What is the Purpose of the Fruits of the Spirit?
There are two huge things that the Fruits of the Spirit accomplish here on Earth.
* They give you the power to fulfill your destiny in Christ.
Without the Holy Spirit bearing spiritual fruit inside of you, you would be powerless.
You wouldn't have the endurance and faithfulness to complete the calling that God has given you. You wouldn't even have the self-discipline to study your Bible or pray.
Without the Fruits of the Spirit, the gifts that God has hidden inside of you, would stay locked away forever.
* They are what God uses to draw people to Himself through you.
Do you know anyone who, no matter the situation, always radiates a godly peace - They are unshakable. People in this world are drawn to that kind of peace.
With all of the chaos surrounding them every day, they search their entire lives for whatever peace and joy they can get their hands on.
They end up trying to fill the void with fleeting counterfeits like alcohol and illicit sex. Things that merely numb their pain for a short while, but leave them longing once again, after the party is over.
When they look at you in a time of crisis, and see God's unshakable peace and joy staring back at them through your eyes, they want to know what you know.
Then, you can introduce them to Who you know.
Remember, the Fruits of the Spirit are not something that you can scrounge up on your own, but gifts that God gives to you. He uses them to set you free from human frailties like anger, fear and depression.
He wants to give you His peace for your stress and anxiety, His love for your unforgiveness, His joy for your depression, and on and on. I explain more about how this Great Exchange takes place, as well as your vital role in the process, in The Hem's Online Bible Class, The Spirit Controlled Life.
Fruit of the Spirit Bible Study:
Reflection Questions:
1. Do you believe in your heart that you have been Marked by the Spirit of God? Why or why not?
2. Do you agree with the idea that people in the world can be drawn to God by His fruit in your life? Why or why not?
3. What Fruits of the Spirit do you already see manifesting in your life?
4. Which of the 9 Fruits of the Holy Spirit do you still need God to manifest inside of you? Stop now and pray for the Holy Spirit to begin this work today
Give and support The Joy of Jesus Today. God Bless You
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Monday, June 28, 2010
You can Trust The Joy of Jesus
We need a safe place to put our trust in today. The Holy Spirit has blessed us with this song that has deep intrinsic meaning to ones soul God Bless You. Do give our support The Joy of Jesus with love by visiting any of our sponsor. PEACE in the name of Jesus we pray....
Leaning on the Everlasting Arms
Text: Elisha A. Hoffman
Music: Anthony J. Showalter
Tune: SHOWALTER, Meter: 10 9.10 9 with Refrain
1. What a fellowship, what a joy divine,
leaning on the everlasting arms;
what a blessedness, what a peace is mine,
leaning on the everlasting arms.
Refrain:
Leaning, leaning,
safe and secure from all alarms;
leaning, leaning,
leaning on the everlasting arms.
2. O how sweet to walk in this pilgrim way,
leaning on the everlasting arms;
O how bright the path grows from day to day,
leaning on the everlasting arms.
(Refrain)
3. What have I to dread, what have I to fear,
leaning on the everlasting arms?
I have blessed peace with my Lord so near,
leaning on the everlasting arms.
(Refrain
Praise God for whom all blessings flow to the joy and name of Jesus. A-men...
Leaning on the Everlasting Arms
Text: Elisha A. Hoffman
Music: Anthony J. Showalter
Tune: SHOWALTER, Meter: 10 9.10 9 with Refrain
1. What a fellowship, what a joy divine,
leaning on the everlasting arms;
what a blessedness, what a peace is mine,
leaning on the everlasting arms.
Refrain:
Leaning, leaning,
safe and secure from all alarms;
leaning, leaning,
leaning on the everlasting arms.
2. O how sweet to walk in this pilgrim way,
leaning on the everlasting arms;
O how bright the path grows from day to day,
leaning on the everlasting arms.
(Refrain)
3. What have I to dread, what have I to fear,
leaning on the everlasting arms?
I have blessed peace with my Lord so near,
leaning on the everlasting arms.
(Refrain
Praise God for whom all blessings flow to the joy and name of Jesus. A-men...
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Sermon- We Need Jesus Today
The Joy of Jesus Praise God in Christ Jesus, and The Holy Spirit for all people. We need God more-so today than yesterday. People are suffering for types of reasons. We humble ourselves in on our knees to pray for the perfect will of God. Jesus is Christ is the only answer. We praise God so much today!
Love is all we need. The peace of God passes all understanding in Christ Jesus. The Lord knows all of the trails we are experiencing.
We are to wait on the Lord and be of good cheer. Jesus is the answer. We pray that your faith will increase and see you through all of these challenges we face. Glory to Glory to God in Jesus name we pray.A-men.
Special Sermon: THE PERSONALITY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
NO. 4
A SERMON DELIVERED ON SABBATH MORNING, JANUARY 21, 1855,
BY THE REV. C. H. SPURGEON,
AT NEW PARK STREET CHAPEL, SOUTHWARK.
“And I will pray the Father and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you
forever: even the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it sees Him not,
neither knows Him: but you know Him for He dwells with you and shall be in you.”
John 14:16, 17.
You will be surprised to hear me announce that I do not intend this morning to say anything about the Holy Spirit
as the Comforter. I propose to reserve that for a special Sermon this evening. In this discourse I shall endeavor to explain
and enforce certain other doctrines which I believe are plainly taught in this text and which I hope God the Holy Spirit
may make profitable to our souls.
Old John Newton once said that there were some books which he could not read, they were good and sound enough,
but, he said, “they are books of halfpence—you have to take so much in quantity before you have any value. There are
other books of silver and others of gold, but I have one book that is a book of bank notes. And every leaf is a bank note of
immense value.”
So I found with this text—that I had a bank note of so large a sum, that I could not preach on it all this morning. I
should have to keep you several hours before I could unfold to you the whole value of this precious promise—one of the
last which Christ gave to His people.
I invite your attention to this passage, because we shall find in it some instruction on four points, first, concerning
the true and proper personality of the Holy Spirit. Secondly, concerning the united agency of the glorious Three Persons in
the work of our salvation. Thirdly, we shall find something to establish the doctrine of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in
the souls of all Believers. And fourthly, we shall find out the reason why the carnal mind rejects the Holy Spirit.
I. First of all, we shall have some little instruction concerning the proper PERSONALITY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.
We are so much accustomed to talk about the influence of the Holy Spirit and His sacred operations and graces that we
are apt to forget that the Holy Spirit is truly and actually a Person—that He is a subsistence—an existence. Or as we
Trinitarians usually say, one Person in the essence of the Godhead. I am afraid that though we do not know it, we have
acquired the habit of regarding the Holy Spirit as an emanation flowing from the Father and the Son, but not as being
actually a Person Himself. I know it is not easy to carry about in our mind the idea of the Holy Spirit as a Person.
I can think of the Father as a Person, because His acts are such as I can understand. I see Him hang the world in
ether. I behold Him swaddling a newborn sea in bands of darkness. I know it is He who formed the drops of hail, who
leads forth the stars by their hosts and calls them by their name, I can conceive of Him as a Person because I behold His
operations. I can realize Jesus, the Son of Man, as a real Person because He is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh. It
takes no great stretch of my imagination to picture the Babe in Bethlehem, or to behold the, “Man of Sorrows and acquainted
with grief.” I can easily realize the King of martyrs, as He was persecuted in Pilate’s hall, or nailed to the accursed
tree for our sins.
Nor do I find it difficult at times to realize the Person of my Jesus sitting on His Throne in Heaven. Or girt with
clouds and wearing the diadem of all creation, calling the earth to judgment and summoning us to hear our final sentence.
But when I come to deal with the Holy Spirit—His operations are so mysterious, His doings are so secret, His acts
are so removed from everything that is of sense and of the body—that I cannot so easily get the idea of His being a Person.
But a Person He is. God the Holy Spirit is not an influence, an emanation, a stream of something flowing from the
Father. He is as much an actual Person as either God the Son, or God the Father. I shall attempt this morning a little to
establish the doctrine and to show you the truth of it—that God the Holy Spirit is actually a Person.
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The first proof we shall gather from the pool of holy Baptism. Let me take you down, as I have taken others, into the
pool. It is now concealed, but I wish it were always open to your view. Let me take you to the baptismal font, where Believers
put on the name of the Lord Jesus and you shall hear me pronounce the solemn words, “I baptize you in the
name,”—mark—“in the name,” not names—“of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” Everyone who is
baptized according to the true form laid down in Scripture must be a Trinitarian—otherwise his Baptism is a farce and a
lie and he himself is found a deceiver and a hypocrite before God.
As the Father is mentioned and as the Son is mentioned, so is the Holy Spirit and the whole is summed up as being a
Trinity in unity, by its being said, not the names, but the “name”—the glorious name—the Jehovah name, “of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” Let me remind you that the same thing occurs each time you are dismissed
from this house of prayer. In pronouncing the solemn closing benediction, we invoke on your behalf the love of Jesus
Christ, the grace of the Father and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. And thus, according to the Apostolic manner, we
make a manifest distinction between the Persons showing that we believe the Father to be a Person, the Son to be a Person
and the Holy Spirit to be a Person. Were there no other proofs in Scripture, I think these would be sufficient for
every sensible man. He would see that if the Holy Spirit were a mere influence, He would not be mentioned in conjunction
with two whom we all confess to be actual and proper Persons.
A second argument arises from the fact that the Holy Spirit has actually made different appearances on earth. The
Great Spirit has manifested Himself to man. He has put on a form so that while He has not been beheld by mortal men,
He has been so veiled in appearance that He was seen, so far as that appearance was concerned, by the eyes of all beholders.
Do you see Jesus Christ our Savior? There is the river Jordan, with its shelving banks and its willows weeping at its
side. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, descends into the stream and the holy Baptist, John, plunges Him into the waves.
The doors of Heaven are opened. A miraculous appearance presents itself—a bright light shinning from the sky,
brighter than the sun in all its grandeur—and down in a flood of glory descends something which you recognize to be a
dove. It rests on Jesus—it sits upon His sacred head and as the old painters put a halo round the brow of Jesus, so did the
Holy Spirit shed a resplendence around the face of Him who came to fulfill all Righteousness and therefore commenced
with the ordinances of Baptism. The Holy Spirit was seen as a dove—to mark His purity and His gentleness—and He
came down like a dove from Heaven to show that it is from Heaven alone that He descends.
Nor is this the only time when the Holy Spirit has been manifest in a visible shape. You notice that company of disciples
gathered together in an upper room—they are waiting for some promised blessing—by-and-by it shall come. Hark,
there is a sound as of a rushing mighty wind! It fills all the house where they are sitting. Astonished, they look around
them, wondering what will come next. Soon a bright light appears, shining upon the heads of each—cloven tongues of
fire sat upon them. What were these marvelous appearances of wind and flame but a display of the Holy Spirit in His
proper Person? I say the fact of an appearance manifests that He must be a Person. An influence could not appear—an
attribute could not appear—we cannot see attributes—we cannot behold influences. The Holy Spirit must, then, be a
Person—since He was beheld by mortal eyes and came under the cognizance of mortal sense.
Another proof is from the fact that personal qualities are, in Scripture, ascribed to the Holy Spirit. First, let me read
to you a text in which the Holy Spirit is spoken of as having understanding. In the 1st Epistle to the Corinthians, Chapter
2, you will read, “But as it is written, eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man, the
things which God has prepared for them that love Him. But God has revealed them unto us by His Spirit—for the Spirit
searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is
in him? Even so the things of God knows no man, but the Spirit of God.”
Here you see an understanding—a power of knowledge is ascribed to the Holy Spirit. Now, if there are any persons
here whose minds are of so preposterous a complexion that they would ascribe one attribute to another and would speak
of a mere influence having understanding—then I give up! But I believe every rational man will admit that when anything
is spoken of as having an understanding it must be an existence—it must, in fact, be a Person. In the 12th Chapter,
11th verse of the same Epistle, you will find a will ascribed to the Holy Spirit. “But all these work that one and the self
same Spirit, dividing to every man severally as He will.”
So it is plain the Spirit has a will. He does not come from God simply at God’s will, but He has a will of His own,
which is always in keeping with the will of the infinite Jehovah, but is, nevertheless, distinct and separate. Therefore I say
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He is a Person. In another text power is ascribed to the Holy Spirit and power is a thing which can only be ascribed to an
existence. In Romans 15:13, it is written, “Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may
abound in hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.” I need not insist upon it, because it is self-evident, that wherever
you find understanding, will and power—you must also find an existence. It cannot be a mere attribute. It cannot be a
metaphor. It cannot be a personified influence. It must be a Person.
But I have a proof which, perhaps, will be more telling upon you than any other. Acts and deeds are ascribed to the
Holy Spirit—therefore He must be a Person. you read in the first chapter of the Book of Genesis, that the Spirit brooded
over the surface of the earth, when it was as yet all disorder and confusion. This world was once a mass of chaotic matter.
There was no order. It was like the valley of darkness and of the shadow of death. God the Holy Spirit spread His wings
over it. He sowed the seeds of life in it—the germs from which all beings sprang were implanted by Him. He impregnated
the earth so that it became capable of life.
Now it must have been a Person who brought order out of confusion. It must have been an existence who hovered
over this world and made it what it now is. But do we not read in Scripture something more of the Holy Spirit? Yes, we
are told that “holy men of old spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” When Moses penned the Pentateuch, the
Holy Spirit moved his hand. When David wrote the Psalms and discoursed sweet music on his harp, it was the Holy
Spirit that gave his fingers their Seraphic motion. When Solomon dropped from his lips the words of the Proverbs of
wisdom, or when he hymned the Canticles of love it was the HOLY SPIRIT who gave him words of knowledge and
hymns of rapture.
Ah, and what fire was that which touched the lips of the eloquent Isaiah? What hand was that which came upon
Daniel? What might was that which made Jeremiah so plaintive in his grief? Or what was that which winged Ezekiel and
made him, like an eagle, soar into mysteries aloft and see the mighty unknown beyond our reach? Who was it that made
Amos, the herdsman, a Prophet? Who taught the rough Haggai to pronounce his thundering sentences? Who showed
Habakkuk the horses of Jehovah marching through the waters? Or who kindled the burning eloquence of Nahum? Who
caused Malachi to close up the book with the muttering of the word “curse”? Who was in each of these, save the Holy
Spirit? And must it not have been a Person who spoke in and through these ancient witnesses? We must believe it. We
cannot avoid believing it, when we recall that, “holy men of old spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.”
And when has the Holy Spirit ceased to have an influence upon men? We find that still He deals with His ministers
and with all His saints. Turn to the Acts and you will find that the Holy Spirit said, “Separate me Paul and Barnabas for
the work.” I never heard of an attribute saying such a thing! The Holy Spirit said to Peter, “Go to the centurion and
what I have cleansed, that call not you common.” The Holy Spirit caught away Philip after he had baptized yon eunuch
and carried him to another place. And the Holy Spirit said to Paul, “you shall not go into that city, but shall turn into
another.” And we know that the Holy Spirit was lied unto by Ananias and Sapphira, when it was said, “you have not
lied unto man, but unto God.”
Again, that power which we feel every day who are called to preach—that wondrous spell which makes our lips so
potent—that power which gives us thoughts which are like birds from a far-off region, not the natives of our soul. That
influence which I sometimes strangely feel, which, if it does not give me poetry and eloquence, gives me a might I never
felt before and lifts me above my fellow man. That majesty with which He clothes His ministers, till in the midst of the
battle they cry, aha! like the war-horse of Job and move themselves like leviathans in the water. That power which gives
us might over men and causes them to sit and listen as if their ears were chained, as if they were entranced by the power of
some magician’s wand—that power must come from a Person—it must come from the Holy Spirit.
But is it not said in Scripture and do we not feel it, dear Brethren, that it is the Holy Spirit who regenerates the soul?
It is the Holy Spirit who quickens us. “You has He quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins.” It is the Holy Spirit
who imparts the first germ of life, convicting us of sin, of righteousness and of judgment to come. And is it not the Holy
Spirit who after that flame is kindled, still fans it with the breath of His mouth and keeps it alive? Its Author is its Preserver.
Oh, can it be said that it is the Holy Spirit who strives in men’s souls, that it is the Holy Spirit who brings them to
the foot of Sinai and then guides them into the sweet place that is called Calvary—can it be said that He does all these
things and yet is not a Person? It may be said, but it must be said by fools. For he never can be a wise man who can consider
that these things can be done by any other than a glorious Person—a Divine Person.
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Allow me to give you one more proof and I shall have done. Certain feelings are ascribed to the Holy Spirit, which
can only be understood upon the supposition that He is actually a Person. In the 4th Chapter of Ephesians, verse 30, it is
said that the Holy Spirit can be grieved—“Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby you are sealed unto the day of
redemption.” In Isaiah 63:10 it is said that the Holy Spirit can be vexed—“But they rebelled and vexed His Holy Spirit,
therefore He was turned to be their enemy and He fought against them.” In Acts 7:51 you read that the Holy Spirit can
be resisted—“you stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you do always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers
did, so do you.”
And in the 5th Chapter, 9th verse of the same book, you will find that the Holy Spirit may be tempted. We are there informed
that Peter said to Ananias and Sapphira, “How is it that you have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the
Lord?” Now, these things could not be emotions which might be ascribed to a quality or an emanation—they must be
understood to relate to a Person. An influence could not be grieved. It must be a Person who can be grieved, vexed, or
resisted. And now, dear Brethren, I think I have fully established the point of the personality of the Holy Spirit.
Allow me now, most earnestly, to impress upon you the absolute necessity of being sound unto the doctrine of the
Trinity. I knew a man, a good minister of Jesus Christ he was—I believe he was before he turned aside unto heresy—he
began to doubt the glorious divinity of our blessed Lord and for years did he preach the heterodox doctrine. Then one
day he happened to hear a very eccentric old minister preaching from the text, “But there the glorious Lord shall be unto
us a place of broad rivers and streams, wherein shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby. Your
tackle is loosed—they could not well strengthen their mast, they could not spread the sail.”
“Now,” said the old minister, “you give up the Trinity and your tackle is loosed, you cannot strengthen your masts.
Once give up the doctrine of three Persons and your tackle is all gone. Your mast, which ought to be a support to your
vessel, is a rickety one and shakes.” A Gospel without a Trinity? It is a pyramid built upon its apex! A Gospel without the
Trinity? It is a rope of sand that cannot hold together! A Gospel without the Trinity? Then, indeed, Satan can overturn
it. But, give me a Gospel with the Trinity and the might of Hell cannot prevail against it. No man can any more overthrow
it than a bubble could split a rock, or a feather break in halves a mountain.
“Get the thought of the three Persons and you have the marrow of all divinity. Only know the Father and know the
Son and know the Holy Spirit to be One and all things will appear clear. This is the golden key to the secrets of nature.
This is the silken clue of the labyrinths of mystery and he who understands this, will soon understand as much as mortals
ever can know.”
II. Now for the second point—the UNITED AGENCY of the Three Persons in the work of our salvation. Look at
the text and you will find all the three Persons mentioned. “I,”—that is the Son—“will pray the Father and He shall
give you another Comforter.” There are the three Persons mentioned—all of them doing something for our salvation. “I
will pray,” says the Son. “I will send,” says the Father. “I will comfort,” says the Holy Spirit. Now, let us for a few moments
discourse upon this wondrous theme—the unity of the Three Persons with regard to the great purpose of the salvation
of the elect.
When God first made man, He said, “Let Us make man,” not let Me, but “Let Us make man in Our own image.” The
covenant Elohim said to each other, “Let Us unitedly become the Creator of man.” So, when in ages far gone by in eternity,
they said, “Let Us save man,” it was not the Father who said, “Let Me save man,” but the Three Persons conjointly
said with One consent, “Let Us save man.” It is to me a source of sweet comfort to think that it is not one Person of the
Trinity that is engaged for my salvation. It is not simply one Person of the Godhead who vows that He will redeem me,
but it is a glorious Trio of Godlike ones and the Three declare, unitedly, “We will save man.”
Now, observe here that each Person is spoken of as performing a separate office. “I will pray,” says the Son—that is
intercession. “I will send,” says the Father—that is donation. “I will comfort,” says the Holy Spirit—that is supernatural
influence. Oh, if it were possible for us to see the three Persons of the Godhead, we should behold one of them standing
before the Throne with outstretched hands crying day and night, “O Lord, how long?” We should see one girt with
Urim and Thummim, precious stones, on which are written the twelve names of the tribes of Israel. We should behold
Him crying unto His Father, “Forget not Your promises, forget not Your covenant.” We should hear Him make mention
of our sorrows and tell forth our griefs on our behalf, for He is our intercessor.
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And could we behold the Father, we should not see Him a listless and idle spectator of the intercession of the Son.
We should see Him with attentive ears listening to every word of Jesus and granting every petition. Where is the Holy
Spirit all the while? Is He lying idle? Oh no, He is floating over the earth and when He sees a weary soul, He says, “Come
to Jesus, He will give you rest.” When He beholds an eye filled with tears, He wipes away the tears and bids the mourner
look for comfort on the Cross. When He sees the tempest-tossed Believer, He takes the helm of his soul and speaks the
word of consolation. He helps the broken in heart and binds up their wounds.
And ever on His mission of mercy, He flies around the world, being everywhere present. Behold how the Three Persons
work together. Do not then say, “I am grateful to the Son”—you ought to be, but God the Son no more saves you
than God the Father. Do not imagine that God the Father is a great tyrant and that God the Son had to die to make
Him merciful. It was not to make the Father’s love flow towards His people. Oh, no. One loves as much as the other. The
Three are conjoined in the great purpose of rescuing the elect from damnation.
But you must notice another thing in my text which will show the blessed unity of the Three—the one Person promises
to the Other. The Son says, “I will pray the Father.” “Very well,” the disciples may have said, “We can trust You for
that.” “And He will send you.” You see here is the Son signing a bond on behalf of the Father. “He will send you another
Comforter.” There is a bond on behalf of the Holy Spirit, too. “And He will abide with you forever.” One person speaks
for the other and how could they if there were any disagreement between them? If one wished to save and the other not,
they could not promise on one another’s behalf. But whatever the Son says, the Father listens to. Whatever the Father
promises, the Holy Spirit works. And whatever the Holy Spirit injects into the soul—God the Father fulfills.
So the Three together mutually promise on one another’s behalf. There is a bond with three names appended—
Father, Son and Holy Spirit. By three immutable things, as well as by two, the Christian is secured beyond the reach of
death and Hell. A Trinity of Securities, because there is a Trinity of God.
III. Our third point is the INDWELLING of the Holy Spirit in Believers. Now Beloved, these first two things have
been matters of pure doctrine—this is the subject of experience. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is a subject so profound
and so having to do with the inner man, that no soul will be able truly and really to comprehend what I say, unless
it has been taught of God. I have heard of an old minister, who told a Fellow of one of the Cambridge Colleges that he
understood a language that he never learnt in all his life. “I have not,” he said, “even a smattering of Greek and I know
no Latin, but thank God I can talk the language of Canaan and that is more than you can.”
So, Beloved, I shall now have to talk a little of the language of Canaan. If you cannot comprehend me, I am much
afraid it is because you are not of Israelite extraction—you are not a child of God nor an inheritor of the kingdom of
Heaven.
We are told in the text, that Jesus would send the Comforter, who would abide in the saints forever—who would
dwell with them and be in them. Old Ignatius, the martyr, used to call himself Theophorus, or the God-bearer, “because,”
said he, “I bear about with me the Holy Spirit.” And truly every Christian is a God-bearer. Know you not that
you are temples of the Holy Spirit? For He dwells in you. That man is no Christian who is not the subject of the indwelling
of the Holy Spirit.
He may talk well, he may understand theology and be a sound Calvinist. He will be the child of nature finely dressed,
but not the living child. He may be a man of so profound an intellect, so gigantic a soul, so comprehensive a mind and so
lofty an imagination that he may dive into all the secrets of nature. He may know the path which the eagle’s eye has not
seen and go into depths where mortals reach not. But he shall not be a Christian with all his knowledge. He shall not be a
son of God with all his researches, unless he understands what it is to have the Holy Spirit dwelling in him and abiding in
him— yes and that forever.
Some people call this fanaticism and they say, “you are a Quaker, why not follow George Fox?” Well we would not
mind that much—we would follow anyone who followed the Holy Spirit. Even he, with all his eccentricities, I doubt
not, was, in many cases, actually inspired by the Holy Spirit. And whenever I find a man in whom there rests the Spirit of
God, the Spirit within me leaps to hear the Spirit within him and he feels that we are one. The Spirit of God in one Christian
soul recognizes the Spirit in another. I recollect talking with a good man, as I believe he was, who was insisting that
it was impossible for us to know whether we had the Holy Spirit within us or not.
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I should like him to be here this morning, because I would read this verse to him—“But you know Him, for He
dwells with you and shall be in you.” Ah, you think you cannot tell whether you have the Holy Spirit or not? Can I tell
whether I am alive or not? If I were touched by electricity, could I tell whether I was or not? I suppose I should. The shock
would be strong enough to make me know where I stood. So, if I have God within me—if I have Deity tabernacling in
my breast—if I have God the Holy Spirit resting in my heart and making a temple of my body—do you think I shall not
know it? Call it fanaticism if you will. But I trust that there are some of us who know what it is to be always, or generally,
under the influence of the Holy Spirit—always in one sense—generally in another.
When we have difficulties we ask the direction of the Holy Spirit. When we do not understand a portion of Holy
Scripture, we ask God the Holy Spirit to shine upon us. When we are depressed, the Holy Spirit comforts us. You cannot
tell what the wondrous power of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is—how it pulls back the hand of the saint when he
would touch the forbidden thing. How it prompts him to make a covenant with his eyes. How it binds his feet, lest they
should fall in a slippery way, how it restrains his heart and keeps him from temptation.
O you who know nothing of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, despise it not. O despise not the Holy Spirit, for it is
the unpardonable sin. “He that speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him, but he that speaks against
the Holy Spirit, it shall never be forgiven him, either in this life, or that which is to come.” So says the Word of God.
Therefore, tremble, lest in anything you despise the influences of the Holy Spirit.
But before closing this point, there is one little word which pleases me very much. That is, “forever.” You knew I
should not miss that. You were certain I could not let it go without observation. “Abide with you forever.” I wish I
could get an Arminian here to finish my sermon. I fancy I see him taking that word, “forever.” He would say, “for—
forever.” He would have to stammer and stutter. For he never could get it out all at once. He might stand and pull it
about and at last he would have to say, “the translation is wrong.” And then I suppose the poor man would have to
prove that the original was wrong, too. Ah, but blessed be God, we can read it—“He shall abide with you forever.” Once
give me the Holy Spirit and I shall never lose Him till “forever” has run out—till eternity has spun its everlasting
rounds!
IV. Now we have to close up with a brief remark on the reason why the world rejects the Holy Spirit. It is said,
“Whom the world cannot receive, because it sees Him not, neither knows Him.” You know what is sometimes meant by
“the world”—those whom God, in His wondrous sovereignty, passed over when He chose His people—the preterite
ones. Those passed over in God’s wondrous preterition—not the reprobates who were condemned to damnation by some
awful decree, but those passed over by God, when He chose out His elect. These cannot receive the Spirit. Again, it means
all in a carnal state are not able to procure themselves this Divine influence. And thus it is true, “Whom the world cannot
receive.”
The unregenerate world of sinners despises the Holy Spirit, “because it sees Him not.” Yes, I believe this is the great
secret why many laugh at the idea of the existence of the Holy Spirit—because they see Him not. You tell the worldling,
“I have the Holy Spirit within me.” He says, “I cannot see it.” He wants it to be something tangible—a thing he can recognize
with his senses. Have you ever heard the argument used by a good old Christian against an infidel doctor? The
doctor said there was no soul and he asked, “Did you ever see a soul?” “No,” said the Christian. “Did you ever hear a
soul?” “No.” “Did you ever smell a soul?” No.” “Did you ever taste a soul?” “No.” “Did you ever feel a soul?”
“Yes,” said the man—“I feel I have one within me.” “Well,” said the doctor, “there are four senses against one—
you have only one on your side.” “Very well,” said the Christian, “Did you ever see a pain?” “No.” “Did you ever hear a
pain?” “No.” “Did you ever smell a pain?” “No.” “Did you ever taste a pain?” “No.” “Did you ever feel a pain?” “Yes,”
“And that is quite enough, I suppose, to prove there is a pain?” “Yes.” So the worldling says there is no Holy Spirit, because
he cannot see it. Well, but we feel it. You say that is fanaticism and that we never felt it. Suppose you tell me that
honey is bitter, I reply “No, I am sure you cannot have tasted it. Taste it and try.”
So with the Holy Spirit. If you did but feel His influence, you would no longer say there is no Holy Spirit because
you cannot see it. Are there not many things, even in nature, which we cannot see? Did you ever see the wind? No. But
you know there is wind when you behold the hurricane tossing the waves about and rending down the habitations of
men. Or when in the soft evening zephyr it kisses the flowers and makes dewdrops hang in pearly coronets around the
rose. Did you ever see electricity? No, but you know there is such a thing, for it travels along the wires for thousands of
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miles and carries our messages. Though you cannot see the thing itself, you know there is such a thing. So you must believe
there is a Holy Spirit working in us, both to will and to do, even though it is beyond our senses.
But the last reason why worldly men laugh at the doctrine of the Holy Spirit is because they do not know it. If they
knew it by heart-felt experience and if they recognized its agency in the soul—if they had ever been touched by it. If they
had been made to tremble under a sense of sin—if they had had their hearts melted—they would never have doubted the
existence of the Holy Spirit.
And now, Beloved, it says, “He dwells with you and shall be in you.” We will close up with that sweet recollection—
the Holy Spirit dwells in all Believers and shall be with them.
One word of comment and advice to the saints of God and to sinners and I have done. Saints of the Lord! You have
this morning heard that God the Holy Spirit is a Person. You have had it proved to your souls. What follows from this?
Why, it follows how earnest you should be—in prayer to the Holy Spirit, as well as for the Holy Spirit. Let me say that
this is an inference that you should lift up your prayers to the Holy Spirit, that you should cry earnestly unto Him, for
He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all you can ask or think.
See this mass of people? What is to convert it? See this crowd—who is to make my influence permeate through the
mass? You know this place has now a mighty influence—and God blessing us, it will continue to have an influence—not
only upon this city but upon England at large. We now enjoy the press as well as the pulpit and certainly, I should say
before the close of the year, more than two hundred thousand of my productions will be scattered through the land—
words uttered by my lips, or written by my pen. But how can this influence be rendered for good? How shall God’s glory
be promoted by it? Only by incessant prayer for the Holy Spirit—by constantly calling down the influence of the Holy
Spirit upon us.
We want Him to rest upon every page that is printed and upon every word that is uttered. Let us then be doubly earnest
in pleading with the Holy Spirit, that He would come and own our labors, that the
whole Church at large may be revived thereby and not ourselves only, but the whole world share in the benefit.
Then to the ungodly I have this one closing word to say. Ever be careful how you speak of the Holy Spirit. I do not
know what the unpardonable sin is and I do not think any man understands it. But it is something like this—“He that
speaks a word against the Holy Spirit, it shall never be forgiven him.” I do not know what that means—but tread carefully!
There is danger. There is a pit which our ignorance has covered by sand—tread carefully—you may be in it before
the next hour. If there is any strife in your heart today, perhaps you will go to the ale-house and forget it. Perhaps there
is some voice speaking in your soul and you will put it away.
I do not tell you you will be resisting the Holy Spirit and committing the unpardonable sin. But it is somewhere
there. Be very careful. Oh, there is no crime on earth so black as the crime against the Holy Spirit. You may blaspheme
the Father and you shall be damned for it unless you repent. You may blaspheme the Son—and Hell shall be your portion,
unless you are forgiven. But blaspheme the Holy Spirit and thus says the Lord, “There is no forgiveness, neither in
this world, nor in the world which is to come.” I cannot tell you what it is. I do not profess to understand it. But there it
is.
It is the danger signal. Stop, Man, stop! If you have despised the Holy Spirit, if you have laughed at His revelations
and scorned what Christians call His influence, I beseech you, stop! This morning seriously deliberate—perhaps some of
you have actually committed the unpardonable sin. Stop! Let fear stop you. Sit down. Do not drive on so rashly as you
have done. You who are such a profligate in sin, you who have uttered such hard words against the Trinity, stop!
Ah, it makes us all stop. It makes us all draw up and say, “Have I not perhaps so done?” Let us think of this and let
us not at any time trifle either with the words, or the acts of God the Holy Spirit.
Adapted from The C.H. Spurgeon Collection, Version 1.0, Ages Software, 1.800.297.4307
Love is all we need. The peace of God passes all understanding in Christ Jesus. The Lord knows all of the trails we are experiencing.
We are to wait on the Lord and be of good cheer. Jesus is the answer. We pray that your faith will increase and see you through all of these challenges we face. Glory to Glory to God in Jesus name we pray.A-men.
Special Sermon: THE PERSONALITY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
NO. 4
A SERMON DELIVERED ON SABBATH MORNING, JANUARY 21, 1855,
BY THE REV. C. H. SPURGEON,
AT NEW PARK STREET CHAPEL, SOUTHWARK.
“And I will pray the Father and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you
forever: even the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it sees Him not,
neither knows Him: but you know Him for He dwells with you and shall be in you.”
John 14:16, 17.
You will be surprised to hear me announce that I do not intend this morning to say anything about the Holy Spirit
as the Comforter. I propose to reserve that for a special Sermon this evening. In this discourse I shall endeavor to explain
and enforce certain other doctrines which I believe are plainly taught in this text and which I hope God the Holy Spirit
may make profitable to our souls.
Old John Newton once said that there were some books which he could not read, they were good and sound enough,
but, he said, “they are books of halfpence—you have to take so much in quantity before you have any value. There are
other books of silver and others of gold, but I have one book that is a book of bank notes. And every leaf is a bank note of
immense value.”
So I found with this text—that I had a bank note of so large a sum, that I could not preach on it all this morning. I
should have to keep you several hours before I could unfold to you the whole value of this precious promise—one of the
last which Christ gave to His people.
I invite your attention to this passage, because we shall find in it some instruction on four points, first, concerning
the true and proper personality of the Holy Spirit. Secondly, concerning the united agency of the glorious Three Persons in
the work of our salvation. Thirdly, we shall find something to establish the doctrine of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in
the souls of all Believers. And fourthly, we shall find out the reason why the carnal mind rejects the Holy Spirit.
I. First of all, we shall have some little instruction concerning the proper PERSONALITY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.
We are so much accustomed to talk about the influence of the Holy Spirit and His sacred operations and graces that we
are apt to forget that the Holy Spirit is truly and actually a Person—that He is a subsistence—an existence. Or as we
Trinitarians usually say, one Person in the essence of the Godhead. I am afraid that though we do not know it, we have
acquired the habit of regarding the Holy Spirit as an emanation flowing from the Father and the Son, but not as being
actually a Person Himself. I know it is not easy to carry about in our mind the idea of the Holy Spirit as a Person.
I can think of the Father as a Person, because His acts are such as I can understand. I see Him hang the world in
ether. I behold Him swaddling a newborn sea in bands of darkness. I know it is He who formed the drops of hail, who
leads forth the stars by their hosts and calls them by their name, I can conceive of Him as a Person because I behold His
operations. I can realize Jesus, the Son of Man, as a real Person because He is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh. It
takes no great stretch of my imagination to picture the Babe in Bethlehem, or to behold the, “Man of Sorrows and acquainted
with grief.” I can easily realize the King of martyrs, as He was persecuted in Pilate’s hall, or nailed to the accursed
tree for our sins.
Nor do I find it difficult at times to realize the Person of my Jesus sitting on His Throne in Heaven. Or girt with
clouds and wearing the diadem of all creation, calling the earth to judgment and summoning us to hear our final sentence.
But when I come to deal with the Holy Spirit—His operations are so mysterious, His doings are so secret, His acts
are so removed from everything that is of sense and of the body—that I cannot so easily get the idea of His being a Person.
But a Person He is. God the Holy Spirit is not an influence, an emanation, a stream of something flowing from the
Father. He is as much an actual Person as either God the Son, or God the Father. I shall attempt this morning a little to
establish the doctrine and to show you the truth of it—that God the Holy Spirit is actually a Person.
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The first proof we shall gather from the pool of holy Baptism. Let me take you down, as I have taken others, into the
pool. It is now concealed, but I wish it were always open to your view. Let me take you to the baptismal font, where Believers
put on the name of the Lord Jesus and you shall hear me pronounce the solemn words, “I baptize you in the
name,”—mark—“in the name,” not names—“of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” Everyone who is
baptized according to the true form laid down in Scripture must be a Trinitarian—otherwise his Baptism is a farce and a
lie and he himself is found a deceiver and a hypocrite before God.
As the Father is mentioned and as the Son is mentioned, so is the Holy Spirit and the whole is summed up as being a
Trinity in unity, by its being said, not the names, but the “name”—the glorious name—the Jehovah name, “of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” Let me remind you that the same thing occurs each time you are dismissed
from this house of prayer. In pronouncing the solemn closing benediction, we invoke on your behalf the love of Jesus
Christ, the grace of the Father and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. And thus, according to the Apostolic manner, we
make a manifest distinction between the Persons showing that we believe the Father to be a Person, the Son to be a Person
and the Holy Spirit to be a Person. Were there no other proofs in Scripture, I think these would be sufficient for
every sensible man. He would see that if the Holy Spirit were a mere influence, He would not be mentioned in conjunction
with two whom we all confess to be actual and proper Persons.
A second argument arises from the fact that the Holy Spirit has actually made different appearances on earth. The
Great Spirit has manifested Himself to man. He has put on a form so that while He has not been beheld by mortal men,
He has been so veiled in appearance that He was seen, so far as that appearance was concerned, by the eyes of all beholders.
Do you see Jesus Christ our Savior? There is the river Jordan, with its shelving banks and its willows weeping at its
side. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, descends into the stream and the holy Baptist, John, plunges Him into the waves.
The doors of Heaven are opened. A miraculous appearance presents itself—a bright light shinning from the sky,
brighter than the sun in all its grandeur—and down in a flood of glory descends something which you recognize to be a
dove. It rests on Jesus—it sits upon His sacred head and as the old painters put a halo round the brow of Jesus, so did the
Holy Spirit shed a resplendence around the face of Him who came to fulfill all Righteousness and therefore commenced
with the ordinances of Baptism. The Holy Spirit was seen as a dove—to mark His purity and His gentleness—and He
came down like a dove from Heaven to show that it is from Heaven alone that He descends.
Nor is this the only time when the Holy Spirit has been manifest in a visible shape. You notice that company of disciples
gathered together in an upper room—they are waiting for some promised blessing—by-and-by it shall come. Hark,
there is a sound as of a rushing mighty wind! It fills all the house where they are sitting. Astonished, they look around
them, wondering what will come next. Soon a bright light appears, shining upon the heads of each—cloven tongues of
fire sat upon them. What were these marvelous appearances of wind and flame but a display of the Holy Spirit in His
proper Person? I say the fact of an appearance manifests that He must be a Person. An influence could not appear—an
attribute could not appear—we cannot see attributes—we cannot behold influences. The Holy Spirit must, then, be a
Person—since He was beheld by mortal eyes and came under the cognizance of mortal sense.
Another proof is from the fact that personal qualities are, in Scripture, ascribed to the Holy Spirit. First, let me read
to you a text in which the Holy Spirit is spoken of as having understanding. In the 1st Epistle to the Corinthians, Chapter
2, you will read, “But as it is written, eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man, the
things which God has prepared for them that love Him. But God has revealed them unto us by His Spirit—for the Spirit
searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is
in him? Even so the things of God knows no man, but the Spirit of God.”
Here you see an understanding—a power of knowledge is ascribed to the Holy Spirit. Now, if there are any persons
here whose minds are of so preposterous a complexion that they would ascribe one attribute to another and would speak
of a mere influence having understanding—then I give up! But I believe every rational man will admit that when anything
is spoken of as having an understanding it must be an existence—it must, in fact, be a Person. In the 12th Chapter,
11th verse of the same Epistle, you will find a will ascribed to the Holy Spirit. “But all these work that one and the self
same Spirit, dividing to every man severally as He will.”
So it is plain the Spirit has a will. He does not come from God simply at God’s will, but He has a will of His own,
which is always in keeping with the will of the infinite Jehovah, but is, nevertheless, distinct and separate. Therefore I say
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He is a Person. In another text power is ascribed to the Holy Spirit and power is a thing which can only be ascribed to an
existence. In Romans 15:13, it is written, “Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may
abound in hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.” I need not insist upon it, because it is self-evident, that wherever
you find understanding, will and power—you must also find an existence. It cannot be a mere attribute. It cannot be a
metaphor. It cannot be a personified influence. It must be a Person.
But I have a proof which, perhaps, will be more telling upon you than any other. Acts and deeds are ascribed to the
Holy Spirit—therefore He must be a Person. you read in the first chapter of the Book of Genesis, that the Spirit brooded
over the surface of the earth, when it was as yet all disorder and confusion. This world was once a mass of chaotic matter.
There was no order. It was like the valley of darkness and of the shadow of death. God the Holy Spirit spread His wings
over it. He sowed the seeds of life in it—the germs from which all beings sprang were implanted by Him. He impregnated
the earth so that it became capable of life.
Now it must have been a Person who brought order out of confusion. It must have been an existence who hovered
over this world and made it what it now is. But do we not read in Scripture something more of the Holy Spirit? Yes, we
are told that “holy men of old spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” When Moses penned the Pentateuch, the
Holy Spirit moved his hand. When David wrote the Psalms and discoursed sweet music on his harp, it was the Holy
Spirit that gave his fingers their Seraphic motion. When Solomon dropped from his lips the words of the Proverbs of
wisdom, or when he hymned the Canticles of love it was the HOLY SPIRIT who gave him words of knowledge and
hymns of rapture.
Ah, and what fire was that which touched the lips of the eloquent Isaiah? What hand was that which came upon
Daniel? What might was that which made Jeremiah so plaintive in his grief? Or what was that which winged Ezekiel and
made him, like an eagle, soar into mysteries aloft and see the mighty unknown beyond our reach? Who was it that made
Amos, the herdsman, a Prophet? Who taught the rough Haggai to pronounce his thundering sentences? Who showed
Habakkuk the horses of Jehovah marching through the waters? Or who kindled the burning eloquence of Nahum? Who
caused Malachi to close up the book with the muttering of the word “curse”? Who was in each of these, save the Holy
Spirit? And must it not have been a Person who spoke in and through these ancient witnesses? We must believe it. We
cannot avoid believing it, when we recall that, “holy men of old spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.”
And when has the Holy Spirit ceased to have an influence upon men? We find that still He deals with His ministers
and with all His saints. Turn to the Acts and you will find that the Holy Spirit said, “Separate me Paul and Barnabas for
the work.” I never heard of an attribute saying such a thing! The Holy Spirit said to Peter, “Go to the centurion and
what I have cleansed, that call not you common.” The Holy Spirit caught away Philip after he had baptized yon eunuch
and carried him to another place. And the Holy Spirit said to Paul, “you shall not go into that city, but shall turn into
another.” And we know that the Holy Spirit was lied unto by Ananias and Sapphira, when it was said, “you have not
lied unto man, but unto God.”
Again, that power which we feel every day who are called to preach—that wondrous spell which makes our lips so
potent—that power which gives us thoughts which are like birds from a far-off region, not the natives of our soul. That
influence which I sometimes strangely feel, which, if it does not give me poetry and eloquence, gives me a might I never
felt before and lifts me above my fellow man. That majesty with which He clothes His ministers, till in the midst of the
battle they cry, aha! like the war-horse of Job and move themselves like leviathans in the water. That power which gives
us might over men and causes them to sit and listen as if their ears were chained, as if they were entranced by the power of
some magician’s wand—that power must come from a Person—it must come from the Holy Spirit.
But is it not said in Scripture and do we not feel it, dear Brethren, that it is the Holy Spirit who regenerates the soul?
It is the Holy Spirit who quickens us. “You has He quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins.” It is the Holy Spirit
who imparts the first germ of life, convicting us of sin, of righteousness and of judgment to come. And is it not the Holy
Spirit who after that flame is kindled, still fans it with the breath of His mouth and keeps it alive? Its Author is its Preserver.
Oh, can it be said that it is the Holy Spirit who strives in men’s souls, that it is the Holy Spirit who brings them to
the foot of Sinai and then guides them into the sweet place that is called Calvary—can it be said that He does all these
things and yet is not a Person? It may be said, but it must be said by fools. For he never can be a wise man who can consider
that these things can be done by any other than a glorious Person—a Divine Person.
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Allow me to give you one more proof and I shall have done. Certain feelings are ascribed to the Holy Spirit, which
can only be understood upon the supposition that He is actually a Person. In the 4th Chapter of Ephesians, verse 30, it is
said that the Holy Spirit can be grieved—“Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby you are sealed unto the day of
redemption.” In Isaiah 63:10 it is said that the Holy Spirit can be vexed—“But they rebelled and vexed His Holy Spirit,
therefore He was turned to be their enemy and He fought against them.” In Acts 7:51 you read that the Holy Spirit can
be resisted—“you stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you do always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers
did, so do you.”
And in the 5th Chapter, 9th verse of the same book, you will find that the Holy Spirit may be tempted. We are there informed
that Peter said to Ananias and Sapphira, “How is it that you have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the
Lord?” Now, these things could not be emotions which might be ascribed to a quality or an emanation—they must be
understood to relate to a Person. An influence could not be grieved. It must be a Person who can be grieved, vexed, or
resisted. And now, dear Brethren, I think I have fully established the point of the personality of the Holy Spirit.
Allow me now, most earnestly, to impress upon you the absolute necessity of being sound unto the doctrine of the
Trinity. I knew a man, a good minister of Jesus Christ he was—I believe he was before he turned aside unto heresy—he
began to doubt the glorious divinity of our blessed Lord and for years did he preach the heterodox doctrine. Then one
day he happened to hear a very eccentric old minister preaching from the text, “But there the glorious Lord shall be unto
us a place of broad rivers and streams, wherein shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby. Your
tackle is loosed—they could not well strengthen their mast, they could not spread the sail.”
“Now,” said the old minister, “you give up the Trinity and your tackle is loosed, you cannot strengthen your masts.
Once give up the doctrine of three Persons and your tackle is all gone. Your mast, which ought to be a support to your
vessel, is a rickety one and shakes.” A Gospel without a Trinity? It is a pyramid built upon its apex! A Gospel without the
Trinity? It is a rope of sand that cannot hold together! A Gospel without the Trinity? Then, indeed, Satan can overturn
it. But, give me a Gospel with the Trinity and the might of Hell cannot prevail against it. No man can any more overthrow
it than a bubble could split a rock, or a feather break in halves a mountain.
“Get the thought of the three Persons and you have the marrow of all divinity. Only know the Father and know the
Son and know the Holy Spirit to be One and all things will appear clear. This is the golden key to the secrets of nature.
This is the silken clue of the labyrinths of mystery and he who understands this, will soon understand as much as mortals
ever can know.”
II. Now for the second point—the UNITED AGENCY of the Three Persons in the work of our salvation. Look at
the text and you will find all the three Persons mentioned. “I,”—that is the Son—“will pray the Father and He shall
give you another Comforter.” There are the three Persons mentioned—all of them doing something for our salvation. “I
will pray,” says the Son. “I will send,” says the Father. “I will comfort,” says the Holy Spirit. Now, let us for a few moments
discourse upon this wondrous theme—the unity of the Three Persons with regard to the great purpose of the salvation
of the elect.
When God first made man, He said, “Let Us make man,” not let Me, but “Let Us make man in Our own image.” The
covenant Elohim said to each other, “Let Us unitedly become the Creator of man.” So, when in ages far gone by in eternity,
they said, “Let Us save man,” it was not the Father who said, “Let Me save man,” but the Three Persons conjointly
said with One consent, “Let Us save man.” It is to me a source of sweet comfort to think that it is not one Person of the
Trinity that is engaged for my salvation. It is not simply one Person of the Godhead who vows that He will redeem me,
but it is a glorious Trio of Godlike ones and the Three declare, unitedly, “We will save man.”
Now, observe here that each Person is spoken of as performing a separate office. “I will pray,” says the Son—that is
intercession. “I will send,” says the Father—that is donation. “I will comfort,” says the Holy Spirit—that is supernatural
influence. Oh, if it were possible for us to see the three Persons of the Godhead, we should behold one of them standing
before the Throne with outstretched hands crying day and night, “O Lord, how long?” We should see one girt with
Urim and Thummim, precious stones, on which are written the twelve names of the tribes of Israel. We should behold
Him crying unto His Father, “Forget not Your promises, forget not Your covenant.” We should hear Him make mention
of our sorrows and tell forth our griefs on our behalf, for He is our intercessor.
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And could we behold the Father, we should not see Him a listless and idle spectator of the intercession of the Son.
We should see Him with attentive ears listening to every word of Jesus and granting every petition. Where is the Holy
Spirit all the while? Is He lying idle? Oh no, He is floating over the earth and when He sees a weary soul, He says, “Come
to Jesus, He will give you rest.” When He beholds an eye filled with tears, He wipes away the tears and bids the mourner
look for comfort on the Cross. When He sees the tempest-tossed Believer, He takes the helm of his soul and speaks the
word of consolation. He helps the broken in heart and binds up their wounds.
And ever on His mission of mercy, He flies around the world, being everywhere present. Behold how the Three Persons
work together. Do not then say, “I am grateful to the Son”—you ought to be, but God the Son no more saves you
than God the Father. Do not imagine that God the Father is a great tyrant and that God the Son had to die to make
Him merciful. It was not to make the Father’s love flow towards His people. Oh, no. One loves as much as the other. The
Three are conjoined in the great purpose of rescuing the elect from damnation.
But you must notice another thing in my text which will show the blessed unity of the Three—the one Person promises
to the Other. The Son says, “I will pray the Father.” “Very well,” the disciples may have said, “We can trust You for
that.” “And He will send you.” You see here is the Son signing a bond on behalf of the Father. “He will send you another
Comforter.” There is a bond on behalf of the Holy Spirit, too. “And He will abide with you forever.” One person speaks
for the other and how could they if there were any disagreement between them? If one wished to save and the other not,
they could not promise on one another’s behalf. But whatever the Son says, the Father listens to. Whatever the Father
promises, the Holy Spirit works. And whatever the Holy Spirit injects into the soul—God the Father fulfills.
So the Three together mutually promise on one another’s behalf. There is a bond with three names appended—
Father, Son and Holy Spirit. By three immutable things, as well as by two, the Christian is secured beyond the reach of
death and Hell. A Trinity of Securities, because there is a Trinity of God.
III. Our third point is the INDWELLING of the Holy Spirit in Believers. Now Beloved, these first two things have
been matters of pure doctrine—this is the subject of experience. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is a subject so profound
and so having to do with the inner man, that no soul will be able truly and really to comprehend what I say, unless
it has been taught of God. I have heard of an old minister, who told a Fellow of one of the Cambridge Colleges that he
understood a language that he never learnt in all his life. “I have not,” he said, “even a smattering of Greek and I know
no Latin, but thank God I can talk the language of Canaan and that is more than you can.”
So, Beloved, I shall now have to talk a little of the language of Canaan. If you cannot comprehend me, I am much
afraid it is because you are not of Israelite extraction—you are not a child of God nor an inheritor of the kingdom of
Heaven.
We are told in the text, that Jesus would send the Comforter, who would abide in the saints forever—who would
dwell with them and be in them. Old Ignatius, the martyr, used to call himself Theophorus, or the God-bearer, “because,”
said he, “I bear about with me the Holy Spirit.” And truly every Christian is a God-bearer. Know you not that
you are temples of the Holy Spirit? For He dwells in you. That man is no Christian who is not the subject of the indwelling
of the Holy Spirit.
He may talk well, he may understand theology and be a sound Calvinist. He will be the child of nature finely dressed,
but not the living child. He may be a man of so profound an intellect, so gigantic a soul, so comprehensive a mind and so
lofty an imagination that he may dive into all the secrets of nature. He may know the path which the eagle’s eye has not
seen and go into depths where mortals reach not. But he shall not be a Christian with all his knowledge. He shall not be a
son of God with all his researches, unless he understands what it is to have the Holy Spirit dwelling in him and abiding in
him— yes and that forever.
Some people call this fanaticism and they say, “you are a Quaker, why not follow George Fox?” Well we would not
mind that much—we would follow anyone who followed the Holy Spirit. Even he, with all his eccentricities, I doubt
not, was, in many cases, actually inspired by the Holy Spirit. And whenever I find a man in whom there rests the Spirit of
God, the Spirit within me leaps to hear the Spirit within him and he feels that we are one. The Spirit of God in one Christian
soul recognizes the Spirit in another. I recollect talking with a good man, as I believe he was, who was insisting that
it was impossible for us to know whether we had the Holy Spirit within us or not.
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I should like him to be here this morning, because I would read this verse to him—“But you know Him, for He
dwells with you and shall be in you.” Ah, you think you cannot tell whether you have the Holy Spirit or not? Can I tell
whether I am alive or not? If I were touched by electricity, could I tell whether I was or not? I suppose I should. The shock
would be strong enough to make me know where I stood. So, if I have God within me—if I have Deity tabernacling in
my breast—if I have God the Holy Spirit resting in my heart and making a temple of my body—do you think I shall not
know it? Call it fanaticism if you will. But I trust that there are some of us who know what it is to be always, or generally,
under the influence of the Holy Spirit—always in one sense—generally in another.
When we have difficulties we ask the direction of the Holy Spirit. When we do not understand a portion of Holy
Scripture, we ask God the Holy Spirit to shine upon us. When we are depressed, the Holy Spirit comforts us. You cannot
tell what the wondrous power of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is—how it pulls back the hand of the saint when he
would touch the forbidden thing. How it prompts him to make a covenant with his eyes. How it binds his feet, lest they
should fall in a slippery way, how it restrains his heart and keeps him from temptation.
O you who know nothing of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, despise it not. O despise not the Holy Spirit, for it is
the unpardonable sin. “He that speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him, but he that speaks against
the Holy Spirit, it shall never be forgiven him, either in this life, or that which is to come.” So says the Word of God.
Therefore, tremble, lest in anything you despise the influences of the Holy Spirit.
But before closing this point, there is one little word which pleases me very much. That is, “forever.” You knew I
should not miss that. You were certain I could not let it go without observation. “Abide with you forever.” I wish I
could get an Arminian here to finish my sermon. I fancy I see him taking that word, “forever.” He would say, “for—
forever.” He would have to stammer and stutter. For he never could get it out all at once. He might stand and pull it
about and at last he would have to say, “the translation is wrong.” And then I suppose the poor man would have to
prove that the original was wrong, too. Ah, but blessed be God, we can read it—“He shall abide with you forever.” Once
give me the Holy Spirit and I shall never lose Him till “forever” has run out—till eternity has spun its everlasting
rounds!
IV. Now we have to close up with a brief remark on the reason why the world rejects the Holy Spirit. It is said,
“Whom the world cannot receive, because it sees Him not, neither knows Him.” You know what is sometimes meant by
“the world”—those whom God, in His wondrous sovereignty, passed over when He chose His people—the preterite
ones. Those passed over in God’s wondrous preterition—not the reprobates who were condemned to damnation by some
awful decree, but those passed over by God, when He chose out His elect. These cannot receive the Spirit. Again, it means
all in a carnal state are not able to procure themselves this Divine influence. And thus it is true, “Whom the world cannot
receive.”
The unregenerate world of sinners despises the Holy Spirit, “because it sees Him not.” Yes, I believe this is the great
secret why many laugh at the idea of the existence of the Holy Spirit—because they see Him not. You tell the worldling,
“I have the Holy Spirit within me.” He says, “I cannot see it.” He wants it to be something tangible—a thing he can recognize
with his senses. Have you ever heard the argument used by a good old Christian against an infidel doctor? The
doctor said there was no soul and he asked, “Did you ever see a soul?” “No,” said the Christian. “Did you ever hear a
soul?” “No.” “Did you ever smell a soul?” No.” “Did you ever taste a soul?” “No.” “Did you ever feel a soul?”
“Yes,” said the man—“I feel I have one within me.” “Well,” said the doctor, “there are four senses against one—
you have only one on your side.” “Very well,” said the Christian, “Did you ever see a pain?” “No.” “Did you ever hear a
pain?” “No.” “Did you ever smell a pain?” “No.” “Did you ever taste a pain?” “No.” “Did you ever feel a pain?” “Yes,”
“And that is quite enough, I suppose, to prove there is a pain?” “Yes.” So the worldling says there is no Holy Spirit, because
he cannot see it. Well, but we feel it. You say that is fanaticism and that we never felt it. Suppose you tell me that
honey is bitter, I reply “No, I am sure you cannot have tasted it. Taste it and try.”
So with the Holy Spirit. If you did but feel His influence, you would no longer say there is no Holy Spirit because
you cannot see it. Are there not many things, even in nature, which we cannot see? Did you ever see the wind? No. But
you know there is wind when you behold the hurricane tossing the waves about and rending down the habitations of
men. Or when in the soft evening zephyr it kisses the flowers and makes dewdrops hang in pearly coronets around the
rose. Did you ever see electricity? No, but you know there is such a thing, for it travels along the wires for thousands of
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miles and carries our messages. Though you cannot see the thing itself, you know there is such a thing. So you must believe
there is a Holy Spirit working in us, both to will and to do, even though it is beyond our senses.
But the last reason why worldly men laugh at the doctrine of the Holy Spirit is because they do not know it. If they
knew it by heart-felt experience and if they recognized its agency in the soul—if they had ever been touched by it. If they
had been made to tremble under a sense of sin—if they had had their hearts melted—they would never have doubted the
existence of the Holy Spirit.
And now, Beloved, it says, “He dwells with you and shall be in you.” We will close up with that sweet recollection—
the Holy Spirit dwells in all Believers and shall be with them.
One word of comment and advice to the saints of God and to sinners and I have done. Saints of the Lord! You have
this morning heard that God the Holy Spirit is a Person. You have had it proved to your souls. What follows from this?
Why, it follows how earnest you should be—in prayer to the Holy Spirit, as well as for the Holy Spirit. Let me say that
this is an inference that you should lift up your prayers to the Holy Spirit, that you should cry earnestly unto Him, for
He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all you can ask or think.
See this mass of people? What is to convert it? See this crowd—who is to make my influence permeate through the
mass? You know this place has now a mighty influence—and God blessing us, it will continue to have an influence—not
only upon this city but upon England at large. We now enjoy the press as well as the pulpit and certainly, I should say
before the close of the year, more than two hundred thousand of my productions will be scattered through the land—
words uttered by my lips, or written by my pen. But how can this influence be rendered for good? How shall God’s glory
be promoted by it? Only by incessant prayer for the Holy Spirit—by constantly calling down the influence of the Holy
Spirit upon us.
We want Him to rest upon every page that is printed and upon every word that is uttered. Let us then be doubly earnest
in pleading with the Holy Spirit, that He would come and own our labors, that the
whole Church at large may be revived thereby and not ourselves only, but the whole world share in the benefit.
Then to the ungodly I have this one closing word to say. Ever be careful how you speak of the Holy Spirit. I do not
know what the unpardonable sin is and I do not think any man understands it. But it is something like this—“He that
speaks a word against the Holy Spirit, it shall never be forgiven him.” I do not know what that means—but tread carefully!
There is danger. There is a pit which our ignorance has covered by sand—tread carefully—you may be in it before
the next hour. If there is any strife in your heart today, perhaps you will go to the ale-house and forget it. Perhaps there
is some voice speaking in your soul and you will put it away.
I do not tell you you will be resisting the Holy Spirit and committing the unpardonable sin. But it is somewhere
there. Be very careful. Oh, there is no crime on earth so black as the crime against the Holy Spirit. You may blaspheme
the Father and you shall be damned for it unless you repent. You may blaspheme the Son—and Hell shall be your portion,
unless you are forgiven. But blaspheme the Holy Spirit and thus says the Lord, “There is no forgiveness, neither in
this world, nor in the world which is to come.” I cannot tell you what it is. I do not profess to understand it. But there it
is.
It is the danger signal. Stop, Man, stop! If you have despised the Holy Spirit, if you have laughed at His revelations
and scorned what Christians call His influence, I beseech you, stop! This morning seriously deliberate—perhaps some of
you have actually committed the unpardonable sin. Stop! Let fear stop you. Sit down. Do not drive on so rashly as you
have done. You who are such a profligate in sin, you who have uttered such hard words against the Trinity, stop!
Ah, it makes us all stop. It makes us all draw up and say, “Have I not perhaps so done?” Let us think of this and let
us not at any time trifle either with the words, or the acts of God the Holy Spirit.
Adapted from The C.H. Spurgeon Collection, Version 1.0, Ages Software, 1.800.297.4307
Friday, June 25, 2010
A Real Solution to All Problems
Ephesians 3
Paul the Preacher to the Gentiles
1For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles—
2Surely you have heard about the administration of God's grace that was given to me for you, 3that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. 4In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God's holy apostles and prophets. 6This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.
7I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God's grace given me through the working of his power. 8Although I am less than the least of all God's people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. 10His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, 11according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. 12In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. 13I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory.
A Prayer for the Ephesians
14For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15from whom his whole family[a] in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
20Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
Paul the Preacher to the Gentiles
1For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles—
2Surely you have heard about the administration of God's grace that was given to me for you, 3that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. 4In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God's holy apostles and prophets. 6This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.
7I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God's grace given me through the working of his power. 8Although I am less than the least of all God's people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. 10His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, 11according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. 12In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. 13I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory.
A Prayer for the Ephesians
14For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15from whom his whole family[a] in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
20Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Faith in The Joy of Jesus
Prayer: We pray in the name of Jesus that our faith id increased. We love You Lord. We thank God and praise God in the name of Jesus for an increase in our faith. A-men.
Commentary: The Joy of Jesus has faith that you will continue to support this ministry. You can get our toolbar, visit our sponsors or give. God Bless You.
Faith in The Joy of Jesus: What the Bible Says About Faith
Finding out what the Bible says about faith is very important. Why? A few reasons come to mind: First, faith is often defined in a number of different and conflicting ways by religious persons. If we want to know how God defines faith we will have to go to the Bible. God's definition of faith takes precedence over man's definition of faith. Second, there are all kinds of faith in the world -- even the demons have faith (James 2:19) -- but only one faith is true. If we want to have true faith (2 Timothy 1:5), we will have to let God tell us what true faith is. Third, faith is necessary to please God (Hebrews 11:6). If we want to please God we need to know about the faith that pleases God. Fourth, faith is necessary for salvation (Ephesians 2:8). If we want to be saved we need to know about the faith that saves. Fifth, there are many people who do not have faith (John 6:64) -- at one point even Jesus' own family did not believe in Him (John 7:5) -- and God destroys people who do not have faith (Jude 5). If we don't want God to destroy us, if we don't want to die in our sins (John 8:24), we must believe. Finally, there are those who have faith but they are letting their faith slip away (2 Timothy 2:18). If we don't want evil forces to overthrow our faith we need to know how to keep our faith strong.
This brief article is not intended to be an exhaustive study of each occurrence of the word faith in the Bible. Many verses in both the Old and New Testaments could be used to illustrate each point below but only a few have been chosen. This study is confined to the New Testament. The references listed below are examples of the verb form of faith (Greek pisteuo, usually translated, believe), and the noun form of faith (Greek pistis, usually translated, faith). I would suggest that you take time to look up each reference listed below that is not quoted for further study on each point. You may also want to use your Bible Concordance to find other examples of the word faith. No matter what verse you locate on the faith of man, you will find that it falls nicely into one of the categories below. Let us now examine what the Bible says about faith so that we can have the faith that God wants us to have.
OBJECT OF FAITH. The Bible teaches that the object of faith (who or what is believed in) is God and His Son Jesus Christ. There are many persons, places and things that we could put our faith in during our lifetime, but we must prioritize our life, and put our faith in God and Jesus Christ above all else. Jesus said: "Let not your heart be troubled: believe in God, believe also in me" (John 14:1). We are not to put our faith in that which is false (Matthew 24:23,26). Unless our faith is in God and His Son, we do not have the right kind of faith. For Further Study: Mark 11:22; Acts 14:23; 19:4; 20:21; Galatians 2:16; 2 Timothy 3:15; Hebrews 6:1; 11:6; 1 Peter 1:21; 1 John 3:23; 5:1,5,10.
SUBJECT OF FAITH. The Bible teaches that the subject of faith (who or what has faith ) is man himself. Man is the only creature of all of God's creation who can believe. What flower ever believed? What rock ever believed? What animal ever believed? Take a look at the great men and women of faith in the Old and New Testaments and see what they accomplished "by faith." For Further Study: Hebrews 11:1-40.
SUBSTANCE OF FAITH. The Bible teaches that the substance of faith (what faith is) is belief; a complete trust, assurance or confidence. There is no fear (Mark 5:36; Luke 8:50) or doubt (Mark 11:23-24) in faith. The writer of Hebrews wrote: "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, a conviction of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1). Unless our faith is complete trust, we do not have the right kind of faith. For Further Study: Mark 9:23-24; John 6:69; Acts 17:31; 27:25; 2 Timothy 1:12.
PROOF OF FAITH. The Bible teaches that the proof of faith (what faith is based on) is evidence. Faith is based upon strong, clear, logical, true, historical evidence. Faith is not guesswork. Faith is not a blind leap in the dark. Faith is not grounded in subjective feelings. God provides the objective, rational evidence for belief; man provides the belief based on that evidence. The Bible does not teach that God gives man his faith. John wrote: "but these are written, that ye may believe that Jesus is the Christ..." (John 20:31). Paul wrote: "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Romans 10:17). Unless our faith is based upon sound evidence from God's word, we do not have the right kind of faith. For Further Study: Mark 1:15; 16:15-16; Luke 8:12-13; 24:25; John 4:39-42; 5:46-47; 8:30,46; 9:35-38; 17:20; 19:35; 20:24-31; Acts 4:4; 8:12-13; 9:41-42; 11:19-21; 13:12; 14:1; 15:7; 17:11-12; 18:8; 24:14; 26:27; Romans 10:8-21; 1 Corinthians 2:4-5; 3:5; 15:1-2,11,14,17; Ephesians 1:13; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Thessalonians 1:10; 2:11-13; 1 Timothy 3:16; 1 John 5:13.
FRUIT OF FAITH. The Bible teaches that the fruit of faith (what faith produces) is active obedience to God's word. The Bible does not teach that man is saved by faith only. Faith is not just a mental thought; it is a mental thought that leads a person to act, to work, to obey. The outward acts of faith can be seen (Matthew 9:2). Faith takes steps in obedience (Romans 4:12). Unless our faith produces active obedience to God's word, we do not have the right kind of faith. For Further Study: Mark 16:16; Acts 11:21; 19:18-19; Romans 16:26; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 5:6; 1 Thessalonians 1:3; 2 Thessalonians 1:11; Titus 3:8; James 2:14-26; Revelation 2:19.
CONSEQUENCES OF FAITH. The Bible teaches that the consequences of faith (what faith leads to) are enormous. First, faith leads to unity. Luke records: "And all that believed were together, and had all things common" (Acts 2:44). Second, faith leads to proclaiming the gospel. Paul said: "But having the same spirit of faith, according to that which is written, I believed, and therefore did I speak; we also believe, and therefore also we speak" (2 Corinthians 4:13). Third, faith leads to persecution. Paul wrote: "because to you if hath been granted in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for in his behalf" (Philippians 1:29). Unless our faith leads to unity, proclamation and persecution, we do not have the right kind of faith. For Further Study: John 12:42-43; 17:20-21; Acts 4:32; 22:19.
REWARD OF FAITH. The Bible teaches that the reward of faith (what faith accomplishes) is eternal life. Our faith results in eternal life (salvation) given to us by God. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life" (John 3:16). Unless our faith accomplishes eternal life, we do not have the right kind of faith. For Further Study: John 3:14-16,36; 5:24; 6:40,47; Acts 10:43; 13:39,48; 16:31; 26:18; Romans 1:16; 3:28,30; 5:1-2; 1 Corinthians 1:21; Galatians 3:24; 1 Timothy 1:16; Hebrews 6:11-12; 1 Peter 1:5-9.
"Do you now believe?" Jesus asks (John 16:31). Now that you know more of what the Bible says about faith what do you plan to do? Will you begin to put more faith in God and His Son Jesus Christ? Will you put away any fear or doubt that would keep you from serving God with a sincere faith? Will you spend more time with the Bible evidence that God has provided in order to build a stronger faith? Will you begin to produce more fruits of faith in your life by your obedience to God's word? Will you be ready to accept the enormous consequences of your faith, difficult as they may be? If the answer to these questions is yes, then the Lord has promised you a great reward for your faith, eternal life.
Posted by The Rev. Dr. James A. Lee
Commentary: The Joy of Jesus has faith that you will continue to support this ministry. You can get our toolbar, visit our sponsors or give. God Bless You.
Faith in The Joy of Jesus: What the Bible Says About Faith
Finding out what the Bible says about faith is very important. Why? A few reasons come to mind: First, faith is often defined in a number of different and conflicting ways by religious persons. If we want to know how God defines faith we will have to go to the Bible. God's definition of faith takes precedence over man's definition of faith. Second, there are all kinds of faith in the world -- even the demons have faith (James 2:19) -- but only one faith is true. If we want to have true faith (2 Timothy 1:5), we will have to let God tell us what true faith is. Third, faith is necessary to please God (Hebrews 11:6). If we want to please God we need to know about the faith that pleases God. Fourth, faith is necessary for salvation (Ephesians 2:8). If we want to be saved we need to know about the faith that saves. Fifth, there are many people who do not have faith (John 6:64) -- at one point even Jesus' own family did not believe in Him (John 7:5) -- and God destroys people who do not have faith (Jude 5). If we don't want God to destroy us, if we don't want to die in our sins (John 8:24), we must believe. Finally, there are those who have faith but they are letting their faith slip away (2 Timothy 2:18). If we don't want evil forces to overthrow our faith we need to know how to keep our faith strong.
This brief article is not intended to be an exhaustive study of each occurrence of the word faith in the Bible. Many verses in both the Old and New Testaments could be used to illustrate each point below but only a few have been chosen. This study is confined to the New Testament. The references listed below are examples of the verb form of faith (Greek pisteuo, usually translated, believe), and the noun form of faith (Greek pistis, usually translated, faith). I would suggest that you take time to look up each reference listed below that is not quoted for further study on each point. You may also want to use your Bible Concordance to find other examples of the word faith. No matter what verse you locate on the faith of man, you will find that it falls nicely into one of the categories below. Let us now examine what the Bible says about faith so that we can have the faith that God wants us to have.
OBJECT OF FAITH. The Bible teaches that the object of faith (who or what is believed in) is God and His Son Jesus Christ. There are many persons, places and things that we could put our faith in during our lifetime, but we must prioritize our life, and put our faith in God and Jesus Christ above all else. Jesus said: "Let not your heart be troubled: believe in God, believe also in me" (John 14:1). We are not to put our faith in that which is false (Matthew 24:23,26). Unless our faith is in God and His Son, we do not have the right kind of faith. For Further Study: Mark 11:22; Acts 14:23; 19:4; 20:21; Galatians 2:16; 2 Timothy 3:15; Hebrews 6:1; 11:6; 1 Peter 1:21; 1 John 3:23; 5:1,5,10.
SUBJECT OF FAITH. The Bible teaches that the subject of faith (who or what has faith ) is man himself. Man is the only creature of all of God's creation who can believe. What flower ever believed? What rock ever believed? What animal ever believed? Take a look at the great men and women of faith in the Old and New Testaments and see what they accomplished "by faith." For Further Study: Hebrews 11:1-40.
SUBSTANCE OF FAITH. The Bible teaches that the substance of faith (what faith is) is belief; a complete trust, assurance or confidence. There is no fear (Mark 5:36; Luke 8:50) or doubt (Mark 11:23-24) in faith. The writer of Hebrews wrote: "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, a conviction of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1). Unless our faith is complete trust, we do not have the right kind of faith. For Further Study: Mark 9:23-24; John 6:69; Acts 17:31; 27:25; 2 Timothy 1:12.
PROOF OF FAITH. The Bible teaches that the proof of faith (what faith is based on) is evidence. Faith is based upon strong, clear, logical, true, historical evidence. Faith is not guesswork. Faith is not a blind leap in the dark. Faith is not grounded in subjective feelings. God provides the objective, rational evidence for belief; man provides the belief based on that evidence. The Bible does not teach that God gives man his faith. John wrote: "but these are written, that ye may believe that Jesus is the Christ..." (John 20:31). Paul wrote: "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Romans 10:17). Unless our faith is based upon sound evidence from God's word, we do not have the right kind of faith. For Further Study: Mark 1:15; 16:15-16; Luke 8:12-13; 24:25; John 4:39-42; 5:46-47; 8:30,46; 9:35-38; 17:20; 19:35; 20:24-31; Acts 4:4; 8:12-13; 9:41-42; 11:19-21; 13:12; 14:1; 15:7; 17:11-12; 18:8; 24:14; 26:27; Romans 10:8-21; 1 Corinthians 2:4-5; 3:5; 15:1-2,11,14,17; Ephesians 1:13; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Thessalonians 1:10; 2:11-13; 1 Timothy 3:16; 1 John 5:13.
FRUIT OF FAITH. The Bible teaches that the fruit of faith (what faith produces) is active obedience to God's word. The Bible does not teach that man is saved by faith only. Faith is not just a mental thought; it is a mental thought that leads a person to act, to work, to obey. The outward acts of faith can be seen (Matthew 9:2). Faith takes steps in obedience (Romans 4:12). Unless our faith produces active obedience to God's word, we do not have the right kind of faith. For Further Study: Mark 16:16; Acts 11:21; 19:18-19; Romans 16:26; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 5:6; 1 Thessalonians 1:3; 2 Thessalonians 1:11; Titus 3:8; James 2:14-26; Revelation 2:19.
CONSEQUENCES OF FAITH. The Bible teaches that the consequences of faith (what faith leads to) are enormous. First, faith leads to unity. Luke records: "And all that believed were together, and had all things common" (Acts 2:44). Second, faith leads to proclaiming the gospel. Paul said: "But having the same spirit of faith, according to that which is written, I believed, and therefore did I speak; we also believe, and therefore also we speak" (2 Corinthians 4:13). Third, faith leads to persecution. Paul wrote: "because to you if hath been granted in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for in his behalf" (Philippians 1:29). Unless our faith leads to unity, proclamation and persecution, we do not have the right kind of faith. For Further Study: John 12:42-43; 17:20-21; Acts 4:32; 22:19.
REWARD OF FAITH. The Bible teaches that the reward of faith (what faith accomplishes) is eternal life. Our faith results in eternal life (salvation) given to us by God. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life" (John 3:16). Unless our faith accomplishes eternal life, we do not have the right kind of faith. For Further Study: John 3:14-16,36; 5:24; 6:40,47; Acts 10:43; 13:39,48; 16:31; 26:18; Romans 1:16; 3:28,30; 5:1-2; 1 Corinthians 1:21; Galatians 3:24; 1 Timothy 1:16; Hebrews 6:11-12; 1 Peter 1:5-9.
"Do you now believe?" Jesus asks (John 16:31). Now that you know more of what the Bible says about faith what do you plan to do? Will you begin to put more faith in God and His Son Jesus Christ? Will you put away any fear or doubt that would keep you from serving God with a sincere faith? Will you spend more time with the Bible evidence that God has provided in order to build a stronger faith? Will you begin to produce more fruits of faith in your life by your obedience to God's word? Will you be ready to accept the enormous consequences of your faith, difficult as they may be? If the answer to these questions is yes, then the Lord has promised you a great reward for your faith, eternal life.
Posted by The Rev. Dr. James A. Lee
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Bible Study Today with The Joy of Jesus
The Lord’s Church
There is one other thing that concerns our salvation I would like for us to look at in the Bible. In response to Peter’s confession to Jesus in Matthew 16:16 that, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God". Jesus then says in Matthew 16:18, "On this rock I will build My church." To whom was this church to belong? "My" is possessive, which shows the church belongs to Jesus. How many churches did Jesus say He was going to build? He said He was going to build "My church", which is singular not plural. There is only one true church because the Lord only promised to build His one church. In the Bible the word "church" never refers to a material building, but to the people.
In Ephesians 4:4-6 there are seven ones listed: "There is one body, and one Spirit, even as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is above all, and through all, and in you all." Just as there is only one God and only one Lord we also see there is only one body. The Bible says there is only one body; so what is this one body? In Ephesians 1:21-22 we find out what this one body is, "And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be the head over all things to the church, which is His body." Here we see the Bible says the church is the body. So if there is only one body and the one body is the church, then there can only be one church that belongs to the Lord. There is only one church in God's plan for saving man. One might as well believe in more than one God as to believe the Lord has more than one church. The one body, the one church, is not composed of any of the many differing denominations of our day.
In Colossians 1:18 in speaking of Christ, we read, "And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things He may have the preeminence." Here again we see the body (singular) is the church (singular). Again the Bible tells us the Lord has only one church. We also see that in all things Christ is to have the preeminence. For Christ to have the preeminence in all things, we must follow Christ in all things and not follow man. If we follow men in some things then Christ does not have the preeminence in all things.
Since Christ only built His one church, we need to ask from where did all these other churches come? The only answer is they were built by men, so men could "attend the church of their choice", and not God’s choice. We read in Ephesians 5:23, "Christ is the head of the church, and he is the savior of the body." Christ is only the saviour of His one body, His one church. He is going to only save His one church, the only one for which He died. One cannot be saved outside of the Lord's one church. If one is not in the Lord's one true church, he is lost.
We have seen in the Bible that the one body is the one church, which the Lord built. We have also seen that Christ has only promised to save His one body, His one church. What then is going to happen to the hundreds of different kinds of denominational churches we see in existence today? Again let us let God answer this question. In Matthew 15:13 Jesus said, "Every plant, which my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted." What will happen to all those churches God did not plant? They will be rooted up. This is what God has said He will do. This is frightening. I want to make sure I am in the Lord’s church, the only one He is going to save.
In Psalms 127:1 we read, "Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it." No one has the right to start a church or religious organization that is different from the one Jesus built. But we see hundreds of different kinds of churches men have built, each with a different creed. Man did not build the Lord's church. We must recognize the difference between the church the Lord built and the many counterfeit churches men have built. What will happen to the people who are in the many different denominational churches? They will all be lost. If you are a member of a denomination then you are not in the saving body of Christ, and you will be lost. Why not be a member of the church that Jesus built, the church of Christ so you can go to heaven? This is a sad but serious situation; one that concerns me greatly and causes me much grief and sorrow to see honest people, who are honestly mistaken, laboring in vain. This is a supreme tragedy.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Questions Lesson 22
The Lord's Church
(Part A)
(click on the button of the answer of your choice)
1) (Matthew 16:18) How many different churches did the Lord say he was going to build?
Many so we could attend the church of our choice.
More than 500.
My (possessive) Church (singular), in other words one.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2) Christ built only His church.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3) (Ephesians 4:4-6) There are how many bodies?
One.
One hundred.
One thousand
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4) The Lord has many bodies.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5) (Ephesians 1:21-22) What is this one body?
There is not one body but many bodies.
All the different kinds of churches.
The (Lord's) Church.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6) The Lord only has His one body, the church.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7) (Colossians 1:18) Christ is the head of
The body, the church.
Many different kinds of churches.
No church.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8) Christ is the head of all different kinds of churches.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9) (Ephesians 5:23) Christ is going to save
His body which is His Church.
All the different religious bodies (churches).
No church.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
10) Christ is the Saviour of the church He established.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11) (Matthew 15:13) Those plants (churches) which God has not planted
God will accept.
God will water and cultivate.
Shall be rooted up.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
12) Those who are in churches which God has not planted shall be lost.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
13) (Psalms 127:1) If the Lord has not built the house
They labor in vain who build it.
It doesn't matter if the Lord has not built it.
Those who labor in it are accepted.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
14) People labor in vain if they are in a house the Lord did not build.
There is one other thing that concerns our salvation I would like for us to look at in the Bible. In response to Peter’s confession to Jesus in Matthew 16:16 that, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God". Jesus then says in Matthew 16:18, "On this rock I will build My church." To whom was this church to belong? "My" is possessive, which shows the church belongs to Jesus. How many churches did Jesus say He was going to build? He said He was going to build "My church", which is singular not plural. There is only one true church because the Lord only promised to build His one church. In the Bible the word "church" never refers to a material building, but to the people.
In Ephesians 4:4-6 there are seven ones listed: "There is one body, and one Spirit, even as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is above all, and through all, and in you all." Just as there is only one God and only one Lord we also see there is only one body. The Bible says there is only one body; so what is this one body? In Ephesians 1:21-22 we find out what this one body is, "And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be the head over all things to the church, which is His body." Here we see the Bible says the church is the body. So if there is only one body and the one body is the church, then there can only be one church that belongs to the Lord. There is only one church in God's plan for saving man. One might as well believe in more than one God as to believe the Lord has more than one church. The one body, the one church, is not composed of any of the many differing denominations of our day.
In Colossians 1:18 in speaking of Christ, we read, "And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things He may have the preeminence." Here again we see the body (singular) is the church (singular). Again the Bible tells us the Lord has only one church. We also see that in all things Christ is to have the preeminence. For Christ to have the preeminence in all things, we must follow Christ in all things and not follow man. If we follow men in some things then Christ does not have the preeminence in all things.
Since Christ only built His one church, we need to ask from where did all these other churches come? The only answer is they were built by men, so men could "attend the church of their choice", and not God’s choice. We read in Ephesians 5:23, "Christ is the head of the church, and he is the savior of the body." Christ is only the saviour of His one body, His one church. He is going to only save His one church, the only one for which He died. One cannot be saved outside of the Lord's one church. If one is not in the Lord's one true church, he is lost.
We have seen in the Bible that the one body is the one church, which the Lord built. We have also seen that Christ has only promised to save His one body, His one church. What then is going to happen to the hundreds of different kinds of denominational churches we see in existence today? Again let us let God answer this question. In Matthew 15:13 Jesus said, "Every plant, which my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted." What will happen to all those churches God did not plant? They will be rooted up. This is what God has said He will do. This is frightening. I want to make sure I am in the Lord’s church, the only one He is going to save.
In Psalms 127:1 we read, "Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it." No one has the right to start a church or religious organization that is different from the one Jesus built. But we see hundreds of different kinds of churches men have built, each with a different creed. Man did not build the Lord's church. We must recognize the difference between the church the Lord built and the many counterfeit churches men have built. What will happen to the people who are in the many different denominational churches? They will all be lost. If you are a member of a denomination then you are not in the saving body of Christ, and you will be lost. Why not be a member of the church that Jesus built, the church of Christ so you can go to heaven? This is a sad but serious situation; one that concerns me greatly and causes me much grief and sorrow to see honest people, who are honestly mistaken, laboring in vain. This is a supreme tragedy.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Questions Lesson 22
The Lord's Church
(Part A)
(click on the button of the answer of your choice)
1) (Matthew 16:18) How many different churches did the Lord say he was going to build?
Many so we could attend the church of our choice.
More than 500.
My (possessive) Church (singular), in other words one.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2) Christ built only His church.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3) (Ephesians 4:4-6) There are how many bodies?
One.
One hundred.
One thousand
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4) The Lord has many bodies.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5) (Ephesians 1:21-22) What is this one body?
There is not one body but many bodies.
All the different kinds of churches.
The (Lord's) Church.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6) The Lord only has His one body, the church.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7) (Colossians 1:18) Christ is the head of
The body, the church.
Many different kinds of churches.
No church.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8) Christ is the head of all different kinds of churches.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9) (Ephesians 5:23) Christ is going to save
His body which is His Church.
All the different religious bodies (churches).
No church.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
10) Christ is the Saviour of the church He established.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11) (Matthew 15:13) Those plants (churches) which God has not planted
God will accept.
God will water and cultivate.
Shall be rooted up.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
12) Those who are in churches which God has not planted shall be lost.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
13) (Psalms 127:1) If the Lord has not built the house
They labor in vain who build it.
It doesn't matter if the Lord has not built it.
Those who labor in it are accepted.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
14) People labor in vain if they are in a house the Lord did not build.
Amazing Grace of The Joy of Jesus
Amazing Grace Lyrics
"Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me....
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now, I see.
T'was Grace that taught...
my heart to fear.
And Grace, my fears relieved.
How precious did that Grace appear...
the hour I first believed.
Through many dangers, toils and snares...
we have already come.
T'was Grace that brought us safe thus far...
and Grace will lead us home.
The Lord has promised good to me...
His word my hope secures.
He will my shield and portion be...
as long as life endures.
Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
and mortal life shall cease,
I shall possess within the veil,
a life of joy and peace.
When we've been here ten thousand years...
bright shining as the sun.
We've no less days to sing God's praise...
then when we've first begun.
"Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me....
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now, I see.
Prayer: We pray in the name of Jesus for all people to apprehend the Power of God and The Holy Spirit in the full Joy of Jesus,Forever. A-men...
"Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me....
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now, I see.
T'was Grace that taught...
my heart to fear.
And Grace, my fears relieved.
How precious did that Grace appear...
the hour I first believed.
Through many dangers, toils and snares...
we have already come.
T'was Grace that brought us safe thus far...
and Grace will lead us home.
The Lord has promised good to me...
His word my hope secures.
He will my shield and portion be...
as long as life endures.
Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
and mortal life shall cease,
I shall possess within the veil,
a life of joy and peace.
When we've been here ten thousand years...
bright shining as the sun.
We've no less days to sing God's praise...
then when we've first begun.
"Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me....
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now, I see.
Prayer: We pray in the name of Jesus for all people to apprehend the Power of God and The Holy Spirit in the full Joy of Jesus,Forever. A-men...
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