1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,649 Speaker: What if I could tell you who's going to win the Super Bowl tonight? 2 00:00:04,840 --> 00:00:07,259 You may know because you may think the Chiefs are playing with some 3 00:00:07,260 --> 00:00:10,989 extra players on the field wearing some, uh, pinstripe black and white 4 00:00:10,989 --> 00:00:12,509 jerseys out there on the field. 5 00:00:13,809 --> 00:00:16,129 This is the, as a Cowboys fan, this is the worst. 6 00:00:16,149 --> 00:00:17,419 I'm done with the Chiefs, okay? 7 00:00:18,159 --> 00:00:19,569 And the Eagles, I can't. 8 00:00:19,830 --> 00:00:22,720 So I'm just going to pray Jesus comes back tonight. 9 00:00:22,759 --> 00:00:23,069 Okay. 10 00:00:23,569 --> 00:00:24,649 Before the end of the game. 11 00:00:24,669 --> 00:00:25,520 That's my prayer. 12 00:00:25,660 --> 00:00:28,160 Because I don't want the Eagles getting another one and I'm done with the Chiefs. 13 00:00:29,149 --> 00:00:30,099 But what if I could tell you that? 14 00:00:30,880 --> 00:00:31,959 Would that benefit you? 15 00:00:31,959 --> 00:00:34,130 If I could stand up here and say, I'm going to prophesy who's 16 00:00:34,130 --> 00:00:35,279 going to win the Super Bowl. 17 00:00:35,280 --> 00:00:37,170 Would that benefit you spiritually at all? 18 00:00:38,120 --> 00:00:39,680 You might think it'd benefit me financially. 19 00:00:40,380 --> 00:00:43,010 If I knew ahead of time, I might put some money on that game and 20 00:00:43,010 --> 00:00:44,030 see what would happen from there. 21 00:00:44,030 --> 00:00:47,530 But spiritually, would it benefit you to know who's going to win that game tonight? 22 00:00:48,815 --> 00:00:49,295 Probably not. 23 00:00:50,695 --> 00:00:52,815 What if I could tell you when Jesus is going to come back? 24 00:00:54,185 --> 00:00:55,315 There's a guy named Harold Camping. 25 00:00:55,755 --> 00:00:56,675 Maybe you remember that name? 26 00:00:56,685 --> 00:00:57,645 You familiar with that name? 27 00:00:57,675 --> 00:00:59,905 Twelve times he said, Jesus is coming back now. 28 00:01:00,685 --> 00:01:01,135 This time. 29 00:01:01,144 --> 00:01:02,065 This is going to be the time. 30 00:01:03,255 --> 00:01:04,375 Twelve times he was wrong. 31 00:01:05,714 --> 00:01:07,115 And now Harold Camping is dead and gone. 32 00:01:08,185 --> 00:01:09,664 And yet people kept believing him. 33 00:01:09,675 --> 00:01:10,545 People kept coming back. 34 00:01:10,854 --> 00:01:12,085 But would that help us? 35 00:01:13,280 --> 00:01:16,380 I would almost argue if we knew when Jesus was going to come back, 36 00:01:16,380 --> 00:01:18,510 that wouldn't help us spiritually, that might hurt us spiritually. 37 00:01:19,950 --> 00:01:23,410 After all, we're meant to be ready at all times for him to come back at any moment. 38 00:01:24,360 --> 00:01:26,669 And if you knew man, Jesus isn't coming back for a few years, you 39 00:01:26,669 --> 00:01:29,249 might be tempted to say, okay, I'm just going to, I don't need to worry 40 00:01:29,249 --> 00:01:30,639 about spiritual things right now. 41 00:01:30,719 --> 00:01:32,170 I can just go live however I want to live. 42 00:01:32,170 --> 00:01:33,759 And then I'll just get right with him before he comes back. 43 00:01:33,759 --> 00:01:36,390 You wouldn't live every day ready for his return the way we're supposed to. 44 00:01:37,835 --> 00:01:39,794 See, as humans, I get it. 45 00:01:39,815 --> 00:01:42,505 We have this inherent desire, and that's why people kept going back to Harold 46 00:01:42,505 --> 00:01:46,065 Camping, going, Okay, I'm gonna believe you this time because we have an inherent 47 00:01:46,065 --> 00:01:48,195 desire within us to know the inside scoop. 48 00:01:48,634 --> 00:01:50,975 We want to know as much truth as we possibly can get. 49 00:01:51,464 --> 00:01:55,825 We want to make sure that we're not behind the curve on that, and 50 00:01:55,825 --> 00:01:59,054 that's why we keep going back saying, Man, it would be great if all of 51 00:01:59,054 --> 00:02:00,655 these prophecies were legitimate. 52 00:02:02,035 --> 00:02:04,264 Maybe you're sitting out there going, Okay, maybe no one who's gonna win 53 00:02:04,264 --> 00:02:05,525 the Super Bowl isn't gonna help me. 54 00:02:05,525 --> 00:02:05,805 Or maybe. 55 00:02:06,100 --> 00:02:08,400 You know, if Jesus, no one Jesus is going to come back, maybe that 56 00:02:08,400 --> 00:02:09,440 would have a bad effect on me. 57 00:02:09,770 --> 00:02:12,020 But there's good things that prophecy could help us with, right? 58 00:02:12,570 --> 00:02:13,530 Like, what about COVID? 59 00:02:13,850 --> 00:02:16,089 Wouldn't have been nice to have a heads up on that one. 60 00:02:17,150 --> 00:02:18,820 Or what about the, the election? 61 00:02:20,339 --> 00:02:22,559 People would have liked to know the outcome of the election if 62 00:02:22,559 --> 00:02:24,329 somebody could have prophesied this is what's going to happen. 63 00:02:25,370 --> 00:02:27,019 Or what about the fires in California? 64 00:02:27,020 --> 00:02:29,360 That would have been good to have a heads up on that. 65 00:02:29,370 --> 00:02:32,480 Hey, this is going to happen and you guys should be ready for this. 66 00:02:33,630 --> 00:02:36,340 And maybe you're even thinking back and saying, well, God used to work that way. 67 00:02:37,329 --> 00:02:38,440 Think back to the Old Testament. 68 00:02:38,520 --> 00:02:41,829 We've been reading in our daily Bible reading with Pharaoh in the Exodus. 69 00:02:41,829 --> 00:02:44,360 And you remember Pharaoh had his dreams even before that with Joseph. 70 00:02:44,360 --> 00:02:47,129 He had the dreams of the fat cows and the skinny cows. 71 00:02:47,130 --> 00:02:48,910 And the fat cows swallowed up the skinny cows. 72 00:02:48,910 --> 00:02:52,349 And Joseph was able to give a prophetic interpretation of that dream. 73 00:02:52,349 --> 00:02:54,250 Saying this is going to be seven years of plenty. 74 00:02:54,490 --> 00:02:56,228 Followed by seven years of famine. 75 00:02:56,228 --> 00:02:58,500 And so we need to get ready and prepare for that. 76 00:02:59,630 --> 00:03:01,460 Why doesn't he work that way still today? 77 00:03:02,170 --> 00:03:03,200 Or maybe he does. 78 00:03:03,970 --> 00:03:06,209 That's our task at hand this morning is to figure that out. 79 00:03:07,060 --> 00:03:08,530 How do we hear the voice of God today? 80 00:03:09,179 --> 00:03:13,920 How does Jesus set us up to expect to hear the voice of God today? 81 00:03:15,540 --> 00:03:19,350 See, what I'd like to suggest, Christian, is you and I today are 82 00:03:19,350 --> 00:03:21,350 called to walk by faith, right? 83 00:03:21,730 --> 00:03:22,450 And not by sight. 84 00:03:24,160 --> 00:03:28,089 Peter tells us that we're not to be surprised by the fiery trials that come 85 00:03:28,089 --> 00:03:32,470 upon us, not because we've got a prophet that told us that they were coming, but 86 00:03:32,470 --> 00:03:36,310 because we trust in a God who's gonna use those trials no matter what in 87 00:03:36,310 --> 00:03:37,331 our life, to make us more like Jesus. 88 00:03:39,440 --> 00:03:42,579 And so as we come to our text and we have this innate desire, and 89 00:03:42,579 --> 00:03:45,590 it's not an evil desire, it's not a bad desire to say, man, God, I just 90 00:03:45,590 --> 00:03:47,510 wish you would speak to me audibly. 91 00:03:47,879 --> 00:03:49,260 I just want to hear your voice. 92 00:03:49,620 --> 00:03:51,069 I want to know what you want me to do with my life. 93 00:03:51,099 --> 00:03:54,219 That's a good desire, but I think deep down it reveals a 94 00:03:54,219 --> 00:03:56,009 couple of deficiencies within us. 95 00:03:56,839 --> 00:03:59,570 I think it reveals that we have a deficient view of God's word 96 00:03:59,660 --> 00:04:02,019 and a deficient understanding of the Spirit's role. 97 00:04:03,310 --> 00:04:05,570 And what I think we find in our text this morning, John chapter 98 00:04:05,570 --> 00:04:07,490 16, verses 12 through 15, is this. 99 00:04:08,059 --> 00:04:10,930 If you've got the Spirit and you've got the Word, you've got everything 100 00:04:10,930 --> 00:04:11,849 that you're ever going to need. 101 00:04:12,870 --> 00:04:17,048 If you've got the Spirit and you've got the Word, you have everything 102 00:04:17,130 --> 00:04:18,630 that you're ever going to need. 103 00:04:19,260 --> 00:04:22,039 Take your Bibles to John 16 verses 12 through 15. 104 00:04:23,190 --> 00:04:26,700 If you're new with us, we're in the midst of, towards the backside of a study of 105 00:04:26,700 --> 00:04:30,789 the Gospel of John, and we've been in this series called Disciple, where we 106 00:04:30,789 --> 00:04:33,530 picked up in the upper room, and Jesus has been moving from the upper room 107 00:04:33,530 --> 00:04:35,099 now over to the Garden of Gethsemane. 108 00:04:35,609 --> 00:04:36,979 And he's about to be betrayed. 109 00:04:36,989 --> 00:04:38,070 He's about to be arrested. 110 00:04:38,070 --> 00:04:39,010 He's about to be tried. 111 00:04:39,010 --> 00:04:40,020 He's about to be crucified. 112 00:04:41,065 --> 00:04:43,974 And he's getting his disciples ready to know what discipleship is 113 00:04:43,974 --> 00:04:45,155 going to look like once he's gone. 114 00:04:46,015 --> 00:04:48,505 And he's been talking a lot about the Helper, the Holy Spirit. 115 00:04:48,715 --> 00:04:50,625 And we're still going to be talking about that in our text. 116 00:04:50,625 --> 00:04:51,235 Look at verse 12. 117 00:04:51,265 --> 00:04:54,445 It says this, Jesus says, I still have many things to say to you, 118 00:04:54,935 --> 00:04:56,595 but you cannot bear them now. 119 00:04:57,730 --> 00:05:01,420 Jesus, again, right on the doorstep of the cross, is telling his disciples, I've 120 00:05:01,420 --> 00:05:05,030 got so much more to say to you, but, but right now, I'm, time is running short, 121 00:05:05,060 --> 00:05:07,090 and, and you're not able to bear them. 122 00:05:07,120 --> 00:05:08,690 In other words, you can't take it right now. 123 00:05:09,190 --> 00:05:11,650 And I think there's two reasons why they weren't able to bear it right now. 124 00:05:11,730 --> 00:05:13,990 Number one, they're just emotional state. 125 00:05:14,520 --> 00:05:15,720 They're in a state of confusion. 126 00:05:16,135 --> 00:05:18,855 A little bit of a state of panic, a little bit of a state of, of distress 127 00:05:18,875 --> 00:05:22,395 because their rabbi, who they love, and, and remember Peter's already 128 00:05:22,395 --> 00:05:24,085 confessed that he is the Christ. 129 00:05:24,525 --> 00:05:27,745 They're expecting him to be the Messiah to establish the kingdom right now, 130 00:05:27,745 --> 00:05:29,405 and he's been talking about leaving. 131 00:05:30,065 --> 00:05:31,635 In fact, he's been talking about dying. 132 00:05:32,294 --> 00:05:34,914 And so, emotionally, they're not ready to handle the rest 133 00:05:34,914 --> 00:05:35,995 of what he wants to tell them. 134 00:05:36,534 --> 00:05:39,905 But then I think the second reason is, is because they weren't ready yet to 135 00:05:39,905 --> 00:05:43,205 understand them because they wouldn't have had any frame of reference to understand 136 00:05:43,205 --> 00:05:44,664 the rest of what he wanted to tell them. 137 00:05:45,755 --> 00:05:46,705 Let me give you an example. 138 00:05:47,865 --> 00:05:51,715 If Jesus had looked at Peter and his followers at that point in time and 139 00:05:51,715 --> 00:05:55,505 said this, hey, have this mind amongst yourselves, Philippians 2, 5 through 8, 140 00:05:55,525 --> 00:05:59,674 which is yours in me, in Christ Jesus, who though I was in the form of God. 141 00:05:59,955 --> 00:06:03,055 Did not count on quality with God, a thing to be grasped, but emptied myself. 142 00:06:03,344 --> 00:06:05,455 And I took on the form of a servant being found in human 143 00:06:05,455 --> 00:06:06,835 likeness according to the flesh. 144 00:06:07,055 --> 00:06:09,355 And I humbled myself to the point of death, even death on a cross. 145 00:06:09,635 --> 00:06:11,685 I want you to have that mind amongst yourself. 146 00:06:11,695 --> 00:06:13,864 Peter and the rest of the followers would have looked at Jesus like, 147 00:06:13,885 --> 00:06:15,114 What are you talking about? 148 00:06:16,235 --> 00:06:20,280 See, when he says, I've got more things to talk to you about, But 149 00:06:20,280 --> 00:06:21,710 you're not able to handle them now. 150 00:06:21,840 --> 00:06:25,570 He's talking about the rest of what we have in the rest of the New Testament. 151 00:06:26,340 --> 00:06:28,610 He's saying there's more that you need to understand about what it 152 00:06:28,610 --> 00:06:31,250 looks like to be my disciple, but you're not ready for them yet. 153 00:06:31,440 --> 00:06:32,900 Hence, what does he say next? 154 00:06:32,900 --> 00:06:33,529 Look at the text. 155 00:06:33,529 --> 00:06:37,909 He says in verse 13, When the spirit of truth comes, he will 156 00:06:37,920 --> 00:06:40,020 guide you into all the truth. 157 00:06:40,300 --> 00:06:42,960 For he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever 158 00:06:42,960 --> 00:06:44,180 he hears, he will speak. 159 00:06:44,180 --> 00:06:46,339 And he will declare to you the things that are right. 160 00:06:48,240 --> 00:06:51,390 Those things that Jesus wanted to tell them that they weren't able to yet bear. 161 00:06:51,760 --> 00:06:55,689 He says when the spirit of truth, that's a title that John, that Jesus has already 162 00:06:55,700 --> 00:06:57,550 used for the spirit in the gospel of John. 163 00:06:58,139 --> 00:07:01,539 The spirit of truth is going to come and guide you into all truth. 164 00:07:02,410 --> 00:07:05,059 There's a couple ways that we can understand the word guide, right? 165 00:07:05,060 --> 00:07:06,589 You can understand it like a tour guide. 166 00:07:07,070 --> 00:07:09,770 A tour guide's job is to lead you from point A to point B. 167 00:07:10,100 --> 00:07:11,510 He's gonna walk you through. 168 00:07:11,540 --> 00:07:12,490 That's what he's doing. 169 00:07:13,000 --> 00:07:15,790 Jesus speaks of the Pharisees that way when he indicts them. 170 00:07:15,790 --> 00:07:18,340 He says that you are blind guides leading the blind. 171 00:07:19,430 --> 00:07:22,159 But there's another way to understand God, and that's more along the lines of 172 00:07:22,159 --> 00:07:24,470 a rabbi or a teacher or an instructor. 173 00:07:26,039 --> 00:07:28,890 somebody who's going to guide you deeper into a knowledge and 174 00:07:28,890 --> 00:07:30,299 understanding of a given field. 175 00:07:30,789 --> 00:07:34,359 That's the way that Jesus is using the word guide here with the Holy Spirit. 176 00:07:34,489 --> 00:07:37,140 He's going to guide you into all the truth. 177 00:07:37,140 --> 00:07:40,808 In other words, he's going to take you deeper into the truth that you're 178 00:07:40,808 --> 00:07:42,869 not yet ready to bear up under. 179 00:07:44,339 --> 00:07:47,630 And the reason being, is he's not going to speak on his own authority, 180 00:07:47,630 --> 00:07:50,100 but whatever he hears, he will speak, and he will declare to 181 00:07:50,110 --> 00:07:52,440 you the things that are to come. 182 00:07:52,450 --> 00:07:57,049 Now, the things that are to come, there's a few ways that we could look at that, a 183 00:07:57,049 --> 00:07:58,669 few ways that we could understand that. 184 00:07:59,129 --> 00:08:01,999 The first being this, we could say that that is referring to 185 00:08:02,049 --> 00:08:03,480 eschatology, the end times. 186 00:08:03,920 --> 00:08:07,280 That he's going to guide us into things that are to come, yet future, 187 00:08:07,289 --> 00:08:08,890 even from where we sit this morning. 188 00:08:09,984 --> 00:08:12,294 That's possible, but probably not likely. 189 00:08:12,364 --> 00:08:16,195 And the reason I would say it's not likely is because John's emphasis has not been 190 00:08:16,205 --> 00:08:18,005 on end times very much in his gospel. 191 00:08:18,630 --> 00:08:21,150 There's been a couple of times he's highlighted what Jesus has said 192 00:08:21,160 --> 00:08:24,190 about the future, but really, he hasn't been talking a lot about that. 193 00:08:24,380 --> 00:08:27,160 If this was in Matthew, we could get there, because Matthew had 194 00:08:27,160 --> 00:08:28,450 talked about the signs of the times. 195 00:08:28,460 --> 00:08:31,170 Matthew had talked about what to expect when it comes to 196 00:08:31,200 --> 00:08:32,539 eschatology in the end times. 197 00:08:32,808 --> 00:08:34,969 So if this is Matthew's gospel, we might track with that. 198 00:08:34,969 --> 00:08:38,789 But for John to record these words here from Jesus and, and write 199 00:08:38,789 --> 00:08:41,159 them down this way, it would be a little out of place for John. 200 00:08:41,210 --> 00:08:43,010 But it, it is possible, all that to say. 201 00:08:43,640 --> 00:08:44,730 Second option is this. 202 00:08:44,730 --> 00:08:48,180 He could have been saying, Hey, the things that are to come are the 203 00:08:48,240 --> 00:08:51,689 betrayal, the arrest, the trials, and the crucifixion of Jesus. 204 00:08:52,500 --> 00:08:55,309 The problem there is, the spirit isn't going to be received by the 205 00:08:55,309 --> 00:08:57,020 disciples until after the ascension. 206 00:08:57,120 --> 00:08:58,879 After Jesus has already done all that. 207 00:08:59,520 --> 00:09:03,009 And so, they don't need him to tell them that those things are coming because 208 00:09:03,010 --> 00:09:04,569 they will have already experienced them. 209 00:09:05,629 --> 00:09:08,490 And so I think the third option, which is the likely option, is 210 00:09:08,490 --> 00:09:11,330 the things that are to come are, Man, this is what discipleship 211 00:09:11,340 --> 00:09:12,710 looks like after Jesus is gone. 212 00:09:12,710 --> 00:09:17,079 And Aka what we have in the rest of the New Testament, the epistles, the letters 213 00:09:17,079 --> 00:09:20,370 of Paul, the letters of James, the letters of Peter, the letters of John, 214 00:09:20,769 --> 00:09:24,159 that the spirit of truth is going to come guide them into all truth, declaring 215 00:09:24,160 --> 00:09:26,919 to them the things that are to come. 216 00:09:28,210 --> 00:09:30,939 Now let's talk about that phrase all truth for a second. 217 00:09:32,039 --> 00:09:35,640 It's important that we understand the nature of that truth because Jesus is not 218 00:09:35,640 --> 00:09:38,170 saying that the spirit is going to show up and declare to them all truth such 219 00:09:38,170 --> 00:09:42,849 that if you pull Peter aside and said, Hey, what is M equals MC squared mean 220 00:09:42,849 --> 00:09:46,625 that he's going to be able to explain Or if you pulled Peter aside and said, 221 00:09:46,625 --> 00:09:50,215 Hey, uh, what is the law of gravity? 222 00:09:50,215 --> 00:09:51,115 What is that all about? 223 00:09:51,145 --> 00:09:52,485 Peter's not going to be able to explain that. 224 00:09:52,485 --> 00:09:56,035 So all truth is not all truth universally speaking, but all 225 00:09:56,035 --> 00:09:59,645 the truth that God needed them to understand as his followers. 226 00:10:00,145 --> 00:10:02,845 This is pointing to what we refer to as the doctrine of 227 00:10:02,855 --> 00:10:04,835 the sufficiency of God's word. 228 00:10:05,315 --> 00:10:08,865 That is for you to be a follower of Jesus in this life, you have 229 00:10:08,975 --> 00:10:13,195 everything that you need right here, or in that app that's on your phone. 230 00:10:14,075 --> 00:10:15,205 It's all right here. 231 00:10:15,635 --> 00:10:18,755 We don't need additional revelation to teach us what it looks like to 232 00:10:18,755 --> 00:10:22,614 be a follower, a disciple of Jesus, because we have the Spirit leading us, 233 00:10:22,635 --> 00:10:27,985 guiding us into all truth, and that all truth is contained in the Word of God. 234 00:10:28,835 --> 00:10:32,444 Jesus is going to say in John 17, 17, Sanctify them, set 235 00:10:32,445 --> 00:10:33,725 them apart in your truth. 236 00:10:33,935 --> 00:10:36,095 Your word is truth. 237 00:10:37,125 --> 00:10:40,115 And so the Spirit's job and the Spirit's role in our life, one of the main roles, 238 00:10:40,135 --> 00:10:42,454 is to lead us, guide us into all truth. 239 00:10:45,655 --> 00:10:50,875 As we consider this desire to hear the voice of God, I think innately underlying 240 00:10:50,875 --> 00:10:53,125 that is a desire for what is true. 241 00:10:53,455 --> 00:10:55,409 In a world where there's a lot of things out there that aren't true. 242 00:10:56,320 --> 00:10:57,580 frankly aren't true. 243 00:10:58,440 --> 00:11:01,330 We want to know more of what is in accordance with the character of 244 00:11:01,330 --> 00:11:03,390 who God is, that is what is true. 245 00:11:03,880 --> 00:11:06,400 And along those lines, we have to understand that we have the 246 00:11:06,400 --> 00:11:09,160 greatest source of God's truth in our hands in the Word of God. 247 00:11:09,440 --> 00:11:11,750 The greatest source of truth, the greatest standard of truth, 248 00:11:12,180 --> 00:11:13,990 is ours in the Scriptures. 249 00:11:14,430 --> 00:11:16,419 And so along those lines, our first point this morning is this, 250 00:11:16,420 --> 00:11:17,839 don't drift from God's truth. 251 00:11:20,290 --> 00:11:23,770 As you're wanting to hear more from God, as you're wanting to hear, 252 00:11:23,900 --> 00:11:27,120 God, I, I, I want to hear your voice more than I do right now. 253 00:11:27,400 --> 00:11:29,590 The first thing I want us to do is anchor ourselves to the 254 00:11:29,590 --> 00:11:35,659 Scriptures as our abiding, objective, ultimate source of truth. 255 00:11:36,669 --> 00:11:40,310 The assault on truth is evident in the world around us, has been for a long time. 256 00:11:41,160 --> 00:11:45,230 You'll hear statements like this, Well, there's no such thing as absolute truth. 257 00:11:46,459 --> 00:11:48,240 Well, that's true for you, but it's not true for me. 258 00:11:49,259 --> 00:11:50,489 All truth is relative. 259 00:11:51,655 --> 00:11:54,805 Or the statement, truth is ultimately unknowable. 260 00:11:54,844 --> 00:11:57,104 By the way, just apologetically, you understand that all of 261 00:11:57,104 --> 00:11:58,364 those are self defeating, right? 262 00:11:59,845 --> 00:12:02,805 If I say, there's no such thing as absolute truth, the question 263 00:12:02,805 --> 00:12:04,495 then is, is that absolutely true? 264 00:12:06,305 --> 00:12:09,595 Or if I tell you, you know what, that's true for you, but not for me. 265 00:12:10,344 --> 00:12:13,274 Okay, is that statement true for me as well as you? 266 00:12:13,915 --> 00:12:17,374 In other words, is that objectively true, that it's true for you but not for me, 267 00:12:17,374 --> 00:12:19,374 which means it's true for everyone then? 268 00:12:20,845 --> 00:12:22,915 Or, all truth is relative. 269 00:12:24,194 --> 00:12:25,225 Is that relative? 270 00:12:25,704 --> 00:12:26,724 That all truth is relative? 271 00:12:27,810 --> 00:12:29,979 Or, truth is ultimately unknowable. 272 00:12:30,570 --> 00:12:31,170 How do you know? 273 00:12:32,959 --> 00:12:36,729 So when we hear these things, this is the world's assault on truth, and 274 00:12:37,209 --> 00:12:40,449 the enemy has blinded the eyes of the world so much that people buy into it. 275 00:12:40,459 --> 00:12:44,860 I'm sure you know people who have used this argument with you in regards to why 276 00:12:44,860 --> 00:12:47,649 they don't want to buy into the gospel, or why they don't want to believe in God. 277 00:12:48,160 --> 00:12:50,920 And that's great for you, I'm glad you found your thing, but it's not for me. 278 00:12:51,270 --> 00:12:52,650 Y'all, this is nothing new. 279 00:12:53,080 --> 00:12:55,990 This can go all the way back and even before this, but the philosopher 280 00:12:55,990 --> 00:12:58,830 Hegel, Hegel was was one of the first people that, that introduced 281 00:12:58,830 --> 00:13:00,350 the idea of synthesis, okay? 282 00:13:00,609 --> 00:13:04,470 So Hegel basically said this, he said, rather than saying we've got antithesis 283 00:13:04,479 --> 00:13:08,040 and thesis, meaning, this is, I'm claiming this to be true and this is 284 00:13:08,040 --> 00:13:09,830 the antithesis, this is what's not true. 285 00:13:10,460 --> 00:13:12,780 Hegel said, you know what, rather than thinking in those categories, let's 286 00:13:12,790 --> 00:13:14,690 start thinking in terms of synthesis. 287 00:13:15,315 --> 00:13:17,915 Let's find where we can be in, in, in common ground together. 288 00:13:17,915 --> 00:13:20,335 Let's borrow a little bit of this truth, a little bit of that truth, and let's 289 00:13:20,335 --> 00:13:22,325 come up with something in the middle. 290 00:13:24,215 --> 00:13:26,524 After Hegel, you had a guy named Kierkegaard. 291 00:13:27,315 --> 00:13:30,655 Kierkegaard came along and, and he said this, instead of trying to make 292 00:13:30,655 --> 00:13:33,955 God and the Christian faith perfectly intelligible, Kierkegaard sought 293 00:13:33,955 --> 00:13:38,175 to emphasize the transcendency of God beyond all human categories. 294 00:13:39,185 --> 00:13:41,755 In other words, Kierkegaard took the approach of saying we can't really 295 00:13:41,755 --> 00:13:45,945 know anything for sure because God transcends all of our limitations, all 296 00:13:45,945 --> 00:13:47,315 of our human categories of knowledge. 297 00:13:47,575 --> 00:13:54,924 And I would say yes, that's true, except that He has made Himself known to us in 298 00:13:54,995 --> 00:13:56,744 and primarily through His Word, right? 299 00:13:56,895 --> 00:13:57,945 Don't drift from God's truth. 300 00:13:58,854 --> 00:14:01,425 But see, this has become the, the, the M. 301 00:14:01,425 --> 00:14:01,834 O. 302 00:14:02,115 --> 00:14:03,025 for our culture. 303 00:14:03,380 --> 00:14:06,070 We've bought into this mentality that we can't know, that we just need to 304 00:14:06,070 --> 00:14:07,390 find something, some common ground. 305 00:14:07,390 --> 00:14:08,420 Let's all just get together. 306 00:14:08,420 --> 00:14:10,260 Let's all be in agreement with each other. 307 00:14:10,260 --> 00:14:13,259 And what it's resulted in is it's resulted in absolute chaos. 308 00:14:14,800 --> 00:14:18,690 We have the chaos of belief where the absurd is now reality. 309 00:14:19,669 --> 00:14:22,959 I read an article last week where a guy has spent tens of thousands of 310 00:14:22,959 --> 00:14:28,660 dollars to turn himself into a dog and he believes himself to be a dog. 311 00:14:29,440 --> 00:14:33,490 He's not a dog, never will be, no matter how much money he puts at it. 312 00:14:34,440 --> 00:14:36,590 But we've got a world that's like, okay, but that's his truth. 313 00:14:36,590 --> 00:14:37,390 Let him live his truth. 314 00:14:38,990 --> 00:14:43,180 Or the chaos of morality, where the taboo is now just celebrated. 315 00:14:45,280 --> 00:14:47,560 It's no longer true for you to say, well, that's wrong. 316 00:14:47,560 --> 00:14:48,380 Or that's a sin. 317 00:14:50,070 --> 00:14:53,369 We live in the chaos of authority where there is no more centralized 318 00:14:53,369 --> 00:14:57,460 authority for us that we can appeal to, to say, this is what God's word says. 319 00:14:57,479 --> 00:14:58,639 This is what is true. 320 00:14:58,639 --> 00:14:59,529 Objectively. 321 00:15:01,220 --> 00:15:05,170 We live in the world indicated and characterized by the chaos of tolerance 322 00:15:06,020 --> 00:15:09,270 where everyone is entitled to be offended by whatever they want to be offended by. 323 00:15:10,980 --> 00:15:13,459 We live in a world of the chaos of culture. 324 00:15:14,415 --> 00:15:16,194 Where the loudest voice gets to set the agenda. 325 00:15:18,254 --> 00:15:20,754 This is the, the cost of our drift from truth. 326 00:15:21,384 --> 00:15:23,834 And I'm just saying for us Church, we have to come back, if we're gonna 327 00:15:23,834 --> 00:15:27,555 say we want to hear from God, we want to know the voice of God, we have to 328 00:15:27,624 --> 00:15:30,554 anchor ourselves to something that is objectively the definition of truth. 329 00:15:30,554 --> 00:15:34,994 And for us, the surest definition of that truth is the Word of God. 330 00:15:35,695 --> 00:15:36,564 It's the scriptures. 331 00:15:37,245 --> 00:15:39,545 Don't drift from the Word of God, from the truth. 332 00:15:40,875 --> 00:15:41,575 Is truth knowable? 333 00:15:41,855 --> 00:15:42,685 Yes. 334 00:15:43,694 --> 00:15:45,905 Even from the world's point of view, you've got the law of non 335 00:15:45,944 --> 00:15:49,345 contradiction, which states that two things cannot be both true and 336 00:15:49,755 --> 00:15:51,464 competing truths at the same time. 337 00:15:51,725 --> 00:15:56,124 I can't tell you, I am both 100 percent bone dry and completely soaked up here 338 00:15:56,154 --> 00:15:57,095 while I stand up here and talk to you. 339 00:15:57,675 --> 00:15:58,875 One is objectively true. 340 00:15:58,875 --> 00:16:00,844 You can look at me and go, he doesn't have any water on him. 341 00:16:00,844 --> 00:16:01,435 He's dry. 342 00:16:02,734 --> 00:16:04,474 There's another way that we could go about that. 343 00:16:04,474 --> 00:16:08,584 It's a statement of what's called tautology, which says all possible 344 00:16:08,594 --> 00:16:11,265 references, all possibilities are contained in a statement like this. 345 00:16:11,555 --> 00:16:13,714 It's either going to rain today, or it's not going to rain today. 346 00:16:14,324 --> 00:16:17,214 That is an objectifiably true statement, because if it 347 00:16:17,224 --> 00:16:19,064 rains, that statement is true. 348 00:16:19,165 --> 00:16:21,415 I said it's either going to rain, or it's not going to rain. 349 00:16:21,415 --> 00:16:22,474 If it rains, the statement is true. 350 00:16:22,515 --> 00:16:26,115 If it doesn't rain, that statement is still true, because I said it's either 351 00:16:26,115 --> 00:16:27,255 going to rain, or it's not going to rain. 352 00:16:27,735 --> 00:16:28,834 Okay, that statement is true. 353 00:16:29,315 --> 00:16:32,215 So even when we get into the world's realm, yes, truth is there. 354 00:16:32,344 --> 00:16:34,635 But the truth we're concerned about is spiritual truth. 355 00:16:35,805 --> 00:16:38,585 Is spiritual truth knowable and do we have it in the scriptures? 356 00:16:38,605 --> 00:16:39,915 And I think the answer is yes. 357 00:16:39,925 --> 00:16:41,035 First Corinthians chapter 2. 358 00:16:41,599 --> 00:16:42,849 Verses 14 through 16. 359 00:16:45,430 --> 00:16:48,009 First Corinthians 2, let me back up even before this, verse 12. 360 00:16:48,039 --> 00:16:51,759 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God. 361 00:16:52,039 --> 00:16:55,959 In order that, we might understand the things freely given to us by God. 362 00:16:56,510 --> 00:16:59,449 And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom, but taught 363 00:16:59,469 --> 00:17:05,089 by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. 364 00:17:05,740 --> 00:17:09,540 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, 365 00:17:09,540 --> 00:17:13,130 for they are folly to him, and he's not able to understand them, because 366 00:17:13,130 --> 00:17:15,800 they are spiritually discerned. 367 00:17:16,650 --> 00:17:18,540 So the question is spiritual truth noble? 368 00:17:18,540 --> 00:17:19,390 The answer is yes. 369 00:17:19,390 --> 00:17:19,750 For who? 370 00:17:19,750 --> 00:17:24,540 For those who have the spirit, for Christians, and it's revealed primarily 371 00:17:25,060 --> 00:17:27,880 and fundamentally in the word of God. 372 00:17:27,880 --> 00:17:29,969 So don't drift from God's truth. 373 00:17:29,990 --> 00:17:31,710 As we're saying, God, we want to hear more from you. 374 00:17:32,330 --> 00:17:35,620 We have to make sure that we are not exceeding the bounds of what we have 375 00:17:35,930 --> 00:17:37,700 as the greatest source of revelation. 376 00:17:38,155 --> 00:17:39,465 contained within the Word of God. 377 00:17:39,585 --> 00:17:44,635 But if we've established the fact that truth is there and it's knowable and 378 00:17:44,635 --> 00:17:48,284 that God is speaking, because He is speaking, we have to ask the question and 379 00:17:48,285 --> 00:17:50,784 answer the question, how is He speaking? 380 00:17:50,935 --> 00:17:53,215 And in what ways is He speaking? 381 00:17:54,385 --> 00:17:55,815 So that's where we're gonna go in this next point. 382 00:17:55,875 --> 00:17:57,164 Look back at our text together. 383 00:17:57,730 --> 00:18:00,080 He goes on and he says this, For he will not speak, speaking of the 384 00:18:00,080 --> 00:18:04,730 Spirit, chapter 13, or chapter 16 verse 13, he will not speak on his 385 00:18:04,760 --> 00:18:08,759 own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare 386 00:18:08,759 --> 00:18:11,440 to you the things that are to come. 387 00:18:11,980 --> 00:18:14,830 So here we find that the Spirit's role in our lives is, 388 00:18:14,870 --> 00:18:16,449 is to convey something to us. 389 00:18:16,450 --> 00:18:20,240 And it's not to convey something that's based on his own authority, but he's 390 00:18:20,240 --> 00:18:22,879 going to speak not on his own authority, but on the authority that he has. 391 00:18:23,130 --> 00:18:25,020 receives from the Father and from the Son. 392 00:18:25,650 --> 00:18:29,030 John 12 49, Jesus said that he didn't speak on his own authority. 393 00:18:29,740 --> 00:18:33,410 Jesus in John 12 49 says, I have not spoken on my own authority, but the 394 00:18:33,410 --> 00:18:36,670 Father who sent me has given me a commandment what to say and what to speak. 395 00:18:37,910 --> 00:18:40,419 The Spirit likewise is saying, I'm not going to speak on my own 396 00:18:40,420 --> 00:18:42,909 authority, but on the authority of the one who speaks through me. 397 00:18:42,910 --> 00:18:44,250 That is Christ. 398 00:18:45,260 --> 00:18:48,870 And this is where we get into this concept now of what God is doing 399 00:18:48,880 --> 00:18:50,530 in conveying these truths to us. 400 00:18:50,920 --> 00:18:53,919 Hebrews chapter one, Hebrews chapter one verses one and two. 401 00:18:53,990 --> 00:18:58,210 Hebrews 1, 1, and 2 says this, Long ago, at many times, in many ways, God 402 00:18:58,210 --> 00:19:00,120 spoke to our fathers by the prophets. 403 00:19:00,680 --> 00:19:01,590 So that's the Old Testament. 404 00:19:01,600 --> 00:19:04,680 He's speaking through that, that direct revelation to the prophets, and 405 00:19:04,680 --> 00:19:06,070 through dreams, and through visions. 406 00:19:07,050 --> 00:19:11,009 But the writer says this, But in these last days, now, He has spoken to us 407 00:19:11,009 --> 00:19:14,830 by His Son, through whom He appointed the heir, or whom He appointed the 408 00:19:14,830 --> 00:19:17,329 heir of all things, and through whom He also created the world. 409 00:19:18,500 --> 00:19:22,270 And so the Spirit's job then is to take the words of Christ, the authority, the 410 00:19:22,270 --> 00:19:26,469 content of the gospel that we hear through Jesus and to bring it through the writers 411 00:19:26,469 --> 00:19:28,330 of the rest of the scriptures to us. 412 00:19:28,690 --> 00:19:31,589 And so God is going to speak to us through the Spirit, and He's going 413 00:19:31,589 --> 00:19:33,879 to speak the things that are to come. 414 00:19:33,879 --> 00:19:36,140 Like I said, I think these are the things that are the rest of 415 00:19:36,349 --> 00:19:37,840 the New Testament scriptures. 416 00:19:38,300 --> 00:19:41,110 How it looks for us to live out our relationship with Jesus. 417 00:19:42,260 --> 00:19:44,870 I said at the very beginning, when we have this inherent desire, this 418 00:19:44,880 --> 00:19:46,710 longing to hear more of God's voice. 419 00:19:47,350 --> 00:19:49,760 It's not a bad desire, but it reveals a deficiency in our 420 00:19:49,790 --> 00:19:53,080 understanding of the nature of God's Word and the role of the Spirit. 421 00:19:53,090 --> 00:19:55,620 And the first thing I think it identifies about our misunderstanding 422 00:19:55,630 --> 00:19:59,000 about the nature of God's Word is that we have an anemic view of the Bible. 423 00:19:59,800 --> 00:20:01,210 We have an anemic view of the Bible. 424 00:20:01,210 --> 00:20:03,069 Point number two this morning is this, don't ignore the 425 00:20:03,069 --> 00:20:04,189 living and active Word of God. 426 00:20:05,680 --> 00:20:08,109 Don't ignore the living and active Word of God. 427 00:20:10,910 --> 00:20:12,880 Sometimes we, it's like, yeah, I get it. 428 00:20:12,890 --> 00:20:13,610 We got the Bible. 429 00:20:13,610 --> 00:20:14,040 That's great. 430 00:20:14,040 --> 00:20:14,500 Thanks God. 431 00:20:14,550 --> 00:20:16,330 But, but man, I'd love to hear more. 432 00:20:19,310 --> 00:20:21,260 God does still, still speak to us today. 433 00:20:22,140 --> 00:20:23,960 He still speaks 100%. 434 00:20:25,895 --> 00:20:27,545 We just have to define how that looks. 435 00:20:28,295 --> 00:20:30,625 And the surest and most authoritative voice that we 436 00:20:30,625 --> 00:20:32,145 have is found in the Scriptures. 437 00:20:32,955 --> 00:20:35,235 I referenced it just a moment ago, but Hebrews 1, 1 through 2. 438 00:20:35,264 --> 00:20:38,355 Not only Hebrews 1, 1 through 2, but also Hebrews 4, 12. 439 00:20:38,925 --> 00:20:40,605 For the Word of God is what, church? 440 00:20:41,985 --> 00:20:42,485 It's okay. 441 00:20:42,895 --> 00:20:43,404 You can talk. 442 00:20:43,445 --> 00:20:43,885 It's alright. 443 00:20:44,964 --> 00:20:45,975 The Word of God is what? 444 00:20:46,845 --> 00:20:47,635 It's living! 445 00:20:48,325 --> 00:20:49,675 The Word of God is living! 446 00:20:50,625 --> 00:20:51,855 It's living and active. 447 00:20:51,875 --> 00:20:54,075 That means when you come to the Word of God, the Word of God is 448 00:20:54,075 --> 00:20:55,775 a dynamic force in your life. 449 00:20:56,685 --> 00:20:59,544 That means when you come to the Word of God, because you have the Spirit 450 00:20:59,805 --> 00:21:03,065 and you're reading God's Word, God is speaking to you in that moment 451 00:21:03,065 --> 00:21:04,504 through the pages of God's Word. 452 00:21:05,585 --> 00:21:08,475 He's bringing to light the truth contained therein. 453 00:21:09,565 --> 00:21:12,215 That's what it means that the Spirit is going to guide you into all truth. 454 00:21:12,215 --> 00:21:15,944 It's still true for you and I today, that when we pick this book up, it's different 455 00:21:15,944 --> 00:21:17,495 than picking up and reading Shakespeare. 456 00:21:19,205 --> 00:21:21,415 Just, I'll be honest with you, I've never read a word of Shakespeare 457 00:21:21,415 --> 00:21:22,495 before in my entire life. 458 00:21:23,135 --> 00:21:24,425 And I'm here, I'm okay. 459 00:21:24,435 --> 00:21:26,085 You say, how'd you get through high school? 460 00:21:29,795 --> 00:21:31,675 By the way, I don't encourage that, students that are here. 461 00:21:33,415 --> 00:21:36,225 But Shakespeare is not a living and active work. 462 00:21:37,215 --> 00:21:40,324 When you pick it up and read it, Shakespeare's not talking to you. 463 00:21:41,505 --> 00:21:42,634 Shakespeare's dead. 464 00:21:43,095 --> 00:21:43,605 He's gone. 465 00:21:43,605 --> 00:21:44,314 He's not here. 466 00:21:45,285 --> 00:21:48,974 What makes the Bible, the Word of God, living and active today is your 467 00:21:48,974 --> 00:21:51,635 Savior is alive and the Spirit is alive and the Spirit is dwelling 468 00:21:51,635 --> 00:21:55,875 within you, taking the Word of God and bringing it to bear in your life. 469 00:21:57,305 --> 00:21:58,215 So it's different. 470 00:21:59,165 --> 00:22:01,405 So you can pick it up and read it and it's going to be relevant to 471 00:22:01,405 --> 00:22:05,705 you today Just like it was relevant a hundred years ago or 2, 000 years 472 00:22:05,705 --> 00:22:10,815 ago, for example, when it was first being put down, the New Testament. 473 00:22:12,415 --> 00:22:15,365 God is still speaking to us today, and we need to be careful about wishing 474 00:22:15,365 --> 00:22:18,814 that, saying, God, will you just talk to me when we have it right here? 475 00:22:18,825 --> 00:22:22,295 I mean, I was thinking about it this week, and it was wrecking me for a second, 476 00:22:23,315 --> 00:22:26,864 because I was thinking about when my son, who's, who's, uh, what year is it? 477 00:22:26,944 --> 00:22:28,395 Yeah, this is good dadness right here. 478 00:22:28,395 --> 00:22:29,475 This is excellent parenting. 479 00:22:30,215 --> 00:22:30,935 He's a sophomore. 480 00:22:31,215 --> 00:22:32,075 It's gonna be a junior next year. 481 00:22:32,075 --> 00:22:32,745 That means two years. 482 00:22:32,745 --> 00:22:33,205 He's gonna leave. 483 00:22:33,205 --> 00:22:35,675 He's gonna go to college, and I was thinking about him going 484 00:22:35,675 --> 00:22:37,045 to college, and, and just. 485 00:22:37,385 --> 00:22:39,875 I know I'm going to have the pain when he leaves to go and I 486 00:22:39,875 --> 00:22:41,455 wish I had more time with my son. 487 00:22:43,065 --> 00:22:46,934 And yet, at the same time, it's like me sitting there wishing I had 488 00:22:46,934 --> 00:22:49,565 more time with him and yet when he says, Hey, can we go play catch? 489 00:22:50,024 --> 00:22:51,475 Hey, can we go to a ball game together? 490 00:22:52,095 --> 00:22:54,655 Hey, can we, can we hang out together? 491 00:22:54,655 --> 00:22:55,335 Can we do this together? 492 00:22:55,335 --> 00:22:57,255 And me going, yeah, maybe later. 493 00:23:00,375 --> 00:23:01,514 The comparison is this, y'all. 494 00:23:01,805 --> 00:23:04,215 When I get to heaven, I don't want to sit there and say, God, I just wish you 495 00:23:04,215 --> 00:23:05,845 had spoken more to me throughout my life. 496 00:23:06,225 --> 00:23:09,105 Only to think back at the number of times I just left my Bible on the shelf. 497 00:23:10,724 --> 00:23:12,095 I left it in the backseat of my car. 498 00:23:12,884 --> 00:23:14,335 I left it on the night table. 499 00:23:14,335 --> 00:23:20,745 I God is speaking to us presently through his word. 500 00:23:21,835 --> 00:23:22,595 It's available. 501 00:23:22,615 --> 00:23:23,175 It's there. 502 00:23:23,175 --> 00:23:24,405 He's communicating to us. 503 00:23:24,405 --> 00:23:25,225 And so what does that mean? 504 00:23:25,225 --> 00:23:27,694 That means church, when we come to the word of God, we have to 505 00:23:27,695 --> 00:23:31,185 come to the word of God with great intentionality and great expectation. 506 00:23:32,194 --> 00:23:34,954 We need to come to God's word and we need to pray as we come 507 00:23:34,954 --> 00:23:36,014 to God's word with the psalmist. 508 00:23:36,055 --> 00:23:40,645 Lord, open my eyes that I might behold wondrous things out of your law. 509 00:23:42,315 --> 00:23:45,475 We need to have that expectation every time we pick up the bible and read it that 510 00:23:45,475 --> 00:23:46,894 God is going to speak to us through it. 511 00:23:48,225 --> 00:23:49,745 That it is living, inactive. 512 00:23:52,085 --> 00:23:55,485 Again, I think this deficiency is that we've got an anemic view of 513 00:23:55,495 --> 00:23:57,235 just what we have in the Word of God. 514 00:23:57,765 --> 00:24:00,465 We talked about it a few weeks ago, but just the advancements 515 00:24:00,474 --> 00:24:02,975 in technology that are super cool that we get to experience today. 516 00:24:03,785 --> 00:24:06,144 I wrote some of this message while I was sitting in a coffee shop in 517 00:24:06,144 --> 00:24:09,635 downtown Dallas, like 45 minutes away from my office where my books are. 518 00:24:10,264 --> 00:24:10,655 Because why? 519 00:24:10,655 --> 00:24:12,295 Because I've got a laptop with Logos on it. 520 00:24:12,345 --> 00:24:14,054 I've got my resources right there at my fingertips. 521 00:24:14,940 --> 00:24:15,570 It's pretty awesome. 522 00:24:16,210 --> 00:24:16,760 It's pretty awesome. 523 00:24:17,660 --> 00:24:20,929 You've got full self driving Tesla's now that are literally rolling 524 00:24:20,929 --> 00:24:24,919 themselves off of the production line and taking them to the stalls to be 525 00:24:24,919 --> 00:24:27,250 loaded on to the shipping containers. 526 00:24:27,920 --> 00:24:28,719 It's insane. 527 00:24:29,950 --> 00:24:33,519 We've got cameras with 50 megapixel cameras on our phones. 528 00:24:33,720 --> 00:24:36,970 Y'all do you remember wanting a five megapixel digital camera? 529 00:24:37,300 --> 00:24:39,480 Anybody remember that when the digital cameras were 530 00:24:39,480 --> 00:24:40,740 coming out in five megapixels? 531 00:24:40,740 --> 00:24:42,050 It was like, you got five? 532 00:24:42,400 --> 00:24:44,690 You got 50 on your phone. 533 00:24:46,190 --> 00:24:46,909 It's amazing. 534 00:24:49,600 --> 00:24:55,290 Cars, air travel, internet, food, food availability, Target, Target exists. 535 00:24:55,950 --> 00:24:57,510 Like that's something that's pretty amazing. 536 00:24:58,220 --> 00:25:03,280 Amazon, Walmart's delivering things with drones now, okay? 537 00:25:04,170 --> 00:25:07,939 All of these things should at least at some point cause us to 538 00:25:07,940 --> 00:25:09,839 go, Wow, that's pretty amazing. 539 00:25:10,590 --> 00:25:12,940 And yet a lot of those things we've grown pretty complacent 540 00:25:12,940 --> 00:25:13,680 and pretty comfortable with. 541 00:25:13,680 --> 00:25:16,600 We're like, yeah, it's just part of what it looks like to be alive right now. 542 00:25:18,280 --> 00:25:20,200 Y'all, we've done that to a much greater degree with what we 543 00:25:20,210 --> 00:25:21,330 have in our hands in the Bible. 544 00:25:23,900 --> 00:25:27,580 Forgive my volume for a second, but you've got the word of God in your hands. 545 00:25:29,250 --> 00:25:30,060 Imagine that. 546 00:25:30,080 --> 00:25:32,260 And we're sitting there saying, God, I just wish I could hear more from you. 547 00:25:35,650 --> 00:25:37,920 In my office, I've, I have two sheets of paper that are in frames. 548 00:25:37,920 --> 00:25:39,310 If you ever come to my office, you'll see them there. 549 00:25:39,550 --> 00:25:40,460 And they're in frames. 550 00:25:40,460 --> 00:25:41,740 They're sitting up on my bookshelf. 551 00:25:42,120 --> 00:25:44,669 And what they are, if you look at them, and they just look like chicken scratch. 552 00:25:45,180 --> 00:25:48,569 And if you try to read them, it's like, what does that say? 553 00:25:48,759 --> 00:25:50,909 What these are, they're two original manuscripts of Charles 554 00:25:50,930 --> 00:25:52,330 Spurgeon's preaching notes. 555 00:25:53,620 --> 00:25:54,330 And they're there. 556 00:25:54,330 --> 00:25:56,500 And the reason they're in frames is because I value them. 557 00:26:01,240 --> 00:26:03,560 How much more should I be valuing God's word? 558 00:26:04,445 --> 00:26:05,625 Impressed with God's Word? 559 00:26:06,575 --> 00:26:08,974 This is from God, not Spurgeon? 560 00:26:10,455 --> 00:26:15,964 Amanda and I were in Washington, uh, or in Israel, um, in 20, 2019, and we got 561 00:26:15,975 --> 00:26:17,595 to see fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls. 562 00:26:18,605 --> 00:26:19,974 And you think, wow, that's so cool. 563 00:26:19,975 --> 00:26:22,615 That's the, the fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls, and yet they 564 00:26:22,635 --> 00:26:25,255 contain the same inspired Word of God that we hold in our hands today. 565 00:26:31,135 --> 00:26:34,564 We, we sit here today as beneficiaries of the Spirit's work in those disciples 566 00:26:34,564 --> 00:26:37,895 that Jesus describes in this passage, of, of declaring the things that are to come. 567 00:26:38,435 --> 00:26:40,435 And I'm just saying, I think our view of it is so anemic. 568 00:26:41,765 --> 00:26:45,410 We need to understand what we have and not ignore it, And not 569 00:26:45,410 --> 00:26:46,940 say, I just wish I had more. 570 00:26:47,840 --> 00:26:49,700 I mean, Peter says this in 2 Peter chapter 1. 571 00:26:49,700 --> 00:26:53,120 He says, No prophecy was ever produced by the will of man. 572 00:26:53,120 --> 00:26:57,570 But men spoke from God, carried along by the Spirit. 573 00:26:59,159 --> 00:27:01,409 And so y'all, if you want to hear more of the Spirit's voice in your life, don't 574 00:27:01,609 --> 00:27:03,079 ignore the living and active Word of God. 575 00:27:03,090 --> 00:27:03,919 Now let me address this. 576 00:27:03,920 --> 00:27:06,000 Does the Spirit speak by other means? 577 00:27:06,569 --> 00:27:10,140 I'm going to say yes, with the caveat that we can't say, Thus says the 578 00:27:10,140 --> 00:27:11,170 Lord, with any of those other means. 579 00:27:12,905 --> 00:27:16,515 And so, you may say, does, does the Spirit speak to me through my, my 580 00:27:16,515 --> 00:27:19,345 godly friends, through other believers that are present in my life, through 581 00:27:19,365 --> 00:27:20,675 counselors that I have in my life? 582 00:27:20,675 --> 00:27:21,965 And I would say, yes, absolutely. 583 00:27:22,335 --> 00:27:26,015 The Scripture says in Proverbs 11, 14, where there's no guidance, a 584 00:27:26,015 --> 00:27:29,075 people falls, but in an abundance of counselors, there's safety. 585 00:27:30,124 --> 00:27:33,455 And so, the Spirit can use an abundance of godly people in your 586 00:27:33,455 --> 00:27:35,305 life to help you make decisions. 587 00:27:35,745 --> 00:27:38,365 You're just not going to be able to make that decision saying, thus says the Lord. 588 00:27:39,500 --> 00:27:41,200 It's a different form of speaking. 589 00:27:41,200 --> 00:27:42,070 It's a more subtle. 590 00:27:42,070 --> 00:27:44,130 It's a less direct form of speaking. 591 00:27:45,440 --> 00:27:48,870 Or the Spirit's going to speak to us, Lord willing, or ideally, through pastors. 592 00:27:49,870 --> 00:27:51,740 Because of what the pastor's role is. 593 00:27:51,740 --> 00:27:55,590 In Acts 20, 27, the Apostle Paul says, I did not shrink from declaring 594 00:27:55,590 --> 00:27:57,990 to you the whole counsel of God. 595 00:27:58,369 --> 00:28:01,040 My job is to preach the Word of God to you, church. 596 00:28:01,560 --> 00:28:04,710 And so I'm preaching the Word of God to you, then hopefully, if I'm doing 597 00:28:04,710 --> 00:28:07,740 that faithfully, the Spirit can take the Word of God and take the sermon 598 00:28:07,960 --> 00:28:09,390 and begin to apply that to your life. 599 00:28:09,600 --> 00:28:12,669 But here's the thing, and let me make this abundantly clear, the only time 600 00:28:12,730 --> 00:28:16,810 anything, the only time anything, let me say this again, the only time 601 00:28:16,880 --> 00:28:22,830 anything I say up here is inspired or inerrant is when I quote the Word of God. 602 00:28:23,870 --> 00:28:24,220 Okay? 603 00:28:24,720 --> 00:28:25,220 That's it. 604 00:28:26,450 --> 00:28:28,830 Everything else is subject to my own fallibility. 605 00:28:28,830 --> 00:28:31,910 And so be good Bereans, take it to the Word of God, because that's our standard. 606 00:28:32,200 --> 00:28:34,670 But can the Spirit speak through pastors and through sermons? 607 00:28:34,670 --> 00:28:36,120 Yes, He can, and He does. 608 00:28:37,180 --> 00:28:38,290 How about our conscience? 609 00:28:39,160 --> 00:28:40,549 Can the Spirit speak through our conscience? 610 00:28:40,549 --> 00:28:41,879 Yeah, the Spirit can speak through our conscience. 611 00:28:41,879 --> 00:28:43,169 Hebrews 9, 14. 612 00:28:43,169 --> 00:28:45,599 How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit, 613 00:28:45,629 --> 00:28:49,170 offer Himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from the 614 00:28:49,170 --> 00:28:51,000 dead works to serve the living God? 615 00:28:51,740 --> 00:28:54,559 Notice there, that through the regeneration of the Spirit, 616 00:28:54,840 --> 00:28:56,700 God purifies our conscience. 617 00:28:57,650 --> 00:29:00,350 So that we will, through our conscience, be better servants 618 00:29:00,350 --> 00:29:01,930 of the Lord of, of the, the Lord. 619 00:29:02,360 --> 00:29:03,970 And so the Spirit can speak to us through the conscience. 620 00:29:03,970 --> 00:29:06,470 But again, we can't say, thus says the Lord, when it comes to our conscience, 621 00:29:06,810 --> 00:29:09,700 because your conscience may be softer to something than my conscience is. 622 00:29:10,230 --> 00:29:13,199 And so there's that whole issue of Christian liberty and freedoms there. 623 00:29:13,610 --> 00:29:17,310 But all that to say, there are other means that God uses His Spirit to convey 624 00:29:17,570 --> 00:29:18,960 things to us, to communicate to us. 625 00:29:18,960 --> 00:29:22,840 It's just the surety, the, the, the most certain way He does it is right here. 626 00:29:23,580 --> 00:29:26,359 You want to hear the inerrant, infallible Word of God, this is the only place 627 00:29:26,360 --> 00:29:27,469 you're going to be able to go, right here. 628 00:29:31,240 --> 00:29:36,470 Okay, what about other means that today people say, hey, the 629 00:29:36,470 --> 00:29:37,880 spirit is speaking this way? 630 00:29:38,510 --> 00:29:39,600 What about direct revelation? 631 00:29:39,600 --> 00:29:41,210 Is there any direct revelation today? 632 00:29:41,210 --> 00:29:43,990 And I'm going to say, uh, no on that. 633 00:29:45,450 --> 00:29:49,710 Ephesians chapter two, verse 20 says that the church is built upon the foundation 634 00:29:49,729 --> 00:29:51,630 of the apostles and the prophets. 635 00:29:52,325 --> 00:29:55,145 It's the, the New Testament, basically, is what he's, he's driving out there. 636 00:29:55,145 --> 00:29:58,405 The apostles and the prophets, the bookends of the Bible, the prophets 637 00:29:58,405 --> 00:30:01,515 being Old Testament, apostles being New Testament, with Christ Jesus 638 00:30:01,535 --> 00:30:02,765 himself being the cornerstone. 639 00:30:03,025 --> 00:30:05,565 In other words, Paul is saying in Ephesians 2, that we have everything 640 00:30:05,565 --> 00:30:07,625 that we need in the revealed Word of God. 641 00:30:08,150 --> 00:30:09,170 Jude chapter 3. 642 00:30:09,260 --> 00:30:22,050 Jude writes this, In other words, we're not getting additional 643 00:30:22,050 --> 00:30:23,440 revelation that God has given to us. 644 00:30:24,350 --> 00:30:27,260 Even as Jude wrote this at this time, he said we have everything that we 645 00:30:27,260 --> 00:30:32,240 need as far as the revelation of God's Word in the content that we need. 646 00:30:32,240 --> 00:30:34,300 Again, if you've got the Spirit and you've got the Word, you've 647 00:30:34,300 --> 00:30:35,190 got everything that you need. 648 00:30:36,490 --> 00:30:39,950 New Testament prophecy can be defined this way, because there 649 00:30:39,950 --> 00:30:41,380 are prophets in the New Testament. 650 00:30:41,400 --> 00:30:43,290 New Testament prophecy was this. 651 00:30:43,590 --> 00:30:47,100 It was a miraculous act of intelligible communication rooted 652 00:30:47,110 --> 00:30:49,130 in spontaneous divine revelation. 653 00:30:49,580 --> 00:30:54,150 Empowered by the Spirit, resulting in words that could be attributed by any 654 00:30:54,160 --> 00:30:58,810 and all members of the Godhead, and it must be received by those who hear or 655 00:30:58,810 --> 00:31:00,990 read them as absolutely binding and true. 656 00:31:01,330 --> 00:31:02,950 Because you may be thinking about, well, what about Agabus? 657 00:31:02,960 --> 00:31:04,800 Wasn't Agabus a New Testament era prophet? 658 00:31:04,840 --> 00:31:05,750 And I would say, yes, he was. 659 00:31:06,500 --> 00:31:10,220 But Agabus fit the mold of the Prophe prophets at the time. 660 00:31:10,520 --> 00:31:13,670 What he prophesied came to pass when he prophesied that there would be a famine. 661 00:31:13,670 --> 00:31:16,210 The famine came to pass when he prophesied that Paul was 662 00:31:16,285 --> 00:31:18,010 gonna be bound and and arrested. 663 00:31:18,010 --> 00:31:20,650 Paul was going to be bound and arrested, and he was bound and arrested. 664 00:31:21,170 --> 00:31:25,280 And so Agabus lived up to the standard here, but also during the timeframe of 665 00:31:25,280 --> 00:31:30,230 the, the revelation of God still being actively delivered there to the church. 666 00:31:30,720 --> 00:31:32,520 The prob problem that we get into today is. 667 00:31:32,880 --> 00:31:36,430 Do you know what the penalty for a false prophet was in the Old Testament? 668 00:31:36,460 --> 00:31:36,860 Anybody? 669 00:31:38,060 --> 00:31:39,490 Death, right? 670 00:31:39,700 --> 00:31:44,980 Okay, so nobody who's claiming to be a prophet today is gonna say, yep, 671 00:31:46,000 --> 00:31:48,190 Yep, if I'm wrong stone me to death. 672 00:31:48,190 --> 00:31:52,080 Deuteronomy 13 15 says that's what we're supposed to do. 673 00:31:53,640 --> 00:31:58,330 But today what we've done is in an effort to try to, to soften the blow because 674 00:31:58,340 --> 00:32:01,880 no prophet stands up and claims to be, well, not a prophet in their right 675 00:32:01,880 --> 00:32:04,995 mind at least, let's just say, which is even an interesting concept, stands 676 00:32:04,995 --> 00:32:06,915 up and claims to be infallible today. 677 00:32:06,925 --> 00:32:09,355 They're going to admit that they can make mistakes like Harold Camping. 678 00:32:09,355 --> 00:32:11,545 So what we've done is we've redefined prophecy. 679 00:32:12,165 --> 00:32:15,865 So this guy named Thistleton, he's a scholar, says this, Prophets 680 00:32:15,865 --> 00:32:18,285 today they provide pastoral insight. 681 00:32:19,055 --> 00:32:22,585 That doesn't sound like what the Bible describes prophecy to be. 682 00:32:22,855 --> 00:32:26,305 Pastoral insight or a God given utterance, that's, that's bold, 683 00:32:27,225 --> 00:32:29,435 unprompted or it could be prepared. 684 00:32:30,755 --> 00:32:35,250 Ultimately building up the Again, I don't know that I look at a lot 685 00:32:35,250 --> 00:32:38,140 of prophecy in the Bible and see that it was meant to build up and 686 00:32:38,140 --> 00:32:39,850 make the addressees feel good. 687 00:32:40,550 --> 00:32:43,020 And it's from the Holy Spirit, that's what we're talking about here. 688 00:32:43,020 --> 00:32:44,670 And then he says this, mistakes can be made. 689 00:32:44,770 --> 00:32:47,950 The Bible would say, no, they can't. 690 00:32:48,380 --> 00:32:50,890 If you're standing up and saying, thus says the Lord, I've got a 691 00:32:50,890 --> 00:32:52,140 message from God and here it is. 692 00:32:52,400 --> 00:32:53,910 You can't make mistakes. 693 00:32:54,960 --> 00:32:56,030 That's off the table. 694 00:32:56,740 --> 00:32:59,880 Sam Storms, who believes in the ongoing gift of prophecy, says this. 695 00:33:00,200 --> 00:33:02,300 Prophecy is relevatory gifts. 696 00:33:02,470 --> 00:33:04,370 And he says, relevant, relevant, relevant 697 00:33:06,650 --> 00:33:07,480 Let me start over again. 698 00:33:08,490 --> 00:33:10,510 Y'all, it's good I don't speak for a living or anything. 699 00:33:11,250 --> 00:33:11,980 I'm really bad at it. 700 00:33:12,300 --> 00:33:16,020 Revelatory gifts, there we go, are inescapably subjective. 701 00:33:16,420 --> 00:33:20,230 And the people through whom they operate are unavoidably prone to error. 702 00:33:22,985 --> 00:33:26,375 He goes on, he says, God puts words and phrases and sentences and images and 703 00:33:26,375 --> 00:33:30,815 the like into our minds, stamped with the indelible imprint of his voice. 704 00:33:30,995 --> 00:33:35,225 Although undeniably subjective and occasionally slippery impressions 705 00:33:35,225 --> 00:33:38,915 are a valid means of divine communication in our heart, 706 00:33:42,025 --> 00:33:42,445 y'all. 707 00:33:42,895 --> 00:33:46,585 I'm not saying this is a tier one issue, but it's an important issue 708 00:33:46,585 --> 00:33:50,335 that we have got to understand that this is not what the scripture holds. 709 00:33:50,335 --> 00:33:51,985 This is not what the scriptures teach. 710 00:33:53,045 --> 00:33:55,955 This is not prophecy according to any prophet that you're gonna find. 711 00:33:58,110 --> 00:34:00,960 This type of prophecy led to the death of the prophet. 712 00:34:01,170 --> 00:34:01,280 I 713 00:34:05,320 --> 00:34:06,810 don't want to take an unfair shot, 714 00:34:09,540 --> 00:34:10,250 so maybe I shouldn't. 715 00:34:10,290 --> 00:34:10,690 I won't. 716 00:34:12,040 --> 00:34:12,850 Yeah, I won't do that. 717 00:34:14,360 --> 00:34:15,750 Again, y'all, Deuteronomy 18. 718 00:34:15,760 --> 00:34:19,889 Let me, let me just remind us of the standards for a prophet. 719 00:34:20,880 --> 00:34:22,010 Deuteronomy 18. 720 00:34:22,230 --> 00:34:24,659 Let me start in verse 20, even though verse 22 is up here. 721 00:34:25,199 --> 00:34:30,429 But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded 722 00:34:30,429 --> 00:34:36,989 him to speak, Or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die. 723 00:34:37,820 --> 00:34:41,179 And if you say in your heart, how would we know that the Lord has not spoken? 724 00:34:41,679 --> 00:34:45,350 When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the word does not come 725 00:34:45,350 --> 00:34:50,920 to pass or come true, that word is not a word that the Lord has spoken. 726 00:34:51,139 --> 00:34:52,228 Do you see the standard? 727 00:34:54,100 --> 00:34:58,050 If he speaks and what he prophesies does not come true, he's a false 728 00:34:58,280 --> 00:34:59,980 prophet and worthy of death. 729 00:34:59,990 --> 00:35:00,560 Because why? 730 00:35:00,570 --> 00:35:05,040 Because he's presuming to claim the authority of God that's not his to claim. 731 00:35:06,510 --> 00:35:08,310 And that is a grave thing. 732 00:35:08,960 --> 00:35:15,200 One that we can't say it's about subjective feelings that we have. 733 00:35:16,510 --> 00:35:17,990 And I get it, they've redefined it. 734 00:35:20,480 --> 00:35:21,860 Let me go real quick here. 735 00:35:23,110 --> 00:35:24,240 John Piper puts it this way. 736 00:35:25,165 --> 00:35:27,985 He says, look, outside the Bible, we have fallible, uncertain 737 00:35:28,005 --> 00:35:30,445 impressions and messages. 738 00:35:30,575 --> 00:35:34,075 Inside the Bible, we have rock solid, dependable messages. 739 00:35:34,465 --> 00:35:35,465 And this is my point here. 740 00:35:35,595 --> 00:35:39,795 It seems to me folly to crave the lesser authority, the lesser riches outside the 741 00:35:39,795 --> 00:35:44,675 Bible, than the greater authority that we have barely tasted inside the Bible. 742 00:35:45,795 --> 00:35:46,745 Man, I love that. 743 00:35:47,520 --> 00:35:49,910 And Piper would say that he's a continuationist even. 744 00:35:50,470 --> 00:35:54,130 And he's saying, look, the more foundational, reliable, truth, 745 00:35:54,230 --> 00:35:58,570 and trustworthy, rich place for us to be is in the Word of God. 746 00:36:00,760 --> 00:36:02,040 Martin Lloyd Jones put it this way. 747 00:36:03,060 --> 00:36:04,710 He said, we must never separate. 748 00:36:05,320 --> 00:36:07,600 We must never separate the Spirit and the Word. 749 00:36:07,860 --> 00:36:11,540 The Spirit speaks to us through the Word, so that we should always doubt and 750 00:36:11,540 --> 00:36:17,200 query any supposed revelation that is not entirely consistent with the Word of God. 751 00:36:19,275 --> 00:36:23,565 Y'all, that's why John wrote to the early church, Test the spirits. 752 00:36:25,135 --> 00:36:27,025 Test the spirits to see whether they're from the Lord. 753 00:36:27,625 --> 00:36:29,795 You say, well, how do I test a spirit to know whether it's from the Lord? 754 00:36:31,415 --> 00:36:33,425 I think there's some questions that can help us diagnose that. 755 00:36:33,425 --> 00:36:34,865 Number one, does it exalt Jesus? 756 00:36:37,335 --> 00:36:38,735 Does it oppose worldliness? 757 00:36:40,835 --> 00:36:41,785 This is the biggest one here. 758 00:36:41,805 --> 00:36:43,005 Does it agree with the scriptures? 759 00:36:46,385 --> 00:36:47,505 Does it elevate truth? 760 00:36:49,625 --> 00:36:51,645 And does it promote a love for God and others? 761 00:36:52,625 --> 00:36:54,435 These were taken modified from Dr. 762 00:36:54,435 --> 00:36:54,895 MacArthur. 763 00:36:56,100 --> 00:36:57,110 Does it exalt Jesus? 764 00:36:57,110 --> 00:36:58,040 Does it oppose worldliness? 765 00:36:58,130 --> 00:36:59,270 Does it agree with the scriptures? 766 00:36:59,270 --> 00:37:03,540 Does it elevate truth and does it promote a love for God and others? 767 00:37:06,430 --> 00:37:10,180 We have, again, in the spirit, in the word, everything that we need. 768 00:37:11,120 --> 00:37:15,960 We need to be very, very careful about anything outside of it. 769 00:37:17,800 --> 00:37:18,750 Anything outside of 770 00:37:22,830 --> 00:37:22,850 it. 771 00:37:22,850 --> 00:37:27,610 Shocker, uh, I'm a cessationist in case that wasn't clear at this point. 772 00:37:28,840 --> 00:37:31,050 But look, just because we're cessationist doesn't mean we don't 773 00:37:31,050 --> 00:37:32,350 believe the Spirit's not speaking today. 774 00:37:33,390 --> 00:37:36,540 I 100%, 100 percent believe that God is speaking to us today. 775 00:37:37,780 --> 00:37:39,790 I'm just saying we need to understand where and how, 776 00:37:40,390 --> 00:37:41,770 and that's through His Word. 777 00:37:42,950 --> 00:37:46,680 But as we wrap up, I think we also need to understand what the role of the Spirit 778 00:37:46,680 --> 00:37:49,350 is, and what to expect Him to be doing. 779 00:37:50,280 --> 00:37:52,990 Because that's our other deficiency, not only a deficiency in our understanding 780 00:37:52,990 --> 00:37:55,290 of the Word of God, that we've got an anemic view of the Word of God, 781 00:37:55,290 --> 00:37:58,470 but we also have a misunderstanding of the, the role of the Spirit. 782 00:37:58,880 --> 00:38:01,930 Notice as, as He continues on here, as we end in our text, He says this, 783 00:38:02,580 --> 00:38:04,600 He will glorify me, Jesus says. 784 00:38:05,285 --> 00:38:07,495 That's the Spirit's role, summed up right there. 785 00:38:07,495 --> 00:38:08,985 He will glorify me. 786 00:38:09,495 --> 00:38:11,915 Four, how's he gonna glorify Jesus? 787 00:38:12,085 --> 00:38:15,085 He's gonna take what is mine and declare it to you. 788 00:38:16,025 --> 00:38:18,735 All that the Father has is mine, therefore I said that he will take 789 00:38:18,735 --> 00:38:19,975 what is mine and declare it to you. 790 00:38:20,215 --> 00:38:23,465 The primary means of the Spirit glorifying the Son is through the revelatory 791 00:38:23,495 --> 00:38:26,735 ministry of the Spirit, illuminating us to understand the Word of God more. 792 00:38:27,875 --> 00:38:31,695 That's the main primary way that the Spirit is gonna glorify the Son. 793 00:38:32,445 --> 00:38:35,075 That's why we're not looking for glory dust coming out of the vents. 794 00:38:36,315 --> 00:38:39,255 Because that's exalting the Spirit, not the Son. 795 00:38:40,055 --> 00:38:43,155 And the Spirit's job, the Spirit's role, is to glorify the Son. 796 00:38:43,975 --> 00:38:46,565 And so as we think about this, as we land with our third point here, 797 00:38:46,725 --> 00:38:49,535 as we're looking for hearing more from the Lord, we need to be careful 798 00:38:49,645 --> 00:38:52,735 with this third point, not to expect the Spirit to grab the spotlight. 799 00:38:53,915 --> 00:38:56,145 Don't expect the Spirit to grab the spotlight. 800 00:38:57,205 --> 00:38:58,195 That's not his job. 801 00:38:59,765 --> 00:39:00,545 That's not his job. 802 00:39:00,745 --> 00:39:04,425 One of the leading voices in Pentecostal theology, Jack Hayford, says this. 803 00:39:04,425 --> 00:39:07,505 He says, in Pentecostal, the Pentecostal potpourri, I like to 804 00:39:07,505 --> 00:39:12,315 say, In the Pentecostal Potpourri, only one thing is the same for all. 805 00:39:12,465 --> 00:39:16,065 The passion they have to experience the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. 806 00:39:16,515 --> 00:39:17,775 This is the common denominator. 807 00:39:17,785 --> 00:39:20,685 This is the emphasis, this emphasis on the Holy Spirit. 808 00:39:20,995 --> 00:39:24,395 The third person of the Trinity is what defines the charismatic century. 809 00:39:25,385 --> 00:39:29,275 The emphasis on the Holy Spirit is what defines that whole movement. 810 00:39:29,705 --> 00:39:31,975 What does Jesus say the Holy Spirit's job is? 811 00:39:32,825 --> 00:39:34,215 He will glorify me. 812 00:39:35,295 --> 00:39:39,325 The church is meant to glorify and exalt Jesus and to be enraptured by Jesus. 813 00:39:40,080 --> 00:39:43,580 This is what led MacArthur back in 2013 to do the whole strange fire conference. 814 00:39:45,440 --> 00:39:48,560 It's because we were getting it so terribly wrong. 815 00:39:50,090 --> 00:39:51,190 And it's still that way. 816 00:39:51,910 --> 00:39:55,020 The Spirit's job is to glorify and exalt the Son and the primary way He's 817 00:39:55,030 --> 00:39:57,870 going to do that is through illuminating the scriptures for you and me. 818 00:39:58,340 --> 00:40:01,970 That said, I do want to address something that I think is important to us. 819 00:40:02,850 --> 00:40:08,010 We have to be careful not then to spirit from within the Godhead. 820 00:40:08,770 --> 00:40:12,680 Okay, just because the Spirit's role is to exalt Jesus. 821 00:40:12,690 --> 00:40:16,630 We have to be careful not to relegate the spirit to God Jr. 822 00:40:17,600 --> 00:40:22,200 We have to appreciate the fact that we have the very nature of God with 823 00:40:22,330 --> 00:40:26,380 the third member of the Trinity dwelling within us as the Spirit. 824 00:40:26,380 --> 00:40:27,820 That's, that's what we're 825 00:40:30,015 --> 00:40:31,345 Back in the Council of Nicaea in A. 826 00:40:31,345 --> 00:40:31,515 D. 827 00:40:31,515 --> 00:40:33,825 325, they got together and they said this, as they were 828 00:40:33,855 --> 00:40:35,855 crystallizing some core beliefs. 829 00:40:36,665 --> 00:40:40,685 And they said this, we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life. 830 00:40:40,815 --> 00:40:43,795 He proceeds from the Father and the Son, and with the Father and the 831 00:40:43,795 --> 00:40:46,805 Son, is worshiped and glorified. 832 00:40:48,785 --> 00:40:50,465 But wait a minute, he's supposed to glorify the Son. 833 00:40:50,885 --> 00:40:55,565 Yes, but he's still God, and we should still worship and glorify him. 834 00:40:55,725 --> 00:40:56,175 How? 835 00:40:56,315 --> 00:40:57,225 That's the question. 836 00:40:57,710 --> 00:40:58,760 Two things I want to suggest. 837 00:40:58,760 --> 00:41:03,390 Number one, worship Him in accordance with who He is and what He does. 838 00:41:04,840 --> 00:41:05,730 Here's what I mean by that. 839 00:41:06,470 --> 00:41:08,030 How can I worship and glorify the Spirit? 840 00:41:08,040 --> 00:41:10,320 You can worship and glorify the Spirit by giving Him thanks. 841 00:41:11,030 --> 00:41:12,650 By thanking Him for what He's done. 842 00:41:12,950 --> 00:41:14,770 In other words, thank Him for regeneration, for the 843 00:41:14,770 --> 00:41:15,840 fact that you're born again. 844 00:41:16,370 --> 00:41:18,890 That's a way for you to praise the Spirit for the work that the Bible 845 00:41:18,890 --> 00:41:20,660 says the Spirit does in your life. 846 00:41:22,190 --> 00:41:26,290 You can thank Him for conviction over sin, that that's something 847 00:41:26,290 --> 00:41:28,110 that the Spirit does in our life. 848 00:41:28,850 --> 00:41:32,450 You can thank Him for illumination, for helping you to understand the Bible. 849 00:41:32,450 --> 00:41:34,070 That's something that the Spirit does in our life. 850 00:41:34,080 --> 00:41:35,290 You can praise Him for that. 851 00:41:35,800 --> 00:41:38,630 You can thank Him for pointing you to Jesus and for exalting 852 00:41:38,640 --> 00:41:39,750 Jesus more in your life. 853 00:41:39,770 --> 00:41:41,470 That's something that the Spirit does in your life. 854 00:41:41,740 --> 00:41:44,110 It's a way for you to praise and worship the Spirit. 855 00:41:45,730 --> 00:41:49,110 Second thing you can do is you can pray to the Spirit in accordance 856 00:41:49,110 --> 00:41:50,450 with who He is and what He does. 857 00:41:52,500 --> 00:41:54,070 God is the only one that we pray to. 858 00:41:55,300 --> 00:41:56,030 The Spirit is God. 859 00:41:56,050 --> 00:41:56,920 You can pray to God. 860 00:41:56,930 --> 00:41:57,890 You can pray to the Spirit. 861 00:41:58,270 --> 00:41:59,950 But in accordance with who He is and what He does. 862 00:41:59,950 --> 00:42:01,810 So pray prayers like this. 863 00:42:01,830 --> 00:42:06,010 Pray, Spirit, please convict concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment. 864 00:42:07,430 --> 00:42:08,160 Convict the lost. 865 00:42:08,180 --> 00:42:09,620 Convict the world concerning these things. 866 00:42:09,620 --> 00:42:10,650 That's something the Spirit does. 867 00:42:10,650 --> 00:42:12,130 You're asking Him to do what He does. 868 00:42:12,830 --> 00:42:16,230 Pray, Spirit, please grant life, eternal life, to this person. 869 00:42:16,950 --> 00:42:19,280 Again, you're asking the Spirit to do what the Spirit does. 870 00:42:20,230 --> 00:42:23,090 Spirit, please open my eyes to learn more from this passage of the 871 00:42:23,090 --> 00:42:24,490 Word as I come to it and read it. 872 00:42:24,630 --> 00:42:26,830 Again, you're asking the Spirit to do what the Spirit does. 873 00:42:28,315 --> 00:42:31,555 Spirit, please give me understanding and empower me to apply the truth of 874 00:42:31,565 --> 00:42:33,675 the word as it's preached in my life. 875 00:42:34,245 --> 00:42:36,875 You're asking the spirit to do what the spirit does. 876 00:42:37,845 --> 00:42:41,035 Spirit, please help me to put to death the deeds of the body as I walk by the spirit. 877 00:42:41,645 --> 00:42:44,105 You're asking the spirit to do what the spirit does. 878 00:42:45,565 --> 00:42:48,025 So don't expect the spirit to take center stage. 879 00:42:48,025 --> 00:42:49,565 Don't expect the spirit to grab the spotlight. 880 00:42:50,265 --> 00:42:52,045 But with that, don't relegate him. 881 00:42:52,045 --> 00:42:53,535 Don't extricate him from the Trinity. 882 00:42:53,935 --> 00:42:56,545 Don't fail to worship him, to glorify him, to pray to him. 883 00:42:58,625 --> 00:43:00,735 Do those things in accordance with who he is and what he does. 884 00:43:02,495 --> 00:43:05,425 Our problem isn't that we expect too much from the Spirit, but 885 00:43:05,425 --> 00:43:06,565 the wrong things from the Spirit. 886 00:43:08,975 --> 00:43:10,935 The Spirit's never gonna take center stage. 887 00:43:10,965 --> 00:43:14,175 In the Spirit and the Word, you have everything that you need. 888 00:43:19,275 --> 00:43:20,845 I have no idea who's gonna win the Super Bowl. 889 00:43:22,415 --> 00:43:23,145 I have no idea. 890 00:43:24,095 --> 00:43:24,615 I'm gonna watch it. 891 00:43:24,655 --> 00:43:28,155 I have no, no dog in the fight, so it's just gonna be on in the background. 892 00:43:29,315 --> 00:43:30,775 It wouldn't help you if I could tell you this morning 893 00:43:30,775 --> 00:43:31,615 who's gonna win the Super Bowl. 894 00:43:32,975 --> 00:43:35,505 Again, I have no idea when Jesus is coming back. 895 00:43:35,595 --> 00:43:36,955 I hope before the game ends. 896 00:43:37,045 --> 00:43:38,155 Again, I really do. 897 00:43:41,105 --> 00:43:42,615 I have no idea when Jesus is coming back, 898 00:43:44,825 --> 00:43:46,845 but I'm no worse off because I don't know those things. 899 00:43:48,750 --> 00:43:51,710 I'm no worse off because I can't stand up to you and prophesy to you 900 00:43:51,710 --> 00:43:53,840 what's going to happen in another four years at the next election. 901 00:43:55,160 --> 00:43:58,280 I'm no worse off because I can't stand up here and speak over your 902 00:43:58,280 --> 00:44:00,790 life and tell you the trials that are going to come into your life. 903 00:44:01,280 --> 00:44:02,000 And neither are you. 904 00:44:03,380 --> 00:44:08,020 The reason is, is because in the spirit, in the word of God, the 905 00:44:08,020 --> 00:44:13,790 scriptures, we have everything that we will ever need as believers. 906 00:44:13,790 --> 00:44:16,860 Will you stand with me as I pray and then we'll be dismissed.