(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Alright, let's go ahead and start, welcome to Step Back Baptist Church, thank you for coming again. Psalm 150 in the white handouts. Alright, this is super familiar, so let's sing out, let's make a joyful noise, a loud noise to the Lord, and we'll sing Psalm 150 with Dakota. Praise ye the Lord, praise all in his sanctuary, praise him in the firmament of his power, praise him for his mighty acts, praise him according to his excellent greatness. Praise him with the sound of the trumpet, praise him with the psaltery and harp, praise him with the timbrel and heads, praise him with string instruments and organs. Praise him upon the loud cymbals, praise him upon the high sounding cymbals, let everything that hath growled, praise the Lord, praise he the Lord. Praise God the Father, praise God the Son, praise God the Holy Ghost, praise God in his holy presence. Alright let's pray, Father if you have the opportunity to be in your house, I pray you to help us to obey the commandment of the song we just sang right now, if you can help us to praise you, for your mighty acts Lord, praise you as we sing, and praise you from our hearts Lord, I pray you please bless the message later on, Be with brother Dylan, thank you for him, and I pray that you please fill him with your Holy Spirit as he preaches to us and we thank you in Jesus' name, Amen. Amen. Let's hear it. Hymn number 15. Hymn number 15. I don't know how familiar of a song this is, but this is a really good song. Pay attention to the words as we sing Lead Me to Calvary. King of my life, I crown thee now. Thine shall the glory be. Lest I forget thy four-crowned brow. Lead me to Calvary. Lest I forget Gethsemane. Lest I forget thine agony. Lest I forget thy love for thee. Lead me to Calvary. O be the tomb where thou wast slain. Tenderly born and wed. Angels in robes of light arrayed. Far it be lost thou slant. Lest I forget Gethsemane. Lest I forget thine agony. Lest I forget thy love for thee. Lead me to Calvary. Carry through the tomb. Come with a gift to be. Show to me now the empty tomb. Lead me to Calvary. Lest I forget Gethsemane. Lest I forget thine agony. Lest I forget thy love for thee. Lead me to Calvary. May I be willing for to bear daily my cross for thee. Even thy cup of grief to share, thou hast borne all for me. Lest I forget Gethsemane. Lest I forget thine agony. Lest I forget thy love for thee. Lead me to Calvary. All right, at this time we'll go through our announcements. If you need a bullet to raise your hand, Brother Shower can come around and get that to you. While he's doing that, let me get a quick count of salvation totals for this afternoon. Do we have any to report for this afternoon? All right, well, keep up the good work and soul winning. We'll have another opportunity to go out on this coming Thursday at 5.30 p.m. right before the evening service. So if you can make it out, we'd love to have you. Also, we've got Brother Dylan Ozzie. He's going to be preaching for us this evening. And it's been great to have him here with us this weekend. A lot of fun and a lot of good preaching. And so looking forward to his sermon this evening. And then also we're in week number 12 of our Bible memory passage, Romans chapter number eight. And so be diligent to memorize the scriptures each week. This is an easy verse for sure this week. So if you're a little bit behind, this is definitely the week to catch up. And then for you young ones, if you can quote this to a non-family member by next week, then you can receive an ice cream reward. You know, I stocked up on ice cream on our anniversary. And it hasn't been tapped into a whole lot. And so there's a lot of goodies in there. And so if there's any incentive, you know, for those of you who are under the age of 18, definitely want to memorize those verses. So keep up the good work in that. And then also we want to keep these expecting mothers in prayer throughout the week as well. Ms. Bree Gilham, Ms. Emily Furr, and Ms. Hasmeen Alvarez. And then our candlelight service is going to be December 23rd. That's our midweek service. That's a Thursday right before Christmas Eve. And so we'll have that service then on December 23rd. Looking forward to that as well. And then December 31st, the following week on Friday, we're going to have the New Year's Eve bash here at the church. And so everyone can start meeting here about 6 p.m. And any man who would like to prepare a 5 to 10-minute sermon, we're going to have a popcorn preaching time for that. And we'll probably start that around 7 p.m. just to give everyone plenty enough time to get here. And then after the preaching, we'll eat some good food and play some games. And you all can stay as long as you like. You know, in fact, even if you want to bring a sleeping bag, you know, I'm okay with that. It's not going to hurt my feelings any. I'm not going to do that. But you are more than welcome to do that if you'd like. And you can stay as long as you'd like to, or you can leave early if, you know, you want to tap out at, you know, 9, 10 o'clock, we understand for sure. So you just do what you need to there. And definitely looking forward – it's been a busy last couple weeks. And so this year is kind of winding down. And, you know, it's a great time to reflect on the reason for the season, which is Jesus Christ and the sacrifice that He's made for us and what that means. And so I'm definitely looking forward to the preaching leading up to that and just kind of dwelling on those things. And so you don't want to miss church. You know, you definitely need to be in church. And so it's good to see everyone here this evening. We'll go right into our next hymn, hymn number 19, There is a Fountain, hymn number 19. Brother Salvador, he'll come lead us, hymn number 19. Another good song. We're going to sing all five verses. You know, we're not like some churches that they skip the third and the fourth and just go over, you know. How would you like to feel being in those kind of churches, being in the fourth verse and just getting left out? You know what I mean? But this is a good song. Listen to the words. You know, at face value you can see it's like a fountain filled with blood. Someone who's not saved wouldn't understand why that's important. You know, they might think that's disgusting, a fountain filled with blood. But, you know, we understand that's Jesus' blood we're talking about to save their souls, so let's sing out. There is a fountain. Amen. There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's wings. And sinners, but we need that flood. Lose all their guilty states. Lose all their guilty states. Lose all their guilty states. And sinners, but we need that flood. Lose all their guilty states. The dying thief rejoiced to see that fountain in his day. And there may I go foul as he washed all my sins away. Wash all my sins away. Wash all my sins away. And there may I go foul as he washed all my sins away. Dear dying lamb, thy precious blood shall never lose its power. Till all the ransomed church of God be saved to sin no more. Be saved to sin no more. Be saved to sin no more. Till all the ransomed church of God be saved to sin no more. There sits thy faith, thy soul, the strength, thy flowing boots of blood. Believe in love that's been my thing and shall be till I die. And shall be till I die. And shall be till I die. Bekeeping love that's been my thing and shall be till I die last. And in an over sweeter song I sing that power to save. When this poor list speaks every tongue, By silence in the grave. By silence in the grave. By silence in the grave. When this poor list speaks every tongue, By silence in the grave. All right, good singing. Let's go to John chapter 14. The offering. John chapter 14. John chapter 14. 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 to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you and to myself that where I am, there you may be also. And whither I go, you know. And the way you know. Thomas said unto him, Lord, we know not whether thou goest. And how can we know the way and Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the father but by me. If he had known me, he should have known my father also. And from henceforth ye know him and have seen him. Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the father and it sufficeth us. And 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 has seen the father. And how sayest thou then, show us the father? Believest thou 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 doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the father and the father in me. Or else believe for the very works sake. Verily, verily, I say unto 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 ye 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 he may abide with you forever, 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. Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more, but ye see me, because I live, ye shall live also. At that day ye shall know that I am in my father, and ye in me, and I in you. He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me, and he that loveth me shall be loved of my father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? And Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man loveth 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 word which ye hear is not mine, but the father's which sent me. These things have I spoken unto you, being yet 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, and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever. I have said unto you, Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you, not as the world giveth, I give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and I come again unto you. If ye love me, ye would rejoice, because I said I go unto my father, for my father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it come to pass, that 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 hath nothing in me, but that the world may know that I love the father, and as the father gave me commandment, even so, I do arise, let us go hence. Heavenly Father, Lord, we just ask you at this time that you would fill Brother Dylan with your spirit, Lord, and we just ask you that you give him the words to speak as he preaches your word. Lord, we ask that you would just fill this congregation with your word and help us to open our hearts to your word that we may have understanding and be edified. Lord, we give you thanks in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. All right. Well, thank you all for being here again this evening to hear the Word of God preached on Sunday night. And this evening, we are in John, chapter number 14. And what I'd like to do tonight in John, chapter 14, is basically just do a topical Bible study of the subject of the Holy Spirit. And there's so many different aspects of the Holy Spirit that you could look into and that you could study. And so tonight, the title of my sermon is an overview of the Holy Spirit. I don't necessarily want to spend too much time on any aspect, but I would like to do just an overview of what the Bible teaches in general about the Holy Spirit because the truth is, there's a lot of false religion today that is based solely around false doctrine on the Holy Spirit. And us as Baptists, even now, soul-winding, especially when I lived up in Washington, you know, you knock on the door of a Russian, and one of the things they like to falsely accuse you of is, oh, you guys don't believe in the Holy Spirit. And basically, because they're Russian Pentecostals and they believe in speaking in tongues, they just throw a false accusation against us saying that we just don't believe in the Holy Spirit at all. Well, what do we believe about the Holy Spirit? That's what I want to go over tonight. And number one, I want to talk about the person of the Holy Spirit, the person of the Holy Spirit. It's really important to understand that the Holy Spirit is a person, not just some impersonal, mystical force that's able to just enact feelings upon you and able to accomplish God's will, you know, through some sort of wind or something like that, but rather that the Holy Spirit is literally God. He's the third person of the God. He's the third person of the Trinity, but he is a person. He is a personal being. He is not some impersonal being. The Holy Spirit is a person. And look at John 14, verse 16. It says, And I will pray the Father and He So when the Bible says He, that's referring to the Father. We know the Father is a person, right? The Bible uses the pronoun He to describe the Father. He shall give you another comforter that He may abide with you forever. So we see the same thing. That pronoun He is used for the comforter, the Holy Spirit, which leads me to believe that the Holy Spirit is a person. Now, of course, you can't go by pronouns alone in the Bible to prove someone's a person because, you know, the Bible personifies wisdom or other things in Proverbs as like a female, as a she. And it's not necessarily a person. But when we look through more of the scriptures, we're going to go ahead and prove that the Holy Spirit is definitely a person and is definitely God. Look at John 14, 26. But the comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, He shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you. Now, I've never heard of some impersonal force, some sort of wind that's able to teach you, right? It's a person that teaches you. And that's why the Bible's calling the Holy Ghost. He. Flip over to John 15, 26. And we'll just breeze through a few scriptures about this quickly. John 15, 26, it says, But when the comforter is 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. Once again, seeing that pronoun of the Bible calling the Holy Ghost, He. Look at John 16, 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. Now, we kind of take this doctrine for granted and think this is so simple that the Holy Ghost is a person. But there's actually religions that are very popular in the United States that deny that the Holy Ghost is a person, that deny that the Holy Ghost is God, but rather they see the Holy Ghost as a mystical force, as an entity. And so I'm going to show you, I'm going to prove that to you. I have some literature here from the Watchtower Society, which the Watchtower Society is basically the literature publisher of the Jehovah's Witnesses. Jehovah's Witnesses are a cult that exists in America, and a lot of people confuse us with Jehovah's Witnesses because they often go door-to-door evangelizing just like we do, except they're not evangelizing the gospel. They're bringing a false gospel to people. But I want to read you some of the things that they teach about the Holy Ghost and about the Trinity. So this is from the Watchtower Society in an article called, Reasoning from the Scriptures, on page 204. This is what they say. They say, the Trinity doctrine, there, and they're referring to Christians, concept of God himself, is borrowed from pagan sources and was developed in its present form centuries after Bible writing was completed. So according to Jehovah's Witnesses, the doctrine of the Trinity is pagan and that it's something that was came up with way after the Bible was written. But it's funny because we're reading through the book of John and John is constantly talking about the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. I mean, he's talking about the comforter that the Father is going to send. So obviously these can't be the same people if the Father is sending the comforter, right? If we read farther into John 17, Jesus Christ is praying to the Father and he's asking to glorify him with the glory that he shared with the Father before the world even began. So this doesn't sound like a concept that Christians just made up after the Bible was written. I mean, the Bible is teaching the doctrine of the Trinity just on the pages that we're reading. They say it's pagan. Here's another thing that they say in an article that's entitled Do You Appreciate Our Spiritual Heritage? This is what the Jehovah's Witnesses say. Jesus told his followers to make disciples of people of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. This means that a person who wants to be baptized as a true Christian and as one of Jehovah's Witnesses must believe that the Father Jehovah has authority over Jesus and that Jesus is God's Son who came to earth as a ransom. The person must not believe that the Holy Spirit is part of a Trinity. Instead, it is God's active force. It is part of our spiritual heritage to know that the Trinity teaching dishonors God and is not true. So according to this wicked, blasphemous religion, in order to be baptized as a Jehovah's Witness, you have to say and believe that the Holy Ghost is not part of the Trinity. And you have to realize that saying that the Holy Ghost is part of the Trinity actually dishonors God and is not true. It's a completely blasphemous statement that's completely contrary to the Word of God, but yet this huge religion in the United States teaches that the Holy Ghost is not God, that it's just a force, and that believing that he's God is somehow dishonoring to God. Believing the Trinity is somehow dishonoring to God. Here's another thing that they say. Watchtower Society in an article called Why Be Guided by God's Spirit? They say, so what is the Holy Spirit? A footnote at Genesis 1, 2 in the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures with references says that the Hebrew word ruach, I'm not going to pretend I know how to pronounce that. The Hebrew word ruach, which is translated spirit at Genesis 1, 2 in other verses is translated wind, or words with a similar meaning. I'm going to compare footnotes at Genesis 3, 8 and 8, 1. Even though we cannot see the wind, we can see what it does. In the same way, the Holy Spirit is invisible, but it can cause things to happen. The Holy Spirit is not a person. It is energy from God. He uses it on people or things to make sure that whatever he wants will happen. It is hard to believe that such a marvelous force comes from Almighty God? No, not at all. So basically, the Jehovah's Witnesses logic here is since the word that's translated from Hebrew to English in Genesis 1, 2 is translated to spirit, but in other places in the Bible it's translated to words like wind and other words with a similar meaning, they say, therefore, the Holy Ghost is like wind. Therefore, the Holy Ghost is an energy. Therefore, the Holy Ghost is not a person, is not God, but must be like wind. But when we just think about this from a logical perspective, you know, there's a lot of words in English where they're spelled the same way, they look the exact same way, but they have two completely different meanings. And whether or not you're going to pick one or the other of those words to translate into a different language, you can come up with a whole ton of different words that could translate correctly from that word. I'll give you an example. How about train? Now we could think of train being a locomotive that goes down the tracks, right? Or we could think of train meaning to prepare for something. If I'm translating the locomotive into Spanish, that's going to be a different word than if I'm translating to prepare into Spanish, right? So just because there's a word in Hebrew that means the Holy Ghost, that means a spirit, it doesn't mean that it can't also have different meanings and it still be the same word. Does that make sense? Here, I'll give you a few more examples. How about beat? Beat could be to hit something, to smack something, right? Or it could be to win. Depending on which of those I choose to translate, it could have a different word. Wind. Wind could be like blowing air or winding something spelled the exact same way. Those are completely different things, yet they're the exact same word. They look exactly the same. Object. An object is a thing, right? Or it could be object. An objection, obviously, a protest to something that's said or done. So it's just a logical fallacy to say, oh, okay, well, in Genesis 1, 2, it's translated as spirit, but that same word is translated as a different word in other parts of the Bible. Therefore, the Holy Ghost is wind. That's just a logical fallacy trying to just make you not believe what the Bible says, and this is why you gotta be careful about preachers that wanna take you back to the Hebrew, take you back to the Greek, because it's really easy to trick someone if you don't know how language works or anything like that, and I would rather trust the 54 expert scholars that translated the King James Bible than people that don't even believe that the Holy Spirit is God. I'm not gonna listen to the Jehovah's Witnesses and what they have to say about Bible translation. Their Bible translation is trash. Even people that are not King James only, they look at the New World translation as just a trash translation. No one respects the Jehovah's Witnesses Bible, but yet everyone respects the King James Bible, even people that aren't saved, but let's look at some more scriptures to prove that the Holy Ghost is a person. Go to Acts chapter number five, Acts chapter number five. Acts chapter five, start reading in verse one, it says, but a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession and kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it and brought a certain part and laid it at the apostles' feet. But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost and to keep back part of the price of the land? So, you know, I've been reading this book So, you know, I have a question for these Jehovah's Witnesses. Can I lie to wind? Can I lie to this impersonal force, to this, you know, Holy Ghost that's not a person? No, but if the Holy Ghost is a person and if the Holy Ghost is God, then it makes sense how someone can lie to the Holy Ghost. Look at verse number four. So, when you have the King James Bible, when you have the word of God in front of you, notice the Holy Ghost is called what? God. And that's why a person's able to lie to the Holy Ghost because God is a person. There's three persons, one God. The Holy Ghost is one of those persons and guess what? A person can lie unto God. And, of course, what ended up happening to these people because they lied unto God? God killed them. You know? I don't see people dying when they go and tell lies to wind because no one tells lies to wind. It's just a stupid idea that the Holy Ghost is this spirit or force and not God. Let's go to Romans chapter number five and let's look at some more areas where the Bible proves that the Holy Spirit, the Holy Ghost, is a person and is God. Romans 5-5, it says, And hope maketh not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. You think, how can an inanimate object, how can some force, you know, spread the love of God in our hearts? It doesn't make any sense. But if the Holy Ghost is God and if the Holy Ghost is a person, it makes sense how he can have that function of spreading the love of God, shedding the love of God in our hearts. Flip over to Romans 8-26. 8-26 says, Likewise, the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities, for we know not what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. Now this verse I think is one of the strongest verses to prove that the Holy Ghost is a person because the Bible says that he has a mind. The Bible talks about the mind of God, the Bible talks about the mind of Christ, and the Bible talks about the mind of the Holy Spirit. He has his own mind, how can he not be a person? But you know, if you have the New World Translation, if you have the Jehovah's Witnesses Bible, this is how that they render verse 27. It says, So the King James Bible says, the mind of the Spirit, the New World Translation, changes mind to meaning. That's a big difference. There's a big difference between having a mind and having a meaning, you know? And so it just goes to show that these false Bible versions are satanically inspired, they want to corrupt doctrine, they want to attack God, and specifically in this verse, the devil and the people that were behind the New World Translation, they want to attack the Holy Spirit. They want to attack the person of the Holy Ghost. Go to 2nd Corinthians chapter number 3. 2nd Corinthians chapter number 3. 2nd Corinthians chapter number 3, look at verse 6. It says, And you want to know why the Spirit is able to give us life? Because the Spirit is God. Because the Spirit is a person. Flip over, or actually in that same chapter, look at verse 17. It says, So how can you get around that? The Bible says very clearly that God, the Lord, is that Spirit, is that Holy Ghost, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with open face, beholding, as in a glass, the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. Go to Ephesians chapter number 4, Ephesians chapter 4. Again, we're just searching the Bible. What does the Bible have to say about this issue? Is the Holy Ghost just some impersonal force? Is He just like a wind, where He can accomplish things just like wind can, but He doesn't have a mind? No, absolutely not. He is a person. Look at Ephesians chapter 4, verse 30. It says, And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. You know why the Bible gives us an admonition that we shouldn't be grieving the Holy Spirit of God? It's because the Holy Spirit of God is a person that can be grieved. The Holy Spirit can feel sorrow. The Holy Spirit can feel pain when we are not walking in the Spirit. When we're taking the Holy Spirit with us in our body, which is the temple of what? The temple of the Holy Spirit. You know, if we're dragging the Holy Spirit to see things the Holy Spirit doesn't want to see, to hear things the Holy Spirit doesn't want to hear, to look at, you know, be in places the Holy Spirit doesn't want to be in, that can grieve, that can cause sorrow to the Holy Spirit. Why? Because He's a person. Because He is God, not just some impersonal force. And of course, one of the most famous verses, I'll read for you 1 John 5, 7. It says, Now, if I'm not mistaken on this, I believe that the New World Translation used to have this verse just completely gone. But when I looked online, the most recent version of the New World Translation that I found, it actually did have this verse in there, but this is how it reads in the New World Translation. It says, That's it. That's the whole verse. For there are three witness bearers. Nothing about God, nothing about the Son, nothing about the Holy Ghost. And so, it's a wicked, demonic, false doctrine to attack the person of the Holy Spirit. To say that the Holy Ghost is not a person, that He's not God, that is attacking the Trinity, and that is attacking God Himself. And you know, when I hear of this type of false doctrine, when I hear of people saying that the Holy Ghost is like a spirit, you know, I think of this New Age pagan religion where everything's very, they claim it's very spiritual, right? And it reminded me of this verse in Daniel. Daniel 11, 37, I'll read for you. It's speaking of the Antichrist. And Daniel 11, 37 says, Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any God, for he shall magnify himself above all. But in his estate shall he honor the God of forces. In his estate he shall honor the God of forces, and a God whom his Father knew not, shall he honor with gold and silver and with precious stones and pleasant things. So the Antichrist, you know, the most prideful person, besides the devil himself, he's lifting himself up. And you know who he gives honor to? The God of forces. A false God, just a demonic spirit. And you know, sometimes you hear the people like Alex Jones always talking about forces and spirits and you know, God is a force and we just gotta get in touch with our ancestors and stuff like this. All this New Age mysticism type religion, that's a demonic spirit. That's what it is. And the Jehovah's Witnesses saying that the Holy Ghost is not a person and they verbatim, they clearly say the Holy Ghost is a force. Well guess what? That's the exact same God that the Antichrist is going to be worshipping and going to be giving honor to. And so there's no doubt in my mind that the Jehovah's Witnesses, that's a demonic religion, there's no saved person that's a Jehovah's Witness. If you do not believe that the Holy Spirit is God, you're not saved. You have a different God. You must believe in the Trinity to be saved. You must accept what the Bible teaches about the Trinity. So number one, we talked about the person of the Holy Spirit. You know, every single person in here hopefully knew already that the Holy Spirit is a person but we gotta be ready to defend the faith because you never know who you're gonna run into out soloing that might just have some weird New Age belief about the Holy Spirit and we gotta be able to show them and say, no, you know, the Holy Spirit is a person. He's God. He can be grieved. You know, people can lie to him. He is a real person. But number two, let's talk about the purpose But number two, let's talk about the purposes of the Holy Spirit. What is the purposes of the Holy Spirit? Go back to John chapter number 14. John chapter number 14. One of the first purposes that the Holy Spirit has, one of the functions of the Holy Spirit is to bear witness to the truth. Look at John chapter 14 and look at verse number 16. And I will pray the Father and he shall give you another comforter that he may abide with you forever even the spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive. So notice the Bible calls the Holy Spirit many different names, the comforter, the Holy Ghost, the Holy Spirit, but here the Bible's focusing on one area, one purpose that the Holy Spirit has and that he is the spirit of truth. The Holy Spirit bears witness of the truth. Let's flip the page to John 15, verse number 26 and it's gonna use the same terminology, 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 of course in John 14, Jesus Christ said, I am the truth. And so if the Holy Spirit is the spirit of truth, notice what he's doing. He's testifying of Jesus Christ and that's what the Holy Spirit does. The Holy Spirit bears witness in our hearts and even in the hearts of unsaved people when they're getting the gospel of the truth of Jesus Christ. That's the ministry of the Holy Spirit. John 16, flip the page, look at verse 13. 16, verse 13. Howbeit when he, the spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth, for he shall not speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak and he will show you things to come. So notice, the Holy Spirit, he only bears witness to things that he has heard. The Holy Spirit only is going to bear witness to the truth of the word of God. The Holy Spirit is not gonna speak of himself. You see these fake, phony preachers, well, they'll stop in the middle of their sermon and they'll get all charismatic and they'll act like, you know, the Holy Spirit is giving me a word right now. Just hold on real quick, I'm getting a word from the Holy Spirit. And then they'll just say something that was never found in the Bible. And that's how you can know that that person is a complete liar because the Bible says the Holy Spirit's not gonna speak of himself. He's gonna bear witness of the truth, he's gonna bear witness of Jesus Christ, but he's only gonna bear witness of the things that he heard, the things that God the Father and the things that Jesus Christ spake. That is what the Holy Ghost is going to be saying. You know, there's no such thing as a supernatural word of knowledge that God is just giving people on an individual basis. He gave every single person the word of knowledge right here in the King James Bible and anyone can tap into it, anyone can read it. And if you have the Spirit of God in you, if you're saved, you can understand it and the Holy Spirit can guide you and can bear witness of all truth. Go to 1 Corinthians 2. 1 Corinthians 2. But when you think about that, when you think about how the Holy Spirit, he's only going to bear witness of the things that he's heard, you know, if you're, and we know that that's talking about the Bible, if you're never reading the Bible, then the Holy Spirit is never gonna speak to you. If you're never reading the words of Jesus Christ, if you're never reading the words of truth, the Holy Spirit is not gonna be able to bear witness to that truth in your heart. He's not gonna be able to speak to you unless you put your eyes on the page and read the word of God. He's not gonna just download the word of God into your brain like some sort of Tesla software update. It's just, no, you actually have to read the Bible and when you're reading the Bible, the Holy Spirit will teach you, will guide you, and will give you truth. Look at 1 Corinthians 2, verse 1. Paul says, And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power. So notice, the words that Paul was preaching, they were words that were spiritual and they were words that were powerful. Why is that? Is it because Paul was special? No, it's because he's preaching the words of God. The words that Jesus said that the Holy Ghost is going to bear witness to, the words that Jesus said that the Holy Ghost is going to hear and bear witness of that truth in our hearts. That's what makes preaching spiritual and that's what makes preaching powerful is when it's biblical, is when it has the word of God. You know, you see these preachers, I'm losing this guy's name right now, but I cannot stand this guy. He's a very, very famous preacher. He's pretty young. Stephen Furtick, this guy, that's what I'm thinking of. Stephen Furtick, you know, he acts like he's so spiritual because he gets so emotional. Stephen Furtick acts like he's so spiritual because he acts like a girl when he's preaching and he breaks down and cries from time to time and, you know, it's not spiritual whatsoever when you're not using the word of God. It's a fake spirituality. It's just trying to look cool in front of people and trying to act all emotional, but Paul's preaching was spiritual Paul's preaching was powerful, not because there's anything special with Paul, not because he came to them with excellency of speech. He wasn't the best orator. He came to them with one thing, though, the word of God. And when you hear the word of God preached, it doesn't have to be preached by someone that's very good at speaking or someone that's good looking or someone that wants to act like a girl from behind the pulpit like Stephen Furtick. It needs to be preached, though, by someone that actually believes the Bible and actually has the Holy Spirit bearing the truth of the word of God in their hearts and that they can share that spiritual truth with other people. Why did Paul preach like this? Look at verse five. Here's why. That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. You notice, you know, in our movement, we elevate one thing above all else and that is the word of God. We elevate what the Bible says above all else. We don't let a personality cult exist where one person says it and I know it's true. No, we believe the Bible, but a lot of these false churches, the Joel Osteens, the Stephen Furticks, people, their faith is not standing in the word of God. It's standing in that man and they'll be, oh, you have to hear Stephen Furtick preach. You have to hear Joel Osteen preach. You know, it's gonna change your life rather than saying, you know, you have to hear what the Bible says. You have to learn this truth in the word of God. Rather, they put these men on a pedestal rather than putting the word of God on a pedestal and so Paul, because he preached, not with man's wisdom, but because he preached spiritually, because he preached powerfully, faith of the people that listened had their faith in the word of God, not in the wisdom of men. Verse 6, Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect, yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world that come to naught, but we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory, which none of the princes of this world knew, for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written, I have not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God had prepared for them that love him. And you know, we love that verse and that verse is often used to talk about heaven and there's nothing wrong with using that to talk about heaven because it definitely applies, but this is talking about the word of God. And so if we want the things, the deep things of God, the things that God has prepared for us that eye has not seen, that ear has not heard, what we need is we need the Holy Spirit of God to bear witness of that truth and to teach us. We need God to help us to reveal the truth of his word to us. And that's what the Bible says continuing in verse 10. It says, But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit, for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. So there's nothing in the Bible. You know, you hear, for example, you hear a great sermon by a great pastor, a great man of God, and you're wondering, you know, how could he have found that in the Bible? Such an amazing truth, such a deep spiritual truth. But you have to realize that the same Holy Spirit that's in that great man of God is also in you. You have that exact same Holy Spirit and if you will just put in the time to get along with God, to commune with the Lord and ask God, ask the Holy Spirit to reveal the truth of his word to you, he will do that. Why would God not want to do that? The whole ministry of the Holy Ghost, one of his purposes is to bear witness of the truth. And so, you know, we should take advantage of that from the Lord. We should take advantage of the fact that God wants to teach us truth and ask him to fill us with our Spirit, with his Spirit while we're reading so that we can learn more and more. Verse 11, for what man knoweth the things of a man save the spirit of a man which is in him? Even so, the things of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God. So just like us as human beings, the only reason that we can understand each other is because we have the same Spirit in us, the Spirit of people, the Spirit of human beings. You know, I can't go and communicate with a deer. I can't go and communicate with an ox, right? It has a much different spirit than us but we can communicate together. Well, it's the same thing with God. You can't understand the things of God unless you have the Holy Spirit in you. And so that's why the unsaved can't understand the Bible. That's why they need a soul winner to show up, reveal the truth of God from faith to faith, explain to them these things because they don't have God's Spirit yet. We need to give them God's Spirit by getting them saved. Verse 12, it says, Now we have received not the Spirit of the world but the Spirit which is of God, that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God, which things also we speak not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth but which the Holy Ghost teacheth, comparing spiritual things of spiritual. And so again, the Holy Ghost, remember, it says words that the Holy Ghost teacheth. How is the Holy Ghost gonna teach you these spiritual words? Is it gonna be by him just coming in a vision in the night and telling you what to say? No, it's by the Word of God. And so that's the way the Holy Ghost is gonna teach us is through the Word of God. Verse 14, But the natural man, the person that's unsaved, receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned. So the unsaved, they cannot understand the things of God. They don't understand the Spirit of God. But it still is true that the Holy Ghost's ministry is to bear witness of the truth. So even though they don't have the Spirit of God yet, as you're preaching someone the gospel, the Holy Ghost can work on someone's heart and get them to think, wow, this is true. This is true what this person's saying. This person's showing me the Word of God, and the Holy Ghost can touch their heart and can change their heart and get them to realize, yeah, this is true and make them want to accept the gospel. I'll read for you 1 John 4, 1, it says, Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits, whether they are of God, because many false prophets are gone out into the world. And once again, if we're keeping of this theme of the Holy Ghost, it bears witness to the truth, and that truth is what the Word of God. If we're gonna try someone's spirit, because there's many false prophets that have gone out into the world, if we're gonna try and see, is this person a good spirit or is this person a bad spirit, the only way to really tell is to look at what they say and what they preach. Does it match up with the Word of God? Because that is what the Holy Ghost teaches, is the Word of God. So if someone's teaching something other than that, well, you could tell they don't have the Spirit of God in them. So number one, the Holy Ghost bears witness of the truth. Number two, the Holy Ghost convicts the world of sin. Go to John 16, John 16. One of the ministries, one of the purposes of the Holy Ghost is to convict the whole world of sin. Now, there's this pastor named Joseph Prince. He is the pastor of Grace Revolution Church in Singapore. He has 33,000 people go to his church. It's a huge mega church in Singapore. And he actually has two satellite campuses in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. So this guy is a false prophet with a very large outreach. And this is one of the things that he said about the Holy Spirit. He says, the bottom line is that the Holy Spirit never convicts you of your sins. He never comes to point out your faults. And if you've read the Bible before, you're already thinking, like, what are you talking about? What do you mean the Holy Spirit never convicts you of your sins? Well, let's see what the Bible says about that. Look at John, chapter number 16. And before I get there, remember, the Holy Spirit bears witness of all truth, right? Isn't one of those truths that I am a sinner? So isn't the Holy Ghost convicting me of my sin just because that's a truth, that's a reality that exists? But not only that, the Bible tells us that the Holy Ghost reproves us of our sin. Look at John 16, seven. 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 and of righteousness and of judgment. It's like, how much more clear of a verse does Joseph Prince need to actually believe that the Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin? Of course, the Holy Ghost convicts the world of sin. That's one of the purposes of the Holy Ghost. You read Revelation, it's constantly like, hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches, right? And then the whole chapter is like a rebuke of their sin. It's like, what are you talking about? The Holy Spirit doesn't reprove us of our sin. That's absolutely one of the ministries of the Holy Ghost, and that's a very important factor in someone getting saved. They need the Holy Ghost to bear witness of the truth of God's word when they're hearing the gospel, and they need the Holy Spirit to convict them of their sins. And realize, wow, I am a sinner. Wow, I am on my way to hell. I'll read for you Ephesians 4. Actually, you can go ahead and turn there, Ephesians 4. Ephesians 4, verse 22, it says, that ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lust, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Wherefore, putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be ye angry and sin not, let not the sun go down upon your wrath, neither give place to the devil. Let him that stole steal no more, but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your heart. But that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearer. So, so far, what have we seen? We've seen basically the Bible telling us a whole bunch of stuff that God wants us to put away from us, that God wants us to stop doing, the things that God is not pleased with, anger, evil communication, lying. These are things that obviously God does not like. And then what is that in context of? Look at verse 30. And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. So, of course, the Holy Ghost convicts us of sin because he's saying that if you don't avoid all of these sins that I'm listing, you're doing what? Grieving the Holy Spirit of God. And that is one form of the Holy Ghost convicting us of our sins. You know, of course, we know that the Bible teaches that when we sin, God punishes us for that sin. But a lot of times, I think that punishment sometimes is just in the form of guilt. Sometimes it's just in the form of shame. Sometimes it's just in the form of sorrow and being sorry for what we've done because the Holy Spirit of God inside of us is grief. You know? And that's one way that God often punishes us is just our spirit being grieved, the Holy Spirit being grieved as well. Another thing, another ministry, another purpose of the Holy Ghost is that he interprets and intercedes our prayers to God. Go to Romans chapter number eight, Romans chapter number eight. And we're just looking at an overview of the Holy Spirit and trying to get a basic understanding of the person of the Holy Spirit and the purpose of the Holy Spirit. What are some of the things that the Holy Spirit does in our lives? Romans 8, 26 says this. Likewise, the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities, for we know not what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And if you truly understand this verse, you'd count this verse as a huge blessing because the truth is, if you and I were honest, we'd realize that we often don't know what to pray for as we ought. Sometimes we're just what we're getting before God and you're just blank sometimes. And what a blessing that the Holy Spirit helps our infirmities because we know not what we pray for as we ought. And so the Spirit itself makes intercession to God for us. That's a great blessing because, you know, imagine if you literally had to ask God specifically for each and every one of your needs. I mean, praying would be a 24-7 job. You know what I mean? But thank God that we could just say, Lord, I pray that you would just provide for my family. And God knows what that means. God knows that that means a car that works good so that you can get to your job. God knows that that means a place for you and your family to live in. God knows that that means a job to work at. God knows that there's a lot of aspects in that. And the Holy Spirit, you know, sometimes we don't know what we should pray for as we ought. And so he can intercede to God with groanings that cannot be uttered. He can basically take our prayers and translate them and say, OK, Lord, here's what Dylan really meant. Here's what Dylan really needs from you, Lord, because he's obviously not praying as he ought. He's not doing the best job possible, right? But hey, that makes me really happy to know that even if I am not praying in the most perfect way that as long as I'm just praying, then the Holy Ghost can intercede for me and my prayers can be brought to God. So, you know, I believe in being taught how to pray correctly. And there's different types of prayers that are taught in the Bible. But, you know, at the end of the day, it's better not to get so caught up with that and just make sure that you're praying. Just whatever you do, just make sure you pray to God because if you're at least praying to God, then the Holy Spirit can move in and do his purpose, have his ministry, which is what? Making intercession for you. Translating those prayers to God with groanings which cannot be uttered. I'm really thankful for that promise in the Word of God. Verse 27, And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And, you know, I'm also happy that the Holy Ghost, when he takes my prayers, when he takes your prayers and he brings them to God, he's doing it according to the will of God. Because how many times have you and I prayed for something that God said no to, and looking back you're thinking, thank God he said no to that, right? Or you wanted something really bad in your life and it didn't happen and you're thankful that it didn't happen. Well, every time you pray, the Holy Ghost is gonna take your prayers and he's gonna bring it to God according to the will of God. And that's very important that our prayers are according to the will of God. Another ministry, another purpose of the Holy Ghost, and this will be the last one that we'll talk about tonight, is that he empowers the believer to do the work of God. He empowers the believer to do the work of God. It's important to realize that when it comes to the ministry, when it comes to preaching the gospel, when it comes to raising godly families or doing anything that we want to accomplish for God, all of that is not done in the flesh. It's not like if you're just the smartest person, you'll be the best soul winner. If you're just the smartest person, that means you're gonna be the best dad. That's not how it works. What makes the biggest difference is if you're filled with the Holy Spirit of God. And if the Holy Spirit of God is moving in your life and empowering you to do the work of God, empowering you to preach, empowering you to preach the gospel to someone, empowering you to raise those kids for God, that's what matters the most. And so I wanna look at a story of this in Acts chapter number four. Acts chapter number four. And just to give you some context of this, Peter and John are preaching, and the chief rulers are basically telling them that they need to stop preaching in the name of Jesus. They're threatening them. And this is where we're gonna pick up the story in Acts four, verse 23. And being let go, so they were just threatened, but now they're let go. They went to their own company and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them. And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord. So now they're gonna pray, and I love this prayer that they pray. And said, Lord, thou art God, which has made heaven and earth and the sea and all that in them is. Who by the mouth of thy servant David has said, why did the heathen rage and the people imagine main things? The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his Christ. For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom now is anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel were gathered together. For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before it to be done. And now Lord, behold their threatenings and grant unto thy servants that with all boldness they may speak thy word. So the request here is that they'll be given boldness to preach the word of God. Verse 30, by stretching forth thine hand to heal in that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus. And when they had prayed, so now we're gonna get the answer from God for this prayer request. The place was shaken where they were assembled together and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and they spake the word of God with boldness. So notice their request was that they were gonna be bold, that they were gonna be able to preach with boldness. And what was God's answer to that? Was God's answer to give Peter and John a really impressive voice box so they could preach really loud? Was it to give them a really great memory? Was it to really give them a great charisma? No, the answer that God gave them was to fill them with the Holy Ghost. And what's the result of that? What's the result of when these men were filled with the Holy Ghost, verse 32? And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul. And when it says the multitude of them that believed, earlier in the chapter, there was 5,000 men that just got saved by Peter and John's preaching. That's pretty amazing. That's a pretty huge work for God that was just accomplished. But how was it accomplished? Was it done in the flesh by Peter and John? No, it was done by being filled with the Spirit of God. And so one of the ministries of the Holy Spirit, one of the purposes of the Holy Spirit is to empower us to do the work of the Lord. And we should be people of strong faith and realize that the same Holy Spirit of God that moved John and Paul and Peter to preach these great sermons and get many people saved is the same Holy Spirit of God that is in us. It's the same Holy Spirit of God that is in our church. And when it comes to having a big vision for God, which you look at Pastor Shelley, he has a big vision for God for this church. How is it going to be done? Is it going to be done by having the best people as far as the flesh goes, as far as being really tall, really strong, really good voice or whatever? No, it's going to be done by people that are filled with the Spirit of God, people that are moved by the Spirit of God. And when you're filled with the Holy Spirit of God, great things can be done. 5,000 people saved in one day, that's amazing. And we haven't seen stuff like that in Christianity for a long time. And I wonder, is it because there's not a lot of people that are filled with the Holy Spirit of God anymore? You know, there's a lot of people that are just walking in the flesh, that are grieving the Holy Spirit of God, that are not reading their Bibles and not letting the Holy Spirit of God speak to them and bear witness of the truth. People that are probably not praying like they should be and the Holy Spirit's not taking their prayers to God and interceding for them. You know, the Holy Spirit has such a key and pivotal role to the ministry and to the work of God getting done. You know, we can't under emphasize the Holy Spirit of God. We can't under emphasize how important it is to be filled with the Spirit of God. You know, that's why, for example, we have the song service that we do. The song service that we have is not just a formality, it's not just a Baptist tradition where it's like, oh, we're in church, so we might as well just sing some songs. No, we're actually trying to get filled with the Holy Spirit of God so that the preacher can be filled with the Spirit of God, so that the people listening to the Bible being preached can be filled with the Spirit of God and can have their lives changed by the truth that's going to be preached. And so, you know, we should make sure that as a church, we're taking the singing service very seriously, that you're singing out to God, that you're thinking about the words that are being sung, you know, thinking about a fountain filled with blood run through Emmanuel's veins and thinking about the great sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ and just how much He's done for us and all of the great songs that we sing. They have such great lyrics and it's important when you're singing them not to just be zooming out or thinking what you're going to be doing after the service, but, you know, open up your heart and sing with passion to the Lord. It doesn't matter how your voice sounds. I mean, my voice right now is completely gone. But, you know, I guarantee you that God still likes it when I sing to Him. God still likes it and God's going to fill me with the Holy Spirit if I'm singing spiritual songs to the Lord. Verse 33 says, And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and great grace was upon them all. You know, would to God it would be said of the soul winners of Set Past Baptist Church that with great power Brother So-and-So gave witness to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. With great power at the doorstep Sister So-and-So preaches the gospel of Jesus Christ. You know, that would be a great testimony to have at this church when our soul winners are filled with the Spirit of God when we go out and preach the gospel. That we're not just going through the motions, that we're not just checking something off our list for the week, but we actually put ourselves in a mindset and we get filled with the Spirit of God so that great power can be upon our preaching. Look at Acts chapter number six. We'll get another example of this. And what are we talking about? We're talking about the Holy Spirit enabling us to do the work of God. The Holy Spirit empowering us to do the work of God. Acts six, look at verse one. And in those days when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration. Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them and said, It is not reason that we should leave the work of God and serve tables. Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom whom we may appoint over this business. But we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the Word. And the saying pleased the whole multitude and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost and Philip Prochorus and Nicanor and Timon and Parmenas and Nicholas, a proselyte of Antioch, whom they set before the apostles. And when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them. So we have Stephen and all these other men that were chosen. And the reason they were chosen is because they were men that were full of faith and they were men that were full of the Holy Ghost. And what's the result of having Christians, having people full of the Holy Ghost? Verse seven, and the Word of God increased and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly. And a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith. And you know, that's really encouraging because I even see this, I see reality backing up the Bible when I look at Steadfast Baptist Church, when I look at, you know, Steadfast Fort Worth, when we have sodomites protesting us for the last five months straight, right? Just all sorts of crazy stuff going on, legal battles going on, legal battles at Steadfast Baptist Church. But yet, every single week, there's people that go out at Steadfast Baptist Church and same thing here, and they go out and preach the gospel and what happens? The Word of God increases. I mean, today, I got a text from Brother Ben that there was 38 salvations today in Fort Worth from the soul winning today. I mean, that is awesome. You know what that tells me? That tells me that there's some soul winners that are filled with the Spirit of God, that they're going out with great boldness, that they're boldly giving witness to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And that's what happens when you have a church that's full of people that are filled with the Holy Ghost. You know, it doesn't take 10,000 soul winners to do a great work for God. No, it could just take a couple dozen soul winners to do a great work for God. It could take Peter and John preaching the gospel and getting 5,000 people saved. You know, the limiting factor is not God. The limiting factor is us. If we just fill ourselves with the Holy Spirit of God, if we walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh, if we sing spiritual songs, if we live a life that's pleasing to God and we're filled with the Holy Ghost, you know, he's going to enable us, he's going to empower us to do great things for God. The sky's the limit. You know, we think, oh, it's just, steadfast OKC is just a church plant. Well, you know, I used to go to a church plant called Verity Baptist Church Vancouver. And you know what that church plant is now? Sure Foundation Baptist Church. And you know that that church started a church in Canada. That church started a church in Spokane. That church started a church in England. You know, there's all sorts of work of God being done as a result of a little church plant. So you shouldn't have this mentality. It's like, oh, we're just, you know, second fiddle, steadfast OKC. No, if the soul winners here are filled with the Spirit of God, if the preaching here is filled with a man of God that's full of the Holy Spirit, no great things can be done through this group of people, through the believers that are in this room. And you know, all you have to do is have faith. Don't limit God. If you just have a defeatist mentality, you're just limiting yourself. So I'll read for you Ephesians 5 five is to see then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time because the days are evil. Wherefore be not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is and be not drunk with wine where in his excess, but be filled with the Spirit. And you know, being a fool, doing something that's unwise would be living your life, not in the spirit because you know, we live in this world and we get caught up with the daily tasks of this world, but the truth is someday you're going to be standing before Christ at the judgment seat of Christ. You're going to have your eternity in front of you. Your life that you lived on this earth was just such a short vapor. That's why it's unwise. It's foolish to just be walking in the flesh and not redeeming the time. But what's the converse of that? Well, being wise would be living in the spirit, walking in the spirit, doing works for God. Why? Because that's the only thing that matters. And so being wise would be being filled with the Spirit of God. Why? So that he can enable us and empower us to do a great work for him. Verse 19. Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. That's a great way to be filled with the Holy Spirit like we were talking about, singing psalms, singing hymns. That's how we're going to be filled with the Spirit. And if we're filled with the Spirit, that's how we're going to get a great work done for God. It's been done at other church plants, you know, and I believe that steadfast OKC is going to be the same way, but it's going to be done only by one thing if we're filled with the Spirit of God. Don't neglect the Holy Spirit. That's why a sermon like this every once in a while is just interesting for me to think about is that, you know, every single one of these points, every single one of these things, the ministries, the church, the church, the church, you know, the Holy Spirit is a person. The Holy Spirit is God. And what is the purposes of the Holy Ghost? Just in review. Number one, He bears witness to the truth. Number two, He convicts the world of sin. Number three, He interprets our prayers to God. And number four, He empowers the believer to do the work of God. So, we shouldn't be neglecting the Holy Spirit in our lives. Don't forget about the Holy Spirit as you're reading is about the Holy Spirit it's a very important aspect of doing great things for God is the Holy Spirit of God and with that let's have a word of prayer Lord thank you so much for this day and thank you so much for this church and for giving us the comforter for giving us the spirit of truth I pray that every single person here would live a life that would be a life walking in the spirit and not in the flesh that you could help us to do great things for you and I just pray that this church would be filled with people that are filled with the spirit so that this church can have a major impact in this state in this country and in this world and in Jesus name we pray amen talk about a song with good lyrics this is a song with good lyrics right here Psalm 93 let's try something a little bit different too at the end let's let's say that amen at the last at the end of the last verse would you just be the same note as the last word