WEBVTT 00:00:01.957 --> 00:00:09.053 1 John 3. 00:00:09.053 --> 00:00:11.471 And I had hoped to deal this morning 00:00:11.471 --> 00:00:14.380 with testing the spirits. 00:00:14.380 --> 00:00:20.417 But as I wrestled with what exactly 00:00:20.417 --> 00:00:28.512 I should pull out of these verses and stress, 00:00:28.512 --> 00:00:31.026 I was somewhat convinced that I should not 00:00:31.026 --> 00:00:33.864 move beyond chapter 3 into 4. 00:00:33.864 --> 00:00:36.128 Lord willing, next week, 00:00:36.128 --> 00:00:40.380 I intend to deal with testing the spirits. 00:00:40.380 --> 00:00:42.980 I want to kind of transition into that today 00:00:42.980 --> 00:00:45.001 by looking at these last two verses 00:00:45.001 --> 00:00:46.661 of 1 John 3. 00:00:46.661 --> 00:00:48.888 Let's read them together. 00:00:48.888 --> 00:00:53.912 "And this is His commandment, 00:00:53.912 --> 00:01:02.493 that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ." 00:01:02.493 --> 00:01:04.391 Now, that's interesting. 00:01:04.391 --> 00:01:08.720 I'll just pause right here for a moment. 00:01:08.720 --> 00:01:10.659 I've always looked at this as kind of 00:01:10.659 --> 00:01:14.534 a companion verse to that which we find 00:01:14.534 --> 00:01:17.801 in Acts 17 where we are commanded - 00:01:17.801 --> 00:01:20.373 "God commands all men everywhere to repent." 00:01:20.373 --> 00:01:23.377 Here we have a commandment to believe. 00:01:23.377 --> 00:01:25.460 Yes, we are invited to believe. 00:01:25.460 --> 00:01:27.869 Yes, God exhorts us to believe. 00:01:27.869 --> 00:01:32.735 He earnestly pleads with us to believe. 00:01:32.735 --> 00:01:34.155 He reasons with us. 00:01:34.155 --> 00:01:38.945 "Come, let us reason together." 00:01:38.945 --> 00:01:41.586 But remember, behind God's invitation, 00:01:41.586 --> 00:01:44.184 when the people didn't show up 00:01:44.184 --> 00:01:46.020 to the banquet, 00:01:46.020 --> 00:01:49.468 the Master was angry. 00:01:49.468 --> 00:01:52.698 It's expected that you will answer the invitation. 00:01:52.698 --> 00:01:53.944 It's commanded. 00:01:53.944 --> 00:01:59.796 Isn't it amazing God has to command us 00:01:59.796 --> 00:02:01.814 to not go to hell? 00:02:01.814 --> 00:02:05.556 God has to command us to have life. 00:02:05.556 --> 00:02:06.940 Do you recognize that? 00:02:06.940 --> 00:02:09.784 You are not at liberty to go to hell. 00:02:09.784 --> 00:02:12.116 Did you ever think about that? 00:02:12.116 --> 00:02:14.170 God commands us 00:02:14.170 --> 00:02:16.755 to believe on His Son and be saved. 00:02:16.755 --> 00:02:19.760 And, we've been looking at this: 00:02:19.760 --> 00:02:21.044 "...To love one another, 00:02:21.044 --> 00:02:22.982 just as He commanded us." NOTE Paragraph 00:02:22.982 --> 00:02:24.094 Now, notice this, 00:02:24.094 --> 00:02:26.836 "Whoever keeps His commandments 00:02:26.836 --> 00:02:31.019 abides in God and God in him." 00:02:31.019 --> 00:02:34.675 And this is what I want us to focus on. 00:02:34.675 --> 00:02:36.393 We've been looking at those things. 00:02:36.393 --> 00:02:37.756 Remember? I told you before, 00:02:37.756 --> 00:02:38.972 John is circular. 00:02:38.972 --> 00:02:41.252 He's like the bee that flies around the flower. 00:02:41.252 --> 00:02:44.752 He keeps hitting the same things over and over. 00:02:44.752 --> 00:02:47.654 Whereas sometimes as he's circling, 00:02:47.654 --> 00:02:51.792 he begins to introduce some new truth. 00:02:51.792 --> 00:02:55.698 Well, here in this last sentence 00:02:55.698 --> 00:02:59.011 of 1 John 3, 00:02:59.011 --> 00:03:01.078 John introduces something to us 00:03:01.078 --> 00:03:04.089 that he has not yet introduced. 00:03:04.089 --> 00:03:07.897 "By this we know that He..." 00:03:07.897 --> 00:03:10.067 I'll just put "God" in there. 00:03:10.067 --> 00:03:14.416 "By this we know that God abides in us, 00:03:14.416 --> 00:03:20.418 by the Spirit whom He has given us." 00:03:20.418 --> 00:03:22.402 That's where I want our attention. 00:03:22.402 --> 00:03:23.583 That last sentence. 00:03:23.583 --> 00:03:25.478 Now, let's think about this. 00:03:25.478 --> 00:03:28.537 "By this we know that He abides in us." 00:03:28.537 --> 00:03:30.342 Now, that may just seem - 00:03:30.342 --> 00:03:33.284 He abides in us. 00:03:33.284 --> 00:03:34.930 Stop and think. 00:03:34.930 --> 00:03:40.447 He abides in us. 00:03:40.447 --> 00:03:42.488 We have Scripture. 00:03:42.488 --> 00:03:44.482 We have Scripture. 00:03:44.482 --> 00:03:47.372 We live in an age - and I'm sure 00:03:47.372 --> 00:03:49.168 all the ages have been like this 00:03:49.168 --> 00:03:51.062 ever since man has fallen - 00:03:51.062 --> 00:03:54.951 we're so circled by the ideas of the world 00:03:54.951 --> 00:03:57.177 and by the deceptions 00:03:57.177 --> 00:03:59.302 and by people's opinions. 00:03:59.302 --> 00:04:00.716 But we have the Word of God. 00:04:00.716 --> 00:04:02.825 We can come to it. We can stand on it. 00:04:02.825 --> 00:04:04.722 This is truth. 00:04:04.722 --> 00:04:05.927 That's why we preach. 00:04:05.927 --> 00:04:07.493 Have you ever thought about it? 00:04:07.493 --> 00:04:09.619 The foolishness of preaching? 00:04:09.619 --> 00:04:11.644 Do you ever think about 00:04:11.644 --> 00:04:16.249 you guys actually come to this place every week 00:04:16.249 --> 00:04:18.477 and you sit there and you actually listen 00:04:18.477 --> 00:04:20.968 to a guy that stands in a pulpit. 00:04:20.968 --> 00:04:22.626 Does it ever just once in a while 00:04:22.626 --> 00:04:25.713 you think that's ludicrous that we do that? 00:04:25.713 --> 00:04:27.828 Why do we do that? 00:04:27.828 --> 00:04:29.911 Well, because God designed it. 00:04:29.911 --> 00:04:32.384 But see, what it is, it's the channel of truth. 00:04:32.384 --> 00:04:34.306 Because I'm not preaching to you without 00:04:34.306 --> 00:04:35.974 this book in front of me. 00:04:35.974 --> 00:04:37.304 I have this thing here. 00:04:37.304 --> 00:04:38.774 The idea of a preacher 00:04:38.774 --> 00:04:40.768 is somebody who is able to come up 00:04:40.768 --> 00:04:42.459 and stand before you and give you 00:04:42.459 --> 00:04:45.311 the facts as they are found in this book. 00:04:45.311 --> 00:04:46.873 That's what we do. 00:04:46.873 --> 00:04:48.368 That's what this is all about. 00:04:48.368 --> 00:04:50.778 This is all about giving you a steady diet 00:04:50.778 --> 00:04:53.055 of God's Word - not of my opinions. 00:04:53.055 --> 00:04:55.663 And the beauty is we can dive in here 00:04:55.663 --> 00:04:57.276 wherever we dive into this book, 00:04:57.276 --> 00:04:58.692 we find truth. 00:04:58.692 --> 00:05:01.134 And one of the truths that we find 00:05:01.134 --> 00:05:03.288 repeatedly in 1 John 00:05:03.288 --> 00:05:06.862 is that the Bible does not shy away 00:05:06.862 --> 00:05:09.727 from defining Christianity. 00:05:09.727 --> 00:05:11.628 Over and over and over. 00:05:11.628 --> 00:05:12.880 I mean, we need this. 00:05:12.880 --> 00:05:14.142 We need this. 00:05:14.142 --> 00:05:16.133 Because we've got religion all around us 00:05:16.133 --> 00:05:18.361 that doesn't correctly define Christianity. 00:05:18.361 --> 00:05:20.287 We've got a world that looks out there - 00:05:20.287 --> 00:05:21.829 they've got all their opinions. 00:05:21.829 --> 00:05:24.480 We've got the news. The news has ideas about Christians. 00:05:24.480 --> 00:05:25.859 Who was it? 00:05:25.859 --> 00:05:27.328 Oh, it was Brandon Davidson 00:05:27.328 --> 00:05:29.486 who just did a message on Coptic Christians. 00:05:29.486 --> 00:05:31.440 You know how they were making a big deal 00:05:31.440 --> 00:05:33.324 about the Coptic Christians in Egypt 00:05:33.324 --> 00:05:35.957 because a number of them were beheaded 00:05:35.957 --> 00:05:37.158 by ISIS? 00:05:37.158 --> 00:05:41.246 And Brandon responded by showing 00:05:41.246 --> 00:05:43.248 that these Coptic Christians 00:05:43.248 --> 00:05:47.883 don't really fit the definition of biblical Christianity. 00:05:47.883 --> 00:05:51.163 But you see, the world, they interpret things 00:05:51.163 --> 00:05:52.897 however they want to interpret them. NOTE Paragraph 00:05:52.897 --> 00:05:54.781 But, John knows - 00:05:54.781 --> 00:05:56.971 God knows who inspired John - 00:05:56.971 --> 00:05:59.775 that we live in a world 00:05:59.775 --> 00:06:02.553 where we need to be reminded again and again and again 00:06:02.553 --> 00:06:04.345 what true Christianity looks like. 00:06:04.345 --> 00:06:06.402 That's what we have. We need the facts. 00:06:06.402 --> 00:06:08.050 Our only hope in this world - 00:06:08.050 --> 00:06:09.182 is it not true? 00:06:09.182 --> 00:06:10.808 Our only hope in this world rests 00:06:10.808 --> 00:06:13.159 in being a Christian. 00:06:13.159 --> 00:06:16.216 There is no hope outside of being a Christian. 00:06:16.216 --> 00:06:19.023 There is no other hope. 00:06:19.023 --> 00:06:21.704 And so it's important that we define what it is. 00:06:21.704 --> 00:06:25.059 The title of my message: "How You Know You're a Christian." 00:06:25.059 --> 00:06:27.321 Now, obviously, John's been showing us 00:06:27.321 --> 00:06:29.453 numerous ways we can know we're a Christian. 00:06:29.453 --> 00:06:30.853 What are some of the other proofs? 00:06:30.853 --> 00:06:33.219 1 John 2:3 - you can just glance right there. 00:06:33.219 --> 00:06:35.629 You're right here in 1 John, but we've already looked at these. 00:06:35.629 --> 00:06:38.020 "By this we know that we have come to know Him..." 00:06:38.020 --> 00:06:41.053 How? "If we keep His commandments." 00:06:41.053 --> 00:06:45.677 We read that in v. 23. 00:06:45.677 --> 00:06:47.665 V. 24, "Whoever keeps His commandments 00:06:47.665 --> 00:06:49.522 abides in God." 00:06:49.522 --> 00:06:51.166 (There at the beginning of v. 24.) 00:06:51.166 --> 00:06:52.811 We saw it back in 1 John 2:3. 00:06:52.811 --> 00:06:55.013 "This we know, that we have come to know Him, 00:06:55.013 --> 00:06:56.596 if we keep His commandments." 00:06:56.596 --> 00:06:59.153 Again, this is kind of reiterated in 1 John 2:5. 00:06:59.153 --> 00:07:01.687 "Whoever keeps His Word... 00:07:01.687 --> 00:07:07.036 in him truly the love of God is perfected. 00:07:07.036 --> 00:07:09.000 By this we may know that we are in Him." 00:07:09.000 --> 00:07:10.916 See, you get these: "We know." 00:07:10.916 --> 00:07:11.994 "By this we know..." 00:07:11.994 --> 00:07:13.397 "We know that we know Him 00:07:13.397 --> 00:07:14.865 if we keep His commandments." 00:07:14.865 --> 00:07:17.226 "We know we know Him if we keep His Word." 00:07:17.226 --> 00:07:18.614 1 John 2:29, 00:07:18.614 --> 00:07:20.024 "You may be sure 00:07:20.024 --> 00:07:22.079 that everyone who practices righteousness 00:07:22.079 --> 00:07:23.152 has been born of Him." 00:07:23.152 --> 00:07:25.204 So you've got this: "keeping His commandments," 00:07:25.204 --> 00:07:27.293 "keeping His Word," "practicing righteousness." 00:07:27.293 --> 00:07:29.540 1 John 3:14, "We know that we've passed 00:07:29.540 --> 00:07:30.939 out of death into life," how? 00:07:30.939 --> 00:07:32.675 How can you know you're a Christian? 00:07:32.675 --> 00:07:35.008 How can you know you've truly passed from death to life? 00:07:35.008 --> 00:07:36.464 "Because we love the brothers." 00:07:36.464 --> 00:07:38.701 You see, he's been hitting this all along. 00:07:38.701 --> 00:07:42.540 What we have here is we have a new one. 00:07:42.540 --> 00:07:46.701 We have a new proof. NOTE Paragraph 00:07:46.701 --> 00:07:48.150 Before we look at the proof, 00:07:48.150 --> 00:07:49.738 I just want you to see something 00:07:49.738 --> 00:07:51.579 about what a Christian is. 00:07:51.579 --> 00:07:53.793 I think sometimes we need to stop and think, 00:07:53.793 --> 00:07:56.824 what is a Christian? 00:07:56.824 --> 00:07:59.429 Well, somebody that's been saved. 00:07:59.429 --> 00:08:01.282 Yeah, but we have to think about 00:08:01.282 --> 00:08:06.566 what it is that we've been saved from. 00:08:06.566 --> 00:08:09.181 Do you ever recognize when Adam 00:08:09.181 --> 00:08:11.938 would walk in the garden 00:08:11.938 --> 00:08:14.475 in the cool of the day, 00:08:14.475 --> 00:08:19.400 what happened? 00:08:19.400 --> 00:08:23.782 God came to him and walked with him. 00:08:23.782 --> 00:08:28.234 Have you ever thought about what he lost 00:08:28.234 --> 00:08:30.978 when he fell into sin? 00:08:30.978 --> 00:08:36.944 Brethren, look at chapter 3:24 00:08:36.944 --> 00:08:39.607 and the beginning of the last sentence there. 00:08:39.607 --> 00:08:44.643 "By this we know that He abides in us." 00:08:44.643 --> 00:08:46.081 John wants us to be clear 00:08:46.081 --> 00:08:47.942 about what it means to be a Christian, 00:08:47.942 --> 00:08:55.796 and here in this last verse of 1 John 3, 00:08:55.796 --> 00:08:59.194 here is the basic premise. 00:08:59.194 --> 00:09:05.112 A Christian is a home for God. 00:09:05.112 --> 00:09:06.567 Let that sink in a second. 00:09:06.567 --> 00:09:08.315 I mean, that's what it talks about. 00:09:08.315 --> 00:09:11.555 Abiding. God abides. 00:09:11.555 --> 00:09:13.411 You look up the meaning of that word. 00:09:13.411 --> 00:09:17.589 That's to make a home with. 00:09:17.589 --> 00:09:20.746 John is saying, Christian, do you understand, 00:09:20.746 --> 00:09:25.366 you are a dwelling place for the Most High? 00:09:25.366 --> 00:09:26.876 Does Paul not say, 00:09:26.876 --> 00:09:30.249 "you are God's temple"? 00:09:30.249 --> 00:09:31.627 God dwells in you. 00:09:31.627 --> 00:09:33.462 That's what it is to be a Christian. 00:09:33.462 --> 00:09:35.680 God comes to us. 00:09:35.680 --> 00:09:37.465 God lives in us. 00:09:37.465 --> 00:09:38.775 God makes His temple - 00:09:38.775 --> 00:09:41.201 we are the dwelling place of God. 00:09:41.201 --> 00:09:42.845 That's what we lost. 00:09:42.845 --> 00:09:44.874 That's what Adam lost when he fell. 00:09:44.874 --> 00:09:47.366 We lost God. We lost God with us. 00:09:47.366 --> 00:09:50.849 We lost the life of God 00:09:50.849 --> 00:09:52.909 in the soul of man - abiding in us, 00:09:52.909 --> 00:09:54.758 dwelling with us, communing with us, 00:09:54.758 --> 00:09:56.915 communicating, fellowshipping with us. 00:09:56.915 --> 00:09:59.637 We lost Him. 00:09:59.637 --> 00:10:01.093 Like the KJV says - 00:10:01.093 --> 00:10:02.857 God says to Abraham, 00:10:02.857 --> 00:10:05.762 "I am thy exceeding great reward." 00:10:05.762 --> 00:10:08.327 That's the reward. That's the treasure. 00:10:08.330 --> 00:10:11.634 It is Christ. It is God. It is the Spirit. 00:10:11.634 --> 00:10:15.763 It is this Triune Godhead dwelling in us. 00:10:15.763 --> 00:10:20.058 Manifestly dwelling in us. 00:10:20.058 --> 00:10:21.489 That's what this is all about. 00:10:21.489 --> 00:10:25.267 That's what he's laying on the table here. NOTE Paragraph 00:10:25.267 --> 00:10:28.512 Brethren, we need to face the reality 00:10:28.512 --> 00:10:30.198 of what a Christian truly is. 00:10:30.198 --> 00:10:32.840 A Christian is no ordinary man 00:10:32.840 --> 00:10:35.024 like everybody else out there. 00:10:35.024 --> 00:10:38.424 We're not just like everybody else, but we go to church. 00:10:38.424 --> 00:10:40.520 Brethren, think with me. 00:10:40.520 --> 00:10:45.914 Think with me just about dwelling places of God. 00:10:45.914 --> 00:10:48.909 I mean, if you think in Scripture, 00:10:48.909 --> 00:10:51.054 burning bush. 00:10:51.054 --> 00:10:54.185 God dwelt in the burning bush. 00:10:54.185 --> 00:10:55.822 Moses sees a burning bush. 00:10:55.822 --> 00:10:57.635 It's burning. It doesn't get consumed. 00:10:57.635 --> 00:10:59.639 I'm going to go over and check that out. 00:10:59.639 --> 00:11:02.114 And God says, "Stop, Moses. Stop right there. 00:11:02.114 --> 00:11:05.188 You take your shoes off your feet." 00:11:05.188 --> 00:11:07.232 Why? Because where God dwells, 00:11:07.232 --> 00:11:09.171 it's holy ground. 00:11:09.171 --> 00:11:11.302 You think about the holy of holies 00:11:11.302 --> 00:11:14.265 inside the tabernacle. 00:11:14.265 --> 00:11:17.383 The shekinah glory was so intense, 00:11:17.383 --> 00:11:20.733 you did not go in there or you died - 00:11:20.733 --> 00:11:22.425 except one man once a year 00:11:22.425 --> 00:11:24.967 and only with blood. 00:11:24.967 --> 00:11:28.345 The place where God dwells is a holy place. 00:11:28.345 --> 00:11:29.997 It is a fearful place. 00:11:29.997 --> 00:11:33.272 It is a place unlike all other places. NOTE Paragraph 00:11:33.272 --> 00:11:35.179 Think about Heaven. 00:11:35.179 --> 00:11:37.698 Heaven is the place where we think of 00:11:37.698 --> 00:11:40.401 where God dwells. 00:11:40.401 --> 00:11:43.923 And Isaiah looks at it as His beautiful 00:11:43.923 --> 00:11:45.986 and holy habitation. 00:11:45.986 --> 00:11:48.260 That's what it's like where God dwells. 00:11:48.260 --> 00:11:50.402 And then you think about this. 00:11:50.402 --> 00:11:54.326 John says to be a Christian 00:11:54.326 --> 00:12:00.421 is to be one of these places - 00:12:00.421 --> 00:12:02.905 we are the temple. 00:12:02.905 --> 00:12:04.925 Inside that temple was the same thing 00:12:04.925 --> 00:12:06.531 that was inside that tabernacle. 00:12:06.531 --> 00:12:08.149 The tabernacle became the temple. 00:12:08.149 --> 00:12:10.115 Inside there is the holy of holies. 00:12:10.115 --> 00:12:12.644 It is where the manifest glory of God dwells. 00:12:12.644 --> 00:12:15.211 And what we are being told in Scripture 00:12:15.211 --> 00:12:18.300 is we are that temple. 00:12:18.300 --> 00:12:20.232 You see what God saves people for - 00:12:20.232 --> 00:12:22.113 to inhabit them; to dwell with them; 00:12:22.113 --> 00:12:23.970 to walk with them; to fellowship; 00:12:23.970 --> 00:12:26.258 to manifest His glory there. 00:12:26.258 --> 00:12:28.472 That's what it is to be a saint. 00:12:28.472 --> 00:12:30.087 It's not this Catholic idea - 00:12:30.087 --> 00:12:31.890 Saint Anthony - we were talking about 00:12:31.890 --> 00:12:33.654 meanings of names the other day. 00:12:33.654 --> 00:12:35.447 San Antonio. What's that? 00:12:35.447 --> 00:12:37.385 I don't even know who Antonio was. 00:12:37.385 --> 00:12:41.249 It might not have even been a true saint whatsoever, 00:12:41.249 --> 00:12:43.004 but we have true saints in here. 00:12:43.004 --> 00:12:44.301 And what does it mean? 00:12:44.301 --> 00:12:47.285 To be a saint is to be a holy one. 00:12:47.285 --> 00:12:52.372 We're holy ones because we are the place where God dwells. NOTE Paragraph 00:12:52.372 --> 00:12:54.054 What is a Christian? 00:12:54.054 --> 00:12:55.479 We need to come back to that 00:12:55.479 --> 00:12:56.751 again and again and again. 00:12:56.751 --> 00:12:58.159 We need to be clear on this. 00:12:58.159 --> 00:13:00.389 We are the church of the living God. 00:13:00.389 --> 00:13:02.823 If there is going to be somebody in this world 00:13:02.823 --> 00:13:04.304 that need to be faithful 00:13:04.304 --> 00:13:05.792 to be communicating truth, 00:13:05.792 --> 00:13:06.857 it's got to be us. 00:13:06.857 --> 00:13:09.073 It's got to be those of us that have the Word of God. 00:13:09.073 --> 00:13:10.336 What is a Christian? 00:13:10.336 --> 00:13:12.057 A Christian is this - 00:13:12.057 --> 00:13:15.143 is a Christian a moral person? 00:13:15.143 --> 00:13:17.387 Is a Christian simply a good person? 00:13:17.387 --> 00:13:20.191 Is it simply a member of this church? 00:13:20.191 --> 00:13:21.323 No. 00:13:21.323 --> 00:13:23.483 That's not it. 00:13:23.483 --> 00:13:27.540 A Christian is one who God comes to 00:13:27.540 --> 00:13:29.925 and manifests His presence in. 00:13:29.925 --> 00:13:31.806 This is a spiritual reality. 00:13:31.806 --> 00:13:34.650 The life of God possesses them. NOTE Paragraph 00:13:34.650 --> 00:13:36.219 Now, here's the thing. 00:13:36.219 --> 00:13:37.658 Here's what you need to see 00:13:37.658 --> 00:13:40.530 in the last part of the last sentence. 00:13:40.530 --> 00:13:43.263 Read it with me. 00:13:43.263 --> 00:13:46.477 "By this we know that He abides in us." 00:13:46.477 --> 00:13:49.514 By this we know we are a temple of God. 00:13:49.514 --> 00:13:53.227 By this we know we are His holy habitation. 00:13:53.227 --> 00:13:55.284 How? 00:13:55.284 --> 00:14:00.136 "By the Spirit whom He has given to us." 00:14:00.136 --> 00:14:03.604 See, John says, your Christianity can be proven. 00:14:03.604 --> 00:14:04.992 That's what he says here. 00:14:04.992 --> 00:14:06.432 If you want proof of the fact 00:14:06.432 --> 00:14:08.297 that a man is a Christian - 00:14:08.297 --> 00:14:09.893 one who has God dwelling in him - 00:14:09.893 --> 00:14:11.946 John says here it is. 00:14:11.946 --> 00:14:15.459 Every individual who possesses the Holy Spirit 00:14:15.459 --> 00:14:17.287 may know that he himself 00:14:17.287 --> 00:14:20.517 is such a dwelling place for God. NOTE Paragraph 00:14:20.517 --> 00:14:23.708 But then of course, the next question: 00:14:23.708 --> 00:14:27.388 Well, how can I know if I possess the Spirit? 00:14:27.388 --> 00:14:31.326 But I think you can all feel this, 00:14:31.326 --> 00:14:35.381 John expects that we can tell. 00:14:35.381 --> 00:14:37.706 Don't you get that feel? 00:14:37.706 --> 00:14:41.151 By this you can know that God abides in you, 00:14:41.151 --> 00:14:42.804 how? 00:14:42.804 --> 00:14:44.817 "By the Spirit whom He has given us." 00:14:44.817 --> 00:14:46.706 He expects us to be able to know 00:14:46.706 --> 00:14:47.867 if we have the Spirit. 00:14:47.867 --> 00:14:50.336 You can see that right off. 00:14:50.336 --> 00:14:55.570 Every individual who possesses the Holy Spirit - 00:14:55.570 --> 00:14:58.997 he believes he's going to know they possess Him. 00:14:58.997 --> 00:15:01.564 That's the proof. 00:15:01.564 --> 00:15:04.554 And that's the proof that God has taken up residence in us. 00:15:04.554 --> 00:15:06.350 How can we know? What is the proof? 00:15:06.350 --> 00:15:07.630 Holy Spirit. 00:15:07.630 --> 00:15:09.414 He's certainly not the only proof, 00:15:09.414 --> 00:15:11.464 but it's one of the proofs. 00:15:11.464 --> 00:15:13.271 You know this very well, many of you. 00:15:13.271 --> 00:15:15.104 Romans 8:9, "Anyone who does not have 00:15:15.104 --> 00:15:17.964 the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Him." 00:15:17.964 --> 00:15:19.112 So here it is. 00:15:19.112 --> 00:15:23.052 We're face to face with this great truth of Scripture. 00:15:23.052 --> 00:15:27.548 You have the Spirit or you don't. 00:15:27.548 --> 00:15:30.335 If you have the Spirit, 00:15:30.335 --> 00:15:32.120 God abides in you. 00:15:32.120 --> 00:15:35.586 If you don't, He doesn't. 00:15:35.586 --> 00:15:37.720 That's what he's laid on the table here. 00:15:37.720 --> 00:15:40.921 It's very clear. 00:15:40.921 --> 00:15:46.266 This is our Christian reality. 00:15:46.266 --> 00:15:48.626 We have the Holy Spirit. 00:15:48.626 --> 00:15:49.718 It's essential. 00:15:49.718 --> 00:15:51.141 The Holy Spirit is essential 00:15:51.141 --> 00:15:52.350 to your Christian life, 00:15:52.350 --> 00:15:53.644 to your Christian standing, 00:15:53.644 --> 00:15:56.016 to your Christian experience. NOTE Paragraph 00:15:56.016 --> 00:15:58.061 I'm afraid we forget how essential this is. 00:15:58.061 --> 00:15:59.936 I forget how essential this is. 00:15:59.936 --> 00:16:01.394 You know what? 00:16:01.394 --> 00:16:02.971 Every time I read through John 00:16:02.971 --> 00:16:05.132 and I come across our Lord Jesus' words 00:16:05.132 --> 00:16:08.059 where He says to His disciples, 00:16:08.059 --> 00:16:10.236 "Nevertheless, I tell you the truth, 00:16:10.236 --> 00:16:15.440 it is to your advantage that I go away." 00:16:15.440 --> 00:16:17.885 Why? Why is it to our advantage? 00:16:17.885 --> 00:16:19.760 "For if I do not go away, the Helper - 00:16:19.760 --> 00:16:21.967 (or the Comforter) - will not come to you. 00:16:21.967 --> 00:16:25.309 But if I go, I will send Him to you." 00:16:25.309 --> 00:16:28.188 I often want Jesus to come. 00:16:28.188 --> 00:16:29.678 I'm out in the field praying. 00:16:29.678 --> 00:16:32.305 I want Jesus to come. 00:16:32.305 --> 00:16:36.213 I long to be like the disciples, like John, 00:16:36.213 --> 00:16:38.691 who could lay at the breast of Christ. 00:16:38.691 --> 00:16:40.575 I want that. 00:16:40.575 --> 00:16:42.506 Don't you want it? 00:16:42.506 --> 00:16:44.626 I mean, I want that, 00:16:44.626 --> 00:16:46.585 and when I come to this, 00:16:46.585 --> 00:16:49.170 I find I don't fully believe it. 00:16:49.170 --> 00:16:51.152 Because I want that. 00:16:51.152 --> 00:16:53.192 Because I don't have what I want. 00:16:53.192 --> 00:16:55.748 I want to be able to touch. I want to be able to see. 00:16:55.748 --> 00:16:58.163 I want to be able to talk. 00:16:58.163 --> 00:17:00.578 We want that! 00:17:00.578 --> 00:17:05.429 And so when I come across this verse time and again - 00:17:05.429 --> 00:17:08.244 you know, we have to sit back and say, 00:17:08.244 --> 00:17:11.706 I need to believe that that's true. 00:17:11.706 --> 00:17:14.971 (Incomplete thought) 00:17:14.971 --> 00:17:17.984 Listen, Jesus is saying having the Spirit 00:17:17.984 --> 00:17:20.558 is more advantageous to you 00:17:20.558 --> 00:17:24.152 than to have Him do the things He did, 00:17:24.152 --> 00:17:27.230 incarnate, walking with His disciples, 00:17:27.230 --> 00:17:28.599 the way He did. 00:17:28.599 --> 00:17:30.098 This is better. 00:17:30.098 --> 00:17:33.139 This is more advantageous. 00:17:33.139 --> 00:17:34.381 We need to believe it. 00:17:34.381 --> 00:17:37.245 Which means, there's some advantage. 00:17:37.245 --> 00:17:40.145 And this is where John is pulling from. 00:17:40.145 --> 00:17:42.073 There is an advantage in your life 00:17:42.073 --> 00:17:45.039 that is observable. 00:17:45.039 --> 00:17:48.997 And you can tell where that advantage is. 00:17:48.997 --> 00:17:51.765 You can tell where the Spirit is. 00:17:51.765 --> 00:17:55.624 And by that, by the evidences of His presence, 00:17:55.624 --> 00:17:57.474 you can know that you are one of these 00:17:57.474 --> 00:17:59.303 dwelling places of God. 00:17:59.303 --> 00:18:02.948 That's his basic argument through here. 00:18:02.948 --> 00:18:05.012 And we see this truth reaffirmed 00:18:05.012 --> 00:18:06.390 in chapter 4:13. 00:18:06.390 --> 00:18:07.635 You can just look there. 00:18:07.635 --> 00:18:09.590 1 John 4:13, "By this we know 00:18:09.590 --> 00:18:12.527 that we abide in Him 00:18:12.527 --> 00:18:15.359 and He in us 00:18:15.359 --> 00:18:20.133 because He has given us of His Spirit." NOTE Paragraph 00:18:20.133 --> 00:18:22.458 So, the thing I want to ask is this - 00:18:22.458 --> 00:18:24.316 this is the next obvious question. 00:18:24.316 --> 00:18:30.344 What sort of proof is this? 00:18:30.344 --> 00:18:33.181 I mean, you say to me, "how can I know I'm a Christian?" 00:18:33.181 --> 00:18:35.604 And I say to you, "by the Holy Spirit." 00:18:35.604 --> 00:18:37.835 What sort of proof is that? 00:18:37.835 --> 00:18:39.719 I mean, John the Baptist said this: 00:18:39.719 --> 00:18:43.840 God told me the One upon whom I see 00:18:43.840 --> 00:18:48.209 the Holy Spirit descend is Him. 00:18:48.209 --> 00:18:52.632 Okay, John saw the Spirit descend like a dove 00:18:52.632 --> 00:18:55.007 and it remained on Jesus Christ. 00:18:55.007 --> 00:18:56.291 And God had told him, 00:18:56.291 --> 00:18:57.885 you're going to know the Messiah; 00:18:57.885 --> 00:18:59.842 you're going to know the One you're the forerunner to 00:18:59.842 --> 00:19:02.316 because the Spirit of God is going to descend on Him 00:19:02.316 --> 00:19:04.047 and rest there. 00:19:04.047 --> 00:19:05.774 But how do we know? 00:19:05.774 --> 00:19:07.900 I mean, how do we know by the Spirit? 00:19:07.900 --> 00:19:14.021 We don't see that. I've never seen that. 00:19:14.021 --> 00:19:15.556 What are the evidences? 00:19:15.556 --> 00:19:17.386 What sort of proof is this? NOTE Paragraph 00:19:17.386 --> 00:19:20.024 Well, I'll tell you, I have twelve. 00:19:20.024 --> 00:19:22.001 Jesus said it's to our advantage. 00:19:22.001 --> 00:19:24.255 Well, there are advantages. 00:19:24.255 --> 00:19:25.952 There's proofs. 00:19:25.952 --> 00:19:27.869 And I get all these from Scripture. 00:19:27.869 --> 00:19:29.726 I've got twelve of them. 00:19:29.726 --> 00:19:32.740 And I don't want to go any further than this today. 00:19:32.740 --> 00:19:35.710 I'm going to give you twelve proofs 00:19:35.710 --> 00:19:37.536 that Scripture gives to us 00:19:37.536 --> 00:19:39.769 that are evidences of the presence 00:19:39.769 --> 00:19:41.964 of the Holy Spirit, which in turn 00:19:41.964 --> 00:19:43.721 is evidence that God abides in us 00:19:43.721 --> 00:19:45.653 and we abide in Him. 00:19:45.653 --> 00:19:48.373 That we're real; we're genuine. 00:19:48.373 --> 00:19:50.733 So what are these things? 00:19:50.733 --> 00:19:53.010 What are they? 00:19:53.010 --> 00:19:56.373 How to know you are a Christian. 00:19:56.373 --> 00:19:58.597 That's the title. 00:19:58.597 --> 00:20:00.726 Or, how to know you have the Spirit 00:20:00.726 --> 00:20:03.586 by which you know you are a Christian. NOTE Paragraph 00:20:03.586 --> 00:20:07.004 So here's the first one. 00:20:07.004 --> 00:20:10.527 Jesus Christ told us this. 00:20:10.527 --> 00:20:13.641 John 16:8 - you can mark these down. 00:20:13.641 --> 00:20:16.055 You can try to turn to all of them, but I'm going to go through them fast 00:20:16.055 --> 00:20:17.440 and I think by the time you get there, 00:20:17.440 --> 00:20:18.966 I'm already going to be done with the point. 00:20:18.966 --> 00:20:21.019 So, you might just want to hear these. 00:20:21.019 --> 00:20:23.148 I'll give you the reference because I want you to see 00:20:23.148 --> 00:20:25.159 that all of these are truly coming from Scripture. 00:20:25.159 --> 00:20:26.575 John 16:8, 00:20:26.575 --> 00:20:31.462 The Holy Spirit - "He will convict the world 00:20:31.462 --> 00:20:35.614 concerning sin and righteousness and judgment. 00:20:35.614 --> 00:20:38.473 Now, you think here. 00:20:38.473 --> 00:20:42.742 We're going along in our life. 00:20:42.742 --> 00:20:47.873 We're going along happy in our sin. 00:20:47.873 --> 00:20:49.107 Remember that? 00:20:49.107 --> 00:20:51.239 Remember how that was? 00:20:51.239 --> 00:20:52.945 You're looking forward to your sin. 00:20:52.945 --> 00:20:54.655 But then something happens. 00:20:54.655 --> 00:20:58.912 What happens? 00:20:58.912 --> 00:21:00.246 Something happens. 00:21:00.246 --> 00:21:02.927 Something happens in the conscience. 00:21:02.927 --> 00:21:09.966 Suddenly, there's a disturbance. 00:21:09.966 --> 00:21:11.340 That's what conviction is. 00:21:11.340 --> 00:21:13.526 It's a disturbance. 00:21:13.526 --> 00:21:18.399 Suddenly, we're troubled. 00:21:18.399 --> 00:21:21.107 We feel something. 00:21:21.107 --> 00:21:25.546 Sin suddenly is not just 00:21:25.546 --> 00:21:26.837 the vomit of the dog 00:21:26.837 --> 00:21:29.804 that I want to run over and can't wait to get to. 00:21:29.804 --> 00:21:32.838 There's a hesitation. 00:21:32.838 --> 00:21:35.465 That doesn't mean I totally lose the pull of that sin, 00:21:35.465 --> 00:21:37.554 but there's a check in my soul. 00:21:37.554 --> 00:21:41.135 Something isn't right any longer. 00:21:41.135 --> 00:21:43.956 That's what he's talking about here. 00:21:43.956 --> 00:21:45.447 Conviction. 00:21:45.447 --> 00:21:47.334 There's a gnawing disturbance. 00:21:47.334 --> 00:21:49.676 There may be a hollowness 00:21:49.676 --> 00:21:50.704 or an emptiness. 00:21:50.704 --> 00:21:52.268 Things are not right. 00:21:52.268 --> 00:21:53.655 Something is wrong. 00:21:53.655 --> 00:21:55.126 Something is happening. 00:21:55.126 --> 00:21:56.640 This is the Spirit's doing. 00:21:56.640 --> 00:21:59.906 I used to be able to easily dismiss my sin. 00:21:59.906 --> 00:22:03.457 I could justify it like that. 00:22:03.457 --> 00:22:06.732 But then something happened. 00:22:06.732 --> 00:22:11.968 And you can't just dismiss it so easily. 00:22:11.968 --> 00:22:14.099 I used to think of God out there. 00:22:14.099 --> 00:22:16.282 Oh, He understands my sin. 00:22:16.282 --> 00:22:17.829 He just overlooks it. 00:22:17.829 --> 00:22:19.510 But now something had happened. 00:22:19.510 --> 00:22:21.726 I could no longer enjoy my sin as I once did. 00:22:21.726 --> 00:22:24.118 I'm unsettled. 00:22:24.118 --> 00:22:27.941 This is what Jesus says the Holy Spirit will do. 00:22:27.941 --> 00:22:29.572 You know, my friends, my family 00:22:29.572 --> 00:22:30.854 couldn't understand me. 00:22:30.854 --> 00:22:33.010 You know, the people out there 00:22:33.010 --> 00:22:34.997 still enjoy all their sin 00:22:34.997 --> 00:22:36.707 who are your companions in the sin, 00:22:36.707 --> 00:22:38.102 who run with you in the sin, 00:22:38.102 --> 00:22:40.145 suddenly there's a check in your spirit - 00:22:40.145 --> 00:22:41.485 they don't understand you. 00:22:41.485 --> 00:22:42.891 What's wrong with you? 00:22:42.891 --> 00:22:44.629 You need another drink. 00:22:44.629 --> 00:22:46.013 Shrug that off. 00:22:46.013 --> 00:22:50.425 But you can't shrug it off. Why? Because of the Spirit of God. 00:22:50.425 --> 00:22:54.383 And He's speaking. NOTE Paragraph 00:22:54.383 --> 00:22:55.678 What's the next thing? 00:22:55.678 --> 00:22:57.583 That's not all. 00:22:57.583 --> 00:22:58.824 There's something else. 00:22:58.824 --> 00:23:00.521 We read in Romans 8:14, 00:23:00.521 --> 00:23:03.442 "All who are led by the Spirit of God 00:23:03.442 --> 00:23:04.801 are sons of God." 00:23:04.801 --> 00:23:06.773 So the Spirit not only convicts, 00:23:06.773 --> 00:23:11.349 the Spirit leads. 00:23:11.349 --> 00:23:13.412 I mean, something else happens. 00:23:13.412 --> 00:23:18.015 Suddenly - well, it may not be so sudden. 00:23:18.015 --> 00:23:19.590 Sometimes it's not as sudden. 00:23:19.590 --> 00:23:21.560 In some it's sudden. 00:23:21.560 --> 00:23:26.954 In some, it happens almost undiscernibly 00:23:26.954 --> 00:23:28.367 like the rising of the sun, 00:23:28.367 --> 00:23:29.357 but it's happening. 00:23:29.357 --> 00:23:31.469 What's happening? 00:23:31.469 --> 00:23:33.285 Desires. 00:23:33.285 --> 00:23:36.060 My desires, my impulses, 00:23:36.060 --> 00:23:41.410 I'm being led in ways I was never led before. 00:23:41.410 --> 00:23:42.979 What led me before? 00:23:42.979 --> 00:23:44.575 Animal passions. 00:23:44.575 --> 00:23:46.859 Base lusts. 00:23:46.859 --> 00:23:52.293 My desire for what I wanted led me. 00:23:52.293 --> 00:23:54.575 But something happens. 00:23:54.575 --> 00:23:59.930 I'm being led by desires I never had before. 00:23:59.930 --> 00:24:02.314 There's impulses that shoot through me 00:24:02.314 --> 00:24:05.576 that are rising beyond my bodily appetites. 00:24:05.576 --> 00:24:07.897 I'm being pulled by something else. 00:24:07.897 --> 00:24:09.783 And you know what? You know it. 00:24:09.783 --> 00:24:11.533 You know it. It's different now. 00:24:11.533 --> 00:24:13.032 And people are looking at you - 00:24:13.032 --> 00:24:14.406 what's wrong with you? 00:24:14.406 --> 00:24:16.161 Well, you feel it inside. 00:24:16.161 --> 00:24:17.341 I'm being pulled. 00:24:17.341 --> 00:24:19.070 I'm being pulled away from that sin. 00:24:19.070 --> 00:24:21.606 It's a pull towards God. That's what it is. 00:24:21.606 --> 00:24:23.744 It's a pull not just forward, 00:24:23.744 --> 00:24:25.126 it's a pull upward. 00:24:25.126 --> 00:24:26.921 You feel something happening. 00:24:26.921 --> 00:24:28.978 There's leadership. 00:24:28.978 --> 00:24:31.368 There's conviction. There's leadership. NOTE Paragraph 00:24:31.368 --> 00:24:32.932 How about the thought life? 00:24:32.932 --> 00:24:35.751 You know, in Romans 8:5, we get this: 00:24:35.751 --> 00:24:38.814 "Those who live according to the Spirit 00:24:38.814 --> 00:24:41.235 set their minds on the things of the Spirit." 00:24:41.235 --> 00:24:44.052 So, if you live according to the Spirit - what does that mean? 00:24:44.052 --> 00:24:45.853 According to His power; according to His presence; 00:24:45.853 --> 00:24:47.778 according to His operation in your life; 00:24:47.778 --> 00:24:49.083 what happens to your mind? 00:24:49.083 --> 00:24:50.621 What happens to your thoughts? 00:24:50.621 --> 00:24:54.485 The mind is drawn towards things of God. 00:24:54.485 --> 00:24:56.995 You know that! You know that! 00:24:56.995 --> 00:24:58.539 Not only did conviction come; 00:24:58.539 --> 00:25:00.383 not only did this lead come, 00:25:00.383 --> 00:25:02.013 but suddenly your mind - 00:25:02.013 --> 00:25:06.209 you are thinking about spiritual things. 00:25:06.209 --> 00:25:07.593 They're on your mind now. 00:25:07.593 --> 00:25:10.204 You wake up and you start thinking about eternity. 00:25:10.204 --> 00:25:12.415 You start thinking that there is a God out there 00:25:12.415 --> 00:25:14.342 who I'm going to have to give an account to. 00:25:14.342 --> 00:25:16.848 You start thinking about what is the cross all about. 00:25:16.848 --> 00:25:18.766 What did Christ actually do? 00:25:18.766 --> 00:25:19.967 You're troubled. 00:25:19.967 --> 00:25:23.210 You're thinking of eternity. You're thinking of judgment day. 00:25:23.210 --> 00:25:27.010 Suddenly the mind is going to these other things. 00:25:27.010 --> 00:25:30.350 Any interest in religion before, 00:25:30.350 --> 00:25:31.798 you know it was mechanical. 00:25:31.798 --> 00:25:33.030 How can I do my thing? 00:25:33.030 --> 00:25:35.192 I remember how it was. 00:25:35.192 --> 00:25:37.478 It's this idea of the good and the bad 00:25:37.478 --> 00:25:39.359 and hopefully the good will outweigh. 00:25:39.359 --> 00:25:40.811 Once in awhile, you need to 00:25:40.811 --> 00:25:42.587 do something kind for one another. 00:25:42.587 --> 00:25:43.924 But suddenly, your thoughts 00:25:43.924 --> 00:25:46.227 are not just mechanical thoughts 00:25:46.227 --> 00:25:50.274 about religion. 00:25:50.274 --> 00:25:52.845 The thoughts. 00:25:52.845 --> 00:25:57.144 The Spirit pulls the mind towards God 00:25:57.144 --> 00:26:00.245 and towards the Word of God. 00:26:00.245 --> 00:26:02.577 The thought life. 00:26:02.577 --> 00:26:04.336 Led to think about God 00:26:04.336 --> 00:26:05.639 and think about sin 00:26:05.639 --> 00:26:07.054 and think about eternity 00:26:07.054 --> 00:26:08.457 and think about judgment. 00:26:08.457 --> 00:26:11.717 One becomes amazed. 00:26:11.717 --> 00:26:13.359 Isn't that what happens? 00:26:13.359 --> 00:26:16.443 We wake up and suddenly we're amazed 00:26:16.443 --> 00:26:18.581 that we didn't think about the things 00:26:18.581 --> 00:26:20.338 that we're thinking about right now; 00:26:20.338 --> 00:26:23.564 that we walked so long in the dark. NOTE Paragraph 00:26:23.564 --> 00:26:26.534 Then, oh, there's more. 00:26:26.534 --> 00:26:28.068 What? 00:26:28.068 --> 00:26:32.599 In John 16:14, Jesus says this. 00:26:32.599 --> 00:26:40.077 The Holy Spirit will glorify Me. 00:26:40.077 --> 00:26:42.321 You know what? We basically spend 00:26:42.321 --> 00:26:44.765 our lost lives dismissing 00:26:44.765 --> 00:26:47.912 the Christ of the Bible. 00:26:47.912 --> 00:26:51.092 Trivializing Him. 00:26:51.092 --> 00:26:56.106 But then, it happens. 00:26:56.106 --> 00:27:03.796 I mean, it happens. 00:27:03.796 --> 00:27:08.938 Suddenly, gradually, it happens. 00:27:08.938 --> 00:27:18.712 We see Christ as we've never seen Him before. 00:27:18.712 --> 00:27:27.010 It sets us back. 00:27:27.010 --> 00:27:31.670 The Spirit causes us to see. 00:27:31.670 --> 00:27:38.877 He doesn't just make it possible for us to see. 00:27:38.877 --> 00:27:40.865 He sets Christ before us 00:27:40.865 --> 00:27:45.608 and gives us eyes to see Him. 00:27:45.608 --> 00:27:48.382 That happens. 00:27:48.382 --> 00:27:53.366 He causes us to wake up. 00:27:53.366 --> 00:27:55.564 I mean, there suddenly is an attraction. 00:27:55.564 --> 00:27:57.750 We behold a beauty, 00:27:57.750 --> 00:28:03.173 a magnificence in the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:28:03.173 --> 00:28:06.185 Christians, do you remember that happening? 00:28:06.185 --> 00:28:08.642 He's no longer just a historical figure. 00:28:08.642 --> 00:28:12.672 He is the historical figure. 00:28:12.672 --> 00:28:17.565 You recognize that everything revolves around Him. 00:28:17.565 --> 00:28:20.279 You begin to recognize, 00:28:20.279 --> 00:28:28.543 wow - everything in Scripture is about Him! 00:28:28.543 --> 00:28:30.879 Everything about creation is for Him 00:28:30.879 --> 00:28:32.650 and in Him and through Him 00:28:32.650 --> 00:28:34.321 and He sustains it all. 00:28:34.321 --> 00:28:37.543 And suddenly, you just recognize, 00:28:37.543 --> 00:28:40.693 He's not just one among many. 00:28:40.693 --> 00:28:42.335 He is the One. 00:28:42.335 --> 00:28:44.300 Everything else revolves around Him. 00:28:44.300 --> 00:28:46.620 He is like the sun in the solar system. 00:28:46.620 --> 00:28:48.578 Everything revolves around Him. 00:28:48.578 --> 00:28:50.941 Everything has to do with Him. 00:28:50.941 --> 00:28:52.874 Everything comes back to Him. 00:28:52.874 --> 00:28:56.572 However you saw it, 00:28:56.572 --> 00:29:00.396 Christ - when the Spirit comes, 00:29:00.396 --> 00:29:02.363 Christ just is getting bigger 00:29:02.363 --> 00:29:06.560 and bigger and bigger and bigger. 00:29:06.560 --> 00:29:07.621 That's what happens. NOTE Paragraph 00:29:07.621 --> 00:29:09.984 There's no greater proof of the Spirit's presence 00:29:09.984 --> 00:29:16.156 in an individual or in a church than this. 00:29:16.156 --> 00:29:17.709 You want to look for evidences 00:29:17.709 --> 00:29:20.320 of whether the Spirit of God - 00:29:20.320 --> 00:29:25.089 people love to talk about the Spirit of God, 00:29:25.089 --> 00:29:28.749 but one thing we find about the Spirit, 00:29:28.749 --> 00:29:32.039 He is not self-promoting. 00:29:32.039 --> 00:29:34.622 He is Christ-promoting. 00:29:34.622 --> 00:29:36.519 You can tell His presence 00:29:36.519 --> 00:29:39.856 not by where there's a lot of talk about the Spirit. 00:29:39.856 --> 00:29:42.117 You can tell the Spirit's presence 00:29:42.117 --> 00:29:47.815 when you find them preoccupied with Christ. 00:29:47.815 --> 00:29:50.623 That's where the Spirit is. 00:29:50.623 --> 00:29:55.243 That's what we find here. 00:29:55.243 --> 00:29:56.464 Isn't that what happens? 00:29:56.464 --> 00:30:00.429 You begin to find I have no hope 00:30:00.429 --> 00:30:03.117 without Him. 00:30:03.117 --> 00:30:06.585 I begin to face all the facts about Him. 00:30:06.585 --> 00:30:07.988 It is Him. 00:30:07.988 --> 00:30:10.366 I recognize without the incarnation, 00:30:10.366 --> 00:30:12.118 there is no hope for me. 00:30:12.118 --> 00:30:14.607 I recognize that if He doesn't go to the cross, 00:30:14.607 --> 00:30:15.957 there is no hope. 00:30:15.957 --> 00:30:18.173 I recognize if He doesn't rise from the dead, 00:30:18.173 --> 00:30:19.270 there is no hope. 00:30:19.270 --> 00:30:21.276 I recognize Him ascending to God - 00:30:21.276 --> 00:30:22.825 in that is my hope. 00:30:22.825 --> 00:30:24.551 All of this - what Christ did, 00:30:24.551 --> 00:30:25.614 all the way through, 00:30:25.614 --> 00:30:27.356 my hope is built on that. 00:30:27.356 --> 00:30:28.775 I begin to see these things. 00:30:28.775 --> 00:30:30.418 He came. He was incarnate. 00:30:30.418 --> 00:30:31.944 He did these miracles. 00:30:31.944 --> 00:30:33.548 He went on trial. 00:30:33.548 --> 00:30:35.152 He faced Jerusalem. 00:30:35.152 --> 00:30:36.201 He went there. 00:30:36.201 --> 00:30:38.212 They beat Him and they buffeted Him. 00:30:38.212 --> 00:30:39.608 They scourged Him. 00:30:39.608 --> 00:30:41.287 They laid that cross on Him. 00:30:41.287 --> 00:30:43.137 He went up there to Calvary. 00:30:43.137 --> 00:30:46.339 They nailed spikes in His hands and they crucified Him. 00:30:46.339 --> 00:30:47.977 And you begin to look at all this 00:30:47.977 --> 00:30:48.924 and you recognize, 00:30:48.924 --> 00:30:51.641 this is not just some other part of history 00:30:51.641 --> 00:30:53.133 to throw out there 00:30:53.133 --> 00:30:56.415 like the study of World War II. 00:30:56.415 --> 00:30:57.597 This is it. 00:30:57.597 --> 00:30:59.813 Everything revolves around this. 00:30:59.813 --> 00:31:01.536 That's what the Spirit does. 00:31:01.536 --> 00:31:02.929 Our eyes are opened to it. 00:31:02.929 --> 00:31:05.225 We're rocked by the reality. 00:31:05.225 --> 00:31:07.173 They crucified Him. 00:31:07.173 --> 00:31:11.250 And suddenly, the Spirit does this. 00:31:11.250 --> 00:31:12.719 How do you relate to this? 00:31:12.719 --> 00:31:14.717 This is a proof of the Spirit's presence 00:31:14.717 --> 00:31:15.976 which in turn is the proof 00:31:15.976 --> 00:31:18.009 that we are God's temple. 00:31:18.009 --> 00:31:19.120 We're going along. 00:31:19.120 --> 00:31:25.367 We're going along absorbed with all else but Christ. 00:31:25.367 --> 00:31:28.256 Then something happens. 00:31:28.256 --> 00:31:30.783 We sing it in the song. 00:31:30.783 --> 00:31:34.721 Almighty love arrests that man. 00:31:34.721 --> 00:31:39.426 We're arrested. We're spiritually arrested. 00:31:39.426 --> 00:31:46.375 And like Paul, we talked about a few weeks ago, 00:31:46.375 --> 00:31:48.193 "Who are You, Lord?" 00:31:48.193 --> 00:31:50.871 "I am Jesus." 00:31:50.871 --> 00:31:54.543 And suddenly, that name... 00:31:54.543 --> 00:31:56.534 that name's not a curse word. 00:31:56.534 --> 00:31:59.849 That name's not just religious terminology. 00:31:59.849 --> 00:32:02.556 The Spirit opens our eyes and our soul 00:32:02.556 --> 00:32:05.036 and draws it out to Christ. 00:32:05.036 --> 00:32:07.743 The Spirit always glorifies Christ. 00:32:07.743 --> 00:32:11.031 Our estimation of Christ is altogether reworked 00:32:11.031 --> 00:32:13.065 by the power and influence of the Spirit. 00:32:13.065 --> 00:32:15.193 This is Christianity. 00:32:15.193 --> 00:32:17.119 That's Christianity. 00:32:17.119 --> 00:32:19.176 Being absorbed with Christ. 00:32:19.176 --> 00:32:20.192 Honoring Christ. 00:32:20.192 --> 00:32:21.813 Finding in Christ our all. 00:32:21.813 --> 00:32:24.350 This is the heart and soul of Christianity. NOTE Paragraph 00:32:24.350 --> 00:32:26.697 Brethren, I remember how it was. 00:32:26.697 --> 00:32:28.439 Suddenly Christ's deity is 00:32:28.439 --> 00:32:31.762 the most important thing you ever imagined. 00:32:31.762 --> 00:32:34.479 The cross is the most important thing 00:32:34.479 --> 00:32:36.778 you ever imagined. 00:32:36.778 --> 00:32:38.088 The resurrection - 00:32:38.088 --> 00:32:41.147 the most important thing you ever imagined. 00:32:41.147 --> 00:32:42.652 Christ's perfect obedience - 00:32:42.652 --> 00:32:45.771 the most important thing you ever imagined. 00:32:45.771 --> 00:32:47.954 Pleasing Christ - the most important thing. 00:32:47.954 --> 00:32:50.181 You say, they can't all be most important, 00:32:50.181 --> 00:32:51.442 but that's the way it is. 00:32:51.442 --> 00:32:54.136 The Spirit shows you one thing about Christ after another, 00:32:54.136 --> 00:32:55.652 and it's like that's the greatest thing! 00:32:55.652 --> 00:32:57.781 Oh, look over here! That's the greatest thing! 00:32:57.781 --> 00:32:59.759 Because everything about Him is just so great 00:32:59.759 --> 00:33:01.484 and for the first time in your life, 00:33:01.484 --> 00:33:03.452 you're made aware. 00:33:03.452 --> 00:33:07.235 That's what the Spirit does. NOTE Paragraph 00:33:07.235 --> 00:33:08.865 What else? 00:33:08.865 --> 00:33:12.469 What other proofs that the Spirit's there? 00:33:12.469 --> 00:33:14.105 Romans 5:5 says, 00:33:14.105 --> 00:33:17.459 "God's love has been poured into your hearts 00:33:17.459 --> 00:33:18.674 through the Holy Spirit 00:33:18.674 --> 00:33:20.227 who has been given to us." 00:33:20.227 --> 00:33:25.029 So when the Holy Spirit has been given to us, 00:33:25.029 --> 00:33:30.818 it seems like by nature all of us - 00:33:30.818 --> 00:33:32.518 now, you think about this - 00:33:32.518 --> 00:33:37.804 by nature, all of us create a god 00:33:37.804 --> 00:33:40.941 of our own imagination. 00:33:40.941 --> 00:33:42.936 This god approves of us. 00:33:42.936 --> 00:33:45.634 This god loves us whatever condition we're in. 00:33:45.634 --> 00:33:47.496 I mean, that's the sort of god 00:33:47.496 --> 00:33:49.922 that appeals to the natural man. 00:33:49.922 --> 00:33:52.043 But what happens? 00:33:52.043 --> 00:33:58.262 The Spirit brings conviction of sin. 00:33:58.262 --> 00:34:02.584 The Spirit hits our consciences. 00:34:02.584 --> 00:34:04.693 We're aware of sin and judgment 00:34:04.693 --> 00:34:06.149 and how righteous God is 00:34:06.149 --> 00:34:07.900 to bring us to judgment. 00:34:07.900 --> 00:34:09.643 It breaks in upon us 00:34:09.643 --> 00:34:12.137 that there is a living Almighty God out there 00:34:12.137 --> 00:34:13.372 with whom we have to do, 00:34:13.372 --> 00:34:15.852 and He's so holy, He can't look upon sin. 00:34:15.852 --> 00:34:18.135 I mean, this is what we're awakened to. 00:34:18.135 --> 00:34:19.821 This god of our imagination - 00:34:19.821 --> 00:34:23.060 like a mist that goes away. 00:34:23.060 --> 00:34:25.960 Suddenly, we are face to face with a big God. 00:34:25.960 --> 00:34:28.040 And what this is all about 00:34:28.040 --> 00:34:30.172 is when we see this holy God - 00:34:30.172 --> 00:34:32.626 we see this God who cannot look upon sin - 00:34:32.626 --> 00:34:34.373 not the God of our imagination. 00:34:34.373 --> 00:34:35.853 The true God. The living God. 00:34:35.853 --> 00:34:38.765 The terribly holy, holy, holy God of Scripture 00:34:38.765 --> 00:34:43.447 before whom the seraphim shield their faces. 00:34:43.447 --> 00:34:50.596 The Spirit says that God loves me. 00:34:50.596 --> 00:34:53.962 He loves me! 00:34:53.962 --> 00:34:58.092 He gave His Son for me. 00:34:58.092 --> 00:35:00.803 That's what's being communicated. 00:35:00.803 --> 00:35:05.556 You just look at the context of Romans 5. 00:35:05.556 --> 00:35:07.695 He showed His love, 00:35:07.695 --> 00:35:11.130 and it's shown on the cross. 00:35:11.130 --> 00:35:14.312 And suddenly the Spirit communicates that. 00:35:14.312 --> 00:35:16.921 I remember my brother-in-law Rick. 00:35:16.921 --> 00:35:19.491 He said he was laying in bed one morning, 00:35:19.491 --> 00:35:24.230 and just like a lightning bolt... 00:35:24.230 --> 00:35:29.447 he was musing on, contemplating the cross, 00:35:29.447 --> 00:35:33.893 and God just said, "Rick, it's for you." 00:35:33.893 --> 00:35:36.327 "I did that for you." 00:35:36.327 --> 00:35:39.197 That's what happens. 00:35:39.197 --> 00:35:40.466 The love of God. 00:35:40.466 --> 00:35:42.367 He sent His Son to die for me. NOTE Paragraph 00:35:42.367 --> 00:35:44.298 And this one's so closely related. 00:35:44.298 --> 00:35:46.145 Romans 8:15 00:35:46.145 --> 00:35:49.432 "You've received the Spirit of adoption as sons." 00:35:49.432 --> 00:35:51.017 Here's the Spirit. 00:35:51.017 --> 00:35:53.193 The Spirit of adoption. We receive Him. 00:35:53.193 --> 00:35:54.456 What does He do? 00:35:54.456 --> 00:35:56.798 "...By whom we cry, 'Abba, Father.'" 00:35:56.798 --> 00:36:01.547 There it is. 00:36:01.547 --> 00:36:05.026 God is not just some distant power anymore. 00:36:05.026 --> 00:36:13.683 He's no longer the pushover god of our imaginations. 00:36:13.683 --> 00:36:16.932 He's the God of Scripture. 00:36:16.932 --> 00:36:19.170 But He no longer presents Himself to me 00:36:19.170 --> 00:36:21.338 as an angry God 00:36:21.338 --> 00:36:25.156 whose wrath I'm under. 00:36:25.156 --> 00:36:31.281 But now, look at that. 00:36:31.281 --> 00:36:33.228 The Spirit makes us conscious 00:36:33.228 --> 00:36:37.412 of the fact that He who is the Most High God 00:36:37.412 --> 00:36:39.640 is my Father. 00:36:39.640 --> 00:36:41.521 He cares for me. He loves me. 00:36:41.521 --> 00:36:42.968 He sent His Son to die for me. 00:36:42.968 --> 00:36:46.353 I cry to Him now as a Father. 00:36:46.353 --> 00:36:49.111 Father, Father. 00:36:49.111 --> 00:36:51.577 What a title! NOTE Paragraph 00:36:51.577 --> 00:36:55.098 Christian, when you pray - 00:36:55.098 --> 00:37:04.107 I hear some Christians that address God as God. 00:37:04.107 --> 00:37:08.260 Now, theologically, there's nothing wrong with that. 00:37:08.260 --> 00:37:11.579 But it always feels impersonal to me. 00:37:11.579 --> 00:37:15.374 To keep addressing God repeatedly as God, 00:37:15.374 --> 00:37:18.742 when the Spirit comes and says, 00:37:18.742 --> 00:37:20.989 He is God, 00:37:20.989 --> 00:37:23.809 but He makes Himself known to you 00:37:23.809 --> 00:37:25.178 as your Father. 00:37:25.178 --> 00:37:27.335 Not just as Father - Abba. 00:37:27.335 --> 00:37:31.805 I mean, what an endearing word. 00:37:31.805 --> 00:37:33.832 Do you know this reality? 00:37:33.832 --> 00:37:36.923 Brethren, we want true Christianity. 00:37:36.923 --> 00:37:40.034 The kind of Christianity that God is not just a far away power, 00:37:40.034 --> 00:37:41.621 not the pushover god of my mind, 00:37:41.621 --> 00:37:43.798 but it is the God of Scripture 00:37:43.798 --> 00:37:47.520 in all of His highness and transcendence 00:37:47.520 --> 00:37:48.866 and vastness. 00:37:48.866 --> 00:37:52.974 He's personally come to me 00:37:52.974 --> 00:37:57.444 and He says, "I'm your Father." 00:37:57.444 --> 00:37:59.436 This is an operation of the Spirit. 00:37:59.436 --> 00:38:02.494 By this we know God dwells within and we're real. NOTE Paragraph 00:38:02.494 --> 00:38:05.170 How about this? Romans 8:16. 00:38:05.170 --> 00:38:08.443 "The Spirit Himself bears witness 00:38:08.443 --> 00:38:12.697 with our spirit that we're children of God." 00:38:12.697 --> 00:38:15.022 There's the Spirit on the witness stand. 00:38:15.022 --> 00:38:18.390 The devil can come and sling his accusations. 00:38:18.390 --> 00:38:21.378 But the witness is this: 00:38:21.378 --> 00:38:24.311 "I own you as My own. 00:38:24.311 --> 00:38:28.115 You are My child. You are My son." 00:38:28.115 --> 00:38:30.925 But there's still sin. 00:38:30.925 --> 00:38:32.776 "Yes, but you're My child. 00:38:32.776 --> 00:38:36.013 I've sent My Son to die for your sin. 00:38:36.013 --> 00:38:37.553 You belong to Me. 00:38:37.553 --> 00:38:40.324 I bought you with a price. 00:38:40.324 --> 00:38:43.317 I brought you into My family." 00:38:43.317 --> 00:38:49.867 The Spirit bids us 00:38:49.867 --> 00:38:52.224 to see this sonship. 00:38:52.224 --> 00:38:54.180 He witnesses to us. 00:38:54.180 --> 00:38:56.195 What does a witness do? 00:38:56.195 --> 00:38:59.150 What do you want a witness to do when they go on the stand? 00:38:59.150 --> 00:39:01.331 Just give the facts. Tell the truth. 00:39:01.331 --> 00:39:02.061 That's it. 00:39:02.061 --> 00:39:03.535 That's what the Spirit's doing. 00:39:03.535 --> 00:39:06.133 You want to know what the truth is? 00:39:06.133 --> 00:39:09.066 You haven't just been saved from sin, 00:39:09.066 --> 00:39:17.631 you've been saved from just wandering, lost. 00:39:17.631 --> 00:39:21.523 God has brought you into His household. 00:39:21.523 --> 00:39:23.799 He's your Father. You're His son. 00:39:23.799 --> 00:39:28.065 He's bestowed His love upon you. 00:39:28.065 --> 00:39:29.124 That's it. 00:39:29.124 --> 00:39:31.190 The Spirit does that. The Spirit witnesses. NOTE Paragraph 00:39:31.190 --> 00:39:32.970 How about number 8? 00:39:32.970 --> 00:39:34.412 Romans 8:13, 00:39:34.412 --> 00:39:36.971 "By the Spirit, you put to death 00:39:36.971 --> 00:39:38.512 the deeds of the body." 00:39:38.512 --> 00:39:40.736 If you do that, you live. 00:39:40.736 --> 00:39:41.988 That's life. 00:39:41.988 --> 00:39:43.541 Remember? 00:39:43.541 --> 00:39:46.438 We're alive. We're Christians if we have the Spirit. 00:39:46.438 --> 00:39:47.953 By the Spirit, we know 00:39:47.953 --> 00:39:50.895 that God abides in us. 00:39:50.895 --> 00:39:52.938 If you have the Spirit, what do you do? 00:39:52.938 --> 00:39:56.117 You put to death the deeds of the body. 00:39:56.117 --> 00:39:59.896 The daily practice of killing sin matters 00:39:59.896 --> 00:40:02.906 because it's an evidence of whether the Spirit's there or not. 00:40:02.906 --> 00:40:04.946 And look, a lot of people in the world, 00:40:04.946 --> 00:40:07.593 they intend to make changes in their life. 00:40:07.593 --> 00:40:09.317 They make New Year's resolutions 00:40:09.317 --> 00:40:10.895 to make changes in their life. 00:40:10.895 --> 00:40:16.420 They grit their teeth to make changes in their life. 00:40:16.420 --> 00:40:18.357 But I'll tell you this, true change - 00:40:18.357 --> 00:40:21.342 radical change, the purity 00:40:21.342 --> 00:40:23.463 that God desires from us - 00:40:23.463 --> 00:40:25.047 the only way that we can do that; 00:40:25.047 --> 00:40:27.836 the only way that we truly 00:40:27.836 --> 00:40:32.771 can put off these deeds is by the Spirit. 00:40:32.771 --> 00:40:34.991 God's Spirit is the Holy Spirit. 00:40:34.991 --> 00:40:37.387 He will not leave God's people unholy. 00:40:37.387 --> 00:40:39.444 God's Spirit is a mighty Spirit. 00:40:39.444 --> 00:40:42.962 He is more powerful than our sin. 00:40:42.962 --> 00:40:45.131 I mean, this is the thing. 00:40:45.131 --> 00:40:48.307 When the Spirit is put within the child of God, 00:40:48.307 --> 00:40:50.020 you have to think about this. 00:40:50.020 --> 00:40:52.555 You've got sin. You've got the Spirit. 00:40:52.555 --> 00:40:55.828 Sin is viewed in Scripture as this kind of dark force 00:40:55.828 --> 00:40:56.937 or a dark lord. 00:40:56.937 --> 00:41:00.549 "Sin reigning in the mortal body." 00:41:00.549 --> 00:41:02.227 That's how Scripture describes it. 00:41:02.227 --> 00:41:04.401 Then you have the Spirit who comes up 00:41:04.401 --> 00:41:06.679 and takes residence in the Christian. 00:41:06.679 --> 00:41:08.557 You've got these competing powers, 00:41:08.557 --> 00:41:10.908 but who's stronger? 00:41:10.908 --> 00:41:12.486 Of course, the Spirit is. 00:41:12.486 --> 00:41:15.174 And the Spirit will always win. 00:41:15.174 --> 00:41:18.113 The Spirit will always win. 00:41:18.113 --> 00:41:20.600 He is in the business of making saints; 00:41:20.600 --> 00:41:22.647 of making holy people. 00:41:22.647 --> 00:41:24.502 Men can create. 00:41:24.502 --> 00:41:26.151 Men in their own strength - 00:41:26.151 --> 00:41:28.536 think about what men in their own strength can do. 00:41:28.536 --> 00:41:30.077 Well, they can come to church. 00:41:30.077 --> 00:41:32.028 They can create religious settings. 00:41:32.028 --> 00:41:33.180 They can do that. 00:41:33.180 --> 00:41:35.261 They may create morality 00:41:35.261 --> 00:41:39.482 or formality or civility. 00:41:39.482 --> 00:41:42.859 Customs, rituals, ceremonies - 00:41:42.859 --> 00:41:44.679 all that's possible. 00:41:44.679 --> 00:41:46.800 Church attendance, baptism. 00:41:46.800 --> 00:41:48.396 But there's no mistaking it. 00:41:48.396 --> 00:41:51.549 Whenever and wherever somebody's desire - 00:41:51.549 --> 00:41:53.012 you have to think about this. 00:41:53.012 --> 00:41:55.977 This is really what it is. 00:41:55.977 --> 00:41:58.677 We're not told that the Spirit comes in 00:41:58.677 --> 00:42:01.285 and turns off bodily desires. 00:42:01.285 --> 00:42:03.198 You know how it is we put to death 00:42:03.198 --> 00:42:05.018 the deeds of this body? 00:42:05.018 --> 00:42:06.552 It's not because all of a sudden 00:42:06.552 --> 00:42:08.972 you've lost all your longings 00:42:08.972 --> 00:42:12.147 to please this body and gratify this body. 00:42:12.147 --> 00:42:13.873 What happens? 00:42:13.873 --> 00:42:17.869 Your desires to please Christ become stronger. 00:42:17.869 --> 00:42:20.035 That's what happens. 00:42:20.035 --> 00:42:23.316 It's a battle of desire. 00:42:23.316 --> 00:42:27.295 And where the Spirit is - 00:42:27.295 --> 00:42:30.490 look, just because you get saved 00:42:30.490 --> 00:42:32.963 doesn't mean you lose sexual desire. 00:42:32.963 --> 00:42:34.951 Just because you get saved doesn't mean 00:42:34.951 --> 00:42:37.816 you lose desire to feel pleasure 00:42:37.816 --> 00:42:41.153 or to feel relaxation; 00:42:41.153 --> 00:42:47.987 to feel good; to eat food; to drink. 00:42:47.987 --> 00:42:51.378 The body has appetites. 00:42:51.378 --> 00:42:54.552 But what happens is it's like Joseph. 00:42:54.552 --> 00:42:56.920 Do you think there was temptation in Joseph 00:42:56.920 --> 00:42:58.491 when Potiphar's wife came? 00:42:58.491 --> 00:43:00.694 I mean, she's the wife 00:43:00.694 --> 00:43:02.151 of a high ranking official. 00:43:02.151 --> 00:43:03.657 She's probably beautiful. 00:43:03.657 --> 00:43:05.813 And who's going to know? 00:43:05.813 --> 00:43:08.331 God's going to know. 00:43:08.331 --> 00:43:11.221 And there's a desire there. 00:43:11.221 --> 00:43:14.522 I'm not going to sin against God this way. 00:43:14.522 --> 00:43:17.127 I know He's watching. 00:43:17.127 --> 00:43:20.073 My fellowship with Him is more important 00:43:20.073 --> 00:43:24.583 than my gratifying this bodily appetite. 00:43:24.583 --> 00:43:27.717 And that's where the battle is won. 00:43:27.717 --> 00:43:31.271 Our desire for other things become greater. 00:43:31.271 --> 00:43:34.280 And that is the proof that 00:43:34.280 --> 00:43:36.810 there's just no other explanation when that happens 00:43:36.810 --> 00:43:38.573 than the Spirit of God is doing that. 00:43:38.573 --> 00:43:39.902 And where He does that, 00:43:39.902 --> 00:43:41.727 God has taken up residence. NOTE Paragraph 00:43:41.727 --> 00:43:43.570 How about number nine? 00:43:43.570 --> 00:43:45.052 Christlikeness. 00:43:45.052 --> 00:43:46.677 2 Corinthians 3:18 00:43:46.677 --> 00:43:47.901 Many of you know this. 00:43:47.901 --> 00:43:50.411 "We all with unveiled face 00:43:50.411 --> 00:43:52.373 beholding the glory of the Lord 00:43:52.373 --> 00:43:55.125 are being transformed into the same image..." 00:43:55.125 --> 00:43:57.952 What same image? Well, the image of the Lord. 00:43:57.952 --> 00:44:00.084 "...From one degree of glory to another. 00:44:00.084 --> 00:44:02.466 For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit." 00:44:02.466 --> 00:44:04.885 Here's another operation of the Spirit. 00:44:04.885 --> 00:44:06.532 What does the Spirit do? 00:44:06.532 --> 00:44:09.692 Transforms us into the likeness of Christ. 00:44:09.692 --> 00:44:14.378 Now, this is kind of similar to the last one. 00:44:14.378 --> 00:44:18.658 Killing the appetites of the body. 00:44:18.658 --> 00:44:20.005 How is it similar? 00:44:20.005 --> 00:44:22.500 Well, it's kind of the opposite. 00:44:22.500 --> 00:44:25.294 This one here in 2 Corinthians comes at us 00:44:25.294 --> 00:44:26.680 from the positive side, 00:44:26.680 --> 00:44:28.741 whereas Romans 8 comes at us 00:44:28.741 --> 00:44:29.895 from the negative side. 00:44:29.895 --> 00:44:32.908 Romans 8 is the negative - we kill sin. 00:44:32.908 --> 00:44:38.181 Here in 2 Corinthians, we have the positive. 00:44:38.181 --> 00:44:41.020 It's the image of Christ - 00:44:41.020 --> 00:44:42.986 more and more resembling Him. 00:44:42.986 --> 00:44:47.604 It's like the mercury rising in a thermometer. 00:44:47.604 --> 00:44:49.405 It's just going up and up and up. 00:44:49.405 --> 00:44:51.462 That's how it is in our life. 00:44:51.462 --> 00:44:53.745 What is that? 00:44:53.745 --> 00:44:56.860 Well, if you imagine, 00:44:56.860 --> 00:45:01.475 sometimes people do these time lapse photography. 00:45:01.475 --> 00:45:03.125 You've seen that kind of thing? 00:45:03.125 --> 00:45:05.289 You know, I saw just recently, 00:45:05.289 --> 00:45:07.377 I was on Drudge and I saw somebody did that 00:45:07.377 --> 00:45:09.349 on Hillary Clinton 00:45:09.349 --> 00:45:12.498 from when she was in her 20's or whatever to now. 00:45:12.498 --> 00:45:14.520 And they just went through all these photos, 00:45:14.520 --> 00:45:17.821 and they kind of morphed them into one another. 00:45:17.821 --> 00:45:19.680 But you've seen time lapse photography 00:45:19.680 --> 00:45:21.353 maybe of a flower or something. 00:45:21.353 --> 00:45:24.216 But if you can do time lapse photography on a Christian, 00:45:24.216 --> 00:45:26.129 this is an operation of the Spirit. 00:45:26.129 --> 00:45:30.306 But if you do the time lapse, 00:45:30.306 --> 00:45:33.080 they are becoming more and more beautiful. 00:45:33.080 --> 00:45:36.746 And I'm not saying a time lapse on your outer body. 00:45:36.746 --> 00:45:38.745 Because that's getting uglier and uglier. 00:45:38.745 --> 00:45:41.075 I say that based on Scripture. 00:45:41.075 --> 00:45:43.366 The outer man is what? 00:45:43.366 --> 00:45:45.908 (Wasting away). There you go. 00:45:45.908 --> 00:45:47.090 Except for my wife. 00:45:47.090 --> 00:45:52.575 Seriously, she is becoming more beautiful all the time. 00:45:52.575 --> 00:45:59.598 But if you could time lapse us spiritually, 00:45:59.598 --> 00:46:01.957 you know what you see? 00:46:01.957 --> 00:46:07.121 It's like wow! 00:46:07.121 --> 00:46:11.336 The ugliness, the blemishes are falling off. 00:46:11.336 --> 00:46:14.537 The wrinkles are disappearing. 00:46:14.537 --> 00:46:16.860 How is that happening? 00:46:16.860 --> 00:46:18.476 The Spirit. 00:46:18.476 --> 00:46:19.621 That's what happens. 00:46:19.621 --> 00:46:21.946 The Spirit. Christikeness. 00:46:21.946 --> 00:46:23.393 We heard it from our brother. 00:46:23.393 --> 00:46:25.157 It's like the dawn 00:46:25.157 --> 00:46:27.526 shining brighter and brighter 00:46:27.526 --> 00:46:29.142 until the full day. 00:46:29.142 --> 00:46:30.322 That's how it is. 00:46:30.322 --> 00:46:31.757 If you look at the sun, 00:46:31.757 --> 00:46:33.381 you can't visibly see it, 00:46:33.381 --> 00:46:36.321 but it is by degrees climbing higher in that sky. 00:46:36.321 --> 00:46:38.299 And it's the same way here. 00:46:38.299 --> 00:46:40.368 You know how it is with people's children? 00:46:40.368 --> 00:46:42.587 We just went out to the Community conference 00:46:42.587 --> 00:46:43.889 and you see people - 00:46:43.889 --> 00:46:46.411 you see people and it's like the last time I saw you, 00:46:46.411 --> 00:46:47.771 you were this big! 00:46:47.771 --> 00:46:50.629 And you just went forward and bang! 00:46:50.629 --> 00:46:51.923 There's this difference. 00:46:51.923 --> 00:46:53.062 Well, that's how it is 00:46:53.062 --> 00:46:56.028 if a true Christian - if you don't see them 00:46:56.028 --> 00:46:59.139 for five years, 00:46:59.139 --> 00:47:02.323 there should be noticeably something more Christlike. 00:47:02.323 --> 00:47:04.236 Why? Because that Spirit has operated. 00:47:04.236 --> 00:47:07.526 This is exactly what He does. NOTE Paragraph 00:47:07.526 --> 00:47:09.605 How about fruit? 00:47:09.605 --> 00:47:10.793 This is the tenth. 00:47:10.793 --> 00:47:12.411 Galatian 5:22. 00:47:12.411 --> 00:47:13.750 You know this very well. 00:47:13.750 --> 00:47:15.872 "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, 00:47:15.872 --> 00:47:17.851 peace, patience, kindness, goodness, 00:47:17.851 --> 00:47:20.093 faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. 00:47:20.093 --> 00:47:23.776 Against such things, there is no law." 00:47:23.776 --> 00:47:25.978 Once the Spirit comes in, 00:47:25.978 --> 00:47:28.143 fruit. Fruit begins to show. 00:47:28.143 --> 00:47:30.393 And I know this is similar to the last one. 00:47:30.393 --> 00:47:33.152 I have fruit trees in my yard. 00:47:33.152 --> 00:47:39.015 I have a lemon tree. (Thank you, Haney's.) 00:47:39.015 --> 00:47:40.640 And it bears. 00:47:40.640 --> 00:47:42.955 I have two fig trees. 00:47:42.955 --> 00:47:45.345 And I have a number of peach trees. 00:47:45.345 --> 00:47:48.595 And all of them are producing 00:47:48.595 --> 00:47:51.246 already this year. 00:47:51.246 --> 00:47:52.565 Fruit. 00:47:52.565 --> 00:47:54.195 The fruit is coming out. 00:47:54.195 --> 00:47:56.480 The trees are known by their fruit. 00:47:56.480 --> 00:47:58.133 And I'll tell you this, 00:47:58.133 --> 00:48:01.659 where the Spirit is cultivating 00:48:01.659 --> 00:48:05.608 and fertilizing and gardening, 00:48:05.608 --> 00:48:08.543 beautiful things come forth. 00:48:08.543 --> 00:48:09.822 That's what we have. 00:48:09.822 --> 00:48:11.419 Beautiful things grow. 00:48:11.419 --> 00:48:13.494 Love. Love for God. 00:48:13.494 --> 00:48:15.138 Love for the brethren. 00:48:15.138 --> 00:48:17.000 A joy. 00:48:17.000 --> 00:48:19.399 Brethren, a joy the world can't take away. 00:48:19.399 --> 00:48:20.998 Why? Because our hope 00:48:20.998 --> 00:48:23.051 is in something higher. 00:48:23.051 --> 00:48:24.701 Our hope is outside this world. 00:48:24.701 --> 00:48:28.781 Our hope is beyond our circumstances. 00:48:28.781 --> 00:48:30.481 Brethren, do you know 00:48:30.481 --> 00:48:34.195 that even if CPS showed up at my door 00:48:34.195 --> 00:48:38.319 and took my two youngest children away, 00:48:38.319 --> 00:48:41.902 my hope in Christ is unshaken. 00:48:41.902 --> 00:48:44.749 I have a joy that transcends 00:48:44.749 --> 00:48:48.478 my circumstances in this world. 00:48:48.478 --> 00:48:51.344 A joy that passes understanding. 00:48:51.344 --> 00:48:53.105 There's peace in the soul; 00:48:53.105 --> 00:48:55.463 a sense of sins forgiven. 00:48:55.463 --> 00:48:57.349 This is what the Spirit does. 00:48:57.349 --> 00:49:01.060 The Spirit makes unkind people kind, 00:49:01.060 --> 00:49:03.404 and harsh people gentle. 00:49:03.404 --> 00:49:06.039 He changes people. 00:49:06.039 --> 00:49:10.366 People say, "Oh, you got religion." 00:49:10.366 --> 00:49:13.110 I'll tell you this, if it's God's religion, 00:49:13.110 --> 00:49:16.551 you're going to get more than that. 00:49:16.551 --> 00:49:18.649 You're going to get a lot more than that. 00:49:18.649 --> 00:49:19.985 You're going to get this - 00:49:19.985 --> 00:49:21.926 self control. 00:49:21.926 --> 00:49:24.590 You're going to become good by degrees, 00:49:24.590 --> 00:49:26.347 but it's real, it's true. 00:49:26.347 --> 00:49:31.072 Brethren, this is what our Bibles teach us. 00:49:31.072 --> 00:49:33.711 This is what it says about what true Christianity is. 00:49:33.711 --> 00:49:39.732 This is what it says about where the Spirit is. NOTE Paragraph 00:49:39.732 --> 00:49:43.166 Eleven: Alienation. 00:49:43.166 --> 00:49:44.903 You say, what do you mean by that? 00:49:44.903 --> 00:49:46.316 Ephesians 4:30. 00:49:46.316 --> 00:49:48.582 "Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God 00:49:48.582 --> 00:49:49.710 by whom you were sealed 00:49:49.710 --> 00:49:53.282 for the day of redemption." 00:49:53.282 --> 00:49:57.750 Look, the Spirit is the member 00:49:57.750 --> 00:50:00.936 of the Godhead that we are told 00:50:00.936 --> 00:50:07.889 is grieved by our sin. 00:50:07.889 --> 00:50:08.904 I mean, listen, 00:50:08.904 --> 00:50:12.315 David describes this sort of thing in Psalm 32. 00:50:12.315 --> 00:50:13.817 Don't turn there, but listen. 00:50:13.817 --> 00:50:15.766 David says this, "When I kept silent..." 00:50:15.766 --> 00:50:17.531 In other words, when I did not deal 00:50:17.531 --> 00:50:21.290 with my sin before God, 00:50:21.290 --> 00:50:24.457 "my bones wasted away 00:50:24.457 --> 00:50:27.480 through my groaning all day long. 00:50:27.480 --> 00:50:29.904 Day and night Your hand was heavy against me, 00:50:29.904 --> 00:50:31.240 my strength was dried up 00:50:31.240 --> 00:50:33.855 by the heat of summer. Selah. 00:50:33.855 --> 00:50:35.561 I acknowledged my sin to You. 00:50:35.561 --> 00:50:36.985 I did not cover my iniquity. 00:50:36.985 --> 00:50:39.480 I said I will confess my transgressions to the Lord, 00:50:39.480 --> 00:50:41.554 and You forgave the iniquity of my sin." 00:50:41.554 --> 00:50:44.092 And I would just ask you, Christian, do you know this? 00:50:44.092 --> 00:50:47.067 Do you know this about the presence of the Holy Spirit? 00:50:47.067 --> 00:50:53.345 Do you know the reality of the bone-wasting work of the Spirit? 00:50:53.345 --> 00:50:57.044 You know what I mean. 00:50:57.044 --> 00:50:59.120 (Incomplete thought) 00:50:59.120 --> 00:51:02.844 You know how it was when you're lost? 00:51:02.844 --> 00:51:05.414 You sinned and you were happy 00:51:05.414 --> 00:51:08.217 and you wanted more. 00:51:08.217 --> 00:51:10.861 That's not what happens in the child of God. 00:51:10.861 --> 00:51:14.354 You sin because you think it's going to make you happy, 00:51:14.354 --> 00:51:16.623 and your bones waste away. 00:51:16.623 --> 00:51:21.230 And it's not happy. 00:51:21.230 --> 00:51:25.476 Where'd the smile of God go to? 00:51:25.476 --> 00:51:27.440 Have you had that happen? 00:51:27.440 --> 00:51:29.832 You know what happens when God smiles on us? 00:51:29.832 --> 00:51:32.178 We can get careless. 00:51:32.178 --> 00:51:33.322 Oh, this is great! 00:51:33.322 --> 00:51:36.463 Sun shining. Birds singing. 00:51:36.463 --> 00:51:39.295 Life is great! It's wonderful to be a Christian. 00:51:39.295 --> 00:51:42.729 And you get sloppy in your Christian life. 00:51:42.729 --> 00:51:44.007 And what happens? 00:51:44.007 --> 00:51:45.585 Suddenly, you look up - 00:51:45.585 --> 00:51:47.216 where'd the smile of God go? 00:51:47.216 --> 00:51:50.426 And beyond that, you begin to feel it in your bones 00:51:50.426 --> 00:51:51.961 like David did. 00:51:51.961 --> 00:51:54.353 You feel this. 00:51:54.353 --> 00:51:55.840 Bone wasting. Why? 00:51:55.840 --> 00:51:58.250 Because God is grieved and it's the Spirit 00:51:58.250 --> 00:52:00.406 who expresses His grief. 00:52:00.406 --> 00:52:02.783 Why would He say don't grieve the Holy Spirit? 00:52:02.783 --> 00:52:05.093 Why? Because the Spirit of God is the one 00:52:05.093 --> 00:52:07.320 who so actively is doing all these things 00:52:07.320 --> 00:52:08.499 in our life. 00:52:08.499 --> 00:52:10.599 And it's so much to our advantage 00:52:10.599 --> 00:52:11.967 that we have Him, 00:52:11.967 --> 00:52:14.033 even beyond the advantage of what it was 00:52:14.033 --> 00:52:15.594 to have Christ Himself walking, 00:52:15.594 --> 00:52:16.914 and you grieve that Spirit, 00:52:16.914 --> 00:52:22.331 and you are going to bear the consequences. 00:52:22.331 --> 00:52:23.711 You don't want to say, 00:52:23.711 --> 00:52:25.573 well, I'm saved by the grace of God 00:52:25.573 --> 00:52:26.756 and I'm under the blood, 00:52:26.756 --> 00:52:28.442 and so you know what, my sin shouldn't matter. 00:52:28.442 --> 00:52:30.495 It should be forgiven. But you see what happened. 00:52:30.495 --> 00:52:31.961 It was forgiven in David, 00:52:31.961 --> 00:52:33.832 but it wasn't until he repented of it 00:52:33.832 --> 00:52:35.501 and he acknowledged it, 00:52:35.501 --> 00:52:38.663 and then the joy of his salvation returned. 00:52:38.663 --> 00:52:40.752 But this is another work of the Spirit. 00:52:40.752 --> 00:52:42.736 Christian, do you not know what it is 00:52:42.736 --> 00:52:47.031 to have that happen in your life? 00:52:47.031 --> 00:52:49.539 The Spirit is going to see to it: 00:52:49.539 --> 00:52:53.190 Sin is not going to be a joyful ride. 00:52:53.190 --> 00:52:57.017 He's not going to allow you to enjoy it like you once did. 00:52:57.017 --> 00:52:59.527 Christian, the Spirit sees to it 00:52:59.527 --> 00:53:03.215 that you hurt for sin. 00:53:03.215 --> 00:53:05.048 He'll make you groan under it. NOTE Paragraph 00:53:05.048 --> 00:53:06.249 And here's the last one, 00:53:06.249 --> 00:53:08.005 and this really is going to lead out 00:53:08.005 --> 00:53:10.240 into what I want to deal with next week 00:53:10.240 --> 00:53:11.641 in testing the spirits. 00:53:11.641 --> 00:53:14.770 But you see this truth in 1 John 4:2, 00:53:14.770 --> 00:53:16.187 where we're going next week, 00:53:16.187 --> 00:53:19.941 but it would be this: right doctrine. 00:53:19.941 --> 00:53:23.789 John argues that - this is interesting - 00:53:23.789 --> 00:53:28.679 John argues that there are spirits 00:53:28.679 --> 00:53:32.373 behind doctrine. 00:53:32.373 --> 00:53:38.523 Whether good or bad. 00:53:38.523 --> 00:53:42.742 In fact, Paul talks about demon doctrines. 00:53:42.742 --> 00:53:51.012 When you hear people or religions 00:53:51.012 --> 00:53:58.824 that speak truth or that speak error, 00:53:58.824 --> 00:54:01.801 there are spirits behind that. 00:54:01.801 --> 00:54:04.590 And what he says here in 1 John 4:2, 00:54:04.590 --> 00:54:07.217 "By this we know the Spirit of God..." 00:54:07.217 --> 00:54:08.779 In other words, those who have 00:54:08.779 --> 00:54:10.817 the Spirit of God can be known. How? 00:54:10.817 --> 00:54:12.656 "Because every spirit that confesses 00:54:12.656 --> 00:54:15.156 that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 00:54:15.156 --> 00:54:17.405 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus 00:54:17.405 --> 00:54:19.331 is not from God." 00:54:19.331 --> 00:54:22.042 John argues that there's always spirits behind doctrine. 00:54:22.042 --> 00:54:24.299 The Spirit of God is the Spirit of truth. 00:54:24.299 --> 00:54:25.885 The Spirit of God is the Spirit 00:54:25.885 --> 00:54:28.599 who carried along the authors of Scripture. 00:54:28.599 --> 00:54:30.912 In fact, if you go down a little further, 00:54:30.912 --> 00:54:33.133 you can find that whoever is of God; 00:54:33.133 --> 00:54:36.101 whoever has the Spirit listens to us, 00:54:36.101 --> 00:54:37.065 John says. 00:54:37.065 --> 00:54:39.111 In other words, they listen to the apostles. 00:54:39.111 --> 00:54:40.903 They listen to the apostle's doctrine 00:54:40.903 --> 00:54:42.002 which is in here. 00:54:42.002 --> 00:54:43.973 You can know the Spirit of God 00:54:43.973 --> 00:54:46.209 because the Spirit of God will always 00:54:46.209 --> 00:54:50.213 affirm and assert what is written in Scripture. 00:54:50.213 --> 00:54:51.906 He will never contradict it. 00:54:51.906 --> 00:54:53.735 We can test the spirits that way. 00:54:53.735 --> 00:54:56.848 We can know the Spirit by which people 00:54:56.848 --> 00:54:59.589 are indwelt by their doctrine. 00:54:59.589 --> 00:55:05.659 And especially, he's saying, by their doctrine of Christ. 00:55:05.659 --> 00:55:07.726 Listen to what people say about Christ. 00:55:07.726 --> 00:55:09.566 His Person. His work. 00:55:09.566 --> 00:55:11.810 That's what we find here. 00:55:11.810 --> 00:55:15.929 The Spirit of God - mark a man's doctrine; 00:55:15.929 --> 00:55:18.794 especially His doctrine of Jesus Christ. 00:55:18.794 --> 00:55:20.730 Who Christ is; 00:55:20.730 --> 00:55:23.723 what Christ has accomplished. 00:55:23.723 --> 00:55:30.580 The Spirit always proclaims a glorious Christ. 00:55:30.580 --> 00:55:33.784 I mean, when you see doctrine; 00:55:33.784 --> 00:55:35.083 you hear doctrine; 00:55:35.083 --> 00:55:38.683 you read doctrine - doctrine is teaching - 00:55:38.683 --> 00:55:41.161 it sets forth Christ glorious. 00:55:41.161 --> 00:55:43.823 The Spirit always is going to proclaim 00:55:43.823 --> 00:55:45.719 a salvation that leaves us 00:55:45.719 --> 00:55:47.936 not boasting in ourselves, 00:55:47.936 --> 00:55:49.390 but boasting in the cross 00:55:49.390 --> 00:55:51.640 and boasting in Christ. 00:55:51.640 --> 00:55:55.297 That's absolutely essential. 00:55:55.297 --> 00:55:58.719 The Spirit shows us a Person. 00:55:58.719 --> 00:56:01.963 The Spirit shows the person 00:56:01.963 --> 00:56:04.353 that He indwells, 00:56:04.353 --> 00:56:07.237 that He is active in. 00:56:07.237 --> 00:56:13.450 He shows them that Christ matters. 00:56:13.450 --> 00:56:15.635 What we think about Christ matters. 00:56:15.635 --> 00:56:17.677 The real Christ. The biblical Christ. 00:56:17.677 --> 00:56:19.738 The true Christ. 00:56:19.738 --> 00:56:23.290 This is the Spirit of Christianity. 00:56:23.290 --> 00:56:24.898 Right doctrine. NOTE Paragraph 00:56:24.898 --> 00:56:27.225 So you think about all these. 00:56:27.225 --> 00:56:31.281 If the Spirit is present, 00:56:31.281 --> 00:56:34.386 we have conviction, 00:56:34.386 --> 00:56:36.889 we have His leadership, 00:56:36.889 --> 00:56:38.956 we have a thought life 00:56:38.956 --> 00:56:41.513 with a mind set on the things of the Spirit, 00:56:41.513 --> 00:56:47.431 Christ is glorified, 00:56:47.431 --> 00:56:50.520 five - the love of God is shed abroad 00:56:50.520 --> 00:56:52.578 in our hearts by the Spirit; 00:56:52.578 --> 00:56:58.263 six - the Spirit of adoption causes us to cry, "Abba, Father;" 00:56:58.263 --> 00:57:00.289 seven - the Spirit bears witness 00:57:00.289 --> 00:57:02.013 that we are children of God; 00:57:02.013 --> 00:57:04.827 eight - by the Spirit, you put to death 00:57:04.827 --> 00:57:06.804 the deeds of the body; 00:57:06.804 --> 00:57:11.012 nine - by the Spirit who is the Lord 00:57:11.012 --> 00:57:12.601 we are transformed 00:57:12.601 --> 00:57:14.528 from one degree of glory to another 00:57:14.528 --> 00:57:18.265 in this image of Christ; 00:57:18.265 --> 00:57:21.067 ten - the fruit of the Spirit: 00:57:21.067 --> 00:57:23.708 love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, 00:57:23.708 --> 00:57:25.540 goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, 00:57:25.540 --> 00:57:26.609 self-control - 00:57:26.609 --> 00:57:28.686 that is going to be evident; 00:57:28.686 --> 00:57:30.561 this grieving of the Spirit, 00:57:30.561 --> 00:57:33.123 the alienation that when Christians 00:57:33.123 --> 00:57:35.489 fall into sin, we grieve the Spirit; 00:57:35.489 --> 00:57:40.308 we reap consequences in the bone-wasting 00:57:40.308 --> 00:57:41.810 work of the Spirit; 00:57:41.810 --> 00:57:43.963 and then this last one, number 12, 00:57:43.963 --> 00:57:45.666 was right doctrine. 00:57:45.666 --> 00:57:48.286 The Spirit teaches us and leads us 00:57:48.286 --> 00:57:49.586 into the truth - 00:57:49.586 --> 00:57:52.597 especially the truth concerning Christ. 00:57:52.597 --> 00:57:55.596 These are 12 evidences. 00:57:55.596 --> 00:57:57.886 And remember what John says. 00:57:57.886 --> 00:58:06.186 "By this, we know..." 00:58:06.186 --> 00:58:11.594 By this, we know 00:58:11.594 --> 00:58:13.312 that God abides in us. 00:58:13.312 --> 00:58:18.268 We are the dwelling place of God. 00:58:18.268 --> 00:58:19.935 How? 00:58:19.935 --> 00:58:22.770 By the Holy Spirit. 00:58:22.770 --> 00:58:26.064 So that's what John teaches us 00:58:26.064 --> 00:58:27.491 in these passages.