Invisible Influencer: The One Behind It All

I will invite you to take your Bible and turn to John 16, John 16. Some of you have asked me, Hey, when are we going to get back to a book study where we go from the beginning to the end and I'm feeling it too. My first and second, Peter and Jude commentaries are collecting dust crying out to me every time I go into my office to preach Jude and the Lord willing we can do that when I get back from Africa. I actually have it on my calendar the Sunday to begin our study of Jude and hopefully we could do that this fall together. It'll be a short study, maybe seven or eight messages I would imagine. But in the meantime, I've been cramming for Africa and I have the privilege of teaching at the college there at SOS on the campus there at Sufficient Scriptures Ministries.

I'm going to be teaching through a portion of the book of Romans to the pastors in training there. And then a couple years ago, I was invited by a young pastor in Zambia to come and preach a series of messages at a church on exploratory listening. So I thought, well, I'm kind of in the neighborhood, Uganda. Zambia, right? It's in Africa. So I thought, why not try to do that too? And so I'm going to have the privilege of going down there and teaching on expository listening as well as teaching at another pastor's college during that week. And so I really covet your prayers that God would just give me the right messages to teach these, these future pastors. And so it's always a privilege to be able to train men for ministry through the teaching of God's word. So I also was invited by Shannon to preach next Sunday at Community Bible Church there in which is the church that he pastors and he's wanted several of us men over the next four weeks to teach a series on the Holy Spirit.

And so I'm Batten lead off this Sunday and told him that I would do my best to provide an overview of the person who work of the Holy Spirit so that the other guys could kind of build on that in the weeks to come. And so John 16 verses five through 15 is the passage that God led me to because I think it explains a lot about the Holy Spirit here and obviously there's only so much we can talk about in one session about the spirit, but I just thought that this would be a good opportunity to do a dry run this morning if you don't mind. And it's a good reminder that everything that the Lord ever gives me an opportunity to do anywhere else, it's all just an overflow of what we do here together at Lakeside Bible Church and any sermon that has been a blessing somewhere else, hopefully it's been a blessing to me and you here first.

And so this is a way that we can export the work of the ministry here at Lakeside around the world through this pulpit. And so I appreciate understanding that. So let's read together John 16 verses five through 15. Jesus said, but now I'm going to him who sent me and none of you asked me where are you going? But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart, but I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away for if I do not go away, the helper will not come to you, but if I go, I will send him to you and when he comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment concerning sin because they do not believe in me and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see me and concerning judgment because the ruler of this world has been judged, I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now, but when the spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth.

For He will not speak on his own initiative, but whatever he hears, he will speak and he will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify me for he will take of mine and will disclose it to you. All things that the Father has are mine. Therefore, therefore I said that he takes of mine and we'll disclose it to you. Father, we're grateful for an opportunity to study this morning an aspect of your person that is often overlooked and oftentimes very misunderstood and skewed, misrepresented. And so I asked, Lord that your word would cut through all the confusion and you would help us to learn a little bit more about the Holy Spirit and the ministry that he has in the world and the ministry he has in the life of this church. We pray this for your glory in name. Amen.

Well, let's talk about the word influence. Simply defined influence is a person or thing with the capacity or ability to have an effect on someone or something. In today's social media obsessed culture, there are certain individuals who are considered influencers, who brands and marketers rely on to generate interest in their products and services and inspire others to buy them or to use them. Influencers have the power to shape other people's character, to control their behavior and to guide their decisions. Some of the top influencers in the world, which basically means they have millions of followers and make millions of dollars are Christiana Ronaldo, Leo Messi. It's interesting. The first two guys on the list are soccer players, Kim Kardashian course, Dwayne Johnson, Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, you know the list.

But there's one person who's not on the list of top influences in the world who doesn't have a Facebook page or an Instagram account and never posts or tweets anything but has more influence than all of these people combined. In fact, this person influences everyone in the world whether they realize it or not, and shapes everyone's character and controls everyone's behavior and guides everyone's decisions. He alone has the power to change our lives and make us be whoever he wants us to be and to do whatever he wants us to do. Well obviously I'm referring to the Holy Spirit, the third member of the Godhead, and one of the greatest mysteries of the Christian faith is the doctrine of the Trinity and the word trinity, which essentially means three in one, is not found anywhere in the Bible. It's a word that theologians came up with in an effort to accurately and faithfully describe how God revealed himself in scripture.

I personally think a better term is Triunity because it more specifically describes how there is one indivisible God who eternally exist in three different persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit who were all fully and equally God, but who served distinct roles and functions and live and work together in perfect unison within the Godhead. I'm not going to repeat that, okay? But that is a mini definition of the Trinity. Well, of all three members of the Godhead, I think the Holy Spirit is the least talked about and the most misunderstood. As you know, there are many conflicting ideas and opinions regarding the person who work with Holy Spirit, particularly his ministry in the world and his ministry in the church. And this passage clears up a lot of that confusion. And before we look at this passage though, I want to just take a couple minutes to give you a quick theology lesson on the Holy Spirit. It's what theologians called pneumatology.

And so the first time the Holy Spirit is mentioned in the Bible is the second verse of Genesis in Moses' account of creation. Genesis chapter one verse one. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The Earth was without form and void and darkness was over the face of the deep and the spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Job in Job 26 13 says By his breath or wind, the heavens were made fair. It's interesting to note that the Hebrew word for God's spirit, ruach is often translated as wind or breath. In the Old Testament, for example, Psalm 33, 6, by the word of the Lord, the heavens are made, were made and by the breath of his mouth, all their hosts, job 33 4, 1 of job's counselors said this, the spirit of God has made me and the breath of the Almighty gives me life. He went on in Job 34 verse 14 to say if he should determine to do so, if he should gather to himself his spirit and his breath, all flesh would perish together and man would return to dust. So the world and everything in it, including us, came into being, came into existence by the power of the Holy Spirit and would all go out of existence without the spirit sustaining power and influence.

Well, along with creating the world, the Holy Spirit is seen in the Old Testament empowering men for acts of service in order to accomplish his will. The first example we find in Exodus 31, when God gave Moses the blueprints for the tabernacle, he says in Exodus 31, 2, see, I have called by name Beel, the son of Uri, the son of her of the tribe of Judah. I have filled him with the spirit of God in wisdom and understanding and knowledge and in all kinds of craftsmanship to make artistic designs for work in gold, in silver, in bronze, and in the cutting of stones for settings and the carving of wood that he may work in all kinds of craftsmanship. So in other words, the spirit of God filled beel to be the man for the plan, right? There was a blueprint and there was all these different instruments that were going to be a part of the tabernacle. And so he empowered a man to be able to have the gifting to do that.

In Numbers 27 verse 18, we see the transition between Moses and Joshua. As Moses was handing off the baton to Joshua and it says, the Lord said to Moses, take Joshua the son of none, a man in whom is the spirit and lay your hand on him. Interestingly, all of s Samson's acts of great strength are attributed to the spirit coming upon him when he was able to kill the lion with his bare hands when he killed 30 men to steal their clothes to pay off a debt when he killed a thousand men, single-handedly with the jawbone of a donkey, it says that the spirit of God came upon him. Of course, we know the spirit of God came upon David when Saul disobeyed the spirit left Saul and came upon David one Samuel 16, 13. Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers, and the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward.

Not only did God empower judges and kings and other individuals, he came upon the prophets of Israel and gave them visions and sermons to preach to his people and prepare them for the coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Which leads us to the New Testament and the first mention of the Holy Spirit. The New Testament is when the angel of the Lord told a priest named Zacharias that he and his wife would have a son named John John the Baptist, who would serve as the forerunner of the Messiah and would be filled with the Holy Spirit in his mother's womb. That's Luke chapter one, verse 15. Luke went on in that same chapter to record the miraculous conception of Jesus Christ in a virgin named Mary and use similar hovering language to describe the Holy Spirit as Moses did to introduce the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament. Luke 1 35, the Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the most high will overshadow you. And for that reason, the holy child shall be called the son of God.

When Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, all of the gospels record that this Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And from that point on, he was filled with and led by the Holy Spirit. And here in the gospel of John, in John chapter three, when a Pharisee named Nicodemus came to Jesus under the cover of night, Jesus had a fascinating conversation with him regarding the Holy Spirit, holy Spirit's work of regeneration. You were there. So you can turn there, John chapter three, verse five. Jesus said, truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born of water and the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born to the flesh is flesh, and that which is born to the spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, you must be born again. The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going. So is everyone who was born of the spirit. Interesting. Jesus uses that same ruach concept describing likening the spirit to the wind.

In John chapter seven, when Jesus was attending one of the annual feasts of the Jews, the feast of booze, he made a veiled reference to the soon reality that all those who believed in him would receive the Holy Spirit. John seven verse 37. Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out saying, if anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture said, from his innermost being will flow rivers of living water. But this he spoke of the spirit whom those who believed in him were to receive for the Spirit was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified. Which brings us to John 13 where on the night before Christ was crucified, he gathered with his disciples in the upper room and he promised them that after he returned to heaven, he would send someone to help them fully comprehend and faithfully accomplish everything he had taught them and modeled for them.

And he introduces that person as the Holy Spirit. And much of our doctrine of the Holy Spirit comes from Jesus's teaching here in the upper room discourse. For example, John 1416, I'll ask the father and he will give you another helper that he may be with you forever. Verse 26, but the helper, the Holy Spirit to whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. Chapter 15, verse 26, when the helper comes whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the spirit of truth who proceeds the Father, he will testify about me. And then here in our text in John 16 verse seven, once again, Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as the helper, the Paratas, the one who comes alongside to help to support that word in the Greek, could be translated comforter, encourager, strengthener, advisor, counselor, intercessor.

And we know that right before Jesus ascended back to heaven, he reminded his disciples of the promise that he made here in the upper room about the Holy, holy Spirit's powerful presence in their lives. He actually told them to not leave Jerusalem until the spirit of God came and the spirit of God would empower them to be witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria and the other part of the earth. This is Luke 24 in Acts chapter one, and we know Jesus's promise of the Holy Spirit was fulfilled at Pentecost when the spirit came and baptized and filled the disciples as they were meeting together in the upper room. That's Acts chapter two.

And ever since Pentecost, every person who turns from their sin and trust Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior is instantly baptized and in dwelled and sealed by the Holy Spirit. And so the moment we become a Christian, we are given the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God indwells us and serves as our invisible helper for the rest of our lives here on this earth. And it is this permanent abiding presence of the Holy Spirit that enables us to be and to do all that God wants us to be and do. And so we need to understand that the Holy Spirit is not some mystical impersonable force but a person, an actual person who basically does everything not for us, but in and through us, and there's lots of roles that the Holy Spirit plays in our lives as believers. He teaches us.

He empowers us to witness, he helps us mortify sin. He guides and directs us. He assures us that we're saved. He intercedes for us. He gifts us to serve in the church, he sanctifies us. But here in John 16, Jesus focused on two specific ministries of the Holy Spirit. First of all, his reproving work in the world, and secondly, his revealing work in the church. Notice verse five, he says, but now I'm going to him who sent me and none of you asked me where are you going? But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart, but I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away for if I do not go away, the helper will not come to you, but if I go, I will send him to you. Now, Jesus had already revealed to them in chapter 14 that he was leaving them and going back to heaven and that they couldn't go with him.

At that time, Peter actually said, Hey, where are you going? Thomas asked him how they could get where he was going, but Jesus knew these initial questions were not purely motivated, sincerely motivated, out of love and concern for his future. All they were thinking about was their future, what about us? How's this going to affect us? And so they were sad, they were discouraged, and so by this time they were too confused and discouraged to ask Jesus any more questions. And so Jesus wanted to encourage them by reminding them that while his departure was painful and difficult for them to deal with, it was necessary because unless he left the Holy Spirit, excuse me, unless he left, the Holy Spirit couldn't come to dwell in them and empower them to be the witnesses that he wanted them to be.

And while they would've preferred him to stay with them, Jesus wanted them to know it was better that he left. In other words, it's better off that we have the spirit inside of us than to have Jesus beside us. It's crazy to think about. Some of us think, oh man, it would've been cool to be one of Jesus disciples. Walk with Jesus right there. See him with my own eyes, such with my own hands. Well, according to Jesus himself, we are better off with the spirit inside of us than Jesus right beside us. Furthermore, Jesus's ministry on earth was limited from a human perspective by his physical presence to one location at one time.

And yet now Christ's presence is multiplied worldwide through the indwelling and empowering ministry of the Holy Spirit and the lives of believers as we carry the good news of salvation in Christ to the ends of the earth. And Jesus went on to explain here the specific ways the Holy Spirit works in our lives as the church and the lives of those that we share the gospel with throughout the world. What are these two ministries? Number one, there's a ministry to unbelievers that's in verses eight through 11 where we see the Holy Spirit is the Rer who produces conviction in the world. And then in verses 12 through 15, we see the spirit's ministry to believers. He's the revealer. He provides comprehension in the church. So let's look at first of all the Holy Spirit's ministry to unbelievers as the re prover and how he produces conviction in the world.

Look at verse eight. And when he comes, the Holy Spirit will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment. So Jesus provided a summary statement here of the convincing ministry of the Holy Spirit, and he will go on to expand it in the next three verses. But let's just talk about this convincing or convicting work of the spirit. When it says that he will convict the world, it means that he will show them their sin and summons them to repent. And so the Holy Spirit convinces unbelievers that they stand guilty as sinners before a holy God and that they're destined to be judged by God and that the only way they can be delivered from death in Hell is to place their faith in the substitutionary sacrifice of his righteous son Jesus Christ. On the cross.

Someone said it this way, that the Spirit is the prosecuting attorney who presents God's case against humanity. So the spirit shows up in the courtroom of our own hearts and consciences and declares that we are guilty and we know it. There's no getting around it. But notice how Jesus goes on to explain here in more detail these three things that the Holy Spirit convicts unbelievers of. First of all, he talks about sin verse nine, concerning sin because they do not believe in me. And so the essence of sin is unbelief, not believing that Jesus Christ is who he said he was, the son of God and the only savior from sin.

What ultimately damns a person to hell is their unwillingness to believe in Jesus Christ and embrace him by faith as their Lord and Savior. Here in the context of the gospel of John, we know John three 16 very well. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. In that same chapter, John three, verse 36, he believes in the Son has eternal life, but he does not obey. The Son will not see light, but the wrath of God abides on him. In John chapter eight, verse 24, Jesus said this, therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.

So the Holy Spirit convicts us of our sin of unbelief that we need to believe in Jesus, repent of that and have a change of mind and heart about who Christ is. But then secondly, he convicts us of righteousness, of righteousness. Verse 10, he says, and concerning righteousness because I go to the Father and you no longer see me, I think that righteousness that Jesus is referring to is the perfect righteousness that God requires of all of us in order to make it to heaven. God has a holy God and his standard to spend an eternity with him in his presence is to be perfectly holy as he is.

Jesus said it this way in Matthew 5 48, you are to be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect. So the spirit of God convicts people of how far we fall short of God's standard of perfection and convinces us that there is nothing that we can do to make ourselves righteous. We will never be good enough to get to heaven on our. And so because we lack righteousness in and of ourselves, we need to find it somewhere else or more precisely in someone else, and that someone is Jesus who lived the perfect life that all of us failed to live, and he died the awful death that all of us to deserve to die. And the fact that God raised Christ from the dead proves that he accepted his righteous life and sacrificial death as payment for those who are unrighteous. And what's more the fact that Jesus ascended back to heaven to assume his place at the right hand of God, prove that he indeed is perfectly righteous just like God is righteous. And so now he serves as our intercessor or as a mediator between us and God as the one who took our unrighteousness upon himself on the cross and offers to clothe us in his righteousness so we can stand before God.

Two Corinthians 5 21, he made him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf so that we might become the righteousness of God in him. Paul's testimony, Philippians chapter three nine said that he wanted to be found in Christ not having a righteousness of my own, derived from the law, keeping the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith. So the point is this, God is not looking for perfect people, but for imperfect people who are willing to admit that they lack the righteousness needed to get to heaven. And as a result, they're willing to depend on the righteousness that God has provided them in Christ.

And so the Holy Spirit convicts unbelievers of their sin of Christ righteousness and then verse 11 in judgment and concerning judgment because the ruler of this world has been judged, which is obviously a reference to Satan. And while Satan considered the cross of victory, it was actually a defeat. And through Christ's death and resurrection, he conquered death and hell and triumphed over Satan and sealed his doom forever. And we know based on Revelation 20 verse 10, after Satan's final rebellion at the end of the millennium, he will be ultimately cast into the lake of fire where he'll be separated from God's glory for all eternity.

So how does that relate to us? Well, the devil's fate guarantees the judgment of every unrepentant sinner. Satan is a defeated foe whose judgment is sure and all who follow him in rebellion against Jesus Christ are sure to share the same fate as Satan. Jesus said it this way in Matthew 25 41. Then he will say also to those on his left, the goats depart from me a cursed once into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels. I think the clearest manifestation of the convicting work of the Holy Spirit that Jesus referred to here in the upper room is what happened on the day of Pentecost when Peter preached his first sermon in Acts chapter two, verse 37, it says, when they heard this, this is their response to Peter's message. They were pierced to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, brethren, what shall we do? Peter said to them, repent and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and you'll receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. And with many words, he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them saying, be saved from this perverse generation. So then those who had received his word were baptized. And that day there were added about 3000 souls, 3000 people who were the same part of the same group of people who had cried out for Christ to be crucified.

This is just a little over a month after the Jews called out for Christ's death and they killed the holy and righteous one and had no guilt or shame until they heard Peter's message. Was it because Peter was such a good preacher? What was the game changer? What made the difference? What influenced their thinking and their response? The Holy Spirit. And I would submit to you if Peter had preached the same sermon the day before Pentecost, no one would've responded. This would not be the same response. Why? Because the Holy Spirit hadn't come yet. I think this is a good reminder for all of us that it's the spirit's job to convict. It is just our job to share the truth.

When I was young in the Lord in high school and very zealous to tell other people about Jesus and to get people to come to Christ, and man, I was doing everything I could to convince people and convict them, and man, I would just feel like it was all up to me to change them. It was all about my arguments and my zeal and my passion and my intelligence and eloquence. God had to teach me that, Ken, it's not your job to change anybody. That's my job. Your job is just to proclaim the truth. And that took off all the pressure by the way of witnessing because then it's just the joy of telling people about Jesus and leaving 'em with Jesus to do the work of conviction. It's the spirit's job to convict unbelievers.

Well, this looks secondly, at the Holy Spirit's ministry, to believers, to believers, the Holy Spirit is the revealer in that he provides comprehension in the church. Look at the next verse, verse 12. Jesus said, I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them. Now, there was a whole lot of things that Jesus wanted his disciples to know, but not only were they already suffering from information overload, but at this point they also wouldn't been able to understand the significance of the crucifixion and resurrection before it happened. In fact, on numerous times in the gospel of John, it's clear that the disciples didn't get much of what Jesus was talking about when it came to his crucifixion and his resurrection until after it happened. And then the light switch came on, and then it dawned on them verse 13. But when the spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth. For He will not speak on his own initiative, but whatever he hears, he will speak and he will disclose to you what is to come.

By the way, this is the third time Jesus, Jesus referred to the Holy Spirit as the spirit of truth. He says that in chapter 14, verse 17. That is the spirit of truth, chapter 15 verse 26. That is the spirit of truth. Later in his highest priestly prayer, John 17, verse 17, Jesus equated truth to God's word when he says, sanctify them in the truth. Your word is truth and said, don't miss this, that there is a direct connection between the spirit of God and the word of God. And we know that from other passages in the New Testament like Ephesians chapter five verse 18, where it says, do not be drunk with wine but be filled with the Holy Spirit speaking to one another's with Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. And then in Colossians chapter three, verse 18, it says that we are to let the word of Christ dwell within us speaking to one another in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. So it seems like the same fruit comes from being filled with the spirit and being filled with the word of God while they're synonymous. What does it mean to be filled with the Holy Spirit? It means you're filled with the spirit's word, God's word, and you're living it out. You're practicing it. Again, this book is referred to as the sword of the Spirit. And so the word of God and the spirit of God are inseparable. They work hand in glove. They're like two sides of the same coin.

The Holy Spirit is responsible for both the inspiration and the illumination of the scriptures. Two Timothy three 16, all scripture is inspired by God, literally God, what? Breathe. There it is again. And we learned in our study of two Peter about the doctrine of inspiration two Peter chapter one, verse 20, we know this first of all, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men move by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. So the spirit of God guided and superintendent the apostles as they wrote down the words and the works of Christ in the gospels, as well as writing out the principles by which followers of Christ are to live in the epistles and also guided and directed John writing out the details of the return of Christ in the Book of Revelation, what is to come?

And while that was all happening, the spirit worked in their minds and hearts so they could fully comprehend all that Jesus had said and done during his first coming and get their minds around what would occur on the second coming. And so all that to say, this book right here, and particularly the New Testament, is a fulfillment of what Jesus said here, that the New Testament is a manifestation of the spirit's work of revelation. And I think this is important to note that now that the initial revealing work of the spirit is done, in other words, the revealing worthy of spirit is not giving us new revelation. We already have all that we need. It's simply helping us understand the truth he's already revealed to us in His word.

And so people that are claiming, oh, God gave me this new, the spirit of God gave me this new revelation, the spirit of God spoke to me and said this, this or that warning run, because that's not the ministry of the Holy Spirit to reveal, to give new revelation, but to simply help us understand and comprehend what he's already revealed to us in his work. And without the illuminating work of the spirit, it is impossible to understand the Bible. Paul said that in one Corinthians one, excuse me, one Corinthians two 12, he says, now, we have received not the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God for their foolishness to him, and they cannot understand them because they're spiritually appraised. In other words, the natural man is somebody that does not. A spiritual man doesn't have the spirit of God in them.

And it sounds like so the word of God sounds like nonsense. And so if you're sitting here this morning and you're like, what is this guy talking about? I have no clue what he's talking about, and this is actually boring and I wish I was somewhere else. That may be evidence that you are a natural person, a natural man. You don't have the spirit of God in you because none of this is making any sense at all to you. And you'll hear testimonies of people that maybe came to church all their lives, and it wasn't until they truly got saved that the Bible started making sense to 'em, and they actually had a desire to read it and to study it and to learn it. Well, what happened? What changed? Well, the spirit of God regenerated them, filled them, and now they get it. It's like they were all they had was an AM radio, and so you couldn't get the FM stations right, but then boom, all of a sudden they got Sirius XM and they get all loud and clear.

John who wrote the gospel of John in one of his later letters, one John chapter two, talks about the spirit. Again, one John chapter two, verse 20, first John two verse 20. But you have an anointing from the Holy Spirit, and you all know what is this anointing he's talking about? He goes on in verse 27, as for you, the anointing which you receive from him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you, but as His teaches you about all things and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you abide in him.

Now that concept of the anointing of the Holy Spirit is often ripped out of context and misapplied and misrepresented to all sorts of things that people claim to be manifestations of the spirit. But it has nothing to do with what the Bible says. And there's preachers who claim to have the anointing of the Holy Spirit. And so what does that mean? Well, they're able to get up in front of crowds of people and take their jacket off and sweep it over the crowd, and everybody falls back into their seats. Or somebody comes up on stage and they come and they bop 'em on the head and they fall over and start shaking on the ground because he has the anointing of the Holy Spirit.

Well, nowhere in the scriptures do you see that description definition or description of the anointing of the Holy Spirit. This is the definition of the anointing of the Holy Spirit, that it's not being able to heal people or slay people in the Spirit or whatever. It's understanding the word of God that the anointing of the Holy Spirit is that we can understand the truth of scripture. And the main way the Holy Spirit actively ministers to believers today is by helping us understand and apply the truths of scripture. So guess what? If you're in Christ, you have the Spirit in you, you have the anointing of the Holy Spirit. It's not just reserved for some of these TV evangelist guys who everybody goes to see because they have the anointing and somehow they're hoping they'll get it too. Well, you already have it if you have the Spirit in you.

Look at verse 14. Love this. Jesus said, the Holy Spirit will glorify me for he'll take of mine and will disclose it to you. Don't miss the simplicity of this point here. The purpose of the Holy Spirit is to glorify Jesus Christ. The Spirit exists to exalt Christ in the same way the Son glorified the Father, the Spirit glorifies the Son. And then notice you got the Trinity here in verse 15, all things that the Father has our mind. Therefore I said that he takes of mine and will disclose it to you. You see it. You got the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Again, not only one in essence, but one in purpose. They never work at cross purposes with one another. And so the ministry of the Holy Spirit is to decrease so that Christ might what increase. In other words, the Holy Spirit would never allow a church to be all about him because he wants it to be all about Jesus. And the overemphasis of the phenomenon of the Holy Spirit in so many charismatic and Pentecostal churches this day, I think is completely contrary to what Jesus said here in verse 14. And any church or ministry that focuses more on the gifts and manifestations of the Spirit than the person and work of Christ is not a fil church.

The question is if it's not the Spirit filling them and who is? That's a scary thought. So a simple test of whether a man or a message or a ministry is truly spirit led and spirit filled is if it is centered on who Christ is and connected to what the Bible says, the work of the Spirit of God will never be divorced from the Son of God or the word of God. Don't let anybody ever tell you that you're experiencing the work of the Holy Spirit or you're seeing the work of the Holy Spirit if they're saying or doing something that contradicts the example of Jesus Christ or the teaching of God's word.

Again, the Holy Spirit is the spirit of truth. So whenever and wherever he is at work, whatever happens will line up with the truth of God's word. And so when you hear crazy things like glory clouds and angel feathers and fire tunnels, and where is that in the scriptures? It needs to line up with the scriptures. And so we see here that the Holy Spirit has a dual ministry to both the church and to the world, to both believers and unbelievers. And listen, how cool is this? If you're a believer today, you've been experiencing the ministry and the work of the Holy Spirit, as he's been illuminating your mind and guiding you and understanding and applying what Jesus said in this passage, doing exactly what he said Jesus said he would do for believers.

And if you're not a believer, guess what? You have been experiencing the work of the Holy Spirit in your life this morning as well, just in a different way. He's been convincing you that what you've been listening to is true, and he's convicting you of your sin and that you'll be punished for your sin in hell if you don't receive the righteousness that Jesus offers. All those who will stop trusting in their own good works to get right with God and simply trust in his work on the cross and their place. And if that's you, I encourage you to turn from your sin and place your trust in Christ alone for your salvation.

Don't resist or reject the convicting work of the Holy Spirit because that is the one and only sin. God will not forgive. That's what we know as the unpardonable sin, which is a sin against the Holy Spirit. By the way, Matthew chapter 12, verse 31, therefore Jesus said, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the spirit shall not be forgiven. Whoever speaks a word against the son of man, it shall be forgiven him. But whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him either in this age or in the age to come.

The unpardonable sin is not saying something dishonorable about Christ or disrespectful to Christ. I've met people over the years and like, well, I think I'm lost forever. I committed the unpardonable sin and because years ago I said this to God, well, that's not the unpardonable sin, the context of Jesus's words here where he was casting out demons, and the Pharisees attributed his power to do that to the devil himself. And he was doing it in the power of the Holy Spirit, and they attributed it to the devil. And so the unpardonable sin is being exposed to the presence and the power of Christ, but rejecting the Holy Spirit's convicting work that you need to repent and believe in him. That's the unpardonable sin because if you reject Christ who died to pay the penalty for sin, then there's no other way for you to be forgiven for your sin, and you have no other choice but to pay for your sin yourself.

And that's why it's called the unpardonable sin. Don't commit that this morning. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for this opportunity to get to know more of you and your spirit. It truly is a mystery. We acknowledge that I feel like we're standing on the shore of the ocean with our pale and shovel trying to get our minds around the vastness of your character. But we're thankful that while we haven't heard anyone laughing or barking or acting drunk or feathers falling or glory clouds appearing, Lord, we thank you that we have experienced your spirit this morning as we've sung Christ-centered songs and listened to a Bible-based message. And help us to be content with that and not seek any greater manifestations of your spirit and things that we never see in your Word, nor your word never said would happen. And Lord, would you protect us from being deceived and by those who would maybe want us to think otherwise? Direct them back to the truth of your word so that Christ would truly be honored and glorified in their lives, in their churches, and may he be honored and glorified in our lives and in our church today. For Your glory we pray. Amen.