The Promise Opening Hymn 270 Responsive reading 737 Closing 258 By Pastor Laurie DeWitt I apologise. Got this sermon and last week's out of order. Just once more I will begin with a quotation from Ellen White on the Gift of the Holy Spirit. How can we stand in the day of test if we do not understand the words of Christ? He said: "These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." It is the holy Spirit that is to bring to our remembrance the words of Christ. The theme Christ chose to dwell upon in his last discourse to his disciples was that of the office of the holy Spirit. He opened before them a wide tract of truth. They were to receive his words by faith, and the Comforter, the holy Spirit, was to bring all things to their remembrance. The consolation given by Christ in this promise was found in the fact that the divine influence was to be with his followers to the end. But this promise is not accepted and believed by the people to-day, and therefore is not cherished by them, nor is its fulfillment seen in the experience of the church. The promise of the gift of the Spirit of God, is left as a matter to be little considered by the church. It is not impressed upon the people, and the result is only that which might be expected,--spiritual drought, spiritual darkness, spiritual declension and death. Minor matters occupy the mind and soul, but divine power which is necessary for the growth and prosperity of the church, which would, if possessed, bring all other blessings in its train, is lacking, although it is offered to us in infinite plentitude. Just as long as the church are satisfied with small things, they are disqualified to receive the great things of God. But why do we not hunger and thirst after the gift of the holy Spirit, since it is the means whereby the heart may be kept pure? The Lord designs that divine power shall co-operate with human effort. It is all-essential for the Christian to understand the meaning of the promise of the holy Spirit just prior to the coming of our Lord Jesus the second time. Talk of it, pray of it, preach concerning it; for the Lord is more willing to give the holy Spirit than parents are to give good gifts to their children. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 11-15-92 John 14:1-3 ""Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. {2} "In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. {3} "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also." These are the words that Jesus gave to his disciples in the last few hours before his crucifixion. I am sure that there were many things that He wanted to tell them. In fact he said in John 16:12 "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now." Can you imagine what Jesus must have been feeling this night as He talked with His disciples? Facing the agony of the cross, the rejection of His people, the defection of His disciples. Not only that but the feelings that He must have had about leaving is disciples, and the desire to return to His father. So, Jesus gears His last few precious words to make the most impact on the disciples. Beginning by a promise of re-union. To occupy their time until the return of their Savior, they were encouraged to do several things. First we see in John 14:11 ""Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves." Without a belief in Jesus as divine, the rest would not make a lot of sense. No mortal could take them to the mansions. No mortal could unite them with God. And no mortal could show them the way. Then in John 14:12 ""Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father." The belief would move them in an interesting direction. Jesus had raised the dead, healed the sick, created bread, fish, and wine. He had talked with Moses and Elijah, yet His disciples were to do greater things than Him. HOW? Then, John 14:15 ""If you love Me, keep My commandments." I don't say this unkindly, but has anyone here tried to keep the commandments lately? Have you succeeded? Have you succeeded in keeping them like Jesus wants to keep them? Not, "Do not murder", but do not WANT to murder. Not "Don't commit adultery", but don't even think about committing adultery. Even the two great commandments, Love God supremely and your neighbor as yourself, can rarely be reached even in our strongest desires to do good. Yet Jesus said, "If you love me........." Other directions that Jesus gave on this terrible evening included: 15:7. Abide in me...... 15:12 Love one another, as I have loved you.... 16:24. Ask and you shall receive...... How was all this to take place? Through the Holy Spirit. Five times in John 14-16 the disciples are pointed towards the gift of the Holy Spirit which was to make all other things possible. The Holy Spirit was to do the following things for Jesus' disciples: Help Abide with them forever Teach Bring to remembrance Testify of Jesus Convict of sin Convict of righteousness Convict of judgment Tell of things to come Glorify Jesus Let's take these things in the order that they might appear in a Christian's life. I believe that first is that the Spirit convicts us of sin, and judgment. As uncomfortable as some are with the concept of judgment right now, you cannot separate sin from judgment. It is for exactly that reason that Jesus had to die on the cross, executing judgment for the righteous. John 5:24 "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. 25 "Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live. 26 "For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, 27 "and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man. 28 "Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice 29 "and come forth; those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation. When Paul preached to Agrippa, he felt the moving of the Spirit in his heart and told Paul, "You almost persuade me to become a Christian." I believe that today we see in the rampant evil in the world the Holy Spirit beginning to withdraw from the earth because there are so many who have no concept of sin, morality, or right and wrong. The Holy Spirit is the only remedy for this. Convict of righteousness: This follows closely upon the heels of the previous function of the Spirit. We are not just condemned. That is where we as humans so often fall short. We condemn, but do not try to heal or build up. If we were just convicted of our sin, we would be living in hell right now. If you had seen Arthur when he stepped off the bus in Kingston, Ontario, you would never have been able to guess his past. He would blend into the background and be just like any traveling salesman, or perhaps a grandfather coming to visit his family. However, Arthur's vital statistics were anything but average. He was released from prison at the age of 53, yet incredibly had spent 42 years behind bars. He began his prison career at the age of 11. No prison seemed capable of holding him; no prison system seemed capable of breaking his spirit or reforming his behavior. He served 24 of those years in solitary confinement. Seventeen months he sat on death row. He participated in prison riots, broke a guard's arm, another guard's collar bone, and brought about the death of one sheriff. In one prison in Indiana, he stole 40 pounds of cyanide while working in the prison with the idea of poisoning the entire prison staff. He spent 31 months in Devil's Island Prison confined in a 5 x 7 foot cell, chained by his neck. Society had no hope for him, they just tried their best to confine him. But something happened in Arthur's life to dramatically change all of that. It began one day in Leavenworth, Kansas, while in prison. A preacher came to visit in the prison and brought along his 14-year-old son, Timmy. As Timmy followed his dad down the row of cells, he for some reason paused by Arthur's cell, and smiled and winked. That's all it took. Arthur responded, called him back to the cell and began to verbally abuse him; to curse, to swear, to call him everything he could think of. The boy broke down in tears, but he stood his ground. Finally he simply said these words to Arthur, "I love you." Arthur said later, "That was the first time in all of my life anyone had ever told me that." Arthur began to receive letters from Timmy. Timmy would write to him and share his concern. Timmy prayed for him. For seven years those letters kept coming, and correspondence began to be exchanged between them; until Arthur finally broke down and he said, "Every letter was stained with his tears. I couldn't take it anymore. I got on my knees and came to the Lord." God did two miracles in the life of Arthur. The first was to transform a hate-filled, violent man into a man of love and grace with the ability to care for others. Then God did a double miracle, because He saw fit to have him released from prison in spite of that kind of a background and record. Though he had cancer, he set about proclaiming Christ with the years that he had left.* Conviction of righteousness is critical to the Christian life. Testifies of / glorifies Jesus: Former heavyweight champion George Foreman gave his testimony at the Garden Grove Community Church in California. Here is part of what he said concerning his conversion to Christ in the San Juan dressing room after the Jimmy Young fight: "I felt my head and, when I brought my hands down, I saw there was blood on the palms of both hands," he said. "Then I looked down and saw there was blood on my feet. "I was reminded there was where Jesus bled -- on His palms, on His feet, and on His head. At that moment, I died. I died for God. Then I got life as a new creature. I became like a small trusting baby." "I had never read the Bible before, " he said. "Now I read it all the time. I understand it. I want to explain to other people so that they, like me, can know the truth." That is what happens to everyone who trusts the Lord Jesus Christ. They become consumed with the desire to glorify their Lord.* Tells of things to come / teaches: Both of these come under the heading of prophecy. Literally, speaking on behalf of. The prediction of the future is not the main purpose of the Spirit. Though the Spirit does tell us of what will happen eventually to those who follow Christ and those who do not. As important as that is, more important is the teaching that He does for us. The Christian who allows the Spirit to teach them is not drinking from the swamp water of worldly knowledge, but from the rushing springs of fresh water and new insight that the Spirit has for us. Helps / brings to remembrance: I don't know about you, but I get a little like the person who said, of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most. I have trouble with memory and memorizing. I have literally had to stop and think of my name when someone asked and I was on a different train of thought. But there is something that is amazing. I can be teaching something for the Lord and have thoughts come into my head that I knew were not mine. You may have experienced that yourself. It is a thrill when that happens. Abides with us forever. Jesus told his disciples, "I will never leave you or forsake you." Heb 13:5. That forever being with us is accomplished through the Spirit. How could Jesus that He would never leave us, when less than 2 months from that statement He would ascend into the clouds? The Spirit was to be Christ in us, with us constantly. Until the second coming when we are once again with Jesus in person. John 16:7 ""Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you." And lastly, we find from the names for the Spirit that Jesus used, that the Spirit was to be a Comforter. The Spirit is who Jesus uses to take us in His arms when He cannot be here personally. At all times and in all places, in all sorrows and in all afflictions, when the outlook seems dark and the future perplexing, and we feel helpless and alone, the Comforter will be sent in answer to the prayer of faith. Circumstances may separate us from every earthly friend; but no circumstance, no distance, can separate us from the heavenly Comforter. Wherever we are, wherever we may go, He is always at our right hand to support, sustain, uphold, and cheer.--The Desire of Ages, pp. 669,670. The questions I need to ask you today are: "Have you in your life started to feel the presence of the Spirit of God? Has He moved in your life to convict, teach, prepare, and energize you? Do you want to see more of His work in your life?" The promise has been given. The power of God awaits our demand and reception. Are you ready for that in your life today? The Christian must build all the foundation if he would build a strong, symmetrical character, if he would be well balanced in his religious experience. It is in this way that the man will be prepared to meet the demands of truth and righteousness as they are represented in the Bible; for he will be sustained and energized by the Holy Spirit of God. He who is a true Christian combines great tenderness of feeling with great firmness of purpose, with unswerving fidelity to God; he will in no case become the betrayer of sacred trusts. He who is endowed with the Holy Spirit has great capacities of heart and intellect, with strength of will and purpose that is unconquerable. Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers PG- 176 Only to those who wait humbly upon God, who watch for His guidance and grace, is the Spirit given. The power of God awaits their demand and reception. This promised blessing, claimed by faith, brings all other blessings in its train. My Life Today PG- 47 *from the Bible Illustrator