Beloved radio friends, it is a pleasure to welcome you once again to the ministry of God's precious and holy word as we continue on our meditation and study concerning the great doctrine of the Holy Spirit of God. We humbly pray that our messages will be enlightening and instructing to all of God's beloved people, together with the blessing of salvation to those who may not know the Savior. We thank God that His Spirit is in the world to do that work which the Father and which the Savior sent Him to perform. We have every confidence that the Holy Spirit present in the world today is seeking to do His work as effectively and perfectly as only He is able to do. We will continue our study on the doctrine of the Holy Spirit and particularly look into the subject concerning His indwelling presence, His ministry of indwelling. We have touched upon His ministry of convicting. We have touched upon His work of regenerating. We now would dwell upon the subject of the ministry indwelling every believer. Now I'm sure that in the study as we have been following it, and shall follow it, we are seeking to take in moral and scriptural sequence the work of the Holy Spirit. First of all, one certainly must be convicted of his and her sins to be brought to a saving knowledge of the Savior. Second, one certainly must be born again if we are to see the kingdom of God and receive the impartation of that life which is eternal, given to all who believe upon our Saviour the Lord Jesus. But then here is a theme that is one of the most vital facts regarding Christian living. That is, the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. And this should be prayerfully considered. Now may we go first of all to state concerning this basic fact and this subject? First, the Holy Spirit indwells every Christian. May I repeat that? And I repeat it because there are many uninstructed Christians who do not realize that the Word of God specifically teaches that the Holy Spirit indwells every believer. We would immediately refer to the Word of God to substantiate our claim, which I add again, unfortunately some Christians do not teach nor believe. Well, whether they do not teach it, whether they do not believe it, as far as I am concerned, what they say and believe does not change the truth. of what we now look into. In John chapter fourteen and verses sixteen and seventeen, the Lord Jesus Christ promised to his own people, his believing people, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Listen to his words. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another comforter. that he may abide with you forever, even the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him, but ye know him, for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. Now may I state, when those words were spoken by the Lord Jesus, it was not true of the disciples then. For as we well know, and I trust that it is clear to all, when the Lord Jesus spoke these words, he was anticipating, as well as declaring, the coming of the Holy Spirit, which took place on the day of Pentecost. The Old Testament never reveals that any saint belonging to that period of time had the Holy Spirit dwelling in them. Now I want to repeat that. The Old Testament never reveals that any saint belonging to the Old Testament period of time had the Holy Spirit dwelling and note the emphasis in them. Now we do know from Old Testament writings he did come upon them but he never dwelt in them. But now, since the Holy Spirit is in the world, the promise of the Savior has been fulfilled, the Spirit of God dwells in the believer. But now I want to confirm this by the teaching of other scriptures. We only take the Word of God as the basic foundation of what we declare. We now would read the words of Paul written in Romans chapter five and verse five. When Paul writes saying that the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. Now I wish you to know very carefully this wonderful declaration. It tells us that the priceless treasure of God's love is in the heart of believers. Literally, the love of God is poured out in our hearts by the third person of the Triune Godhead, as we sometimes call him, by the Holy Spirit which is given unto us. Now, may I state, You and I can never be in experience enjoying God's love and His redemption in Christ without possessing the indwelling Spirit of God. I want to repeat that. Don't ever ask me if I have received the Holy Ghost. I know that question was raised in the nineteenth chapter of the Book of Acts on a certain occasion, and properly so, to disciples. who had never heard of the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus, as well as the descent of the Holy Spirit. But I'm not one of those disciples. I've heard that the Lord Jesus has died for me. I've heard that he was buried in Rose again. I have heard that he went to heaven at the right end of God. I have heard that he has sent the Holy Spirit into this world. And thank God I believe what the Scriptures declare, as we have just been reading, that the love of God and the redemption of Christ is mine in my heart, in experience, but not without, never apart, from the indwelling Spirit of God. Now we would go to another scripture and check with one that is written by Paul again in the Roman letter. Romans chapter eight and verse nine. Now note the last section of this verse where Paul writes, Now, if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. If I may paraphrase these words, and when we paraphrase, we're not quoting the literal translation we know. Well, we're trying to put them in words of understanding that we could certainly simplify them. And if we paraphrase these words, and thus, imply their strong implication. Let us read them this way. Now, if any man has not the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. Now, that's a plain statement, and I'm sure you can realize it from the original text. If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. He is not a Christian. Now, this is a plain statement. It is impossible to be a genuine Christian without possessing the Spirit of God. If you may think that you are a Christian, but do not possess the Spirit of God, then according to Romans eight nine, you cannot possibly be a Christian. For you cannot be a Christian without the Spirit of Christ. Now, if anyone would seek to argue that the expression of the Spirit of Christ is not the same as the Spirit of God, please let me briefly state that the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ are one and the same Holy Spirit. We must not take the praise, Spirit of Christ, for the disposition of Christ. The Spirit proceeds from both God and Christ. And this text is a reference to the Spirit of God. You would never have the Spirit of Christ within you if you would take it in that manner, apart from having also the Spirit of God Himself. For thank God that the Spirit witnesses with us that we are the children of God. There is another evidence that we would take from Scripture concerning our subject, once again in the writings of Paul, but taken from First Corinthians chapter two in verse twelve. Paul again is writing to say, Of believers, Now we have received not the Spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God, that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Now here is a clear revelation telling that without the indwelling Spirit of God, the very things of God could never be known by us. My fellow believer, do you and I understand? Do we properly realize that without the Spirit of God dwelling in us, we could not even understand the Bible, the Word of God? For the Holy Spirit is the revealer, and He is the teacher of the things of God. And may I say very frankly, please, If you and I are going to understand the Word of God, we must possess within us the Holy Spirit to do this great and glorious work of revealing to us the knowledge of the Word of God. Oh, my beloved, please do not be confused by the expression that is quoted in Acts chapter nineteen, when the beloved Apostle Paul asked the question of certain disciples of John the Baptist, who had never heard of the consummation of redemption, who had never heard of the descent of the Holy Spirit, and said, Have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed? And upon laying his hands upon them, they received that Holy Spirit and gave evidence of his presence and power. But when you come to the teaching of the epistles, the fulfilling of the Word of God in his revelation of truth, Thank God every believer possesses and is indwelt by the Holy Spirit. Oh, Father, bless thy truth. To the hearts of all, we pray, for thy glory. Amen.