Let's return together to that gospel of John, the 14th chapter, as we are crossing over a, I don't want to call it a peak, for it certainly is not the peak of all of the teaching of Scripture, but certainly we are crossing a threshold as it were in the teaching of Christ. As he has been introducing to them all that is to, all they are to do in his absence and the whole prospect of his being absent from them, and all of this anticipating that it would not be in their own power, in their own energy, and in their own efforts, they would find any success, but that it would be only because of the coming of the Holy Spirit that they would be able to accomplish and do these things, which he has been instructing the men. It's only in the coming and the filling of the Holy Spirit that they would have any hope of continuing to abide with any hope in Christ. So let's come together around these Scriptures, John chapter 14, beginning at verse 16 and reading through 18. Listen for it as God who speaks to us, and I will ask the Father, and He will give you another helper to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, where he dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you. The Lord bless the reading of his Word, the comprehension and understanding of his people. There are many controversies in the church. Should we sprinkle, pour, or dunk for baptism, for instance? Is the presence of Christ physical, spiritual, or is the Lord's Supper just a memorial? Should we serve wine or juice when we serve the Lord's Supper? Should we sing Psalms, only, or Psalms and hymns, or hymns only, or Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, and if we are, then are all those describing one song, or are there in fact a variety of songs the church could sing, or perhaps we should sing nothing at all, and avoid any opportunity for error. Should we sing to soundtracks, if we don't have musicians, or perhaps we should just sing acapello, after all there were no baby grands in the New Testament. Should we have stained glass, plain glass, or no glass at all, in the church windows? Or even more important issues like, should we have white rocks, or pine barks, or should we drink regular or decaf at our fellowships? There are important controversies in the church today, but more important than any of these, is how do we know, how do we understand, and how do we talk of the Holy Spirit? How do we know of the Holy Spirit? How are we to understand of the Holy Spirit, and in our conversation, and our teaching, and our prayers, how do we speak of the Holy Spirit? Robert Murray Meshayan said this, the unconverted, don't like to hear much about the Holy Spirit. Why is that, do you imagine? If you had to answer the question, why the unconverted, don't like to hear much about the Holy Spirit, you probably would deduce it is because, first of all, they're not indwelt by the Holy Spirit. Secondly, the Holy Spirit seems to be intangible because he's immaterial, not immaterial in significance, but immaterial to the touch. We can't grab hold of the Holy Spirit. Only the fool has said in his heart there is no God. The very creation testifies there must be a creator, even those who are agnostic and are not even giving any thought to Christianity, acknowledge there does seem to be intelligent design and creation. There must be a first cause in all of creation. Things can't simply appear out of nothing. There had to be something, and if there was something, there must be something that is eternal. And that thing that was eternal seems to have had a creative process and a master design in mind. Now they can go no further to explain it, but they acknowledge that all roads and all inquiry seem to point that there is an intelligent designer behind all creation. So, in essence, they are acknowledging that there is a God. Historians can find evidence and they can find proof of Christian traditions and of the teaching of Christ, certainly going back as far as the Dead Sea Scrolls now, we can acknowledge that there was a historical figure named Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified and whom Christians have embraced as an atoning sacrifice for their sins. But the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, where does the Holy Spirit into any sort of tangible or evidential history that we can look to and say, well, there you go. There is where the Holy Spirit made his appearance. There is where the Holy Spirit touched down and we can point to that and we may choose to disregard the meaning of it, but we can know that that is when it all occurred. Now for an unbeliever, the Holy Spirit is a place that they can't even find a good way to rebut or argue against. Some assemblies never speak of the Holy Spirit at all then and I'm speaking here of Christian assemblies. They speak mightily of God, they speak wonderfully of Christ, but the Holy Spirit only receives mention now and again and that only as transitions and prayer or in other teachings. Then there are other assemblies who speak of nothing but the Holy Spirit. It's all about Holy Spirit power. It's Holy Spirit dwelling. It's all about Holy Spirit gifts and all they do is speak of the Holy Spirit as if God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ are now nearly inconsequential and it's all about the Holy Spirit and then there are still others who would be able to summarize their understanding of the Holy Spirit based upon a cheer we heard in high school that when something like, have you got the Spirit to which we would reply, yeah man. And if we were quite honest, we would say that at least at some point in our life that might be about all we could actually say we know about the Holy Spirit that we have the Spirit and our creeds. One which we read this morning, the apostles creed, always simply doing the apostles creed to say we believe in the Holy Spirit. The nice and creed from this morning, we do say a bit more. We say that He is the Lord and the giver of life, a testimony to the deity of the Holy Spirit, a member of the Trinity and that life comes through the Holy Spirit. We also say there that the Holy Spirit precedes from the Father and the Son together and that He is to be worshipped as a person within the Trinity. We say in that creed that it was the Holy Spirit who spoke by the prophets and these brief statements are meant to testify of what we know, but often they are the sum of all that we know. If we were to be pressed to explain these affirmations from the nice and creed, we might be pressed beyond our ability to explain in particular detail how it is that the Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son together. How it is that the Spirit is a member of the Trinity and that we ought to be worshipping the Spirit even how we are to take our worship of the Spirit and then find expression for that worship. Is it proper to pray specifically to the Spirit? Is it proper to speak specifically of the Spirit without reference to God the Father or to the Lord Jesus Christ? To know so little, it seems when it comes to the Holy Spirit we assume much, however, because if we were to turn away from these principles that are contained in our nice and creed regarding the person of the Holy Spirit and turn the conversation to other issues regarding the Spirit, I'm speaking now of spiritual gifts, speaking in tongues, the strengthening that comes to the Holy Spirit or the enriching of the Spirit or filling by the Spirit or indwelling by the Spirit, the sanctifying of a life by the Spirit, or as we use the term most commonly, the approving of worship if we do it right because the Spirit shows up. Isn't that where we hear people talk about the Spirit mostly? If we did something right and we enjoy it, the Spirit we presume then shows up and we say, well, the Spirit was really there. Is it the Holy Spirit that was really there or was it simply our Spirit of enthusiasm that we're talking about so filled with joy over the particular organization or expression of worship that we were excited to be there and therefore presume the Spirit must be excited about the same things that we are. So we would simply ask, as we begin what really can only be an introduction this morning to the person of the Holy Spirit, what do you really know about the Holy Spirit? We have many assumptions, but what do you really know about the Holy Spirit? Knowledge based on scriptural teaching, revelation of God about Himself, about the triune God, about the Holy Spirit. We think of God the Father, we can quantify that fairly easily. We might not be able to say everything the Scripture teaches about God the Father, but we certainly think of creation, we think of sovereignty, we think of providence and power, we think of judgment, grace and mercy. We do the same with Christ. When we think of the Lord Jesus Christ, we think of the incarnation, we think of the cross, the atonement, His mediation and intercession for us, the resurrection and salvation, His coming again in glory to judge the quick and the dead. These are things that we can understand and we can latch hold of and we can describe, but when we think of the Spirit, what comes to mind? A feeling? Inspiration? Romans 8, 9 and 10, 16 and 27, Paul Himself was dealing with issues concerning the Spirit and a right understanding of the Spirit. Listen to some of these affirmations of the role and the work of the Holy Spirit in Romans chapter 8. Paul teaching there, you however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit. So here we have the idea of being in the Spirit. If in fact, Paul says, the Spirit of God dwells in you. So we are in the Spirit if the Spirit of God dwells in us. Anyone He continues, who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit. Who dwells in you? Did you pick up on yet one other aspect of this teaching? Here the Spirit is called a Spirit that would dwell in us, but it's also called the Spirit of God. It is also called Spirit of Christ, Christ's Spirit that dwells in us. So this Holy Spirit stands alone as a third person in the Trinity, but also there is a divine connection. It is God's Spirit and it is the Spirit of Christ, which dwells in us. Verse 16, the Spirit Himself bears witness with our Spirit that we are children of God. So here we have an inward testimony of the Spirit that bears witness to our own Spirit that we in fact are the children of God. Verse 27, and he who searches hearts know what is the mind, knows what is the mind of the Spirit because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. So the Spirit is divine. The Spirit indwells us and brings testimony to us that we know that we are children of God and the Spirit intercedes on our behalf before God. Now we're beginning to form a working definition. Abraham Kiper said, we know not what spirits are nor what our own Spirit is. How much less capable are we of comprehending the Spirit of God? We're most likely to echo the words of the disciples met at Paul or rather Paul met at Ephesus who said this in Acts 19, we have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit. So Paul teaches them those saints in Ephesus in Ephesians chapter 5, 18, do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit. Commenting on that the great preacher, D. L. Moody, said, it's not experienced to be enjoyed but a command to be obeyed, to be filled with the Spirit. Jesus will spend a great deal of his time in these next chapters dealing with the teachings on the Holy Spirit. Over and over again, he'll mention the Spirit. Often he will repeat that which he's already told and expand and elaborate on it. He's been leading the disciples up to this very point, especially as he described to them the greater things that they will do. The greater things they will do will depend upon there being in dwelled by the Holy Spirit. They'll need to understand the Holy Spirit and depend on him if they're going to do these greater things. And we likewise need to understand if in fact we are going to depend upon him and do those greater things. Jesus has gone to prepare a place for us and the Holy Spirit has been sent to prepare us for that place. So the first matter before us is the determine whether the Holy Spirit is a person or a power. Fundamentally, is the Holy Spirit just the power of God or is the Holy Spirit a person in the Trinity? Well, even in the title, Holy Spirit we are affirming the Spirit is Holy. That means separated belonging to God. Like God, the Spirit is high and exalted, infinite and eternal and short divine. And we'll leave that there, simply saying when we utter the words Holy Spirit, we are testifying that the Spirit is a divine person. Secondly, the Holy Spirit is Spirit. Holy Spirit. And this may be a little bit more difficult concept for us to grasp. The Spirit is not visible, but yet it's real. In your high school English class, your teacher may have taught you about, and I'm probably going to mess up the pronunciation. I tried to practice it beforehand. On a monopia, some of you have heard that. I saw you acknowledging when I was struggling with the pronunciation. Carol finished the word for me. So I know some of you have heard of the word. It's basically a word which makes the sound they are meant to describe. Words like pow or meant to sound like what they describe, a strike or a hit. Other words like clunk or snap or roar. All are meant to sound in the saying of the word, something like what you are to understand by their meaning. They convey a concept. The speaker wants you to feel what is intended to be said. The Greek words for Spirit did the same thing. It's lost in the translation otherwise there would be no need to mention it, but this morning it's important for us to understand what God was conveying in the language of the Scripture. In the New Testament Greek, it's Numa and in Hebrew, it's Raush. If you were to put your hand in front of your mouth, when you say both of those, you will hear a rush of air that comes out of your mouth when you speak the words. When they are properly spoken, you will feel that air coming out this idea of motion that comes out. Motion and then if we were to go through the rest of Scripture that talked about these words, we would find attached to that breath of life. We would find attached to that energy. We would find attached to that force and power. A couple of verses that help elaborate on this, or Job 119. There, that very word Raush is used to describe a powerful wind or a storm, not the Holy Spirit. It's being used to describe a powerful wind or a storm, like a tornado or a cyclone. The emphasis there in Job is on an overwhelming power. And so we attach to our understanding of the Spirit, this idea of motion and life and overwhelming power. Micah 38 captures this in a very simple verse. But as for me, I am filled with power, with the Spirit of the Lord. Here, equating power and the Spirit of the Lord. So whether it was through the judges, whether it was through kings or prophets, the Spirit of God describes God's personal activity and creation, a powerful moving and creation by the Holy Spirit. But if we leave our study here with only these ideas as a backdrop, we have an impersonal force that's really nothing more and nothing less than God's activity. And the idea of Trinity is lost. If we just end with this idea of wind and power and force of change, we have no person of the Holy Spirit. We only have a force of the Holy Spirit. Ruben Torian is work on the Holy Spirit warns of yet another danger. The conception of the Holy Spirit is that divine influence or power that we are somehow to get hold of and use leads to self-exaltation and self-sufficiency. There's a great danger here that is practiced by many people. They'll talk of the Holy Spirit as something they need to get hold of and get more of to accomplish their goals and their ambitions and their work. They need to get a little bit more as if it were a water fountain, you could go back to and drink deeper to get filled with more of it to accomplish your own work. We have an example of that very misunderstanding in Acts chapter 8. You probably know the story of Simon the Magician. Simon the Magician who believed in Christ while he was in Samaria, but he lacked any depth of understanding regarding the Christian teaching and the background of the testimony of the scriptures. And so when it came to the issues of the Holy Spirit, he misunderstood precisely this point and interpreted Holy Spirit as an agent of power, something that could be harnessed and channeled much like he was accustomed to doing with his magic. And he asks the disciples if he could have more of the Spirit and even made them a monetary offer for the Spirit, which Peter replied that if he were to repent of that thought, repent of that offer God may in fact forgive him. So egregious was the error. So we want to affirm first this morning that the Spirit is powerful and the Spirit is personal. In John 14, 16, Jesus said, I will ask the Father and He will give you another counselor. The Father gives him. The Son sends him. I can recall by way of illustration just before I was deployed to go overseas. It was a very short notice that I had and there was not a lot of opportunity to prepare the family. And so instinctually I wanted to give each member of the family some token of my own. I don't know what end of this thing to remember, something to hold. Some idea that they would have a sense of my presence remaining with them even as I departed. I gave different things to different ones. I gave a dog tag to one or whatever it was that I could hand and say, hold this until I return. Those were just material objects. They were not me. I did not remain with them. But it was this desire of wanting to be there, to comfort, be there to sustain and to hold, be there to encourage, be there to protect, even though I knew that I would be far away. Jesus refers to another comforter. Have you thought about that word another? Jesus is referring to another comforter. Not only does this mean that Jesus is the first comforter, but that the spirit will do the same work for the disciples that he has been doing while he's been present with them. He says, I will pray to the Father to send you another comforter in his place. He's describing to them his departure and that there will be one to come who will take his position in their life. There are two words in Greek that are translated as another. One means just like the first. The second one means one that is coming but different. It's the first sense that's used here. The one that will be like the first. Jesus is also called a paraclete in scripture, just as the Holy Spirit is, a helper in the sense of being our advocate. If you were to look in first John 2.1, you would read there that Jesus is our advocate, the paraclete. The same word's used to describe the Holy Spirit. The first helper is leaving the disciples, but while he is physically absent, he remains a helper in heaven. The second helper is here on earth. The first pleads our case with God. The second pleads God's case with man. The second helper will never depart from them, though Jesus physically has ascended to the Father. So the Spirit is a person, he's like Christ, and not just a power. The Spirit will come and take the place of Jesus. That's in the first place. Jesus says he will send another comforter. In the second place, the Holy Spirit is described as a comforter or a paraclete. Not only is he coming like Christ, the Spirit of Christ to be with the disciples in the place of Christ, but he is also to be their comforter, their advocate, their paraclete. The term describes one who strengthens and encourages, but strengthens and encourages with a purpose. The disciples are being called to witness to Christ, and the Spirit will also bear witness to Christ. In John 1527, we read that they'll testify for they have been with him since the beginning. While the disciples were with Jesus from the beginning of his ministry, but the Spirit has been with Christ since the beginning of time. This qualification for bearing witness is shared with the Holy Spirit because he too was with Jesus from the beginning. In the Gospel of John, Jesus is on trial from the beginning to the end. From chapter 1 through chapter 12, there are, it presents various testimonies, witnesses to Christ. In John 2031, we're told why. These are written so that you will believe, and we know that that testimony is ongoing even today. The idea of being a witness in Christ time, though, is different from ours. There were trials that weren't centered on the lawyers and weren't centered on codes and loopholes and letters of the law, but on a judge simply hearing from witnesses, and important witnesses were those that were eye witnesses or character witnesses, those who had known the defendant as it were for his whole life. A judge wanted to hear from someone who had a relationship, someone that knew what this person was all about, who was known Christ longer and can bear greater testimony of witness to him than the Holy Spirit. So we ask him, how does he testify? How does the Holy Spirit testify of the Lord? John 16, 12, and 13 teaches us that he guides us into all truth. Us, he guides us into all truth by the, and he also inspired the writing of the New Testament. He presented to us the truth. 2 Peter 1, 21, for prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. Let me close this introduction to the Holy Spirit with a question, and I have termed this an introduction because it would be impossible for us to deal with the whole matter of the Holy Spirit in one gathering. Does it really matter that we know that the Holy Spirit is divine and that the Holy Spirit is personable, that is a person, with a personality, a uniqueness from the Father and the Son? Yes, if we know the truth of the person of the Holy Spirit, then we will know the power and testimony in our witness. The disciples would be powerless to witness, except they trusted in the power of the Holy Spirit to affect change through their witness and those whom they witness too. Because of an understanding of the Holy Spirit, we will know that we are not relying on our own strength, but we will be bold in our witness relying on the work of the Spirit rather than our own ability, and that he will minister to us in our time of distress as well. And Martin Luther's commentary, he has such a passion in this area. He said, the world lives freely, smugly and riotiously, not rightously, but riotlessly. Without fear and anxiety and heads neither God's wrath nor his grace, besides it is giddy and reckless and does not stand in need of comfort. But the few who were called to believe or baptized in Christ and remain loyal to Him are in dire need of a comforter to strengthen and preserve them, that they may be able to endure and bear all things. The Father and the Son have given and sent the Holy Spirit to be our comfort in times of trouble to teach, to guide, to be an inspiration for truth, to give whatever help is necessary. We must be encouraged and bold in our testimony when we know that the one whom Christ has promised, the one who is known, who has known Christ from the beginning is behind and in our witness and our testimony of Him even today. Gracious Heavenly Father, as we learn of you, as we have you before us in the Scriptures, we become ever mindful of how we have spent our days content to be in ignorance concerning the very life giver of all of our hope. We have taken for granted assumptions and misconceptions and very often have not been bothered to correct them. Though the pages of Scripture relate to us, those things which you believe and have been and have assured us are vital to your people, we have neglected them, we have not put them together, we have been content on a diet of frosting and sugar as it were, skimming across the top, never wanting to cut very deep, simply wanting to hear a word or two that might lighten our spirits, lighten our load, remind us that there's a reason we have to go through all of these issues and trials of life. Father, you have called your people to go so much further and indeed it has been the testimony and tradition of the church to go so much further to embrace and to love the scriptures and to have fought so hard and so long that each believer might have their own copy but Father as with all of the rights that are we fight for in life whether national or whether biblical, as soon as they are grasped they are taken for granted, as soon as we receive that which we fight for we let it go, grant Father that we would have a renewed passion and a fire for your word and that our only desire and meet and our only peace would be that which we receive through the scriptures as they are given to us from the Lord Jesus Christ by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, this fall that we pray. Jesus name, Amen. Our Lord Jesus Christ instituted the Lord's supper, sacred supper as a covenant meal of the New Testament. It supersedes the Passover even as the cross would supersede Exodus as the culminating redemptive event in all of history. Here at this table we look back and commemorate his death on our behalf. Here at this table we reaffirm our covenant privileges in the gospel and here at this table that we affirm the responsibility and the present that we have as disciples of Christ and we anticipate his future return. Who can take this meal? Those who are not under church discipline, those who are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, those who have repented of their sin and are desiring to be Christ like and to honor God in their behavior. Those who have committed themselves to follow Christ and to be fed by him through his word and by this sacrament, who know that they are a people of faith and by that faith they desire to be fed by Christ that their faith might be nourished and grow. Who may not take of this, those who are in fact under church discipline who are unrepentant in their sin, who desire sin more than they desire to glorify Christ and glorify God in their lives who are unwilling to turn from sin, who do not seek the Lord's help in being forgiven and of having sin mortified or that is destroyed in their flesh. If you are an unbeliever or an unrepentant believer then you're encouraged to remain but to restrain yourself from taking of this meal. For all others, whether you are a member of this church or some other, you are invited to this table because this meal is set before us as the church of Jesus Christ that Christians would come and partake of this meal together. Hear these words of institution that were delivered unto us. I received from the Lord that which also delivered to you that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread and when He had given thanks He broken and said this is my body which is for you do this in remembrance of Me. In the same way He took the cup also after supper saying this cup is the new covenant in my blood do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of Me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes. Let's begin as we prepare for this with the elders coming forward and also a congregation singing 248. All holy Jesus, how is Thou offended reflect upon the words of a sad hymn as we reflect upon the need of a Savior to come and to suffer on our behalf.