we must be on our guard against it. The helmet of salvation to guard the minds against these insidious thoughts that Satan places there. Seeds of doubt, seeds of fear, distrust, oh, how easily he can do this, and so our resistance is lowered and lowered, and before long, the time comes when it's so easy to slip away. Our resolves are down, our resistance is down, and the enemy has flitted away our resources, our defenses, and then he can come along with a blatant and open invitation to evil and to neglect the Lord Jesus, and off we go. How often this has been done, but the helmet of salvation, the sword of the spirit, these are the guides that the believer has, the helps that the believer has to withstand those evil influences. And lastly, verse 18, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. Is it not true that all prayers are in the spirit? Are they? Does scripture help us to understand that all prayers are in the spirit? For instance, we think of the story the Lord Jesus told of the two men who went up to the temple to pray. The Pharisee, he prayed within himself. Was that a prayer in the spirit? We believe that if it did reach the ear of God, it certainly was of no power whatsoever. It was a prayer in himself, for himself, an exaltation of himself, only concerned about himself, no feeling for his fellow man, all about himself and selfishness. And the other man, oh, he prayed in the spirit of self-judgment, really contrite heart, and we believe that was a prayer in the spirit. That was a prayer that the Holy Spirit could lend his power to and give effect to. And so we believe there are many prayers in scripture that indicate praying in the spirit and there may be other prayers that indicate otherwise. Now when Daniel read the book of Jeremiah and saw that the 70 years had a short time to run, perhaps another two years, he began to pray to God in relation to this promise that God had made, that after 70 years expired, he would take a remnant of the people out from Babylon and bring them back to the land of promise. Now Daniel began to pray and he prayed intelligently. He prayed about the city, he prayed about the land, he prayed about the people. Now here was a prayer in the spirit. It was an intelligent prayer, wasn't about himself, except confessing his failures, but he was praying for God's interest in God's land, in God's people, in God's city. Oh, that was an intelligent prayer, a prayer in the spirit. When Hannah prayed and made the promise that if she got what she asked for, she would hand it over to God, there was a prayer in the spirit, a prayer of genuine desire that was for the Lord's glory. It was going to be for her blessing too, but eventually for God's glory and what a man God gave to her, Samuel, who became the link between the decadent period of Israel and his restoration under David and Solomon. So we could go on, Jabez, what a prayer that was, prayer in the spirit, prayed for spiritual enlargement, that sin might not grieve him. We could have connected that with grieving the Holy Spirit. He says, I don't want to be grieved by sin. How much more ought we to be concerned that we don't grieve the Holy Spirit by sin? But Jabez prayed intensely that God would enlarge his coasts, bless him, and help him and make him an honored person, and God gave to him his request, a prayer in the spirit. When we come to Paul's prayers in this epistle, what marvelous prayers they are. He's not asking for himself. He's not asking for improved conditions. He's in the prison. It's one of the prison epistles. No, Paul is concerned about God's interests, about Christ's interests, and I think that should be a very important part in our prayer meeting, the interest of the Lord and his people in their growth, in their enlargement, in their spiritual apprehension. So we have to pray in the spirit, not praying to the brethren, not giving them a lecture, not reminding some of the brothers of their faults or some of the sisters of their faults. That's not praying in the spirit. Praying earnestly, feelingly, intelligently as to what is proper in the sight of the Lord and praying for its prosperity. I think it's a wonderful thing to be in line with the spirit's mind, to pray in such a way that he can support us and help us and encourage us in those prayers. Not praying in the flesh, not listening to how many amens are said to our prayers indicating universal consent, but concerned about how heaven views our prayers. That's more important than anything else. And so Paul says, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit and watching their undo with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. It's a good thing to have an enlarged view of the requirements of the Lord amongst his people. I should say the requirements of the Lord's people. There are various magazines available, various sources of information available, and we read them and we learn what the Lord is doing in other parts of the world. And we read about the Lord's servants asking for prayer, just as Paul did here. Paul says, pray for me, pray that I may get utterance in the course of my ministry. And so these dear servants in many parts of the world today, they're asking for our prayers. We are not preachers, we're not expositors, we're not doing something miraculous. What a wonderful thing it is to be a prayer partner, to be a help for those who really require it in the difficulties that they are facing, dangerous situations, trying situations, not very congenial circumstances, disappointment too, as persons are obviously making progress and then suddenly they fall away and what sadness in the hearts of the Lord's servants as they see this, know how wonderful it is when they feel there are people who are praying. That's a very powerful service, praying in the spirit. And I believe one of the main things is praying intelligently. You know what you're praying for and praying specifically for, not an enlarged prayer that really boiled down, you don't know what's being prayed for, but praying for specific things that the Lord has placed upon your heart and the Holy Spirit supporting it. Well, now, these are just a few remarks about these very important features connected with the gift of the Holy Spirit and I think you'll agree with me that it's a very valuable exercise to be in line with these things in view of the wondrous place that God has given to us in Christ and the wondrous blessing that we are indwelt by the Spirit, never to be taken from us, to abide with us forever, this glorious possession that we have and what a wonderful thing it is. And thank God we all experience it in one way or another, the fact that we pray to the Lord, we pray to the Father, is the evidence of the Spirit's help in this, wonderful blessings indeed, help that we get day by day, power not of our own, oh, the power that worketh in us, says Paul, this is going to secure for God a really wide and intelligent and established response, not only in time, but for all eternity. May we be encouraged, for his name's sake. Amen. Amen. …

… I think it will be obvious from the portion that I emphasize that we want to say a word tonight about the pouring out of the Holy Spirit. Very, very important truth indeed. Before we do so, let us speak for a moment about another pouring out, that is, the Lord Jesus pouring out his precious blood. He said this, you remember when he inaugurated the supper, when he directed the disciples how they were to remember him in his absence, and when he partook of the cup with them he said, this is my blood poured out for you. Very, very wonderful thing for our souls to consider. If I understand the expression correctly, it means that there is no reluctance, no restraint, no holding back. The pouring out is the evidence of the love that lies behind it. When we think of expressions like this in relation to the Lord Jesus, we understand the greatness of his love and the power of his love. You remember in Psalm 22, it was said of him prophetically, I am poured out like water. When we read in Isaiah 53, he had poured out his soul unto death. We get the impression of one who gives himself over completely to this great task in hand, to give his life and no holding back, no restraint. His love is so great, so powerful, that he's prepared to go the full distance and express his love in this wonderful way. And we can say this without any question, dear brethren, that if there had been no pouring out of that wonderful life of the Lord Jesus, there would have been no pouring out of the Holy Spirit. The portion that we have read together in Acts 2 clearly demonstrates this, that Peter, standing up in the power of the Holy Spirit, was able to minister in such a wonderful way concerning the life, the death, the resurrection, and the ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ. The essentials, the things that were necessary, the vital things of the Christian faith before the Holy Spirit was poured forth in all his power and in all his greatness. Marvelous truth for our souls to consider. First of all, the love of the Lord Jesus in the giving up of his life, in all its fullness, in all its greatness and glory, able to give it up fully, freely, without any restraint or reluctance. What a wonderful person, and he is our Savior. And so we want to consider these scriptures together. We might again refer to passages in the Old Testament before we begin to consider them, and we find that this pouring out of oil was a very significant thing. Twice in the history of Jacob we find him pouring oil upon the pillars that he erected, and of course a beautiful type of the Lord Jesus. I believe this pouring out of the oil again is an indication of what comes in all its fullness on the day of Pentecost, and thank God we are in the gain of it today. We find the pouring out of the oil upon the head of Aaron the high priest. We find the pouring out of the oil upon Saul, the first king of Israel. We find it poured out on the head of Jehu when Elisha anointed him. There are many, many references, and I believe they all typify this great event that we find in the history of the beginning of the church, in the second chapter of the Acts, all indicating the fullness of the coming of the Holy Spirit. What a thing for our souls to take account of. It's very marvelous to take account of the prophecies that God gives in the book of Isaiah and in the book of Ezekiel concerning what he will do in the future when he pours out his spirit upon the nation of Israel. They'll be gathered from the four corners of the earth. They'll multiply. They'll grow. They'll have liberty. They'll dwell in safe and secured places. And all this is consequent upon the pouring out of his spirit upon them. And the prophecy that we find mentioned in Acts 2 is a partial fulfillment of what will be fully fulfilled when it's poured out upon the nation of Israel. I think you will agree with me that in Acts 2 we don't see the moon changing. We don't see all these signs that Joel speaks about. Neither do we find redemption, salvation in Jerusalem and in Zion in the way that Joel prophesies. That all lies in the future. But within the scope of that prophecy, Peter can say, this is what you're seeing now. An outpouring of the Holy Spirit with definite signs following it. And those signs were the giving of the gift of tongues and those things being spoken to all the different people who were gathered there in Jerusalem. It was the mighty outpouring of the Spirit of God. Now my concern, dear brethren, is are we fully aware, I'm speaking for myself, are we fully aware that that outpouring in all its value and power is still with us? It isn't that it began to pour out in that day and then gradually the pouring out diminished until there's only a drip here and there. That's not the idea at all. The outpouring of the Spirit is that the fullness of the Spirit's power and presence and person was found at Pentecost and has never been withdrawn. And if we see definite features in that early day secured by the Holy Spirit, is it too much to expect that we should find those same features today? The Spirit is still here, no diminishing in his power, no diminishing in his influence. His greatness is with us, his presence is with us, and all the help and encouragement that he can give is open for those who are ready to lay themselves out to receive it. And so we want to see this. But first of all, what a moment that was in that upper room. 120 people gathered together, 120 names, individual names all known to heaven, and they're gathered there and they're praying. They were obedient to the Lord's directions, tarry ye in Jerusalem until you be endued with power from on high. What a wonderful way to spend the time, prayer, waiting for the promise of the Father. And when it did come, what a mighty thing it was. Now we speak a great deal about the Incarnation and thank God for that great event. We don't want to minimize it, we don't want to forget it, what a tremendous thing it was for the Son of God to come into this world. We don't want to forget that in the slightest. And I believe the incoming of the Holy Spirit is commendatory with that great descent from glory when the Son of God became a little babe. The descent of the Holy Spirit co-equal with the Father and the Son into this world is an event of the greatest possible magnitude. And of course when he came into that upper room it was, as we read together, a mighty rushing noise. It was known by all and it filled the whole room. What a tremendous presence that must have been. And then the tongues of fire sat upon each one. Each one was blessed by the incoming of the Spirit. They were indwelt by the Spirit. Wonderful event. And we believe from further teaching that we find in the epistles, then the body of Christ was formed according to Paul's statement in 1st Corinthians 12. In the power of one spirit we are all baptized into one body. An event that took place then that never needs to be repeated. The body was formed and the body is always looked upon as a complete thing at any given time upon earth. The Holy Spirit formed it. The Holy Spirit maintains it. And this is something that's infinitely beyond our understanding. How Christians all in all different sects and denominations and companies, they form one body in spite of the weakness that we see because this is maintained in the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. Thank God for that. What an event when it began then at Pentecost. The house of God was formed. The family of the Father was formed. All these wonderful things were formed because Christ had done the work. The Spirit had come and now he indwelt all those believers at that particular moment. Then we find Peter refuting those charges that they were drunk. Oh no, he says, we were the greater power than that. He was speaking under the power of the Spirit and he emphasized this and said what we're doing now is really because of the fulfillment of the prophecy of Joel. I think you will agree with me that it's a partial fulfillment. Those of you who are Mr. Darby's translation, if you look at one of his footnotes in the Gospel of Matthew, you'll see how Mr. Darby explains the different prophecies that are mentioned in the New Testament, particularly in Matthew, how there is a literal fulfillment or a partial fulfillment or the prophecy came within the scope of interpretation. Very, very interesting. And so we find in this prophecy of Joel on the day of Pentecost there is a partial fulfillment of it and it gives Peter the opportunity to say no this isn't anything connected with earth. This is something that's come from heaven. This is the descent of the Holy Spirit and in the power of that Spirit he presented the greatness of Christ. Now this surely must always be the evidence of the Spirit's control and power amongst us. In any company of believers if there isn't a presentation of the greatness and glory of Christ it's a clear indication that the Spirit is not getting his way amongst them. This is the prime activity of the Holy Spirit. You remember the Lord Jesus said this? He said, he shall glorify me. He shall take of mine and show it unto you. Now this wasn't an assembly gathering but this was a public preaching and it was still the Spirit's power through Peter was magnifying Christ. I believe we can say clearly and I know we can on the authority of Scripture that this is one of the most evident signs that the Holy Spirit is acting amongst believers when Christ is being glorified. If he is pushed into the background and service is occupying the mind, even if the Holy Spirit is more prominent in the teaching than the Lord Jesus, I think we could say very definitely that there's something wrong here because the Lord says he shall not speak of himself. He shall glorify me. He shall take of mine and show it unto you. So there's the first thing that I say we should look for in our gatherings and thank God it is there without any question. Thank God it is there. There is a ministry of Christ, his glory, his greatness, his power, all that he is. What a varied presentation there is of our Lord Jesus Christ and we are deeply thankful for that. But then Peter had to present this word to the consciences of those who were listening and he went on to say that Christ was at the right hand of God and it says in verse 33, therefore being by the right hand of God exalted and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this or he hath poured it forth which ye now see and hear. I remember the first time I heard what I'm going to say it made me pick up my ears and I wondered if I was hearing correctly and the statement was the Lord Jesus received the Holy Spirit for the second time. I'd never heard that before and I questioned it and I began to inquire about it and then I began to see how right it was and discovered too that Mr. Darby and Dr. Woolston and other ministers of truth they'd said this many many years ago it wasn't anything new perhaps it was something that had been lost sight of. The Lord Jesus as the Messiah was anointed with the Holy Spirit and that was for his own service here in this world and all that he did and all that he said was in the power of the Spirit he said so himself. Peter says it in Acts chapter 10 anointed by the Spirit in view of his service but now the Lord Jesus is receiving the Spirit from the Father and that's what Peter says therefore being by the right hand of God exalted and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit he receives the Spirit from the Father a second time not now for himself but to bestow upon those who are upon earth that their service might be in that power not in their own powers however intelligent however great the service that was to be conducted upon earth was to be in the power of the Holy Spirit so he receives it from his father conveys it to his own upon earth and here is Peter speaking in that power and oh what power it was when we find that 3,000 souls were converted well that was a marvelous day dear brethren I know we're all concerned about it how few souls are converted in our halls one of the reasons of course is how few souls come into our home our halls who are unconverted but in the past some have been in our halls and they haven't been converted why I can't answer that but I'm sure it should be something to search our hearts it's the evidence of the Spirit's power it's the Spirit who convicts it's the Spirit who draws to Christ you remember in Peter it says the Holy Ghost he accompanies those who preach the gospel his power his service his drawing leads souls to accept the Lord Jesus his power convicts oh that we might pray more and more that when unconverted people are in the presence of the gospel that is preached in our halls that they will be converted that the Holy Spirit will lead them to the Lord Jesus of course I think we should say that in the New Testament there isn't any indication that the main means of converting souls should be in halls I think we have to face the fact that every believer is an evangelist in his own right not perhaps in the strict sense that scripture speaks about an evangelist but every believer has the opportunity at some time or other to say a word for the Lord or to pass on a track to someone that certainly is something that the Holy Spirit can use evangelists of course are distinct gifts raised up by the Lord empowered by the Lord and the mark of an evangelist isn't that he's a grand preacher the mark of an evangelist is he gets souls he brings them to the Lord Jesus and so here was one of the first evidences along with the presentation of the glory of Christ the salvation of precious souls well that's wonderful what happened afterwards they repented they accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior and they received the gift of the Holy Spirit that's what Paul that's what Peter promised them that if they accepted Christ they would receive the gift the gift that was to all then it says they were baptized I don't know what it is here I remember when I professed to love the Lord and accepted him as my Savior it was more than a year before I was baptized maybe some are longer maybe some are a lot shorter but here we find instantly those people seem to understand what was required of them that having accepted the Lord Jesus Christ they immediately got baptized they immediately cut themselves off from all that they were formerly connected with and said virtually we are going to live for Christ well that's an amazing thing and we believe it's an evidence of the power of the Spirit indicating to those people who had trusted the Lord that this was the right thing for them to do they believed they were baptized and then they continued to walk in a way that's very powerful indeed they continued to walk in the teaching and fellowship of the Apostles and in the breaking of bread in prayers my they were quick learners no doubt this was the beginning of the church's period on earth oh what power there was there were no hindrances there were no divisions there were no heresies there was power in this tremendous event what an event it was and immediately those souls that were brought into contact with Christ they got moving right away there was power power of the Spirit directing them what to do and so they continued or a stronger word as we have in Mr. Darby's translation they persevered in the teaching first of all of the Apostles then the fellowship of the Apostles and then the breaking of bread and then prayers and we want to say a little about these things the teaching of the Apostles would be all that they learned in company with the Lord Jesus all those wonderful discourses that we have written in our Bibles and perhaps many many other things that are not recorded for us but very definitely what we have recorded these things would be handed on to those new converts they would tell them now this is what the Lord demanded of us this is what he demands of you it's the Lord who is doing it we are only his servants in conveying these things to you what faithfulness is required then in handing on the truth to those who are newly converted not letting them grow themselves if they're left to themselves they won't grow this was impressed upon us in Newcastle in the brothers meetings the necessity for shepherding and this is one of the prime concerns of a shepherd is to see that his sheep are properly fed to see that the lambs are properly cared for and I believe Peter and the Apostles would see to it that these new converts were instructed as to the truth that the Lord had imparted to them it was their responsibility and they fulfilled it and when these new converts learned they persevered in these things they didn't start and say well we'll have a discussion about them discussions don't get us very far because you can only go to the level of the knowledge that is there so it's very important that there is proper teaching and accepted like the Bereans who were more noble than those in Thessalonica they accepted the word with readiness of mind and then they searched the scriptures to see if these things were so not to get round about them to see if they weren't so as we find so often today the Bereans they were noble in accepting what was presented to them so these early converts they made rapid progress rapid progress because I believe first of all they accepted the teaching that was given to them by the Apostles and then the fellowship that's a precious thing when the Lord Jesus chose 12 from many many disciples if you read the account in the Gospels you'll see that the Lord had many disciples but from out of them he chose 12 they were different temperaments I don't suppose they would ever have desired to be together apart from the Lord calling them to himself and there was the fellowship he was the center of it he had called them he held them together he blessed them and he provided everything that was necessary for them now those new converts were brought into that fellowship the only fellowship that is owned upon earth at the present moment the fellowship of God's Son I know that in localities we make little gatherings and say well this is the fellowship for the young people we have no quarrel about that kind of thing it's a simple idea it's a term to indicate we're coming together the only fellowship that the Holy Spirit gives unqualified support to is the fellowship of God's Son there is no other fellowship any other fellowship that's arranged by man has its origin in man this fellowship has its origin in heaven Christ is the center everyone brought to him is part of that fellowship they're in it and all the dignity of it and of course as Corinthians teaches they are responsible to act truly in the light of it but they persevered in it they didn't go a little while and then give up they kept at it and perhaps that's one of the reasons for the declension that we see today that so many have given up the pathway has perhaps been too demanding too much demand on our time on what we are and what we desire so they've given up but those people kept at it and I believe dear brethren praise God the Holy Spirit is here today to teach us to and also to help us to keep at it to persevere in this wonderful fellowship into which we've been brought and the yes that was a special a special event in fact it was the outward expression of this fellowship into which they have been brought every time they broke the bread they remembered first of all the greatness of the body of Christ his own personal body in which he suffered on the cross in order to bring us into blessing that was the first thing but secondly that bread that was broken spoke about the one body of believers the mystical body if you like of Christ upon earth and every time that bread was broken there was a public expression of this wonderful fellowship and so they continued in that wasn't twice a year or four times a year it was the old idea in the Church of Scotland that if you broke bread too often it might become a commonplace thing so they only had it four times a year maybe less in some places and this was the idea behind it we don't want to do this too often it will reduce this wonderful feast to a commonplace thing but how wrong they were have we ever found it commonplace gathering together Lord's Day morning after Lord's Day morning why it's one thing that we enjoy it never grows old whether there's half a dozen of us or 600 doesn't matter we're remembering the Lord he's preeminently before us know how the Holy Spirit occupies us with him focuses our attention on him what he did on the cross what he's doing now but himself and these people they persevere in the breaking of bread sad day for us if we feel we are too busy in Christian service to gather together to the Lord's name to remember him it would be a sad day we would be too busy busier than the Lord intends us to be oh how we should persevere and I'm sure we're glad to persevere in this great matter of breaking bread remembering the Lord and then prayers ah yes thank God for prayers if you were gathered in the adjoining room only a few of the great mass of people upon earth at the present moment who pray in relation to the Lord's interests might be small gatherings it might be large gatherings but thank God for prayers I believe what's emphasized here is the assembly prayers the collective prayers when Christians gather together to pray and what a sad neglect that has been of that important meeting those of you who have read mr. McIntosh's little book on prayer will find that he bemoaned the fact in his day and that was perhaps in the days when brethren were very much stronger and united than they are now so it was a problem then people neglecting prayer oh how we need to maintain prayer collectively and individually they persevered at it and if there are difficulties we are reminded that this spirit has been poured out he's here today in all his fullness just as he was on the day of Pentecost and if there are difficulties in our lives and in our meetings he's there to help and to support and to lead and to guide but that wasn't the end they were all together they were unified in care here's this matter of shepherding that we've been speaking about already they were all together and they were ready to bestow what they had for the benefit of those who were in need now in this affluent materialistic society there isn't so much need as there used to be someone was talking yes it was mrs. West and she was talking today about the ragged school that she used to attend and help in well there aren't any ragged schools now are there I don't think so people are better off than ever they were and so there aren't the same opportunities for this kind of service as there was in the past I suppose the Lord will lead us to cases where there is need and we should be alive to any opportunity to show kindness where there is a need and it certainly would be one of the marks of the Holy Spirit to show care and concern for the Saints well there might not be financial need but there's always the need of loneliness a visit a card a letter and when the opportunity occurs a kind word plenty of spiritual need plenty of weakness and depression and physical need plenty of that amongst the Saints of God and amongst the unconverted too but principally here it's the evidence of the Spirit he's the Spirit of grace he's the one who empowers us to go with the right kind of influence not in a patronizing here but in the same compassionate way that the Lord went and visited people and helped them and encouraged them and so they were all together and they had care for each other and they praised God he is another evidence of the Holy Spirit's presence and power an outflowing of the heart to God in praise and in worship is that amongst us yet praise God it is we're thankful where it's found in any company of Christians praise and worship ascending to God in the power of the Holy Spirit now you say my heart sometime is so cold so is mine and when it gets cold I have to get on my knees and ask help from the Lord to be warmed up and as we get into his presence yes he helps us empowers us by spirit so that we can praise but if we succumb to the coldness don't get into the Lord's presence we get colder and colder till we're frozen and then we can't praise and so we've got to get into the Lord's presence of our hearts warmed by his own touch of love and kindness and then we're able to praise get rid of the hindering elements whatever they might be then they had a good testimony people roundabout they took account of them they saw the kind of people that they were they had a good report people were watching them there was a change in those people formerly they've been occupied with rites and ceremonies in the Judaic Judaistic faith now all this was changed and they were showing love to each other they were showing features of Christ in their daily walk oh what a change there was people saw it took account of it and it caused them to be concerned well do people see that in me do they see it in you is there something in our lives that they can take account of and say well these people have something that's really worthwhile yes thank God we've had that expression oh we might see it more and more here is the evidence of the pouring out of the spirit in those early days and they continued daily wasn't a Sunday business or a midweek business it was a daily business daily they were in the temple praising the Lord and having good report amongst the people a daily matter thank God for that too day by day the practice of Christian virtues in the power of the Holy Spirit well where would we have been if we hadn't had the indwelling spirit surely the fact that we are still going on whether we're young or middle-aged or old matters not if we're going on with a desire to be true to Christ I believe is the evidence of the Spirit's direction and control wonderful evidence that these people had of the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit now remember we said at the beginning it was a pouring out that exists to the present moment that pouring out hasn't been diminished wherever there is a desire to follow in the same way as those early believers did I believe the Holy Spirit will encourage will help and support now we move over to act 10 which is very interesting because in some measure it was a replica of what happened on the day of Pentecost you remember that the Lord said to Peter that he would give him the keys of the kingdom and you've had this often but it bears repeating that Peter used those keys the first one when he opened the door to the Jews on the day of Pentecost and the second one when he opened the door to the Gentiles in the house of Cornelius and we find the same features that happened at Pentecost happened in the home of Cornelius and his friends that when there was a presentation of Christ by the Lord's servant in the power of the Spirit there was a ready acceptance of that word and all those people were converted Christ was presented not something novel not a gimmick not something of man's idea and imagination to attract people the presentation of Christ a clear and distinct presentation of the man who went about doing good who died on the cross who rose out from amongst the dead who was seated at God's right hand and they believed it and immediately they were sealed with the Holy Spirit they were able to speak with tongues just as they did on the day of Pentecost and then they were baptized most remarkable happening here in the house of this Gentile and we believe that this is clearly why these things happen that when the Gentiles received the Spirit in exactly the same way as the Jews did the Jews couldn't say ah those at Jerusalem the old divine center have received the Spirit in a better way than the Gentiles received it the Lord saw to it that that kind of claim wouldn't be met because in the next chapter when there's some discussion about this they have to admit that the Gentiles had been blessed in exactly the same way as the Jews had now I believe this was all preparing the ground for the ministry by Paul as we find it in the epistle to the Ephesians where he demonstrates so clearly that the great barrier between Jew and Gentile had been broken down forever and now through one spirit they both had access to the Father the great revelation of God as Father and Jew and Gentile privileged to draw near to him that of course wasn't seen as yet that still had to come in the development of the truth by the Spirit but here we see it unfolding in actual practice before the truth of it was revealed to them what a wonderful moment again the Spirit was poured forth that's what it was the power of the Spirit was poured forth wasn't that he came again a second time it's the activity of the Holy Spirit demonstrating his power and service in this wonderful way and it produced the same kind of results here was a home his friends he and his friends were converted they received the word of salvation they were baptized and I believe without any doubt they would continue in the same way as those did on the day of Pentecost now for a few moments and the epistle to Titus verse 6 which he poured out which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior I ought to have said this at the beginning you remember in Romans chapter 5 in our authorized version our excellent authorized version it says the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit given to us now that one there is exactly the same as we've been emphasizing it means the love of God was poured forth into our hearts by the Holy Spirit given to us here we find it in the authorized again which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior which he poured forth on us abundantly or richly through Jesus Christ our Savior then he speaks about justification speaks about heirs speaks about the hope of eternal life what wonderful things have come to life since the Spirit of God has come wonderful thing to be saved wonderful thing to know that our sins are gone but the Spirit wants us to understand that we're justified we have a standing before God in righteousness standing that no one can destroy it's founded on the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ but it wants us to understand to that we are heirs how rich we are we have wonderful possessions we may not have a great deal as far as this world is concerned but we certainly have a marvelous inheritance as far as the next world is concerned when Christ takes to himself his airship the nations belong to him the world belongs to him when he sets up his kingdom publicly in this world as so many scriptures demonstrate that after the rapture there will be a period of untold sorrow in this world when they'll reap the consequences of their maladministration and their folly and sin and opposition against God and that will be dealt with by the Lord Jesus in his power and glory when he comes to set up his kingdom thank God that those who have suffered with him now shall reign with him then they shall be heirs that is they are joint heirs with Christ and they shall share in that administration and what a wonderful day what a wonderful recompense that will be for those who have shared in the reproach of Christ at the present moment and perhaps we don't know a great deal about reproach in this country may be another reason why there has been such a declension when people have to fight for what they possess when they have to sacrifice and suffer for what they possess then they value it if we get it easy then we don't value it and it's so easy to give it up many many saints have had to fight for what they possess I don't mean literally fighting with human arms but contending for what they believe having to contend and sacrifice and suffer reproach and then they were able to appreciate and value the divine things that they had secured well many have done this down through the ages of the Christian testimony it may be yet who knows that more difficult times are to come upon lands that have seen comparative peace and quietness this country has seen the most awful persecutions against real believers who knows it might return again Paul says they who are godly will suffer persecution at the moment we don't see much of it in this country I wouldn't like to pray for persecution I don't know how I might stand in the face of persecution I would like to be faithful I would like to be loyal and true and stand but I don't know I'm so weak naturally but thank God when the time comes if any is called any are called to stand for Christ in a dark day they will receive help they will receive power the Holy Spirit will empower them no thank God spirit here is looking on to the future ears according to the hope of eternal life the hope of eternal life why I thought we had eternal life now thank God we have John possesses eternal life as a present possession they who believe in the Sun have eternal life Paul presents it in its finality when in the presence of Christ beyond the sphere of reproach and opposition and limitation eternal life is enjoyed in all its fullness in the presence of Christ no discrepancy between the teaching of John and the teaching of Paul eternal life John yes a present possession Paul yes to end where it will be enjoyed in all its fullness in the presence of Christ no wonder Paul says he has shed forth it abundantly or if you like mr. Darby's translation richly he is an added word not only poured forth but poured forth richly in all its fullness and all its value with all the blessings it has brought and praise God after nearly 2,000 years that richness has not diminished these blessings are still here they're all bound up in the person of Christ at God's right hand they're all available for us in the service of the Holy Spirit now may we be encouraged to lay hold of them more and more and not forget this tremendous blessing that is with the Church of God the Holy Spirit is here divine person in all his glory and greatness coequal with the Father and the Son he is here he is indwelling each of us and is the power for every Christian responsibility and the power for every Christian privilege may we be encouraged for his namesake …

… I think it's obvious from the scriptures that we have read together that we want to say a word tonight about the Spirit speaking. All the scriptures that we have read emphasize this wonderful truth that the Spirit speaks, makes his voice to be heard, and speaks in an authoritative way. When we remember that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are co-equal in person and glory and might and will and power, we can understand that the speaking of the Spirit is as authoritative as the speaking of the Lord Jesus, as the speaking of the Father. But we've read a few verses together and they're all in different contexts and they all present different features of truth, but they are all the Spirit's voice speaking. The first one in John chapter 16 is the Lord instructing his disciples as to what the Spirit would be to them after he went back to glory, that is the Lord Jesus. He says, I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. It wasn't that they were lacking in intelligence, it was that they couldn't possibly bear the truths, understand the truths that he wanted to tell them, because they had not yet the gift of the Holy Spirit. The work of Christ had yet to be accomplished, the Lord Jesus had yet to go back to glory, and after that was done, as you all know, the Holy Spirit came down and indwelt each believer in Christ. That being so, each believer then had the power, the potentiality, to understand every truth that was presented to them. Now, no Christian should be ignorant as to the mind of the Lord. It's not a question of natural ability, it's a question of being in a moral condition with a teachable mind, a desire to learn, for the indwelling Spirit is the power to understand and learn the truth of God. So when the Lord Jesus says, you cannot bear them now, it wasn't because there was anything lacking in them, naturally speaking. In fact, they had been very well taught by him, but there were many, many wonderful things that he wanted to tell them, but spiritually they weren't competent to take them in. In the epistle to the Corinthians and in the epistle to the Hebrews, it's another story. Paul wanted to tell them the most wonderful things that were in his heart, but he had to refrain, not because they were lacking in intelligence, their moral condition was bad. There were divisions, there was evil, there were many things in the Corinthian assembly that prevented the Apostle from opening out his heart to unveil to them the great things of God. The moral condition was wrong. In the epistle to the Hebrews, it's the same. They ought to have been teachers. Instead of that, the Apostle was feeding them with milk. They were just like babes. Again, because there were difficulties in regard of teaching. They weren't following the teaching correctly. They were getting mixed up with Judaistic thoughts, and so the Apostle was unable to unfold to them the great things of God. Now, these are warnings to us. First of all, not to depend upon our natural ability to understand the truth of God. We have the Holy Spirit to teach us, and we'll see in a moment that this is explained for us in 1 Corinthians 2. The Holy Spirit is the power by which every Christian understands the truth of God. There is no other way of understanding. Mental acquisition of the Word and spiritual appropriation of the Word are two entirely different things. We could know the book, the Bible, from cover to cover. We could memorize it. We could understand the stories, the teachings. By mental acquisition, it would have no power in forming us after Christ. But spiritually, when we apprehend the Word, we appropriate and we obey it. Then we find that spiritual formation takes place. Then, we have to pay attention to our moral condition. We cannot go on with sin. We cannot go on with dishonoring the Lord and expect the unqualified power of the Spirit in teaching us. It just doesn't work. I've often said that you could go to university. You could be the most debauched person in university. But if you apply yourself to the teaching, you hear your tutors, you study, then you can acquire whatever you set out to acquire. You can get your degree with honors, your moral condition doesn't really matter. That doesn't work in divine things. There is no progress if there is any flirting with the world, any sin in the life, anything that is dishonoring to the Lord Jesus. You cannot acquire the truth of God in its formative character unless there is a moral condition. Always remember, and I'm sure you do, that the characteristic name of the Spirit is the Holy Spirit. He cannot walk alongside or with anything that is dishonoring to the Lord Jesus Christ or inconsistent with himself. We often talk about the causes of declension. Perhaps here is another one. We fail to recognize the tremendous greatness of the person of the Holy Spirit and the part that he has in our teaching and forming us after Christ. So, he says, the Lord, how be it when he, the Spirit of truth, is come. One likes to think of this description of the Holy Spirit as combating the error that was then and now has multiplied in many, many forms. What a tremendous amount of error there is in this world. Sex and parties and man's ideas and all kinds of traditions, and they're all combating the truth. But the Spirit is the great barrier against that. We're thankful that the Holy Spirit's presence in the world at the present moment, in the saints and with the saints, is the great barrier against error possibly taking the chief place and overcoming the saints and the testimony of Christianity disappearing. We believe that the presence and power of the Holy Spirit is the divine guarantee that truth will be maintained right to the very end. When you come to a position where someone says this is my apprehension of the truth and another one says well this is my apprehension of the truth and they're diametrically opposed to each other, the possibility is they may both be wrong. One may be right, of course, but you can be sure that if there is a waiting upon the Holy Spirit, truth will eventually be arrived at where there is a teachable obedient spirit, the Spirit of truth. How thankful we are in spite of the dark ages that the church has gone through, that now nearing the end of the church's period, there is a tremendous amount of truth available for the saints of God and thank God too in operation. And we owe that to the Holy Spirit and of course to the Lord Jesus Christ who personally is the truth and exemplified it in his person while here below. The Spirit is the truth. Subjectively he applies himself to forming that in us so that we are consistent with what has been set out perfectly in our Lord Jesus Christ. Oh how wonderful that the Spirit of truth has come. Says he will guide you into all truth. There is a danger and I think we are all prone to it that we reach a certain stage and we're quite content. Our sins are gone through belief in Christ. We know a little about justification. This is our standing before God and some other forms of truth and we're quite content. What says the Lord? All truth. He will guide you into all truth and what a tremendous scope that is. So for the disciples preeminently, for this instruction was for them and by extension to us, there is the possibility of entering into all truth. The whole scope of Christian teaching. Now having said that, that doesn't mean that it is possible for each of us or any of us to arrive at this in perfection. Oh what a breadth of truth there is. What a tremendous amount of teaching there is in the New Testament. In the personal teaching of Christ, in the teaching of the Apostles, what a tremendous breadth of truth. Fine distinctions of meaning, deep presentations of prophecy, presentation of the person of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, the greatness of the church, greatness of the blessings that we have in Christ, all the different names of the Lord Jesus and their meanings. Oh what a realm of truth there is. Sad, sad day if we thought that we had arrived at our knowledge of the truth. Well it would be our knowledge. It certainly wouldn't be the divine standard of knowledge for that's so extensive, so profound and yet open for us all in the power and service of the Holy Spirit. I think we should be profoundly thankful for what we have circulating in our meetings. What a tremendous knowledge there is. How thankful we are. We read recently and we've known it recently, we've experienced it, of people who have been in a church for 40, 50 years and they come along to the little meetings that we have and they say they're hearing things that they've never heard before. Isn't that sad? How sad it is that in a company that professedly is gathered to the name of the Lord, they are a Christian company and yet the very fundamentals, the very simplest things of Christianity are practically unknown. That's not true everywhere of course. There are exceptions. How thankful we should be and yet sometimes how careless we can be, how casual and how unthankful for the wonderful things that we hear ministered to us. Maybe because we've heard them so often that they become commonplace to us. Oh, we hope not. That these truths are valued, they are precious and to let us never forget that most of them, if not all of them, were secured by brothers applying themselves and sacrificing themselves to get those truths and then to convey them to us. Some of them long since dead, but what they found written for us in their books and thank God in some measure in circulation in our little meetings. Oh, let us value the whole scope of truth that we find and that is available for us. He will guide you into all truth for he shall not speak of himself or from himself. It's not that the Spirit is speaking as an individual, as separate from the Father and the Son. He speaks. He gives the truth in accord with the Father and the Son. They are divine. They work together one will, one purpose and if the Spirit is speaking, he's speaking all that's true of the Father, all that's true of the Son. But he is the one who's speaking here. I've often heard that this is the Spirit's day. The Lord is in glory having completed the work and what is going on in earth, true coming through the Lord Jesus, but coming to us in the power and service of the Holy Spirit. He shall not speak of himself or from himself, but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak and he will show you things to come. Then we see the service of the Holy Spirit willing to hear these great distinctive truths that belong to the Christian era. He hears them, he comes to earth, he's with the church, he's indwelling every believer and he speaks what he has heard, just like the Lord Jesus. You remember it says of the Lord, morning by morning he openeth mine ear that I may be able to speak a word to those who are weary. The Lord Jesus received his words from his Father. The words that I speak are not mine own, they are from my Father and he received them from the Father, he spoke them and people were blessed by them. The Spirit takes the same place of service, hears the words, conveys them to those who are listening and divine formation takes place. He will show you things to come. Now whether that was the truth of the church and all the great and glorious things connected with that in the Christian realm or whether we're looking forward into the future, the unfolding of the great prophetic teachings, I wouldn't be free to say dogmatically, it may involve both. That the Spirit has made known the things that are to come in the future is abundantly clear as we read the New Testament. Politicians, men and women of this world are very uneasy at the present moment. What does the future hold for them? All these protest meetings, all the evidence of concern, the future is very dark and foreboding and uncertain and we can understand the fears of men and women but the Christian should never be governed by these things because the future is not uncertain for the Christian. Whatever might happen before the church is gone is another matter that indeed is uncertain. No one knows what a day will bring forth but the eventual future is plainly stated in the Word of God by the Spirit for our understanding. I don't know how long the church will be here but eventually it will be caught up to be with Christ in glory. After that there will be a comparatively short time when various judgments will take place upon earth and then there will be that glorious reign of a thousand years and after that is completed and we won't notice the passing of a thousand years, different environment, different perception, different understanding for the Saints then when they're in their glorified bodies and then after that's over, eternity, the eternal day, the day of God. Things are not uncertain to the believer. The Spirit has shown us things to come. By the way if you want an excellent book to read that will help you in the understanding of some of these things there is a book called Things to Come by Dwight Pentecost. It's a good investment. It's a very helpful book in relation to prophetic matters but there again as you read such a book you require the help and guidance of the Holy Spirit to make it your own and to make it enjoyable to the heart and mind. He shall glorify me. We spoke about this last night but it's well worth repeating. Here is the distinctive service of the Holy Spirit. He shall glorify me. Oh how thankful we are for that. The tremendous deep and rich ministry that we have had for so many years regarding the person of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God. How infinitely great and for all his darkness and speculation in the world as to him we thought we're thankful for at least some clear understanding as to how great he is. How infinitely great creator and upholder of the universe, head of the church and all the other glories that belong to him. We are indebted to the Holy Spirit for making these things known to us. I remember speaking to a well-known brother and we were talking about a man who is well known in the Christian realm as a textual critic and his brother said to me, he says, I wouldn't have any hesitation in writing to this man to ask him the meaning of some word in the ancient languages because he's thoroughly competent to pass an opinion. He says, I wouldn't dream of asking him for a spiritual understanding of a passage. That's another matter altogether and so it is dear brethren. We might know Greek and Hebrew and Kaldi and all the other languages and might know them perfectly but that's no guarantee that we would have a spiritual understanding of the word of God. You require the teaching of the spirit for that. He shall glorify me and thank God he has done that for so many centuries and when we gather together as we do to remember the Lord Jesus, it's as one who is known. We know him, we've learned to love him, learned to respect him, learned to praise and worship him and we do this because the spirit has made him precious to every heart. He shall glorify me. Indeed, when we come to this realm of divine persons, we see the unjealous, unenvious character that marks them. The father reveals the son, the son reveals the father, the Lord Jesus reveals the Holy Spirit. I think we could say that without any hesitation. In the gospel by John, the Lord Jesus says more about the Holy Spirit than in any other portion in the word of God. Reveals him in his greatness and in his glory and his distinctiveness and so here the Holy Spirit is distinctive service to glorify Christ and dear brethren, if we know anything about the Lord Jesus, if we appreciate him, if we love him, it's because the spirit has done this. He's revealed him to our hearts and we can see him a clear distinct picture of him that draws out our hearts towards him. 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. This makes me think of Abram's servant. You remember when Abram's servant went to find a wife for Isaac. He took with him articles of silver and gold and he revealed that all that his master had had been given to his son and when the wife eventually came over the wilderness to be with her husband, she would enjoy all these wonderful things that were in store for her. I believe this is what we find here. The spirit is taking of the things of Christ, the things that have been given to him by the father and he makes them known to us today. How else? How could we possibly understand them? How could we understand the deep things of God? There is no other way. It's the Holy Spirit who reveals them to us and we'll see in a moment the different ways in which the Holy Spirit speaks but here the Lord Jesus is saying clearly that the Holy Spirit is the one by whom divine things are made known to us. You say well we've heard them over and over again. Thank God for that we've heard them over and over again. This is one of the ways in which the Holy Spirit implants them into our minds that they become part of us. There are various things that have been handed down through the centuries but they haven't stood the test of centuries. They've been adulterated, they've been modified, they've been enlarged or they've been lessened. The trial of centuries produces a change, not so in divine things. Oh how wonderful that after nearly two thousand years we are enjoying in simplicity and clearness the things that the apostles themselves learned at the very outset of the Christian realm. That's a marvelous thing. If of course we step outside the word of God we step into the realm of speculation and imagination and mysticism. It's man's mind. It governs all and man's mind is his own controller. Whatever he says that's it. There's no way to check. There's no way to understand but when we are dealing with the spirit speaking I think you'll find it's closely connected with the revealed word of God and this is a check against mysticism or speculation or imagination. The word of God the Holy Spirit uses to bring before us in clear unmistakable terms the truth that the Lord wants us to appropriate. So we find this wonderful speaking. Now before we move on I want to suggest there are three ways in which the Holy Spirit can speak. The first one is as I've already mentioned through the word of God. In whatever way the word of God has been inspired then the Holy Spirit can use that to speak directly to our hearts and consciences and we just need to read 1 Corinthians 2 to find that explained to us. That the Holy Spirit communicates the things of God by spiritual means and uses words whereby that knowledge is made known made known to us and there we have what we call verbal inspiration. That the Holy Spirit has used very precise words to convey in precise terms the truth that God wants us to understand. So we're thankful for the word of God in our hands by which the Holy Spirit can teach us. Then as we find in many passages the Spirit can speak to us through a servant, one of the Lord's servants. We find him speaking in the pages of scripture through different people. Peter is filled with the Spirit, Stephen is filled with the Spirit, others are filled with the Spirit, Zacharias was, Elizabeth, John the Baptist filled with the Spirit and were able to convey the mind of the Lord because they were filled with the Spirit. He was speaking through agents. Then thirdly, and we can see this in Acts chapter 8 and chapter 10, he can speak I don't know of any better word than to say intuitively that without hearing a voice, without having the word of God, the Spirit can make his mind known to a believer to do a certain service, to go in a certain direction, to have certain guidance. Now I want to guard here against any mystical idea. It's not that voices are heard through the air or vision seen. I'm not in favor of that. I feel that kind of thing opens the door to a great deal of speculation and imagination. But I am thoroughly convinced that the Spirit can impress me with a certain course of action if I'm near enough the Lord to know something about his direction and guidance. I want to tell you a little story here. Maybe I've told it before, but I want to tell it again. In our area there was a fisherman who was a very able gospel preacher, and he was fishing with his colleagues when he felt that the Holy Spirit was speaking to him, telling him to leave his employment to go to a certain town in Scotland and to preach the gospel there. He had never been there in his life, didn't know a soul in the place. So he told his colleagues that he wouldn't be fishing with them in the future, came home, his wife packed his bag, he went by train to this particular station in the town. When he got off the station there was a little boy waiting and he went forward to him. He said, Sir, are you the preacher? He said, Yes, I am a preacher. I feel the Lord has sent me here. He went to the hall where people were gathered together and souls were converted. Now this man is long since with the Lord. There's a brass plate up in the fisherman's little mission for his dear brother John Thompson, long since with the Lord. I don't know how many experiences he had like this, but there was a man who was spoken to in an unmistakable way, nothing mystical about it. He knew what he had to do, he knew where to go, and he obeyed, and the Lord blessed his service. Now it seems to me we have something like this in Acts chapter 8 and in Acts chapter 10. Philip is very active in Samaria and souls are being converted, and then he's told, Join yourself to this chariot. There's no intermediary, there's no one else here, there's no one telling Philip to do this, no human being, it's the Spirit's voice comes clearly and distinctly to him, and it's to his credit that he obeyed. Go near and join thyself to this chariot. Now I want to ask you, dear brethren, tonight, haven't you experienced something like this before, when you felt an urge to do something for the Lord? Maybe just a visitation, maybe to write a letter, maybe to write to someone, and you don't do it, and afterwards there's a tremendous regret, an opportunity has been missed. I don't think there's anything mystical about this. There's one scripture that appeals to me very much in this respect, in Romans chapter 8, the Spirit himself witnesses with our spirit. Now there's a clear indication that the Spirit and our spirit are in close affinity, and whether it is witnessing to the truth or whether it is direction and guidance, here is something that is open for every Christian. Now I believe here is a clear way in which the Spirit speaks to us in order to help us to do something to guide us into the pathway of the will of the Lord. So Philip, he obeyed, and we know the result, how this man was converted, went back to Ethiopia. As far as I'm aware, and as I've read, the Christian testimony has continued in Ethiopia right up till the present day. Because Philip was obedient, Philip obeyed his voice that he heard, the urging of the Holy Spirit. The same happened with Peter. Peter wasn't serving, but he was praying, and there was a good condition to be in for the Spirit's voice to be heard, and he did hear it. And the Spirit says, Peter, go, don't doubt, don't reason. And how often we find an exercise brought before us, and our reasoning mind starts to think this, that, and the next thing. And before we know who we are, we have a thousand reasons not to do the thing that has been impressed upon us. Now, the Spirit says to Peter, Peter, don't doubt, you go, I've sent them. He sent the three men, the Spirit did, and now he's awakening Peter, and so the whole thing is synchronized, and down they go to the house of Cornelius, and you know the result there. So here is a clear case, without any human intervention, without any human agency, the Spirit speaks, these souls obey, and thank God, blessing was the result. Now, I think we can experience this today. We were saying last night that the outpouring of the Spirit is as powerful today as it was in the day of Pentecost, in the sense that there is the potentiality there for every believer to be under his power and direct control. That's for you, and that's for me too. Now we turn over to 1 Timothy chapter 4. 1 Timothy chapter 4, and you know that when Paul wrote this letter to Timothy, he was describing the house of God, and things that went on in the house of God, and things pertaining to the house of God. Now we find out from the house of God, we find the speaking, the express speaking of the Holy Spirit. In this context, he's not glorifying Christ, he's not instructing the Lord's servants, but he's warning the believers of the awful conditions that will prevail upon earth, even in the Christian testimony, because these people that we read of, they are not unconverted people, they are people within the bosom of the Christian testimony. It says, some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils, speaking lies and hypocrisy, having their conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from meats which God has created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. Now I think that last expression is the antidote to all these things, those who believe and know the truth. If there are such persons, there'll be no possibility of moving away, apostatizing, no possibility of giving heed to seducing spirits and this lying and hypocrisy. What awful things, things that are foreign to the Holy Spirit's person and service. You cannot think of lies and hypocrisy being the fruit of the Holy Spirit's service. Why, this is the mind of the enemy himself, Satan. Indeed, it says so, seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. Here is satanic influence operating in the last days and operating to destroy the Christian testimony. Now the Spirit is warning us, and I believe, dear brethren, we mustn't fall into the snare of judging things by what is prevalent in the world. We have to come to the divine standard of judgment and that's the word of God. What we see around us must not be allowed to enter into our minds and reduce in our minds the greatness of the truth that has been revealed. There is the divine standard of judgment, and when we see evil things around, they must be declared to be evil. There mustn't be any lessening of them in our minds. Our consciences mustn't be seared. A conscience that is seared is a conscience that no longer operates. A tender conscience, a conscience that is enlightened by the truth and governed by the truth, is able to form a proper judgment in relation to what is opposing to the Son of God and to the work of the Holy Spirit. I felt it right that we should read this chapter, that there is a continual speaking of the Spirit, reminding us of evil and how to combat it and how to avoid it so that what is proper to the Son of God should be maintained. Now for a few moments, we want to refer to these verses in Revelation. You know that in chapters two and three of the book of Revelation, we have seven letters written to seven churches in Asia Minor. Each one is written with a particular object in mind. I often think that in itself it provides an excellent example for us of how ministry should be effective. It wasn't that the Lord Jesus sent John with a message to Ephesus and said, the same message will do for the other six. That might be a danger that we could fall into in traveling up and down the country. Favourite portions to minister on, a certain portion that we think we can speak effectively about. No, that's not the way the Spirit works. Each assembly has different problems. Each assembly requires specific encouragement. So the Lord gives seven distinctive messages and each message calculated to suit the condition of the assembly. And here we find the Spirit's voice is closely connected with the voice of the Lord Jesus. Each assembly is addressed by the Lord Jesus personally, as you'll find if you look at each verse at the beginning of the letter. And then as the letter ends, each is to listen to what the Spirit is saying to the church. My, that's a very encouraging thing, that the speaking of the Lord Jesus and the speaking of the Holy Spirit are coalesced so that there might be, what shall I say, a united impression made upon those who are listening. I want to impress this. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. Does that mean we just sit mechanically and listen to what's being said and that's all that's necessary? That's not what the word hearing means in scripture. The word hearing in scripture means the ear that hears and obeys. This is always so. Let me quote one scripture to prove it. You remember in 18th of Matthew that if a brother has a fault against another then he has to go and see the brother concerned and it says, if he hears thee, thou hast gained thy brother. Now surely that doesn't mean that you just go and tell him what the matter is and he hears it and that's the matter settled. No, the brother hears, he doesn't close his ear to what is presented to him, he listens, he sees the truth of it, he obeys it and then the brother is gained. Now I believe this is what's involved in the Spirit speaking to the churches. He that has an obedient ear, an ear that takes in the truth, that obeys it and appropriates it, the voice that speaks, the voice of the Spirit, this is the kind of attitude that produces blessing and progress. I don't know how long you've been sitting listening to ministry. I can look back now for over 50 years. I think there are some here who can say longer than that. We should be wonderful people. 50 years listening to the Word of God. Have we obeyed it? Have we appropriated it? That's another matter. Sometimes saying, oh give me Samuel's ear. Well Samuel was formed by what he heard. He made inquiry. There was someone there older to instruct him. He obeyed and what rapid progress he made. Not only Samuel's ear, Samuel's obedience. Samuel's willingness to be instructed. I believe this is involved. He that hath an ear, an obedient ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Now we've been taught and rightly so that these seven churches give a panoramic view of the assembly from its formation in apostolic times right down to the very end, passing through different phases in a historical sense. Now if that is so and we believe it to be so, the Spirit's voice has always been heard. Thank God for that. Spirit's voice is not quiet in today. Spirit's voice is clear and distinct and it's connected with the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. I think that's a very wonderful thing. Indeed there are so many things about Christianity that are wonderful and they might appear commonplace to us so often because we've heard them again and again and again. Oh never let the wonder of them be lessened in our hearts. Some time ago I was going through the gospel by Mark and I noticed the oft repeated statement, amazement, amazement. People were amazed by what they saw and heard in connection with Christ. Oh we would desire that something of that amazement might be in our own souls as we consider the greatness of Christian truth. And so we come to the end, and what a wonderful end, to find the Holy Spirit's voice in proper affinity with the church's voice. Or should I put it the other way, that the church's voice is in proper affinity with the Spirit's voice and there's such affinity that they're both crying come. Think of the Lord, think of the Spirit crying to the Lord Jesus, come, and this voice being heard too from the church. Oh wonderful moment when this takes place, crying that the Lord Jesus might return. I'm sure the Lord will pay attention to both of those voices, the voice of the Spirit, one who is co-equal with him, one who is deeply involved in the unfolding of divine things. And then to think that persons who form the church, the bride upon earth, that company is calling come. Oh would to God that that voice was heard from all our hearts and from all Christians. I'm sure it's a voice that would be answered readily, I come quickly. Well these are just a few remarks dear brethren as to the greatness of the Spirit's voice. Again we say we want to guard against anything mystical, anything imaginative. We want to be governed by what the Word of God says and I believe that's the safe ground for us, the safest ground for us, that when we read the Word of God we can be sure the Spirit of God will use that Word for our present and eternal blessing. May we be open to that speaking more and more for his namesake. …

… I don't mean the only ones that could have been chosen, there are many, many more, and you would notice that in each passage, each person of the Godhead is mentioned, not always as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, sometimes Christ is referred to as Lord, sometimes as Christ, the Holy Spirit, of course, is always referred to in that way, sometimes God, as God, sometimes as Father, but indisputably, the three persons are mentioned in each passage. Now my desire tonight is to say a little word about the deity of the Holy Spirit, a very important subject. Some people might think of him as an influence, but scripture indicates clearly he is a distinct person of the Godhead, co-equal with the Father and the Son, glorious in power, glorious in majesty, wonderful in all his workings, tremendous, glorious person, the Holy Spirit. And perhaps it's one of the great successes of the enemy that the truth of his person has been reduced somewhat in our minds, we haven't given sufficient attention to his greatness and to his glory. But briefly, before we speak about these passages, you remember in the beginning of Genesis, in the beginning, God. God created the heavens and the earth. Now we understand that the name for God is plural, which indicates three and more, while of course in connection with God, well, it must be three. Three persons revealed to us in the New Testament, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In the Hebrew, there is a plural which is two, but in this particular case, it's three. Now please check these things up because I don't know anything at all about Hebrew. I'm only quoting what I've read. But I understand that the name God there is clear and certain for us to indicate the triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit revealed in the New Testament. One particular scripture, which we didn't read, again emphasizes the deity of the Holy Spirit, and that is in Hebrews 9, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your consciences from dead works to serve the living God. Now there, the mention of the eternal spirit is sufficient, I would think, to indicate to us his deity, infinitely great and glorious, infinitely greater than even our minds can conceive. And I would like to try and convey this to you from the scriptures that we have read. And you know that throughout the New Testament, there are numerous passages where the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are linked together. And I think that's a clear indication of the triune God. One God, one purpose, one will, one operation, all working together to one great end to effect their will for their own glory and for the blessing of all concerned. My what a realm to live in. What a consideration for our hearts. We're now away from our poverty and our weakness and our failures and the declension, and we're occupied with that which is perfect and eternal. Things being done by them that can never break down. Things being purposed by them that will be fulfilled in every detail. How wonderful to be occupied with such things. And I thought we might begin simply with this chapter in the first epistle to the Thessalonians. And it's always been a charm to my heart to read this chapter and see the different groupings that we have under the headings of three. And to my mind, the most important heading, most important grouping is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. I think that goes without saying. We can speak about Paul and Silvanus and Timotheus and their honored servants of the Lord. Tremendous men in the Christian testimony, but they pale into insignificance compared with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And what I find here is the gospel going into Thessalonica and achieving such a wonderful success, overcoming the power of idolatry and bringing into being in a very real and definite way an assembly of believers, and all this the result of the operations of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. While the servants were successful, this all lay behind it. It was God who purposed it. It was God who sent the servants, the Holy Spirit who empowered them, Christ's work, the basis upon which they operated, and all this came to pass because the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit were working together. My if this entered in more and more into our gospel preaching. What a difference it makes. It's not battering our heads against a wall and all our efforts proving unsuccessful. If we were really led by God, if we were really under the power and direction of the Holy Spirit, if the knowledge and joy of all that centered in Christ was really in our hearts and minds, it certainly would empower our messages. They wouldn't be academic expressions. They would be living expressions of the truth of Christianity, all centered in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. What a transformation in the lives of those people in Thessalonica. What wonderful things were brought to them, and the apostle writing to them commends them for the tremendous transformation that had taken place in their lives. Before the gospel came, they were bound up in idolatry, and that was an awful thing in the ancient world, a terrible thing. The licentiousness, the wicked, depraved things that went on in the worshipping of demons and idols, all this thing, and they were delivered from it by the preaching of the simple gospel. Well, I shouldn't say that, there's nothing simple about the gospel. It may be conveyed in simple terms, but it's not simple, not by any means, and it achieved this tremendous success in the lives of those in Thessalonica. Being turned away to God from idols, in the power of the Holy Spirit, and to wait for God's Son from heaven, what an achievement. I've often felt that we're not sufficiently aware of what idolatry means and what it meant in those ancient times. Those of you who have Walter Scott's handbook, just take the trouble to look up the passage where he deals with idolatry, and you'll find that he has a long, long list of idols of the ancient world, and indicates it's by no means an exclusive list, indeed, I think a very small one. He's only referring to the idols of the Greeks and the Romans. Then he gives a list of the idols mentioned in the Bible, and that's a fairly lengthy list too. If you've read anything of ancient history, you will know that when the Romans conquered any tribes, any countries, they weren't the least bit concerned about that particular country still carrying on with its worship. It was only another idol to incorporate into the many religions that existed in the Roman world. It was no problem. Overcome the country, let them worship whoever they want to worship, doesn't matter to us. As long as it doesn't interfere with our worship. Now, this is exactly what happened when a person got converted. When a person got the knowledge of the true God, he couldn't worship any idol at all. He couldn't worship the emperor who was deified. He couldn't offer incense to the idol, and of course, that meant a very serious thing for him, because it meant him coming into conflict with the authorities, and that's why the Christians were persecuted. It's all right to say the Christian God being incorporated into the many gods, and you accept them all, but this is your particular God. But when the Christian says those gods aren't gods, and our God is the only God, that was another matter. That was immediate conflict, and of course, they had to say that. The Christian faith that came to them was the knowledge of the one true and living God. There were no other gods. All those idols were really the worshiping of demons. Now, when we read here that the Thessalonians turned to God from idols, it meant that they turned away from those idols and said, these are not gods at all. They're the work of men's hands, but behind it is the worship of Satan, and we want nothing at all to do with them. I've got a little cutting that I copied out from a book that I read, and it's the torturing of a Christian, and at every point in the torture, he said, I am a Christian. I am a Christian. And when they asked him to offer incense to the idol, he says, no, I'm a Christian. I believe in the one true God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And he tortured him more and more, and again and again, he said, I am a Christian. I am a Christian. And eventually his life was taken from him. My, what a test that would be for everybody who declares himself to be a Christian today to face this tremendous persecution and bodily pain and reproach and all the taunting of the enemies. That's exactly what those Thessalonians had to face. They turned to God from idols. The break was complete and total, no turning back. And we don't understand that, I believe, when we read the passage, we're not sufficiently instructed as to what idolatry meant in all its evil. Now what accomplished this? What enabled those people to stand firm? It was because the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit were right behind them that having accepted Christ as their Savior, having received the gift of the Holy Spirit, they were now brought into contact with the one true and living God and were empowered to stand. And you remember, Paul was so concerned about the persecution that had arisen against the Thessalonian assembly that he wrote a second letter to them very soon after he wrote the first one because he'd heard about all the suffering that they were enduring and he didn't want them to be upset or turned aside. And so kindly, with all the love that was in his heart, he wrote to them for their encouragement. What a triumph. Thank God this is happening today in materialistic Britain, affluent Britain. Thank God there are people coming away from the modern idols of covetousness, the modern idols of self-will, and Scripture describes self-will and covetousness as idolatry. And people, thank God, are turning away from these things and accepting the Lord Jesus as their Savior, cutting themselves off from these things and desiring to live for Christ and for God in the power that the Spirit gives. Now this is triumph. And with the God we saw more of it. This is such a wonderful thing, to see in this chapter how they're all working together and read the chapter at your leisure and see how it's all integrated, if you like, all working together in their own particular way. One will, one purpose, different manifestations, but it produces the great result. Souls converted, an assembly formed, praise to God, testimony for God, and then this wonderful attitude of waiting for the Son from heaven. Thank God it's not just in history, in the first chapter of the Thessalonians. We praise God that this is true today. Thank God we too are waiting for the Son from heaven, and what a tremendous thing it would be if we heard that voice tonight, a voice that every people, every person in the world will understand, every person who believes Christ. They'll understand that language. The language barrier won't be any problem when that shout is heard. What a wonderful moment. Jesus, our deliverer from the coming wrath. Now if you want a good verse to base your faith upon as to the church either going through the tribulation or not going through the tribulation, well, here's one, a verse to prove that the church will not go through the tribulation. The wrath to come is not the eternal doom of those who have disbelieved God in all generations. It's not the lake of fire. The wrath of God is the wrath that will sweep across the scene after the church is gone, coming to its finality when Christ sets up his kingdom. All the scriptures point to this, the wrath of God in the Old Testament, also in the New, the wrath that will be poured out on this earth because of man's disobedience. Now says the Bible, Jesus, who delivered us from the coming wrath, all those who believe in Christ will never come under that awful wrath. The church will be raptured to heaven, as Paul expresses in chapter 4, and thank God every true believer in Christ will be with him. The church will be there safe and complete, and thank God will be for the pleasure of Christ and for the glory of God through never-ending ages. Wonderful thing, wonderful truth, tremendous things to have in our hearts, save us from worry and doubt and fear and concern. These are soul-establishing things, they're realities, verities, certainties. These are the things that we read in the word of God. Now we move over to Matthew 28. You know that the Gospel by Matthew presents the Lord Jesus Christ as king, the Messiah born to rule over Israel, and we find in the opening chapters how this is set before us in plain and unmistakable language. The genealogy of Jesus of Nazareth is the genealogy of the king. He can trace his descent right back to the appropriate source. He's the son of Abraham, the son of David. All the promises made to Abraham, the covenant made with David, are all going to be fulfilled in this glorious person, Jesus of Nazareth, Emmanuel, God with us, the Messiah, the Christ. We don't move very far in the Gospel before we realize that this kingdom, this king, is going to be under attack. The king seeks to destroy him. The babe has to be taken down into Egypt. When the Lord Jesus begins to minister, a well-known sermon on the mount that we often talk about, he tells his subjects that they're going to be persecuted, they're going to be under trial, they'll make to suffer, they'll stand before assemblies, all sorts of things that indicate this kingdom is going to be under attack. That's a bit different from the glowing prophecies that we get in the Old Testament regarding the kingdom. Why there? Everything is glorious. All the enemies are destroyed, dwelling in peace, each man under his own vine and under his own fig tree. Why does the Lord in his ministry at the very outset in Matthew indicate that his subjects are going to be under persecution? Well he knew that he would be rejected. Well he knew that his kingdom would come under attack. Then we move on and discover that the earthly hopes of Israel are set aside for the moment and the Lord Jesus brings something new in and that is the church. Upon this rock I will build my church, something new, distinct from what had gone before. He also indicates that that will be under attack. The gates of hell shall not prevail against it. It doesn't say they won't operate against it, they do, but they'll never prevail against it. So at the very outset the Lord Jesus indicates that this great new thing that he is building will withstand all the attacks of the enemy and come through in violet, successful, powerful. Then we move on and the king, he's taken by wicked hands and he's slain and he's placed in the tomb and thank God he rises out from it, glorious saviour. He gathers his disciples together as we read at the end of the chapter and it is very sad. There are twelve now. One has defected, one has gone. He's committed suicide, Judas Iscariot. The Lord chose twelve, one has given up. So at the very outset before the Christian testimony begins there's a breakdown as far as man is concerned, but the Lord is encouraging his own. Now he says all power isn't resident in you, all power is resident in me. This is where the power lies. The company is broken, defection has taken place, but all power is still in the hands of Christ and that power will be operative right to the very end to complete the Christian testimony, but he says before that takes place there is work for you to do. Take disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. What a change from chapter 10. When he chooses his disciples to work there he says go not into the way of the Gentiles, go only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, but this is a change. Go into all the world and preach the gospel. The message of Christianity is to go far and wide. Israel has lost its opportunity, it will get it again when God takes it up in power and glory, but in the meantime there's work for the disciples to do and those who follow them and every believer is to be baptized to the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. I understand that this name qualifies or governs the three names or the three persons I should say. The one name, the three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit and so they are together. They're not divided, can be distinguished. That's an important thing to remember that when we're talking about the Godhead we can distinguish between the names, the Father, the Son and the Spirit, but not divide. They are together as one, one will, one purpose, one great object in view and so here is one name and I want to impress upon us dear brethren, all of us and I trust we all have been baptized, I think we have, what a dignity has been conferred upon us that we have been baptized to the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. What dignity. Don't let's think of it as just something ceremonial that has to be said and done when a person gets baptized as if it were a casual matter. Oh dear brethren, what a tremendous thing it is that every person who is baptized is baptized to this glorious name, the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Now when we come to actual baptisms in the Acts of the Apostles, I think I'm right in saying that this formula is never used. It's baptized to the name of the Lord, baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Why then isn't the formula used? I don't know. Some have said that this is a dispensational matter and has to do preeminently with what will take place after the church is gone. I'm not quite sure that that's true. But Mr. Darby, in being questioned about it, he said when he baptized, he always used both. He baptized them to the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit and the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now it seems to me that that's a fair thing to do. But forget all about the query as to which is the proper formula to use and think of the tremendous dignity that is involved and placed upon anyone who gets baptized to the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. What does it mean? It means that those persons who do this, they cut themselves off from Judaism, they cut themselves off from paganism, they cut themselves off from everything that belongs to this poor sad world that's under the stamp of the curse, and they devote themselves in practice and in heart to the Father, to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. What a tremendous thing. But now in Christianity, we're not shut up to the Jehovah of the Old Testament. That has been superseded by a greater revelation. We're certainly not to be occupied with things that are found in this poor sad world. We're to be occupied with the Father, and that's a very precious name, the greatest revelation of God, the Father. And then the Son, oh, how wonderful that all that has been revealed in the Son and all that's available in the Son, we're baptized to him and to the Holy Spirit, his power, his wisdom, his direction, his guidance, all that's involved in the Holy Spirit, thank God, we are baptized to that too. Seems to me this is what it indicates. But again, we have the three persons brought together in this tremendous way, indicating how closely they are united together and the greatness of the Christian revelation. We've moved a long way from chapter three, when the Father's voice was heard and the Holy Spirit came down as a dove and rested upon the Lord Jesus, the Messiah. Oh, we've moved a long way through all the chapters in Matthew, and we've come now to the benefits of the revelation of the Trinity in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, to all those who accept the Lord Jesus as their Savior, to all those who are baptized to the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Now we move on to Romans chapter eight. Suppose we take nothing else away from this meeting tonight, if we just decide to concentrate on this opening statement in Romans eight, what a tremendous thing it is. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. How do we get into Christ Jesus? Well God puts us there. We can't get into there ourselves. It's a position that Christ has in glory. It's the glorified man at God's right hand. We often say this, that you search the Gospels and you never find the name Christ Jesus. You look through the Acts of the Apostles and you'll never find the name Christ Jesus. You have to wait until you come to the writings of the Apostle Paul, and again and again and again he uses this name and indicates that all the Christians' blessings are centered in him, the distinctive Christian name, or should I say the distinctive Christian position of those who believe in Christ. Oh, how wonderful this is, and why did Paul use it? He never knew the Lord Jesus here on earth. All that Paul knew of Christ was in glory. He met him on the Damascus Road and he received all his teaching from the man who is in the presence of God. So when Paul uses the term in Christ Jesus, he's thinking of the man who is at God's right hand and all our blessings are in him. Now we can't put ourselves in him. It's God who does that, and we have this position in him, safe in him, beyond the power of Satan and the power and enmity of man. It's secure in Christ because no one can touch him where he is. No one can interfere the blessings that are centered in him. He's there in the presence of God, Christ Jesus. Now says Paul, there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. That means all those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior, who have received the gift of the Holy Spirit, they are in Christ Jesus and there's not a single power in the universe that can raise a finger against them. No one can condemn them. They are in Christ Jesus. It's a difficult thing to explain, at least I find it difficult to explain, but I'll tell you what's helped me. You remember when Aaron went into the most holy place. On his shoulders, he bore the two stones with the names of the children of Israel, six engraved on the stones in one shoulder, six engraved on the stones in the other shoulder, and on his breastplate he had 12 stones and in each stone the name of a tribe of Israel. So when Aaron went into the holy place representing the whole nation, he bore in himself the names of the whole nation, each tribe representing him and all the people belonging to that tribe all represented in him. So in principle, when he went into the presence of God, he carried the whole nation with him. Now it seems to me that helps a little, at least I think it does, that when you think of our Lord Jesus Christ at the right hand of God, the whole church of God is represented in him. Now that's a stupendous thing. You think of the millions of people who have trusted him since Pentecost and the millions who have trusted him who are upon earth at the present moment, and they're all represented in Christ. That's their position before God in Christ Jesus, and there's no condemnation. No one can raise a finger against them. That's the first thing. Now we understand that the last statement in verse 1 shouldn't be there, but it's in its proper place in the end of verse 4, who walked not after the flesh but after the spirit. But before we come to that, we want to mention verse 2, for the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. Now it's a common accusation by some people that the liberty that we profess to have in Christianity can also be a license for pleasing ourselves, but that's not true, and here's a verse that indicates that there is no license whatsoever in the Christian realm. The law, now this is the law, if you like, the rule of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus, that life that we have in Christ Jesus, the rule for that is the spirit of God. The law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. Now the Mosaic law, excellent. It came from the hand of God, it was just, it was holy, and it was good. If man wanted eternal life, he could find it by keeping the law. That's what the scripture says, that's what the Lord Jesus said. If life was obtainable, it was obtainable through keeping the law. Now there was a perfect law, but instead of bringing life, it produced death. Unfortunately, it brought alive to, in a very powerful way, sin. Now says the apostle, there's a new rule, a new rule of life, and it's in the spirit of life, which is in Christ Jesus, and that gives me the victory over the rule of sin and death. Now this isn't a license to please ourselves. Paul stated emphatically, it's a rule, a rule of life for the Christian. It doesn't allow him to please himself. He comes under the power and direction of the spirit, and this life is governed by the spirit's direction and control. That's a wonderful thing. And thank God that in our lives, we experience it in some way or another. Thank God we are not what we were when we were first converted. We've progressed, I trust, a little. The evil habits and evil thoughts and ways that once governed us, they've given way to purer things in our lives, desires after holiness, desires after our Lord Jesus, yearnings for more purity and a closer walk with Christ. This is the result of having the Holy Spirit, this life that we have in Christ Jesus. It would be an awful thing in a Christian's life if he wasn't yearning after a closer walk with Christ, after greater purity and holiness in his life. A terrible thing if a Christian was abandoned to thinking evil and doing evil. Surely it would be the evidence that he had not the Spirit of God. Here Paul says, it set me free from the law of sin and death. Very important here, and I'll just point it out to you. In verse 1, he makes the positive statement, there is therefore now no condemnation to them, to them who are in Christ Jesus. Now that involves every believer. In verse 2, he's talking about himself. He says, he set me free from the law of sin and death. Paul was speaking personally, a result of his own experience. He was saying, now as far as I'm concerned, possessing the Spirit has set me free from the law of sin and death. Then in verse 4, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us. He includes himself with every other believer, that this wonderful fact is true, that the righteousness of the Mosaic law can be fulfilled in those who walk, not after the law, not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. I think it's important to notice the distinctions, those, every believer, me, Paul personally, us, Paul identifying himself with them all. But you see here again, we're bound up to this wonderful truth, the operations of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. In Christ Jesus, the man at God's right hand, God, the one who sent his own Son, that his Son might become a sacrifice, a sin offering, to deal with the matter of sin and bring us into this realm of liberty, and then walking after the Spirit. That is the rule of life for the Christian. The law is never presented in the New Testament as a rule for the Christian. The Holy Spirit is the power, the Lord Jesus Christ is the example, there are the rules, the guidelines, if you like, for the Christian. Now, we move on to Ephesians 2 and verse 18. Now, please, if I haven't made things very clear and one is conscious of it, if anything that you feel you want to add or correct me in, please tell me. Chapter 2 of Ephesians is a wonderful chapter, and all through the first three chapters of this epistle, I feel that Paul labors under the Spirit's guidance to show and emphasize that all barriers and distinctions upon earth have been removed as far as the Christian company is concerned. There is no Jew, there is no Gentile, all these distinctions have been removed. The middle wall of partition has been knocked down, removed completely, and both Jew and Gentile have free access into the Father's presence in the power of the Holy Spirit. This is the emphasis on one Spirit. Listen again, through Him, Christ. Now this must always be true in every Christian approach to the Father and to God. He is the great mediator. In this sense, we approach the Father through Him. We could never presume to enter into the Father's presence without the help of our Lord Jesus Christ. We approach the Father through His name. This is the way that has been opened up to us in a different setting in Hebrews, as priests entering into the holy place to worship God, but it's by Him, through His blood. It's always through Christ. We cannot presume to approach God in our own selves, we must have Christ. So it's through Him. He says, we both, that is Jew and Gentile, have access, that's free entry, by one Spirit. The Spirit empowers the Jew, the Spirit empowers the Gentile, unto the Father. What a change. The Jew was confronted by the veil, only a few privileged to go in to the most holy place. Great barrier that stood between them and the presence of God. The pagan knew nothing at all about God, shut up to idolatry, and all that swept away in the revelation of Christianity. The Jew has now free access, not because he's a Jew, but because now he is a child of God, and he can enter into his Father's presence, free at all times, individually, collectively. He can enter into the Father's presence, bow down, invoke the Father's name, and enjoy His presence. And the pagan, something he'd never known before. Pagan idolatry was governed by fear. The idea of propitiation in the pagan world was that God must be appeased. He's wrathful. He'll punish us. He'll destroy us. We must appease His anger by bringing an offering. And they never knew anything about joy and liberty in such a system of idolatry. And that swept away. And they're brought now into the revelation of a Father who wants them in His presence, and through Christ, and in the power of the Spirit, they can enter into the worship of a God who is their Father, and enjoy all of the Father's presence and the Father's love. What a wonderful thing. Yet I believe we've heard it so often, it might become commonplace, but it isn't commonplace. It's wonderful. It's majestic. These are the greatest things in the Christian faith, that we have free access into the Father's presence at all times. And when we bow our knees, as I trust you do, and we worship the Father in our homes, or individually in our closets, what a marvelous thing that we have free access into the Father's presence, and can speak to Him unhinderedly. In simple terms, maybe with stammering terms, but the reality of drawing near to the Father is a marvel of Christianity. Through Him, again we find it, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit bound up together to let you, and myself, and all other believers, have free access into the Father's presence. Oh, may we enjoy it more and more in these last closing days. Now, lastly, without dumbing to the passage, we could spend a great deal of time on it. It's a marvelous passage, a very solemn and sobering passage, where our bodies, these bodies that we have, our physical bodies, belong to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And they must not be in any way connected with evil in any shape and form. The body belongs to the Lord. The body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. We are to glorify God in our bodies. They belong to Him. We are bought with a price. Our hands, our eyes, our ears, our tongues, our feet, all the members of our bodies, all that our body involves, must never be connected with evil in any shape and form. If it is, we are dishonoring the fact that we do belong to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And if we do fail, the best thing is to confess it, get right with God, get communion restored, and seeking help that in the future we may not do the same thing again, but be free from every form of evil. Oh, I think it's a sobering passage, and yet I feel it raises our bodies to a very high level indeed. This body, this physical body, belongs to the Lord. He has purchased it for himself. He died to make it his own. This body, subject to weakness and limitation, the Holy Spirit indwells it. It's the temple of the Holy Spirit. And this body belongs to God. He's purchased it. He's paid the price for it. It belongs to Him. And we have to glorify God in our bodies. Now, what a dignity this gives to the human body, that in it there might be expressed things that are pleasing to the Lord, things that are pleasing to the Spirit, things that are pleasing to God. Oh, how wonderful. Something we say, something we do, somewhere we go, in whatever way it's done, if it's done in the name of the Lord, empowered by the Spirit, and in order to glorify God, then something has been achieved for God's glory and praise. Wonderful dignity and privilege that every believer has. But as we close, to say again that in all these passages, the three persons of the Godhead are mentioned, again, not disunited, not separated, but distinguished in the various way that they operate for our glory, for our blessing, rather, and for their own glory. Well, may we be encouraged. There's much more could be said, but I'm sure as you pursue the passages yourselves, you'll see the glory of these things and the distinctive blessings that belong to them. May we be encouraged, for His namesake. …