our Bibles and as we always do read the entire chapter beginning in verse number
one fall on silently with brother Daniel as he reads John 14 starting in verse
number one
let not your heart be troubled you believe in God believe also in me in my
father's house are many mansions if it were not so I would have told you I go
to prepare a place for you and if I go and prepare a place for you I will come
again and receive you unto myself that where I am there ye may be also and
whither I go you know and the way you know Thomas saith unto him Lord we know
not whither thou goest and how can we know the way Jesus saith unto him I am
the truth I am the way the truth in the life no man cometh unto the Father but
by me if he had known me you should have known my father also and from henceforth
you know him and have seen him Philip saith unto him Lord show us the father
and it suffices us Jesus saith unto him have I been so long time with you and
yet hast thou not known me Philip he that has seen me hath seen the father
and how saith thou then show us the father believe it's about not that I am
in the father and the father in me the words that I speak unto you I speak not
of myself but the father that dwelleth in me he do with the works believe me
that I am in the father and the father and me or else believe me for the very
works sake verily verily saying to you he that believeth on me the works that I
do shall he do also and greater works than these shall he do because I go unto
my father and whatsoever shall ask in my name that will I do that the father may
be glorified in the son if ye shall ask anything in my name I will do it if ye
love me keep my commandments and I will pray the father and he shall give you
another comforter that ye that he may abide with you forever even the spirit
of truth whom the world cannot receive because it seeth him not neither know
with him but ye know him for he dwelleth with you and shall be in you I will not
leave you comfortless I will come to you yet a little while in the world seeth me
no more but ye see me because I live ye shall live also at that day you shall
know that I am in the father and ye and me and I in you he that hath my
commandments and keepeth them he it is that love with me and he that loveth me
shall be loved on my father and I will love him and will manifest myself to him
Judas saith unto him not a scariot Lord how is it that thou will manifest thy
self unto us and not unto the world Jesus answered and said unto him if a
man loved me he will keep my words and my father will love him and we will come
unto him and make our abode with him he that loveth me not keepeth not my
sayings and the world which ye hear in the word which he here is not mine but
the fathers which sent me these things have I spoken unto you being at present
with you but the comforter which is the Holy Ghost whom the father will send in
my name he shall teach you all things to bring all things to your remembrance
what serve I have said unto you peace I leave with you my peace I give unto you
not as a world giveth give I unto you let not the heart let not your heart be
troubled neither let it be afraid ye have heard how I had said unto you I go
away and come again to you if he loved me you would rejoice because I said I go
unto the father for my father is greater than I and now I have told you before I
come before it come to pass when it is come to pass you might believe hereafter
I will not talk much with you for the prince of this world cometh and he hath
another he has nothing in me but the world main but that the world may know
that I love the father and as a father gave me commandment even so I do arise
let us go hence brother Madison we pray for us father in heaven once again we
thank you for the opportunity to hear your word preached tonight we ask Lord
that you would fill Pastor Anderson and give him great understanding to impart
upon us and Lord God we thank you for the doctrine that is preached from this
pulpit every week we love you and we ask all these things in Jesus precious name
amen amen John chapter 14 the part of the chapter I want to focus on is their
beginning in verse number 16 where the Bible reads and I will pray the father
and he shall give you another comforter that he may abide with you forever I
want to preach about the comforter tonight the comforter now the word
comforter in the Bible has a little bit broader of a meaning than the way we
would use it today in 2021 obviously today's meaning of comforter you'd
probably think of someone at a funeral maybe someone has died and people are
sad and so people come to comfort them make them feel better or sympathize with
them and that is certainly one of the meanings of comforter that's used in the
Bible because job talks about how his three friends are miserable comforters
and so that's part of comfort but also the word comfort includes strengthening
exhorting encouraging comforting it means all of these things and you could
look at the word comfort and see that the last four letters of comfort are
our fort you know we think of a fort or a fortress as being something strong
imparting strength and that's what the Holy Spirit's ministry is when he
indwells the New Testament believer so he says in verse number 16 I will pray
the father and he shall give you another comforter then he may abide with
you forever now the reason that he says here another comforter is because it is
someone other than himself he is obviously a great source of comfort to
them because he's there with them exhorting them strengthening them helping
them and he's going to leave he's gonna depart this world he's of course gonna
die and be buried rise again and eventually ascend up to the father and
then he will send another comforter who will be with them forever because he's
not going to be there forever he says yet a little while and you see me no
more they've walked and talked with Jesus for the last three and a half
years he's about to be gone but he's gonna leave and he's gonna send the
comforter to be with them and then he tells who the comforter is it says in
verse 17 even the spirit of truth we would typically call him the Holy Spirit
or the Holy Ghost even the spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive
because it seeth him not neither knoweth him but ye know him for he dwelleth with
you and shall be in you I will not leave you comfortless I will come to you so
the Holy Spirit has dwelled with them so it's not that they've never met the Holy
Spirit or that the Holy Spirit is completely foreign or new to them first
of all we know that Jesus Christ is of course filled with the Holy Spirit above
all measure God gave not the spirit by measure unto him and of course even in
the Old Testament the Holy Spirit would come upon men of God and they would do
great work such as preaching or maybe fighting a physical battle the
difference here though is that the Holy Spirit is actually going to be in them
he said that he has been with you but he shall be in you he already dwells with
you but he shall be in you now flip back if you would to John chapter 7 just a
couple pages back in your Bible look at John chapter 7 and this is when Jesus is
preaching at the feast where a lot of the Jews have come to worship at the
annual feast and it says in verse 37 in the last day that great day of the feast
Jesus stood and cried cried there of course means that he's just yelling it
has nothing to do with tears or weeping he cried saying if any man thirst let
him come unto me and drink he that believeth on me as the scripture has
said out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water but this spake he of the
spirit which they that believe on him should receive for the Holy Ghost was
not yet given because that Jesus was not yet glorified so until Jesus glorified
the Holy Ghost is not yet given but we know that the Holy Spirit was already
around just like he said he dwells with you but he shall be in you now in the
Old Testament when the Holy Spirit would come upon men like Samson Saul
David all kinds of prophets and warriors that was a temporary thing the Holy
Spirit would come upon them they would be filled with the power of God and then
that could depart because if you remember when Saul disobeyed the
commandment of the Lord then the Spirit Lord departed from Saul and then the
Spirit of the Lord dwelled upon David from the time that he was anointed with
oil by Samuel and if you remember David was afraid of this in Psalm 51 when he
had sinned with Bathsheba he said take not thy Holy Spirit from me because he
had the Holy Spirit's power upon him and he didn't want to lose that because
that's a temporary thing but that is a completely different phenomenon than the
indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament which did not come until after
Jesus was glorified because he said here the Holy Spirit was not yet given
because that Jesus was not yet glorified but here's what a lot of
people get mixed up on they think that the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the
New Testament replaces the Holy Spirit upon you from the Old Testament or the
the filling of the Holy Spirit from the Old Testament but in reality both of
these two phenomena exist side by side in the New Testament so in the Old
Testament you have men of God where they're filled with the Spirit of God to
do some great work preach the sermon fight the battle that didn't go away in
the New Testament but it was augmented you have this additional thing of the
indwelling of the Holy Spirit now the difference with the indwelling of the
Holy Spirit is that it's permanent and it's it's every believer that's
indwelled by the Holy Spirit so even if you have a believer even if you have
someone who's saved and they're just completely not right with God they're
walking in the flesh they're not obeying the commandments of God they are still
indwelled by the Holy Spirit they don't have to worry like David you know Oh
take not thy Holy Spirit from me about the indwelling because no matter what
sin they commit he will never leave them nor forsake them they're always gonna be
indwelled that's why the Bible says if any man have not the Spirit of Christ
he's none of his every believer is indwelled by the Holy Spirit the moment
that you got saved the Holy Spirit came in and dwelled you and he is permanently
there and will never leave he is the earnest of our salvation he's the down
payment we've been sealed by that Holy Spirit of promise unto the day of
redemption and so that is a guarantee that will never be broken he will never
leave us or forsake us and so that's the indwelling of the Holy Spirit now one of
the things that we see if you flip over to John chapter 20 is that in John
chapter 20 they receive the Holy Ghost because of the fact that Jesus has died
on the cross he's been buried he's risen again and so now he's gonna give them
the comforter now if you remember what he said back in chapter 14 he said he
dwelleth with you and shall be in you I will not leave you
comfortless I will come to you now he's not gonna come to them and permanently
be their comforter because the Holy Spirit and Jesus are not the same person
just like God the Father and Jesus are not the same person because we believe
in the Trinity three persons one God okay obviously Jesus is not God the
Father Jesus is the Son the Holy Spirit's the Holy Spirit okay so that's
why he said I'm gonna pray the Father and the Father is gonna send another
comforter other than himself but when he says I will not leave you comfortless I
will come to you it's because he's going to come to them after the resurrection
he's not just gonna leave him comfortless he's gonna come to them and impart unto
them the comforter he's gonna impart unto them the Holy Spirit who's gonna be
with them forever and is not leaving so look down at your Bible there in John
chapter 20 in verse number 21 the Bible reads then said Jesus to them again
peace be unto you as my father had sent me even so send I you and when he had
said this he breathed on them and said unto them receive he the Holy Ghost so
it's pretty clear right in chapter 14 he promises that the comforter is coming
and then in John chapter 20 we have the fulfillment of that he doesn't leave
them comfortless he shows up and he says receive ye the Holy Ghost but stop think
about this this is in the upper room this is before he ascends up to heaven
he already delivered on his promise to give them the comforter but yet he tells
them to wait for the promise of the father Terry at Jerusalem he tells them
don't leave Jerusalem stay at Jerusalem until you have been endued with power
from on high so Jesus breathing on them and telling them to receive the Holy
Ghost does not give them the power that they're still waiting for that power
comes on the day of Pentecost right so even after they've already received the
Holy Ghost in John chapter 20 what are they waiting for something else okay
because this right here in John chapter 20 is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit
like we all have this is the Holy Spirit inside them now that Jesus has been
glorified they're indwelled permanently by the Holy Spirit but what's gonna
happen at the day of Pentecost is basically like unto that Old Testament
phenomenon where the Holy Ghost comes upon them in mighty power the way the
Holy Ghost came upon Samson the way the Holy Ghost came upon Saul David Oded the
Prophet you name all the different people in the Old Testament that had the
Holy Spirit upon them in mighty power so he tells them John baptized with water
but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence when the day
of Pentecost is fully come they're all assembled together in one place and the
Bible talks about how there's a mighty rushing wind and tons of fire resting
upon them and they're all filled with the Holy Ghost but even though they're
filled with the Holy Ghost in chapter 2 and that's them quote being endued with
power from on high yet in chapter 4 we see some of those exact same people
praying for the power of God and the Bible says when they had prayed the
place where they were assembled together was shaken and they were all filled with
the Holy Ghost and they spake the Word of God with boldness so you see how
they're filled with the Holy Ghost in Acts chapter 2 but then those same
people get filled with the Holy Ghost in Acts chapter 4 why because this is not a
permanent phenomenon but a temporary phenomenon so the point that I want to
make here is to clear up any confusion about the difference between the
indwelling of the Holy Spirit versus the Holy Ghost upon you or the fullness of
the Holy Spirit just as in the Old Testament the fullness of the Holy
Spirit or the power of God upon you was temporary it's still temporary in the
New Testament you know where where someone could get up and preach a
sermon with power and they could go out soul-winning and be filled with the
Spirit of God and be used greatly by God in that way but if they start living a
life of sin they could lose that power and they could not be filled with the
Holy Ghost they could be walking in the flesh that's why the Bible tells us be
not drunk with wine we're in his excess but be filled with the Spirit if it was
automatic if you were just automatically filled with the Spirit he wouldn't
command you be filled with the Spirit if it were just totally automatic now
here's what is automatic the indwelling of the Holy Spirit so if you get saved
you believe on Christ you are indwelled by the Holy Spirit that's just a for
sure thing and I don't care how bad you get the Holy Ghost will never leave you
or forsake you but does that mean you're filled with the Holy Spirit no does that
mean that you have the Spirit of the Lord upon you like the great prophets of
old no that is something that they had to wait for even after they got the
indwelling in chapter 20 they didn't get the power until Acts chapter 2 he said
wait for the promise of the Father of course they disobeyed the Lord because
not only did they wait in Jerusalem to receive the power of the Holy Spirit but
then like 20 years later they're still there and that was not God's plan God
told me go into all the world he told them go teach all nations and yet
they're like okay apostle Paul you go do that and a lot of them ended up staying
in Jerusalem for way too long because they were really just supposed to wait
till the day of Pentecost and then they were supposed to get out there and
evangelize the whole world and eventually they did that because as you
study the scripture you can see that eventually Peter made it outside of
Jerusalem and he's preaching to the Gentiles like he's supposed to and he's
in Asia Minor and even probably made it into Rome if you believe that that's the
reference in 1st Peter chapter 5 when he talks about the Church of Babylon
greeting them very likely to be referring to Rome so if you would go
back to John 14 with all that in mind or John 15 actually I just want to kind of
lay that foundation so we understand the Comforter what is the ministry of the
Comforter what is the Comforter's job why leave us with the Comforter what's
the benefit the Bible says in John chapter 15 verse 26 but when the
Comforter has come whom I will send unto you from the Father even the Spirit of
truth which proceedeth from the Father he shall testify of me and ye also shall
bear witness because you've been with me from the beginning so the Bible says
that the Comforter is going to testify unto the Apostles of Jesus and that they
also will bear witness because they've been with him from the beginning so if
you think about it the Apostles are going to be going around the world
eventually and preaching the gospel right away they're going to be preaching
the gospel in Jerusalem and the surrounding areas and they're going to
be preaching about Jesus well here's the thing you know human beings are not
necessarily going to remember everything that they experienced with Jesus or they
might not remember the important things or everything that they need to remember
and so the Holy Spirit is going to be there to bring things to their
remembrance he's going to testify to them of Jesus now they're going to be
able to testify because they were actually there you know they walked and
talked with Jesus for three and a half years and so they're going to bear
witness about Jesus they're going to talk about the things that Jesus taught
and did but they're also going to have the Holy Spirit to remind them of
important sayings of Jesus and stories about Jesus if you think about it you
know sitting down to write the book of John for example you know John isn't in
his own human wisdom going to be able to remember everything and obviously we
believe that the Bible is inspired by God and so the Lord led him and gave him
the words to put down on the page because he's not necessarily going to
know what God wants him to include what God doesn't want him to include it's not
like he just wrote it on his own just he just sat down hey I'm just going to tell
the story from my perspective you know the Bible is inspired by God and so
those things were brought unto his remembrance as an apostle so that's one
of the things that the Holy Spirit did was to remind them of these things so
that the four Gospels could be written so that they could write their epistles
and so they could just preach you know day in day out week in week out they're
preaching about Jesus and these things would come back to their mind the Holy
Spirit would do that for them he said what does that have to do with us well
obviously you know we're not painting scripture we're not divinely inspired to
write down you know the gospel according to whoever but the Holy Spirit still has
that same ministry for us that he will actually bring things to our
remembrance from the Word of God so for example let's say I'm out soul winning
and talking to someone and then just boom the perfect verse pops into my head
that that person needs to hear and it just rolls off my tongue because the
Holy Spirit brought that to my remembrance or let's say I'm up here
preaching and I'm preaching away on a certain subject and then boom that
subject triggers a certain verse and God brings a certain verse to my mind
that's just the perfect verse for that situation or maybe I'm with someone who
needs to be encouraged or maybe someone needs to be corrected on something and
then that verse pops into my mind a lot of times that's the Holy Spirit bringing
those things to your remembrance the Word of God is the sword of the Spirit
it's the weapon that the Spirit is using so the Spirit's going to take the Word
of God and use it now if you never read the Bible the first time then how's the
Holy Spirit gonna bring things to remembrance right in order to remember
something it has to be there in the first place so we want to read a lot of
Bible listen to a lot of preaching and then the Holy Spirit will bring those
things to our remembrance he'll jog our memory but more important than that he
will actually help us to understand the Bible and we'll get to that a little bit
more later but flip over if you went to chapter 16 chapter 16 so the first thing
we saw in verse number 17 of chapter 14 is that the Holy Spirit is going to
indwell the believer and then we saw in chapter 15 that not only is he going to
comfort the believer which would mean to strengthen him exhort him encourage him
and just the standard definition we would think of comfort him you know when
he's sad or depressed or going through a hard time he brings comfort but not
only that he will also testify of Jesus Christ and bring things to our
remembrance about Jesus and about the Word of God we'll look at chapter 16
verse 7 nevertheless I tell you the truth it is expedient for you that I go
away for if I go not away the Comforter will not come but if I depart I will
send him unto you this is a pretty startling statement stop and think about
how cool it would be to actually be with Jesus physically walking with Jesus
you're walking by the Sea of Galilee you're watching him in action as he
witnesses to people you're listening to him preach he's on the boat and
preaching and you're all on the shore just Wow the ultimate preacher the
ultimate soul winner you ask him questions and and just wisdom is rolling
off his lips you know that everything he says is right on I mean how great to
have that resource of Jesus right there with you physically there I mean what if
Jesus were here right now and we can just talk to him ask him any question go
out soul winning as his silent partner for a while but yet and the Bible is
always telling us the truth my friend the Bible is right you know what the
Bible says the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is actually superior to having
been on this earth walking with Jesus as one of the twelve disciples that's a
pretty startling statement but he tells them hey it's expedient for you that I
go away because then you get the Comforter now that's kind of hard to
believe isn't it that having the Comforter is better than hanging out
with Jesus having the Comforter inside you though actually is better let me see
if I can shed a little light on this but first of all even before we
understand it we should just believe it anyway because if the Bible says that
it's true Jesus telling them look because they don't want to lose Jesus
they don't want him to go away they want to keep him around if we were there we'd
want to keep him around too but he says no no you're gonna mourn you're gonna
weep you're gonna be sad that I'm leaving but it's actually expedient for
you that I go away because if I don't go away you don't get the Comforter but if
I leave I'm gonna send him what is so great about the Comforter that it's
worth Jesus being physically absent but I think this might help shed a little
light on it think about how many times the disciples are clueless in especially
the Gospel of Mark's account where you're kind of just thinking like come
on guys don't you get it and and and he's explaining things and he's doing
things and so many things are going over their head aren't they and they're just
not getting it and and sometimes that you look at it like wow how can you not
get this but that's because you've got the Comforter and this is why this is
such an advantage having the Holy Spirit inside you opens up the scriptures unto
you in a way that when you don't have the Comforter you know you can't see
these things that you do see with the Holy Spirit so the Holy Spirit
illuminates the scripture opens our eyes to things in the Bible helps us
understand the Word of God testifies of the Word of God now look obviously Old
Testament Saints they had some understanding of scripture of course and
they had enough understanding to be saved they had enough understand to call
upon the name of Lord they had enough understanding to look forward unto the
Messiah and to be saved by his future work on the cross his death burial and
resurrection but they saw through a glass darkly we see face-to-face we see
very clearly much more clearly than the disciples did and much more clearly than
any other Old Testament Saints did and you know what that's a major privilege
that's a major blessing so don't downplay the Comforter because if you
stop and think about just how cool it would be to be physically hanging out
with Jesus the Comforter is better okay as hard as that is to believe the good
thing is someday we'll have both right you know we up in heaven we'll be with
Jesus and we still got the Comforter so we got both but think about it if we
were with Jesus and we didn't have the Comforter a lot of stuff that he says is
gonna go over our heads so you say oh it'd be so cool to be able to ask Jesus
any question except sometimes you might not understand the answer because he's
speaking in all these parables and dark sayings and saying all these cryptic
things sometimes and the disciples are scratching their heads we've got it all
laid out more clearly in the Bible it's all printed and bound nicely here I can
hold it in my hand I can take it with me I can search it using electronic
tools and most importantly I have the author living inside of me I have the
Holy Spirit of God spoon feeding this to me every day making sure that I get
something making sure that I understand something you know if I read my Bible
and and don't get anything out of it you know it's like what that doesn't happen
think about it I mean if you sit down and actually read the Bible I guess if
you read the Bible didn't get anything out of it you maybe you're zoned out
maybe you're not paying attention maybe your heart's kind of somewhere else but
I mean if you actually approach the Bible with a desire to learn and you
pray and read your Bible you know I believe you're guaranteed to get
something out of it you know how could you not when the Holy Spirit's there
ready to tutor you in the Bible you know how many times have we tried to
learn a subject on our own and it just goes over our head and and and you know
you have to seek out some help some guidance the Holy Spirit is that guide
inside of us so so not only do we have this amazing treasure of the Word of God
I mean just having a book that contains absolute truth on the shelf is already
an amazing privilege but how much better when there's someone to explain it to
you and someone to teach and I'm not talking about me I'm not even talking
about your parents I'm talking about the Holy Spirit of God and the Bible says
unit you have no need that any man teach you you have no need than any man teach
you but as the same anointing teaches you of all things and is truth and is no
lie and even as it hath taught you you shall abide in him the anointing is the
Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit will teach you to where you don't even need a
man to explain it to you that's why I believe that in your personal Bible
reading time you should have the Bible and nothing else there are people that
we learn from you know you come to church and and I preach to you and
hopefully you learn from me you learn from other brothers and sisters in
Christ and you know some people like to read a lot of books about the Bible but
folks if you want to read a book about the Bible that is never a substitute for
reading the Bible itself don't just read a book about the Bible read the Bible
and here's the thing I also would avoid study Bibles commentaries for your Bible
time I'm not saying that you'd never reference something as a tool or some
but here's the thing you need to have a time each day where it's just you and
the Bible with no third party and let the Holy Spirit teach you the Bible you
don't need a man it's like well I can't understand the Bible unless I've got
these notes and this commentary and then either a you're not saved or B you're
just you're just deluded and and lacking the confidence in the Holy Spirit to
teach you the Bible you don't need that stuff take the training wheels off your
Bible okay get a Bible without training wheels that's just the text of Scripture
and let the Holy Spirit have a chance to teach you without Schofield budding in
Spurgeon budding in and interrupting you you know you're trying to read the Bible
hey read the Bible in peace by yourself with the Holy Spirit and so I don't know
if I'm qualified are you saved you're qualified to read the Bible on your own
and look I'm not saying you're gonna understand everything I don't understand
everything you know somebody asked me a Bible question last week and you know
what I told them I don't know somebody asked this what they asked me you
smarty-pants out there that know everything you can you know oh that
that's an elementary question somebody it's they asked me you know in Genesis
chapter 9 you know why is it that Canaan gets cursed instead of ham you know I
mean hams the one who did it but it's like cursed be Canaan you know and and
here's the thing I mean I've got my ideas I've got my theories but I can't
really give a firm answer on that so I'd rather just say you know I don't think
that's clear I don't know you know hey the woman ought to have power on her
head because of the angels good luck with that verse you know there are
things the Bible I don't understand and there are a lot of things that I used to
not understand but now I do understand but here's thing when I read the Bible I
don't worry about what I don't understand I just take what I do
understand and I grow on that and here's the thing you might come to one of my
sermons and something in my sermon goes over your head so what did you
understand anything I preached you know just take what I did preach that you
could understand and apply that learn from that grow on that and when you read
your Bible just find what you do understand read the Bible and I
guarantee you God will teach you something but here's the thing you're
not going to understand the mysteries of the universe overnight you're not going
to learn the whole Bible overnight it's a slow process line must be upon line
precept upon precept line upon line you learn the Bible over a lifetime I study
the Bible every day and I'm constantly learning new things I can even go to
some of the most familiar books Genesis I mean how many times have I read
through Genesis but yet new things are jumping out of me you know I it's funny
I go to do a Christmas sermon you know every year you got to do the Christmas
sermon and it's like you've done so many sermons on the birth of Christ and you
start running out of ideas you know of how we can approach this thing of the
birth of Christ but I tell you what it I open up Luke 2 we've heard it a million
times open up Matthew 1 heard it a million times and it's it's like every
year there's always something that jumps out at me or something that I
understand in a new way and you know what that is that's the Holy Spirit
giving me something new because I'm going back and reading about this is a
book you can read over and over again and you always get something new out of
it and it's because there's a person there spoon feeding you that new thing
it's not just that you know I'm just really perceptive so I just keep seeing
new things because I'm just really perceptive like no no it's the Holy
Spirit there that says okay here's something new and he shows you something
new and the next time he shows you something new so it's guaranteed to be
a worthwhile read you're never gonna read the Bible and it'd be a waste of
time like well that was just a good review session but I didn't really get
anything new you're guaranteed to get something new now I remember when I was
a teenager being worldly wanting to just kind of have fun play video games
just waste time with my friends I remember preachers would always say
read the Bible until you get something out of it so I'd always just go
straight to Proverbs because I was like I'm gonna get something out of it real
fast and then I can go back to swimming and playing outside and whatever so it's
just like straight to Proverbs or I'd go straight to 1st 2nd Timothy Titus like
read the Bible until you get something out of it I was like done that's great
that verse you know I'll meditate on that we don't want to go to we don't
want to do that they want to read a serious amount of Bible and you know
what I believe is a good amount of Bible for you to read to set this as your
minimum once a year cover to cover okay that's doable that's reasonable and I'll
tell you what if you read it less than that you know you're not really gonna
learn the Bible as well because it's like by the time you get back around to
things it's been years since you read the other things and you lose context
you know if you read the whole Bible every year you're kind of keeping it in
context where you you you get the big picture you see the forest for the trees
and obviously as a pastor or a missionary or you know other people that
are deeper into this kind of stuff or deeper into the work of Lord or maybe
you're training for those things you know you're gonna read them more than
that but I think for a godly layman man woman boy girl you know obviously it's
not in the Bible telling you hey this is how much you're supposed to read but you
know I would like to challenge you to make that your minimum I think every
man woman boy and girl can do that because it's about 15 minutes a day 15
maybe 20 minutes a day and anybody can carve out that time to be by themselves
and read the Bible for 15 20 minutes a day and get through it cover to cover
once a year because you know I don't want to get up and say hey read it till
you get something out of it because that's too that I mean I get something
out of it fast and then I'm not reading enough so I want to get a lot of some
things out of it you know so so I would just say read your day portion you know
get on some kind of a plan and everybody's different and and some
people like to do it just start in Genesis and end in Revelation that's not
really my personality I find that I read more if I read what I feel like reading
and I just have a checklist to make sure I hit it all and before I start doing it
again I make sure that I don't just avoid certain books or something so I
have a checklist where I check it off but I I jump around you know I basically
just whatever book I'm in the mood for because I find that if I'm in the mood
for it then it's a pleasure and I read more I enjoy it but whatever your system
maybe you do it as a as a as a rigid schedule maybe you read what you feel
like and just kind of keep track of it on a chart I like to use Excel
spreadsheets to keep track of my Bob already because I'm kind of a dweeb like
that but the point is however you do it read a substantial amount of Bible and I
guarantee you you're gonna get a lot out of it because you've got the author
sitting next to you explaining it to you and you know what I'd rather have that
even than walking and talking with Jesus because you know Jesus talking to me
this is Jesus talking to me except if I was walking and talking with Jesus I'd
be one of those disciples that people are shaking their head about like why
doesn't Steve Anderson get it just like we look at sometimes Peter or John like
come on guys pay attention we would have been the same way okay because the
comforter gives us this incredible amount of understanding that we might
take for granted you know I got saved when I was six years old so I can't even
really remember a time when I didn't understand the Bible because I've always
had that comforter with me back to some of my earliest memories because
obviously I don't have a lot of memories before I was six so I've understood
scripture and you're you that are saved you understand scripture but some of you
could probably hearken back to a time before you were saved to remember not
understanding the Bible you know my wife she told me that she made some attempts
to read the Bible before she was saved and she she read it read a couple
chapters and said you know I don't get it it went over her head she lost
interest right away after she got saved she opened up the book of John John
chapter 1 because I told her after she got saved I said hey here's where you
start you know book of John because she wasn't really that familiar with the
Bible and didn't really grow up being taught these things and grew up in an
unsafe home she started reading John chapter 1 and it was just like boom I
understand it and it was an exact chapter didn't you try to read that
exact chapter previously or was it something else that you read yes she had
tried that exact chapter John chapter 1 unsaved went over her head saved she's
like whoa I get it I see it so you know she has a first-hand understanding of
what I'm talking about the comforter versus sans comforter you
know you're gonna understand a lot more when you're saved and it dwelled by the
Holy Spirit but you know what some of you might just be letting that go to
waste because you're not reading the Bible and it's like the tutor is waiting
for you you know the the comforter is waiting for you that he's waiting to sit
there and expounded to you and you're not even calling upon him you're not
even letting him get into action you're quenching him when he wants to teach you
the Bible so I want to encourage you to read the Bible this year and take
advantage of this wonderful gift that's been given and if you ever you know take
this for granted think about how this was compared favorably with having Jesus
physically with you hey you'd rather that I go away so you can get the
comforter it's that good to be indwelled by the Holy Spirit so let me read that
again and I hope this really sinks in verse 7 nevertheless I tell you the
truth it is expedient for you that I go away for if I go not away the comforter
will not come unto you but if I depart I will send him unto you and when he is
come he will reprove the world of sin so what's interesting here is that we see
that the Holy Spirit has a ministry to the saved that's what we've been talking
about all evening but he also has a ministry to the unsaved the Holy Spirit
actually has a ministry to the unsaved now it's not the same ministry that he
has to the safe because to the saved he opens our understanding of the scripture
well guess what unsaved people that's not happening they don't read the Bible
and understand it we just talked about that but he does yet have a ministry to
the unsaved and it's a ministry of reproof he reproves them right because it
says when he has come verse 8 he will reprove the world now what does it mean
to reprove someone it means to tell them that they are wrong he tells you that
you're wrong if you're unsaved he tells you that you're wrong he reproves the
world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment there are two words in the
Bible reprove and rebuke and they pretty much mean the same thing rebuke is
probably sterner then then reprove just because it's got that like buke syllable
that just just the onomatopoeia it just sounds harsh rebuke reproof is a little
softer but it's the same thing you know it's telling somebody that they're wrong
you know as a preacher I'm told to preach the word and to reprove and
rebuke and exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine the Holy
Spirit testifies under this world that they are wrong he doesn't open up the
scriptures to them the way he does to a saved person that's why they need us to
open the scriptures to them that's why we go out and knock on people's doors
and actually show them the gospel preach them the gospel God has chosen to
manifest his word through preaching and the Bible says when the world by wisdom
knew not God it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them
that believe so God uses preaching the preaching of the gospel in order to get
people saved why because that's a saved person who's got the Holy Spirit
expounding it to them so they're benefiting from the Holy Spirit in you
they don't have the Holy Spirit indwelling them opening the scriptures
to them so your Holy Spirit anointing is there to expound it to them and they get
saved hopefully sometimes they do sometimes they don't you know it depends
on whether or not they believe but what we see here is that the Holy Spirit does
have a ministry to tell the world that they're wrong now look it's possible to
know the problem without knowing the exact solution right you know a lot of
preachers preach a lot of things that show that they understand the problem
but then they give the wrong solution you know a lot of people know the
problem of you know we're sinners and we're doomed to hell without Christ but
then they have the wrong solution they have workspace salvation or the
sacraments or whatever it's a wrong salvation instead of salvation by faith
a lot of people know that there's something wrong with our country they
know that there's something wrong politically they know there's something
wrong with our government they know there's something wrong with the
Democrats and that there's something wrong with the Republicans but if you
ask them okay how do we fix it they might just say well I don't know or they
might give you a goofed up answer of how to fix it so knowing the problem is
one thing knowing the solution is another thing
mankind knows there's a problem you know that's a universal feeling or knowledge
you know how often do you run into somebody who claims that they never sin
I'm perfect I never sin I've never said now it happens it's out there but but is
it just constantly happening to you out so winning or is it kind of rare I mean
for me is it different in Uganda good night these bunch of Rwandans on their
high horse they think they're perfect they think they walk on water you know
that's crazy they're crazy good night but well and not in America though thank
God we at least have that level of sanity you know when we ask people do
you think anybody is without sin they're no way you know hey have you ever
sinned up all the time you know they recognize that right away and you know
whenever people scoff at that I'm always just blown away like thinking like are
you that stupid like are you crazy because I'm thinking about myself you're
thinking about yourself do you ever just find yourself thinking man I'm pretty
good I don't even say you know we're constantly like oh man I messed up or it
look the thought of foolishness is sin how many times you just think something
stupid you know I don't know about you but when I have dreams at night I almost
always remember my dreams when I first wake up and they're always stupid I mean
how you know you always dream something stupid it doesn't make any sense and I'm
thinking to myself I have all these stupid thoughts we are constantly coming
short of the glory of God we're constantly not doing things we should do
doing things that we shouldn't do thinking stupid things that we shouldn't
think and I'm thinking myself you'd have to be literally insane to think that you
don't sin because it's so obvious that we sin all the time it's just so obvious
and clear and that's why you know I mean the Holy Spirit's got some work to do in
Rwanda okay he needs to start reproving those people of sin because I'm telling
you you know the average Joe in this one I mean they must have been brainwashed
to think that way by some kind of false religion or so I just can't get over
this I'm sorry but you know if you think about when you go out soul winning 99%
of the time people easily know that they're a sinner so they've got the
problem but does that mean they have the solution no you're there to give them
the solution and you explain the solution to them and oftentimes it's
totally new to them and they've never even heard the gospel they've never even
heard about salvation but even beyond going out soul winning in the United
States and asking people if they know they're a sinner I think just even in
the deepest darkest jungle even in some tribe out there I think deep down man
knows that there's there's something missing something's wrong I need
something I need salvation I need redemption why because otherwise explain
a billion Hindus you know what I mean why are there a billion Hindus because
they know they need something they know that there's some kind of a god or some
kind of an after you know they know there's something out there but they've
got all the wrong answers they've got idolatry and false religion and so forth
so you know the Holy Spirit's out there basically reproving the world of sin so
that's why no matter how backwards someone is they they pretty much know
that murder is wrong we could pretty much go anywhere in this world do they
at least know that in Rwanda that murder you know murder they pretty much know
that murder is wrong they know that stealing is wrong they know that
adultery is wrong these things are universally known they know that the
sodomites are wrong these things are just common sense universally known
because the Holy Spirit does reprove the world of sin he reproves the world of
sin because they believe not on me of righteousness because I go to my father
and you see me no more of judgment because the prince of this world is
judged so verse 8 says when he's come he'll reprove the world of sin and of
righteousness and of judgment so unsaved people they do benefit from the ministry
of the Holy Spirit in some sense because he's reproving them of sin of righteousness
and of judgment but that's not enough for them to get saved on their own
without someone bringing them the gospel it's not enough to just be out in the
jungle reproved of sin righteousness and judgment it's like okay what do I do
where do I go you know and so that's where the missionary comes in that's
where the sole winner comes in that's where you and I come in to bring the
gospel to the lost and if our gospel be hid it's hid to them that are lost the
God of this world has blinded the minds of them that believe not we need to
shine the light of the glorious gospel but the Holy Spirit does have a ministry
to the unsaved that's just reproof the ministry to the saved is different to us
he's the comforter he's opening our understanding he's teaching us he's
testifying unto us look what the Bible says in verse 12 I have yet many things
to say unto you but you cannot bear them now how be it when he the spirit of
truth has come he will guide you into all truth and here's a key point that I
want to make here or that the Word of God makes for he shall not speak of
himself but whatsoever he shall hear that shall he speak and he will show you
things to come he shall glorify me for he shall receive of mine and shall show
it unto you here's what is so key about this when the Bible says that the Holy
Spirit does not speak of himself we don't want to misunderstand the word of
there it's not saying he's not gonna speak about himself because he does
speak about himself he is the author of the Word of God holy men of God speak as
they were moved by the Holy Ghost does the Bible talk about the Holy Spirit
yeah the Bible talks about the Holy Spirit so what that's the Holy Spirit
talking about the Holy Spirit so yeah he does speak about himself in the sense
that the Bible talks about him and he led the Scriptures to be written in that
way when the Bible says he does not speak of himself the of there is the
source he's not speaking from himself he's it's not coming up you know when
the Bible says we're to be of God and not of the world you know what does that
mean it's talking about you know there's a certain ideology that the source of
that ideology is this world and then there's a certain ideology where the
source is God the Father and we want to be of the Father we want to be of God we
want to be different than this world and so the Bible is saying here the Holy
Spirit's not going to speak of himself meaning that he's not going to make up
things on his own and just basically just come up with his own revelations
for you what is the bot get the context he'll not speak of himself but
whatsoever he shall hear that shall he speak do you see the difference there
he does not come up with things on his own to reveal to us but rather
whatsoever he hears that he speaks and he will show you things to come and then
look at verse 14 this is reiterated he shall glorify me for he shall receive of
mine he shall receive of mine and just show it unto you so the Holy Spirit is
basically taking what he gets from Jesus and revealing it unto us now why is this
important why am I making a big deal about the fact that he does not speak of
himself and if you know if you speak Spanish you you probably understand this
use of of who here speak Spanish tonight couple people you know if you want to
say where you're from you'd say soy de Arizona and that means I'm of Arizona
you know or I'm from Arizona but that word day also means of you know it's the
same word of or from or whatever and and so that's the way this of his
functioning here you know he's not gonna speak of himself from his own self but
rather he's gonna take of mine and show it to you whatsoever he hears that's
what he's gonna speak the reason that's important is because we have people
getting extra biblical revelations oh well the Holy Spirit told me XY and Z
but in reality that's not how the Holy Spirit works he doesn't just start
talking to you and telling you stuff out of the blue what he does is he takes of
mine Jesus said he'll take of mine and show it to you so he uses the Word of
God to speak to us he used he basically speaks to us the words of Christ the
things of Christ because Jesus is the word you got the father of the word and
the Holy Ghost well do a little fill in the blanks if it's the father of the
word the Holy Ghost we know that Jesus is the word and so Jesus the word made
flesh and dwelled among us and so he's gonna take of the Word of God and show
it unto us and so when people just start telling you these extra biblical
revelations or special revelations well well the Holy Spirit told me you know to
do XY and Z you know chapter and verse please on that because a lot of times
these extra biblical revelations conflict with what the Bible says and I
saw a great quote on Facebook where it said you know if extra biblical
revelations conflict with the Word of God they're false and if extra biblical
revelations line up with the Word of God then they're unnecessary think about it
if they contradict the Bible they're wrong and if they're saying the same
thing the Bible says we don't need them because we've already cut the Bible so
count me out of trying to receive extra biblical revelations you know I believe
I've got everything I need right here now you well you don't believe in the
Holy Spirit to reveal and teach you hey the Holy Spirit is revealing things to
me every day teaching me every day comforting me every day but he's using
this to do it this is the sword that he uses this is the sword of the Spirit
this is his instrument this is what he takes of this and this is a lot of
material for him he's got 31,000 some verses to work with he doesn't just
speak of himself just coming up with new things he takes of Christ's Word and he
shows it unto us he explains it he expounds it and that keeps him busy I
mean he's got a great ministry to teach and expound this giant book of amazing
truth and so extra biblical revelations beware of them Oh God told me X Y & Z
you better check that with Scripture and and here's what I used to think I
remember when I was a teenager I had this thought when I'd hear people saying
Oh God told me this God told me that God told me this here's what I thought I
thought we'll slow down let me take out my pen and let me write that in the back
of my Bible because it's God's Word right and I'm just gonna keep I mean my
Bible should come with a whole bunch of blank pages in the back for everything
God keeps telling you God told me this God told me that slow down let me write
that down because we're we're penning new scripture if it's supposedly the
Word of God we better all write it down we better all keep adding and and folks
it's not the way it works with the Bible is complete you know there was a time
when God was revealing new scripture but sorry Joseph Smith sorry Brigham Young
that ship has already sailed okay we've got the whole Bible and you can tell
just by reading the Bible that it's it's done you know Genesis to Revelation it's
just it all fits real neatly and it's like the next thing we're looking for is
even so come Lord Jesus and the book of Revelation you know this is what's at
hand this is what's happening and you know the end that's my Bible at the end
says the end you know so it's not like oh another Testament of Jesus Christ and
isn't it funny how the Old Testament is constantly prophesying of the New
Testament but isn't it funny how the New Testament never tells us hey there's a
Third Testament coming hang out for it hey the Book of Mormon's coming hey the
Quran's coming why doesn't it tell us that the Quran's on its way or that the
Book of Mormon's on its way because it's not on its way it tells us that we're
gonna see him when he comes in the clouds you know the this same Jesus
which has taken up from you into heaven so shall come and like manners have seen
him go into heaven Jesus Christ is gonna come in the clouds the trumpets gonna
sound that's what we're we're waiting for okay and so I also have an issue
when people say oh I saw Jesus Jesus came and appeared to me and talked to me
I always ask this question did he have long hair well yeah you know or somebody
sent me a picture I drew I saw Jesus and here's what he looked like long hair I'm
thinking myself well the Bible teaches that it's a shame for a man to have long
hair and so why would Jesus have long hair and in fact if you study that
scripture he specifically says that we are not to cover our head meaning long
hair in the context he said we ought not to do that because we're in the
image of glory and God well if there's anybody that was the image of glory of
God it was Jesus Jesus was the express image of his person so why would he tell
us hey don't have long hair men because you're the express image you know you're
you're in the image of glory of God but then the guy that's the express image
you had long hair that makes no sense if Jesus had long hair why do that well
have short hair because you're in the image of God who had long hair it's me
it's madness folks you've seen a bunch of pictures of Jesus with long hair
that's some dude doing a self-portrait is what that is some white dude with
blonde hair and blue eyes doing a self-portrait or drawing his queer buddy
or something because the fact that a lot of those Renaissance painters were
literal queers look up Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo and all the other
Ninja Turtles and guess what you know these guys are not godly men they're
feminine dudes so they're painting a Jesus in their own image you know have
you ever have you ever seen where sometimes you know you go to a black
church out of black Jesus Asian Church has the Asian Jesus Latino Church has
the Latino Jesus and then white people have the white Jesus blonde hair blue
eyed Jesus folks we don't know what Jesus looked like I don't care what he
looked like if it was important what he looked like the Bible would describe him
the Bible gives a lot of physical descriptions of a lot of people we don't
get a physical description of Jesus walking and talking on this earth
because you know what we're not supposed to obsess over how he looked we're not
supposed to make a graven image of Jesus or have some icon of Jesus that we bow
down to or something it doesn't matter I don't care red yellow black and white
Jesus transcends all that he's the son of God he's the savior of the world
God's house a house of prayer for all nations doesn't matter we shouldn't be
dividing over racial issues and trying to figure out you know who gets to claim
Jesus for their race you know if you take pride in your race you're fool
because of the fact that we're all one blood red and yellow black and white
doesn't matter and so the point is that Jesus Christ is the image of God we
don't know what he physically looked like but I'll tell you one thing he
didn't have long hair I'll guarantee you that because of the fact that he looked
like everybody else because when they had to identify him in the Garden of
Gethsemane what they say Judas is gonna kiss him the one that I kiss arrests the
one that I kiss why didn't he just say get the guy with the long hair see the
dude with the long hair that's him spot him a mile away he's the one with the
man bun or whatever he didn't say that because Jesus didn't have long hair but
yet people have these visions of Jesus going but I always say to them you know
well you saw Jesus did he have long hair yes and okay wrong guy you saw Absalom
in a vision and the thing is you know I don't believe that Jesus Christ appears
unto people today because Paul said last of all he was seen of me I'm the
I'm the least the apostle he was the last apostle who saw the resurrected
Christ the next time anybody sees him everybody's gonna see him when he comes
in the clouds every eye shall see him that's what I believe the scripture
clearly teaches and so how did I get off on that though the Holy Spirit's not
gonna speak of himself he's gonna take the word of Christ and show it
unto us he's gonna testify of Christ and he glorifies Christ you know he's
constantly pointing us to Christ teaching us about Christ giving us the
Word of Christ and I don't know what that had to do with the visions of Jesus
and think oh yeah the extra biblical revelations right Oh Jesus told me this
and I saw him and he appeared to me and everything like that I don't believe in
that I don't believe that we are receiving extra biblical revelations
like that I believe the Bible is complete and that the Holy Spirit does
not speak of himself but that rather he takes the Word of God and reveals it
unto us we've already got the word right here it's bound in a nice volume Genesis
to Revelation and it's been done for you know how long well over 1900 years has
been done and so don't try to add the Quran or the Book of Mormon or anything
else to it because it's a done deal let me just quickly finish up with the
passage here it says he shall glorify me verse 14 for he shall receive of my
and shall show it unto you so he'll take the Word of God and show it to you
be like if I took my Bible and we've all you know I've done this a million times
right take the Bible and hey can I show you something in the Bible I show it I
explain it and and sometimes people will say wow I've never seen that before well
that's what the Holy Spirit the Comforter is doing he shows us the
Bible in our quiet time in our personal devotion and we're like wow I've never
seen that before how many times have we had those mountaintop spiritual
experiences where it's just us in the Lord reading our Bible and wow I've
never seen that and God is teaching us that is the Comforter that's the Holy
Spirit and maybe those of us who've been saved for a really long time we might
take it for granted sometimes that of course we understand the Bible I mean
it's right there you know just read the thing yeah but we don't understand that
we've got a major major help in the Holy Spirit teaching us and that unsaved
people when they read oh I read the Bible in prison three times but then
they know nothing of the things of God why because they forgot a key ingredient
the Comforter they didn't have the Holy Spirit guiding them he shall glorify me
for he shall receive of mine and shall show it unto you all things that the
Father hath are mine therefore said I that he shall take of mine and shall
show it unto you so the the Comforter is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit it's
what makes us as New Testament believers understand so much more than the Old
Testament believers understood even more than the twelve disciples understood
walking and talking with Jesus what a privilege what a blessing not only and I
focused a lot on him helping us understand the Bible but he's also there
just to encourage us cheer us up motivate us sometimes when we go to sin
and and he'll make us feel guilty that we're about to sin or sometimes we're
feeling down or gloomy and he could bring a verse to our mind that would
just encourage us and and get us out of that funk that we're in and and
encourage us and and maybe motivate us prompt us to get out and do something
for the Lord and so the Comforter is very important has a very key role to
play in our Christian lives and the best part is he's included you know this
isn't some other add-on with our salvation you know batteries not
included or something like that or you know this is an accessory that you have
to get later the good news is that the Comforter comes in the basic package of
getting saved right when we get saved just just simply just believing out
Jesus Christ the Comforter is part of the free gift you know the eternal life
is the free gift the Comforter is part of that now the fullness of the Holy
Spirit that's in the extended plan that's the extended package that's an
accessory that takes a little more work at you know prayer reading your Bible
walking with God in order to be filled with the Spirit but thank God for the
basic package the Comforter we can all open our Bibles and read it and
understand it that's awesome in and of itself and it's just always great to
know that we're never alone no matter where we go we're never alone the Holy
Spirit's always with us and the best part is he seals us under the day of
redemption guarantees that we could never lose our salvation because he's
our guarantee you know I mean I don't want to well I better not you I was
gonna say no it's I don't want to I don't want to go there you know signs
when you're preaching on the fly you know you can get into trouble so want to
make sure that I stick with what's in the notes right but anyway the point is
that the Holy Spirit is guaranteeing our salvation teaching us the Bible he's our
friend he comforts us he reminds us of things he brings things to remembrance
and it's just such a privilege what a blessing now obviously we want to go
beyond that and be filled with the Holy Spirit but the Comforter himself being
with us is such a privilege we need to read our Bibles so that he can do his
work he's not gonna be able to do much if we don't read our Bible because he
doesn't speak of himself so I don't need the Bible the Holy Spirit's just talking
to me all day just telling me stuff and he's gonna he's not gonna speak up he's
gonna take of mine and show it to you so read the Bible so that the Comforter can
do his thing let's buy rides and have a word of prayer father we thank you so
much for the Comforter thank you for eternal life salvation and and thank you
Lord for the Comforter the Holy Spirit the spirit of truth Lord thank you for a
person guiding us into all truth and not just a person but a divine person but
actually the Holy Spirit God himself guiding us into all truth father we
thank you for Jesus Christ dying for us and we thank you for the other
Comforter that we have in the Holy Spirit Lord please help us every day to
to read your word so that we can take advantage of his ministry and also not
only that Lord please help us when when we are led by the Holy Spirit when the
Holy Spirit brings things to our remembrance or hits us with the Bible
verse Lord help us to obey the Spirit help us obey the Holy Spirit when he's
rebuking us when we're about to sin or encouraging us when we're down help us
to listen to the Spirit and what he says to the churches and what he says to us
individually and in Jesus name we pray amen all right we're gonna sing one more
song let's sing a very appropriate song 349
Oh
where
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