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Now, as you've just heard from our dear friend and brother, this is the third of the occasions when, at your request, we have been thinking about the Blessed and the Holy Trinity. It begins to seem to me quite a long while since we embarked upon this study. So let me just recap what it is exactly we are trying to do and how we propose to go about it. We began on our first occasion by asking seriously the question, why should we trouble to think about the complexities of the Blessed and Holy Trinity.
Why should we not rather just believe what Holy Scripture tells us about our Blessed Lord and about the Holy Spirit, but not inquire further as to how this all can be fitted together into a theological doctrine of the Godhead. Could we not rightly make an excuse for ourselves in this, that a study of the Godhead itself would soon go far beyond our powers of understanding? So why then should we not just be content?
Because when all is said and done, the very word Trinity is not a biblical word. You will not find it in Holy Scripture. And certainly you will not find those other theological and philosophical terms that the theologians use sometimes to talk about these things, such as, for instance, the hypostatic union in Jesus Christ our Lord. When we asked ourselves that question, we came to the observation that in reading the Gospels, we find ourselves almost inevitably drawn into thinking about the Trinity.
Because we find the Lord Jesus himself in the Gospels telling us that he existed before he came into this world. More than once he tells us of his pre-existence. If he existed before he became human, then what was he then? And how was he related to God? And we found in our second study that we are not allowed to think of him simply as an angel in the days of, in the time of his pre-existence.
So we're obliged to think how exactly in his pre-existent days was he related to God. When we pursued that in our second study, we found, of course, that scripture declares that in those uncharted, uh, eternities that were before the creation of the world, our blessed Lord was not only with God, he was God, says scripture.
Moreover, when he became fresh, he became man. We are told the Word became fresh and dwelt among us. That is the Word, who was God, became fresh, that is human, without ceasing to be God. And therefore, that raises an obvious question, doesn't it? How then, if he is full God, does he relate to the Father who is God? We noticed in that second study that after his resurrection, Thomas declared him to be my Lord and my God.
And Christ did not rebuke him for ha- for it, but accepted his tribute. And we noticed that when we are exhorted to look forward to the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our Lord Jesus, this is how he is described. We are to look forward to the glorious hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. So he was God and never ceased to be God and never shall cease to be God.
That will oblige us next week, if God spares us, to begin to put these things together and see how we can worship the Father as God and the Son of God without worshiping two gods. For the Bible declares there's only one God. But tonight we hope to study the deity of the Holy Spirit. For likewise, when we turn to the Gospels, we find that the Holy Spirit did not begin to exist when he was sent by the Father and by the Son as that other comforter to be with us.
He existed eternally. And tonight I want to trace with you some definite scriptures that declare the full deity of the Holy Spirit, as well as his personhood. The Holy Spirit is not just a power, a force. He's not just a force that the Father exerts. The Holy Spirit is a person, and Scripture declares his full deity.
He is much God as the Father is God. He is much God as the Son is God. So to take our first scripture, I must ask you, if you will, to look and read with me, first of all, in the book of Exodus. The book of Exodus and chapter thirty four. Chapter thirty four of the book of Exodus. This is the story how Moses came down from the mountain with the two tables of the testimony.
On the first occasion, the tables were broken. On the second occasion, he took other tables up, and they were written, and these were not broken. But let's take up the story. It is Exodus thirty four and verse twenty nine. And it came to pass when Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tables of the testimony in Moses' hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses did not realize that the skin of his face shone because of his speaking with him. And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him.
And Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned to him, and Moses spoke to them. And afterward, all the children of Israel came near, and he gave them in commandment all that the Lord had spoken with him in Mount Sinai. And when Moses had done speaking with them, he put a veil on his face. But when Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he took the veil off until he came out. And he came out and spoke unto the children of Israel that which was commanded. And the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses' face shone.
And Moses put the veil upon his face again, until he went in to speak with him. Our special interest at the present moment is in verse thirty four. When Moses came out from the presence of the Lord, the people noticed that his face shone for the simple reason he had been there speaking with God, and some of the very glory of God, uh, brightened Moses' face. And when he went out, the people saw it, and they were afraid to come near him at first.
But he called them, and they had to come near him and saw the glory of God in the face of Moses. And when he done speaking with them, he put a veil on his face. And in the New Testament, Paul tells us why he did it, you see. He put a veil on his face to stop the Israelites seeing that the glory with which his face shone would gradually disappear, fade out, and he didn't want them to see the end of it. You say, why did the glory fade like that then? And why didn't he like them to see the end of it?
Well, of course, Moses stood for the law and the old covenant, and truth to tell, that old covenant was not permanent, you see. Its tabernacle, its sacrifices, its priesthood given by God with all the authority of God, and they were to last for centuries, but they were not to last forever. Glorious as they were, the glory was to fade from them completely and be overtaken by a different glory altogether. But that's a little bit beside the point. Let me call your attention to verse thirty four. So Moses came out, they saw his face shone, and after he'd done speaking, he put a veil on.
But when Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he took the veil off till he came out, and once more, uh, the glory of God enlightened his face. But now a little Hebrew. So pluck up your courage, you'll see. It's very bitter, I know, but like good medicine, uh, if you swallow it quickly, it won't do you any harm, you'll see. Now that word there, when Moses went in before the Lord, is in Hebrew, the personal name of God, Jehovah, or as in modern times we pronounce it, Yahweh, but Jehovah.
Moses went in before Jehovah. God of very God. If you get hold of that, then let me tell you something else, and this is a bit of Greek. Two bits of bitter pills to study one after the other. That's almost too much, isn't it, Porto? You'll see. But anyway, when the Jews came to translate that bit of the Old Testament from Hebrew into Greek, and they came across this personal name of God, Jehovah, they didn't like to translate it.
For Jews, you know, to this very present day, will not pronounce the word Jehovah or Yahweh. They will not read it. Whenever they come across in their Bibles the word Jehovah, and they are reading it out loud or to themselves, they will not say Jehovah. They will say Adonai, which means my Lord. Why don't they say Jehovah? Well, they have a, a, a fear, lest they should take the name of the Lord in vain. And the commandment tells us not to take the name of the Lord in vain.
And so they are afraid of, uh, doing it, and to make sure they never come anywhere near doing it, they won't even pronounce the name Jehovah. It's the name of the Christ Holy God. So instead of pronouncing Jehovah, they say Adonai, my Lord. And when they came to translate it into Greek, this particular verse, when Moses went in before Jehovah, they translate it in Greek by the Greek term Kurios, meaning Lord, when he went in before the Lord.
Could we remember that? We're now going to turn to the New Testament, where this passage is quoted. And we are going to be told, who is this Lord? Who is this Jehovah that Moses turned to? So this is two Corinthians and chapter three. Two Corinthians and chapter uh three. And we'll take up the story in verse twelve. Two Corinthians, chapter three and verse twelve.
Having therefore such a hope, we use great boldness of speech, and are not as Moses, who put a veil upon his face, that the children of Israel should not not look steadfastly on the end of that which was passing away, that their minds were hardened. For until this very day, at the reading of the Old Covenant, the same veil remaineth unlifted. Which veil is done away in Christ. But unto this day, whensoever Moses is read, a veil lies upon their heart. But whensoever, now here we come, it shall turn to the Lord, the veil is taken away.
Did you get the story? When Moses talked to them, they saw his face shone. Then when he'd finished talking, he put the veil on so they shouldn't see the va- the glory fading. But when Moses went in before the Lord, when he turned to the Lord, he took the veil off, of course. And says Paul, whensoever it, that is the nation, shall turn to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now look at verse 17. Now the Lord, the Lord we're talking about, the Lord is the Spirit.
This is the New Testament telling us that the Jehovah mentioned in Exodus thirty four, to whom Moses went in, that Jehovah is the Spirit. A straight, simple, direct affirmation of the full deity of the Holy Spirit. Not then just a power, but a person, and a divine person, and as much Jehovah as the Father is Jehovah, as the Son is Jehovah.
So we may establish the New Testament testimony to the full deity of the Holy Spirit. Oh, but let's, while we're at it, do a little bit more than that, shall we? Because these things are not only to be learned, but to be enjoyed. And the context is this, that Paul is talking to the Corinthians about the vast superiority of the New Covenant to the Old Covenant. The Old Covenant given by Moses, the New Covenant through Jesus Christ our Lord. And in this chapter, he calls attention to the various ways in which the New Covenant is superior to the Old Covenant.
Take what happened at your conversion, he says to the Corinthians, you'll see. For when I came to you, Christ used me as a man might use a pen to write upon your hearts. And, to use the metaphor, what corresponds to the ink within the pen was indeed the Holy Spirit. So that I wrote upon your heart, not on tables of stone, like Moses and God in the time of Moses wrote out his commandments on two tables of stone.
When I came to you, says Paul, Christ used me to write on your heart the, um, his gracious laws by the Holy Spirit of God. Now let's think about that for the moment and see its superiority. God had the law written on two tables of stone, and of course, God having wrote written it, it was as clear as a pikestaff. Thou shalt do this, thou shalt not do that, thou shalt do the other. It made it clear what we had to do. But the laws written up on those tables of stone couldn't give anybody the power to do what it commanded.
And the prohibitions written on those two tables of stone couldn't give anybody the power not to do the things which it prohibited. And there was its weakness. The law could tell you what to do, couldn't give you the power to do it. See the wonder of the new covenant brought to us by our blessed Lord Jesus. Written not on stone with a chisel, written on the fleshy tables of the heart by the Holy Spirit of God.
That is the wonder of it, isn't it? That is conversion. That is what is being born again. Not our own effort to keep God's law, but through faith in Christ, the vivifying work of the Holy Spirit. And then Paul adds other contrasts. He says, you know, the mere letter of the law kills. And so it does, doesn't it? But when all is said and done, the law, we do our best to keep it. We may think we've kept it eighty percent, maybe, or eighty five percent, you'll see.
But in the end, if we come short, the law curses us and demands its penalty. Which is death. The letter, the mere statement of God's law on those tables of stone, in the end, condemn and kill us. The letter kill us. Oh, thank God for the marvelous message brought to us by the Holy Spirit, sent down from heaven by the Father and the Son.
The Spirit makes alive. That is the offer of the gospel. A gift of life. And not merely, uh, extended life so that we carry on living in heaven, but a spiritual life born in us now by God's Holy Spirit, with its different powers and its different laws and its different habits and its different desires, a real life given us through the Holy Spirit, through faith in Jesus Christ our Lord. Yes.
And Paul says, you see, oh, consider how much more glorious this new covenant is. Under the old covenant, well, it was glorious. There's no denying that the Old Testament law was glorious. You just imagine God coming down on Mount Sinai with all the thunder and the flame and the fire and the smoke until the very m- the very mountain shook. It was certainly glorious. You'll see. The law was glorious, but it was a ministry of condemnation. It said, cursed is everybody that continueth not in all things that are written in the law to do them.
God's holy law is glorious, you know. Upon God honoring that law depends the unfading glory of heaven. The gems and pearls and precious stones of heaven are genuine because of the holiness of God, who has decreed that nothing that defiles shall enter there. His law, though a law of condemnation, was exceedingly glorious. But ah, not so glorious as this, the ministry of the new covenant, for it is a ministry of righteousness, can give us the gift of righteousness, for Christ is made to us righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.
Can give us a righteous standing before God. Marvelous, isn't it? And that the Holy Spirit does within our hearts, working regeneration, writing the law of God on our hearts, and giving us to enjoy the righteousness that Christ gives us. The full deity of the Holy Spirit. But then there is another part of the New Testament that likewise makes us aware of the, uh, deity of the Holy Spirit.
In two Corinthians three, Paul brings the matter to its future conclusion. He says, you know, when we turn to the Lord, that is when we turn to the Holy Spirit, for the Lord in this context is the Holy Spirit, there is liberty. Liberty to enter the very holiest of God, liberty to come right near to God and to behold the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Liberty to come near. Listen to what Paul says in Ephesians. Through him, we believers, Jews or Gentiles, in one spirit, we have access to the Father.
Marvelous, isn't it? And we can come with unveiled face, boldly, right into the presence of God at the leading and guiding of the Holy Spirit, and there behold the glory of the Lord. And as we contemplate that glory, our faces too, our characters too, are beginning to be transformed and transfigured through that same Holy Spirit. And we can be bold. When Moses came out from the presence of the Lord and his face shone, after a while he put a veil on because otherwise he, eh, wouldn't want people want to see the glory dimmed a bit.
We don't need to put any veil on. You might decide, and decide very correctly, that my character doesn't shine all that brightly, do you see? Shines a little bit. If you had known me in times past, you'd see it, do you see? Shines a little bit anyway, and it's not my credit, it's the reflection of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, you know. I tell you what, that glory isn't going to fade permanently. Will never fade away. It shall increase. And when I see him, here is the wonder of it and the guarantee of it, says the Holy Spirit, when we see him, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
You'd be a little impatient to get to heaven, wouldn't you, now on those terms? We're going to be like the Savior, but already, as we turn to the Holy Spirit to make real to us the things of God and to show us the glory of God in the face of Christ. Already we are being transformed into that same image from glory to glory. To tease you with a little more Greek, in that passage we all with unveiled face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord are changed into the same image.
But the translators don't know really which way round to put it, because it could be we all with unveiled face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord. That is true, isn't it? As we search scripture and pray about it and seek the Lord in it, and the Holy Spirit begins to illuminate us, we behold the glory of the Lord and the wonder of his salvation. But then you could equally translate the word, we be- uh, behold the glory, do you see, we reflect, reflecting as in a glass the glory of the Lord.
That's true, isn't it? Likewise, we behold the Lord's glory, and it has effect on us, so that whether we realize it or not, we start to reflect the glory of the risen Lord to those of who are around us. And that is a thing to be remembered. We don't become Christ-like by being over-occupied with ourselves and our own feelings. You occupy yourself with your own feelings and your cells and your nasty shortcomings, and you'll get very much like yourself.
The more you think about yourself, the more like yourself you'll become, won't you? That isn't all the best thing to do, you know. You occupy yourself with Christ. You'll see how far short you come, but you'll be full of admiration for him and his wonderful glory and the perfections of his behavior and character. And before you know where you are, being occupied with him, you begin to become like him. But there is another scripture, as I say, and it's two, it's one Corinthians chapter two. One Corinthians chapter two that likewise tells us of the ministry of the Holy Spirit and who that Holy Spirit is.
This is one Corinthians chapter two, Verse seven. um But we speak God's wisdom in a mystery, even the wisdom that has been hidden, which God foreordained before the worlds unto our glory, which none of the rulers of this world knows, for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written, things which eye saw not, and ear heard not, and that which entered not into the heart of man, whatsoever things God prepared for them that love him. But unto us God has revealed them.
Pray notice that, not will reveal them, has revealed them through the Spirit. For the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For who among men knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so, the things of God none knoweth, save the Spirit of God. But we 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, which things also we speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches, but with the w- but which the Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
So now let's try to digest this magnificent passage once more about the Holy Spirit and what his function is. You'll see God has spoken, and God's f- and Jesus Christ our Lord is the full revelation of God. Yes, you agree with me? Or with me? Christ is the last word. For God who spoke in times past to the fathers through the prophets, has in these last of times spoken to us in his son. Our blessed Lord is the full revelation of the Father.
You'll see, no one has seen God at any time. The only begotten son who is in the bosom of the Father, he has told him out to the absolute full. We should never learn anything about God beyond what we learn in Christ. He is the express image of the invisible God. Christ is God's self-revelation. And that's wonderful. You say, what do I need then more than the Savior himself, who is the great revealer of God? Well, what I need is the ability to take it in.
Well, if God has revealed himself in Christ, this is so profound and wonderful and glorious and immeasurable revelation of God, how shall I even begin to understand it and take it in? You'll see. If ever I'm going to understand the things of God and the revelation of God through Jesus Christ, I shall need, says Paul in this passage, the gracious teaching of the Holy Spirit of God.
Isn't God wonderful? He's thought of everything, you know. How shall I know the unseen God? Well, he's shown himself to us in Jesus Christ. Marvelous. That enough? No, not quite. Because now the question is, how can I come fully to understand Christ? And God hasn't left us to our own devices. Here is the glory of the gospel. He gives us to dwell with us, the Spirit who is no less than God the Spirit.
As much God as God is. Who searches all things and knows the deep things of God. And comes and dwells in our hearts and in the midst of the church. So that he who is the Spirit of God, Jehovah, becomes the one who helps us now to begin to take in, understand, enjoy the things of God revealed in Jesus Christ, our Lord.
It's not merely a matter of being very clever or good at languages or something. Did you notice the homely illustration that Paul uses? He says, you know, what things, uh, who knows the things of a man, save the spirit of a man which is in him? Let's work that one out, shall we? You, man. Uh, ha, y- y- you love embroidery, yeah? You don't do it by numbers or anything like that. You, you, you, you do the embroidery, you'll see.
I was in a house just recently, and uh, on the wall in the hall were samplers. Ooh. You know what samplers are? Well, our younger folks may not, but these were samplers where people wrote out the alphabet, and then they had Bible scenes on them, and uh, so forth and so on. And of course, I stopped and admire them because I sensed, you know, who had done them. And yes, it was my hostess that had done them, you see. And what expressions of her art and craft they were, these samplers framed and hanging on the wall, you see. Now, suppose my hostess had taken the finished sampler and showed it to her dog.
I find oh, look at this, Fido. Not much use, I think. You see, there are certain things that dogs understand about us, are they not? Because we have stomachs and God, and dogs have stomachs, yes? So if they see you eating a beef steak, if you let the dog, he'll come round and wag his tail and nudge you, and uh, if you're not careful, he'll grab it, you see, because he knows what's going on inside you, you see, and all those lovely things as the beef steak trickles down the old throat into the stomach. And the dog knows what's happening because it happens to him.
That's what we share with animals, or some animals anyway. But art, no. You can get your dog and train it and send it to art school, or have you, or s- make it come in every afternoon and study the principles of art. No use. But art is a peculiarly human thing, and a dog who doesn't have a human spirit will never understand it. The only way it could ever understand, uh, juicy or samplers would be if somehow you could give the dog your human spirit.
Then it could understand. Let not the simple illustration detract from the huge thing that this scripture is saying. The deep things of God, God's marvelous treasure, they are the things of God that lie in his heart. Who can possibly know them except one who is the spirit of God. We human beings hadn't a ghost of a chance of getting to know them.
The deep things of God, such as eye has not seen, neither have they entered into the heart of man, the things that God has prepared for those that love him. We could never have comprehended them. Except God has done this magnificent thing, not merely to give us teachers in the church or Sunday school teachers, but to give each believer a someone who is God and knows the things of God and searches all the things of God and is able to communicate them to us.
Astonishing, isn't it? It's true. In my extreme youth, I was trying to learn some Greek and Latin, and the classics master, he used to read with me Plato's philosophy, uh, other such things, do you see? And knowing I was a Christian now and again, he would pull my Christian leg, uh, uh, uh, uh, and uh, this, that, and the other, do you see? But he said to me once, he said, well, Plato I can understand, he says, but Paul, I take my hat off to Paul.
I can't make head and a tail of it. No, of course he couldn't. He hadn't got the spirit of God, had he? This we should never forget. God be thanked for every teacher in the church, every good shepherd, every good evangelist. We need them. These are the gifts of God, gifts of the Spirit of God to the church. But if we were to depend on them, and our expectation should ultimately be from them, it could lead to impoverishment.
It had happened in Corinth. Some of them liked the preaching style of Apollos, you see. They go anywhere they hear Apollos. Phew, such a preacher he was, and what marvelous language he could have it, and the vivid metaphors, good oratory. They didn't think much of Peter. Peter, well, here's a good old chap, you know, warm-hearted, but, you know, his grammar, sort of, sort of an Aramaic stuff, never mind. Uh, and then there was Paul, who, he was a logical man, he was, and uh, they weren't sure they liked him either. They liked uh, they liked uh apostasy.
But others did, they liked Paul. He said it's not oratory, you know, it's, it's the, the real theology of it that we get in Paul. Marvelous. And there were others, they said, well, we don't like those either much. We like Peter, you see, he is so practical anyway. And so they made cliques around these different men, you see, the ones they liked. Okay. But what they were in sore danger of doing was, when they came together, was instead of waiting on God, they were waiting on men.
If we do that, ultimately, the men will let us down. Because it is the task of the Holy Spirit within the believer and within the church. The Holy Spirit, who is God, to expound the things of God and give us that illumination by which we understand the things of God. Let me not talk as if I were laying down hard rules and regulations. How stupid of me it would be if I did that, when I'm talking about God's superb generosity.
Could you imagine, as I sit by my, in my chair and, and start to study this or that passage of scripture? And no less than one who is God, is Jehovah, for the Lord Jehovah is the Spirit, is within me. And I can say, as Samuel said, speak, Lord, Thy servant hear. heareth. The full deity of the Holy Spirit in helping us to understand the things of God that have re- been revealed to us in Jesus Christ, our Lord.
And then, as I've said before, let's look at a, a, a, a, a, a, look at the scripture again. We've looked at it before, but let's look at it again. The Holy Spirit is not only God, but he is a person. This is the famous verse in Romans chapter eight and verse twenty six. And in like manner the Spirit also helps our infirmity, for we know not how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
And he that searcheth the hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because he makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. Oh, what an encouragement it is, isn't it? And how marvelously generous of God to think of anything. Here's me, and the Holy Spirit is teaching me the things of God. He comes to dwell in me right from my conversion onwards, and he teaches me the things of God, and I begin to realize, uh, I ought to start praying, and what should I pray for? Not only for the benefits and salvation of others, but what about my own character, and what do I need to pray for now, for myself, for instance?
Would you happen to know? What ought I to pray for that would really help me on now in my next stage of Christian life? Should I pray for a time of calm enjoyment with summer gentle breezes and everything happy and whatnot? Would that help me? Well, it might indeed. Sometimes I think I could do with a thing like that. Or would you say, no, old chap, not you, you, you know, what you need is some desperately difficult circumstances that that might, uh, bring you down and set both of your feet on earth in all realism and practicality.
So that's what you need. Do we know what to pray for? The next thing in life? The next step, and the way ahead, and how shall I make progress in the things of God towards that great goal of being conformed to the image of God's son? The fact is, says Paul, we don't know how to pray as we ought. We don't know what to pray for as we ought, but, oh, thank God we're not left to ourselves to chart the road home to glory. That the Holy Spirit himself, you'll notice his person, and he does it even without being asked, himself makes intercession for us.
Whereas our Lord is in glory making intercession for us, the gracious Holy Spirit is within us, making intercession for us. Interpreting our feeble prayers in the ears of God. And God who searches the heart, my heart, your heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit who is within us, interceding for us? Magnificent, is it not? Guiding us along the road, home to glory, if we're willing to be guided.
As many other preachers, when I think of this, I think of that lovely story in the Old Testament, how Abraham's servant was sent to get a bride for Isaac. And you know how it happened, he got to the right place under God's good direction and, uh, put the proposition to the young lady and to her mother and father and her brothers and all the rest of it, and then the good lady was asked to make her decision. Will you go with this servant man and then, uh, uh, uh, uh, and then eventually become the wife of his master's son? And she said, I will go.
And then notice what happened. He didn't say, did he? Well, I'm delighted to hear your decision, my dear. Now, here is my master's visiting card. Now that has his address on it, and if you should manage to get, uh, away across the country to where he lives, well, don't be afraid, come and knock on the door, it'll be a tent anyway, and and and and and you'll be given a good welcome. Indeed not, of course not. It is absurd to talk in those terms. When she said, yes, I will, and the servant took it and put her on the camels and walked with her every step of the way.
For he knew the way and brought her right until he presented her to his master's son. Oh, praise God in your hearts. Born of God's spirit, a new life within, the assurance we shall never come into condemnation, but have passed from death to life. A ministry of justification by the Holy Spirit within. A ministry to unfold the deep things of God and enable us to see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
The ministry that is gradually, as we behold the glory of Christ and reflect it, transforming us, transfiguring us from glory to glory, to the moment when, when we shall see the Savior and we shall be like him, or we shall see him as he is. And that Holy Spirit with us to teach us from the elementary things of God and teach us all the way through. And then, when we grow tired and weary and know not what to pray for as we ought, and life gets very perplexing, nevertheless, regularly and incessantly, the Holy Spirit within makes intercession for us according to God.
That the purposes of God in our lives be fulfilled and bring the desired result. Oh, thank God for a Trinity. Perhaps we shall never understand it this side of glory as we should and ought. It'll always go beyond us. But thank God for the Trinity, and thank God for him, who being, as we say, the third person of the Trinity, their blessed Holy Spirit, is fully God. And God within us.
Amazing, isn't it? And finally, our Lord said that when he left, he would send the Holy Spirit, the other comforter. Holy Spirit would not come until Christ had gone. There could not be two divine persons at once here on earth. The Holy Spirit came, he'd been active in the world long before, but in the sense that our blessed Lord, who is the angel of God, had appeared from time to time in his pre-incarnate times, nevertheless came at Bethlehem in a special way and then went back to heaven.
So at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit had been at work in the world ever since creation. Ah yes, but he came in a way he'd never come before at Pentecost. And our Lord said he'd come amongst other things to do this, to glorify the Savior, to convict the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment, and then to glorify, uh, Christ in the eyes of the believers. And, uh, because of it, said our Lord, now, as far as the witness goes to the Son of- to me, the Son of God, throughout the world, learn this first, that the chief responsibility for that witness in the world shall rest upon the Holy Spirit.
He shall glorify me. He shall bear witness. And then you shall be able to witness as well. I like the way round it's put, don't you? I'm glad the wor- worldwide witness of the gospel doesn't depend on my feeble shoulders. As you can see, it's been going for centuries before I was born, and if I'm not careful, it will go on, uh, some years after I, uh, after I die, of course. What does that matter? The one in charge is the Holy Spirit of God. It is he that takes the initiative.
It is he that is in charge. We have to be willing vessels for him to use, do we not? And so I leave you with what, uh, Luke records in Acts chapter thirteen. There was Paul, there were Barnabas, and the elders of the church, and they waited on God with prayer and fasting. And the Holy Spirit said, separate me, Paul and Barnabas. That's the Holy Spirit talking in the church and telling the believers, the teachers and the prophets in that church to separate Paul and Barnabas to the Holy Spirit for the work that he had called them to.
I quote it simply to show that this Holy Spirit is not just a sort of a feeling we get. He is a divine person and carries divine authority and has a right to command what is done in the church. So may the Lord bless our study and make us all ever more aware of the reality of the blessed Holy Spirit, of his authority as fully God, and of his graciousness as the one who is stands ready to reveal to us the glories of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
And with that, may we be have the wisdom to submit ourselves to the Holy Spirit's direction and his commanding guidance for us in the prosecution of the witness of the church in the world to the name of Christ. Shall we pray? Our Father, we thank thee now and bow ourselves in worship. And humble our hearts before the thrice holy God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We find it staggering almost beyond belief that thou hast called us, not merely forgiven us, but called us into the fellowship of the divine persons.
Open our eyes evermore, we pray, to the reality of thy Holy Spirit. Grant us to be conscious of our dependence upon him and available to his guidance, we pray. May we find him true to his promise, that as we seek the Savior in his word, thy Holy Spirit may illumine our minds and cause us to see the glory of the Lord, that we might be transfigured into that same glory. Bless our study, then we pray, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.