Some Thoughts on The Work of The Holy Spirit

[00:00:00] There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. [00:00:06] For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus made me free from the law of sin and of death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh, that the ordinance of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. [00:00:45] For they that are after the flesh, mind the things of the flesh but they that are after the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace. Because the mind of the flesh is enmity against God for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can it be. And they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. If so be that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you. But if any man hath not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. [00:01:31] And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwelleth in you, he that raised up Christ Jesus from the dead shall give life also to your mortal bodies through his Spirit that dwelleth in you. So then, brethren, we are debtors not to the flesh to live after the for if ye live after the flesh, ye must die but if by the Spirit ye put to death the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For ye received not the spirit of bondage again unto fear, but ye received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, abba, Father, the Spirit himself beareth witness with our Spirit that we are children of God. And if children, then heirs heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified with him. [00:02:47] For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed to us. For the earnest expectation of the creation waiteth for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to vanity, not of its own will, but by reason of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now, and not only so, but ourselves also, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves grown within ourselves, waiting for our adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. For in hope were we saved. But hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopeth for that which he seeth? But if we hope for that which we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. And in like manner the Spirit also helpeth our infirmity. For we know not how to pray as we ought. But the Spirit Himself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because He maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that to them that love God, all things work together for good, even to them that are called according to his purpose. For whom he foreknew, he also foreordained to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. And whom he foreordained, them he also called. And whom he called them he also justified. And whom he justified, them he also glorified. [00:04:56] I want to take a matter which I believe is very much on heart today and a phrase which we are hearing a lot about. [00:05:11] And I want to investigate it just a little. [00:05:16] I have entitled what I have to say this evening as Some thoughts upon the work of the Holy Spirit. Some thoughts upon the work of the Holy Spirit. Because I would not want anyone to feel what I have to say is absolutely conclusive. [00:05:34] But what I would like to do this evening is explore an area that many people are talking about and which, I am afraid, also is a very confused area. [00:05:50] We find again and again that people who use the same phrases mean quite different things by the phrases that they use. Although there is a common phrase used. Yet we discover when we talk with them that they have a different idea of what lies behind the phrase. So I want this evening to, as it were, provoke you to think so. Please do not take what I have to say as conclusive or dogmatic. I shall make one or two very dogmatic statements when I feel I can be dogmatic. But you must remember that this, in many ways is inconclusive. On the other hand, it may provoke you to study yourself and explore in the Word of God. I have been looking at certain scriptures that I have known since I was saved. And yet there are things about those scriptures which I've never noticed before. [00:06:49] Things most provoking. [00:06:52] There are some areas that I feel are almost wholly bypassed not only by us, but by many Christians. [00:07:02] And so I want to provoke you in the short span of this one evening to explore a little more the work of the Holy Spirit. Now, the first question I want to ask this evening is what is the baptism of the Spirit? [00:07:22] What is the baptism of the Spirit? This is a phrase that people use willy nilly. And we find that so many people use the phrase and have completely different ideas as to what exactly it means. Now, what is the baptism of the Spirit? What does it mean? Now, let me say one word of caution straight away. [00:07:54] Because there has been in the past and at the present a certain amount of excess attached to the teaching of the baptism of the Spirit. Many Christians have simply bolted to the other extreme. And you discover that they will not as much as mention the baptism of the Spirit as if it is a holy and totally unscriptural phrase. [00:08:26] I want this evening to underline by Scripture that it is a totally and wholly scriptural phrase and therefore should be rightly used. Of course, what we mean by it, that's another matter. That's what we'll come to in a moment. First, let's look at all the scriptures that contain the phrase baptism of the Spirit. We will look at every one of them. There are not so many, but the ones that there are are important. [00:08:57] Matthew, chapter 3, verse 11. [00:09:03] I want you to think very carefully as we read these. [00:09:09] I indeed said, john the Baptist, baptize you in water unto repentance. But he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear. [00:09:25] He shall baptize you in the Holy Spirit and in fire. [00:09:33] John the Baptist, will you notice, very carefully, is describing his ministry in a sermon. This is a message. If you look. [00:09:44] And when he saw these Pharisees and Sadducees, he defined his ministry and he said it was a matter essentially of baptizing in water unto repentance. Now that we can think about, but forget. [00:10:07] But then he goes on to describe what is the heart of the Lord Jesus ministry. Now here is the important thing. John the Baptist, the greatest of all prophets and the forerunner of the Messiah, describes the whole work and ministry of the Lord Jesus in this one sentence. He that cometh after me shall baptize you in the Holy Spirit and in fire. [00:10:43] As if John the Baptist was taking the final work of the Lord Jesus Christ, not just the work of the cross, but what the work of the cross was opening up the possibility of the Holy Spirit coming to dwell within Human beings. Tremendous. [00:11:07] Now, do take note of that. I do not believe that John the Baptist was simply describing an aspect of the ministry of the Lord Jesus. He was actually summing up the whole work of the Lord Jesus. And he summed it up like, he that cometh after me shall baptize you in the Holy Spirit and in fire. Now if you turn to Mark, Chapter one, verse eight, we have the same record again. [00:11:41] I baptized you in water. He shall baptize you in the Holy Spirit. Luke 3:16. [00:11:54] Luke, chapter 3, verse 16. [00:11:57] John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water. But there cometh he that is mightier than I, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose. He shall baptize you in the Holy Spirit and in fire. [00:12:15] Then John, Every one of the Gospels has the record of this statement. John 1:33. And in every gospel it is at the commencement of the Gospel more or less as if it is the preparatory and introductory statement to the ministry and work of the Lord Jesus. [00:12:40] John 1:33. [00:12:43] And I knew him not, but he that sent me to baptize in water, he said unto me, upon whomsoever thou shalt see the Spirit descending and abiding upon him, the same is he that baptizeth in the Holy Spirit. [00:13:03] Now those are the Gospels. Those are the only references we have to the baptism of the Spirit in the Gospels. Now if you will turn to Acts, chapter 1, verse 5. [00:13:17] Acts, chapter 1, verse 5. John indeed baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized in the Holy Spirit not many days hence. Now, this was the way the Lord Jesus described Pentecost. He said, ye shall be baptized in the Holy Spirit not many days hence. Now if you turn over to Acts, chapter 11, verse 16. [00:13:53] This is Peter speaking when he spoke to the church at Jerusalem that was a little bit upset about his evangelistic meetings in Caesarea and Joppa. He says, and I remember the word of the Lord, how he said, john indeed baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized in the Holy Spirit. Now this is important because this reference to the baptism of the Spirit is a reference to the conversion of these men and women. If you turn back to chapter 10, verse 44, 45 and 47, we'll read them. While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Spirit fell on all them that heard the word. And they of the circumcision that believed were amazed as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Spirit, for they heard Them speak with tongues and magnify God. [00:14:55] Then answered Peter, can any man forbid the water that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit as well as we? [00:15:05] Now, chapter 11 again, verse 17 and 18. Now listen to Paul Peter a little later when describing this incident where all those in this household were converted, everyone in the house were converted, all those were converted. He says, if then. Now listen very carefully, because this is where prejudices and biases colour our whole outlook on this kind of thing. If then God gave unto them the like gift as he did also unto us when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I, that I could withstand God. And when they heard these things, they held their peace and glorified God, saying, then to the Gentiles also hath God granted repentance unto life. [00:16:03] It is quite clear in this particular instance where the word baptism of the Spirit is used, that these people had a very deep and full experience at the beginning. [00:16:15] They not only were justified and knew what it was to be justified by the work of the Lord Jesus on the cross, but they also had a very deep and real experience of the Holy Spirit. Now that's very important, I think, for us to understand then. 1 Corinthians 12, verse 13. [00:16:42] For in 1 spirit were we all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether bond or free, and were all made to drink of one spirit. Now mark it again. For by one spirit were we all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether bond or free, and were all made to drink of one spirit. Now those, those scriptures are the total sum of the references to the baptism of the Spirit in Scripture. In actual words, there are no other references to the baptism of the Spirit. Yes, we'll come in a moment to whether it's put in another way, but the actual phrase, the baptism of the Spirit, that's all we have from what we can see. We have to say that if we say that the baptism of the Spirit is merely to do with service, is merely to do with power for service, then we've got to ignore certain scriptures. [00:18:05] If we say that the baptism of the Spirit is merely to do with regeneration, conversion, or the indwelling of the Spirit, the fruit of the Spirit, then we have got to ignore certain scriptures. For in Acts 15, the Lord Jesus said, john, indeed baptized with water, but not many days hence, ye shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Then a little later on, he said to tarry in Jerusalem until they received power from on high, when the Holy Spirit is come upon him. And he said, then you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth. [00:18:52] So it would seem also from Luke chapter 24, verse 49, that there is much to do with service in this matter of the baptism of the Spirit. [00:19:06] In many ways, one would say that the phrase is very much related to service functioning really, as it were, knowing that enduement with power from on high in order to be witnesses to the Lord everywhere, home and elsewhere, to serve the Lord. Now, there's much else we can say if we look at 1 Corinthians 12. Many have said, yes, well, when were we. When were we brought into Christ? When were we made members of the body of Christ? Well, we say when we were born of Christ. God. When we were born of God. That is very true. [00:19:48] That's when we first drank the water of life. [00:19:53] That's very true. But then if you read the rest of 1 Corinthians 12, you will find all about the gifts and the functions. And this is the point. It seems very clear and apparent from our general experience and the experience of church history that even if you are in the body, even if you are a member of Christ, you do not always exercise your gift. You do not always fulfill your ministry. Here's the point. Now, what are we going to say then, about this term, the baptism of the Spirit? It would seem to me that it is a comprehensive term describing the whole range of the Holy Spirit's work within and upon the believer. [00:20:48] Now, I'm not going to be dogmatic about that, but I suggest that it is a term which. A comprehensive term which, which covers the whole range of the work of the Holy Spirit from birth to glorification. [00:21:08] Right. The way to everything. Yes. The empowering of the Holy Spirit. Certainly. Absolutely, certainly. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Yes, I think so, too. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit serving the Lord really, really knowing what it is to be one with other believers, to be built up with other believers, to be in the body. Yes. I think it's very necessary really to have an inward experience of the Holy Spirit. When you're half dead spiritually, you can easily sit in a congregation. But if you're alive with the life of God, you find congregations very boring. [00:21:51] There's a sense in which your Spirit is all the time reaching out for more of the Lord. You want more of the Lord. Somehow something inside tells you that this idea of one man standing up and doing everything and all the rest just sitting still, doing nothing is somehow wrong. [00:22:09] That we are all. There's more to it than just that. [00:22:15] It's not meetinganity or whatever you like to call it, just simply going to meetings and listening to someone preach and so on. But it is a matter of life, of being in a body, in the body of Christ. If this is so, then as I say, it's a comprehensive term. Then it would indeed cover everything. The indwelling of the Spirit, the empowering of the Spirit, both the personal and the corporate aspects of our life. [00:22:49] And I would like to say one other thing which I think needs to be cleared up because many of us are not theologians and I suppose that's quite understandable. Nevertheless, theology is not just a real. Theology is, after all, only the word of God. And we must understand this very simple fact. [00:23:10] We cannot experience anything at all. Upon this I am absolutely dogmatic. I'll go to the stake on this point. [00:23:20] We cannot experience anything of Christ at all without the Holy Spirit. [00:23:30] This is absolutely important. It's bike. [00:23:34] Those who have shot to the other extreme and somehow or other, as the common saying goes, throwing out the baby with the bath water, those who have gone to that other extreme tend to say, oh yes, everything is before the Lord and despise the work of the Holy Spirit. They pour scorn upon the gifts of the Spirit. They pour scorn upon the baptism of the Spirit. They so react against it that they are in danger of sinning against the Holy Spirit. [00:24:10] It's a serious thing. [00:24:12] Serious thing. [00:24:15] I would say this evening that we cannot know anything of Christ without the Holy Spirit. How were you first convicted of sin by the Holy Spirit? Not by a preacher, by the Holy Spirit. You can listen to a million gospel sermons and they can go through one ear and out the other. Roll off your luck, water off a duck's back. Unless the Holy Spirit takes one little phase and pushes it into the heart. And once it's in, it's in. You never get away from it. [00:24:44] The Holy Spirit. How were you given faith? Faith is the gift of God. But how does God give us faith? Does he drop it out on us? No. The Holy Spirit comes with his gracious ministry and gifts. Faith. [00:25:00] So that for the first time there is a capacity to believe. [00:25:05] And then again you say, how are you born of God? You are born of the Spirit. You all know that you are born. It's conceived of the Holy Ghost. And you're born with the Spirit of God. [00:25:18] And we can go on, and we can go on and we can go on and we can show that we cannot glorify Christ. Without the Spirit of God, we cannot serve Christ. Without the Spirit of God, we cannot know the truth. Without the Spirit of truth, we cannot live the Christian life without the Holy Spirit. For the Lord Jesus Christ is still in his body, glorified, but located in a human body at the right hand of God the Father, wherever that may be. He is located at the right hand of God the Father. It is the Holy Spirit who takes the things of Christ and makes them live to me, who takes me and joins me to the Lord Jesus Christ, who actually unites us so that it is impossible to know anything of God at all apart from the Holy Spirit. This is what it means when it says the natural man cannot understand the things of God. They are foolishness because they are spiritually discerned. [00:26:23] They are discerned with the Spirit. As the Spirit of God works on our Spirit, so we can discern and understand these things of God. Oh, it's a tremendous thing we're talking about, really. [00:26:35] Well, now I want to move on to another phrase very closely connected with the this matter of the baptism of the Spirit. If it is true, as I'm seeking to provoke you to explore yourself, the word of God, that this term, the baptism of the Spirit, really is a comprehensive term which covers the whole range of the work of the Spirit of God in and upon the believer, then let's look at this word fullness. The fullness of the Spirit. It is undoubtedly associated with it. Now if you turn to Acts, chapter two. [00:27:10] Acts, chapter two, verse four. Now, this is the very occasion the Lord Jesus said, ye shall be baptized in the Spirit not many days hence. And now it says, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. This was the effect of the baptism. They were filled with the Holy Spirit. The baptism is really the fullness of the Spirit of God. [00:27:37] They. They were filled with the Spirit of God. Chapter 4, verse 31. [00:27:46] And when they had prayed, the place was shaken wherein they were gathered together. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Now this is very interesting. The same people who were filled with the Holy Spirit in chapter two were filled again in chapter four. [00:28:00] Now isn't that interesting? Of course, there were many more added to then quite a few thousand have been added in the intervening days. But it's interesting that within a matter of a week or two, the people who have been filled with the Spirit in chapter two were filled with the Spirit again. [00:28:15] So it is quite clear that this term fullness of the Holy Spirit is associated with the baptism of the Spirit and yet seems to have a slightly different view now, let's look at Acts, chapter four again, verse eight. [00:28:32] Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said unto them, then turn over the pages to chapter six, verse three. Look ye out therefore, brethren, from among you, seven men of good report, full of the Spirit and of wisdom. Chapter 9, verse 17. [00:28:55] And Ananias departed and entered into the house. And laying his hands on Paul, said, brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, who appeared unto thee in the way which thou camest hath sent me, that thou mayest receive thy sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit. Now it's very interesting. He didn't say baptized with the Spirit. He said he had filled with the Spirit. Yet this was the first experience Paul or Saul ever had of the Spirit of God. [00:29:24] Fool, that thou mayest be foolish filled with the Spirit. [00:29:29] Then if we turn to chapter 13, verse 9, we read this. But Saul, who is also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, fastened his eyes upon him. [00:29:49] Well, I must say then that it's quite clear that it's to be filled with the Holy Spirit is quite a normal occurrence in the New Testament. And it is a very interesting thing. Now, there is also a number of times in the Book of Acts we haven't time to look over this evening where the term the Holy Spirit fell on them. In Acts, chapter eight, it says of the believers, Samaria, for as yet the Holy Spirit had not fallen upon them. And then again it says in the account at the centurion's household in chapter. What was it now, chapter 11 or 10, it said, and the Holy Spirit fell upon them. And then again in chapter 19, it speaks of them receiving the Holy Spirit. For those people, they weren't even saved. They weren't even saved. They said they'd been baptized with John's baptism because Paul asked them the question, did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? Now, in the Authorized Version, of course, you often see Pentecostal churches written up as a motto, the authorized vers. Did you receive the Holy Spirit? Have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed? [00:31:00] Of course. That's interesting commentary on the change of language, because in actual fact, in the 17th century that meant, did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? Nevertheless, the very fact that Paul asked the question shows you can't be so clinical. [00:31:21] That's a very interesting point, isn't it? Did you receive the Holy Spirit? What I asked that for. Why don't you just say to them, did you believe? [00:31:30] If it's synonymous, receiving the Holy Spirit with believing, which normally it Is, and let's make that absolutely clear, I'm not just a cow for this. In that matter, I think we can underline it. Normally speaking, believing should be receiving. [00:31:45] If you're properly taught you should receive, not merely believe. I must say that in certain courts, especially Lutheran courts, I have discovered that because believing is made a tremendous amount and very little of receiving is emphasized at all, people do are in fact justified. How, I don't know, and yet not really born of God. And I believe it happens here in this country too. [00:32:12] Nevertheless, going back to this point, we have to say did when Paul asked them, did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believe? Well, it's quite clear that in Paul's mind it was possible, although perhaps not general, but possible to believe and not really receive. [00:32:30] This I love because it shows that Paul was a real physician and not one of those quacks. He didn't just have a few theories up here that he just wanted to batter into people's heads, but he was interested in whether people really were in the good of the Gospel. [00:32:57] And we have to say that. [00:32:59] So this is very interesting, the fullness of the Spirit in these other terms that we find that. By the way, you better just look at it. As I said, rather a bit about it is Acts 19, verse 2. And he said unto them, did ye receive the Holy Spirit when ye believed? Now they answered, we didn't even know that the Holy Spirit was given. [00:33:21] That's the state of these folk. Of course, they weren't believers, so they believed they were baptized. [00:33:29] And the Holy Spirit, it says, came on them. Came on them. This is another current of this word, fell on them or came on again. Now these are all very interesting phrases and they all reveal aspects of the work and ministry of the Holy Spirit. Receiving, coming upon, within and upon. Within and upon. Within and upon. This is the two sides of the Holy Spirit's work. His indwelling and his empowering. Within and upon. [00:34:00] If you think of those two little phrases, you will discover you have the whole work ministry of the Holy Spirit in a nutshell, within and upon. Or if you like it, you can think of it as within and behind in the sense of someone driving you along like wind in your sails, blowing you forward. [00:34:23] But the idea is upon, as it were, absolute coming upon someone with power so that they are enabled to live the Christian life. Now, in this matter of the fullness of the Spirit, would you just turn to two scriptures that I think we should take note of. Ephesians, chapter 3, verse 19. [00:34:50] Ephesians, 3:19. [00:34:53] To know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge that ye may be filled unto all the fullness of God. I've always been amazed by this phrase, ye may be filled unto all the fullness of God. This, of course, is quite honestly impossible. [00:35:12] I mean, it will take the whole church to be filled unto all the fullness of God. And even then there will be oceans unexplored. [00:35:20] You just can't comprehend. You cannot talk about boundaries. God is infinite. There's no end to God. There are no boundaries. Even if you were to journey a million million years, a billion years, trillion, or whatever you call them beyond that, you can't come to the end of God. God is infinite. [00:35:41] There are no boundaries to God. There's no end to God. And yet it says here, filled unto all the fullness of God. People tell me even Christians sometimes think that it might be boring in hell. [00:35:51] I can't see how it can be boring in heaven if there's all that to be explored. [00:35:57] And even when we've explored so much, we can't come to an end of it. I should think by the time we've explored a bit more, we should be. We should have forgotten what we explored back there and we'll have to go back and have another look at it. I don't know. I only know myself that when I leave some place that I've seen sometime, I sometimes have a longing come over me to go back and have another look at it. I don't know what it will be like in the glory, but here it says that we are to be filled in the end. Ye may be filled unto all the fullness of God. How? By knowing the love of God, that's how. By experiencing the love of God in every way. We shall, in the end, be filled unto all the fullness of God. Now, this fullness of God, how are you filled to the fullness of God, may I ask? [00:36:42] By sitting in your chair singing a little hymn from the redemptional Keswick Hymn Book as the mood takes you. Or the supplement, if you feel that way inclined. [00:36:55] I mean. [00:36:57] I mean, how are you filled unto all the fullness of God? You get filled unto all the fullness of God by uttering a few sweet little prayers, either from the prayer book or extempore according to your traditional background. How do you get filled unto all the fullness of God? [00:37:17] Do you get filled unto all the fullness of God? By trying How? [00:37:24] There is only one way you can be filled to the fullness of God by being filled with his Filled. [00:37:30] That's the only way. There is absolutely no other way. The link between being filled unto all the fullness of God is the Holy Spirit. [00:37:40] Now if you turn over the pages to Colossians chapter 2, verse 9 and 10, we read. [00:37:48] For in him that is in Christ dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And in him ye are made complete or full, who is the head of all principality and power. This is the fullness of Christ. [00:38:03] Now in Colossians 3 and verse 11, it speaks of Christ filling all in all. And the same in Ephesians 1:23. Well, what does it all mean? How can I know Christ filling all in all. How can I be made full in Christ who is the fullness of the Godhead by only one way. [00:38:23] Not by wishful thinking, not by trying, not by knowledge, but by an experience of the Holy Spirit. This simply means that if you and I are ignoring the work and ministry of the Holy Spirit, we are cutting ourselves off from fullness. It's as simple as that. You can have all the knowledge in the world so that from heaven's point of view you have a head seven times the size of your body filled with knowledge. [00:38:59] You can read every book available, Christian doctrine, Christian life and service, go to all the right missionary meetings and support all the right missionary societies. But if you haven't got an experience of the Holy Spirit, you are absolutely divorced from the fullness of garden of Christ. Absolutely divorced. There is an inseparable and impassable gulf between you and the fullness of God and Christ, because the bridge is the Holy Spirit. [00:39:35] Now, this again is saying and saying very definitely as I'm seeking to say it. [00:39:41] I said, I hope you wouldn't take me as conclusive on all these things, but I did tell you I'd be dogmatic on the things I think we can be dogmatic. Now, there are a few other scriptures. Before I pass on to another question I would like you to look at. And these are the other scriptures I believe are totally ignored by many Christians. First of all, Ephesians 1, verse 13 and 14. [00:40:06] Now I want you. I want to provoke you once more to go away and think, really think. [00:40:14] Now listen. [00:40:15] In whom ye also, having heard the word of the truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom, having also believed, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is an earnest of our inheritance, unto the redemption of God's own possession, unto the praise of his glory. Two words sealed with the Spirit, who is in earnest. [00:40:44] Now, if you turn over to chapter 4 verse 30 of the same letter. [00:40:51] And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God in whom ye were sealed. Now, I'm very interested in this word, in whom? [00:41:03] In whom ye were sealed. This is the same thought as baptism. [00:41:12] Immersed in the Holy Spirit. You see in him, you see this little phrase, in Christ. What does it mean? How can you be in Christ? The only way you can be in Christ is to be in the Holy Spirit. When you step into Christ is the Holy Spirit here, who makes it a living reality in whom ye were sealed. [00:41:36] Grieve not the Holy Spirit in whom ye were sealed unto the day of redemption. That's marvellous, isn't it? And then 2 Corinthians. Turn back to 2 Corinthians, chapter 1. 2 Corinthians, chapter 1, verse 22. [00:41:55] Who also sealed us and gave us the earnest of the Spirit. Now it actually says, anointed us, sealed us, gave us the earnest of the Spirit. Now, this is very interesting because these are words that are very rarely ever spoken about sealed. Now, this is a very interesting word. [00:42:17] It means to seal up. And the idea is a letter or a document where a signet ring is taken by the writer or the authorizer, and in wax he stamps it, he seals it with his seal, and he sends it by a special messenger. [00:42:40] And no one is allowed to open or break that seal. Now, the same idea is in the book of Revelation where it speaks of that little book sealed with seven seals. Each one is sealed with the signet ring of God. [00:42:54] The signet ring of God. Who is the signet ring of God? [00:42:59] Now that's it. [00:43:01] Who is the signet ring of God in whom ye were seen? The Spirit of God is the signet ring of God, the one who transmits the authority of a risen grace and seals as if he's saying, now then, you're a living epistle and you're sealed up to the day of redemption. All that I got in there is sealed up. There's the wax and there's the seal. [00:43:28] Do you see? [00:43:30] Now, a seal is something evident. So don't think that it's not evident. There's no point. A person who's going to seal something doesn't do it on the inside. He does it so that it can be clearly seen, seen whose seal it is. And this is so with the sealing of the Spirit. That's why it has nothing to do with the baptism of the Spirit. Again, this thought of the empowering of the Spirit, there is something manifest in your life that you're seeing there is an absolute imprint on your life. There is something which is like a seal. It's there for all to see. This person has been authoritatively taken hold of by God and the seal is there for all to see. And for the devil. [00:44:14] The devil only comes round, has a look and he sees the seal. Oh, can't do anything, can't tamper with that seal. That seal is the seal of God. He dare not tamper with the seal. He can only get us to ignore all that altogether and walk into his hands. He'll get us, but the seal is there. Now, what is this word earnest? Well, again, I think you have heard probably this, this wonderful word earnest, for those of you who do this kind of thing is when you go into a shop and you see something you like very much, oh, I'm so sorry, I haven't brought my money with me. And a person who's very wise, especially if they're Jewish, will say to you, well, a deposit will secure it. [00:45:01] And so you fish into your purse and you say, well, how much? And they say, well, it's five pounds. If you'll put ten shillings deposit on it, it's yours. We keep it till you come and collect it. [00:45:15] This is what the word earnest means. It really means earnest money, or caution money. The idea is that here is something no one else is allowed to tamper with. This. It's purchased when God gave us the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit in us is the earnest of our redemption. Isn't that marvellous? It means that God's got a deposit in us. Now, this is very wonderful because it means there's much more to come. So if we've tasted of the Holy Spirit down here and of Christ down here, and it's absolutely glorious, just think what it's going to be up there. People say it'll be boring. I mean, we shall run round in circles with joy. Just the very thought of it, a taste of it down here transports us into glory with all our aches and pains and the devil and spirits and the world against us and our own temperament and misunderstanding. Christians and much else, think up there in glory what it will be like when we've all left all that behind and we shall just be absolute. Only the earnest, only the deposit. Then one day we're coming into the full thing. It's as if the Lord has said, now then, on that person, I've put a deposit, I want that one. [00:46:35] And when the Lord Jesus comes in the clouds to take us to himself, that will be the day of the redemption. Of our body. Oh, wonderful. [00:46:43] A new body. And the Lord will say, don't. Anyone can't touch that one or that one. Whether they're in the grave or not, it doesn't matter. [00:46:53] If we're alive, it'll be wonderful to see the Lord come. But if we're in the grave, it won't matter at all. [00:47:00] Marvelous, won't it? Just to be. Just to see that dive. Often wonder what's going to happen in some graveyards. I suppose I've got a macabre sort of interest to see what will happen in that day when. When somehow people come out of all kinds of places and go up to meet the Lord in the sky. What would be a wonderful day? Redemption of the body. New bodies. New bodies. And it's not so strange as it sounds because after all, when our bodies are decayed, the actual atoms are still there somewhere. It just means the Lord has to bring them back and reform them. And there they are again, a new redemption body. [00:47:34] It won't be the same as the old, and yet it will be. I believe there will be something we should be able to. So we're restraining from subject. There's a deposit on us. And as if the Lord said, look at that poor ugly old creature down there. I put a deposit on him. Or her. I know she's not much to look at, or he's not much, but nevertheless, I put a deposit on him. I put a deposit on him. And though there's sin in his body or her body to the end of her days and those shall know tribulation in this world I've put up. I've put up, but I put a deposit on that one. Not only in the spirit, not only in the soul, but in the body. Every hair of the head numbered. [00:48:17] Every hair of the head numbered. Even when they fall out, they must be renumbered every day. [00:48:24] The Lord knows it all. At one day, when we're in the glory, every bit of it will come back. Every bit of it. Yeah, Brother Shaw, every bit of it. Well, I'm just saying, you see, it's a wonderful thing. There's an earnest. And earnest has been put on and we are sealed with a seal and there's a deposit being put on us. And it's the most glorious thing. And listen, dear child of God, it's all to do with the Holy Spirit. [00:48:56] It's all to do with the Holy Spirit. Woe betide us if there's no seal, if there's no earnest, you see what would have happened to those ephesian believers if they just believed. And yet there was no spirit, no seal, no earnest, no bridge into the fullness of God. [00:49:17] How foolish we are when we despise these things. And then in Romans 8 and verse 23, I think it is, we read this evening. [00:49:32] I read that chapter because I wanted you to see that Romans 6 may be a wonderful chapter, as Romans 3 and 4 and 5, but it is the Holy Spirit that really in the end is the key to a living practical experience. [00:49:50] Verse 20. And we ourselves also, who had the first fruits of the Spirit. We've got the first fruits of the Spirit. Against the same thought, we've only got the beginning. The first flower has blossomed. You know, when you go out into the garden in the first part of the early summer, you see the first roses and you think there's the first bloom. The first blooms. Bloom is blooming. What's going to come, a great mass of color is going to come after that. And so it is with the Holy Spirit. We've got the first fruits. Something's happening inside of us and it's first fruits. There's tremendous amount more to come. Well, now, that was my first question, which has taken quite a time. My second question is, when do we experience the baptism and fullness of the Spirit? When do we experience the baptism, fullness of the Spirit? Now here I'm going to be most inconclusive Theologically, when we are born of God experimentally, when by faith we appropriate. Now you think about that. I got out of it beautifully. No one can contradict me on this matter at all. Theologically, when we are born of God experimentally, when we appropriate by faith. [00:51:13] That is the only way that we can decide when a person really knows the baptism of the Spirit. [00:51:22] Now, of course, I'm talking of the baptism of the Spirit in its fullest range. [00:51:27] There are aspects of the work of the Holy Spirit which may well come afterwards. The Lord Jesus was born of the Holy Spirit. Thirty years later, he was endued with power. He was anointed for his service. [00:51:41] People call that the baptism. I wonder whether they can. It's certainly not scriptural, but he himself described it as anointed. He said, I am anointed to preach good tidings. That's how he described it. An anointing, of course, is for service. It's all to do with endumen power for service. Well, now all that again is important. Everything may be ours, offered to us by God through Christ, but our eyes may not be opened to what is ours, to what is offered, and therefore we may not have possessed it by faith. [00:52:22] It's all very well to say everything is ours. Of course everything is ours. [00:52:27] But I mean, if our eyes haven't opened to what is ours, we can live in the midst of luxury and be ignorant. [00:52:35] We can live in the midst of plenty and be poor. [00:52:40] Our eyes have got to open. And not only have our eyes got to open, but we've got to have faith, which sees all this provided and knows we can take it as much as we want. [00:52:55] Let me illustrate. [00:52:57] We talk about being crucified with Christ. I know so very few people who, at the very beginning of their Christian life, when they were born of God, really entered into an experience of being crucified with Christ. [00:53:10] We speak of the indwelling of Christ. [00:53:14] How few believers, really, at the beginning, enter into an experience of the indwelling Christ. I know myself for six years, I hadn't. I had no idea that we were crucified with Christ to save me a lot of problems if I had. And I had no idea that I was indwelled by the Holy Spirit. [00:53:35] Never had no idea. [00:53:38] So it is with many of us. [00:53:40] Some people go almost a lifetime, they're Christians, and yet they never know that they've been crucified with Christ or the Holy Spirit is really within them. [00:53:51] It's not a practical, living reality and experience. [00:53:55] So it can be with the empowering of the Holy Spirit, we can go through life, you know, trying somehow or other to do everything. [00:54:07] And. [00:54:08] Well, it reminds me once of the thing we saw in the east, an old bus with two oxen in front of it pulling it, because the man evidently either had lost the engine or didn't know what petrol was, so he had two oxen front pulling the bath. I often think this is like us, we've got the engine, but we ignore altogether both engine and fuel, and we pull it along with our own energy, doing our best somehow or other to live this Christian life. And it's all our own resources and energy. Well, I think we must say, as I've already pointed out, we cannot be clinical about these things. The baptism is an initial experience. When I say initial, it can be at the very beginning of our Christian experience, or it can come from much later. But it's an initial experience. The fullness of the Spirit is a daily experience, or ought to be. And the reason why some people, when they really have an experience of the Holy Spirit and then later on, are right back where they started is because they have not understood that one experience will not last forever. One experience shoots us, as it were, into a new dimension, to a new realm, to from then on we must learn day by day to appropriate. [00:55:36] We must be filled. That's why in the Book of Acts, you'll find they're filled and filled and filled and filled again. [00:55:42] They need to be filled continually. We need to be filled continually. Now, let me just underline one more thing before I go on to another question. [00:55:50] We must never let theories or even isolate correct theology hold us back from experience in what we believe. [00:56:05] I believe it is the devil's masterpiece in cunning that he has managed to use truth to hold back multitudes of believers from experiencing what they believe. [00:56:20] Oh, you say to them, why don't you seek the Holy Spirit? Seek the Holy Spirit. I have the Holy Spirit. [00:56:26] And it is perfectly apparent from their lives that the Holy Spirit is absolutely absent. [00:56:34] If you get them right onto the basis of honesty, they will tell you, yes, they are fearful. They are bound. [00:56:42] Yes, they know. [00:56:44] And so on and so forth. Oh, no, they couldn't do that. No, they couldn't. That. And so it goes on. They can't do it. But you say you had to. Oh, yes. [00:56:56] Now what's wrong? [00:56:59] Truth is holding them back from entering into an actual experience of what they believe. Oh, they couldn't possibly seek. That would be quite wrong. Seek something they'd already got. Well, then I suggest something else just as good as seeking. Ask the Lord to open your eyes to what you've got. That's all. Just ask the Lord. I believe the Lord doesn't notice too much. This our phraseology. When he sees someone seeking, he says, oh, that's wonderful. I've already got it. But now I can show them. Because they're seeking, they're being honest. They know that there's a lack somewhere in their life. Well, I. I think this is very, very important indeed. [00:57:39] In our hearts we know whether we're experiencing or not. [00:57:43] Every single person in this room knows in his or her heart whether they're really experiencing what I'm talking about. Whether you know what it is to be sealed with the Holy Spirit. Whether you know what is to be being filled all the time with the Holy Spirit. You know what it is to be baptized with the Spirit. You know what it is to be joined to the Lord, to be lost in his fullness. You know what it is to be clothed with powerfulness, and so on and so forth. You know it or you don't know it. [00:58:12] Don't let doctrine, even true doctrine, hold you back from coming into the experience of what you actually believe. Now, the third thing I want to say is what is our need and what is God's provision in the Holy Spirit? Now, of course, this could be a whole evening study alone. But what I'm going to do, I want to take. Take four scriptures, four scriptures alone. And from them I want to point out our need. [00:58:39] And then I want to show you God's provision in the Holy Spirit. [00:58:44] Now, this might help us to know whether we have a real experience of the Holy Spirit. The first is Luke 24:49. Luke 24:49. [00:59:04] And behold, I send forth the promise of my Father upon you, but tarry ye in the city, until ye be clothed with power from on high. [00:59:15] Now, in the American Standard Version, in the Revised Standard Version, it is clothed with power from on high. In the Authorized Version, it is endued with power from on high. [00:59:30] Now I want to speak about your need. What is your need? Well, now, is your need. Can I put it this way? Now listen carefully. Is your need nakedness? [00:59:45] Think. [00:59:49] Is your need naked? Oh, yes, you're a child of God. You're born of his spirit, but you're naked. Well, now look, let me ask you a few other questions. We'll soon find out whether you're naked spiritually or not. Because the Lord once said to the church at Laodicea, and knowest not that thou art naked. [01:00:11] I wonder if the Lord looks at you and says, you've got no clothes on. [01:00:17] You've got no clothes on. Spiritually, you're naked, absolutely naked. [01:00:24] Well, let me put it this way. Are you self conscious? [01:00:28] Self conscious to the degree, spiritually that you're paralyzed when it comes to doing anything, you're full of fear. [01:00:39] So that when it comes to prayer, you can't really pray, not freely comes to praise. You can't really pray spontaneously when he comes to witnessing terrible state. [01:00:57] And the result is that when you do witness, it comes out like a cork out of a bottle, just about to explode, with the result that people tend to stand back with rather in horror, instead of it being a natural, spontaneous, normal thing as it ought to be. [01:01:17] Now, are you naked? [01:01:20] I've often heard people put it like this. They say when they're asked to go somewhere, oh, no, I couldn't go. I'm not properly dressed. [01:01:29] Not properly dressed. [01:01:32] I wonder whether that's how you feel about the Lord's service. No, no, I couldn't, I couldn't. I'm not properly dressed. [01:01:40] I just couldn't do that. [01:01:43] You See, really what you're saying is I'm naked or what I've gone on is so poor that I couldn't do that. [01:01:53] You, you perhaps have a kind of shame, which goes for humility. [01:01:59] The kind of thing the Bible calls hanging the head. [01:02:03] So, you know, it's a. [01:02:07] It's a kind of thing that some people think is humility. It's not humility at all, of course. It's a terrible thing. It's not. It's not your fault necessarily. It's because you're naked. See, you're naked. [01:02:20] So what is the Lord's answer to this? Well, here it is, clothed with power from on high. Clad, absolutely clad. [01:02:33] Clad in such a way that you're no longer self conscious. Of course, everyone's rightly self conscious in a way, otherwise we'd be unbearable. [01:02:44] But I mean that we haven't got the kind of self consciousness which robs us of all our joy and peace and spontaneity. But we can be normal. You can actually be normal because we're clad. Right. [01:02:56] I remember once I came here all dressed in a black suit, ready for the. For the evening service. I'd been a bit absent minded, dashed out and came. And just as I was getting up to come downstairs, I looked down on my feet were the most terrible old pair of brown shoes I'd ever seen. And I don't know whether it was pride or what it was. I was so taken back, I thought, well, I can't preach in that. It would just finish me off. So someone had to cycle over the bridge as quickly as they possibly could and get my black shoes and bring them swiftly back. You see, it was just self consciousness. It was. I just thought, how could I do that? [01:03:32] How could you do that? It's rather like going to a certain sort of affair and you know that they're all going to dress in a certain way and you hadn't got the right suit or something else. You say, no, I'd rather not go. [01:03:47] Because you're self conscious. Now the scripture says ye shall be clothed with power from on high. Now wouldn't you like that? [01:03:57] Now just forget Pentecostalism. Just forget all the excess that there is so often. Wouldn't you like to be clothed with power? Wouldn't you like not to be like a Great loud Boeing 707 or a roaring through the sky? But Amy, wouldn't you like to just be a normal average Christian? When I say normal average Christian, I don't mean the normal average Christian by what we've got. But by what God means. [01:04:24] A really normal average Christian. A person who can smile. A person who's got joy when everything goes wrong. A person who's got peace, deepest distress. A person who's not nagged by fear, warped and embittered by the past. [01:04:42] Oh my. Wouldn't you like to be clothed? A lot of our troubles come because we think people will find us out. Why? Because we're frightened to see our nakedness. If only we could be clothed, rightly clothed. Be a wonderful thing, wouldn't it? Do you know what the word actually means? [01:05:03] Well, it means this. To enter in as a garment or to cause to go into us. A garment that's rather like the mother pushing her little boy into a coat and into his trousers. See, she's pulling them off in the middle voice. It means to be clothed upon. But the idea is of stepping into clothes, you see. And this is what the Lord says. Ye shall be clothed with power from on high. There'll be something round about you. [01:05:37] Just like Adam and Eve in the garden had a glory covering. So they were completely uninhibited and quite spontaneous and free. [01:05:47] So we as Christians spiritually ought to be clothed with the power of God so that we can be ourselves hell in God. [01:05:56] So that we can just be quite normal so that we can function. [01:06:02] Well, I think that's a wonderful thing. Are you naked? If you'll Turn to Ephesians 5:18. [01:06:09] Ephesians 5:18. [01:06:16] Be not drunken with wine wherein is riot, but be filled with the Spirit. Be filled with the Spirit. Now let me ask you, is your need emptiness, Emptiness? [01:06:33] Yes. You're freed, but you're empty. [01:06:38] Something's negative about you. [01:06:41] You're delivered, but you're. There's not anything wrong but there's a hollow feeling, an empty feeling. Something inside is. Is not there. There's not that actual fullness. Now the Lord says be filled with the Spirit. Is your life spiritually aimless? [01:07:03] There's the. The steering compunction of the Spirit of God is not there. So that you're just drifting from this meeting to that, from this saint to that, from this matter to that. What you need is to be filled. Are you empty? [01:07:20] Now look at this. It's rather wonderful. Note the exact wording. It says be filled in the Spirit. Be filled in the spirit. And Handley Mole has put it like in the Holy Spirit you can be filled. Now that's a wonderful thought. In the Holy Spirit you can be filled. First you've got to be in the Holy Spirit. Baptized in the spirit. Then you can be filled. It's like a little cup being put in a bucket of water. Put the cup in the bucket of water and sink it in. It's filled, absolutely filled to overflowing. I thought of a little poem that I came across some while ago by Amy Carmichael. Listen to it. I think it contains a wonderful thought. Upon the sandy shore an empty shell beyond the shell infinitive sea. O Saviour, I am like that empty shell. Thou art the sea to me. A sweeping wave rides up the shore and lo, each dim recess the coiled shell within is search. Tis fill'd is fill to overflow by water crystallized not to the shell is any glory. Then all glory give we to the glorious sea and not to me is any glory. When thou overflowest me, Sweep over me thy shell as low I lie, I yield me to the purpose of thy will. Sweep up, O conquering ways and purify and with thy fullness fill. [01:09:00] She's just contained the thought. We want to get over. We want to be like a shell submerged in the sea, in the infinity of the sea. Filled to overflow, Filled to all the fullness of God. Now then, are you empty? Look at the context. Speaking one to another in psalms and hymns and stories, spiritual songs. Singing and making melody with your heart. [01:09:27] Instead of that dirge that comes out so often, that misery that spreads like an infection amongst all. Oh, I've had such a terrible time. [01:09:41] The Lord said, in this world we shall have tribulation. But he said, be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. What? Wouldn't it be wonderful if all of us were singing in our heart, making melody, Making melody. What a wonderful thing. Then he goes on and it says, giving thanks always for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to God, even the Father. Subjecting yourselves one to another in the fear of the Lord. All this wonderful, wonderful praise, worship, thanksgiving, joy, peace and fellowship. [01:10:19] How can you have it? By being filled with the Holy Spirit. Now look at the illustration in verse 18. Be not drunk with wine. I know there are one or two who have been drunk here. Most of you haven't been drunk. But what happens to a drunk person? What happens to a drunk person? The alcohol permeates every bit of their body. [01:10:40] Every bit. It almost comes through their paws. [01:10:44] It empowers them. It empowers them and controls them. Be not filled. Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess or riot, but be filled with the spirit. Oh, to be permeated with the spirit. You know the first Thing that attracted me about the present movement of the Spirit of God was of the faces of the people who'd met the Lord. They were permeated with a radiancy. There were others that weren't, I must say that. But those that had a real experience were permeated with a radiance. You could pick out. You could pick out the faces of people because there was a peace and there was a joy in the very face. There was something coming through the very cause of their being. [01:11:34] So it should be with us. Be ye not drunk with wine, wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit. It doesn't mean that we're to lose control of ourselves. We're to fall all over the place. We're to sort of start to behave as if we're mad. It means that somehow the Holy Spirit within us can manifest the beauty of the Lord our God. [01:11:57] So in us there is another agent other than ourselves. Now, that leads me to another scripture. Acts, chapter one, verse eight. [01:12:08] Acts, chapter one, verse 8. [01:12:10] Ye shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. Ye shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. Now can I ask you something? I've asked whether you feel naked. I've asked whether you feel empty. Now I want to ask you, do you feel weak? [01:12:31] Paralyzed? Dumb? [01:12:34] Dumb? Of course there is a right kind of weakness. [01:12:39] But God help us when it's the wrong kind of weakness. [01:12:43] And there is a weakness that makes us like a wet wreck. [01:12:48] That kind of droopy thing that no one can do anything with. [01:12:54] Just like a wet, foggy morning. [01:13:01] And then people have got the cheek, and I mean it, the cheek to say, when I am weak, then am I strong. What nonsense. [01:13:10] What absolute nonsense. [01:13:14] The kind of weakness God speaks about is hidden in power. [01:13:21] The kind of sorrow God speaks about is hidden in joy. [01:13:27] The kind of conflict God speaks of is hidden in peace. [01:13:32] Well, with this kind of thing, you wear it all on your arm. [01:13:38] I should say that you're devoid of the spirit of God. That's all Paul said I can do all things. Through Christ who strengthens me, I have learned, he said, in whatsoever state, I am therewith to be content. [01:13:52] He speaks of being abased and abounding. He speaks of finding the joy of the Lord there. He speaks of the peace of God which passes all understanding, garrisoning the heart and mind in Christ Jesus. Now, I'm not saying that there are not times when we weep. And there are not times when we are down. And there are not times when we need to be Lifted up and revived. But I am saying this that the weakness that some people call weakness is wholly of the devil, holy of the devil. It's something they've taken on from him and is not of God at all. Not of God at all. God doesn't expect you to go round in sort of grays, somber dark, like December 21st, continually instead of Midsummer's Day. [01:14:41] The Lord wants you to be a place, a person in whom he shines forth, someone in whom the life of his glory. You see, I have always discovered that the people who know what it is to be made weak are the people everyone thinks are powerful. [01:15:03] I discover that the people with the greatest sorrows are the people that most people think have no sorrows at all. [01:15:10] They say, you don't understand us. [01:15:15] You couldn't understand me. [01:15:19] Sometimes I wonder if we want to. When I see some of the faces that come. No, all joking aside, the real point is that there is a weakness which is not of God. [01:15:36] Ye shall be clothed with power from high ye when the Holy Spirit. Ye shall receive power when the Holy Spirit come upon you. Dumb, are you? Dumb. You paralyze. Are you bound? [01:15:51] Then the answer is this wonderful experience of the power of the Holy Spirit, the empowering of the Holy Spirit. Now, can I say one thing more about this verse? And we pass on to the last. It is this. [01:16:04] You know, temperamentally and constitutionally, you and I will always remain the same, never be any different. [01:16:12] After all, temperamentally, your personality is made up by what you are. Temperamental, mentally. We don't all want to become little Paul's or little Peters. There is a Paul and there is a Peter and there is a John, and there's you and me. [01:16:26] And we must remain temperamentally what we are and constitutionally what we are. Don't let's all try to copy each other temperamentally as if our temperament is spiritual. It's not. The temperament is just the fragile vessel of clay. In many ways, the constitution is just part of the fragile vessel of death and will be in the glory in a redemption body. But we shall have redemption bodies with temperaments. Think of it. [01:16:55] Temperaments in the glory. [01:16:59] Yes, temperaments and constitutions. Because we shall have redemption bodies. [01:17:05] But, and this is the point, you can never make an excuse of your temperament and constitution. So many of us say, oh, well, that's me. [01:17:15] So help us God. [01:17:18] It's a terrible thing just to simply say, that's me. What you need is the power of the Holy Spirit that will transcend what you are temperamentally and Constitutionally and balance you. Balance me and fill out what we lack. You see, temperamentally we can be harsh, but the Holy Spirit can give us a grace. [01:17:41] Temperamentally, we may be full of energy. The Holy Spirit can give us patience. [01:17:48] It's not that we become different to what we are, but he balances us by indwelling us. And there is a power which means that instead of being tied to ourselves temperamentally and constantly, constitutionally, we rise above ourselves. [01:18:05] We're not. We're not sort of somehow tied to what we are. Well, that's very important. The last. The last scripture I want you to look at is Matthew 3, verse 11, last part. He shall baptize you in the Holy Spirit and fire. [01:18:28] Acts, chapter two, verse five. Now, this is one that I. I know. I've heard it read so many times. Verse 4. [01:18:39] No. Verse 3. [01:18:42] And there appeared unto them, tongues parting asunder, like as of fire, and it sat upon each one of them. [01:18:51] Have you ever thought about that? [01:18:54] There appeared tongues as of fire, parting asunder and dwelling on each one of them. Have you ever thought to the day of Pentecost? Of course, I suppose I first began to think about this a day or two ago, a week or two ago in Austria. When I saw an old, old picture in the church of all these poor disciples. And I must say they look very miserable with a little flame of fire. Which one? On the head. And I thought, that's a strange picture. Then I thought, well, of course, it does say something about fire, doesn't it? So I went back and I looked. And of course, in a way, the artist has got it right. There were the fire came, and then it. It parted asunder. And upon each one rested Abode this fire. [01:19:41] Now, I want to ask you a question. Are you cold spiritually? Oh, yes. Got all the knowledge in the world. You know all about being crucified with Christ. You know what it is to have the indwelling of the Spirit. You even know something about the empowering of the Spirit up here. But you're terribly cold. [01:20:01] Loveless. [01:20:03] Loveless, Cold, hard. [01:20:11] Just like the Arctic. [01:20:14] You like that spiritually? Well, I can soon give you a gauge. [01:20:20] Do you know what it is to worship? [01:20:25] Can you really worship the Lord rapturously? I say it to myself, to every one of us. Can it? [01:20:32] Can you really worship the Lord as if you love him with your whole soul and heart? And me? Don't say it's because you can't do it in public. [01:20:41] Nonsense. If you really loved the Lord. If you really love the Lord. And you knew he was there. [01:20:48] Like that woman who broke that alabaster box. And there were a whole crowd of critical disciples gathered round Merlin. She was lost to the Lord. Couldn't care less about them all yapping in the background. [01:21:05] She was worshipping the Lord. [01:21:08] It was like that other woman who once came and she wept at his feet and anointed again another woman. A woman who'd been saved. A woman of the streets. [01:21:20] And there was the host who sat by gathering his garments around him. And the others, they were Pharisees. And say, how can this man be a holy man if he lets a woman like this touch him? She was oblivious to them. And it says she went on bathing his feet with her tears while the Lord rebuked them. She was so oblivious to them. Don't tell me that you can't do it in public. I'll tell you what's wrong with you. You're not in love with the Lord. That's all. [01:21:52] Oh, you say I can't wear my. My heart on my sleeve. [01:21:57] But your Lord wore his heart on his sleeve when he died on the cross. For you. [01:22:03] He was prepared to endure everything for you. He was prepared for all the taunting and the despising of everyone. [01:22:10] For you. [01:22:13] No. I say it to my heart and to all our hearts. Are you cold? [01:22:20] Well, here's the answer. He shall baptize you in the Holy Spirit and in fire. [01:22:29] Fire. [01:22:30] Fire. [01:22:31] Yes. Fire consumes. Fire consumes in a moment, what is not of God. It will burn up in you. What's not of God? Fire refines what is of God. It will pierce, purify and refine and develop. Fire lights. Yes. You know, our electricity comes from fire. The sun rises every day and gives us light. Fire. You have the fire of the spirit of God. And there'll be light in your heart and light for other people. Your light will shine before men. [01:23:06] There'll be warmth. [01:23:08] Fire warms us. [01:23:12] There will be love in your heart. The love of God shed aboard in your heart by the Holy Spirit. Fire. Melt that hardness, that warpedness. [01:23:24] Baptized in the fire. It will melt. [01:23:28] Absolutely melt. [01:23:30] And the thing in you that you never thought could ever change will just melt away because of the fire of God. Quickening. Yes. The sun rises gradually, comes nearer to us in the spring and draws out of the earth everything by its quickening power. So, can fire do that with you? It can quicken you. And, oh my, it can energize you. Can energize you. There's another little poem I'll read to you. It's by the woman who was such a tremendous blessing to Brother Watchman. Nee. And it's entitled in the Wilderness for God. [01:24:15] In the wilderness for God. [01:24:17] Just a common bush aflame. [01:24:21] Thus may I be blessed, Lord, for the glory of thy name. Just a common bush to be something in which God can dwell, Something through which God can speak. [01:24:36] Something through which God can tell all his yearning over men, all his purposes of love. [01:24:45] Flaming with no light of earth but with glory from above. [01:24:52] God himself. Within the bush nothing seen but just the flame. [01:25:00] Make me that just that, O God, for the glory of thy name. That was Margaret Barber. She wrote that she was just like that. A dry old bush in China. [01:25:18] She lived her whole life and saw very little for. [01:25:23] And in the end, in the cms, when she came back, she said, I'm not staying here. I'm going back. They said, well, we're not sending you back. So she's very well, I'll go back. And she retired from the mission and went back an old lady. She was just a dry old stick, nothing to look at. Nothing that you would have thought was unique or singular about Margaret Barber. She was just a commandor the wilderness, but she was aflame for God. [01:25:52] And Brother Ni caught light through Margaret Barber. And it's not. It's not being sentimental to say that the whole of China and the whole core spiritual of China and perhaps of the world has been affected by one little old dry stick that you and I would have overlooked. But who was just a common book aflame. [01:26:23] Well, I ask you. The necessity is appropriation by faith. [01:26:30] Do you need God offers. That's all God offers. Do you need God, Arthur? [01:26:42] Only three things can keep you sin. If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. [01:26:49] Ignorance. Yes. Oh, says Paul. Are ye ignorant? [01:26:55] If you're ignorant, that can keep you back. [01:26:59] Or unbelief. [01:27:01] It says they fail to enter in through unbelief belief. [01:27:06] Only three things can hold you back from really experiencing the power and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit of God bringing you into such an experience of the Lord that you're clothed and filled and empowered and aflame. [01:27:24] Only. Only. Only one thing can hold you back, and that is if your eyes don't see what nail pierced hands offer you. [01:27:39] And if you don't take now, if you were to take, God will give. [01:27:48] So confess. [01:27:51] Ask, Receive. [01:27:56] Believe. [01:27:58] Confess your need. [01:28:02] Ask God exactly for what you need. [01:28:06] Ask him. [01:28:08] Ask him. [01:28:10] Receive. [01:28:12] Open your heart. Say, lord Jesus, come, I take the Holy Spirit. I take that endurement with power from on high. I take the fullness tonight of the Spirit of God. And then thank the Lord. Thank him, praise him. And in his own time, he'll manifest it. There'll be a seal there. There'll be something for all to see. [01:28:38] Sealed with the Holy Spirit. Now, this evening, shall we just bow to prayer? Perhaps we'll just have a few moments of prayer.