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Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Oh worship the king all glorious above and gratefully sing his wonderful love our shield and defender the ancient of days the pillar of his splendor anchored in his grace the hotel of his life and seek of his grace whose robe is the light whose canopy stays his chariots of wrath the deep thunder clouds pour and dark is his path on the wings of the storm the mountain for care one tongue can recite it breathes in the air it shines in the light it streams from the hills it descends to the flame and sweetly distills in the dew and the rain will children of dust and people as well if we do we trust nor fight to fail thy mercies how tender how firm to the end our maker defender and friend At the Spicer and Glendale, we are previously RSVP'd but are unable to attend or if your name is not on the list of attendees you know, please speak to Mrs. Anderson as soon as you can. Also, please continue to pray for the expectant ladies in our church on the back of the bulletin. Thank you once again to those who participated in the small town soul winning to Clifton, Arizona. There was four soul winners and 27 salvations and also there'll be more coming trips, you know, as Raymond returns and in case you didn't know right there, it says that the pastor Bruce will be preaching for us tonight. So after the service, thank you for coming down all the way from LA to preach for us while Pastor Anderson, you know, is in Georgia at a camping trip with Pastor Burzins and the other pastors as well. The annual mega conference will take place every Sunday and Wednesday July 14th through August 7th and the upcoming events are right there. You can take a look at them when you get a chance. Let's count our soul winning and so if you got somebody saved on Monday, go ahead and raise your hand. We'll start from my left side. Somebody got somebody saved. Five. Okay. We got eight. Make sure I didn't miss anybody on this side. All right. And besides the eight, anybody here? All right. Tuesday. Three. Anybody else? And today. That's four. That was yesterday, right? Two. All right. Any other salvations? Going once, going twice. All right. Lead us in the next song. All right, in the front of your hymnal, you should find the insert of the hymn, His Eyes on the Sparrow. If you don't have an insert, you can raise your hand. We'll sing it on that verse together. Why should I feel discouraged? Why should the shadows come? Why should I feel discouraged? Why should the shadows come? Why should my heart be lonely and long for heaven and home? When Jesus is my portion, my constant friend is He. His eyes is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me. His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me. I see because I'm happy. I see because I'm free. His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me. Let not your heart be troubled. His standard word I hear. And resting on His goodness, I lose my thousand years. No one without Him. The one step I can see. His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me. His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me. I see because I'm happy. I see because I'm free. His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me. Whenever I am tempted, whenever clouds arise, when thoughts in place to sigh, when hope within me dies, I draw the closer to Him. From there He sets me free. His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He cares for me. His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He cares for me. I see because I'm happy. I see because I'm free. For His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me. Let's go to your hymnals now to hymn 471, hymn 471. Cleanse me, hymn number 471. 471 begin, search me oh God, and know my heart today. 471, sing it out on that verse. Search me, oh God, and know my heart today. I need oh Savior, know my thoughts I pray. See it in empty, some wicked way in me. Cleanse me from every sin, and set me free. I praise the Lord for cleansing me from sin. Fulfill thy word, and make me pure with Him. Fill me with fire, where once I burned with shame. And my desire to magnify thy name. Lord take my life, and make it holy night. Fill mine foreboding by great love divine. Take all my will, my passion self and mine. I now surrender Lord, give me the light. Holy Ghost, revival comes from me. Send the revival, start the work in me. Thy work declares, thou will supply our need. Lord, bless me now, Lord, my holy name. Thank you. All right, please take your Bibles and turn to John chapter 16. Turn to John chapter 16. So as you guys turn to John 16, the extras are going to pass the offering plates. John chapter number 16. John chapter 16, the Bible reads, They shall put you out of the synagogues, yea, the time cometh that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God's service. And these things will they do unto you because they have not known the Father nor me. But these things have I told you that when the time shall come, you may remember that I told you of them. And these things I said not unto you at the beginning, because I was with you. But now I go my way to him that sent me, and none of you asketh me, whither goest thou? But because I have said these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart. 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, of sin because they believe not on me, of righteousness because I go to my Father and you see me no more, of judgment because the prince of this world is judged. I have yet many things to say unto you, but you cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the spirit of the 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. 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. A little while, and ye shall not see me, and again a little while, and ye shall see me, because I go to the Father. Then said some of his disciples among themselves, What is this that he saith unto us, a little while, and ye shall not see me? And again, a little while, and ye shall see me, and because I go to the Father. They said, Therefore, what is this that he saith, a little while? We cannot tell what he saith. Now Jesus knew that they were desirous to ask him, and said unto them, Do ye inquire among yourselves of that I said, A little while, and ye shall not see me? And again, a little while, and ye shall see me? Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice. And ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. A woman, when she is in travail, hath sorrow, because her hour is come. But as soon as she is delivered to the child, she remembereth no more the anguish for the joy that a man is born into the world. And ye now, therefore, have sorrow. But I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you. And in that day, ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name, ask, and ye shall receive that your joy may be full. These things have I spoken unto you in Proverbs, but the time cometh when I shall no more speak unto you in Proverbs, but I shall show you plainly of the Father. And that day ye shall ask in my name, and I say not unto you that I will pray the Father for you. For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God. I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world. Again, I leave the world and go to the Father. His disciples said unto him, Lo, now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no proverb. Now are we sure that thou knowest all things, and needest not that any man should ask thee. By this we believe that thou camest forth from God. Jesus answered them, Do ye now believe? Behold, the hour cometh ye, is now come, that ye shall be scattered. Every man to his own, and shall leave me alone. And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. These things have I spoken unto you, that in me you might have peace. In the world you shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. Father in heaven, thank you for your son Jesus Christ, and thank you for the Holy Spirit in the hearts of your children. I pray that you please bless Pastor Mea as he preaches your word so that your children will be exhorted and edified in the word and in the faith. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. Amen, it's great to be here. Tonight I'm really thankful for the invitation from Pastor Anderson. I will say that I am coveting him at this point because I want to be at that camping trip. So it sounds like it's a lot of fun. I've seen a lot of videos from it. So next year I will not be here to preach for you. I will reserve my spot and you guys will have to find someone else. Until then, we're in John chapter 16 this evening. The title of my sermon tonight is The Ministry of the Holy Spirit. I want to talk about the ministry of the Holy Spirit, something really basic tonight, but of course a truth that many of us as Christians need to remember and relearn at times because there's a lot of nonsense being put out there regarding the Holy Spirit. And if you look at John chapter 16, look at verse number 7. It says, 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. Of sin because they believe not on me. Of righteousness because I go to my Father and he see me no more. Of judgment because the prince of this world is judged. Now, as I mentioned, a lot of misconceptions out there about the third person of the Trinity. And I think if you think about it, you know, the Holy Spirit is probably the third person of the Trinity that's easily attacked because of the fact that there's not necessarily not a lot of information in the Bible about him, but a whole lot of focus isn't necessarily placed on him because the Bible in general highlights and exalts the Lord Jesus Christ. And so a lot of these false cults will seek to give him attributes and characteristics that are not biblical. You know, you think of the Jehovah's Witnesses, for example, that will say that the Holy Spirit is not a person. He's a force. You know, they have this Star Wars type of interpretation of who the Holy Spirit is. You know, you have the Pentecostals that will attribute the Holy Spirit to being able to speak in an incoherent language, right? Speaking in tongues, as they say, where you jibber-jabber and somehow that is pleasing unto God. That is essentially a qualifier if you are filled with the Spirit, if you are a spiritual person. And then you just have Christians in general who would try to credit the Holy Spirit with being led in areas that the Bible does not say, right? Well, the Holy Spirit told me this or God told me that. The Spirit led me into this particular doctrine or to do this particular thing, just giving him credit where he had no, you know, say in it. It wasn't part of his ministry. He didn't say anything in the Bible about it. But of course, you have people proposing that they hear from him in those ways. Now, if you think about it, you know, the Holy Spirit obviously we know is in subjection to the Son, just as the Son is in subjection to the Father. But of course, we know that that doesn't mean that he's not important or just as powerful as God the Father and God the Son. And if you will, turn with me, if you would, to Matthew chapter 12. We'll come back to John chapter 16 in just a bit. Go to Matthew chapter 12. You know, anytime someone speaks ill of the Son, you know, God doesn't take that. God the Father doesn't take that lightly. And in fact, people can say that they have God the Father all they want. You can have people in Israel saying, well, we believe in God, we just don't believe in the Son. But of course, the Bible makes it very clear, if you don't have the Son, you don't have the Father. And God makes that very clear. But not only that, you know, the Holy Spirit is so important when it comes to the Godhead, to the point that if someone were to blaspheme him, they actually lose out on salvation, period. And in fact, look what the Bible says in verse 31. It says, Wherefore I say unto you, all manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men. But the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. Of course, this is Jesus speaking. He said, And whosoever speaketh the word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him. Now, that's pretty powerful because he's saying you can say all manner of evil against the Son, you can blaspheme him, you can speak words against him, but you know, at the end of the day, you can still believe on him and be saved, and God's willing to forgive that and forget that, right? But it says, But whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come. Now, people often ask me, what does that mean? And here's my answer. I don't know, and I don't care to know because I'm a safe person. I just know this is that any person out there who wants to play and dwindle in blaspheming the Holy Ghost, you know, you're playing with fire literally because of the fact that the Bible specifically says that if you blaspheme him, that you don't have forgiveness in this world, neither in the world to come. I'm basically saying you're a reprobate, okay? You lose out on the opportunity to be saved. It's not saying that you were once saved and then you lost your salvation. You're just losing out on your opportunity to be saved. And of course, the audience that he's talking to are the Pharisees, and the Pharisees are blaspheming the Holy Ghost because they're claiming that he's an unclean spirit, and so that is a response to that. And so we see here that obviously the Holy Spirit plays a vital role in the Godhead. Jesus Christ takes a major offense when it comes to any type of blasphemy or railing accusations against the Holy Spirit of God. Not only that, but in the New Testament, we know that after salvation, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell within us. The Bible says that we are the temple of the Holy Ghost which you have of God, and you're not your own. And that's one of the major differences between Old and New Testament, right? In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit would come upon believers, and in fact, there were even instances where he would dwell in them for a period possibly to write the Word of God, to be able to preach the Word of God, but he didn't remain there permanently per se. And the reason for that is because of the fact that in the New Testament, it's no longer a physical tabernacle or a physical temple in which the presence of God dwells, it's our bodies, right? And so now the Holy Spirit has been relocated permanently within the body of a believer, as we see in 1 Corinthians chapter 3 and elsewhere, that we are sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. That is the major difference. Not only that, but the Bible also tells us and commands us not to grieve the Holy Spirit. The Bible tells us, Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearer. It goes on to say, Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption, let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you, the Bible tells us. So God's constantly telling us, Look, don't sin, don't get involved in wickedness, make sure you don't allow corrupt communication to proceed out of your mouth. Why? Because the Holy Spirit will leave you? No, because you'll just grieve the Holy Spirit. Because you can't, the Holy Spirit can never leave you, the power of the Holy Spirit can leave you, but the presence and the sealing of the Holy Spirit will be there unto the day of redemption, the Bible says, according to Ephesians 1 for 13. But isn't that interesting that it lists all these things that you should not be doing, and the result of you doing them would be that you grieve the Holy Spirit, not lose the Holy Spirit. Just another confirmation that we cannot lose our salvation for any reason whatsoever. And so the Holy Spirit plays a vital role in the life of a believer, and yes, even in the lives of the unsaved. And tonight I'm going to go over five points regarding the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Here are the five points just to give ahead of time so you're not wondering what I'm going to say. Number one is illumination, number two is regeneration, number three is education, four is consolation, and lastly number five will be activation. These are the ministries of the Holy Spirit. Now go with me if you would to Acts chapter 7, Acts chapter 7 if you would. Let's talk about the first aspect of the Holy Spirit or what is it that he does, the ministry of the Holy Spirit, and that is illumination. Now this is referring to or addressing the unsaved, right? Why is that? Well because of the fact that the Holy Spirit plays a vital role in enlightening the unsaved to the truth. He's the one that kind of opens the eyes spiritually speaking to the unregenerated, to the unsaved, so they can understand the word of God, okay? And in fact let me read to you from 1 Corinthians chapter 12, you're in Acts chapter 7. 1 Corinthians 12 once says, now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant. Ye know that ye were Gentiles carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led. Wherefore I give you to understand that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus a curse, and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. So obviously there's people out there that will pay lip service to saying that Jesus is Lord, right? And you know, either they're just kind of going along to get along, or they're just lying to you, or you know, they're just believing in vain, as 1 Corinthians 15 puts it. What the Bible's teaching here is that anybody who's saved, they're not going to get saved but by the Holy Ghost. So the Holy Spirit plays a vital role in enlightening the eyes of an unbeliever to the truth of the Gospel. And obviously we know that a lot of churches will teach that the Holy Spirit is just kind of moving around, just kind of working in hearts and convicting people of sin, and they'll often use John chapter 16 to try to prove that. But I believe that the way that the Holy Spirit illuminates the unbelievers is through the believers. You say, how is that? Because we have the Holy Spirit, and when we go out and preach the Gospel, or just preach any truths of the Bible, we're speaking by the Spirit. And this is why John 16 talks about the fact that the Holy Spirit will reprove the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgments, referring to the fact that we as Christians will go out there and preach righteousness, we'll preach judgment, we'll preach against sin, and that is a testimony of the Holy Spirit, because we're speaking by the Spirit. And here's a great example of this, in Acts chapter 7 you have Stephen, the first martyr in the book of Acts, and he's preaching a fiery sermon, right? I mean, he's a deacon, he just got ordained, and he's just hitting the ground running, preaching hard and against, out of all people, the Jews, right? And he doesn't have anybody backing him up, he's just there and he's just calling them all out right then and there, and he's kind of giving them a synopsis of their history. He's kind of going over their history and, you know, just showing himself that he is knowledgeable about the history of Israel, but then he's going to hit them really hard, right? Just say it's like, I'm talking about you, and not be apologetic about it. Look at verse 51, after he's done giving the history lesson there, he says, Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ear. So what a great transitional statement, right? You know, because I'm sure all the Israelites are like, yeah, that's good, you know, this is our people, you know, it's our history, he knows. And then he's like, ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in ears, in hearts and ears. Listen to this, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost, as your fathers did, so do ye. You know, because obviously, Stephen knew that even though they're hearing the word of God preached unto them, they're not happy with it. What are they doing? They're resisting the Holy Ghost through Stephen. They're resisting the Holy Ghost through the preacher, through the soul winner, through the prophet, the man of God, the deacon Stephen, they're resisting the Holy Ghost. And it's the Holy Ghost that abides in Stephen that is testifying of these things. And of course, you know, what you have here in Acts chapter 7, is that the result of resisting the Holy Ghost is they just kill Stephen, you know. And they kill Stephen not because necessarily of Stephen, but because of the Holy Ghost that dwells in Stephen. So just keep in mind, if someone rails against you, threatens you, says all manner of evil against you, you know, they might have something against you, but specifically, they have something against the Holy Ghost that dwells within you. They have something against the one testifying and reproving them of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment according to the Bible. Why? Because that's what the Holy Spirit does. He illuminates the unsaved to these biblical truths, okay. And in fact, the Bible tells us in Hebrews chapter 3 verse 7, Wherefore, as the Holy Ghost sayeth, today, if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation in the day of temptation in the wilderness, the Bible says. So the Apostle Paul is saying in the book of Hebrews, you know, you're listening to me write this unto you. You're listening to me preach this unto you. Don't harden your hearts to the Holy Ghost. He's not saying I am the Holy Ghost. He's saying that he's speaking by the Holy Ghost. You understand? He's saying don't harden your hearts. Don't become hardened and resist the Holy Spirit and the words that are being spoken unto you. You know, the flesh profiteth nothing. It is the Spirit that quickened it. The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life, the Bible says. And so more specifically, when we speak, when we preach, when we are sowing, when we are prophesying of the word of God, we're doing it by the Spirit, and really we can say it's the Holy Spirit that's bringing this thing to their attention. Now this proves a couple things. Number one, it proves that only saved people can get people saved. Only regenerated people can get people saved according to many scriptures, but particularly 1 Corinthians chapter 3 is a great one. And in fact, you know, a great proof of this is the fact that how can an unsafe person illuminate someone of biblical truths that they don't even accept? How can they try to convince someone of biblical truths that they don't even believe themselves? They believed in vain, but somehow they're going to be able to convince someone else of that biblical truth of the Gospel? Nonsense. But even more so, according to the Bible, in order for the ministry of the Holy Spirit to be involved, it has to come from a mouth of someone who actually has the Holy Spirit of God dwelling within them. Because then you would have to say, well, the Holy Spirit is just, you know, he's just like a force and just kind of going in and out of places and touching hearts. No, he needs you to do it. And so, you know, if a person has a vacancy and they're trying to preach the Word of God, a vacancy of salvation, and they're trying to preach the Word of God, it's of no effect. That's not to say that seeds can't be planted, but at the end of the day, in order for the Holy Spirit to illuminate that person to their condition before God, illuminate that person to the consequence of sin, illuminate that individual to the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, illuminate them to the gospel that if they just believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, they can be saved, and the salvation cannot be lost, they need a saved person to tell them that. Because a saved person has an indwelt by the Holy Spirit that is speaking through them. And so, that's important. Obviously, we know that, as Christians, we're indwelt by the Holy Spirit, but you know what? The Holy Spirit needs us, though, in order to get people saved, right? Because of the fact that he's dwelling within us, but he needs us to open our mouths boldly to make known the mysteries of the gospel. We're not Calvinists. No, we're not these Reform, Catholic, Light, you know, Protestants or whatever, no matter how much Catholics try to accuse us. Oh, you're either Protestant or Catholic. No. Check one box, Protestant or Catholic. Other. I'll make my own box and just put other. Just put Baptist. Because I don't believe in Reform theology. I'm a fundamental Baptist. And at the end of the day, you know, Reformers will hold to this doctrine of total depravity, which is total stupidity, right? Claiming that, oh, you know, people aren't just going to get saved by just desiring to get saved or hearing the gospel because, you know, God has to elect them. They're totally depraved. Then how is it that they can do those things which are written in the law, according to Romans chapter 2, when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law? How in the world are they able to respond? How would you say that they can't respond to the gospel or they can't understand the word of God if even previous to salvation they can't understand those things? God has already provided the mental faculties necessary to understand biblical truths because He's not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. What He needs is a Bible-believing, saved individual who's filled with the Holy Ghost to just open their mouths and illuminate that person to the truth. Go to Hebrew chapter 6, if you would, Hebrew chapter 6. Hebrew chapter number 6. So ministry number 1 of the Holy Spirit is illumination. But illumination requires your participation, amen? Illumination requires you to learn the word of God, to know how to preach the gospel. It doesn't require you to know how to give a testimony other than the testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ. We have a lot of churches today that want to emphasize the importance of sharing your testimony in a gospel presentation. But here's the thing, not everyone who gets saved has a crazy past or is saved from some crazy life or whatever. Some people just live really boring lives. Some people just have never done anything sinful or fun or whatever. They never lived anything crazy. So what do they got to share? Nothing. So that's why it's important for us to focus on the testimony of the Lord. That's what saves the person, not our personal testimony. And obviously, you know, we can often supplement the gospel with a little bit of our testimony in regards to us believing on Jesus Christ and, you know, the fact that we had to also understand and we were in that same position at one point. But some people kind of put a little too much emphasis on that. You know, cough, cough, victory outreach. Cough, cough, these cholo churches. Where it's just all about them. But they're not illuminating. They're a black light. They're not illuminating anybody. They're putting people further into darkness is what they're doing. In order for us to let our light so shine before men that they may see our good works and glorify our Father which is in heaven and specifically the light of the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ that should shine unto them, we have to make sure that our gospel is not hid, right? And the way we can make sure of that is, you gotta open your mouth. And you talk and you preach to the hospital. This is the bushel, right? You gotta like open your mouth and allow the words to come out from under the bushel to get people saved, to illuminate. Hebrews 6 verse 4 says, It is impossible for those who were once enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift that were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, tasted the good word of God and the powers of the world to come. And of course we know that this passage is addressing those who were in close proximity to the truth. So this is kind of showing you that the Holy Spirit enlightens a person and sometimes people wonder, you know, how can you guys believe in the reparative doctrine? That's so crazy. You know, it's just so unloving. But think about the fact that the Holy Spirit is literally right there enlightening the person, right? He is giving them the taste of the heavenly gift. They're made partakers of the Holy Ghost because he's right there. And just say, I don't want it. I mean that requires a special kind of wickedness. A special kind of, you know, evil and iniquity to just say no thank you even though the Holy Spirit is directly working on their hearts. That means they, because you know sometimes people say, well maybe they just didn't understand. No, they understood because it says that they were enlightened to the truth. You know what that means? It's like, you know, for a moment there, the Holy Spirit peeled back the scales from their eyes. Right? Because to be enlightened, that's often something that we would use to describe us. You know, we're awake, we're enlightened to the truth. So it's almost as if the scales are peeled back and then they're just like, no, bring them back down. That's wild. But the Holy Spirit works with the unsaved, works in the unsaved should I say, through believers by preaching the word of God. And this is why it's so important that we preach the right gospel and that we know what we're saying when we preach the gospel. Right? Obviously God can work through just imperfect people and people who just, you know, maybe they have the best of motives and they don't know all the verses and they're doing the best they can. You know, God can work with imperfect people but I'm sure that he would prefer to work with a gospel presentation that is just clear cut from the Bible. It's very clear. It dissolves doubts. It gets the job done. I'm sure that's what he wants. In order for the Holy Spirit to truly enlighten and work in a person's heart, he needs the believer to do so. Go with me if you want to Titus chapter 3. Titus chapter 3. So ministry number one of the Holy Spirit is that he enlightens the unsaved. He illuminates them. You know, churches like this, this church and churches like it are houses of illumination, right, where we're constantly working on helping people turn up the light, spiritually speaking, so they can illuminate the loss to salvation so they can understand their condition before God. But unfortunately there's a lot of churches out there that don't mind having the dimmer all the way down and unsaved people come into those churches all the time and it's just really dark and there's a little bit of light in there and maybe they might slip up and actually say a biblical word here and there. Might get a little light. Might say sin every once in a while. Might say believe on the Lord Jesus Christ accidentally. Just a little light, you know. It's like a theater in those churches. How dim it is. And you know, I'm sure there's people there who are there sincerely looking for the truth and they might even find a little bit of truth. But folks, I think God would prefer a church that's nice and bright, where the truth is just clearly laid out, the unsaved are illuminated and there's no question in their mind. I mean, how many times have you heard, either at the door or with your friend and family, after you've given them the gospel, they'll say this, I've never heard it explained that way. You know, how many times have you ever heard, I've never heard someone actually present it the way you did. You explained it so clearly. And you know, you might have the temptation to be like, I know. You get it, huh? But really, what it is, is the fact that the words that are coming out of your mouth through the Holy Ghost has illuminated that person, right? And at the end of the day, think about this. You know, this world is really dark. It's not hard to shine bright. So, you know, you just turn up the light just a little bit. People are like, whoa. It's really bright to them because there's so much darkness around. There's so many false religions and false cults and false sects of Christianity. When the truth finally cuts in and they see the light, then the Holy Spirit can work. So the ministry of the Holy Spirit includes illumination, but it also includes regeneration, okay? Regeneration, what is that talking about? The fact that He brings your spirit to life once you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, right? Basic doctrine this evening. Look at Titus chapter 3, one of my favorite verses, passages here. Look at verse 5. Not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to His mercy, He saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost, which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ, our Savior being justified by His grace. We should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. Now, what is this referring to? Well, what I believe this is talking about is that once you are illuminated to the truth, now the ball's in your court. Now you have to choose to believe on Jesus Christ to take what's being stated in the scriptures as fact and to call upon the name of the Lord, right? Once you do so, the Holy Spirit that illuminates that person comes to dwell within them, and not just dwell within them, but He actually brings back to life the dead spirit that was once in them. Now, why is the spirit dead? Well, the spirit was not always dead, because according to Romans chapter 7, the spirit actually started off living, right? We would consider this, or we would say that this is innocence. And this is another thing that we disagree with about the Calvinists and why I think Calvinism is so wicked and awful. It's because of the fact that they believe that, or not just Calvinists by the way, Catholics. Catholics believe this to the tenth degree, where it's like if you don't baptize a baby and that baby dies, that baby goes to hell. I mean, that's wicked as hell. And the Calvinists, they have like a diet version of that, where it's just like, well, you know, he just has to be elected. So basically, if a child dies and they weren't elected, they go to hell according to the Calvinists, because they believe in total depravity, okay? But what the Bible actually teaches is that everyone starts off with the living spirit. They're innocent. And this is why everyone's name starts off in the Book of Life. Because the Bible doesn't record necessarily anyone being written in as soon as someone believes in Jesus Christ. The Bible seems to indicate that everyone already starts off in the Book of Life. So why would that be? Because He's not willing to perish. Like, that's what He wants. He wants people to be saved. He wants your name to remain. And your name is permanently embedded within the Book of Life once you believe on Jesus Christ. Then it's never removed from the registry. It's just always there. The Bible actually records people being blotted out, which obviously happens when either you die and you're not saved, or you blaspheme the Holy Ghost. You're not saved and you blaspheme the Holy Ghost. Or you just become a reprobate who hates God. You never get saved and you do that. Take away or add to God's Word. Take the mark of the beast. Things of this nature can get you blotted out permanently from the Book of Life. But the Bible teaches that a person starts off in the Book of Life because they are innocent. And, according to the Bible, there comes a point in that person's life where they are exposed to the truths of God's Word or to the standard of God, which ultimately slays their spirit. It basically kills them, spiritually speaking. They recognize that they sin against God or that they're committing something that's sinful. And the Bible says that they are slain by the Commandments. So, after that, people just live their lives with the slain. By the way, that's really being slain in the Spirit. We're like, He slays you through the law. The law slays you. And, of course, once the gospel is given unto you, you're illuminated, then your spirit is brought back to life. And this is why the Bible often describes it as being born again. Okay? The Bible tells us, go to Ephesians, if you would, Ephesians chapter 1. And then we're going to go to Ephesians chapter 2. Ephesians chapter 1, look at verse 13. It says here, In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth. Oh, isn't that interesting? You trusted after that ye heard the word of truth, right? The gospel of your salvation, in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance, until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory. Look at chapter 2. The Bible says that after you trust in Christ, when you hear the word of truth, referring to the gospel of your salvation, you believe. And the Bible says that you're permanently sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, until the redemption of the purchased possession. Another way of saying the rapture. Okay? Look at chapter 2, verse number 1. And you hath the quickened, what is quickened? Brought back to life, who were dead in trespasses and sins, wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the Spirit did now work within the children of disobedience. So we see that the second ministry of the Holy Spirit is that after he illuminates the unsaved, he brings a spirit back to life. And one point about this that's very important, that a lot of churches seem to miss, is the fact that he brings your spirit back to life, not your body. Your body's still ugly, sinful, corrupted, but your spirit he brings back to life. And in other words, the batteries are included because he dwells within you, but that carcass of yours is just a major issue though, and will remain an issue until the day that you die, or until Christ returns. A lot of churches will tell you, no, once you're saved, you're not going to sin, you're not going to do wrong, but then they'll turn around and say, yeah, no one's perfect though. Which one is it? You ask them, do you sin? We're like, of course, because no one's perfect. Then stop preaching that stupid gospel then. You're contradicting yourself. What the Bible actually teaches is that he quickens our spirit, not our body. Our bodies are quickened at the resurrection. Our bodies are quickened at the rapture. And in fact, these people who preach this gospel that once you get saved, you never sin, they're basically saying we can do without the resurrection. We don't need the resurrection. Why? Because the resurrection is the solution to our sin problem of our flesh. Right? That's why we look forward to the resurrection, because at that point we don't have to battle this corruptible body anymore. The answer to our sinful flesh, the answer to, oh wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from this body of death? The resurrection will. When this corruption shall put on incorruption, the Bible tells us. That's important. You know, but these people out there are like, ah, we got the resurrection today. You know, I'm there, we don't sin now, and you have great comfort with this, I don't sin, ministry. That guy's all sin. Inside and out. His spirit's not just dead, it's twice dead. There's no holy spirit in that body. There's only a devil in that body. So how do you know? Because the spirit's not speaking through him. He's not speaking by the spirit. He's speaking by an unclean spirit that is preaching a false gospel. Saying that people can stop sinning. The Bible tells us that there's not a just man upon earth that doeth good and sinneth not. But then they want to turn around and say, well no, I mean, if you're saved, if you love the Lord, if you, fill in the blank. All the while, they don't do those things. The holy spirit quickens our spirit, brings us back to life, creates what the Bible refers to as the new man. Created in righteousness and true holiness, Ephesians chapter 4. And obviously thereafter, it's our job to walk in the spirit that we may not fulfill the lust of the flesh. And you know what? After salvation, we just never desire to sin that God wouldn't have to command us to walk in the spirit. He'd just be like, just live. Just live. You're good to go. But he's constantly telling us, don't walk in the spirit, don't fulfill the lust of the flesh. These things right unto you, they sin not. Right? Why? Because there's a probability that you will sin even after you get saved. And in fact, sometimes after salvation, it's one of the biggest struggles there are for Christians. Because you're just assimilating to this new nature that you just inherited, and now it's just like the flesh is battling the spirit, the spirit is against the flesh, these are contrary to one to the other, so that you cannot do the things that you would. You know, before salvation, you're just like, oh, sin doesn't bother you, just like whatever. But now you've got this new nature because you're regenerated, and now you can't enjoy sin the way you used to, but you still want to sin. But you just can't enjoy it the way you used to. Why? Well, number one, because now you know what the Bible says about it, but number two, you come to this church, and the man behind this sacred desk is constantly reminding you those things are sinful. You know, because he's speaking by the spirit, reminding you of these things, condemning sin, and so obviously there's a constant battle with the flesh and the spirit. The point being is that he regenerates, yes, our spirit, the body is not yet regenerated, it shall not put on incorruption, it shall not put on immortality until the resurrection and the rapture. You know, we are in, quote unquote, the process of sanctification, where we're being cleansed by the water of the word, we're repenting of our sins daily, we're walking with God on a daily basis, trying to live a life that's pleasing unto the Lord, but let's just be quite honest, we're still sinners, and we're not perfect, which is why we look forward to that day where we will completely be removed from the presence of sin. And so we see there that he regenerates us. Let me read to you a couple verses here, Tim with me if you would, go to 1 John chapter two if you would, 1 John chapter two. It's hot in Arizona, man. I don't know how you guys do it. 1 Corinthians 12, 13, here in 1 John chapter two says, for by one spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free, and have been made, been all made to drink into one spirit. The Bible tells us in Acts chapter 10 verse 43, to him give all the prophets witness that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive our mission of sins, while Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on them which heard the word. So we see number one when it comes to the ministry of the Holy Spirit is that he illuminates the unsaved, he then regenerates them, and now we're gonna look into the ministry of education. So you have illumination, regeneration, and now education. What is that? Well now that he's here, dwelling within us, now one of his main ministries for the believer is to teach them, right? Teach them the word of God. And here's the awesome thing about being a Christian. I love this part of being a Christian is that now when I read the Bible I understand it. Isn't that awesome? You know, it's not chained up in some ugly Catholic church where I have to get the interpretation from a priest, some dude in a dress to tell me what the Bible says. Now I can actually open up the Bible myself read it, and completely understand it. Now are there passages in the Bible that can be obscure? Absolutely, but you know what? The very clear teachings of the Bible, I can get it. And in fact, the longer I'm a Christian the more that I read the Bible. Guess what? The more I understand it. You know, because you have the Catholic church today that'll tell you, oh, you're not sanctioned to understand the Bible. You need to go to the priest. You know, apostolic succession. And you've got to go to the Pope, and they're the ones who are authorized to teach you the Bible. You're misinterpreting the Bible. You need the authority of the church to understand the word of God. But why would I go to some unsaved reprobate to understand the Bible when all they're going to do is pervert it? And people tell me this all the time, especially right now. Right now on social media, all the Catholics are out to get me. They hate me right now. And I've been posting a lot about Catholicism on my Instagram, and all these Catholics are coming at me, and they're making videos about me, which is great. And it's funny because, you know, on Instagram I try to be a little nicer on Instagram. You know? I don't try to put like really crazy stuff on there because social media platforms have a tendency to ban me. Okay? So I try to put the real mild things on there. And so this guy got ahold of some of my preaching, and, you know, he's trying to refute the stuff that I'm saying. He's a Catholic guy online with a big following. But recently he just posted some videos about me using the F word. Bag it. Just in case you guys are, you know. And then he posted Pastor Anderson, you know, saying the F word. Bag it. And he's like, for him he's like, oh, this is gold. He didn't know, you know, that we're going to find this. And he's like reposting it. And I'm thinking to myself, you could have picked a better one. Like some of the stuff that the videos did was like very mild compared to some of the other stuff we've said, you know, in excess. And, you know, he's probably used to just these Protestants, you know, just kind of capitulating and wanting to apologize. I went on there and I said, bravo, you know. I approve this message. And it kind of backfired on him because I guess he doesn't know this, but there's a lot of Catholics out there who hate homos. And it doesn't take Catholicism to hate homos. They're just regular people. And so they're just like, actually he's right about this. Like the other stuff I don't agree with. The transubstantiation I don't agree with him on. But this he's actually right about, you know. It's like, you know, I speak by the Spirit. I got the Holy Ghost dwelling within me. And you think that five second clip is bad, June is right around the corner. I forgot where I was going with all that. Oh, education. I still forgot where I was going. Oh, no, what I was going to say is, oh, they'll tell me, they're like, oh, they'll say, no, but you need the church, capital C. You need them to authorize you. And I always give them this passage right here. 1 John 2, verse 26. These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you, but the anointing which he hath received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you, but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him, the Bible says. And they're just like, no, but you're taking it out of context. The context is in the verse, though. There's no misinterpreting what it's saying there. I can read this to my five year old and they'll understand what it's saying. This is basic English. And it's telling us that at the end of the day, because the Holy Spirit of God indwells the believer, we don't necessarily need an outside source to teach us the word of God because we have the author living within us. This is why we don't need commentaries, because we have the greatest commentator dwelling within us. He's the one who wrote all 66 books. He's the one who has the greatest understanding of the word of God. Yeah, but how am I going to understand the deep things of God? By the Spirit. The Bible says, I hath not seen, nor ear have heard, neither of ancient unto the heart of man the things that God hath prepared for them to love him, but he hath revealed unto us by his Spirit, the Bible says. Yea, the deep things of God. Now I will say this though, okay, because the Holy Spirit is not a drive-through service. He doesn't run a drive-through ministry of teaching God's Word, meaning that you're not going to learn everything overnight. He will teach you as much as you can handle and as much as you're willing to put in the Word for it. So sometimes it just takes years to understand certain things, even with the Holy Spirit, because sometimes you just need to get the basics down first. And you know what? I've been saved going on 17, 18 years and I'm still learning the Word of God. I'm still learning the deep things of God. Why? Because sometimes it takes years to understand that. And obviously you can facilitate that and accelerate that knowledge by coming to church, but at the end of the day, when you come to church, you should be hearing from the pulpit things that you're reading in the Bible. And you're like, well, I'm not hearing from the pulpit things that I'm reading in the Bible. It's probably because you're not reading the Bible enough. That's probably what it is. You know, God wants us to hear the preaching of God's Word because He gave us these offices for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. He gave us preachers to teach us the Word of God, to lead us in righteousness, but at the end of the day, you should be doing your own Bible study at home when you're reading the Bible every single day. Give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine, the Bible says, for in doing so, thou shalt both save thyself and then not hear thee, the Bible tells us. What is that? Education. You know, we have the greatest educator of the Bible living within us, and God wants us to submit to the ministry of the Holy Spirit by simply doing this. You go home, you open up the Bible, you say, Lord, open down mine eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law. And you know what, sometimes you got to treat the Bible like an SAT exam. So what do you mean by that? You guys remember that rule that they had where it's like, I don't know if they still have it, but back in my day, when you took tests, specifically the SAT test, they said, if you didn't understand something, skip it. Just go on to the next one. You guys remember that? Or this is just an alternate universe or? Okay. Is this the Mandela Effect or something? You know, they say skip it and go to the next. And that's what I've done for the last 17 years. I don't just try to get stuck on one verse that I don't understand and just let it just sit in my mind and I just don't read the Bible. If I don't understand, I'm like, well, I don't get it, but I'm going to just keep reading. And after my fourth, fifth time through the Bible, then I get it. You know, the Holy Spirit is not operating a drive-through ministry, and he's not operating like steroids. Or you just get that steroid boost real quick and you'll get the muscle really fast and you'll get the numbers really quick. No, sometimes you just got to go natty, amen? And just allow the Holy Spirit to teach you and be patient and read the Word of God, meditate upon the Bible, allow the Holy Spirit to educate you. The Bible tells us, actually I'm going to skip some of these verses here. We'll come back to that in just a bit. Go with me if you went to Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8. And look, you know, the reality is this. When it comes to the primary doctrines of the faith, if you're saved and you have the Holy Spirit of God, we're not going to come to different conclusions. Why? Because God is not an author of confusion. We're talking about the essentials of the faith. Obviously, there's room for interpretation on secondary, third type doctrines, Bible prophecy at times, you know, enigmatic verses and passages, but the clear doctrines of the faith, we're not going to come to different conclusions on because the Holy Spirit that dwells within you, that dwells within me, is going to teach the same thing. You know, no prophecy of the Scripture is given of any private interpretation, the Bible tells us. So Ellen G. White, that's why she's burning in hell, because she had a private interpretation. And anybody who tells you, well, God told me this, just automatically X him out. Well, I thought you were cool until you just said that right there. Because that's not how the Holy Spirit works. And, you know, he educates us regarding doctrine. He educates us when we're reading the Bible. He educates us from the pulpit when the pastor's preaching. But, you know, he also educates backsliding Christians sometimes. You know, sometimes people get backslide to the point where they get it just enveloped in so much sin, and they're out of church for so long, they're so far from the truth, they haven't read the Bible so long, they start thinking, man, I don't know if I'm saved or not. You guys know what I'm talking about? They start doubting their salvation. And then you have a Christian come to them and say, well, this is what the Bible says. Right? And what does it do? The Spirit bears witness. In fact, look what it says in Romans 8, 14. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For you have not received the Spirit of bondage again to fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry Abba Father, the Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. And I've spoken to people who doubt their salvation because they're just really backslidden. And, you know, you give them these biblical truths and they're just like, you know, I know that I'm saved, I'm just really backslidden right now. And I just don't have an appetite for the things of God because I've just been involved in sin. But the Spirit bears witness that they are the children of God. And so, you know, obviously the Holy Spirit is almost to a certain extent dormant in them, not because of him, not because that's what he wants, but because the person in whom he's dwelling has chosen to feed the flesh, has chosen to go after corruption, has chosen to quench the Spirit. You know, that phrase quenching the Spirit is a powerful phrase because the thing that comes to mind when I hear that is like fire, right? You quench it, you're putting out the fire. Well, the Holy Spirit can be likened unto that fire that burns within us. And you know what Christians do when they walk in the flinch? They're quenching that fire. Because sometimes people, boy, man, God just really led me to talk to that one, God commands us to talk to everyone. That fire is like, get them all saved, you know? They all need it. It's not like, no, no, no, no. Him. You know, you're just, that's not the way it works. The Holy Spirit is like unto a fire burning within us, as Jeremiah put it, right? As a burning fire, shut up in my bones. And he just wants to get the truth out to just anybody. And when a person decides not to live righteously, not to preach the gospel, not to go out there and do that which is pleasing unto the Lord, it's like they're quenching that fire. You're in Romans chapter eight still, right? Romans chapter eight. So ministry number one, illumination, then regeneration, then education, education via you reading the Bible, memorizing the Bible, meditating upon the Bible, coming to church, hearing the preaching of God's word, being a doer of the word, not a hearer only, teaching the Bible even, right? But then also, you know, these things are great and they're very much important but we also need this, consolation. And this is one of the reasons why the Holy Spirit is also referred to as what? The comforter. Because you know the Christian life is about discipline and character and reading your Bible and getting right with God but not at the exclusion of emotion. And God knows that, you know, we struggle and sometimes we're discouraged and sometimes we can be overwhelmed with depression or we just feel disillusioned and we're just going through a tough time and you know, luckily, he's built in the answer for us, which is the Holy Spirit that comforts us in all our tribulation. He provides the consolation necessary to endure hardships in this life and everyone's gonna go through hardships this side of eternity. If you're right with God, you're gonna go through hardships because, yea, all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. If you're not right with God, you will go through persecution by God when he's chastising you and spanking you and trying to get you right and you're gonna be in pain. We're always gonna experience pain. So therefore, we need consolation and he doesn't leave us without that. He gives us the consolation necessary. Look at Romans 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 intercessions for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now here are two interpretations to this that I think are possible, that can be, possibly explain this particular verse here. Because he says that the Holy Spirit makes intercessions for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And one interpretation can mean that, you know, when we pray, when we're going through a tough time, sometimes we just pray for the wrong things. Right? Like we're praying and it's just like that's not what we need. And it's almost like the Holy Spirit is kind of going to the Lord. He's like, that's not what he needs. This is what he needs. He's like interceding on our behalf. He's kind of like filtering our prayers, right? So it's just like, Lord, if you could just give me a million dollars to pay off all this debt. It's just like, that's not what he needs. What he needs is to budget and to pay off his debt and to have patience as he does and to learn endurance and to just not quit and to learn contentment and not be so greedy and covetous. You know, he's going to filter that and you're like, please let me, help me win the lottery. I'll tithe through the church. I'll give out. I'll give to a missing strip. And you know, you could be sincerely praying that too. People out there can like literally just in tears pray that. And the whole, you know, because you're not, you're not going to be educated in what the Bible says about those things. And I think any Christian can admit that we've all prayed something that's just unscriptural. We didn't pray according to the will of God. And then later on when we learn about it, we're like, well, that was a dumb prayer. Well, that's embarrassing. Whoa. So he makes intercessions for it. He like filters our prayers or it can also mean, and I think this is very likely as well, is that when we're going through a tough time, have you ever prayed where you just don't even pray? You're just like crying. Has there ever been times in your life where you're in so much pain and anguish and sorrow of heart and soul where you just don't say anything? You're just, you're just kind of on your knees and you don't even know what to say. I'm not going to ask for a raise of hands, but I think we've all kind of been through, or you will go through something like that. I have. You don't even know what you should pray for. You're just kind of like, I just, I just, and then nothing comes out. You're just kind of crying and you're just, you're just. It's like there's no words. And then the Holy Spirit comes and is like, what he's trying to say to this. And so he intercedes on our behalf. He consoles us when we need it. And obviously, you know, we don't want to be like a feely feely type Christian. So just keep in mind when you go through something like that, go to the Psalms, amen. Because, you know, there's nothing wrong with a little depression every now and again, every now and then. I think it's, it's good to feel heaviness in our souls every now and again, to feel that sense of anguish and sorrow. But it should, it should propel you to go to the Psalms though and read the Psalms. Cause you know, right now, if you're, if you're, if everything's good, when you read the Psalms, you're just doing it out of character. You're like Psalm 5-5 baby, Psalm 139. I want to read that. You know, you're just like, you're, you're reading the Psalms. But when you're going through a hard time, every Psalm is like, honey. And you're like, I feel like I know exactly what David was going through. You know, and you experience that, that, that communion with the Lord. The, what the Bible calls the fellowship of his suffering. And it's in those times that you feel the closest to God when you're going through a tough time. And you know what, who's actively working during that time is the Holy Spirit. Interceding on your behalf. You're like, well, I just, you know, I, you know, I'm not crying, you know. I mean, don't, just cry. You know, that's part of his ministry. He wants to console you. That's why he's called the comforter. He wants to provide hope. And you know what the, you know what the best thing about being a Christian is when it comes to going through a hard time, is that somehow, even though we're going through a tough time, there's still joy. And so it's great that we have this element that as we're weeping and crying and we're going through anguish of soul and it's just going through, you're just going through a hard time, there's still joy within your heart. How is that? It's the Holy Spirit providing that joy. Because my joy, no man taketh. Constellation is important. He provides comfort. He 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 intercessions 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 intercessions for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. So it follows up with verse 28 that when you're praying for something, you're just like, this is what I want. He gives you what you need and it all works out together for good in the long haul as long as you love the Lord. Constellation is the ministry of the Holy Spirit. And lastly, and I'm done, we said that he participates in illumination, regeneration, education, consolation, and lastly, activation. What is that? He empowers us to go and do the work, amen? He emboldens us to preach the word of God, to stand for truth, and to be turned into another man. Turn with me if you would to go to Acts chapter 1. Acts chapter 1. Acts chapter 1. It requires boldness to say certain things, believe certain things, stand for certain things. It requires a level of confidence to do those things, but at the end of the day it requires the activation, the empowering of the Holy Spirit to be emboldened to stand for truth, to be emboldened to stand for the Lord, to not be ashamed of the words of Jesus Christ. Acts chapter 1 and verse number 6 says, When they therefore were come together they asked of him saying, Lord, will thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father had put in his own power, but ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria and into the uttermost part of the earth. So what do we see here? We see that God through the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit activates us and emboldens us and gives us the power to get people saved. And look, sometimes I've been doing this for like 17 years and still that first door I still get a little nervous from time to time, you know? Just never know what's going to happen. And it's just like for me it's muscle memory I already had the verses memorized I know what I'm going to say I'm a pastor. But even then because of my flesh I could be timid. I know you don't believe me I'm a very timid person actually. And you know you just you know there's a temptation to just you guys know what I'm talking about? You just want to they're not home. There's that temptation. But you know what we need? The power of the Holy Spirit. Nah, I'm just kidding. Not that crazy but you know there's enough for them to hear. And then they open the door and then your heart kind of drops a little bit. And you just take that deep breath and you're like how's it going? I'm so-and-so from Faith Forward Baptist Church just out here inviting folks to church I want to give you this invite just ask you a really important question and then what is it? You start speaking by the Spirit. It just happens. I hope everyone out here I'm sure everyone does but I hope if there's someone here who doesn't go slow you would start going. So that the ministry of the Holy Spirit can work in you. You'd be amazed what the Holy Spirit can do for you. You just ask them to fill you and just go out and you're like well how do you know if I'm filled? You won't know until you knock on the first door. You'll find out. Like well yeah like do you feel anything? Nope. Well I do then there's something weird if you do. Gas. I don't know what to tell you. It's not a feeling. So what do I do? You just pray for it pray for God to fill you pray for God to empower you and then you go. Well how do I know if I'm really filled? I guess you'll find out. Who knows? We'll see. But you know what? Every time I've gone he just confirms that I'm filled with the Spirit. Well what if people don't get saved? Well them not getting saved is not an indicator that I'm not filled with the Spirit. It's an indicator that they're resistant to the Holy Ghost. The indicator that I'm filled with the Spirit is that I knocked on the door opened my mouth boldly and told them the Gospel. That's the indicator. But you know not just for Sony how about just for daily Christian living? Just for you to just live as a Christian to live righteously to lead about your family to read the Word of God to express love for your children for your family for church members to be a blessing to others to be a hard worker at your job in all areas of life it requires the filling of the Spirit to do it with the right motive and to do it for the right reasons. Ye shall receive power. And you know people like to use Acts chapter 2 as a text for us to say well you know that's what we're talking about there. You know the hala shalaballah crowd and the six pack dallah are just like the indicators that you'll speak in jibber jabber that's the indicator that you're possessed. You give me a person speaking in tongues and I don't understand what they're saying and it's not any you know language that we know of in this earth then you're possessed. But you know what Acts chapter 2 is an indicator that these people were filled with the Spirit because of the fact that they preached the word of God and obviously God enabled them during this time to speak in different languages in order to facilitate you know the fact that all these people were coming to the day of Pentecost they're like this is a perfect time to give them the word of God preached to them so he enabled them but you know turn with me if you would to Matthew chapter 10 and this will be the last passage Matthew chapter 10 you know the Bible tells us be not drunk with wine where in his excess but drink alcohol in moderation oh no wait that's the Calvinist interpretation right it's like the Bible says be not drunk with wine where in his excess also the alternative is to drink in moderation that's what it says no it says be filled with the Spirit that's what the Bible actually says we're to be filled with the Spirit we're not to grieve the Spirit we're not to quench the Spirit we're to walk in the Spirit and you know there's gonna be times when you're confronted by a family member by a friend by a coworker regarding a biblical truth that you believe and you might be timid you might be afraid you might be tempted to kind of tiptoe around the tulips a little bit and give a watered down answer look what the Bible says in Matthew 10 19 but when they deliver you up take no thought how or what ye shall speak for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak for it is not ye that speak but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you the Bible tells us to be filled with the Spirit is just to give the right answer at the right time I remember I'll finish with this illustration when we were bombed a couple years back the city manager called me in for a meeting and the chief well the chief of police came to me and he said hey we want to meet with you and I said who's we he's like me and the city manager want to meet with you at city hall or whatever I'm like what do you guys want to talk about he's like what we'll tell you when we get there I'm like all right so we go there and I'm waiting and I'm like so seriously though what is this about like oh she just wants to talk to you about some things I'm like do you think it's about the bombing so we get there and we go into this room and I'm like you know I wasn't prepared I just wasn't prepared because I don't know what they're going to talk to me about and I get there and they're just like there's turmoil in this city and I'm thinking I'm like there's turmoil in my church because people just bombed it I don't know about the city and they're just like we need to come to a reconciliation and I'm like okay speak on and she's just like I just I want to ask you what do you think we should do and I said oh that's easy just leave me alone I said you're experiencing like like the city's in turmoil you said she said yeah I'm like oh okay yeah for sure just leave me alone it'll go away leave me and my church alone and it'll stop I looked at both of them like that's pretty much it and she said I get that but what do you think we should do though well you should leave me alone I said I'm going to keep doing the things that I'm doing but if you and those people leave me alone then your city won't have any turmoil I said because God is judging your city because of what you guys allowed to happen to me in my church because there was there was a lot I mean there was a lot of bad stuff that was taking place during that time and even since then that city is just in shambles and I said just leave me alone and it'll be fine and they're like well we're just wondering you know if we could just get you guys together and I said are you asking me to apologize to them and she said well you know I just think it would be a good idea if you can just come to a a reasonable you know I said you want me to apologize I'm not going to apologize I've slammed too far in to ever apologize to anybody I said so and I said why are you asking me to apologize you should just ask them to apologize I said I'm the one with the blown up building what kind of gaslighting meeting is this are you trying to gaslight me oh you're a politician of course you are and I said that's my answer and no I'm not going to apologize because they wanted to have like a prayer breakfast with homos and stuff and I was just like and for a minute there I was like well Jihoo kind of you know did something like that those intrusive thoughts you know came in you know just like and another time and other times it would have been different and I said I'm not I don't even want to look at them I said I said I will never apologize I'm never going to stop preaching this and in fact I'm turning it up a couple degrees just because this happened to us and I said I'm going to tell everyone what you told me today and they're just like okay I'm like alright guys we'll see you later nice building you know leave but you know I guarantee you there's a lot of pastors out there that if they were put in that position they would apologize just like that they would have capitulated just like that they would say oh yeah let's come to a reasonable conclusion we'll reason together with them I'm not making any covenants with them zero covenants zero agreements like what did you do before you went in there oh I left one little detail out I prayed and I said Lord because again I'm a timid person I am a timid person and you know the heart's beating a little bit because you just don't know what's going to happen and I don't want to mess up I said Lord just fill me with your spirit help me to say the things you would want me to say and refrain from saying the things that you would not want me to say and it worked out I'm giving myself to the ministry of the Holy Spirit if you're not saved well you've been illuminated tonight allow yourself to be regenerated after the regeneration submit yourself to the education and the more you're educated the more you know the more you obey the more trouble you're going to find yourself in submit yourself to the consolation and then activation amen go do something about it let's pray Father we thank you so much for your presence in us and we're thankful that we have the Spirit of God in us an imperfect people and that you enable us to do great and mighty works for you Lord and of course you sanctify us on a day-to-day basis as we read the Word of God on Sundays as we come together and exhort one another and Lord I'm so thankful that you use this as well as we go out and preach the gospel to a lost and dying world I pray that you continue to console we would continuously put in the effort to walk in the Spirit to not fulfill the lust of the flesh to be filled with the Spirit and keep in mind not to grieve and we pray you bless us as we go on our way we love you we thank you pray these things in Jesus' name amen amen if you need a hymnal for I will sing of the 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