← ArchiveSunday, September 1, 2019DateSeptember 1, 2019SpeakerDr Josh BurnhamTextJohn 14Passages in this sermonJohn 141:23Genesis 15:49Titus 313:51Psalms 2314:21John 317:05John 14:1524:03John 14:1625:46John 14:1727:33John 1632:24John 16:1432:26Acts 434:501 Corinthians 1236:36Romans 8:2638:27Judges 16:142:58Judges 1643:11TranscriptClick any line to jump there.0:00music music music music music music music Do you want to know what the invite cards look like?0:28This is what they look like and they're in the foyer. Invite a friend, invite a neighbor to join us and see that God is everything that we need. So for those who are watching online, thank you guys for being here. For those who are on vacation and might watch this next week, we're continuing a sermon series called Because You Asked. And we've called it Because You Asked because you asked. No, you asked. We asked. How about that? And to be honest,0:58this has been an awesome sermon series for me. It's challenged my mind and my heart. And we've just loved opening up the Word of God together. And it's interesting what Baptist people ask, by the way. Some of you, I don't know who this was, who stacked the deck. But today we're going to look at the Holy Spirit. And so we're going to open the Word of God. If you have a Bible with you today, please join me in John 14. That will be our starting point. And then we will jump to the Old and the New Testament1:27from that point on. So because you asked the Holy Spirit, and just really my big idea is this question. I think this is a question that we as Christians often have, erroneously sometimes, but we do ask it. Why do we need the Holy Spirit if we have Jesus? Now some of you are thinking, well, I would never ask that. But that's the way we act. As if we don't need the Holy Spirit because we have Jesus Christ.1:56So that's going to be our big question. Lord, why do we need the Holy Spirit? Who is He? What does He do? And how do we live that out? Listen to what A.W. Tozer says about the Holy Spirit. He says, If the Holy Spirit were withdrawn from the church today, 95% of what we do would go on and no one would know the difference.2:23But if the Holy Spirit had been withdrawn from the New Testament, 95% of what they did would stop and everybody would know the difference. What a convicting quote by such a mighty man of God. May it never be said of us that the Holy Spirit left this place2:52and things went on as normal. We want the power and the presence of God in our life. And you say, Well, Pastor, that's a little uncomfortable. You asked. Not my fault. Right? So we're going to look at the Word of God and we're going to say, God, how do you work through us by your Spirit? John 14. Jesus speaking. He's important. And this is what He says about the Holy Spirit. John 14, verse 15.3:21John is in the New Testament. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Jesus simply says, If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father and He will give you another counselor. Some of your verses say comforter or maybe even paraclete to be with you forever.3:50He is the Spirit of truth. The world is unable to receive Him because it doesn't see Him or know Him. But you do know Him because He remains with you and will be in you. Let's pray. Father, we simply ask that you would send the power and the presence of your Spirit in us that what we do right now4:19would not be religious exercise, but that the power of God would dwell in us and through us. Lord, we simply confess to you that apart from your Spirit, we can't know anything about a holy, righteous, eternal Father. So, Lord, open our hearts, engage our minds, and let us surrender our lives to the Father4:49and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. And amen. We're going to look at two aspects of the Holy Spirit. First, who He is. And I've already thrown some of you for a loop because you thought that the Holy Spirit was in it. No, so who He is, and that's very key. And then what does He do? So point number one, who He is. Point number two, what does He do?5:19For those of you expecting a shorter sermon because of two points, no. No. Okay. Who is He? First, first we see that He is God. He is God. The Holy Spirit is God. From the beginning of time, we see vestiges of the Holy Spirit as God through the Word. So think about, go to the very beginning, go to the front cover of your Bible,5:48find Genesis chapter 1-1. And when you find that verse, you'll see that in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. So right there in Genesis 1-1, we have God. Everyone agree with that? Yes. Verse number two. So from the very beginning6:06we have God creating and the Spirit hovering. Everyone agree? Yes. Verse number three. Then God said. Now that's an interesting word. I mean, God could create any way he wants. John,6:35John, the very book we're reading now, would say that Jesus is the Lagos. Jesus is the Word. So in Genesis, we see vestiges of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit. Actually, we see God the Father, God the Spirit, and God the Son. What is the Word trying to communicate to us? Baptist people. The Spirit is God. He was there from the beginning. He is with God.7:05And then Jesus now picks this up for us in John 14-15. What does Jesus say about the Spirit? He says, ask the Father and He will give you another capital C. Counselor. Jesus reminds us that we have always seen a glimpse of the glory of God working out in our lives. From the beginning of creation, God is revealing Himself to us. And even today, in 2019,7:35in 2019, God is revealing Himself. How? Through His Spirit that will be with us how long? Forever. The Holy Spirit is God. And to deny the Trinity, to make the Holy Spirit a lesser part of the Godhead is to dip into heresy. Right? Don't take my word for it. Take Jesus' word for it. So the Holy Spirit is God.8:04is God. Let that be the diving board that we jump off now as we see the Holy Spirit working in our life. I am so thankful that our God is a revealing God. I'm thankful that God doesn't give up on people like me. I'm not a person who you just tell them one time and they get it. I'm thankful for God to say, Josh, you need my Spirit inside of you to constantly draw you to myself, to constantly reveal my glory.8:33my glory. The Holy Spirit is God. Secondly, we see this about the Holy Spirit. Who is He? Jesus says, if you keep my commandments, you love me, I will ask the Father and He will give another counselor. Now what Jesus is saying here is that He has promised. Some of your versions say that I will promise you the Spirit. I begin to think about the Holy Spirit as a promise9:03of God. Why would Jesus promise us the Spirit? Well, Jesus, another word for Jesus is Emmanuel, God with us. And the Holy Spirit is a continuation of that. That God is with us. God incarnate who is dwelling and living and bringing the world back in redemptive purposes is now giving us the Spirit to remind us9:32of the promise of redemption. Who is He? The Holy Spirit is that promise. The Holy Spirit is the promise that God is faithful. The Holy Spirit is the promise that Jesus always does what He says that He will do. Now the promise of God here comes with a caveat. It's okay, but Pastor, I'm listening. A promise is only as good as what? As the person10:03who is making the promise. Here's what we know about the covenant making God, Yahweh. When you say the word Yahweh, you are saying, God, this is you, the one who keeps His promises. Every promise that God has ever made has come to fruition. He is the promise maker. He is the promise keeper. And the Holy Spirit is the vestige of God's promise. So when you hear the Holy Spirit, you should think,10:33God, the Holy Spirit is a marker of your promises. It's a marker that you will not leave us, that you will not forsake us, that you are constantly revealing yourself to the world and to your people. Who is He? He is God. Who is He? He is the promise of Jesus Christ. But look at this verse again. If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. And Jesus says, I will ask the Father11:03and He will give the Counselor to be with you forever. He is the Spirit of truth. The world is unable to receive Him because it doesn't see Him or know Him. but you do know Him because He remains with you and He will be in you. The Holy Spirit is given to us. But not only to us,11:32to us, but there's a specific group of people that Jesus is talking with here, is He not? There are two types of people in this passage. Verse 15, Jesus says what? You will know that you if you love Me, if you love Me. And so of course I love Jesus. We sang the song,12:02right? Oh, how I love Jesus. Oh, how I love Jesus. Oh, how I love Jesus because He first loved Me. That wasn't in my notes. I just, that's spontaneous by the Spirit of God. But what's the reminder that God gives His Spirit to who? To those who love Him. How do we love Christ? We do what He desires.12:31Jesus does not categorize people like the world categorizes us. He does not say, well, I will give the Spirit to certain ethnic groups. If that were so, you and I would not have the Spirit because we are not, most of us are not Jewish by birth, by ethnicity. He doesn't say, well, I'm going to categorize those who have a socioeconomic category. You, you in a certain tax bracket, I will give you13:01the Spirit. He doesn't say, you Baptists, you have it right and to you I will give my Spirit. No, no cultural identity. Jesus is the dividing line. We either love Him and we follow Him and we obey Him or we do not love Him and it shows because we do not obey Him and we do not follow Him which means if I say I love Him and do not13:30follow Him then I do not love Him. We must, we must follow His ways but for those who love Him He says, I will give this counselor. He doesn't just give by the way. Listen to what Titus 3 says that God through Christ poured out His Spirit on us. Okay, I'm listening. This is the measure14:01with which God pours out His Spirit. He pours it out abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior. God doesn't give you a drop of His Spirit. He gives us how? abundantly overflowing. It's like that cup in Psalm 23. The cup that's not half full or almost full but a cup that's what? Overflowing. The Holy Spirit is given to those who14:31love Him. Listen to what Sam Storm says about this. God doesn't simply give us His Spirit. He gives the Spirit into us. Not just to us. But by an act of God which can only be called intimate impartation. His Spirit resides within us to encourage us, to energize us and to enable us. The Spirit isn't just here. He is inside. I love that.15:02The Holy Spirit isn't just here. He is inside. Wow! What a promise that God gives to those who love Him. Now some in our gathering are struggling right now. Because if you're honest you simply think well I don't know if the Holy Spirit resides within me. And I want to lovingly point out what Jesus points out. Some of you are struggling today because you don't feel the Holy Spirit working in your life15:31and you haven't seen Him work for years and years and years if ever. And you think you know Jesus. but you're struggling because you don't love Him. What does Jesus say? He says in verse 17 He is the Spirit of truth. The world is unable to receive Him because it does not see Him or know Him. And let me just stop you right now. If you're here and you say Pastor I don't get the Holy Spirit thing. I don't think He's here. I don't know if He's working in me. Is that because16:00you don't know Jesus? He says well I don't know I need to wrestle with that. If you don't know Christ He is drawing you here today. We're going to see by His Spirit He is drawing you but confess Christ as Lord and if you do if you turn from your sins if you turn to Christ the author and perfecter of your faith if you do that then the Holy Spirit will be given to you. He's given to those who what? who love Him16:30who love who is the Him? Jesus Christ because He is the dividing line. Christianity doesn't say come to this awesome religion come to this church. Christianity says come to Jesus and when you do He will abundantly pour forth His Spirit not around us not on us but into us. Who is He? He is God. He is the promise16:59of Jesus Christ. He is given to those who love Christ. We see in John 3 also you say well how do I love Jesus? How can I love that? You're not the only person that's asked that question. In John 3 a man of learning a Jewish man a scribe comes to Jesus Christ. He's had more education than you have had most likely in your life. He knew the Scriptures more than you and I know the Scriptures and He comes to Jesus at night17:29at night of all things. Actually the best translation would be that Nicodemus comes to Jesus in darkness and He just simply asked Jesus a very simple question in John 3. He asked Jesus He says we know that you're from God because no one could do these signs like you do. and Jesus in verse 3 of John 3 says well I tell you unless someone is born again17:58he cannot see the kingdom of God. Now think like someone who's never heard that term before. Is anyone signing up to go through the birth process again? No. No. And so Nicodemus actually answers it rightly. He answers it in a way that he says well Jesus how can anyone be born when he is old? How can he enter18:28his mother's womb a second time? And Jesus simply says I tell you Nicodemus unless someone is born of water and the spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God. So what is the spirit's essential role? The spirit's essential role is to draw men and women for salvation. To draw men and women for salvation. To enter the kingdom of God you must be born of the spirit.18:58spirit. So some of you are thinking well I don't need the spirit. Well God would say you're not of the kingdom. It's crucial it's vital it would be like me saying well I don't need error. And God would say no you need my spirit. The spirit is the air of God in our lives. The essential role of the Holy Spirit is to convict us of sin. If the Holy Spirit is not convicting you of sin there's something wrong with you. Not right with you.19:28Because until God brings me home to glory I just believe that I will never be sinless. I'm working on it I'm pursuing Christ. The closer I get to the light though the more imperfections I see in my life. So when the Holy Spirit convicts you our answer should be God thank you for the conviction that you've brought in my heart and so now forgive me. That's the essential role of the spirit in our life. If the spirit has not stirred your soul to run to Jesus19:57you have not been born of the spirit. You don't know Christ. Charles Spurgeon says it this way about for pastors. So I'm going to preach to myself and you can listen. Spurgeon says you might as well expect to raise the dead by whispering into their ears as to hope to save souls by preaching to them if it were not for the agency of the Holy Spirit. There is no aisle. There is no revival. There is no baptism. There is no class.20:27There is no catechism. There is no pastor who has ever saved a single person. That is the Holy Spirit working through us and so if you are a child of God today rejoice that the Holy Spirit brought you to Christ. We should rejoice in that fact if you are a child of God you are saved because the Holy Spirit has been working on you and in you and through you. I have a friend20:56that came to me this week and she just needed some encouragement and she is not a believer yet. Yet. And she began to share she has gone through a major tragedy in her life and I looked at her and I said you don't believe in this Jesus do you? She said no not yet. And I leaned in and I said well why are you here? She said because you know the only hope she has listened to my sermons before21:26I said you know the only hope that I have in death is Jesus. And so I look over and this is my little table and I look over and her friend is just weeping. And I look at my friend and I say you are here because the Holy Spirit has drawn you here. Listen to him. The Holy Spirit is essential for salvation.21:54for salvation. Nicodemus how long has the Holy Spirit drawn you? How long if you have not given your life to Christ how long has the Holy Spirit been drawing you? I sat in this little country church in Mississippi I sat in the back row over there and I remember sometimes during the sermon that something was happening. And looking back back now for years22:23for years the Holy Spirit was drawing me. And I remember finally an invitation was given and the thought occurred to me God if you are true if Jesus is who he says he is and you are offering me the free gift of eternal life abundant life forgiveness of all the wretched things that I have done God if this is true and you are offering it to me and your Holy Spirit is inviting me I would be I would be a fool not to say22:52yes and maybe you can think back in your life and just realize all the times the Holy Spirit was drawing you saying Josh what about that you could have died in that car but I saved you follow Jesus you could have died by those sins that you are longing for you could have destroyed your life but I was rescuing you follow me come to Jesus he is the author and the perfecter of your faith for those in Christ23:21today you are probably welling up with tears thinking God you were there at that moment and God your spirit was there at that moment and God you were there God why do I deserve this he says you don't that's why it's called grace the Holy Spirit is essential for salvation and I'm praying for some of you right now the Holy Spirit is drawing say yes to Christ turn to him23:50run to that throne so what does he do if that's who the Holy Spirit is then what does he do we see he's essential for salvation and let's go back to John 14 15 again Jesus calls the Holy Spirit by another name a nickname if you will he says I will send you I will pray to the father and he will give you another counselor24:19counselor or some would say comforter it is one who helps by consoling encouraging and mediating on behalf of is actually the Greek word paraclete that's what we can call the Holy Spirit some of your Bibles might say paraclete so why would the Holy Spirit comfort us maybe you've been in your life before and and you couldn't even pray except one word and just say God help24:48help I know I've been there before we're going to talk about the Holy Spirit praying on our behalf but just saying God I need your comfort God rescue me God work in me God this is my time of need I need your comfort your counselor and God says I sent him his name is the Holy Spirit what a powerful promise that is but this comfort25:18this comfort comes at a risk here is a risk listen to what Francis Chan says he wrote a book called The Forgotten God on the Holy Spirit Chan says why would we need to experience the comforter in our lives if our lives were already comfortable let me read that again why would we need to experience John 1425:4714 16 the Holy Spirit is our counselor and our comforter if our lives are already comfortable see the reminder from the comforter is this I cannot live for me and self and for the comfort and my comfort and be led by the comforter I can't say God I am living for self and sin and I want to live26:17live with the spirit the Holy Spirit requires risk in your life and the risk is God I trust you it's the same risk that we might ask a little child who's going to jump from this step to the bottom and we say I'm going to catch you do you trust me yes I trust you okay jump jump26:44jump well I can't do that do you trust me yes well jump see there's risk in trust there's risk in Christ there's risk trusting the Holy Spirit and I really believe in our lives sometimes I do not experience the comfort of the Holy Spirit because I am too comfortable that I would rather say27:14say I will choose my comfort over the risk of abiding through the Spirit of God oh that we would be uncomfortable to experience the comforter today he is our comfort what else does he do John 14 17 Bible says that he is the spirit of truth the world is unable to receive him because27:44because it doesn't see him or know him but you do you you and I if you're in Christ you know him Jesus says why because he he dwells he remains with you and will be in you right God didn't give you the Holy Spirit he gave him into you what is the Bible saying about the Holy Spirit he displays and he does the Greek word here means to abide28:13abide or to constantly remain in our lives I think we have it backwards or erroneous sometimes as westerners particularly Americans if we're not careful we we want to pray so often about the will of God so listen to what I'm saying I want you to obey and follow the will of God but there are times where we are so concerned about the will of God we forget that he is in control because28:42because there are really two types of God's will there is his sovereign will it's the will that's created by fiat the world which no one not even satan himself can thwart the will of God but there is also the commanded will of God for instance honor your father and mother some of you have disobeyed that in your lives what is God's will for you to obey your father and mother the decalogue absolutely but29:12but that is the commanded will he gives us as free to choose otherwise and unfortunately often we choose sin so let's go back now to the will of God often we pray God let me see your will God let me know your will God just display your will and then I will do it but I believe often God is saying I did I did I don't have to pray God if you want me29:42me to obey my father and mother today I God is it your will today that I don't kill someone or God is it your will God if you show me in vivid imagery I will not lie well we know the will of God it's the commanded will of God and listen to how Jesus prays in the garden Jesus is walking towards his death and30:10and he sweating drops of blood Luke tells us and he prays this you know the prayer father if you are willing take this cup from me but nevertheless not my will but yours so what does Jesus not pray there he doesn't say God father this whole cross thing if you show me your will then I will walk a30:40a sacrificial death to the cross Jesus doesn't pray that have you ever wondered why Jesus doesn't ask he doesn't ask God for his will he just simply says God not mine but yours why because what is Jesus doing what is he constantly doing with the father he is remaining in him he is abiding in him you see God wants us to so abide in the spirit that we know the will of God31:09God we don't have to ask God what is your will what is your will the Holy spirit is working in us according to his good pleasure the will of the father we have an easy modern application it it's like me praying for a map do they even make those anymore I got an amen over here for my father in law by the way he loves maps like physical maps it's31:37it's like me praying for a map God if you just map everything out if I see the journey if I see the path then I will walk the step and God is saying I gave you the GPS just trust me today trust me with your will so what does the Holy Spirit do he works out God's will in our lives will the Holy Spirit ever do anything that is outside the will of God no32:07no so if I am abiding and remaining in the will of the Holy Spirit then what will I be doing the will of God remain in him what else does he do let's look at John 16 you can flip over maybe a page John 16 14 again we see this in through Christ says32:34says this about the Holy Spirit John 16 14 that the Spirit will glorify me because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you everything the Father has is mine that's why I told you that he that he takes from what is mine and will declare it to you and this is a passage that's again unfolding in Christ like terminology the counselor's ministry the Holy Spirit's ministry so what does the Holy33:04Holy Spirit do he always magnifies the son the Holy Spirit will always magnify the son the Holy Spirit was in essence the first messianic hype man he is promoting the son of God and by the way what is Jesus doing here on earth he was promoting and exalting the father the Holy Trinity living and working itself out in our world that we might see33:33see the glory of God John 14 says that the Holy Spirit will always magnify the son J.A. Packer puts it this way the Holy Spirit's message to us is never look at me it's never listen to me come to me get to know me but always look at him see his glory listen to Jesus and hear his word go to Jesus and have life34:03life get to know the Messiah and taste his gift of joy and peace and if the Holy Spirit is dwelling in you today what should your life look like it should never be look at me but look at him listen to him read his words come to him because in him has life the spirit will always exalt the son of Jesus the son Jesus the son of God in34:33in our lives so let's continue not only does he magnify the son not only is he essential for salvation not only does he do the will of God but he will fill he gifts his people and he employs let me give you one verse Acts 4 verse 31 Paul I mean not Paul but Peter out of prison and now they're praying and the reason they were out of prison by the way is because they were praying so they get out of prison35:01and now they are praying so church what should we be doing praying we want to see the power of God in our lives but verse 31 of Acts 4 says it this way when when they had prayed the place where they were assembled were shaken was shaken and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God boldly speak the word of God boldly so this is after Pentecost35:29this is not a second Pentecost why were they filled John Chrysostom an early church father says it means that they were inflamed the gift of the Holy Spirit burned up within them and they spake the word of God with boldness we need a fresh feeling of the Spirit of God we need to come in these places with the expectation of God you're about to shake the ground today35:59not Lord not to us not to us but to your name and to your glory now let me confess something to you if the building starts shaking right now I am scared but if the Holy Spirit is shaking the ground where we are praying and seeking Him there is no other place I would rather be with the Spirit of God filling us again renewing us36:28renewing us when you are filled with the Holy Spirit you will be used by the Spirit for the glory of Yahweh think about what 1 Corinthians 12 says that there are different activities but the same God each who is given a gift a manifestation of the Spirit is given to each person for the common good so what is your gift? if you are in Christ and the Spirit is in you and the Spirit gives gifts then you have a gift are you using that? I don't want to be the servant37:00who hid his talent in the ground and one day when God calls me home I dig it up and I say King Jesus look at what I found for you the gift that you gave me the talent and he's going to say but why didn't you use it? why wasn't it manifest in your life? why didn't it return with interest? why wasn't it changing the world? I don't want to be the one who buries and hinders37:30the gift of the Spirit in my life I want to be one where the Spirit of God is freshly filling me daily the Holy Spirit fills He gifts and He employs two more thoughts the Holy Spirit prays for us the Holy Spirit prays for us if you've ever struggled to pray you're not alone38:00you know who struggles to pray sometimes? I do you know why we struggle to pray so much? because your adversary doesn't want you to pray that's why He gave us phones to distract us and everything else and even in those moments where we struggle to pray the Bible says this about the Holy Spirit Romans 8 26 and 2738:29I'm not going to read verse 28 some of you know that you're about ready to throw it at me it's on your bumper sticker right? God works out for the good of those who love Him hold on now how does God work for the good? we sometimes forget the previous two verses look at what it says in the same way the Spirit helps us in our weakness because we do not know what to pray for as we should but the Spirit intercedes for us with unspoken groanings38:58He searches our hearts He knows the mind of the Spirit because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of the God of God because the Holy Spirit always does the will of God you know what gives me comfort that when I don't know what to pray or how to pray the Holy Spirit does and so He is praying for me and when that happens when the Holy Spirit is groaning on behalf of God and in my life the Holy Spirit is probably groaning to God saying again39:27again but there are times where the Holy Spirit is groaning on my behalf and saying Father Josh doesn't know what to pray but Father I do so I'm groaning on His behalf because He's broken because He's worn out and Father I know because I'm groaning in verse 26 and verse 27 that Josh can read verse 28 because I'm groaning on behalf of God your people and in your people39:57then they can now read that we work for the good of those who love Jesus and are called according to His purpose how can we say that because the Holy Spirit is praying for you and in you constantly interceding that is His work that is His ministry our groans become His groans as He intercedes on our behalf40:26lastly we must be careful not to stifle the Holy Spirit I say for the Baptist church the best for last 1 Thessalonians says very simply verse 19 chapter 5 don't stifle the Spirit don't despise prophecies but test all things what is God reminding us of40:55that the Holy Spirit will not overpower you and He will not coerce you but He wants to work in you and through you so we must be very careful not to stifle the Greek word here means to to extinguish a flame or figuratively suppressing or stifling something it's like it's like the disciples telling the kids who are coming to Jesus run along not now too busy Jesus has more important things41:23He is the Son of God you know disciples were stifling those kids and what did Jesus do to the disciples He rebukes them so we must be very careful not to stifle how do we stifle the Holy Spirit in our life I think there's two major ways one by cynicism we don't believe the word or we say we believe it but we don't expect God to work or we pray but we pray as if to say41:52God you could I'm going to pray because I know that I should but I know you'll never do that or well God doesn't work like that cynicism and how quickly does Satan sprinkle cynicism in the community of faith well don't believe it was God don't believe God could do that so if you're cynical I didn't say that we should be discerning but if we're cynical42:21to the things of the Holy Spirit we are stifling Him in our lives the second is not only cynicism but sin that when I sin it's like a dripping faucet that I'm constantly becoming apathetic to the things of God in our life one of the saddest stories in all the Bible is a man named Samson a really strong dude right worked out a lot a lot of protein shakes he was just aggressive42:49he did a lot of mighty works for God but Judges says this about him in Judges 16 one of the saddest verses in all of Scripture they wake him up and when he wakes up from his sleep he says I will escape with my might as I did before and I will shake myself free Judges 16 says but he did not know that the Lord had departed from him he had stifled43:16the spirit in this case because he had broken the Nazarite vow and how often do we stifle the spirit in our lives through our habitual denying of truth to our apathetic ways to sin to say you know what it's a small sin no one here saw it and God I know that you forgive me anyway because that's what you do so I'm just gonna go on43:44and over and over again we extinguish the flame of the spirit in our lives church do not stifle the spirit so how can we take this home if you are a child of God rejoice rejoice for all the promises44:12of the spirit rejoice that the spirit has been drawing you and working in you when you sing the song of response you should sing a spirit filled response to the glory of Christ in you that should be our response maybe you're here and you do not love Jesus and today your response needs for the first time to believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that he is Lord and if you do44:42the Bible says whoever calls upon the name of the Lord whoever turns from their sin and turns to Jesus whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved that is my prayer for you that you would turn from yourself and turn through the spirit by the son to the father and that you would find abundant life where I'm going to be down front we're going to have counselors that would love to talk to you about following Jesus and you might say well I want to come up in front of all these people45:11fill out a connect card and we will follow up with you or our counselors stay up here after the service they would love to talk to you to pray with you about following Jesus Christ I want to leave you with this quote as we respond a quote by Charles Spurgeon to the believer you ready dear brother honor the spirit of God as you would honor Jesus Christ if he were present if Jesus Christ45:39were dwelling in your house would you not ignore him would you not go about your business as if he were not there do not ignore the presence of the Holy Spirit in your soul I beseech you do not live as if you had not heard whether there were any Holy Spirit to him pay your constant adorations love him obey him46:08obey him worship him that is what we need today let's pray Father youMore sermons on John →
