[0:00] This morning on this glorious bright sunshiny day with all the snow on the ground to kind of amplify the bright part of that. It's wonderful to experience Thanksgiving with our family this week.
[0:12] I hope you guys were able to enjoy the same. It's a really wonderful morning to be here. Well, as you know, I'm not Bill Story.
[0:23] I did not stay in the Holiday Inn Express last night, so I definitely can't even act like Bill Story. But we pray for him and his bride as they're out in Oregon caring for Delinda's mom.
[0:36] And I pray that they would have a good and successful trip out there with that. And I know they enjoy Thanksgiving with the family out there as well. So, good stuff.
[0:47] This morning, I want to continue a study in the Trinity that we started many months ago. And I apologize that it's kind of disjointed in terms of time. But this morning, I want to focus on arguably the least understood member of the Godhead, and that being the Holy Spirit.
[1:05] We think of the Father and Son in physical terms, but the Holy Spirit is typically without form. Now, last week, we did study that the Holy Spirit descended bodily as a dove on Jesus when he was baptized by John.
[1:20] But in general, the Holy Spirit is without form. And since we can't conceive of him in a physical sense, we tend to view him as a force, not a person.
[1:35] But the Holy Spirit is most definitely a person. We clearly see him in Scripture, from Genesis to Revelation. But his impact seems less important in comparison to the Father and Son.
[1:51] Or is it? That's what we'll look at this morning. Let's break out our swords, our Bibles, and start sharing the blessing together. This morning, we'll be studying the book of John, looking at the last part of the discussion that Jesus had with his disciples before he went to the cross.
[2:10] Our focus is going to be on John 16, verses 7 through 15. But we're going to back up to John 15, 7, to provide some context for the passage that we're going to read.
[2:24] So, if you're able, please stand in honor of reading God's Holy Word. And by the way, the section that we're reading starts on page 901 of the Q Bible, if you would like to look at that.
[2:39] So, beginning in John 15, 7. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
[2:50] By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you.
[3:02] Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.
[3:20] And moving on to chapter 16. I've said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God.
[3:37] You saw a glimpse of that in that Voice of the Martyrs video that we looked at a moment ago. And they will do these things because they have not known the Father nor me. But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes, you may remember that I told them to you.
[3:56] I did not say these things to you from the beginning because I was with you. But now I am going to him who sent me. And none of you asks me, where are you going?
[4:08] But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away.
[4:19] For if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.
[4:34] Concerning sin because they do not believe in me. Concerning righteousness because I go to the Father and you will see me no longer. Concerning judgment because the ruler of this world is judged.
[4:48] I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. For he will not speak of his own authority, but whatever he hears, he will speak.
[5:03] And he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine.
[5:16] Therefore, I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you. Pray with me, if you would, please. Lord God, I pray that you would open our hearts and minds this morning so that we can more carefully grasp the person of the Holy Spirit that you have used to seal our relationship with you.
[5:37] Continue to lead us in spirit and truth as we study your word. I pray for those hearing this message this morning that do not have you in their hearts. That you would reveal their need for you and draw them to eternal life.
[5:50] Lord, for myself, I pray that you would help me stand aside. Speak through me so that the people who bear your name can hear your voice alone. In Christ's name we pray.
[6:02] Amen. In the beginning, Adam and his wife were created to be perfect and sinless.
[6:12] There was nothing about them that interfered with their ability to have a direct, personal relationship with God. Then deceit, doubt, desire, and rejection of God's word entered their life.
[6:27] They sinned. Sin cannot coexist with God's perfection. So they were cast out from the presence of God. As a result, they were no longer able to commune directly with God.
[6:39] Man was created for a relationship with God. He is incomplete without you. And this condition leaves us lost and useless without you.
[6:54] But God, even though disobeyed, remained faithful. He clothed Adam and Eve to cover their embarrassment and continued to speak to and guide them and the following generations of what would become his chosen people.
[7:09] From the time of Adam, the Holy Spirit has been quietly making his impact known. God's word, prophecy, and care continue to pour out on his people through the Holy Spirit.
[7:20] 2 Peter 1, 19-21 says, Knowing this, first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's interpretation.
[7:47] For prophecy, no prophecy was ever produced by the will of men. But men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
[7:59] So we see the Holy Spirit in prophecy. The entirety of Scripture, in fact, was written by men, inspired by the Holy Spirit, to record the actions of God and men and serve as a foundation for our relationship.
[8:15] 2 Timothy 3, 16-17 says, All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
[8:34] The Greek word that we translate into Holy Spirit is pneuma. Sound like pneumonia, something like that, which literally means breath. To see the impact of the Holy Spirit, we need to look no further than the book that you are holding in your hand.
[8:53] We see the Holy Spirit in the writing of Scripture, facilitating artistic ability, enabling communication, bringing prophecy, providing discernment, and fostering conviction.
[9:07] When the Holy Spirit arrives, our understanding of God and our ability to worship Him increases. The Holy Spirit enables us to discern the word of God and uses it to draw us to Himself so that we can once again be complete through a relationship with Him.
[9:25] His discernment is not intended to be hidden in our hearts, but to be shared to a lost world who, like us, needs God's mercy. As noted in the verse that we read before in 2 Timothy, the Holy Spirit provides the means for us to be complete and equipped for every good work.
[9:44] It's quite an impact the Holy Spirit has on us, and that would be enough. But God in His wisdom has an even greater blessing to bestow on us.
[9:56] Seventy-six generations after Adam, God clothed Himself in flesh and dwelt among mankind in the person of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
[10:07] Jesus made clear the truths of Scripture that were hidden in plain view and perfectly satisfied the law, proving both that the law was worthy and demonstrating His unique qualification as the only perfect sacrifice.
[10:24] When tempted, Jesus directly confronted Satan. He did not yield to Satan's temptations and responded in His fleshly nature, not His deity.
[10:35] He rested on the Word of God, demonstrating that we can do the same thing. He preserved His standing as the perfect sacrifice, and in doing so, He successfully fought for us, since if He had failed in that regard, that would have eliminated His ability to be the propitiation for our sin and left us condemned for all eternity to wander without any hope of being restored to relationship with God.
[11:05] So that temptation was very, very important. Jesus was, for a time, the light of the world, come to dwell with men, fulfilling several Old Testament prophecies, and I'll just read three here very quickly.
[11:21] Isaiah 60, verse 1, Psalm 119, verse 105, Psalm 119, verse 130, Psalm 119, verse 130, The unfolding of your words gives light.
[11:44] It imparts understanding to the simple. But now, as the disciples are facing Jesus leaving, they may have been reminded of some earlier conversations that they had.
[11:56] In John 9, verse 5, it says, As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. And John 12, 36 states, While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.
[12:13] We feel the disciples' pain and sorrow as men who were created for close relationship with God were about to be left without Him. We see Jesus' patience and tenderness with them as they struggle to process this heartbreaking news.
[12:29] Then Jesus did what only God can do. He paid the price for our eternal separation from God. And in order for God to be just, there has to be a consequence for sin.
[12:43] Any and every sin. Any sin results in our permanent separation from God. And we see that with Adam and Eve because only a single sin was required for them to break their relationship with God.
[12:57] And it wasn't even one of the Ten Commandments. We are all guilty. And since our souls are eternal, we're cast away from Him for eternity.
[13:10] But then we have the hope of Jesus' words to Nicodemus in John 3, 16. And all of us know that. For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.
[13:26] Jesus paid the price for all those called to relationship with Him. His sacrifice was not just a physical death on a cross, as horrible as that was.
[13:38] That's an image that we can relate to and understand the gravity of the sacrifice that He made. But it really wasn't uniquely terrible. Romans did this all the time. There was another penalty that we really couldn't see, something unique and infinitely worse.
[13:55] When Jesus cries out the words prophesied in Psalm 22, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? We get the tiniest glimpse of the true price He paid to redeem us.
[14:08] The wages of sin is death, eternal separation from God. Yet His sacrifice paid this overwhelming price, enabling us to have faith in relationship with God.
[14:19] He died and was buried and rose again on the third day in fulfillment of the Scriptures. And Jesus remained with His disciples for a little while, and then He went away as He promised.
[14:33] So, with this kind of long foundation, let's unpack our text back in John 16. So, looking at John 16, verse 7, I tell you the truth, it's to your advantage that I go away.
[14:48] For if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I do go, I will send Him to you. So, Jesus is going away, and that's to the disciples' advantage?
[15:03] Boy, that sounds conflicting. What could possibly be the advantage of losing a close relationship with Jesus? God incarnate, a man you can see and touch.
[15:16] His disciples were complete in Him and hungry for His light because He had the words of life. So, when Jesus departs, does that mean that God has abandoned us?
[15:28] Is the light of the world now dimmed at His departure? Well, as Paul would say in Romans, by no means. God always had a plan, and a better plan than we could ever conceive of.
[15:42] God, in His infinite wisdom, has given us another part of Himself to seal our relationship with Him and illuminate our path. He gives us His Holy Spirit. Man built tents and temples in the leading, or through the leading of the Holy Spirit, to house God and serve as a place for us to go and worship Him.
[16:06] But God made believers to be the temple of the Holy Spirit, to walk with Him, thought by thought and step by step, in their journey through the world.
[16:18] God, or Jesus was and is Emmanuel, God with us. The Holy Spirit is God within us. No more do we have to go to a certain place to worship God because He is always with us.
[16:34] Prayer is not a thing that we do occasionally to talk to God. It's a running conversation that we have with our personal and relational God. What an incredible advantage and a very unexpected one.
[16:55] Jesus foretold this new relationship in John 14, verses 16 through 18, just before the Passover feast. And He said, I will ask the Father and He will give you another helper to be with you forever.
[17:09] Even the Spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. You know Him, for He dwells with you and He will be in you.
[17:22] I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you. So we see there that Jesus asked the Father to send the Holy Spirit to us, to be with us forever.
[17:32] Forever. This is a gift that's reserved for believers. God is not leaving us, but giving us His Holy Spirit to make us complete. God is not leaving us.
[17:44] He is coming to dwell within us at His initiative. We are no longer orphans. We are adopted into His family. So going back to our text in John 16 then, looking at verses 8 through 11, we read that Jesus sends His Holy Spirit to convict the world.
[18:05] And the text says, And when He comes, He will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment. Concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me. Concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you will see Me no longer.
[18:20] Concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. The Holy Spirit is coming to spread the world of Jesus to a lost world as Jesus returns to His Father.
[18:33] He will convict the world of sin, judgment, and the need to follow Jesus. Before this point, the law was provided to mankind to show us how to properly live and interact with God.
[18:47] But the law defined how we should carefully walk to stay on the right path. But following this path of righteousness established by the law is like looking at footprints on the ground and giving us the requirement to carefully put our feet in each of these footprints so that we can stay on the right path.
[19:09] And we have to do that without error. Sure, we can put our feet in the footprints for a while. Yeah, we can do that. But then the path gets slippery.
[19:22] It gets muddy. It gets rocky. It gets steep. We get distracted on things like, oh, look at that apple over there. We can't do this for a lifetime.
[19:34] There's only one who was able to do this, and that was Jesus. I think most people would describe the law as what we need to do or need not to do to avoid God's wrath.
[19:47] Avoiding God's wrath is not the goal. Eternal relationship with him is the goal. If we blindly follow the law, we don't know where the path leads because we're just looking at our feet, putting one foot on a footprint at a time.
[20:06] Some feel that they've intentionally strayed from the path, and there's no redemption. They know the path's over there, but I'm over here, so I'm done. They've broken God's law, and they can't be redeemed, so the only choice is to seek pleasure today for tomorrow we die.
[20:24] It sounds like what Satan does, but they don't die. They leave this temporary world for eternity with God or are sentenced to an eternity of unimaginable pain and loneliness without him.
[20:42] Those are the two choices. But then two important events happen. First, Jesus identified himself as the goal of our journey.
[20:53] In John 14, 6, he says, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except by me. This is not made as an arrogant claim.
[21:05] He's offering relationship with a holy God where our mistakes, both intentional and unintentional, are paid for and covered by him. Now we understand that the law not only convicts us of our sin, it shows us a void that can only be filled by Jesus.
[21:23] And then Jesus speaks back in our text in John 16, verses 12 through 14, of the one that he will send to believers at the time of his departure.
[21:36] In reading that section of text, I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears, he will speak.
[21:52] And he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. And we see there that Jesus continues to speak softly and tenderly to his disciples.
[22:06] You're still grappling with this terrible news of his pending departure. He understands that they're overwhelmed by this and can't think of anything else at this point. But we read in John 16, 12, I still have many things to say to you.
[22:22] But you cannot hear them now. So Jesus understands that. But then the important news is in verse 13. When the spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears, he will speak.
[22:39] And he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. So we see the spirit of truth who is given only to those who have a relationship with Jesus.
[22:56] And this is a relationship that we will enjoy forever, not just in this world, but in the next. When we're drawn to faith in Christ by the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit comes to abide in us as a seal of our salvation.
[23:12] And we see that in Ephesians 1, 13. In him, you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed by the promised Holy Spirit.
[23:27] And in 2 Corinthians 1, 21 through 22, And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us. And who has also put his seal on us and given us his spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.
[23:45] Now we understand what Jesus was speaking to when he was talking to Nicodemus back in John 3, 5. Truly, truly, I will say to you, unless it's born of water and spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
[24:01] We are drawn to faith in Jesus Christ, and we are born of the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 12, 13 says, For in one spirit we were all baptized into one body, Jews or Greeks, slaves or free, and all were made to drink of one spirit.
[24:20] So this is a promise not only made to the Jews, but also to the Gentiles. The Holy Spirit will guide us into all truth. God himself will personally shepherd us into all truth.
[24:37] That's an amazing thing to think about. It's also nice because we don't have to look at our feet anymore in following the law. The Spirit tells us to keep our eyes firmly fixed on Jesus.
[24:49] Jesus. And he's not speaking of his own authority, but Jesus' authority. He's speaking and declaring the things that are to come. And with the Holy Spirit abiding in us, we can now see that we can truly appreciate the promise of Psalm 23 that I think would have been a very difficult thing to do under the law.
[25:12] The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me by still waters. He restores my soul.
[25:25] He leads me in the path of righteousness for his namesake. And even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. For you are with me.
[25:37] Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil and my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.
[25:52] And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. So many pieces of that. You can now see where the Holy Spirit fits in. In leading you.
[26:05] In restoring you. In being with you. In protecting you. In being your companion. We can walk the right path now because the Holy Spirit fixes our eyes on the goal.
[26:20] And the goal is Jesus. We see that walking a single perfect path is really not the issue. Walking through the narrow gate is the issue.
[26:33] The gate is Jesus. And there are many paths up and down the hills, down into dark valleys, through the mud, through briars. We've all been there. But by keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, we will make it to the gate.
[26:48] We will make it to the gate. No matter what sins we've committed, the Holy Spirit can show you the path to Jesus. In John 16, 13, he states, he will declare the things of God that are to come.
[27:06] In speaking to the disciples, he's talking about things that they can't fully grasp right now, but they're about to, thanks to what the work the Holy Spirit is going to do in their lives. Things like Jesus' death and resurrection as payment for our sins, the gospel message that we are about to take to all the world, the spiritual battle that we're engaged in, Jesus' triumphant return to earth and establishment of a new heaven and a new earth.
[27:35] There's a lot there that they have to learn, and the Holy Spirit is there to help them do that. But the ultimate goal is relationship with him and those that will follow him forever.
[27:47] John 16, 14 says, he will glorify me for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. So the Holy Spirit is glorifying Jesus as the goal of our walk and our ultimate blessing.
[28:02] But best of all, we see in John 16, 15 that states, all that the Father has is mine, and therefore I said that I will take what is mine and declare it to you.
[28:14] The Holy Spirit will teach us about Jesus and convict us of our need to follow him. He will confirm that we belong to him. And by that, we can walk as a people bought with a price and walk worthy.
[28:31] We can cling to his word of protection as we face the adversary and our own temptations. We can live in a manner that glorifies God in this world and look forward to eternal fellowship with him in the next.
[28:46] The Holy Spirit is given to every believer. 2 Corinthians 1, 22 states, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his spirit in our hearts as a guarantee, a guarantee of our salvation purchased through Jesus' sacrifice.
[29:05] But the Holy Spirit is only for the believer. Romans 8, 9 states, You, however, are not in the flesh but in spirit.
[29:17] And in fact, the Spirit of God dwells in you. So that's the believer. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. If you have the Holy Spirit, you belong to God and you are destined for eternal fellowship with him.
[29:32] If you do not have the Holy Spirit, you do not belong to him and you are destined for destruction. Our relationship with God is under a new covenant described in Hebrews.
[29:46] And if you'd like to read along with this, this is basically restating prophecy from Jeremiah. So the section in Hebrews is on page 1005 of your pew Bible, Hebrews 8, 8 through 12.
[30:00] Or if you're just one of those Old Testament people and you just love the Old Testament, you can go to Jeremiah 31, 31 through 34. But I think this will all be familiar to you.
[30:13] Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. Not like the covenant I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt.
[30:28] For they did not continue in my covenant. So I showed no concern for them, declares the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord.
[30:41] I will put my laws into their minds and write them on their hearts. And I will be their God and they shall be my people.
[30:53] This is coming out of the prophet Jeremiah. And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.
[31:10] For I will be merciful toward their iniquities and I will remember their sins no more. That's a picture of the new covenant that was foretold by the prophet Jeremiah.
[31:22] And this new covenant where the laws are written on our hearts and minds is facilitated by the Holy Spirit. So the important connection here as we look across the Trinity is God the Father creates us and Jesus redeems us so the Holy Spirit can abide in us and point us to Jesus to the glory of the Father.
[31:50] So we see all three members of the Godhead collaborating together. And we can quickly recognize this is God's intentional design, reminding us once again that God didn't just create the perfect world, wind it up, flip the switch in the back and walk away and then send Jesus to clean up the mess that we made.
[32:16] Plan J was always Plan A. And the Holy Spirit as God within us was and is an essential part of that plan.
[32:32] So let's look at a couple of application things here. As a believer, God himself is within you. His Holy Spirit is with you. Fellowship, fellowshiping with you, teaching you, leading you into the path of righteousness.
[32:49] So Christian, where do you take the Holy Spirit that's within you? 1 Corinthians 6, 19 through 20 says, Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?
[33:04] You are not your own for you were bought with a price. So glorify God with your body. 2 Timothy 2, 15 says, Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.
[33:27] So I suggest an exercise for you, and it's one I do too, and reminded about things that are less than positive sometimes, but look in the mirror and ask yourself these questions like these.
[33:42] when you're all by yourself on your computer, what do you look at? Does it honor God? When you have the opportunity, do you treat others with compassion that would have him say, well done, good and faithful servant, or dismiss someone else's need in favor of your own selfish desires?
[34:03] Are you willing to stand fast to honor God and share the word of truth, or do you compromise in favor of your standing with men?
[34:19] Think about things like that. Everybody's different, but it's important to recognize we have the Holy Spirit of God with us. It's not a good thing for us to go play in a mud puddle with that.
[34:31] Because Ephesians 4.30 says, do not grieve the Holy Spirit by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. That is not a place that we want to be.
[34:45] Well, as we close our study this morning, we've really only scratched the surface of the role of the Holy Spirit and how profoundly he impacts our lives, both in this world and for eternity.
[34:58] As I was researching the topic for this study, I was reminded of a quote from second chapter of Paul's letter to the Corinthian church. And my prayer today is that you would hear from the Holy Spirit and not me.
[35:12] Consequently, I see no better way to conclude our time this morning than to use the Holy Spirit's own words to us through Paul. And I think the guys probably have this queued up in the back.
[35:24] regardless, it's 1 Corinthians chapter 2, page 952 in your pew Bible. And I think this is a wonderful summary. And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom.
[35:42] For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness, in fear, and much trembling.
[35:54] In my speech and my message were not plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
[36:08] Yet among the mature, we do impart wisdom, although it's not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age who are doomed to pass away, but we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory.
[36:25] None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written, what no eye has seen, nor ear has heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him.
[36:46] These things God has revealed to us through the Spirit, for the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person's thought except the Spirit of that person which is in him?
[37:00] So also, no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the Spirit of this world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God, and we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom, but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.
[37:27] The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.
[37:38] The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. For who has understood the mind of the Lord as to instruct him?
[37:49] But we have the mind of Christ. So if you are a Christian this morning, I pray that you would listen to that still, small voice that abides in you to seal and deepen your relationship with him.
[38:05] If you are not a Christian, I pray that the Holy Spirit would convict you of your need to humble yourself before Almighty God, accept the free gift of eternal life that he offers through Jesus and pray that the Holy Spirit would seal your relationship with him by coming to abide in you.
[38:29] Let's pray together. Lord God, how amazing you are to be the creator and sustainer of all things and yet concern for us. You draw us to yourself through yourself both in terms of paying the sacrifice for our transgressions and then coming to personally abide in us.
[38:49] We do not worship an impersonal God who judges us from afar. We worship you while you abide in us to complete us, communicate with us, teach us, direct us, and protect us.
[39:03] You remind us of the personal blessing of your gospel message each day and provide opportunities to share those blessings with others who also deserve your justice.
[39:16] Holy Spirit, we thank you for drawing us to Jesus, to the glory of the Father, and we earnestly! We earnestly pray that you would draw those we love to a saving knowledge of you.
[39:28] Thank you for this day to share your truths with fellow believers. Please help us to use this day and every day to your glory. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.
[39:39] Amen.