The Ministry of the Spirit to Believers

Transcript

GR 401
5/17/1981
The Ministry of the Spirit to Believers
John 16:12-15
Gil Rugh

John chapter 16 in your Bibles, John's gospel and the sixteenth chapter. Jesus in the process of concluding His discussion with the disciples on the night preceding His betrayal. The betrayal will occur shortly. In chapter 16 He will conclude His discussion with His disciples. In chapter 17 He will go before the Father in prayer on behalf of the disciples. And then in chapter 18 Judas will betray Him in the garden.

In the verses that we are considering Jesus has been discussing with the disciples the ministry that the Holy Spirit will have. He has made clear in verse 7 that the Holy Spirit called the Helper, that One who comes to give whatever aide or help is needed will not come until Jesus returns to the Father. So while Jesus Christ was on earth He carried on that ministry of Himself being the helper but as He leaves and returns to the Father He will send the Holy Spirit, who will now become the one who carries on the ministry among the people of the earth, both believers and nonbelievers.

In the verses that we looked at last time, in verses 8-11, Jesus develops specifically the ministry that the Holy Spirit will have with the world. The world referring to those who do not belong to God, who are not believers in Jesus Christ, who have not come into a personal relationship with Him. That ministry is three fold. In verse 8 He will convict the world concerning sin, righteousness and judgment. Convict the world, bring it under cross-examination, demonstrated to be guilty, to expose it for what it is. Concerning sin, because they don't believe in Jesus Christ. All the world demonstrated to be guilty of sin because only by faith in Jesus Christ is the issue of sin dealt with. Concerning righteousness because Jesus Christ has ascended to the Father, demonstrating that righteousness is available only through faith in Him. He alone is righteous, His resurrection demonstrates His righteousness so the world is convicted concerning righteousness, its own need of righteousness. The fact that righteousness is available only in Jesus Christ. Concerning judgment, because Satan himself has been judged. At the cross, with the death of Christ the power of Satan is broken, He rendered powerless him who had the power of death, that is the devil, Hebrews chapter 2 says. The Spirit will bring a convicting ministry regarding the reality of a coming judgment, assured because the ruler of this world has been judged, Satan. So it is sure that all of those who are subjects of this ruler will themselves also be judged and they will share in his punishment. We noted Matthew 25:41 "'Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels'" And we find this convicting ministry of the Spirit going on throughout the world. It has a two-fold response. Some come under the convicting ministry of the Holy Spirit and continue to resist and rebel against God, continue to stand against God and His plan for salvation which is through faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and they are further hardened and settled in their lost condition. Others who come under the convicting ministry of the Holy Spirit are wooed and drawn by the Spirit of God to the point of salvation by faith in Jesus Christ. That ministry of the Spirit goes on in convicting and as you and I as children of God share the truth of the Word of God, the Spirit of God and conveys it to the heart to the inner man and brings about the convicting ministry. Again to varying degrees with varying responses but the convicting goes on. Important we noted that we see that convicting ministry in the context of the ministry of the Word of God. This is where the convicting ministry is carried on to the fullest possible extent. Where the Word of God is presented, proclaimed then the Spirit of God is on that convicting ministry in the fullest possible way. It's only when the Word of God is proclaimed that it is possible for the Spirit to carry on that convicting ministry to the extent that He draws a person to salvation through faith in Christ, because 'faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God', so only those who hear the Word of God can believe and be saved. That's the Spirit's ministry to the world.

Now in verse 12 through verse 15 Jesus centers on the Spirit's ministry to believers. There is some review here because in these chapters where Jesus has been discussing with His disciples His impending departure from the earth He has repeatedly referred to the Spirit's ministry and what it will be after He leaves. Now again, He focuses in on the Spirit's ministry to those who do come to believe in Jesus Christ.

Now in verse 12 He says, "I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now." "You are unable to bear them now, many other things I want to communicate to you but you're not ready for it now." "You would not be able to sustain the load at this point." "You would not be able to carry what I want to dump on you at this point." "You're just not ready for it." Now what will make them ready? Verse 13 is the coming of the Spirit of Truth. So what Jesus Christ is saying is there will be progressive revelation, there is more to be revealed to you, but you are not ready to handle it at this point. But when the Spirit of truth comes He will guide you into all the truth. So there will '• be more revealed to you but it will not occur until after the Spirit of Truth comes.

Verse 13, "But when He, 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." The Spirit of truth its been referred to this earlier in the discourses back in chapter 14 in particular Jesus discussed the ministry of the Spirit. Called the Spirit of truth because that's the realm in which He functions. He is the One who is the revealer of truth. He is the one who is the guide into the truth. So the one who is Himself truth will guide you into all the truth. When He says "all the truth" here the context determines what he is talking about. I was reading one well known commentator who was talking about 'all the truth' means everything. So when someone writes a beautiful song the Spirit of God has directed Him into a realm of truth and has inspired Him. That's not the kind of thing He's talking about here, a scientific discovery. What He's talking about here the context makes clear, is all the truth concerning God and the work of the Son of God, Jesus Christ. "He will guide you into all the truth", note the explanation 'for', "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 shall glorify Me; for He shall take of Mine, and shall disclose it to you."
All the truth concerning the person and work of Jesus Christ will be revealed by the Spirit of God. Now that's an awesome statement, the Spirit of God is going to take all the truth concerning me and He is going to announce it to you, shall disclose it to you. Now there's an important note here. He will not speak on His own initiative. You've been here through the study of John, note, that repeatedly Jesus Christ emphasizes that He does not speak on His own initiative but whatever He hears from the Father that He speaks. To emphasize the fact that there is total harmony and unity in the Godhead. Father, Son and Holy Spirit, three distinct persons each partaking of the essence and nature of deity. The three together forming one God, three persons, one God.

Now there is a harmony, a perfect harmony among these three persons.
So Jesus Christ did not come and express Himself, but when He was expressing Himself, He was expressing His Father, revealing His Father, making known His Father. So too when the Holy Spirit speaks He will speak from God the Father. What He will be revealing will be a revelation from God the Father. So it will not be a matter 'Well, we've had what God the Father said.' 'We have what God the Son said.' 'We have what God the Holy Spirit said.' 'Now let's see if we can put it all together.' No, it's not that at all. There is a continuous harmony that the Father has revealed Himself, God the Son has revealed God, the Holy Spirit has revealed God. There is a oneness a singleness it is one God who is being revealed. So there is a continuing revelation, a progression in revelation that we will come to know more about God as the Spirit reveals more of Him. We'll take note of that in a moment.

"Whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come." "He will disclose to you what is to come." Now two aspects to this, as a prophetic aspect, we usually think of it in the realm of prophecy, things to come, that's what the Spirit will reveal. So you go to a book like Revelation and the Spirit has revealed coming things, future things, and that would be revealed here. But, its not limited to just what we call prophecy. It includes all the things that are to transpire. So all the rest of the New Testament written by Paul, by Peter, by John will be a fulfilment of this. In their letters is woven truth about prophetic things as well as unveiling and unfolding the person and work of Jesus Christ. The disciples were not ready at this point to hear more teaching and truth about the finished work of Christ, because the matters of His crucifixion, of His resurrection and ascension to the Father still escape them. They still could not conceive of the fact that He would be crucified that He would be raised from the dead. We can see this, what happens when He's crucified, Peter's ready to go back fishing. They're in disarray and they are shocked 3 days later when He comes out of the grave. The women come and bear the tidings that the grave is empty, He's risen. What do the disciples say? Ah ha, just like He said. Well, we've been expecting it, we've been just sitting around waiting for it for 3 days. They can't believe it. Peter and John start off on a foot race to the tomb. Where is He? What's happened? They're caught by surprise. They weren't ready for these things. That's what Jesus means, 'You can understand them', 'You can't bear them right now', but afterwards these things will be revealed.

Then in Acts chapter 2 the Spirit of God comes and takes up residence within them, and He begins to progressively unfold and unveil what God has planned and is accomplishing in the person of Jesus Christ.

Note verse 14. I want to overview these verses and then look at several other key passages that relate to the on going ministry of the Holy Spirit.
"He shall glorify Me", note that, underline that in your Bible. When the Spirit comes you do not have a fact that God the Father reveals Himself and focuses His attention on Himself, God the Son reveals Himself and focuses attention on Himself, God the Holy Spirit reveals Himself and focuses his attention on Himself. Rather the focal point in revelation is on God the Son, we noted this even in the Old Testament. All the manifestations of God in the Old Testament are really manifestations of God the Son. The Son of God is the person in the Godhead who is the revealer of God in the fullest sense. Now the Spirit of God shall glorify Jesus Christ, the reason "He shall take of Mine, and shall disclose it to you." In other words the Spirit of God when He guides you into all truth what He is going to do is take the truth concerning Jesus Christ and announce it to you, the word 'disclose', to announce or to proclaim to you, so that the truth concerning Jesus Christ will be made known more fully as a result of the Spirit's ministry. Now I stress this because we hear much and people feel its been rectified today that there is not enough emphasis on the ministry of the Holy Spirit and that somehow we have neglected the Holy Spirit. Well the way that you can tell whether the ministry of the Holy Spirit is being neglected- Is Jesus Christ being presented fully and clearly? If He is the Spirit's ministry is being accomplished. The idea that we need to spend more time focusing attention on the Holy Spirit is not a Biblical pattern. The revelation we have in the New Testament regarding the Holy Spirit is given in the context of the fuller revelation of Jesus Christ. For example the gifts of the Spirit, what is their purpose? To enable us as members of the body of Christ to function. The prime point is not to focus attention on that aspect of the Spirit's ministry but that aspect of the Spirit's ministry as seen in the broader context that we who are members and parts of the body of Christ are enabled to function as we ought. So "He shall glorify Me", the Spirit's ministry is to exalt Jesus Christ, not to exalt Himself. Jesus does not say 'You will understand more about the Holy Spirit when He comes, that the Spirit will make more of Himself known to you.' 'That the Spirit will give more insight into His ministry.' But the focal point in it all is the exaltation of Jesus Christ, because what the Spirit is doing is taking the truth concerning Jesus Christ and making it known.

Now, verse 15, before we look at some other passages. "All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said, that He takes of Mine, and will disclose it to you." Note here the link that Jesus wants to be sure is seen Verse 14 He says, "He shall take of Mine, and shall disclose it to you." Explanation, "All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine, and will disclose it to you." In other words, Jesus is saying 'When I say that He will announce to you things concerning Me, you keep in mind that everything of the Father's is mine. So when He announces Me He is announcing the Father.' It's the same idea that Jesus said in John 14, "He that has seen Me, has seen the Father." "In Christ all the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form." It's that idea, that's the statement of Jesus' deity here. Everything that is God's is Christ's, everything that belongs to the Father belongs to the Son. So, in other words the Spirit's ministry is to reveal God, but the focal point is on the person and work of Jesus Christ and exalting Him.

Look at a couple of passages with me. Over in the book of Acts, chapter 2. Now, remember the pattern in Acts. In Acts chapter 1, Jesus Christ ascends to the Father. Now remember He said that it was important that He leave so that He could send the Holy Spirit. In Acts chapter 1 He ascends to the Father.
In Acts chapter 2 the Holy Spirit is sent to take up His ministry of indwelling every believer on a permanent basis and then to carry on that ministry of disclosing and revealing. So in Acts chapter 2 the Holy Spirit comes and Peter gets up and preaches now as a result of the Spirit of God now taking up residence in Him. And what does Peter do? Verse 22, and we can't read the whole message from verse 22 down to verse 36, the sermon really begins back in verse 14, with an extensive quote from the Old Testament. But pick up with verse 22, "Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know- this Man, delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God". You see what Peter is talking about now, not primarily preaching about the Holy Spirit, He's preaching about Jesus Christ, and He's preaching about God's plan and what is accomplished. Jesus Christ was crucified, it was according to the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God. "You nailed Him to the cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. And God raised Him up again". So, you see how clarity has come into Peter's mind. No longer the confusion, no longer the hesitation, no longer the fear, but now boldly proclaiming Jesus Christ.

Down to verse 32, "This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses. Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear." You see things have begun to be fit together now for Peter, he doesn't have the total picture, there'll be more revelation coming. But you see how the Spirit has begun to clarify things, fit things together, now Peter boldly proclaims the person and work of Jesus Christ.

Look over in chapter 4 of Acts, verse 8, a man has been healed, Peter gets up and speaks. You can hardly believe it's the same man who was intimidated by a servant girl at the fire the night of the betrayal, who denied with curses that he ever knew Jesus Christ. Here he is with the leaders of the nation. In verse 8, "Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, 'Rulers and elders of the people, if we are on trial today for a benefit done to a sick man, as to how this man has been made well, let it be known to all of you, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead- by this name this man stands here before you in good health. He is the stone which was rejected by you, the builders, but which became the very corner stone. And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved." See what Peter preaches, Jesus Christ, the result of the finished work of Christ and the coming of the Holy Spirit.

Over to John chapter 4, John himself says, this is the standard by which people are measured, their attitude toward Jesus Christ. Because when the Spirit of God comes to take up residence in the life of a believer there is clarity regarding Jesus Christ, His person and work. And where that clarity is lacking a person is not a child of God at all.

I John chapter 4, verse 1, "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; and this is the spirit of the antichrist" and so the contrast, the Spirit of God carries on a ministry of making Jesus Christ known and that's how you tell if it's the Spirit of God at work or the spirit of antichrist. Not how good the man preaches, not how eloquent he is, not how sincere or zealous he is but what does he believe and teach concerning the person and work of Jesus Christ. If he does not preach and teach that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who became a man died on a cross to pay the penalty for man's sins, was raised from the dead because He had paid that penalty, the man is antichrist. He has the spirit of antichrist working in him not the Holy Spirit of God.

While you're in I John 4 look down to verses 13 and 14 "By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. And we have beheld and bear witness that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. Now, note that He has given us of His Spirit and we bear witness, the result of the Spirit's ministry we are testifying. God has sent His Son to be the Savior of the world and we have believed that. You see what has happened, Jesus Christ said that the Spirit will come and glorify Him. We find the disciples as a result of the Spirit's ministry proclaiming Jesus Christ.

Now, the Spirit came, He had a ministry that He carried on in particular with the disciples, the apostles. That does not continue down to today, but there are aspects of His ministry which continue and are going on right now this morning as the Word of God is taught. The Spirit's ministry of revelation, which we have been talking about. Several passages to make this clear, look back to Galatians chapter 1, the apostle Paul is the spokesman here. What you find is God used the apostles to be recipients of addition, direct revelation regarding the person and work of Jesus Christ to be recorded and we have it in our scriptures. An example in Galatians, the apostle Paul writes and in verse 11, "For I would have you know, brethren that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ." Paul says the message I preached about Jesus Christ I received by revelation. God made it known to me specially, no man taught it to me. So God had material He wanted to communicate and He used the apostle Paul as the vehicle to whom He would make this revelation known

Look over in Ephesians, that's the book after Galatians, Ephesians, chapter 3. Paul speaks of this, in Ephesians chapter 3, verse 3. And we break in to a sentence here, Paul writes, "that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief". You note here "revelation", "it was revealed to me a mystery" a mystery in the scripture is something that has not been made known before but now God is making it known. It's not something mysterious as we use the word. Difficult to understand, it is something that could not be known before, but now God is making it known, it is revelation. The revelation, verse 5, which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit; to be specific that the Gentiles are fellow-heirs and fellow-members of the body, and fellow-partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel". In other words God revealed a new thing here to Paul and the apostles and prophets. That Jews and Gentiles alike are going to be brought together by God into one body. In other words, every Jew every Gentile that comes to believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who died for them personally is brought into the body of Christ. Now that's something that was made known, it was revelation. That was the Spirit's ministry to give this added information that the disciples weren't ready for when Christ was here but after He was gone the Holy Spirit revealed it to the apostles and prophets. It's a characteristic of an apostle and a prophet to receive direct revelation from God.

Now, another thing the Spirit does. He gives that revelation to men, then He carries on a ministry call inspiration. And inspiration deals with the writing down of the revelation. Now, see the difference? Revelation, God makes Himself known. Inspiration, the Holy Spirit guides the accurate recording of the revelation. I mean it’s great that God gave revelation to the apostle Paul but how do I know for sure that he didn't get confused and write it down incorrectly, that's the ministry of inspiration. In other words the Holy Spirit of God not only gave the revelation but He also supernaturally guided the process of making the record so that when Paul had it written down it was written exactly word for word as the Holy Spirit wanted it written, so that we have an accurate record of the revelation.

Two passages, II Timothy chapter 3, and maybe we'll just look at this one, for time. In verse 16, II Timothy 3:16 "All Scripture is inspired by God" is God breathed, literally. "God breathed" and so "is profitable", but you note here. How did we get the Scripture? "God breathed". We need to look at the other references. Over in Peter, just so you have it in mind. This has always been God's pattern in having Old and New Testament alike recorded. II Peter chapter 1, verse 20 and 21, "But know this first of all, that no prophesy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation", or literally "no prophesy of Scripture is of its own origination". Where did it originate? "no prophesy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit, spoke from God." You see that, it was the Holy Spirit moving men. You say, 'But they
were only human beings.' But you see the whole process is supernatural. You
have God who wants to make Himself known. That carries you into the realm of the supernatural. So the Spirit of God makes this revelation known to man and then He supernaturally guides these men in their thoughts and in their writing, so that as they make a record of the revelation it is precisely as God intended to be. So, how do we know that this is the Word of God? The Holy Spirit of God has directed in its recording. What about Paul, he was a human being? Peter, Peter made mistakes they're recorded here but as He was writing the revelation the Spirit of God controlled in such a way that there would be no error no diversion from what God intended to be there. Note here, its important, because we have some today who talk about getting back to Jesus Christ, as though what is said about Christ in the gospels is more important than what Paul wrote about Christ in Galatians or Ephesians and so on. Scripture says that isn't true, because it's the same God who is making Himself known from Genesis to Revelation. The same Spirit of God who was superintending the recording of that revelation from Genesis to Revelation. So it is in its entirety a record of God's revelation of Himself and particularly His Son, Jesus Christ. So the gospel of John is no more important than the book of Romans because it’s all revelation from God written under the revelation and control of the Spirit of God. There are many today, popular in modern theology that talk about getting back to Jesus Christ and not getting hung up on the Scriptures. The Scriptures are the record of the revelation.

Another ministry of the Spirit. He not only have provided the revelation as God makes Himself known and then accurately guided in the recording of the revelation, inspiration. But the third and to help us remember it, we keep the 'tions' going, illumination. The Spirit of God supernaturally illumines the heart and mind of the believer so that he can understand the record of the revelation. In other words, if there is a God who has revealed Himself and has provided an accurate record of that revelation, but I read it and am unable to understand it, it doesn't do me any good. But the Spirit of God carries on a ministry of enlightening the heart and mind of the Spirit of God, so that I as a child of God study the Scripture open to the ministry of the Spirit of God,
He is the one who enables me to understand the Word of God. This is where we have a dividing line. Now, the ministry of revelation and the ministry of inspiration no longer go on today. Remember in Ephesians 3, it was to the apostles and prophets but now that God has a completed record He is not giving addition revelation in the specific sense. I realize that creation is a continuous revelation of God but He is not adding information that has been revealed concerning His Son, Jesus Christ, concerning His purposes for man and so on. There is no information being recorded from God today, inspiration does not go on. Now we use that word inspiration, in a broad sense. Somebody writes a beautiful love song, we say that he was inspired when he wrote it. Well, that may be so, but he wasn't inspired by God. Something moved him at the time. But God is not inspiring people, important to note that difference. William Barclay in his commentary on John uses inspiration and says "that a man who writes a beautiful song is inspired in the same way as John was when he wrote his gospel", that is not true. Inspiration was limited to the ministry of the apostles and prophets. The ministry of illumination goes on today in the life of every believer. Now this is where we have a dividing line in a congregation like this this morning. This is a ministry carried on only to those who are children of God. So you have a person who sits here as we study the Scripture, and the Scripture is alive to that person, he sees and understands and appreciates the truth and impact of that on his own life. The Spirit of God is causing that individual to know and understand and perceive. The person sitting next to him, to him it's just a book. 'Ho, hum I wonder what I'm going to do this afternoon.' 'Well, that was an interesting story.' This that and the other thing. It does not make an impact. Why? Without the Spirit of God in the life the ability to understand and perceive is not there, you might as well be reading Shakespeare or something else. Because it's the ministry of the Spirit to illume and give understanding.

Look back to I Corinthians 2, I Corinthians 2. A passage we often go to because of its simplicity and clarity on this particular subject. I Corinthians 2 and you see here how the ministry of the Spirit joined together. He is the one who gave the revelation, He is the one who superintends the recording of the revelation, now He is the one who enables you to understand the revelation. Isn't that perfect? If He gave the revelation, He knows what it's all about. Who would be more able to explain it to me than the one who gave it? We see this with a painting. You have a painting that is somewhat abstract to say it politely. You say, 'I wonder what the artist had in mind with that.' Well, the artist stands there and says 'You see this and see this and see this.' ‘yes it all fits, I can see it now.' Well, you have the Holy Spirit of God who was there, who gave the revelation and as you study the Scripture, He's pointing it out to the believer. Here it is, here it is, here it is, and the believer's saying 'I see it. That fits, that fits.' The unbeliever's sitting there saying 'What, what, what fits?' 'I don't see anything. All this collection of words stories and jumble, it doesn't make sense to me. It doesn't all tie together into a beautiful picture to me.'

I Corinthians 2, and we don't have time, you ought to read this whole chapter if you're not familiar with it. Talks about the things in verse 9,
"eye has not seen, ears not heard, neither has entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for those that love Him. But has God has forfeited them unto us by His Spirit." In other words through natural means, through what you see, through what you hear you could not come to a knowledge of God. But God has chosen to reveal Himself by the Spirit of God. God has revealed Him to us by the Spirit "for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God." The Spirit is one fit to be the revealer of God because He is one who knows God down to the very depths of God. "For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man, which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God." You see here the deity of the Spirit because only a person who was deity Himself could plumb the very depths of deity, the infinity of God Himself.

"Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, in order that we might know", note that "we've received the Spirit that we might know", "we have the Spirit so that we might have knowledge", that we might have understanding a children of God, "the things freely given to us by God". Verse 14, "But a natural man", a soulish man, the man without the Spirit of God (or woman) "does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.", spiritually discerned, note the difference. The person who has the Spirit of God can understand all the truth of God that's a process of growing. I still don't know everything about this book but I know more about it than I knew 5 years ago because as I study it the Spirit is teaching me and I am growing. But the natural man the man apart from the Spirit of God cannot understand and grasp the message of this book. So if you come on Sunday mornings, perhaps on a regular basis and the truth of this book is not alive to you, is not making an impact on your life that is life changing you ought to really ask yourself. Am I a natural person? Do I really have the Spirit of God in my life? That Scripture's not alive like that to me. It doesn't excite me like that. It doesn't turn my life around. It doesn't make a difference. An indication that the Spirit of God is not at work because He's not present.

II Corinthians chapter 3 for this emphasis. II Corinthians chapter 3.
Paul talking about the Jews here, but the principle is the same for every unbeliever. Verse 14, "But their minds", referring to the Jews, "were hardened; for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil remains uplifted, because it is removed in Christ. But to this day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart; but whenever a man turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit." You see the difference, the unbeliever is said to have a veil over his heart. So as he studies Scripture, Old and New Testament alike he can't understand it. But when you come to believe in Jesus Christ the veil is lifted. 'Now I see it, now I see Jesus Christ revealed in the Old Testament and God's plan and pattern as it's brought to fruition in the New Testament, and as I study it there's a transformation a metamorphosis brought about as I am being conformed to the image of the glory of Jesus Christ. This is God's plan and program for the maturing of believers. We don't have time to go into it but jot down Ephesians chapter 4 verses 7-15. Where through the ministry of pastor-teachers, saints are to be for the work of serving, for the building up of the body of Christ so we all come to maturity, the fullness of the stature of Jesus Christ, Himself brought about by the ministry of the truth and the Spirit of God taking the truth, conforming us to the truth which is a confirmation of the character of Jesus Christ, Himself, that's illumination.

Now you come back to John, chapter 16, when Jesus speaks about the coming of the Spirit and what He will do, all of this is entailed here. He'll be giving revelation, inspiration, illumination. Now for the disciples and the apostles there'll be that particular ministry of revelation and inspiration because they'll be the ones to get more revelation and be called upon to give the record of that revelation. Then you and I take that record that has been given and come together, like today to study it. The Spirit of God can open its truths to us so we can appreciate what the Spirit of God is doing in giving us fuller, clearer understanding of the person and work of Jesus Christ.
Isn't it amazing that God has made provision for every step and every detail from beginning to end. Is there any excuse for ignorance of God? He's made Himself known, He's given us a perfectly accurate record of that revelation. And I should say something, because some occasionally raise the question: Well even if it was accurately recorded maybe it was confused now over the 2000 years until it got to us. But I don't know of anyone who really studies the issue even unbelievers who use that as an argument. Because the evidence for the accuracy of the Scriptures as we have it today is overwhelming. So when someone uses that argument on you, you know it's an argument coming from ignorance, that they have never really considered the issues, because that is a nonissue. So when you come to realize that the Spirit guarantees the accuracy of the record, you come to appreciate the fact that He also secures the accuracy of that record down to the present day and the facts and the evidence of the manuscripts that we have abundantly testify to that fact. He carries on that ministry of illumining hearts and minds today. As He exposes the world to the light of the truth of God and some who are exposed come to believe in Jesus Christ. He carries on that ministry of illumination particularly for us as believers as we study the Word of God it comes alive and we are conformed to the Word of God. Question. What impact does the Scriptures make upon your life? As you study the Scriptures do you find it changing your life? Do you come to a service like this just because you feel a certain obligation? Responsibility? Or is it an opportunity for the Spirit of God to take the truth of God and transform your life? In your own study of the Scriptures through the week, what difference does it make? How has it changed you? Is it changing you? j If not I encourage you to consider, have you ever come to believe in the finished work of the Son of God? That One who died and rose again, who paid the penalty that we might come and believe in Him and receive forgiveness of sins and new life. And the moment you believe in Him the Spirit of God will take up residence in your life, then you'll see the picture, then the pieces will fit, then you'll realize what all these fanatics were excited about. The beauty of what God has done in His
Son Jesus Christ.