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124.
That's a God in our loving Father. We will give thee our thanks once again this afternoon. We thank thee as we're reminded in this him how thou being thy brain morning star and we think to us we're saying how Jesus that thou would quickly come and truly how much we need to be reminded of like soon coming. Blessed Lord Jesus, surely we long to be with thyself, but at the meantime we know thou has left us here.
For purpose. So we do look to thee with a little time that is left here on this earth, that that would help us to walk in a path that is pleasing to Thee, and that we may too be a testimony for Thy name's sake. And now we look to the end. We think of the blessing we have had with Thy word open before us. Would you pray that that will continue to give us a portion, A portion that would encourage our hearts, a portion that would draw us close to Thyself, blessed Lord Jesus.
And now we'll look to the end. We commit this meeting to follow into thine hand. We do pray that the Spirit may work freely, and we do pray that that would give us yet another portion. We think of many here of different ages. We think of the young people. We think of the children here. We think of some of us who are a little bit older. We do pray that Thou would give us those special portions to encourage our hearts by. We think to perhaps some here have heavy hearts here too. Thou knowest whatever it may be.
00:05:13
We look to Thee and we ask that I would encourage our hearts that Thou withdraws knowing that Thou are the only one that can satisfy our hearts. We look today and we commit this meeting into thine hand and asking for blessing once more in the name of our Lord and our Savior Jesus Christ.
I suggest we start at the 13th verse.
I.
John, chapter 16, verse 13.
How be it when He the Spirit of Truth has come, He will guide you into all truth. For He shall not speak of himself, but what he shall hear, that shall He speak, and He will show you things to come. He shall glorify Me, for He shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you. All things that the Father has hath their mind. Therefore said I.
That He shall take of mine, and shall show it unto you a little while, and you shall not see me. And again a little while, and ye shall see me, because I go to the Father. Then said some of His disciples among themselves. What is this that He saith unto us a little while, and you shall not see me. And again a little while, and you shall see me, and because I go to the Father. And they say it Therefore what is this? That He say it a little while. We cannot tell what He said.
Now Jesus knew that they were desirous to ask him, and said unto them, Do you inquire among yourselves of that I said, a little while, and you shall not see me. And again a little while, and you shall see me. Verily, I verily, verily, I say unto you, that ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice, and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. A woman, when she is in travel, has sorrow because her hours come.
But as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembers no more the anguish for joy that a man is born into the world.
And ye now therefore have sorrow, but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you. And in that day you shall ask me nothing.
Barely, barely, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Hitherto have you asked nothing in my name. Ask and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full. These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs, but the time cometh when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs.
But I shall show you plainly of the Father.
At that day you shall ask in my name, and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you. For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me and have believed that I came out from God. I came forth from the Father, and and them come into the world again. I leave the world and go to the Father. His disciples said unto him, Lo, now that speaketh thou plainly, and speaketh no proverb.
Now are we sure that thou knowest all things, and needest not that any man should ask thee? By this we believe that thou camest for forth from God. Jesus answered them. Do you now believe? Behold, the hour cometh. Yay is now come, that ye shall be scattered every man to his own, and shall leave me alone. And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. These things have I spoken unto you, that in me you might have peace.
In the world ye shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world.
This morning we spoke of three things in connection with the work of the Spirit of God in relationship to this world. He's in the world reproving the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment, taking up, as we said, the work that the Lord Jesus began. And the Lord Jesus having returned to the Father, he sent the Holy Spirit down to take up that work. But in the 13th, 14th, and 15th verses, we have three things that the Holy Spirit does in connection with the believer.
With you and me. So he's talking now to the disciples. He's talking to his own, and he speaks of three things that the Spirit of God would show them. The first one is in the end of verse 13. And he will show you things to come. And so we can take up the prophetic scriptures. We can have an understanding of what is ahead both for us in the glory as far as the Lord's coming. What we don't have to wonder what's going to happen in this world where it's all headed.
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Men of the world today are shaking their heads and saying where's it all going to end? But the Christian who's reading his Bible and is taught by the Spirit of God has more understanding of where this world's headed and how it's going to all turn out. More understanding than all the wise, worldly politicians and statesman who are trying to figure it out from a natural standpoint. And so he shows us things to come. Then in verse 14, he shows us something else.
He shall glorify me, for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you.
So he presents to us the glories of Christ. How would we know the glories of the person of Christ apart from it's made good to us by the Spirit of God from the pages of the Word of God. You want to know Christ better? You don't want to know something of his glories. Open this blessed book and read. The subject is always Christ and the Spirit of God is there by type and shadow in the Old Testament and figure by his life in the gospel, by his.
By where he is now in Christianity and the fruition of his exaltation in the Book of Revelation. But then there's something else in verse 15. All things that the Father hath are mine. Therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall show it to you. And so the other thing the Spirit of God does for the believer is he makes known to us the councils of the Father, and we have that all spelled out for us. We don't have to wonder as to the councils and purposes of God.
Again, whether it's in connection with the Church, whether it's in connection with his earthly people, Israel.
Whether it's the blessing of the nations in a coming day, all this, the counsels of God the Father have been clearly spelled out with the Spirit of God-given to make it good to us. But our brother Bruce mentioned this morning the 24th of Genesis, and I'd like to go back there for a moment to another portion that just to follow on what he said, because I believe it's a very apartment illustration that we have.
Just say this, that the unnamed servant in Scripture or man is often a picture to us of the Spirit of God. Now I realize that servant, an Abraham servant, is named in another place, but in this chapter he is not named because he is a picture to us of the Spirit of God. Just in passing, give you another couple of examples. The man bearing the picture of water. The word the water is a picture. The word the man is the Spirit of God. The innkeeper when the Samaritan was brought to the end.
The servant who was over the reapers that Boaz communed with when he came and asked who the damsel was that was gleaning in his field. And there are many other examples but we have it beautifully here. But I want to read verse 53.
And the servant, to picture the Spirit of God, brought forth jewels of silver and jewels of gold and raiment, and gave them to Rebecca. He gave also to her brother and to her mother precious things. Now here we find three things that the servant, as a picture of the Spirit of God, gives to Rebecca's, to Rebecca, and to her family. First of all, there were jewels of silver. I think we very quickly see that silver is so often, almost invariably I think, a picture of redemption.
How do we have confirmed to our souls that were redeemed? It's the Spirit of God. He makes that good to our souls. Then there's jewels of gold. That's divine righteousness because we're more than redeemed. We're taught by the Spirit that we've been made the righteousness of God in Him. We're seen in all the perfection of Christ. There's raiment, there's garments that speaks of worthiness. And so we've been clothed in garments of salvation, and we walk with Him because we are worthy.
The overcut was the promise to the overcomer, I think in Sardis, in Revelation. And so it was the servant that brought these things out and gave them. They were provided by Abraham, but they were made good to those to whom the servant was sent by the servant himself. And I'm sure too, as the track across the desert with Rebecca took place, that the servant continued to present and tell what was ahead for Rebecca.
00:15:02
Out these things He was showing things to come, what was in store for Rebecca when she finally came and was united with Isaac as her bridegroom. And so this is the function of the Spirit of God through the Word. Yes, but he shows us these three things, things to come, the glories of Christ and the councils of God the Father.
In actual fact, the.
The word comforter is.
A word that does not express fully the operation of the Spirit of God. We think of comfort in the sense of sympathy, and surely that is a function of the Spirit. But it goes beyond that. Perhaps the English word comforter doesn't fully cover the.
The thought that this that is brought before us in that passage is one who supports and strengthens, one who takes up our case fully and answers for us.
In fact, the word comforter and advocate.
Which we have in first John chapter 2 are the same word in the original. So as has been said that we have two comforters. We have one in the glory Christ, a man up there as our advocate to restore us when we have failed. We have the Spirit of God as our comforter sustainer down here in our pathway. There's another.
Perhaps.
Definition of a comforter to It's one that is called alongside to help.
And.
It's always comforting to have one walking alongside of us, isn't it?
Some time ago I I read a story about.
A pilot that got into trouble while he was flying his light plane. It was a single engine plane and he was temporarily blinded and he still had not made a landing and he was able to get on the radio.
And request help.
And they said if you can hang on long enough, we're going to send another plane up to fly right next to you about 50 feet off your wing, and that pilot will be flying.
A plane with the exact same controls that you have in your plane and that person will relay instructions to you as to what vevers.
And knobs that you are to pull and to what degree you have to turn a knob or level. And as a result of that, that pilot made it down safely. And when I read of that, I I thought of that one, that word, the Greek word, which means one called alongside the help. And that certainly is an example of the meaning that is expressed in this verse too, isn't it?
Yes, that's helpful because the Lord again was seeking in these chapters to bring before the disciples that they were not going to be left without power for their pathway in His absence. You know, when the Lord Jesus was here, the disciples could go to the Lord Jesus with all their burdens and difficulties, any question they had. You remember when their hearts were burdened over the death of John the Baptist, they went and they told the Lord all about it, and he sympathized with them and drew them into a desert place to rest a while when the multitude was hungry.
He used them to feed the multitude, but there were 12 baskets leftover. They needed something to take away for themselves as well. They could get just as hungry as the multitude. They each had a basket to take away. And over and over again you see them going to the Lord, and He provided everything that was needed for them in His pathway.
But he wasn't going to be with them, as we've been saying, like he had been during his public ministry.
But he's saying to them that I'm not going to leave you as orphans, I'm not going to leave you comfortless, I'm not going to go back to the Father and leave you to stumble on till you get to the Father's house and I come back again to receive you there. No, I'm going to give you all the resources that are necessary every step of the way. So whether it was encouragement they needed, whether it was power to overcome in the difficulties of life, whether it was the appreciation and understanding of the truth.
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Whatever it was, whether it was having a vision of what's ahead, all these things are provided by that the through the energy of the of the Spirit of God. Because the divine life is a perfect life, but it is a life that is a dependent life. It has no power of itself.
The Spirit of God is the energy for that life.
So even though.
They were about to lose.
The physical presence of the Lord Jesus.
The gain would be greater than loss because the fact that the Spirit of God would be given to indwell the believer.
Which the disciples they knew nothing about when the Lord Jesus was here on earth.
And.
Think of the truth that the Spirit of God.
Would lead into.
The highest truth of Christianity with respect to the church and the fact that we as believers, our members of the body of Christ, were united with our head in heaven. It's that which the apostle Paul.
Revealed through the power of the Spirit of God.
And Paul could I believe it was the Ephesian elders, he said, I've not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.
Well, that could have never happened apart from the Spirit of God coming down to the world and indwelling the believer.
So.
Truly, the gain is far greater than the loss and.
Lord Jesus tries to impress that on the disciples here.
And also is constantly referring to the truth you know in verse 6.
Or seven, the Lord Jesus says, I tell you the truth.
While he was the truth, you could say I am the truth.
And I think of what the Lord spoke to.
Pilot.
Over in chapter 18, John's Gospel.
Chapter 18.
And verse 37.
Thinking particularly of the end of the verse.
But 1837 Pilot therefore said unto him, Art thou a king? Then Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Everyone that is of the truth heareth my voice. Pilots saith unto him.
What is true? And before an answer was given, it says he.
When he had said this, he went out. I don't think he really was interested in the truth, just like many in the world today.
But how wonderful.
To have the truth, to come to know the truth, the living truth, that's the Lord Jesus. We have the written truth in our hands, the word of God.
And we have the spirit of truth.
To guide us into all truth.
We ought to be rejoicing as we contemplate the wonderful privilege.
That is ours.
As those that know the truth.
And to be able to.
Grasp it by the power of the Spirit of God you know, the Lord Jesus said, you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
Liberty. How do we get it? By knowing the truth. How do we know the truth? By reading the Word of God and looking to God by His Spirit to make it good to our hearts, to our souls.
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Just one other portion comes to mind first, John Chapter 2.
And verse 27. First John 2 and 27. But the anointing.
Which I believe to be.
The imparting of the Spirit of God to the believer, the indwelling of the Spirit, but the anointing which he have received of him, abideth in you, and you need not that any man teach you, but as the same anointing teaches you of all things.
And his truth, and his no lie, and even as it hath taught you.
You shall abide in Him.
So I believe.
We're going to spend eternity learning the truth, but it starts here.
On Earth.
It's inexhaustible.
Truth of God.
Well, as we often have pointed out, one thing that characterizes this day in which we live, the day of grace is the abiding presence of the Spirit of God. And isn't that a comfort to realize? Because earlier in John 14, when the Lord spoke of the coming of the Spirit, He said that He will abide for at with you forever. And the Spirit doesn't leave till we leave. That's why in the end of revelation it says, and the Spirit and the Bride say come.
Why do the Spirit and the bride both say come? Because the Spirit is here till we go at the rapture He will go. I realize God will work by His Spirit after the church is gone, but it will be in the a similar way as to the Old Testament, the way he worked. But the abiding presence of the Spirit of God with us and in US is what characterizes this age. And that ought to really comfort our hearts. Because again, the Lord was saying to the disciples, I'm not going to leave you without power for your pathway.
And that which will lead you to the end of the enjoyment of the, of the truth of Christianity, the truth of the Word of God. And so today, the work that was begun on the day of Pentecost is still going on. The players have changed a little bit. The disciples are gone. The early brethren are gone. But you're one of the players. I'm one of the players. We still have the same spirit that is referred to here. We still have the same spirit that was given on the day of Pentecost.
He hasn't changed. The Word of God hasn't changed. The Lord is still the same. The counsels of the Father haven't changed. And so the work goes on. And that ought to exercise us, brethren, that we would take up that work at what He has given to each one of us, and in the power of the Spirit, seek to live for God's glory until the Spirit and the Bride are taken out.
We read in Ephesians 4 chapter verse 30 verse that we are.
Often reminded of that, we are not to grieve the Holy Spirit of God.
Whereby we are sealed. There's thirty of the fourth chapter, whereby we are sealed unto the day of redemption, not until we fail, but until the day of redemption. The security that's one of the functions of the Holy Spirit of God is to give eternal security.
The seal that we belong to Christ, but He will not depart from us, so let us be careful that we do not grieve Him.
In our walking ways He cannot minister to us comfort. If he is grieved by something in my life, we cannot grieve him away, but he will no longer minister Christ to our souls. Also Spirit of God is the earnest. Of course, that's a.
A figure that speaks of a foretaste of the glory. We have a preview of the Gloria.
A foretaste of what we are going to enjoy for eternity by the Spirit of God who has, is the earnest of the inheritance. We don't have the inheritance at the present time and its fullness, but we can have the enjoyment of those things in our souls before that day comes.
00:30:12
Well, we really learn from the next section then, don't we, that the Spirit of God bears witness of Christ and glory and the disciples bear witness of Christ on earth. And that work, as I say, is still going on. And so the disciples were still concerned. They were still there's hearts were still full of sorrow. They didn't really understand and enter into what was going to happen. All they knew was that the Lord Jesus was going back to heaven and they were going to be things that they were going to face.
In his absence. But what I believe he's seeking to bring before them in these verses that follow is that though they were no longer going to see him with the physical eye, that when the Spirit of God came to be with them and in them, He was going to make Christ in glory as real to them as if he was here physically. In fact, even more so. And so that's why Peter later on says, Whom not having seen ye love, though now ye see him not yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable.
And full of glory. So none of us have ever seen the Lord Jesus with the physical or natural eye. But is he any less real to the eye of faith? We're linked now to the man in the glory by the Spirit of God. That's one of the things in John 14 that the Lord Jesus gave the disciples initially for their comfort. At the beginning of John 14 he said, you believe in God, believe also in me.
What he was really saying is you've believed in, in God, whom you've never seen. Now you're going to have to believe in me in the same way you're going to have to by faith, believe in me in my absence at when I return to the Father. And so that's why in Hebrews we read, we see Jesus not with the eye of faith or the natural eye, I'm sorry, but we see him with the eye of faith and we see him not walking as the lowly man of grace here.
Not the rejected 1, not the despised 1A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, but we see him as the man of glory, crowned with glory and honor. And he says the disciples, if you could just understand that, you'd rejoice with me. I'm going on to the Father's house. I'm going back as the glorified man.
Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning. And if you could just see beyond the night and see the results of what is going to take place, and my return to the Father, and the results of the Spirit of God coming down, and your link with me as the glorified man, you'd rejoice too. He sympathizes with them here, but He also wants them to look beyond the what they felt was the night and the sorrow and to see the results of it.
We're told in Ephesians to be filled with the Spirit.
As we're filled with the Spirit and that verse, it tells us to sing to yourselves in psalms, hymns, spiritual songs, making melody in your heart to the Lord. And we can speak to one another when we're filled with the Spirit, but the Spirit does more than make us sing hymns. And we have it, have it here. It says, He shall glorify me.
How does that affect me in my daily life?
Am I filled with the Spirit? Do I glorify the Lord Jesus? How does it affect my life?
When my interrelations with other people, do I offend people with my words? Do I make myself seem better than others by the way I I speak to them?
In Galatians chapter 5, we have the fruits of the spirit and if we're filled with the spirit, I believe our, our conversation between one another, I believe our, our meetings would be characterized by by the spirit. And it says here in verse 22, the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. Against such there is no law. Verse 25.
If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. So the Spirit of God should have its effect in our daily life, in our interrelationships with other believers. That's why God gave us his Spirit. One reason why God gave us his Spirit and all the all the fruit of the Spirit is because he knows there's friction between Saints and it takes love and long-suffering and and so forth to get along with one another and.
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It says He shall glorify me.
With our lives we can glorify the Lord. When we come together in a meeting like this, the ministry should glorify the Lord, and if it starts to begin to glorify a man, it's not from the Lord himself. And so it also says in in chapter 5 and verse 26.
I think this will be evidence whether a person is is led by the Spirit of God. At the end of the verse it says he shall testify of me. The Spirit of God is going to testify of the Lord Jesus and if we can be occupied with Christ, that's evidence that we have the Spirit of God.
And that's why He wanted them to have joy, not sorrow. And so the Kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. And so when there is the liberty of the Spirit of God to minister Christ to us, present His glories, and so on, and we're filled with the Spirit, as you say, then there will be that joy. Not that the circumstances may be any easier, but as He says here, your joy no man taketh from you in verse 2022.
And in verse 24, that your joy may be full, not half full, but full. He wants us to have full joy. The world has joy. They have happiness, but their joy is dependent at best on present circumstances. And you just introduced something adverse into the life of somebody who's not a believer. And whatever happiness they have is gone in a moment. And that happiness is not going to return until circumstances turn around.
But our joy is not dependent on our circumstances, but it is dependent on our being filled with the Holy Ghost, because in the measure, as Tim said, in which we're filled with the Holy Spirit, Christ is ministered to our hearts. And that is what raises us above the circumstances of life, not that we're callous or indifferent to the circumstances of life. If we become that, we're never, we're not going to be exercised by them in the way that we ought to. So we don't become callous or indifferent.
To them, but it raises, raises us above them. And this is a joy that only a believer can, can experience. So your joy no man taketh from you, and that your joy may be fulfilled, but it is only through the work of the Spirit ministering Christ that that can be true.
He was going to bring them into a new relationship.
With God the Father, it seemed to the Father. We get that a little later in the in the gospel when he sends that message.
By Mary in chapter 20 I ascend unto my father and your father to my God and your God and then later says receive the Holy Spirit is the power of that new life that they were brought into. He breathed into them at new character of life and the power of the Spirit of God.
And what an opening to them of the Scriptures. He opened their understanding and then later when the Spirit of God actually came and indwelt them, what a fullness opened to them to enjoy those things that the Spirit of God was going to show them and and a joy and in relationship with the Father to know God as Father as the Lord Jesus Christ knows him as Father. I just think of the disciples here in these words. The Lord knew what was going on in their hearts.
And they were sorrowful and they he knew they weren't understanding what he said.
And he knew what was going to happen. He told them earlier, tried to comfort them in connection with, you know, they were going to find out Judas was the betrayer, one of their own. They were all going to forsake him and think of how they felt, even especially Peter and see the Lord crucified the two on the road to Emmaus. We thought this was he that should deliver Israel.
And Mary weeping at the grave, the disciples in the upper room in fear of the Jews. The Lord knew all that was going to pass through their souls. And he's comforting them. And he says it's going to be a sorrow for a little bit, and you're not going to see me for a little bit, but then you are. And when you see me, there's going to be a fullness of joy that none can take from you. And I haven't meditated a lot on it, but just thought a little bit. What a.
00:40:26
Wonderful thing that must have been to them, says then, were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord?
Even the grave couldn't defeat him.
They belong to a man that even when they put him on a cross, and when they put his body in that grave, he rose up triumphant over the grave. What a Messiah they had, what a savior. Even death couldn't hold him.
What a turn of events for them, and what joy must have just.
Inexpressible, unspeakable joy just must have filled their hearts as as it began to dawn on them what it was when the Lord Jesus rose from the dead and they saw him again. And just to meditate a little on that, what must have gone through their hearts and the Lord's anticipating that in these verses.
He says, no one's going to take that joy from you. And I thought a little bit, maybe this isn't exactly the thought, but they knew they had a savior that nothing could stop. All they have thought death finally stopped them. Death brought an end to it all. And now they know even death can't stop what they anticipated. Was their anticipation fully correct? No. Oh, Lord, we'll at this time will they'll restore the Kingdom to Israel. You know, their hopes are renewed.
They just thought, oh, it's going to come what we've been hope for, He says, I've got something better for you. Don't that's in the Father's hands. You just do what I tell you to do. And something better than what their expectations had been was going to unfold. But think of the thrill of their heart to to have the Lord back again after they'd seen him put in that grave and all their expectations revived and centered in one that they knew even death couldn't touch.
And stop.
We might note a note that we don't pray for the.
The Spirit of God to come that that is not scriptural. He is here as a divine person now and there are some groups of Christians that mistake.
These truths and they pray for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Now we should certainly desire to be filled with the Holy Spirit, that is for him to be in control of us, our actions and words and so on. But we don't pray for His coming.
We know that the Spirit of God.
Came as a divine person at Pentecost.
Dwell among the Lord's people collectively, and also to indwell the believer, which was something that never was known before.
Giving them the conscious sense of.
Of relationship with with God as his Father.
Dwelling within the believer to comfort, to support, to strengthen. This was not known in the Old Testament, even during the time of our Lord's life down here. That's brought out in John 7.
The spirit of God it's anticipated fear of of the work of the spirit of God in the future day when he would.
Be a person, not an influence, but a divine person, not Incarnate. That's why the world doesn't know anything about the Spirit of God, because they cannot see him. He was not Incarnate, but he was definitely God in his person.
We talk about being filled with the Spirit.
If we don't pray for an outpouring of the Spirit to be filled, how do we get filled with the Spirit?
Well, if you have a.
A vessel that is filled with all sorts of rubbish and dirt before you can fill that vessel with.
With water you have to get rid of the rubbish and perhaps that's the point there Tim, that there's many things in our hearts and lives that are.
00:45:08
Hindering.
The operation of the Spirit in our souls, there's a hindrance there, obstruction. And if we get rid of those things and judge them, then the Spirit of God is free to.
To occupy us with Christ, To minister to us. He is not grieved then by what?
May hinder his action.
Yeah, we have, we have a lot of things that fill our lives and our minds and our hearts and some of them are necessary things. We have to work, we have to go to school, and we have other things that occupy our our minds and and.
Those are necessary things, but what occupies our hearts all the time? What fills our hearts? And is it sports or is it some book or is it what is it that occupies my heart? And like, like John says, if we get rid of those things that fill our hearts, it leaves room for the Spirit of God to fill it. And within when the Spirit of God fills our hearts, then there can be that overflowing of the Spirit of God. And John also mentioned about judging our hearts and things that are in our hearts that fill it up.
And it says in First Corinthians Chapter 11 and verse 28.
Verse 27 speaks about when we remember the Lord, and we eat this bread and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. Verse 28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup.
Let a man examine himself. And so we need to regularly examine our life, our hearts, when things come up in our life that that maybe are things we shouldn't have said or done. We need to examine ourselves and judge those things in our hearts before they grow into a place that takes over our heart. And it says let a man examine himself, and so let him eat. It doesn't tell him to sit back and not take the emblems. It says let him eat. In other words, when you examine yourself and you find something that's not right in your heart.
We need to judge and judge it before the Lord and clean out our hearts so there's room for the Spirit of God to operate.
Perhaps we have it illustrated with the pots of oil in the Old Testament. You remember when the woman was collecting a few sticks to make a fire and bake, use her last bit of meal and oil for to make a cake for her and her sons. The prophet came along and what were the instructions? How many pots do you have? And she went out and collected pots. They were clean, empty pots. And as long as she had clean empty pots, the oil was sufficient to fill every pot.
And so every believer can be filled by the Spirit of God. We ought to be. But the vessel, as you say, has to be empty of self and it has to has to be clean. And so we talk about being filled with the Spirit of God. But a person who is filled with the Spirit won't be drawing attention to himself and his own experiences of the Spirit. A person who's really filled with the Spirit will be occupied with Christ.
He will reflect something of the glories of Christ because that is the function of the Spirit of God, the main function of the Spirit of God. And so if, if I meet a person, oh, they've had experiences of the Spirit and this and that, and yet you really wonder whether they really are filled with the Spirit. A person who's filled with the Spirit won't tell you they're filled with the Spirit. You'll see that because of their enjoyment of Christ and reflection of it in their life.
Earlier we were looking at Ephesians chapter 5 and.
In reference to being filled with the Spirit which this question is related to, there are a few things in the verses that follow that are worth practicing that are good for us and I think.
Free in US heart attitude that enables the Spirit to fill us In verse 19 we have speaking to ourselves and psalms and hymns.
And spiritual songs, that's something we can practically do in a positive way. And then the last part makes singing and making melody in your heart the Lord. That also is something we can do to have the heart that the Spirit of God can fill. And then it goes on. It says giving thanks. And our brother Jim was mentioning that in his talk this afternoon. In terms of praise, that's something that we can do that I think that encourages filling of the Spirit of God.
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And then the last thing is.
Submitting yourselves 1 to another in the fear of God and submitting is something that is characteristic of divine light and characteristic of our Lord Jesus, and I believe that that's another thing that helps us to practically be filled with the spirit and attitude of submission to ourselves and to the Lord.
There's another resource then that's given to the disciples and to us for the path of faith in the absence of the Lord Jesus physically and that's prayer. And so in verse 23 he says in that day he shall ask me nothing. Verily I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, He will give it you. Now there are four times in the upper room ministry that the Lord Jesus brings this thought before them a prayer and asking. I think it would be helpful just very briefly to back up and just quickly notice them and just.
A sentence or two in connection with their context. The first time is in the 14th chapter.
Chapter 14 and verse 13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you shall ask anything in my name, I will do it. And so he introduces this thought of prayer in coming to the Father in his name, because when you we come in the name of the Lord Jesus, it's going to govern what we ask for, if you ask for something in someone's name.
You're not going to ask for something that you know wouldn't be in keeping with their character or what they would desire. And so we come to the Father in the name of the Lord Jesus. I say that's the qualifier. It helps us to ask for those things that we know would be according to the mind and will of the Lord Jesus and of the Father. So it's asking in the name. But then go over to the 15th chapter.
Chapter 15 and verse seven, If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. So here we have not so much the name, but the condition, the state of soul in asking if we abide in Him, we're going to ask what we will, and He'll do it, because in the measure in which we abide in Him, His desires become our desires. And so we find in the 37th Psalm.
He speaks of it there. He says He shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
That doesn't mean He gives us everything we want, but in the measure in which we walk in His company, abide in Him, as I say, His desires become our desires, and we will ask according to His will. And we know if we ask according to His will, we're going to have the petition because He'll delight to give it to us. Now just drop down to the 16th verse of the 15th chapter. You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you and ordained you that you should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain.
That whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name.
He, he may give it to you. Well, here's the here we have, perhaps more particularly the one we pray to. That's why we generally pray to the Father in the name of the Lord Jesus. I realize there are times it's proper to pray to the Lord. He's the Lord of the harvest. And so as such, we pray the Lord of the harvest that He'll raise up laborers, thrust them into His harvest, provide for them, and give them fruit.
He's the head of the body and as the head of the body, we look to him for direction. But generally speaking, we are to pray to the Father in the name of the Lord. And then we find in our verse, in our chapter, the 23rd verse, it's when that is He says in that day, what day is that? It's the day when he was not going to be with them any longer. As I said earlier, when the Lord Jesus was with them, they didn't have to come to the Father in the name of the Lord Jesus. They came directly to the Lord Jesus.
They had questions and they had concerns and needs. They came directly to him. But again, as we've been saying, he's preparing them for the time. He's not going to be physically with them. He was going to return to the Father. So in that day you shall ask me nothing. In other words, he said you're going to have a far greater privilege than you have now of coming to me and asking me directly. You're going to have the privilege of coming to the Father whatsoever ye shall ask the Father.
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In my name He will give it. And brethren, we have that wonderful privilege today of coming to the Father in the name, knowing that our Father delights to answer our prayers according to His will and for our good and blessing.
Just to go back to the joy my brother Steve was bringing out.
It must have characterized the disciples. You know we have it in Luke chapter 24, I believe we think of the two that were on the way to Emmaus.
And the Lord Jesus comes alongside of them.
And he says, what manner of communications verse 17 are these that ye have one to another as you walk and are sad, and then they relate to him about.
This one Jesus that they trusted would have redeemed Israel, and but he's been crucified and so on and so forth.
Well, they come to find out that this one is alive again and with them, and it speaks of their hearts and how they begin to burn. But I was thinking too, in verse 36 of this same chapter, it says, as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. But they thought they had seen a spirit, but they come to find out.
This is the one who had been crucified.
This is indeed.
The Lord Jesus and it tells us here in verse 41, while they yet believe not for joy and wondered, he said unto them, have he here any meat? And they gave him a piece of broiled fish honeycomb. He took it and did eat before then. So here he is in body once again, having arisen from the dead, and he could hardly believe it. It tells us they believe that for joy.
But the joy, it just keeps increasing, I believe. And you come to the end of the chapter and of course the Lord Jesus returns.
Into heaven.
Verse 50 says He lifted up his hands and blessed them, and it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them and carried up into heaven, and they worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem with not just joy.
Great joy.
And we're continually in the temple, praising and blessing God. Amen.
Sometimes I wonder.
Why is it that this great joy doesn't characterize my own thinking more?
Well, I believe the Spirit of God, as we've been enjoying, can bring before us the glories of Christ and where He is today. He's no longer on the cross or in the grave, but He's in the glory.
And he's coming back.
We believe he's about ready to step out of heaven and call us to be with himself.
And so the prospect of the believer, it's glorious. That's all, because Jesus died and rose again.
And so the joy that characterized the disciples, it ought to be contagious. It's a wonderful thing.
Truth of the Resurrection.
So as our brother Jim brought out too, they returned with great joy from Jerusalem. The Lord was gone again. That didn't stop that joy because really in these verses that we is really the thought we see him even now by faith. So there was that time right then, but there isn't going back to glory didn't didn't spoil that joy just was great joy. Now he'd gone back to glory and so right now by faith.
I wouldn't want to lose sight of that. That was brought out earlier, Steven, because you see Steven later when he was martyred, he looked up and with his last breaths, he said, I see the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God. And what gave him the joy and the power to lay down his life as a martyr? He died triumphantly. He didn't die just bravely. He died with joy. And he's perhaps the first one that ever died in that with that sense.
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But it was because he saw the Lord Jesus at the right hand of God. And what's going to give us the joy to go through the trials and circumstances? We may never be called on to lay down our lives like Steven, but there's lots. We're going to go back after this conference to real trials and difficulties. As we've been saying. What's going to give us the joy in the circumstances? We see Jesus it in, in Hebrews 12. He takes it up again, looking unto Jesus.
The author and finisher of faith, who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God, that's what's going to give us the power and the joy. And so that's what gave the the disciples the power and the joy in the book of Acts to go on amidst the difficulties and the circumstances of life. So they had Christ as the man in the glory, and then, as we've been saying, they had the power of prayer.
I just say in that regard, as you go through the book of Acts, it's interesting that the chapters and the instances where there's prayer, there's always power and blessing to confirm to us, as we've been saying in these meetings already, that if we want power and blessing and joy and fruit in our Christian pathway, we must be men and women who are characterized by prayer.
Just notice too, our time is slipping away. In verse 25, he speaks of how He had spoken unto them in Proverbs. Or if you notice your margin parables, just turn back to Matthew 13 for a moment because the disciples asked a question there.
In Matthew chapter 13.
And verse 10.
And the disciples came and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. And so the Lord Jesus in his pathway often spoke in parables. And I just say this, two, parables are not fables. There's a difference between a parable and a fable. We were growing up, we had a book called Esop's Fables, and those fables, those stories about different animals and thing, events and things, were to teach some moral lesson.
But the parables the Lord told were not fables. He never spoke in fables. But a parable was a story to illustrate a spiritual or moral point, and the Lord often spoke in that way. And when the disciples asked the Lord well, why he spoke that way, he said it was because the people in general didn't believe. And so it was to, in a way, veil what he was saying to the general populace because of their unbelief in the hardness of their hearts. You can read that chapter and you'll find that out.
But he said to the disciples, it's for you to know these things. But we find as they come to the end of the Lord's pathway that even the disciples didn't seem to enter in to those parables that the Lord had spoken, as plain as they seemed to be, they just didn't enter into many of the things He was Speaking of, even though He used those illustrations from nature and so on. And so it's as it were, He says to the disciples, I'm not going to speak in parables anymore. He said these things are going to be made plain to you.
I'm speaking very plainly now, and when the Spirit of God comes, He's going to take what I've said.
And we'll say, and it's going to be very plain, so that I know it's a little different, but I think of that verse that says that a right, that way of righteousness is so plain that if wayfaring man, though a fool, may not err therein. And we don't have to err when it comes to the truth of God and the way of righteousness, because he doesn't speak in parables to us.
He speaks plainly by the Spirit of God. And in fact, the parables we understand and we shake our head at the disciples. How do we understand them? Because we have far more than the Spirit than the disciples have. We have the complete Word of God, the development of those parables in the epistles, and the Spirit of God-given in a way that the disciples never had.
In fact, we don't read that the disciples really understood.
Very much of what the Lord said until the Spirit of God came and and gave them intelligence, enlightenment. Think of Peter preaching the gospel on the day of Pentecost, the insight that he had to the word of God and the way in which he could unfold the scriptures. It was a result of the the presence of the Spirit of God.
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There on earth.
Just one other little thing too that I think is so beautiful as the Upper Room ministry ends, and that is that it began in the 13th chapter with a confirmation of the Lord's love having loved his own, which were in the world. He loved them under the end, but it ends with a confirmation of the Father's love. And so the Lord Jesus says here for the verse 27 for the Father himself loveth you because ye have loved me.
And have believed that I came out from God and so on in it. Beautiful. So we have the love of the Lord Jesus. He loves his own. He loves them under the end, but we have the love of the Father as well. And if we go through this world with the sense of the love of the Lord Jesus and the love of the Father, then we can to have the joy, have that joy we've been Speaking of and we can overcome in the trials. Because as we said earlier at the end of the chapter, he leaves them with no illusion.
To what's ahead in the world ye shall have tribulation. Didn't sound like a very nice thing to say to the disciples. Almost the last words he speaks before he lifts up his eyes to heaven and prays you're going to have tribulation Didn't sound like a very happy parting note. But he says in the world you shall have tribulation. But be of good cheer. He does end with a word of comfort. So often you have that be of good cheer. It is. I be not afraid, he said to them on the sea on a previous occasion.
Said to a man sick of the palsy, be of good cheer, thy sins be forgiven thee and so on. And so here he says, be of good cheer. How could the Lord say such a thing? He knew as Brother Steve said, he knew what was ahead for them. How could he say such a thing? Be of good cheer. He said, I have overcome the world and brethren, you and I can overcome too. We can overcome the daily grind of life. And I liking before we close to turn to the end of the book, to the to the end of Revelation and just notice.
Another little encouragement.
That we have.
In chapter 21 of Revelation, before I read this, I'll just say that in the second and third chapters where you have the addresses written by John by inspiration, penned by John by inspiration, there is an overcomer in each assembly. But the overcoming there is in connection with something very specific, a problem, a moral condition in the assembly. And then he says amidst that you can overcome and there's a special promise.
To the overcomer, but notice what we have in verse seven of chapter 21 of Revelation. He that overcometh shall inherit all things or these things. He's Speaking of the eternal state, And I will be his God and he shall be my son. The overcoming here, I believe is more general. It's really overcoming in the general grind of life.
And life, as we've been saying, there is a there, it's a general grind of life and sometimes it just seems like it's all we can do to just tread water and keep our head above water in the circumstances, in the sea of life. But we can overcome. The Lord Jesus overcame in every circumstance of life and he overcame the world. And now he says you can do the very same thing. We can be overcomers. We don't have to be overwhelmed.
We don't have to get under the circumstances of life. We can overcome in every circumstance because we have every resource. The resources that we have throughout these previous chapters are the same limitless supply that's available to you and me.
And if we sink on the sea of life, it's because we're not availing ourselves of the resources that we have. But if we avail ourselves of them, in that measure, we will be able to rise like Peter and walk on the water with the Lord Jesus hand in hand.
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But I say we sink because we lose sight of the resources and we don't reach out and avail them. So it's to me, it's so encouraging. Yes, we're going to have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. And then he lifts up his eyes and he prays for them. A little picture, as we said, of that office, that resource that he's carrying on for you and for me. Do you realize that the Lord Jesus is praying for you every hour of every day?
And do you realize there's nothing that you and I pass through in the path of faith and service that he hasn't experienced and overcome himself as a man here in this world?
35 In the back of the book #35 in the back of the book.
All the pathos.
Say one word to love from.
All of my children.
Without the scriptures, Soccer. OH.
Right.
Infrared.
And screaming down and think.
All the.
We have something.
Our Father.
Our Father God.
Should we pray?
God and our Father, we just think again of this portion that we've enjoyed of that blessed man who is our Savior.
Who, before He would go up to the cross and suffer such as none of us could ever know or imagine, yet His thoughts were so occupied with the joy and the peace.
And the provision for his own.
And now, having done that work, he is ascended up on high and still there working, praying even now for us. And so we thank thee for him. We thank thee for these thoughts we've been able to enjoy together.
This ministry that he gave.
Knowing how much it meant to him to say those things at such a time.
And we just think too, of how he spoke yet again from heaven, and said, yet a little while, and he that will come.
Shall come and will not tarry. And so we look forward to that time very soon when he will come and we will see Him and have that fullness of joy in His presence. We long for it, our God and our Father. But we thank Thee for this time again that we've been able to share together a little foretaste at that time with Him. We give thee our thanks in the name of the Lord Jesus, Amen. Amen.