Address—Doug Buchanan
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Yesterday we looked a little at the.
Old Testament Some pictures of victories and fightings.
And we looked at the New Testament, some scriptures about our heavenly calling, how that the Lord Jesus came down to earth to redeem a people, not to leave them here, but that he went back to heaven.
And how He has called us, destined us, for there that our blessings are there in heavenly places.
Not here on Earth, but we're still here on Earth.
And we have opportunities while we're here.
Perhaps we could sum it up with a couple of verses in Philippians chapter 3.
And verses 20 and 21.
For our conversation or the margin says in my Bible citizenship.
Our citizenship is in heaven, from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body, according to the working, whereby He is able even to subdue all things.
Unto himself.
Our citizenship is in heaven.
Wonderful angels never will receive.
The same place in heaven.
Because the Lord Jesus became a man.
Everything we have.
Is only because of Christ.
How wonderful. Therefore, it's very important for us to maintain a link with Christ.
Quite a distance from him and us.
Today I'd like to look at some scriptures about how the Lord takes care of us while He's there and we're down here.
And that's where the Holy Spirit comes into play.
The Holy Spirit.
Member of the Godhead.
God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit, the Holy Spirit.
He sent him down into this world to take care of us.
All that time until we're caught up at the Rapture.
When the graves are opened and the bodies of the Saints are raised up.
The Lord's coming, that's all part of the heavenly calling. We're not going to have time to go much into that. The Lord's coming, there are two parts to it. The rapture and then when he comes back again with His Saints, it's all it's called. The appearing, the glorious appearing, the manifestation time, the time of rewards when he comes back, that's all part of that.
We might just look at a couple of verses to.
To tie that last part up in Revelation, the last book of the Bible.
Chapter 17.
I'm not going to read any of it, but I'm just going to point it out to you.
In the first verse it says, Come, hit her. I will show unto thee the judgment of the Great War.
And then we have the judgment of.
Babylon the Great, the Harlot. And she's judged.
Chapter 18 we have.
More about it Babylon the Great, the more the commercial side of it.
Then in chapter 19.
We have a heavenly scene.
And we have the marriage of the lamb.
Who's that?
That's the Bride of Christ. It's mentioned there. The Bride hath made herself ready in verse seven. That's the church.
The Saints of God that are taken up into heaven at the rapture.
That takes place after the judgment of the false bride, the heart, the horde.
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She's judged first. Now we're living at a time when that is developing here. And Christendom, the false church.
But God has the true church, the true people of God.
They're all out here mixed together to the apparent eye, but God knows every true believer.
And so when you read the Book of Revelation, it's solemn because it shows first the judgment of the false. Those who make a profession of being the Lords but are not real, it's very solemn.
But the True are going to be gathered into heaven.
One thing that characterizes the false is that it is earthly minded.
Beware, young people of earthly mindedness. Little by little we can slip down from our high calling and become earthly minded, and we see the judgment of that in those two chapters.
We see the beauty and the glory that Christ is going to get His true church in heaven in spite of everything else.
In chapter 19, the marriage of the lamb. Chapter 21 also.
Speaks about it.
And I'll just read the second verse and I John saw the holy city, New Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband and and so on. And it it goes on more there in that chapter. Now we don't have time to go into into detail about that, but I kind of wanted to connect it all together so we can see that destinies.
Here. And what's before the ending of it all? Isn't it wonderful that God has shown to us how things are going to turn out?
Now let's go back to John's Gospel again and begin our subject about the Holy Spirit.
We're going to go back to where the Lord before he left this world, how he made preparations and told his disciples about this John chapter 14.
Verse 12.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me.
The works that I do shall He do also, and greater works than these shall he do because I go unto my Father.
And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it. It's a blank check.
With one qualification in the name of the Lord.
Verse 15 If he loved me, keep my commandments, and I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another comforter, that he may abide with you forever. Even the spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth him, but ye know Him, for he dwelleth with you.
And shall be in you. I will not leave you.
Comfortless, I will come to you.
I like that last expression. The Lord says. I will come to you.
In other words, the Holy Spirit is as good as Christ Himself.
And that's what is left with this dear young people. We're not left alone. He said this to the disciples that had known Him while he was here on earth. And they'd known a relationship, had known a relationship with the Lord here on earth. They could see Him and touch Him and feel Him and hear Him speak and so on. But He was going away and He was preparing them for that time when He was going to be away.
And the preparation was that he was going to send.
The Holy Spirit, the comforter he's called, There's different names. I believe the name Comforter is probably the same in the original as Advocate, also used in John John's epistle later on. It's one who takes care of all people's affairs for them. Well, the Holy Spirit.
Is God himself?
And.
What better person no other one but God himself could.
Do that perfectly. God knew that He would be needed.
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And this time while we're left here.
And he's home in heaven, and that's why.
Young people, we know it's difficult to walk the Christian pathway. We're tested and tried and tempted and so on.
The Lord knew all about that and He saw to it that we would have everything we need.
For our whole lifetime.
And there's no excuse for sin, ever, because we have the resources.
That we need. We're not left to walk alone.
He sent the Holy Spirit down to dwell with us, he said. Notice that expression, it says.
Hebrew in verse 17. He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
And a little bit later we're going to develop that the two ways in the Holy Spirit dwells with us. He dwells with us in a collective sense and the whole, the whole House of God, the whole church, and he also individually is in US.
To secure us.
Now I guess they.
Yes, it is right here.
Verse verse on the wall in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. There's the ceiling of the Holy Spirit. It's God's approval and verification of the reality of such a one.
And preserves it, makes it genuine, so that he was going to send the Holy Spirit for that purpose.
Those who think that they can lose their salvation do not rightly understand the work of God in this, because when God doesn't work and when he puts his seal upon it, it's got to be good.
And it says also He will remain with you forever. That's true of the Holy Spirit. Once a soul believes in the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior, whom after that ye believed ye were sealed. Once a soul is sealed with the Spirit of God.
Nothing can change it, nor can that person lose. Is there her salvation? That's wonderful. It doesn't mean we cannot fail or it does not mean that we can cannot grieve him or quench the Spirit. The Word of God warns us about that.
But he we can't grieve him away, so he leaves us. Oh, He may let us go off in a path where we have to learn some things, but the Spirit of God.
Is with that person or in that person?
So the Lord here is introducing that.
The subject of the Holy Spirit here. I'd like to like to say just a little bit more about this.
It says in the first verse we read.
The works that I do, He shall He do also, and greater works than these shall He do, because I go unto my Father. So here we see one of the characteristics of the Holy Spirit is that it gives us ability to do the works of God.
The Lord had done many miracles when He was here, and those miracles didn't necessarily stop.
After the Lord went back to heaven, they continued with the early apostles.
And even greater works. It says and so you see the apostles doing it.
That was a testimony to prove to those early disciples that God was still with them.
That he had not abandoned them, and he's still with us today, even though we live nearly 2000 years later.
He will remain with us forever.
Another another part of the work of the Holy Spirit we see in verse.
Now, I guess it's later in the 16th chapter. Let's turn over to the 16th chapter.
Well, let's just read from the seventh verse, John 16, verse 7.
Nevertheless, I tell you the truth, it is expedient for you that I go away, For if I go not away, the comforter will not come unto you, but if I depart, I will send him unto you, and when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin.
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And of righteousness and of judgment of sin because.
They believe not in on me of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and you see me no more of judgment, because the Prince of this world is judged. I have yet many things to say unto you, but you cannot bear them now. Howbeit, when He the Spirit of truth is come, He will guide you into all truth.
For he shall not speak of himself.
Or from Himself. But whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak, and he will show you things to come. He shall glorify me, for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you. All things that the Father hath are mine. Therefore said I, that He shall take of mine, and shall show it unto you.
Now we have a developed a little bit more.
Part of the purposes of the Spirit of God coming down.
It was necessary that the Lord go away.
Why? Because God was opening up heaven.
The disciples didn't like to see that none of us liked to lose a loved one.
But because of the work of redemption, when a Saint of God passes away and it's never spoken of his death in death.
As death in the word of God, for scene of God, it's called sleep because it's temporary and so it's only a temporary departure. And in the case of the Lord here he is opening up as we had the many mansions in heaven.
So it was necessary for him to go away. As much as the disciples may have been disappointed about that, the comforter couldn't come down and link us to Christ in heaven if the Lord didn't go there.
Then that's the purpose. I believe one of the main purposes of the Holy Spirit coming down is.
To maintain that vital link between Christ and us. That's really what the baptism of the Holy Spirit is in Acts 2.
We'll read maybe just a few verses there in a few minutes. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is uniting many different people together in one body, the Church that is the bride of Christ.
And if it was left up just to us to maintain that link, what would have happened to it? Oh, it would have fallen apart years and years ago, but God saw fit and made a way to maintain it all through all the years, all the time that that the people of God, the Church of God are left here in this world.
Until the rapture, and at the rapture, when the Saints of God are caught up into heaven.
I believe the Holy Spirit also, the Spirit and the Bride say come, that's right at the end of the Bible, and that's really what we're looking for. That's the vision that's before us, the Lords coming and it'll be wonderful.
Some of the side benefits will be deliverance from all the elements of sin around us. We'll never have to contend with them anymore. We do now. And because of that, we need the Spirit of God and we need to be subject to the Spirit of God. We need to obey Him and follow his guidance, and He always guides according to this book.
God cannot contradict Himself, and He never will. And so, dear young people, if there's something you're contemplating, and it is plainly stated in the Word of God that it is.
Contrary, it's not the Spirit of God, so we have to prove things.
And the Spirit of God would direct us, and we notice there the perfect unity here in these verses between the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
And every great event in the word of God. I believe those 3.
Members of the Godhead, if we may speak with of such a holy person in that way.
Are always there, active together. Wonderful.
How wonderful it is that we have God with us.
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And in.
Now it develops. Here a few of the reasons, the things about the spirit.
He's going to convince, reprove the world of sin, of righteousness and judgment. These are three basic things that the Spirit of God is actively doing here on earth. Whenever we preach the gospel, we we preach.
Convincing against sin.
God abhor sin.
Sometimes we don't abhor it.
It's because we aren't in the presence of God.
I remember a story about a a man one time.
Who was a common laborer?
If I'm not mistaken, he worked an elevator. They didn't have push button.
Digital readouts and so on in those days. And they had a man to maintain an elevator in the building, and I believe that was this man's work. And so he was a lot in the public and he had to listen to a lot of filthy conversation and dirty jokes and so on.
In the course of time, but people knew that he was a believer and one day in this elevator, one of the men told a joke, and this brother in Christ didn't laugh.
And one of the other.
Men there noticed it and he said, well, you didn't laugh. Why?
And he simply said, man, men, I live in the presence of God.
Nobody told any more jokes.
It was quiet.
Young people, we live in the presence of God.
He's with us, he's in US.
Don't grieve you. Don't quench the spirit.
If we want to have a happy time here at Lassen Pines.
It's necessary not to quench the spirit, and we can do that in many ways.
We can grieve him and make him mourn over us and grieve over us.
And how he feels it when we walk in disobedience and sin.
We can quench him also in a sense of hindering others around us.
No man liveth unto himself, nor dies unto himself. We affect those we're around.
And we can quench the Spirit of God, that the liberty in them too to work.
For blessing.
I'm sure there would be much more blessing if we were more submissive.
To the work of the Spirit of God in and among us. Well that's something for us to to look to to do in our Christian pathway honoring to the Lord of righteousness that says because I go unto his Father, it was righteous that when the world reject him, God receive him in heaven. God defended the cause of the Lord Jesus and all the injustice that was done there at Calvary.
And he raised him into heaven, a man in glory.
That's righteousness.
It didn't look that way on Calvary's night when they insulted him and they gathered all the whole band.
And had a mock trial. There never was a more wicked trial and more injustice in this world than that night when the Lord was delivered over to be crucified. But righteousness is convinced from God by the Spirit of God. And when we preach the gospel, that's what we announced too, of judgment.
Oh, there's judgment too. It's a part of the work of the Spirit, not that the judgment is being necessarily executed now.
But it's pronounced now, and it's as sure as finished because God says it.
Whatsoever man soweth that shall he also reap, will never be.
Challenged or fall?
There is judgment.
For the believer, it's past our sins. There is no judgment or condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.
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Verse 13 Albeit when the spirit of truth is come, He will guide you into all truth.
Oh, how are we going to get a hold of the truth of God?
The Spirit of God is going to make it known to us, and that's why.
We must give liberty to the Spirit of God to work at all times, especially in our assembly. That's why, for example, we don't have pastors to direct or take charge of the services as many congregations do in assembly meetings, because that limits the Spirit of God and who He uses.
It's a joy to my heart to hear young Brothers brothers pray here this morning.
And there's we need to give opportunity like that for the Spirit of God to use and speak through whomever he may choose.
That's how we get a hold of the truth, but when we bind, as it were, the Spirit of God.
And limit him in who he can use. We hinder blessing.
We don't want to hinder blessing, we want to let the Spirit of God have all the liberty He needs to feed and care for us this whole time here.
Then in verse 14 it says He shall glorify me.
For he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you.
Oh, this is another occupation of the Spirit of God to make Christ known to us.
Oh, all these glories of the Lord Jesus has put place in heaven the work of salvation. How do we enter into it and understand the Spirit of God makes it known to us and reveals it to us. It's not my by my.
Known by power, but my by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.
It's not through human intelligence or it's not through good speakers.
Or convincing leaders.
No, that's all humanistic. That's all of man, the 1St man, that of man and his race.
No, it's the Spirit of God that reveals these things to us.
Flesh and blood shall not inherit the Kingdom of God, it says.
And it's not by natural means. We also read there in Corinthians that we understand, but it says comparing spiritual with spiritual.
And I believe that's what the way the Spirit of God teaches us and makes things known to us.
For example, we have spoken of the bride of Christ in the church. Well, everybody here, I believe that's been to a wedding knows a little bit what it's a bride is. It's somebody that's getting married.
United together in marriage to her husband. So it's it's probably I think naturally the the best day of a of a person's lifetime here in the world. Wonderful experience.
And I know many of you young people long for that. And I believe that God has prepared for us the best path and the best life.
But what would we know about heaven if God only spoke of it in heavenly language that we don't and couldn't understand?
So God has taken natural relationships, like marriage for example, and he's he has presented the church as the bride.
Well, we understand that a little bit better there, and you'll understand it a little better yet when you're in the marriage relationship.
He also speaks about fathers and children.
Well, all of us are here, our children of someone.
And we understand a little bit about that. Well, God speaks to us in those terms, so we can understand it plainly.
Wonderful how God by his Spirit can unfold thanks to us.
And may he do so during our time here.
All times.
So he's to glorify Christ. The cause of Christ has not been left untaken care of. The Spirit of God here is seen to it.
And I I think it's a simple test to truth and error in the world.
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To test everything you hear with just this thing. Does it glorify Christ or does it glorify man or someone else?
If it glorifies man, I do not believe that it's of God or the truth.
The whole truth, but if it glorifies Christ because God is going to unite all things in Christ. That's in the Ephesians 1 here where these verses are from. That's part of the purpose of God to gather all in Christ and just like in him is in every one of these verses. That's the way it is in God's plan in Christ.
And if we're not in Christ, and if that link between Christ and us is not maintained by the Spirit of God.
We're in bad shape.
And I believe every bride.
Longs to know her husband, her bridegroom, and to be with him, to learn to know what he's like, to live with him, to share life together. And that is also the response of our hearts. If we love him, we keep his commandments. We want to please him.
That's a, that's a, that's more than a rule. Oh, that's a, that's a, that's love acting in response to God's love towards us. And that's the measure.
We should respond to, I know that we have to have rules and regulations here in a camp like this and they're necessary because of our actions and our temperament and our things that we tend to do a lot. And I was telling the boys in my cabin, you know, and I'm thankful for those boys in there. Every bad bunk is filled in there and I'm glad. It really does my heart to good to see young people coming here.
Oh, we we've had a few little problems up there.
But I'm thankful for him and I'm, I know the Lord is too, and I want to commend him for that. You know, I picked on him the other day and asking him some questions. I probably won't do that today, but I might tomorrow. I can't predict the future.
The Lord loves us.
And our hearts response would please him. If we love him, we will keep his commandments.
I was telling the boys that, you know, if we all acted like we should as Christians, we wouldn't have to have any rules and regulations.
I don't believe there will be any rules and regulations in heaven.
No, everybody's going to have that new heart.
The old flash is going to be gone. There won't be any problems, but everyone of us has that flesh in.
And the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit lusteth against the flesh we have in Galatians, and then we contend with that.
Who's gonna be the winner? Well, in a practical way, whoever we feed the most is going to be the winner.
So we need to feed on the Word. Let the Spirit direct our lives, not just do our own wills.
Sometimes it's hard to sort that out, isn't it? What is the will of the Spirit of God and what is my will? They're both in here.
Well, the outcome is going to be secure in the end the sealed are all going to be preserved but in a practical way. We we learn things the hard way and sometimes we have to pass through different trials and temptation Spirit of God may allow.
To teach us.
Now I'd like to turn over to Acts chapter. Acts chapter one.
Just the.
Eighth verse.
This is a historical event here, the Spirit of God coming down.
Or the Lord telling of it. But ye shall receive power. This is the Lord Jesus after he died and rose again.
During those 40 days He was with His disciples. He spoke to them again in resurrection, but not in ascension. And he said, But ye shall receive power after the Holy Ghost, Holy Spirit, it's the same word, His come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem and all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the Lassen Pines.
This is the promise of the Lord.
And it's thank God it's come to hear way over in America's nearly 2000 years.
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Now we'll go over to the second chapter and continue the progress here.
Verse one.
And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place, and suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
And there appeared unto them cloven tongues, like as a fire, and it sat upon each of them, and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them. Utterance, utterance.
This is the day of Pentecost, 50 days after the Passover, after the Lord had been crucified.
And it, it fulfilled prophetically what the Jewish feast the past of the day of Pentecost spoke of, came to pass on the very day here. Oh, it's an interesting study, the seven feast of Jehovah. So anybody wants to get into it. You learn about the feast of Pentecost, and that's particularly when the church was formed.
That's the day that the Spirit of God came down and baptized.
In one body, a church. Before that time it had been.
There had been the divisions of the nations and also Israel, and God only dealt with Israel.
The people of Abraham were the only ones that really had relationship with Jehovah, the God of Israel.
Now God was going to not just in Israel, but of all nations.
Form into one body, and so you get tokens of it here in the descent of the Holy Spirit. And notice again the two forms in which the Spirit of God dwells here, the collective and the individual. It says, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
That's a demonstration of the collective dwelling of the Spirit of God in the house, and he's in the House of God. And the House of God includes other Christians out there that aren't gathered to the Lords name as we believe to be.
He's the Spirit of God is there too. We mustn't, we mustn't limit this to just a special privilege to us.
It's to all believers. Oh, the house has been all chopped up and divided and it's in ruins and pieces.
But the Spirit of God is still there all around, and he works.
And there's blessing in all parts where the Spirit of God is.
The second again is the individual. It sat upon them, and as it says here.
Cloven tongues like as a fire, and it sat on each of them. Every one of them had that sign there. You see, the Spirit of God is not something tangible we can look at and touch like the Lord was here. And that's why the world doesn't know. The world doesn't see this secret of God, this mystery of God that's taking place now, the formation of the church. They don't see that God is getting.
Here on earth and going to take it to heaven because they don't see the Spirit of God, but he's just as much here and he's just as much active as the Lord Jesus was when he was here and the same greater works continued, not necessarily the the outward sign gifts of miracles and tongues that were necessary to introduce this great event and make it plain and evident.
That has been well substantiated and the miracles don't need to go on.
But just because the miracle sees does not mean that the Spirit of God has left, or that he's more limited, or that he's less powerful now than he was at in the beginning. Oh no.
A brother once said it's yet to be demonstrated what a servant and God can do.
By the power of the Spirit.
And so we do not need to be timid in our Christian faith. We are rejected people and it's we are cowards, like, you know, one of the younger brothers say. And I feel that in my own heart too, that I'm often times a coward.
But God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and love and of the sound mind, the the Spirit of God. When we really act in obedience and dependence on Him, we are brave souls. And it's amazing what some of you young people have done.
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And little children, even.
A simple word guided by the Spirit of God.
Now I would like to.
Turn to a couple more verses to substantiate the collective and the individual aspect.
First Corinthians, chapter 3.
Just briefly touch on this First Corinthians chapter 3 and verse 16.
Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy, for the temple of God is holy. Which temple ye are. Listen the chap. This is in the chapter where Paul speaks of being the the the builder of the House of God, the temple of God that grows. And you have here viewed the Church of God, the.
God, you can take those terms as synonymous for right now. I know there are shades of difference in their meanings, but it's all refers to the church here, the bride of Christ in different aspects. And there's not time to speak in detail about that. But you have the formation of the Church of God in the hands of people here, the hands of man, and Sophia comes in.
The Spirit of God works, but men introduce error and they bring in false disciples too.
And what's going to happen to them? They're going to be destroyed like we read in verse 17.
But the Spirit of God doesn't give up and abandoned the house. No, he's still there. Says know ye not that ye are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you. That's the collective dwelling of the Spirit of God among us or in US in the house. Now turn over to the fifth chapter, 6th chapter. I'm sorry.
Verse 15.
Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ?
No, I'm sorry. Well, we'll continue. Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid.
Verse 17.
But he that is joined unto the Lord is 1 Spirit flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body, but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. What know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own for your bought with the price, Therefore glorify God in your.
Body and in your spirit, which are gods.
Here we have the individual indwelling of the Spirit of God. Our bodies are the temple or the dwelling place of the Spirit of God. Every Christian has the Spirit of God dwelling in him. We must respect that.
God is not the author of the Spirit of God is not the author.
Of fornication or any other sin.
And so the Corinthians needed to be reminded of that.
And I would like to say a word to you young believers, that be careful of this sin and of tendencies to talk about subjects that lead toward this sin. Flee it.
Prayer meeting over there for the Gospel, but one of the brothers said Holy Father.
I really think it would be well that we use that term more often because.
We're accustomed to much to sin. We need to have the holiness of God more impressed upon us. And that's what the Spirit of God would remind us of. Our bodies. These bodies aren't given to us just to use as we feel like, like the animal Kingdom does.
Especially those of us that are believers.
But even the unbelievers ought not to, but those of us that are believers.
The Spirit of God dwells there. What confusion?
When there's disorder now.
Our time is really up, but I'd like to refer to.
Three other.
Three other subjects of the way. The Spirit of God is just in, in passing. The Word of God speaks of the sealing of the Spirit. We've already spoken about it. Sealing is for security. The Word of God also speaks of the anointing of the Spirit or the unction of the Spirit. In first John chapter 2, you have an unction from the Holy One. That's the anointing of the Holy One, the Spirit of God.
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And know all things it says that's for power. Whenever the word of God says the unction, the anointing, it's the power of the Spirit of God. Whenever it's the ceiling, it's for security, the genuineness of of, of the act of God upon it, the earnest of the Spirit. Our brother spoke of it to yesterday in Ephesians 1.
And I believe he explained it so well.
How that God put a down payment, a deposit that's worth even more than the object he's buying. He's given us the Spirit as the earnest.
Down payment of what's yet coming because we don't have.
All that's going to be ours until the Lord comes. Oh, it's ours, but we enjoy it only by faith, and the earnest of the Spirit helps us to enjoy that before we get there. It's ours. It's the guarantee. And the deposit is so valuable, and it makes us capacitate us to enjoy those things.
So you have those 3 aspects and there's the baptism of the Spirit that I already mentioned is another, and I believe it's the collective. So if we can keep those things in mind, I think it'll help us in understanding the Spirit of God and His work. Well, may the Lord bless it to our hearts. Let's close with prayer.