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men the title of my sermon tonight is the person of the Holy Spirit turn if you would to Matthew chapter 3 the person of the Holy Spirit I'm going to talk about the person and work of the Holy Spirit tonight now of course we know that God is made up of God the Father Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost the Holy Spirit we often talk about the Father and the Son we don't spend as much time talking about the Holy Spirit in fact this even prompted brother Hyles many decades ago to write a book called meet the Holy Spirit because he felt like it was something that a lot of people didn't preach about or talk about but I think that part of the reason for that is that the Bible doesn't go into as much detail about the person of the Holy Spirit because the person of the Holy Spirit is one who actually points to Jesus Christ okay he's not one that glorifies himself but rather takes of the Word of God and and uses that and glorifies Christ and and glorifies the Father but look at Matthew chapter 3 verse 16 the Bible reads and Jesus when he was baptized went up straight way out of the water and lo the heavens were opened unto him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting upon him and lo a voice from heaven saying this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased look at verse 1 of the next chapter then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil so here we have Jesus Christ being baptized the Holy Spirit descends on him like a dove and then there's the voice from heaven coming from the Father saying this is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased and then that same Holy Spirit drives Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil let me start out by making a very important point here and I've got a couple of charts here to help illustrate this so if I can get my usual volunteers up here to hold these if you remember the sermon from this morning we talked about how man is made up of body soul and spirit right these are the three components now I'm gonna have you hold this chart right here hold it up nice and high and you know this represents the Trinity basically that we've got God the Father we've got Jesus Christ and then we've got the Holy Ghost right now they all are God God the Father's God Jesus is God the Holy Ghost is God but they are not each other right God the Father is not Jesus Jesus isn't the Holy Ghost three persons one God right I've got another chart here if you'd hold this and get a little closer to the middle here and hold it up nice and high and we've got another chart representing man here right and we've got man who consists of soul and body and spirit right and if you think about it you know the soul is that man and the body is that man you know if we were to identify the body for example let's say I died tonight we went out of the police station today that's Steven Anderson that would be correct wouldn't it but up in heaven the soul and spirit of Steven Anderson you know that's also me too right so the soul is that man the body is that man and then the spirit is also that man but they are not each other are they I mean is the soul the body is the body the spirit and we know that the Word of God even can divide between soul and spirit even so these are not each other but each of them is the man right and collectively they are the man just as each of these is God and collectively they are God but they are not each other so this is kind of a great illustration of this now no illustration is ever perfect you could take this illustration and and twist it or pervert it but it does provide a good illustration so if we were to kind of use this illustration and run with it then obviously the spirit would be like the Holy Spirit right that's a no-brainer because it's got a spirit in the name and then we'd say that okay well the body you know the only one of these that has a flesh and bone body would be Jesus Christ and then that leads God the Father as the soul here's what's interesting remember how we talked about this morning that often the word soul is referring to the whole person in the Bible we showed a whole bunch of examples from the Bible where the word soul is not talking about just that part of the person but it's referring to the whole person in general I'm not gonna re-preach that sermon but what's kind of interesting about the fact that the soul can sometimes be represented the whole thing is that if you were to just say God because often the Bible just calls God the Father just God many times and then also God in general is often just called God well then you can see how there's a nice little parallel there isn't there so why am I bringing this up yeah you're helping out that side a little bit so why am I bringing this up okay the reason I'm bringing this up is that Jesus Christ was a man right he's the Son of Man the man Christ Jesus so that means Jesus Christ had what soul body and spirit but yet we see what in Matthew chapter 3 we see the Holy Ghost descending like a dove and lighting upon it now this is not what descended like a dove on Jesus and lit upon him do you understand everybody get this let me let me help you out with my orange marker here so Jesus had a soul right we got a soul of Jesus right and we've got a body of Jesus because I mean if he if he's a man he should have this whole package he wasn't just a body walking around with no spirit and no soul right we know he had a soul because it says his soul was not left in hell right and then his body didn't see corruption and then we've got here the spirit of Jesus okay so as a human being he possessed these three components just like every other human being who's ever lived but then we have someone else descending from heaven and lighting upon him it wasn't like his own spirit jumped out of his body and then came down and came apart no no because Jesus gave up the ghost on the cross right that's his spirit this is the Holy Spirit in addition to Jesus Christ having his own spirit right just as a man having body soul and spirit you know the Holy Ghost also came upon him he was also filled with the Holy Ghost he was also led by the Holy Ghost that had to externally descend upon him when he was 30 years old so what about the first 30 years of his life well the first 30 years of his life this is what he had and then this person right here the Holy Ghost descended and came upon him led him ministered unto him etc so we can go and put those away thank you I'll put him back in the pulpit where I got him so before we get into a lot of scriptures I just want to make sure that we understand these basic facts and and kind of have these basic foundations going into the sermon now this is such an important event that it's recorded in Matthew Mark Luke and John right so certain things are only in certain Gospels this is in all four for sake of time let's have you flip to Luke 3 while you're turning to Luke 3 I will just mention to you that Mark 1 says that the spirit like a dove descended upon him there came a voice from heaven saying thou art my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased and immediately the spirit driveth him into the wilderness pretty much the same thing we saw in Matthew Luke chapter 3 verse 21 now when all the people were baptized it came to pass that Jesus also being baptized and praying the heaven was opened and the Holy Ghost so in Matthew 3 it said the Spirit of God here it says the Holy Ghost same person descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him and a voice from heaven which said thou art my beloved son in thee I am well pleased look at verse 1 of chapter 4 and Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost as a result of what what just took place at his baptism Luke 4 1 Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness go to John chapter 1 John chapter number 1 got want to hurry because of time I'll start reading while you get there John 1 29 the next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him and saith behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world this is he of whom I said after me cometh a man which is preferred before me for he was before me and I knew him not but that he should be made manifest to Israel therefore am I come baptizing with water and John bear record saying I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove and it abode upon him and I knew him not but he had sent me to baptize with water the same said unto me upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining on him the same as he which baptizes with the Holy Ghost and I saw and bear record that this is the Son of God now let me answer this question that a lot of people have asked does the Holy Spirit have a body now the answer to that if we're talking about a flesh and bone body is obviously no right it's Jesus that has a flesh and bone physical body but the Bible did tell us in Luke chapter 3 that the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him so the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape but that doesn't mean that the Holy Ghost has a flesh and bone physical body okay God the Father I don't believe that he has a physical flesh and bone body either but you could say that they have a body in the sense that obviously God the Father has a face and he has hands so there's a there's a spiritual type body but to say that the Holy Ghost or God the Father have a flesh and bone type body is a stretch or adding to what the scripture tells us I believe that we have the man Christ Jesus being that member of the Trinity that has the physical flesh and bone body you know he's got his own body soul and spirit going on because he's just like every other human being in that sense but God the Father and the Holy Ghost they don't have physical bodies not flesh and bone okay now let's flip over to John chapter 14 let's get into the nitty-gritty here of the person of the Holy Spirit there are people out there who deny the fact that the Holy Spirit is a person they will say the Holy Spirit's just a force or that it's just part of God sort of like man has a body soul and spirit it's just a component of God the Father it's his spirit or it's Jesus's spirit I already kind of debunked that by showing you that obviously Jesus had his own spirit up till he's 30 and then externally the Holy Ghost comes upon it but John chapter 14 through 17 these wonderful four chapters of just a lot of red letters in your red letter edition Bible Jesus just gives all this great preaching and prayer in chapter 17 and there's so much evidence here that the Holy Spirit is a person one of the biggest things I would point to is that he's referred to with a personal pronoun he right now there is one place that I could point to in the Bible where the Holy Spirit's referred to as it this is Romans 8 16 the spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God but that does not prevent the Holy Spirit from being a person because Jesus Christ is also referred to in that cut with that kind of a neuter pronoun in the book of Luke when it says therefore that holy thing that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God right why because a baby there is being referred to as a thing but of course we know it's also a person don't we it's also a person that's why when we call people we say hello it's me not he's me right we say it's me who is at the door oh it's mom right so there are times when you could use it for a person and the fact that personal pronouns are used over and over for the Holy Spirit shows that he is a person and it's gonna be obvious as we look at the scriptures look at verse 15 of John 14 if you 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 notice he says I so we have the Son of God Jesus Christ saying I will pray the father and he shall give you another comforter not the same comforter Jesus Christ has been comforting them quite a bit throughout his ministry because the comfort means to strengthen to encourage and of course Christ did that repeatedly but he said I'm gonna send you another comforter the father is gonna send you another comforter he's gonna send another comforter in my name and he's gonna be with you forever he he's dwelling with you right now why because Jesus Christ is filled with the Holy Ghost right so you know he's with you but he shall be in you they're going to be indwelled by the Holy Spirit right verse 18 says this I will not leave you comfortless I will come to you now I used to misunderstand this verse but once you understand this verse it's crystal clear what's being said here you just can't unsee it okay keep your finger there in John 14 go to John 20 John 20 because he says I'm gonna give you another comforter that he may abide with you forever but then he turns around says I will not leave you comfortless I will come to you so a misunderstanding of this verse would be like oh well when he says I'm gonna come to you the Holy Spirit that's Jesus coming to them because you know but remember the chart here this is what we believe right we better be what we believe Jesus Christ is not the Holy Ghost and the Holy Ghost is not Jesus Christ they're both God right but we have one God three persons so what we have here when he says I will not leave you comfortless I will come to you is the prophecy that he's going to come to them and give them the comforter let's see that fulfillment in John chapter 20 verse 19 then the same day at evening being the first day of the week when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews came Jesus and stood in the midst and said unto them peace be unto you and when he had so said he showed unto them his hands and his side then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord 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 ye the Holy Ghost whosoever sins ye remit they are remitted unto them and whosoever sins ye retain they are retained so Jesus said I'm gonna send you another comforter it's expedient for you that I should go away because if I go not away the comforter is not gonna come and he says don't worry I'm not gonna leave you comfortless I'm gonna come to you and do what give them another comforter that's what happened in John 20 Jesus comes to them and he doesn't leave them comfortless does he no he breathes on them and says receive ye the Holy Ghost look at John 14 again verse 25 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 of course people people have made much ado about well is it the Father sending the comforter or is it Jesus sending the comforter huh well it's the Father sending the comforter in Jesus's name so it's really just a silly discussion go to chapter 15 chapter 15 verse 26 but when the comforter is come whom I will send unto you from the Father so they're both sending him folks it's not that it's not rocket science even the spirit of truth which proceedeth from the Father he shall testify of me notice the third person personal pronoun he that's third person shall testify of me that's first person right and he also shall bear witness because you've been with me from the beginning look at chapter 16 verse 7 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 unto you but if I depart I will send him unto you now how in the world could anyone in their right mind walk away from this verse and say oh Jesus and the comforter are the same person you'd have to be crazy to think that because he says well you know you're not gonna have the comforter until I'm gone you know look you're not gonna have pastor Anderson preaching until I'm gone Stephen Anderson has to leave so that pastor Anderson can appear all right so Stephen Anderson is gonna leave now and when Stephen Anderson leaves pastor Anderson is gonna come out of this door okay all right I'm pastor Stephen Anderson it's good to be here tonight you know I'm glad we could get Stephen Anderson out of the way so that pastor Anderson could come preach tonight but this is the logic of the oneness crowd isn't it it says in verse seven you know the comforter will not come unto you but if I depart I'll send him unto you okay why because he's a third person that's why look at verse 13 how be it when he the spirit of truth has 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 now what does it mean when it says that the Holy Spirit will not speak of himself some people might misunderstand this to think that he's not going to speak about himself well that's not true because the Holy Spirit does speak about himself if the Holy Spirit speaks through God's Word well does God's Word talk about the Holy Spirit so that'd be the Holy Spirit talking about the Holy Spirit right when the Bible says of here it's referring to the source of something okay so when it says here he will not speak of himself what it's saying is that he is not the source of the words that he's saying he's not coming up with things on his own that he's gonna say what's he gonna do he's not gonna speak of himself but whatsoever he shall hear that shall he speak right so he hears something and then speaks it it doesn't come from himself and we'll explain that a little more in a moment he will show you things to come watch verse 14 he shall glorify me and this is what I mean about why we don't put a massive emphasis on the Holy Spirit is because the Bible places the emphasis on Jesus Christ as being the Savior dying for us being buried and rising again and the Holy Spirit's role the work of the Holy Spirit is to glorify Jesus and that's what we're doing glorifying Jesus that's why we end up talking more about Jesus than we do talking about the Holy Spirit don't we it says he shall glorify me for he shall receive of mine and shall show it unto you so when the Holy Spirit hears something and speaks it the Bible is referring to that as him receiving from Jesus and then showing that to them why because Jesus is the word so if Jesus is the word of God made flesh it makes sense that the Holy Spirit is doing what taking of the word of God and showing it to us that's why I get a little weary of people saying oh the Holy Ghost told me and then they just kind of make something up or just something that kind of came from their imagination or I just felt like the Holy Spirit was saying go do this or don't do that it's like whoa buddy is did he say that of himself you know isn't that kind of what they're saying that the Holy Spirit is just coming up with all this new material to say to you know the ministry of the Holy Spirit is to take of God's Word to take of the words of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to take of Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy and the whole rest of the Bible and show it to you so the Holy Spirit would bring all things to remembrance that Christ told the disciples okay so after Jesus Christ dies and is buried and rises again after he's glorified he breeds on them they received the Holy Ghost now they have that person with them the Holy Spirit who's going to guide them into all truth he's the spirit of truth and he's gonna show them the Word of God you know what the Holy Spirit does he uses the sword of the Spirit and you know what the sword of the Spirit is the Word of God so that means you're out soul winning and you're giving the gospel to someone and boom that perfect verse pops into your mind and you say that verse right that's the Holy Spirit taking God's Word and showing it to you bringing things into your remembrance what about when I'm up here preaching and I'm preaching along and I didn't even have a verse in my notes but BAM the Holy Spirit just brings that verse to my remembrance that's you know so God does talk to us and he talks to us through the person of the Holy Spirit when we read our Bibles the Holy Spirit speaks to us doesn't he it's not like just reading any other book when we read the Bible the Holy Spirit talks to us but he doesn't say things like pastor Anderson don't go to that restaurant today it's a bad idea but people will say stuff like that or the Holy Spirit said go talk to that guy now the Holy if I'm supposed to go talk to that guy you know how the Holy Spirit would would say that to me he might just bring a verse to my mind that says go ye therefore into all the world preach the gospel to every creature which includes that guy right I mean you know then I could read between the lines or let's say I'm about to commit a sin and all of a sudden you know a verse pops into my mind telling me not to commit that sin let's say I was going to look at something that I wasn't supposed to and then the verse pops in my mind I'll set no wicked thing before my eyes right and and verses are popping into my mind that are inspiring me to go soul-winning not to say and to read my Bible to pray or whatever else that's the Holy Spirit working in us using the Word of God now here's a little hint though if you don't read the Bible if you don't know any Bible verses how's the Holy Spirit gonna bring stuff to your remembrance when you never heard it the first time I mean in order to remember something you got to hear it the first time so the more you read the Bible the more you memorize the Bible the more you listen to Bible preaching well guess what you're giving the Holy Spirit a lot more things to bring to remembrance he's gonna be able to speak to you through the Word of God he brings the Word of God to life not only that but of course we know that his ministry inside us from other scripture the fruit of the Spirit is love joy peace you know he enables us he empowers us to do the right things and to serve God to preach with boldness he gives us power he gives us love he gives us joy he gives us peace right he's a wonderful comforter what does he do he strengthens us he encourages us he teaches us so he's a pretty important person right to to be living right here with us and guiding us you know this is one of the main perks of being saved in the New Testament is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit this built-in comforter this built-in spirit of truth this built-in teacher the Bible says that the anointing which we have received of him abideth in us and we need not that any man teach us but as the same anointing teaches us of all things that is truth and is no lie and even as it has taught you he shall abide in him so we've got the Holy Spirit which is the anointing of the Holy Spirit that is guiding us into all truth teaching us and also giving us moral support strengthening encouraging allowing us to love like he loves have joy like he has peace etc I mean we you know we talk all night about the Holy Spirit so you know any one of these subjects we could just go off and do a whole sermon on it right I'm just kind of giving you an overview of the person of the Holy Spirit and his work let's look at verse number 13 it says how be it when he the spirit of truth has come he'll 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 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 okay so that's part of his ministry now there are religions out there that want to de-emphasize the Lord Jesus Christ and overemphasize the Holy Spirit but we remember it's the Holy Spirit that glorifies Jesus we remember it's the Holy Spirit that doesn't speak of himself he takes of Christ and shows it unto us and most notably is of course the Pentecostal or charismatic movement where it's just all about the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the Holy Spirit and there are many fraudulent counterfeit gifts of the Holy Spirit where people will claim that they have the gift of tongues and they just are babbling that's not the tongues of the Bible because in the Bible when they spoke with other tongues they were actually foreign languages that people from other countries understood you know the Italians are understanding the the Jews that are with Peter they're understanding languages from people that they wouldn't expect to speak that language and men of Galilee just speaking all the languages under heaven in Acts chapter 2 that is not what we see today with just ecstatic utterances and what was the purpose the purpose was to do what to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ it was all about the gospel of Jesus it wasn't just Holy Spirit for the sake of Holy Spirit I mean think about today we have churches that they want to have a Holy Spirit revival because they just want to have an experience they want to tingle that's what it really comes down to as opposed to in the book of Acts the power of the Holy Spirit came upon them so that they could preach the gospel what are they doing in Acts 2 getting people saved getting people baptized teaching people doctrine what does it say in Acts 4 31 when they had prayed 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 right that is the clearest evidence of being filled with the Holy Spirit when you're preaching the Word of God with boldness you know that's through the power of the Holy Spirit he empowers us to do that in the Old Testament the Spirit of the Lord would come upon people and allow them to do mighty works such as fighting a physical battle or preaching a powerful message or a negative message to a king and having the guts to confront kings and and rulers with a powerful message from the Word of God right that's the power of the Holy Spirit right there so the Holy Spirit is a person just like Jesus is a person just like God the Father is a person right and the Holy Spirit is God the Holy Spirit is not any more or less God than Jesus or the Father you've got the Father you got the Son you got the Holy Ghost and these three are one now they they they obviously work together in harmony in symphony but we see that there is an authority structure right like we've already gone over in a lot of other sermons how the Son obeys the Father he subjects his will to the Father not my will but thine be done even after the millennial reign of Jesus Christ he delivers up the kingdom to the Father and here we see that the Holy Ghost is taking a subservient role to Jesus in the fact in the sense that he glorifies Jesus he doesn't speak of himself he takes of Christ and shows it unto us now some people would look at that and say that that makes Jesus inferior to the Father or that it makes the Holy Ghost inferior to Jesus but you know this shows their lack of understanding of what submission means and what it means to be obedient or a servant you see prideful arrogant people they think that submitting or obeying or ministering unto someone else somehow makes you inferior they're like the Gentiles would think where those who are great exercise lordship upon them well Jesus said whosoever will be great among you let him be your servant right so servitude is not something that implies weakness or inferiority you see Jesus Christ by being obedient that doesn't make him less that makes him more that's a great attribute to have see Jesus has nothing to prove the Holy Ghost has nothing to prove right Jesus doesn't mind glorifying the Father the Father doesn't mind glorifying the Son what because of the fact that glorifying someone else lifting up someone else serving someone else ministering to someone else these are not things that make you inferior okay when you go to your job and you serve the boss does that make you inferior unto him that make him better than you know of course not but see prideful arrogant puffed up people they think that so they have to be the boss all the time because you know God forbid they should take orders from someone else you know they think that being a servant is a bad thing being a servant is a blessing okay so having a chain of command does not take away from the fact that father son and Holy Ghost are co-equal they are all every bit as much of God as each other there is a chain of command however now some people would balk at this teaching of the Holy Spirit as a person go if you would do Ephesians chapter 4 and really all of evangelical Christianity Baptists anyone who's even halfway close to being saved acknowledges the teaching of the Trinity and believes in the fact that the Holy Spirit's a person and that you know there's God the Father there's Jesus there's the Holy Ghost and that the Trinity you know is the explanation that is biblical but there are people out there who deny these truths and one of the scriptures that I've heard oneness Pentecostals use or other Trinity deniers use is Ephesians chapter 4 and they come up with this ridiculous argument there's only one spirit and they just keep saying that over and over again and it's just it's just it's sad how anyone could actually believe for one second that that's what one spirit means and you know I hate to break it to these people but there's this thing in the Bible called the seven spirits of God I mean did you get there yet because God has seven spirits three different spirits I see those three spirits and I'll raise you four and you know to sit there and say there's only one spirit one spirit was there seven it's just madness it's bizarre I mean think about it because here's their logic they're like well if God's a spirit if God the Father's a spirit and we know he's holy and then the Holy Spirit that that's two Holy Spirits and the Bible says there's only one no actually there's seven seven spirits of God I guess there's I guess six of them are unholy according to these idiots and one of them's holy because God forbid there would be two spirits that are holy right but see what they fail to understand is that the Holy Spirit is a name the Holy Ghost is a name it's not just a spirit that's holy you know what my spirits holy the spirit of Stephen L Anderson is holy not does that make me the Holy Ghost I'm the Holy Ghost I mean I'm a spirit and I'm holy that's just ridiculous okay because you've got three names God the Father's a name Jesus is a name the Holy Ghost is a name so God the Father being a spirit and God the Father being holy that doesn't make him the Holy Spirit and it well but we know there's only one spirit right wrong there's seven but anyway it's already confuse you with the facts there but look at Ephesians chapter 4 verse 1 this is a great scripture on unity in the church that's what it's about it's about having unity within the church and seeking to be unified and there are certain things that unite us as believers right I mean look we have people here tonight that are a red yellow black and white but here we are united we have people here that are blue collar white collar and you know back when we were in high school together we may have never even ate lunch together right the types of people that we are we would have been in different crowds but here we are all together united why what is it that unites us is it the fact that we're all white we're all black we're all we're all Hispanic is that what unites us is it the fact that we're all skaters you know is it the fact that you know we're all this hobby or that hobby or we all dress this or no what is it that unites us the Bible tells us what unites us here let's read the Bible here verse 1 I therefore the prisoner of the Lord beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation wherewith you're called vocation simply means the calling so he's saying walk worthy of the calling wherewith you're called with all lowliness and meekness with long-suffering forbearing one another in love what's he begging for in verse 2 that people would get along with each other isn't that what he's saying get along with each other is it going to happen by accident no verse 3 says endeavoring that means we're putting work into this right we're trying endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace there is one body one spirit even as you're called in one hope of your calling one Lord one faith one baptism one God and Father of all who is above all and through all and in you all but unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ now some people that are of the oneness persuasion they'll whenever they see the word one they just kind of jump all over it so they would just kind of jump on this one spirit but in the same book of the Bible keep your fingers all we got to do is go back to chapter 2 verse 18 and we see a differentiation made between the Holy Spirit and God the Father because it says for through him we both have access by one spirit unto the Father so the Holy Spirit gives us access to the Father and again if this meant that there's only one spirit that well then I must not have a spirit because there's only one spirit I mean is that what it means one spirit in the whole world one spirit in the universe well no it just means God only has one spirit oh what about seven spirits of God it doesn't work folks it's a dumb interpretation what the Bible is saying when it says one spirit what's the context unity he's saying you know what the same Holy Spirit that indwells me is the same Holy Spirit that indwells you and so if you got the same spirit that I've got let's unite around that right that's gonna bring us unity that's gonna help us have peace and get along right because look at the other examples one baptism let's see how many baptisms did we have this morning well we had four nope there's only one only one baptism you've missed counted when you reported four baptisms for this morning because there's only one baptism the Bible says isn't that kind of dumb what does that mean when it says one baptism you know what that means the same way that I got baptized is the same way that you got baptized there's not a certain baptism for this kind of person we don't have a baptism for the Chinese and a baptism for the white man and we don't have a baptism for the rich and a baptism for the poor we don't have a different baptism for men and a different baptism for women no what do we have one baptism it doesn't mean one as in there's only one it means one type one kind so you gotta get the context of what is even getting across here he's saying we're trying to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace the primary unity builder is the spirit right one spirit so we've got one body what's one body mean what's the body of Christ well that would be the assembly that would be the congregation that would be the local church well let me ask you this is there only one church no because all throughout the Bible it says churches is the church in Ephesus Church in Smyrna Church in Thyatira so what does it mean one body does it mean that there's only one body in the whole world there's only one church the the Holy Roman Catholic Church or something no when the Bible says one body you know what that means it means we don't separate men and women we don't separate rich from poor we don't separate by nationality we don't separate by any of those things there's one body and we certainly don't separate Jew and Gentile one body Jew and Gentile bond and free we're all one in Christ Jesus so there's only one body it doesn't mean there's only one in the whole world folks you got to use context and common sense there's one body there's one spirit one spirit doesn't mean that God doesn't have seven spirits because he does what one spirit means is that the same Holy Spirit is the same one that I have same one that you have same person that indwells me is the same person that indwells you same way that I was dunked in the name of the Father the Son the Holy Ghost is the same way that you are dunked in the name of the Father the Son the Holy Ghost the same congregation that I'm a part of the same body of Christ that I'm a member of is the same body of Christ that you're a member of that's why we need unity what can we rally around well we can rally around the same church the same Holy Spirit the same baptism the same Lord the same faith right verse 5 one Lord one faith one baptism one God and Father of all who's above all and through all and in you all what does that do that brings us together brings us unity to take this and twist it to try to somehow say well you know God can only be one spirit or God can only have one spirit it's just a completely ignore scripture that says that the Father is gonna send another company the Father is gonna send the Holy Ghost in Christ's name and that there are seven spirits of God oh you don't believe me okay revelation chapter 1 verse 4 John to the seven churches which are in Asia grace be unto you and peace from him which is and which was and which is to come and from the seven spirits which are before his throne chapter 3 verse 1 and under the angel of the church and Sardis right these things saith he that hath the seven spirits of God and the seven stars revelation 4 or 5 and as the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne which are the seven spirits of God and again in chapter 5 verse 6 and I beheld and lo in the midst of the throne of the four beasts in the midst of the elders stood a lamb as it had been slain having seven horns and seven eyes which are the seven spirits of God sent forth into all the earth now chapter 3 verse 1 of revelation said that Jesus Christ had Jesus Christ had the seven spirits of God in chapter 5 verse 6 the Lamb of God had the seven spirits of God no one spirit Ephesians 4 one spirit there's only one spirit throw away the Trinity throw out a couple thousand years of sound doctrine and let's jump on the Pentecostal bandwagon of modalism oneness because there's only one spirit well you know what you get on that train and it'll take you all the way to hell different Jesus different God not the Jesus of the Bible now obviously you can't lose your salvation but guess what anybody who's saved isn't going to get on that train because when they go to get on that train the conductor also known as the comforter is going to say excuse me sir you're getting on the wrong train you see we're talking tonight about the person and work of the Holy Spirit you know what the Holy Spirit's ministry is according to John we already read it tonight didn't we he will guide you into all truth John chapter 16 verse 13 said that he the spirit of truth will guide you into all truth now let me just close the sermon by explaining this important concept about the ministry of the Holy Spirit because a lot of people get messed up on this they get mixed up and so I want to explain this and make it really clear that a saved person is not going to fall for damnable heresy hook line and sinker it's just not gonna happen I don't believe in it now people this is sort of like the reprobate doctrine where sometimes you start thinking maybe people just don't want to understand this maybe they're just pretending not to understand it because it's not really that complicated what this means here's what happens when you get saved all right you get saved right who comes and lives inside you the Holy Spirit moves in right so when the Holy Spirit comes and lives inside you what's he there to do he's there to guide you into all truth right he's there to show you things in the Bible he's there to take of Christ and show it to you he's also there to come for you encourage you help you be more loving peaceful joyful etc but one of his major ministries is to teach you the truth show you the truth that's why when I open my Bible to read it I often pray open thou mine eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law I asked the Lord to teach me the Bible right so the Holy Spirit said a guide you into all truth well one thing that Jesus Christ said he said my sheep hear my voice they will not follow another a stranger will they flee from for they know not the voice of strangers and you know what he said that before the Holy Ghost was even given you know he's already saying that a person who's of his sheep a person who's safe is not just gonna fall hook line and sinker for these Antichrists and false prophets you know the Bible says that when the Antichrists come they will be so smooth that they would deceive the very elect if it were possible why because it's not possible because first of all Christ sheep hear his voice and second of all we have in the New Testament the added benefit of the Holy Ghost are built in teacher and God I can't even count how many times I've heard some heresy or false doctrine taught and I didn't know why it was wrong but I just knew like that's wrong that isn't right there's something wrong with that that's the Holy Ghost warning you about that now that doesn't mean that we're never gonna make mistakes and get things wrong because we're all gonna make mistakes and get things wrong but we're not just gonna go all the way off the cliff into damnable heresy now I've seen people get pretty mixed up on doctrine you see in the Bible you see Peter get mixed up on doctrine at one point you see the Apostle Paul make some pretty weird decisions in the book of Acts toward the end there but at the end of the day a saved person you'll never convince me that a saved person is gonna go out and become a devout Mormon think about that if I see somebody who was a Baptist somebody who claimed to be safe go out and join the Latter-day Saints what am I gonna say about that person he was never saved to begin with okay what if a person came out of our church and started saying you know what I believe that this whole world just came from the Big Bang and I think the Big Bang is real I think that man is just an evolved animal you know I don't believe that God's the Creator I don't believe that Genesis is telling us the truth I believe it's a myth would you say that person saved or unsaved you'd say that guy's not say now you're not saying he lost his salvation what are you saying he was never saved to begin with the Holy Ghost never moved in hey once the Holy Ghost moves in you're sealed by that Holy Spirit until the day of redemption that's the earnest of our salvation and he's not going anywhere he'll never leave you and so we would say that person was never saved to begin with now here's how people try to twist this they'll try to say oh well you're saying that when we go out soul-winning we have to explain the whole creation story to people because you're saying that you have to believe on Jesus and believe the creation story no no wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong what we're saying is that if you believe in Jesus and you've got the Holy Ghost living inside of you and somebody shows you Genesis chapter 1 you're gonna hear God's Word and the Holy Spirit is gonna bear witness to your spirit that is truth and you're not just gonna go all the way off into the cliff of some Big Bang evolution thing does everybody get what I'm saying you're not gonna just be like you know I changed my mind I'm Catholic and you know it's it's salvation by works we need to venerate and pray to marry what are we gonna say about that person friends well crazy okay but what we're gonna say is that they were never saved to begin with okay but then there's a oh does that mean that in your soul-winning presentation you also have to include a part about not worshipping Mary you know is it is it believe on Christ and don't be a Latter-day Saint is it believe on Christ and don't believe the Big Bang it's like come on people who understands what I'm saying right now that it's not the fact that they believe in the creation story that saves them it's the fact that a saved person hears what God says from his word and they don't go off the cliff into just damnable heresy you know I mean if somebody just comes you and says hey Jesus is just a man he was a good teacher okay I mean you you'd say that guy was never saved I don't care how long he went to that church you know he didn't lose his salvation and you wouldn't say well he's saved but you know one of the works of the flesh is heresy hold on hold on a minute you know I do believe that it's possible for people that are saved to goof up on their doctrine look we've all goofed up on doctrine at one point or other I mean I think about some of the stupid stuff I believe when I was a teenager good night and I got saved when I was six years old I've had the Holy Ghost living inside me since I was six years old but you know when I was a teenager he didn't have as much Bible to work with to bring to my remembrance because I hadn't been reading enough right too many video games and movies and not enough Bible going in right so he didn't have as much to work with and even at look after reading the Bible 24 times cover to cover I still thought the Jews were God's chosen people if you can imagine that all right after reading the Bible 24 times cover to cover I still thought that the Jews were God's chosen people now look why because that's what I've been taught that's what I'd heard I took it for granted I didn't question it I didn't dig into it for myself you know does that mean that the Holy Spirit wasn't leading me no no the Holy Spirit was there all along to help me and eventually the Holy Spirit did straighten me out on that but is that a damnable heresy though no because what we believe about some country on the other side of the world doesn't really amount to a hill of beans in Tempe Arizona that's why I can't believe people make such a big deal you know people get thrown out of their church for not being pro-israel it's like what in the world does Israel have to do with Arizona I mean tomorrow morning when you go to work and tonight when you go home and be with your family what is Israel gonna have to do with any of that you know what I mean is the Palestinian conflict really gonna matter to you this Tuesday as you go about your work a day life no is it does it really matter Sunday morning Sunday night Wednesday hours so what no no it's just an idol over there that they worship instead of God the Jews and the state of Israel and the chosen one you know but here's the thing that's not a damnable heresy so it wasn't like the Holy Ghost was just urgently grabbing me and shaking me my whole life you're wrong about the juice oh you know why because it was it's not the most important doctrine eventually the Lord did deal with me on that subject and I got it right and I got that thing straightened out I got off the wrong doctrine I got on the right doctrine but isn't there a difference between being wrong on prophecy being wrong on Israel being wrong on little things like that versus you're wrong on who God is you're wrong on who Jesus is you're wrong on what salvation is you're wrong on this whole planet that it wasn't even created by God or something I mean that's where you've gone totally off the cliff and I'm just saying it right now what I've always said these people were never saved to begin with when they go into damnable heresy when they go all the way off the cliff and look you don't have to know all these things to be saved you know what all you need to be saved is John 3 16 right and a few other verses few other explanations you know I could get somebody saved in 10 minutes but I can't teach them all the doctrines in 10 minutes I can't teach them the whole Bible in 10 minutes but you know what if somebody rejects a portion of the Bible they're not saved now does that mean I have to show them the whole Bible at the door no that's just dumb okay but if somebody just tells me well I you know I reject the whole book of Revelation I don't think the book of Revelation is even God's Word I reject it all it's a lie or I reject everything Paul wrote would you believe that that person saved no way why because that's the Word of God and they're rejecting it okay that you think the Holy Ghost is gonna teach them that no way that's crazy the Holy Ghost is not gonna let them get on that train because that train is heading for a gorge that it's gonna sail off the tracks into and crash and burn in the bottomless pit of hell so I think everybody understands that some people pretend to not understand that but it's it's pretty basic isn't it that the Holy Ghost living inside us that's what even allows us to believe the same I mean here all of us are we go home we read our Bibles we study but so many of us believe the same things about so many different doctrines and a lot of people that go to our church they already believed X Y or Z even before they got here they didn't even hear it from me they heard it from him and the him there that personal pronoun is referring to the Holy Spirit he's the one who taught it to them let's power it's another word of prayer father we thank you so much for giving us the gift of the Holy Spirit and Lord thank you for sending us him as our comforter and Lord we just pray that you would guide us into all truth Lord and that your Holy Spirit would teach us guide us and warn us and Lord help us to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit when we get into false doctrine or when we you know are tempted to sin or when we are gonna make a bad decision Lord I just pray that we would be sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit and that we would have lots of Bible in our hearts for him to bring to our remembrance and in Jesus name we pray amen