Sermon: The Father's Promise of Power!

#1768-AM
Martin G. Collins
Given 16-Jun-24; 63 minutes 2024-06-16

The Day of Pentecost, also known as the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Firstfruits, is given by God to teach us the opposite of what mainstream Christianity believes. Generally, they believe this is the only day of salvation for all mankind. But God, in His patient and fair plan, has a far more just plan in mind, offering salvation at different times to different segments of humanity.

Pentecost teaches us that we are the only firstfruits, the first to receive salvation through Christ. It teaches us that all others are not yet called. It teaches us that as Jesus said, "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him."

We see all these churches out there trying to draw people in using media and all the different ways of doing that, which is not in itself wrong, but their motivation to just accumulate people and money (as we heard earlier) is just the opposite way of God's life.

The Day of Pentecost helps explain that salvation will eventually be offered to all humanity at the appropriate time.

God designed His annual holy days to be laid out according to seasons in the area of Jerusalem. He uses two harvests of the region to symbolize His two separate harvests of all human lives. The Feast of Weeks celebrated the end of the grain harvest. The earlier, much smaller harvest begins with Pentecost and the latter, much larger harvest begins with the Feast of Tabernacles and ends with the The Eighth Day. So the earlier harvest is important to us because it is being spiritually planted right now and it is ongoing.

Please turn with me to II Peter 1, verse 5. But God has been in the process of planting good seeds for that earlier harvest. And since He began His church in AD 31, He has called tens of thousands but not all have worked to make their call and election sure.

In about AD 68, just before his death, Peter had seen this condition in the church for 37 years and so felt compelled to encourage the church to grow fruitfully in the faith and to be even more diligent than they had been.

II Peter 1:5-11 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to [spiritual] blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

What a tremendous, fantastic promise we have in that if we will just work with God and be teachable and submissive.

We observe this condition of how not all have worked to make their calling and election sure in the Parable of the Wheat and Tares. Satan is not idle. He is also planting tares among the wheat in God's field. And it is critical to determine whether we are wheat or tares. Tares look like wheat. A tare is shaped like a wheat stalk and head, but its content is dwarfed at best or non-existent. When tares sprout with wheat, they look similar. (You have heard this before. The Parable of the Wheat and Tares has been covered.) But even after they are both grown, from a short distance it is difficult to distinguish between them. But to the discerning eye, the difference is obvious.

But God always knows the difference between His "wheat" and the "tares" of Satan's realm. His people are known for their good fruits. Matthew 7:16 says, "You will know them by their fruits." But sadly, Adam did not bear good fruit. He cut off human beings from God because of his disobedience.

Please turn with me to Genesis 3. I give you this just in the way of background and introduction. There were two trees in the Garden of Eden. One was the Tree of Life symbolizing the Holy Spirit. And Adam needed this Spirit combined with the human spirit already created in him and God offered it freely. But Adam had to make a choice.

Also in the midst of the Garden was the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Partaking of this tree was to reject God and submit to Satan. It was to reject God's Holy Spirit. And partaking of this tree was to reject God's divine love, to fulfill His law. It was to reject the spiritual knowledge of good and evil. Partaking of this tree was to decide for themselves right and wrong. But God's law defines right and wrong.

Now, humans must have contact with God the Father to receive the Holy Spirit and the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden meant God freely offered Adam—and his children who form humanity—the Holy Spirit. The other tree, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, represented Satan's self-centered way of life. Adam chose, for the human race, the selfish way of life. And then God drove humanity from the Garden of Eden.

Genesis 3:22-24 Then the Lord God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever"—therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he has was taken. So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.

All humanity was barred from access to God or receiving eternal life—all but the comparatively few saints who God would specifically call for a specific purpose leading to the Kingdom of God. In effect, God determined that humanity through Adam and Eve had made its own decision and they rejected God as God and Omnipotent Ruler, Revealer of knowledge, and Savior. So therefore God cut off Adam and Eve and the whole world that would spring from them from all contact with Him.

Now they were to go and form their own governments, their own religions, their own production and dissemination of knowledge. But God reserved the prerogative to specially call into His service whoever He would choose for a part in preparing for the Kingdom of God. Otherwise the world that would develop from them was cut off from all contact with God for 6,000 years, after which the Kingdom of God would be established and rule all nations.

Far from trying to get every human saved spiritually during humanity's allotment of time, God cut off all humanity, saving the comparatively few He would specially call. So God gave Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, and the prophets His Spirit for special purposes to enable them to do the work He assigned to them of His choosing. God is the one who decides. That is why in John 6:44 Jesus said, "No one can come to Me [especially during the 6,000 year period] unless the Father who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day."

So He has called these very few, not just for salvation, but for a special service preparing for the Kingdom of God. Jesus said in Matthew 22:14 that, "Many are called, but few are chosen." So God's earlier, smaller harvest of the first resurrection will comprise the relatively few people who have genuinely submitted to Him.

Most people who have ever lived will have their opportunity for salvation during the 1,000 year Millennium and the Great White Throne judgment, symbolized by the Feast of Tabernacles on the Eighth Day. This will be the great fall harvest.

Please turn with me to Revelation 20, verse 4. To most of the world, the Day of Pentecost is totally misunderstood or ignored, but we are being allowed to understand now. This Day of Pentecost represents our turn in God's master plan of harvesting all human beings. Revelation 20 expresses the wonderful meaning the Day of Pentecost has for those who are called according to His purpose.

Revelation 20:4-6 And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second [and permanent] death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.

So after the 6,000 years of humans ruling themselves expires, Jesus Christ will come to earth again, this time in supreme power and glory to set up God's government on earth—and Satan will be banished. That is why this resurrection, this first resurrection and the firstfruits have such a greater reward is because we have to fight Satan tooth and nail, so to speak, to be able to overcome sin, the world of Satan's methods and wiles, and our own human nature.

Then during the 7,000 year period, God will call every everybody who is alive at that time. And after the seventh millennium, God will resurrect to mortal life all the billions of people who had not been called for spiritual salvation. The church has speculated that the Great White Throne judgment is 100 years long, but we are just not sure how long that is because when you are dealing with billions of people, it is going to take some time for that judgment to take place, I believe.

Now we know there is no partiality with God and that He does not discriminate, yet God is calling only a comparatively few now. What an honor that is to be among the few! Those who have been called have had to overcome Satan, and those called later will not.

Please turn over to Revelation 2, verse 26. Now, the difference is the greater amount of diligence, fortitude, and perseverance it takes to resist and overcome Satan, compared to the time when Satan is confined and restrained for 1,000 years where he will be unable to influence anyone's mind. But for those who do overcome sin, Satan, and human nature and the world, Jesus promises leadership positions in His Kingdom.

Revelation 2:26-27 "And he who overcomes [that has overcome those things: Satan and human nature and sin in the world], and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations—'He shall rule them with a rod of iron.'

Revelation 3:21 "To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne."

Those promises pertain only to those called before Christ's return. Someone lacking in understanding of God's mercy might ask, "Isn't this unfair to those not called now? They have no opportunity to know now the joys of God's Spirit and they have no promise of exalted position or power when they are saved later." There is no injustice with God. Certainly, for the most part, those not now called do not feel they are discriminated against because they are unaware of it. And probably in all (or most) cases, they do not want to be called. And so God is always fair. He is always fulfilling His will and His plan. Whatever God does is correct and righteous and the best for everyone.

It is doubtful that anyone uncalled has any sense of dissatisfaction because he may not have an exalted position in the World Tomorrow, ruled by the Kingdom of God. We who are called now do have Satan, sin, our own human nature, and the world to overcome. And that requires effort, self-denial, willpower, which most humans would not want to pay.

So God is fair and He will provide an opportunity for all human beings to submit to Him at the best possible time. But it must be according to His will and within His time frame and plan of salvation for humanity.

Now, those who will be called for the first time and converted after Christ returns will not have access to the highest positions because the highest responsibilities in both church and state in the World Tomorrow will have already been allotted. We know that each of the original 12 apostles will rule over one of the 12 tribes of Israel. And we know that David will be king over them. Very probably Abraham will have an even higher position. Those are not only the highest honors, but they are also the highest and most demanding of responsibilities in the Kingdom. Probably the most important seats of authority for the Millennium ruled by the Kingdom of God will be already determined at Christ's coming. But during the 1,000 years, the human population will increase and new positions in government and in spiritual administration will increase, and in the Great White Throne judgment later.

Please turn over to I Peter 2, verse 9. For us, it is imperative that we understand that those called and inducted by God into His church now have been called for more than just spiritual salvation and the gift of eternal life. Every one of us is called for a responsibility in preparing for the Kingdom of God.

I Peter 2:9-10 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.

So when Jesus comes to rule, His wife—the church—will have made herself ready to be holy and without blemish, not having spots or wrinkles or any such thing. And we in the church as a whole have not yet attained fully to that holy stature, and our work, our responsibility, is not finished until we totally submit to God so He can bring us unitedly to that state.

Now please turn over to Acts 1, verse 4. We must be ready to leave this world of flesh and blood and enter an entirely new world. And that new world is the church made immortal, composed of spirit. So our responsibility to which God has called us is not finished. Now, at the end of 40 days after Jesus' resurrection, He took His disciples to the Mount of Olives and ascended visibly. Before doing so, He commissioned them to be His witnesses.

Acts 1:4 [the caption in my Bible for this section says The Holy Spirit Promised] And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, "which," He said, "you have heard from Me; . . ."

The promise of the Father refers to the gift that was promised by the Father, specifically to the new and greater empowering of the Holy Spirit that the disciples were to await.

Acts 1:5 ". . . for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."

Baptized with the Holy Spirit looks forward to Pentecost, only a few days hence for them. John the Baptist contrasted his repentance baptism with Jesus' Holy Spirit baptism.

Now, throughout Acts, baptism and the gifts of the Spirit are closely related. Repentance, forgiveness, water baptism, and reception of the Spirit comprise the basic conversion pattern.

Acts 1:8 "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."

This was all promised to the disciples at that time who represented us as well. We are disciples. And so this same Holy Spirit and this power is given to us as well to be witnesses of Christ's way, of God and Christ's way of life.

On the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came and entered into those first 120 of the church. It was the first time there was any spiritual group salvation. It was the day the church of God was begotten and 3,000 more were added. These were those God had called. He had predestined them to be called.

Then Acts 2, verses 1 through 4 describes that the Spirit of God descending upon them in abundance and power. The gift of the Spirit was accompanied by supernatural, extraordinary manifestations. The disciples heard a sound from heaven, which rushed with mighty force into the house and filled it as a storm rushes, but there was no wind. It was the sound that filled the house, not the wind. It was an invisible cause producing audible effects.

Acts 2:1-4 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat on each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues [that is, languages], as the Spirit gave them utterance.

In verse 2, the wind at Pentecost was rushing and mighty, a powerful wind that nevertheless did not extinguish the tongues of fire. Scriptural references to the power of wind are numerous and always understood to be under God's control. Exodus 10:13; Psalm 18:22; Isaiah 15:15 in the Old Testament and Matthew 14:23-37 in the New Testament are just a few examples of God's power and control over the wind.

Now more significant than wind as power is wind as life. In the Old Testament, for example, the same Hebrew word translated as breath in Job 12:10 is translated as wind elsewhere in the Old Testament. And in the New Testament, Spirit is compared with the wind as in John 3:8 which says, "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit."

So just as the first Adam received the breath of physical life, the second Adam, Jesus Christ, brings the breath of spiritual life. The idea of spiritual life generated by the Holy Spirit is understood in the wind at Pentecost.

Next, there was the appearance of tongues as of fire that rested on each of the apostles. The King James version says "cloven tongues," which is misleading because it suggests that each fire-like tongue was cloven or forked. But this is not what Luke, the author, meant. Rather, he described tongues, that is, languages, distributed among them, each disciple sharing the gift equally with the others. And although they were from various countries with different languages, they were able to communicate with each other in each other's native language. It was an amazing complex miracle.

Take a moment to just imagine that or think about what that would be like for all these different languages. French, Spanish, and whatever existed, Greek and Hebrew and all of these. Whatever their native language was, they were hearing it in that, but the person speaking was hearing it in his own language and it was coming across translated into that language. But it was in multiple times within the one congregation of 120 people and without God's help in that it would just be chaos. But God designed every little bit of that and it is just an amazing thought of the tremendous miracle that that was.

As of fire, or more exactly "as if of fire," indicates the appearance of the tongues. Not that they were actually a flame, but that they prefigured the marvelous gift with which the disciples were now endowed. Fire is often associated in the Old Testament with the presence of God and with His holiness. And it is similar in the New Testament where fire is associated with the presence of God as in Hebrews 12:29, and purification He can cause in human life, as mentioned in Revelation 3:18. So God's presence and holiness are both implied in the tongues, as of fire in Acts 2:3. Fire is identified with Christ Himself in Revelation 1:14 and also Revelation 19:12. So this association naturally underlies the gift of the Holy Spirit which opens to understanding the things of Christ.

Now, the tongues in Acts 2:3 symbolize God's truth proclaimed by preaching. This is the antithesis of Babel's confusion of tongues and gathering of peoples under one ambitious will. So the New Jerusalem is the center of God's spiritual Kingdom of peace and righteousness.

Please turn over to Ephesians 3, verse 3. In contrast, Babel is the center of Satan's kingdom and of human rebellion. It ignores God, the true bond of union, therefore, it is the city of confusion. As Babel's sin disunited people, in contrast, the Spirit of God given on Pentecost unites God's church in peace.

Ephesians 4:3-6 Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

Now flip over to Acts 2, verse 39. After the Holy Spirit had come upon the church, Peter confirmed that it is God who calls people to receive His Spirit, thereby becoming members of His church.

Acts 2:39 "For the promise [that is, of the Holy Spirit] is to you and to your children, and to all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call."

What a promise that gives us! Not just to us but to our children as they grow up and become adults and they are of the age of being accountable. That promise is to them as well if they are obedient and submit to God.

The apostles did not go out soliciting converts. God called them. It was God and not the apostles who added to the church. They did the footwork, so to speak. They did the effort, physical effort, but God still was the one who called.

A few days later, 2,000 more were added. And then for a very short while the church membership multiplied exponentially. But soon the persecution scattered the converts and the growth apparently diminished. Before long, the true gospel was suppressed.

The Day of Pentecost is to remind us every year that we, the church, are only the first small harvest of God's calling people for salvation. And we have been called out of a world that is completely—except for us—cut off from God, and it has been that way since Adam. We are those who have been predestined to be called now. And we have been called to receive the Holy Spirit and to prepare for the coming of the Kingdom and to of witness God's way of life.

Please flip over to I Corinthians 2. Let us briefly look at seven effects that the Holy Spirit has on us. There are more but these are some main effects that the Holy Spirit has on us.

The first one is that the Holy Spirit is the second Spirit human beings need to go with the human spirit in every human. It bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.

Job 32:8 "But there is a spirit in man, and the breath of the Almighty gives him understanding."

I Corinthians 2:9-10 But as it is written: "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him." But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.

Now this proves a few things. Let me give you three of them.

a) This proves that people by nature are not able to discover the deep things of God, that is, the truths that are needed for salvation. b) that the apostles were inspired by the Holy Spirit. And if so, then the Scriptures are inspired. All Scripture is given by the inspiration of God. c) that all members of God's church are taught by God through His Holy Spirit, that these truths are made known to us by God's revelation, and that except for this, we would remain in the same darkness as the people of the world.

I Corinthians 2:11-14 For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

Now, flip over to Romans 8, verse 12. The second effect that the Holy Spirit has on us is that the Holy Spirit is the indwelling of God-life, which makes us His children. Now, even though born from above and not yet receiving eternal life in God's Family, heirs are not yet inheritors of the Kingdom of God.

Romans 8:12-14 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live [and I can add to that, forever]. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.

The phrase "as many as are led" also means as many as submit to the influence of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is represented as influencing, suggesting, and controlling. Now, one evidence of devoutness is a willingness to yield to that influence, to submit to it, and to learn from it. The one evidence of the lack of devoutness is an unwillingness to submit to that influence, and where the Holy Spirit is grieved and resisted. All true Christians submit to its influence. All sinners reject it, oppose it, and learn nothing from it.

Romans 8:15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out [as children], "Abba, Father."

The spirit of adoption is the indwelling affection, love, and confidence that in a similar but emotional way is found in children. It is not the servile, trembling spirit of slaves, but the affectionate regard as a son. Adoption is the taking and the treating of a stranger as one's own child. It is applied to us because God treats us as His children. He receives us into His Family, though we were by nature strangers and enemies.

Romans 8:5-11 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

So again, verse 15 says,

Romans 8:15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we call out, "Abba, Father."

Now the spirit of adoption in Romans 8:15 implies a few things. It implies that 1) we by nature had no claim on God. 2) that therefore, the act of adoption is one of mere kindness—of pure sovereign love. And 3) that we are now under His protection and care. And for that, we are compelled to manifest toward God the spirit of children and obediently yield to Him.

Verse 16 says, "The Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God." The phrase "with our spirit" refers to our human minds. This relates to the adoption, which means that the Holy Spirit furnishes evidence to our minds that we are adopted into the Family of God. This effect is attributed to God doing this by giving us His Spirit.

II Corinthians 1:21-22 Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.

This is accomplished by producing in us the appropriate effects of God's influence. He renews our minds, sanctifies us, produces spiritual fruit in us. And if we have these, we have evidence of the witnessing of God's Spirit with our spirit. This process of adoption coincides with the process of sanctification that we go through.

Now, if we do not produce the fruit of the Spirit, we have no evidence of the Holy Spirit—the mind of Christ—in us. The way to truly determine if we have this witnessing of the Spirit is by an honest prayerful examination to see if the fruit of the Spirit actually exists in our minds and actions.

Romans 8:17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed, we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.

The expression "heirs of God" means that we will share the inheritance God bestows on us and that inheritance is His impregnation of God-life now and His gift of eternal life hereafter.

Please turn over to Ephesians 1. Now, the third effect that the Holy Spirit has on us is that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of understanding, imparting to the physical brain spiritual intellect and the ability to comprehend spiritual knowledge.

Ephesians 1:15-19 [of course, this is Paul writing] Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power.

In verse 17 of Romans 8, the Spirit of wisdom makes us wise to understanding the great teachings of Jesus Christ. Now, the Spirit of revelation reveals to us more and more of the character of Jesus, of the nature and results of His work. So Paul's prayer is that God would grant His Holy Spirit to the saints to make them wise and to reveal God's will to them.

The phrase "in the knowledge of Him" may also be understood as "for the acknowledgment of Him" so we may more fully acknowledge Him or know Him more intimately and thoroughly. And this also applies to acknowledging His blessings. We just overlook so many blessings that He gives us in our life. We need to pray and ask God to help us to notice them and thank Him for them.

Please turn with me to Colossians 1, verse 9. No matter how high we may think we have reached spiritually, we cannot reach God's standard of righteousness without the indwelling of God's mind. But we can always reach higher. And the idea here is that however far we may think we have advanced in knowledge and in love, there is an unfathomable depth of knowledge to discover and understand. After all, the eye has not seen nor the ear heard the things God has prepared for us.

Colossians 1:9-11 For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God, strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy.

Increasing the knowledge of God is another way we can walk worthily, thereby pleasing Him. So we should try to become better acquainted with God's true character. God is pleased with those who desire to understand what He is, what He does, what He purposes, and what He commands.

Please turn over to Romans 5, verse 5. He not only commands us to study His works, but He has made a world so amazingly beautiful that it encourages us to contemplate His perfections as reflected in the natural world. God delights in those who sincerely desire to know what His plan is and who inquire with humility and reverence into His counsels and His will.

Now, the fourth effect that the Holy Spirit has on us is that the Holy Spirit is the love of God placed within us—divine love, godly love.

Romans 5:5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which was given to us.

The phrase "poured out" in the New King James version, translated as "shed abroad" in the King James version (or the authorized version), in the original Greek means the love of God is diffused, is poured out, is abundantly produced. And this word is applied to water or to any other liquid that is poured out or diffused. What God pours out to us as the Holy Spirit is like a flood of power and understanding. It is a wonderful thing. It is dynamic, as the whole Bible is in its inspiration.

It is also used to indicate imparting or communicating freely or abundantly, and in this way, is expressive of the influence of the Holy Spirit abundantly imparted to us. Love toward God is abundantly given to us, our minds are conscious of the joyful love of God, and by this, we are strengthened in our afflictions.

Now turn over to I John 4, verse 12. The love of God is produced in us through the influence of God's Spirit. All Christ-like characteristics are traced to its influence as we read in Galatians 5:22, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, and so on."

I John 4:12-13 No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us His Spirit.

John says God's love has been perfected in us, meaning that His love is completed. That is, our love for each other is the manifestation of the love of God reigning in our hearts.

So the idea in verse 12 is not that we are perfect or even that our love is perfect, but that this love for others is the proper accomplishment of our love toward God. Without our love for each other, which is actually God's love working in us, our love for Him would not have accomplished what it was designed to do. If it did not produce this effect, it would be defective or incomplete.

The general sense is that we may claim to have the love of God in our hearts or that we are influenced and controlled by His love. And this claim would be defective unless it led us to love our brethren. So what does that say about us if we have a grudge or we hold anything against a brother? It is a terrifying thought. The incomplete love would be like the love that we might claim to have for our human parents, more of a brotherly love type of love. If it did not lead us to love our brothers and sisters, true love will diffuse itself over all who come within its range and will thereby become complete.

Now, please turn over to Galatians 5. The love for God is not complete or fully developed unless it leads us to love one another.

The fifth effect that the Holy Spirit has on us is that the Holy Spirit is the faith of Christ, the same faith with which Jesus performed His miracles now given to us, placed within us.

Galatians 5:5-6 For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.

So as we wait for salvation, it is a waiting similar to an expectant father or mother waiting for their child to be born. They know it is coming and look enthusiastically for it. And this is the way we should expect salvation—anxiously. This faith demonstrates its existence to the love of God and love for people. It is not a mere intellectual belief. It is deeply seated in our hearts and produced through the Holy Spirit. It is not a dead faith but a functioning faith that is seen in kindness and compassion and doing good toward others. It is not a mere belief in the truth. It is not a mere intellectual agreement with the truth that may leave us loveless and unchanged. It is not a mere acceptance of principle, no matter how self-confident one may seem.

Please turn over to II Timothy 1, verse 13. True faith is seen in benevolence, in love for God, in love for the brethren, and in an eagerness to do good to all others. This shows that our hearts are affected by the faith that we hold.

II Timothy 1:13-14 Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. That good thing which was committed to you, keep by the Holy Spirit which dwells in us.

In his letter to Timothy, Paul instructs him to follow the example of his life. Paul wanted him to turn to the pattern or example of his teaching. Paul taught Timothy the essential outline or sketch of sound words and sound teaching. And the original phrase is literally "healthy doctrine." He was to maintain healthy doctrine by guarding and teaching the truth. Timothy was to uphold God's righteous standards with faith and loving Christ. To be resolute, a commitment to the truth always requires faith and love, virtues that ultimately come only from being in Christ.

So we must hold these truths with sincere faith in Jesus and with genuine love. That is the best evidence of commitment to Him.

In verse 14, "that good thing" is the everlasting gospel—God's truth, healthy doctrine—that is kept continually energized in us by God's Spirit. Without this energizing Spirit, we cannot internalize and apply God's truth with conviction. You may have a lot of preferences, but do we have true conviction even unto death?

Paul committed a trust to Timothy. Generally, he used the concept of trust in two ways in his pastoral letters. First, he had been given a trust or stewardship from God. And second, he had, in turn, entrusted himself and his calling to God. In verse 14, Paul spoke of the first of these two, the stewardship of the truth he had received and he then passed along into the hands of Timothy, who was to pass it on yet again to other faithful Christians, who were to pass it on to still others. And that is what has happened for almost 2,000 years now. It has been passed along and passed along and passed along, and we have the same responsibility to pass along God's truth.

While the truth of God was in Timothy's possession, he was to guard it with the empowerment of God's Spirit indwelling him. This Spirit of power and of a sound mind is in all of Christ's faithful followers.

It was Timothy's responsibility to preserve sound teaching from becoming corrupt through distortion or dilution, or deletion or addition. Heretical teaching was a constant threat to be guarded against and it is now as well. But Timothy could count on the assistance of God by way of the indwelling of the Spirit of God.

Please turn over to I John 4. The sixth effect that the Holy Spirit has on us is that the Holy Spirit is the spiritual power to overcome. It is a spiritual strength to help us to turn from and resist a self-centered way of life and turn to a God-centered way of life.

Now, here we are going to read I John 4, verses 1, 2, 4, and 6. This is one I covered in my sermon a few weeks ago which has to do with the testing of the spirits, but I am just going to touch on it as a point here.

I John 4:1-2 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God.

Expanded in a great way, this also has to do with whether we submit to God and obey Him, and are actually being witnesses of His. There is more to just that He came in the flesh. It is all that He preached and all that He wanted His disciples to know as well.

I John 4:4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He [that is, Jesus Christ] who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

I John 4:6 We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

So we have to test the spirits to discern if they are the Spirit of God. We are not to believe everyone professing to have the Spirit of God. If the Spirit of God influenced them, they would confess that Jesus Christ had come in the flesh. If in some other spirit, the spirit of error and deceit, they would deny this as and deny His life as well; and His example.

When we are of God, we are of His Family. We have embraced His truth and absorbed His Spirit. And with this intimate relationship, we overcome the temptations of the world by using the power of the Spirit of God. We triumph over its entertainment and its endeavors to draw us into error and sin.

The word "them" in verse 4 seems to refer to the false prophets or teachers who collectively constitute the anti-Christ, representing the Devil's world system. So we are enabled to overcome because God is in us and His strength and grace are more powerful than Satan's deceits, even though he rules in the hearts of the worldly people. His seductions are seen in the efforts of false teachers and ministers.

So the apostle John explains that it is by no strength of our own that we overcome Satan. But it is because God dwells in us and preserves us by His grace.

Let us turn over to the next chapter, chapter 5 of I John and we are going to read verses 4 through 8.

I John 5:4-7 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. [So faithfulness is produced as a fruit of the Holy Spirit.] Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? This is He who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not only by water but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth. For there are three that bear witness. . .

And we have to stop at that point because there are additions to the Scriptures that are incorrect. They were added centuries later, after John wrote this. They are not in the original. And so I am going to try to clarify that here.

So verse 7, "for there are three that bear witness." These words are not in the inspired canon following this so we are going to skip to verse 8 and we are going to skip a phrase and go to the Spirit, the water, and the blood. So this should read:

I John 5:7-8 For there are three that bear witness . . . [jumping down to verse 8], the Spirit [the power of God], the water [baptism], and the blood [Christ's sacrifice]; and these three agree as one.

Now, obviously, I added the power of God, baptism, and Christ's sacrifice to clarify what their meanings are. So I am going to read it one more time. Verse 7, "For there are three that bear witness. . . the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one." The rest of that in verse 7 and the beginning of 8 just should not be there.

Please turn over to II Timothy 1. Now, our faith in Jesus Christ is strengthened because He overcame the world. Faith makes us one with Him and imbues us with His Spirit so that we are able to overcome Satan, our human nature, and the world and sin.

And now we come to the seventh effect that the Holy Spirit has on us. The Holy Spirit is the power by which we may develop the holy, righteous, perfect character, which is God's purpose for having put us on the earth, so that God may reproduce Himself.

II Timothy 1:6-9 Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me [Paul] His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began.

So Paul admonishes Timothy to stir up the gift of God. The original Greek word here means "kindle up as a fire." He tells Timothy to kindle up the gift of God. It is not uncommon to compare devotion to a flame or a fire. The idea is that Timothy must use all his efforts to keep the flame of pure doctrine burning in his mind. And more specifically, his zeal in preaching God's way of life. Our efforts are necessary to keep God's truth burning within us. But God's Spirit is the powerful fuel that ignites and maintains it. No matter how rich the gifts are that God has bestowed upon us, they do not grow by themselves but must be cultivated by our own personal care.

God has not given us a spirit of fear. He has not given us a frightened and intimidated spirit. He has given us a Spirit of power, the strength to meet our enemies and trials with confidence, and the ability to bear up under trials with the capability to triumph and persecution.

It is the nature of God's truth imparted through the Holy Spirit to inspire our minds with powerful and holy courage. It is a spirit of love that casts out fear, making our minds bold and stable. Nothing will do more to inspire courage, to make us fearless of danger, or ready to endure adversity and persecution than love. The love of country, of wife, of children, of home, makes the timid man bold when his family is attacked or assaulted. And that is the feeling we should have when our spiritual family is attacked and assaulted. It is the spirit of the sound mind. The Greek word signifies one of a sober mind, a man of carefulness and good judgment.

So the condition that is referred to here is a well founded mindset, a stable mind under the right and good influences, a spiritually mature mind in which things are seen in their just proportions and right relationships, a calm mind in which there is no confusion but where everything is in its proper place. It was this state of mind that Paul exhorted Timothy to cultivate. Paul regarded a sound mind as absolutely necessary to properly perform his duties and responsibilities as a minister of Jesus Christ. And it is as necessary now for a minister of God as it was then.

God gives spiritual power to those who are persecuted because of faithfulness to the teachings of Jesus Christ. And those who are subjected to trials because of God's truth, look for divine strength to uphold them, knowing that their own strength is insufficient.

So the promise of the Father refers to the gift that was promised by the Father, specifically, the new and greater empowerment of the Holy Spirit that the disciples were to await. The Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God and impregnates God's life and imparts spiritual understanding, the love of God, the faith of Christ, the strength to overcome, and the power to develop righteous character.

Let us begin to wrap this up. God will glorify His begotten children at the resurrection by giving us the same great power and glory that Jesus Christ received. To be glorified means to be given great power and brightness and honor.

Before He became a human, Jesus Christ had a glorious, powerful spirit body like the Father's, and after His resurrection, He was restored to the same power and glory. Christ's bright face and powerful spirit body now radiate light as the sun in full strength, with eyes blazing like flames of fire. This is the awe-inspiring future God has in store for us, not to the level of that brightness as God the Father and Jesus Christ, but certainly a glory that will be given to us. So this is an awe-inspiring future God has in store for us if we have received His Spirit and draw upon its power to grow in character during this physical life of ours.

At the conclusion of the 7,000 years of God's plan of salvation for humanity, the God's Family, billions of us, all of us possessing holy righteous character, perfect character, all of us unable to sin, will then go on and continue for eternity the beautification and creation of the entire vast universe.

We will be constantly looking forward in joyous anticipation and ecstasy to still greater and more marvelous and awesome things to do through the whole endless universe, always building on the supreme and glorious accomplishment that only an Almighty God could do.

Psalm 51:12 [King David pleaded with God. He said] Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by Your generous Spirit.

May God uphold us by His powerful and generous spirit!

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