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e e e e e e e e e good morning everyone welcome back to free Grace Baptist Church warm welcome again to the visitors amongst us this morning we have a few announcements before we begin our evening service starts at 5:00 p.m. this evening Wednesday night bible study again at 7:30 Pastor Butler is going through the Book of Numbers Chapter 14 a special announcement this morning we have three of our regular attendees that have applied for membership and baptism Philip Hall and Derek Stenberg and Samantha sterenberg have all applied for membership and the baptismal service is to take place on November 3rd already so we look forward to that the Lord has been gracious to them and gracious to our congregation for our call to worship we're going to turn to Isaiah chap 11 Isaiah chap 11 and we will beginning reading at verse one through verse 10 Isaiah 11 there shall come forth a a rod from the stem of Jesse and a branch shall grow out of his roots the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him the spirit of wisdom and understanding the spirit of counsel and might the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord his Delight is in the fear of the Lord and he shall not judge by the sight of his eyes nor decide by the hearing of his ears but with righteousness he shall judge the poor and decide with equity for the meek the Earth he shall strike the Earth with the rod of his mouth and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked righteousness shall be the belt of his loins and faithfulness the belt of his waist the wolf also shall dwell with the lamb the leopard shall lie down with the young goat the calf and the Young Lion and the fatling together and the little child shall lead them the cow and the bear shall graze their young ones shall lie down together and the lion shall eat straw like the ox the nursing child shall play by the Cobra's hole and the wean child shall put his hand in the Viper's Den they shall not hurt nor destroy in my in all my Holy Mountain for the Earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea and in that day there shall be a root of Jesse who shall stand as a banner to the people for the gentille shall seek him and his resting place shall be glorious amen for our first hymn we're going to sing Psalm 98 c as in Charlie Psalm 98 C please stand with me as we sing together to for the [Music] one to his and your mercy we Sal the of Mercy for his he and Sal he has sh to all [Music] sing of music shall be K with all your all Earth reild PR to the Lord your glor oh the is and his shall be [Music] may be seated let's turn to the Lord in prayer our gracious Heavenly Father we thank you for this glorious day glorious outside and glorious here amongst your people in your presence we thank you for this opportunity to gather as your people and to worship you together we thank you for the good that you were doing within the walls of these church this church Lord we pray that your blessing would continue we thank you for philli and Derek and Samantha and their decisions to to follow in The Obedience in the waters of baptism and to engage in the membership of the church and we pray your blessing would rest upon them as they take on this responsibility and as they go forward in Faith Lord we pray that you would do them much good we thank you Father for the families of this church thank you for all the many children that you have blessed us with and Lord as the parents in this church rear their children in the fear and admonition of the Lord give them much much wisdom to point their children to Christ we know oh God that we cannot make our children Christians and we dare not try to make them Christians we beg of you and of your Holy Spirit to do the work that we cannot do in their hearts oh God we pray that you would draw them to yourself even as we point them to you and we pray oh God you would grant our children and our young people Faith to believe and Lord may we see generation after generation Even in our own lifetime of young men and women raised up for the glory of of Christ in his church Lord we thank you for our sister churches and we pray the same for the Brethren there in Suri this morning for our brethren in Armstrong those who are who gathered early in dren Ontario Lord we pray that these congregations would also know the blessing of God upon their families and Lord we pray that you would cause them all to grow in Grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ we thank you for the work that you are doing throughout this country we thank you that there are many churches preaching the the gospel even in the city of chilak we pray that your blessing would rest upon them this day wherever the word is opened and accurately preached and the gospel is is presented to people we pray oh God that your spirit would be present and not allow that word to return void Lord we pray that this day there would be an ingathering of many Souls across this nation of Canada and throughout the world wherever the gospel is preached we pray Lord for our Brethren that are in difficult situations being p persecuted for the cause of Christ be merciful to them today and churches that are gathering in secret in hiding from the authorities bless their worship oh God and bind them together and do them good even in difficult situations Lord we pray that we would know that day when the lion will lay down with the lamb and we will have no more suffering and no more persecution and our enemies will be trotten under for the sake of Christ and for your go goel Lord we pray that you would Prosper that work in our generation Lord we pray for our magistrates as well that you would be merciful to us we know there are elections coming up South of the Border North of the Border we do not put our trust in Men in chariots and horses we put our trust in the Living God but we do pray oh God that in spite of what we deserve you would give us men who are righteous or men who are compelled to do what is right for the good of your people in your church and we ask these for your honor and glory in Jesus name amen we're going to turn now again in the Suter to Psalm 67a as in Alpha 67a and we'll stand together together to sing Mery and bless us in your PR to shine upon us the brightness of your and so your on Earth face to be to for gra be praise you let all our nation sing praise and S of for you shall the true and right and Earth your praise you all the na sing for [Music] Earthly to shall the Lord Our God shall Our God bless Earth shall to this you may be seated for our new Testament scripture reading this morning we're in Mark chapter 8 Mark chapter 8 we'll read the first portion of this chapter from verse 1 through verse 21 Mark 8 starting in verse one in those days the multitude being very great and having nothing to eat Jesus called his disciples to him and said to them I have compassion on the multitude because they have now continued with me three days and have nothing to eat and if I send them away hungry to their own houses they will faint on the way for some of them have come from afar and his disciples answered him how can one satisfy these people with bread here in the wilderness he asked them how many loaves do you have and they said seven so he commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground and he took the seven Loaves and gave thanks anks broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before them and they set them before the multitude they also had a few small fish and having blessed them he said to set them also before them so they ate and were filled and they took up seven large baskets of leftover fragments now those who had eaten were about 4,000 and he sent them away immediately got into the boat with his disciples and came to the region of delua then the Pharisees came out and began to dispute with him seeking from him a sign from Heaven testing him but he sighed deeply in his spirit and said why does this generation seek a sign assuredly I say to you no sign shall be given to this generation and he left them and getting into the boat again departed to the other side now the disciples had forgotten to take bread and they did not have more than one loaf with them in the boat then he charged them saying take heed Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod and they reasoned among themselves saying it is because we have no bread but Jesus being aware of it said to them why do you reason because you have no bread do you not yet perceive nor understand is your heart still hardened having eyes do you not see and having ears do you not hear and do you not remember when I broke the Five Loaves for the five 5,000 how many baskets full of fragments did you take up they said to him 12 also when I broke the seven for the 4,000 how many large baskets full of fragments did you take up and they said seven so he said to them how is it you do not understand amen when Christ took on human flesh in the Incarnation he also experienced human emotions in our confession it says that the Son of God took upon himself man's nature with all the essential properties and common infirmities thereof yet without sin and included in those things that he took upon himself or human emotions Isaiah prophesying of the Messiah to come in chapter 53 and: three we know it well says he is despised and rejected by Men A Man of Sorrows and acquainted with grief so our Lord when he came in In the Flesh he knew sorrow he knew grief but he also knew positive emotions Luke 10:21 in that hour Jesus rejoiced in the spirit and said I thank you Father Lord of Heaven and Earth that you have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes even so father words seemed good in your sight so Christ experienced sorrow he experienced grief he experienced joy and he experienced anger you remember the account in Mark chapter 3 when Christ went into the synagogue there was a man there with a withered hand the Pharisees waited to see whether he would heal that man on the Sabbath day and you remember Christ's response it says in Mark chapter 3 then he said to them to the Pharisees is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil to save life or to kill but they kept silent and when he had looked around at them with Ang anger being grieved by the hardness of their hearts he said to the man stretch out your hand and he stretched it out and his hand was restored as whole as the other this is an a case where Jesus displayed anger and again yet without sin so my question is our emotions are they like Christ's emotions take the example of anger the last time you were angry could you say you were angry but you were holy harmless undefiled and untainted by sin I dare say probably not I dare say that most times I'm being generous here if not all the time when we have anger it's tainted with selfishness self-seeking or with bitterness or with self-righteousness or we could go on and on and on and list all of the vices that are mixed in with our anger typically if you had a case recently where you were completely purely angry with no sin tell me how you did that here in Mark chapter 8 we just read in verse two Jesus said I have compassion on the multitude compassion is another one of these emotions that we experience as humans and Christ experienced it many times we read throughout the gospel narratives how many times he had compassion he was moved with compassion he felt compassion towards the people that he was ministering to compassion according to Noah Webster in his 1828 dictionary it's a noun that means a suffering with another or painful sympathy he also says it's a sensation of Sorrow excited by the distress or misfortunes of another pity or commiseration that's what this word compassion means quickly in Mark chapter 1 one more example of Jesus in compassion a leper came to Jesus and he said if you're willing you can make me clean Mark records this then Jesus moved with compassion stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him I am willing be cleansed that was not the typical reaction of the people is of Jesus day towards a leper Mark chapter 5 this is a very important example it's the one of the demoniac in the tombs you will remember that Jesus came into the country of the gines and he saw this man who was possessed by many demons naked and in distress the Bible says that Jesus had compassion on him in fact when this man wanted after Jesus had cast the demons out you remember that they this multitude this Legion fled into the swine and 2,000 swine ran and drowned themselves this man wanted to follow Jesus and Jesus did not permit him Jesus instead told him go home to your friends and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you and how he has had compassion on you it was compassion that motivated Jesus to go out of his way to find that man and to cast the demons out you remember as well in Luke chapter 7 the Widow of Na whose only son had died Jesus again Came Upon her and when the Lord saw her he had compassion on her in this case here we just read that he had compassion on these who were hungry this is the second time he multiplied bread and Loaves he did that earlier as well and in the feeding of the 5000 in Mark chapter 6 he was moved with compassion because the people were like sheep having no Shepherd originally it's not there because they were hungry but because they were blind being led by the Blind and at risk of falling into the ditch they were without a teacher so I go back to my question when I asked you do you have anger that is like Christ's anger and I asked you do you have compassion that is like Christ's compassion and again I would have to say it's not likely imagine walking through a graveyard and a man comes running toward you naked filthy uh unkempt cursing and swearing he probably did that I mean a legion of demons doesn't make you a nice person so he was probably nasty to meet would your first reaction be compassion I mean we meet people similar on the streets in our day and age and our first reaction is not usually compassion Jesus had compassion on us if you're a Christian here today you've known compassion because Christ came to seek and to save those who were lost while we were yet sinners Christ died for us when we were unlovable and in this case where we just read Christ does not say I have compassion on some of the multitude I have compassion on those who are nice people who deserve it I have compassion on those who I know are the elect he doesn't say that had compassion on the multitude that's not something that's native to us that's not we're not born with that type of compassion we have we may have compassion on our spouse on our children when they're going through a tough time a close friend we may even have compassion on someone we've never met before like Peter and the children in Myanmar we have we're moved with compassion but Christ has compassion on people some of these people here may have gone up to Jerusalem for the feast later some of them may have said hosana blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord a few days later some of these very same people may have said crucify him away with him away with him crucify him and Christ showed compassion on the multitude let's pray gracious Father in heaven we pray oh Lord that as your people you would move Upon Our Hearts and you would conform us to the image of Christ we cannot we cannot muster up this compassion from within ourselves this is something that is beyond us oh God it's not natural to us but as you transform us would you place that compassion in our hearts that Christ had we ask this for his honor and glory in Jesus name amen we're going to sing one final hymn before the preaching of the word and that'll be hymn 391 stand with me as we sing together 391 to a familiar tune the heart see wor we the you can turn with me in your Bibles to the Gospel of John as we continue to W work our way through the fourth gospel we find ourselves in John chap 15 I'll read from Verse 18 to 164 but our Focus this morning will be on verses 26 and 27 remember this section is called The Upper Room discourse or farewell discourse the Lord Jesus meets with his Apostles his disciples to instruct and encourage them as to his departure from them they're going to go out they're going to turn the world upside down and so many times along the way Jesus gives them theology he teaches them about God himself namely Father Son and Holy Spirit and this is one of those instances where he tells us more about the holy spirit in verses 26 and 27 so I thought it deserved some attention so beginning in chapter 15 at Verse 18 if the world hates you you know that it hated me before it hated you if you were of the world the world would love its own yet because you are not of the world but I chose you out of the world therefore the world hates you remember the word that I said to you a servant is not greater than his master if they persecuted me they will also persecute you if they they kept my word they will keep yours also but all these things they will do to you for my name's sake because they do not know him who sent me if I had not come and spoken to them they would have no sin but now they have no excuse for their sin he who hates me hates my father also if I had not done among them The Works which no one else did they would have no sin but now they have seen and also hated both me and my father but this happened that the word might be fulfilled which is written in their law they hated me Without a Cause but when the helper comes whom I shall send to you from the Father the spirit of Truth who proceeds from the father he will testify of me and you also will bear witness because you have been with me from the beginning these things I have spoken to you that you should not be made to stumble they will put you out of the synagogues yes the time is coming that whoever killed you will think that he offers God's service and these things they will do to you because they have not known the father nor me but these things I have told you that when the time comes you may remember that I told you of them and these things I did not say to you at the beginning because I was with you amen well let us pray Our Father in heaven we thank you for this beautiful day we see the glory of God clearly revealed in the created order we as well appreciate that reel ation of God's grace and mercy and goodness in the gospel of our Salvation we thank you for your great grace to us calling us out of that Darkness into Marvelous Light giving us that that that Faith to lay hold of the Lord Jesus Christ and all of the benefits that he wrought for Sinners we pray that this gospel would be preached here and elsewhere and throughout the the Earth and that you would be pleased by the spirit to save a great multitude may you call out from every tribe tongue people and Nation Sinners to come to your dear son to receive forgiveness of sin to receive that righteousness by which they can stand in your presence and God bless and encourage each of our hearts here this morning build us up in our Most Holy Faith cause us to reflect upon the glory of our great God the living and the true God even Father Son and Holy Spirit do forgive us now for all of our sins guide us by the Holy Spirit and we pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ amen well in the larger section remember that in chapter 15 specifically in verses 9-17 the emphasis is on love love from Christ to his disciples and love from the disciples to Christ and love to one another Well beginning in verse 18 the direction turns it's no longer love amongst the disciples but it's the hatred and the enmity and the opposition of the world toward the disciples so that's the immediate context it begins there in chapter 15 at Verse 18 and really continues a long way into chapter 16 but specifically and properly at the end of verse 4 in chapter 16 so as I said along the way in the upper room Jesus gives us more Revelation concerning relations between the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit again this is the way we learn of who God is in himself remember when we looked at John 1 and if you don't remember that's okay okay CU this is our H 100th sermon on the Gospel of John so most likely you don't remember and that's okay so I'll just review I made a distinction between what we call Theology and economy and theology simply refers to God as he is in himself now there's other meanings to be sure with theology but God as he is in himself and economy refers to those things outside of God so the created order the the image of God in man the the the beauty of creation the Incarnation of the son such that Jesus is able to say if you have seen me You' have seen the father so God reveals himself as he truly is in those things that are external to himself and if you remember in John 1 we are given that opportunity sort of peak behind the curtain to see what's true of the son's relationship to the father in the beginning was the word word and the Word was with God and the Word was God John 1:1 then John 1:14 the word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory the glory as of the only begotten of the father full of grace and truth and then John 1:18 no one has seen God at any time but the only begotten son who is in the bosom of the father he has declared him so again John lets us see behind the scene scenes as it were to to who God is in himself with reference to father and the son that before John 1:29 when the Baptist says Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world I think that when we get to 129 and that statement Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world it's all the more glorious when we understand John 1 1: 18 that the word became flesh that he is the Lamb of God that he does that to take away the sin of the World shows us glorious truth about our God so who God is in theology or who God is in himself is revealed through what God does in the world around us in redemption in Providence now not exhaustively because we're finite we'll never infinite or or ever exhaustively know the infinite God there's always going to be that that Chasm there's always going to be that uh difference but what what is true of God that we see with reference to God's Works in creation and in Providence and Redemption tell us truth about who God is in himself and so what we have in verses 20 uh verse 26 specifically is more about the Holy Spirit see we often think of the father and the son but we don't always think of the Holy Spirit Well the Lord Jesus wants to make sure that we think of the Holy Spirit and so he has shined the light upon the spirit a couple of times along the way here in this Upper Room discourse so that kind of a lengthy introduction but I want to look at two things this morning first the testimony of the holy spirit in verse 26 and then the testimony of the Apostles in verse 27 but let's look first at the testimony of the Holy Spirit terms of a reference to him notice in verse 26 but when the helper comes now the identification of the helper is the holy spirit as we see what follows the spirit of Truth who proceeds from the father he's identified as helper in chapter 14 you can look there at verse 16 I will pray the father and he will give you another helper that he may abide with you forever and then again in chapter 14 at verse 26 but the helper the Holy Spirit whom the father will send in my name name he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you the word helper simply means one who appears in another's behalf a mediator an intercessor a helper sometimes we just transliterate the Greek word and we call him the pericle other translations have comforter not too too bad or not too far off the the beaten path there van mastri defines it or describes it this way one who takes up the cause for another and indeed for his benefit in fact this language is predicated of the son in first John chap 2 veres 1 and two my little children I write these things so that you may not sin but if anyone does sin we have an advocate we have an a helper we have a paraclet with the father even Jesus Christ the righteous so notice the identification of the helper is the holy spirit he's also called the spirit of Truth which is interesting because in 146 Jesus defines or describes or predicates of himself truth in the Salter Psalm 31 specifically we we learn that the father is truth so the Father the Son and the spirit are truth yet not three truths one truth so notice in 14:17 concerning the spirit the spirit of Truth whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him but you know him for he dwells with you and will be in in you now the reference to the helper here we've got to understand why it's in this context why in the middle of a section where Jesus is talking about the world's hatred of you and their inevitable persecution of you why would he take this moment to to not only speak concerning the spirit but then tell us something about the spirit related to the father and the side well I would suggest first of all to increase the liability of the unbelieving Jews if you go back just a few verses verse 22 if I had not come and spoken to them they would have have no sin but now they have no excuse for their sin remember Jesus there is not saying without his Incarnation they would have been a Guiltless people no by virtue of his Incarnation by virtue of his fulfillment of the old test prophets by virtue of his coming in the fullness of the time made of a woman or born of a woman born under the law it's it it it it underscored their sin of unbelief and rejection of the Messiah and then notice what Jesus says concerning this in verse 23 he who hates me hates my father also so notice Jesus doesn't say if you you hate me then you're still okay with God remember these religious Jews thought that Yahweh was everything at least they said they thought that but what Jesus says is absolutely precisely spoton if you reject the Messiah that Yahweh sent then therego you despise Yahweh that's just as simple as it can possibly be so I think one of the reasons why Jesus invokes the spirit in verse 26 is to show the further liability of these Jews who have rejected both the Son and the father who sent the son but as well he wants to encourage the disciples he wants to encourage the apostles you're going to be opposed you're going to be persecuted you're going to have the world you're going to have false religion you're going to have all kinds of minations against you but be of good cheer I'm going to send another helper that one who makes the Lord Jesus Christ present amongst his people so in other words you're not going to go It Alone whatever death threats whatever hardships whatever trials whatever afflictions whatever goog whatever prison whatever deprivation You'll Never Walk Alone so he wants to encourage the disciples in that particular direction then I think thirdly he wants to show us that a rejection of the father and the son inevitably leads to a rejection of the spirit a rejection of the spirit inevitably leads to a rejection of the father and the son why because in this one and living and true God there are three persons the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit they're equal in substance and power and Glory so if you deny one of the persons of the Trinity you deny the entirety of the trinity in fact sirel of Alexandria made that observation at this point he says that both he and the father have been hated by the ignorant Jews and this without cause and for no good reason now he profitably introduces the spirit adding to the word the fullness of the Holy Trinity and showing that the spirit was Dishonored with him so that the spectators of the Miracles who had rage so completely against the son may also be shown guilty of dis disparaging the power power of the highest essence of all which is beyond nature in essence what he is saying there is that if you reject one person you reject all three persons now Brethren I think that this is a very important emphasis in the church today I think that we need to think clearly in so far as we are able with reference to the doctrine of God we like to talk about what God does we like to talk about what God gives we like to thank God for all of the benefits that we have accured and we should do all those things but we need to be a bit more interested in who God is now the scripture reveals him as I said one true and living God Deuteronomy 6 1 Corinthians chapter 8 but there is a trinity of persons in that one God Father Son and Holy Spirit as I mentioned in the beginning was the word the word was with God and the word was God we see that was godness predicated of the Holy Spirit as well so it takes or will help hopefully help us to just slow down a bit with this verse and make some observations concerning the nature of the holy spirit so I've talked about Theology and I've talked about economy now you should still remember that that wasn't a 100 sermons ago so theology who God is in himself economy what God does outside of himself so in terms of theology we need to ask how do the persons of the Trinity relate to one another we call that Eternal processions it's not going to be a quiz but just keep keep that in your mind Eternal processions Eternal obviously locates it in God himself because everything outside of God himself is not Eternal it's created it's temporal there's an there's a beginning there's an end and then when we talk about what God does in the economy we talk about temporal that means with reference to time missions that means with reference to what does the Sun do and what does the spirit do well I think in verse 26 the Lord Jesus looks at temporal missions and eternal processions notice in verse 26 but when the helper comes whom I shall send to you from the Father the spirit of Truth who proceeds from the father he will testify of me so let's take up that temporal Mission first notice that Jesus says he's going to send the spirit he's going to send the spirit to help the apostles he's going to send the spirit to help the subsequent Church he's going to send the spirit whenever you stand in need we often times take that verse about not planning out what you're going to say but the spirit will give you utterance too many lazy preachers have leaned on that particular text and have not shown themselves faithful in a study of God's holy word the specific application is to the apostles when they are face to face with unbelieving Jews in the book of Acts and increasingly face to face with a hostile Roman government as we move on in New Testament times now of course we can trust in the benefit of Christ with his church giving us the spirit but we ought not to lift it right out of its particular context so Jesus is talking specifically to his Apostles and by extension the church the church is that they are responsible for in terms of foundation he tells them that he's going to send the spirit to Aid them in a insists that notice again verse 26 but when the helper comes whom I shall send to you from the spirit so that temporal mission is seen notice in John 20 John 20 kind of a down payment in John 20 specifically at verse 21 this is post-resurrection they've marveled that they've seen the one who went into the grave come out of the grave and Jesus says to them peace to you as the father has sent me I also send you and when he had said this he breathed on them and said to them receive the Holy Spirit if you forgive the sins of any they are forgiven them if you retain the sins of any they are retained so we've got this promise of the sending of the spirit here in John 20: 21-23 we see the Fulfillment in Acts chapter 2 you can turn there verses 1 to 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 of a rushing Mighty Wind don't miss the connection he breathes on them in John 20 to signify the temporal mission of the spirit given to them to empower them for Ministry in his name and so on the day of Pentecost what are we confronted with this rushing Mighty Wind the glory of God most high is manifested in the sending of the spirit on the day of Pentecost not as though he had never come not as though he had never indwelt Believers when David repents in Psalm 51 he says take not thine Holy Spirit from me so the argument is is that it's not that the Holy Spirit appears on the day of Pentecost now the Holy Spirit comes in power according to the prophecy of Joel uh uh uh by virtue of the ascended Christ at the right hand of the father so he promises it in John 20 it's fulfilled here in Acts 2 notice in verse three then there appeared to them divided tongues as of fire and one sat upon each of them and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues as the spirit gave them utterance and then note specifically at chapter 2 verse 33 Peter starts to get practical and he starts to bring his sermon to a conclusion and he says therefore being exalted to the right hand of God and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit he poured out this which you now see and hear for David did not Ascend into the heavens but he says himself the Lord said to my Lord sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your foot stol therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ so Jesus Jesus promises the sending of the spirit in this visible temporal Mission but then notice back in John 15:26 he tells us something about eternal processions as I mentioned the temporal Mission what we see in the economy reveals to us truth about God in himself and it's Eternal processions the fact the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit are one true and living God who exists eternally as three persons so notice Jesus highlights this eternal procession so when the helper comes whom I shall send to you from the Father the spirit of Truth who proceeds from the Father the spirit of Truth who proceeds from the father now if you're a member of our church you subscribe to the second London Confession of faith of 16778 9 I'm going to just start saying 89 so I don't have to slash it in there and if you're mindful of the nyine C the Creed that sometimes Christians recite or rehearse or they M meditate on you'll you'll note that the languages that the spirit proceeds from the father and the son that's the position that we hold to in this particular church that's the position that the Western tradition of Christianity has held to in most of its history so it's the language of filio and that simply is a Latin term meaning and and the son so when we ask the question does the spirit proceed from the father and the son some would suggest you know that's kind of an odd question why would we get caught up in that Brethren practically as Believers we get caught up in a whole lot less important things don't we come on what color himb books are we going to fight about in the life of the church it just seems smart to kind of think in more ter uh detail about who God is well as you might imagine those opponents of the language and of the son probably go to verse 26 because Jesus says the spirit of Truth who proceeds from the father Jesus doesn't say from the father and the son so the language if you ever come across this term as you're often reading about church history and credal confessionalism and you know things like that in your off time of course uh it's philio and the Sun so this was a division between the eastern and the western church not strictly and absolutely some Easterns maintain the Philo way just to make it more complicated for all of us but but for the most part what we had is that the western church inserted it in the nyine Creed at the Council of to to in ad 589 that wasn't Toledo Ohio it was Toledo which would be a part of Spain when Spain came into being so the western church confesses that the spirit proceeds from the father and the son the Eastern Church confesses that the spirit proceeds from the father now again we maintain that the philio way should be there the language and the Sun is crucial for good trinitarian thinking there was a man by the name of Anselm who wrote on the procession of the Holy Spirit and his arguments and we're not going to get into all of that but just a few things in terms of the filio the and the sun he says the filio pres preserves unity and equality between all three persons without the philio the spirit would not be given by the son but the sun would be given by the spirit whenever scripture speaks of the Spirit as the spirit of Christ it is assumed that the spirit proceeds from the son as well as the father I think you see that specifically in a in Romans 8 9-11 the Apostle has no problem talking about the spirit of God and the spirit of Christ and I think that what Jesus is doing here he's already put himself on par with the father when he says if you hate me you hate him who sent me so Jesus along with the son along with the father is what we call in theology principle of the Holy Spirit the nyine Creed reads and I believe in the Holy Spirit the Lord and Giver of Life who proceeds from the father and the son who with the father and the son together is worshiped and glorified it's a great statement that we ought to confess a great statement that we ought to believe a great statement that I think refle uh reflects what the scriptures teach us concerning who God is now as I've said brethren we get caught up in a lot of debates about a lot of minutia but let Christians disagree on the doctrine of God and that's Petty that's minor that's weak-minded I'm glad the early church didn't view it that way because it was the early church that thankfully gave us the nyine Creed the early church fought and in time and in certain cases died suffered Exile suffered banishment for holding and maintaining these truths see for us today theology kind of gets in the way of a real practical Christianity you ever heard of Orthodoxy that simply means right thinking right Doctrine orthopraxy means right living well the church in the 21st century is all about orthopraxy but has little concern for Orthodoxy you see without Orthodoxy you don't get orthopraxy if anybody's interested in this more practically come tonight because it's intriguing that Paul wants the the church in Philippi to abound more and more in love in all knowledge and discernment huh you mean Paul that the way that we learn to love one another more is by studying the Bible and theology yeah that's what he means other words without theology without who God is we are going to be rudderless in this world for every jot and tit of our lives so this stuff and this isn't preacher talk to make you think this is really important this is is really important this is what people have fought as I said and died for and bled for through the history of our of our religion now with reference to the fact that the spirit proceeds from the father and the son I would suggest some really practical things theologically come as a result of this the Eternal procession of the spirit from the father and the son maintains consubstantiality of the persons now for those who were not here in John 1 and those who cannot remember 100 sermons ago consubstantiality simply means of the same substance of the same being of the same Essence see the doctrine of the Trinity teaches one essence or substance or being and then three persons so it's not a contradiction we're not saying God is one in one sense and three in the same sense sense we're saying God is one in one sense and three in another sense and so the spirit's procession from the father and the son maintains that same substan of the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit I would suggest as well that the Eternal procession of the spirit from the father and the son maintains this is equally important distinction among the persons there is three persons the father Father the Son and the Holy Spirit we cannot compromise that truth in the beginning was the word the word was with God and the Word was God so we need to make sure not only one essence or consubstantiality but we need to make sure that we maintain three persons and if you look at the history of the church there's Heretics on either side the one that is associated with no distinction among the persons is sellus or modalism the idea that God was the father became the son and then is the holy spirit that's not the Christian doctrine of the Trinity neither is aryanism which teaches God the father Jesus is some sort of inferior Godlike figure that's more of the Jehovah's Witness spin on it and the spirit isn't personal so you've got this aryanism and sabellianism that the church has consistently navigated by maintaining the things that I'm speaking here and not because I'm speaking them I'm parting what the church has said the Eternal procession of the spirit from the father and the son maintains distinction of the persons our confession good time for us to remind ourselves in this Divine and infinite being that's the essence or substance that is God there are three subsisten or persons the Father the word or Son and Holy Spirit of one substance of one power of one eternity each having the whole Divine Essence yet the essence undivided so that's a great uh statement concerning the the the the glory of the one true and living God who exists as Father Son and Holy Spirit but if we ask the question well how are they distinguished the confession goes on the father is of none neither begotten nor proceeding the son is eternally begotten of the Father the Holy Spirit proceed proceeding from the father and the son all infinite without beginning therefore but one God who is not to be divided in nature and being but distinguished by several peculiar relative properties and personal relations so all that to say that distinction of person within God is seen not by the sons always obeying the Father the Son does that in the economy according to his Humanity but when we go to theology there's no obedience on the part of the son to the father when we go to the to to theology the only distinction that we have among the persons is that the father is unbegotten the son is begotten by the father and the spirit proceeds from the father and the son that's the way we maintain distinction between the persons of the godhead now I hope no one is too confused at this point if you're not getting get your first pass around and this is not meant to be an insult it it takes time to get the melon wrapped around some of these Concepts especially if they're new to you but suffice to say that this is what the early church was confessing when they wrote their Creeds this is what our our second London Baptist forefathers were confessing when they wrote that confession and you can see that it wasn't just spun out of nowhere they didn't just say huh let's concoct this Theory and put it in our Creeds and confessions and just confuse the people of God for Millennia Jesus talks about the sending of the spirit Jesus talks about the Eternal procession from the father and the son John tells us in 1 one in the beginning was the word the word was with God and the word was God the the Creed at at atal the Creed at NAA didn't develop that they didn't make that up they rather recognize through biblical acts of Jesus that this is what God's word taught one in one sense three in another sense how do we know there's distinction amongst the persons well the Father's unbegotten son is begotten by the father and the spirit proceeds from the father and the son and all of this argued that the Eternal procession of the spirit from the father and the son maintains the unity of the divine nature all things that are absolutely crucial when we get into debates with modern-day Aras uh Aryans which is Jehovah's Witness and with modern day sabellians which are oness Pentecostals and you know lots of other variations to be sure but I I just thought it was important because it is for the Savior that in this Upper Room discourse yes I want you not to be scandalized I don't want you to stumble 161 I want you to to to take heed I want you to not fear men Matthew chapter 10 I want you to go out and Faithfully proclaim the Glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ The Upper Room discourse Christ is conducting a a seminary sort of seminar for his hand chosen Apostles so that they can go out and as I said turn the world upside down in obeying the Great Commission but interestingly all along the way he wants us to know more about God he wants us to know more about the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit almost as if to suggest it is that knowledge that will drive you into those synagogues it is that knowledge that will send you before a gria it is that knowledge that will send you across thean tions to testify concerning the glory of God Father Son and Holy Spirit and the way of God the Eternal processions unbegotten begotten and pro uh Pro uh Pro uh proceeding from is reflected in those temporal missions the spirit comes to bring us through Christ to the father so Jesus wants the disciples to no theology because it will animate their efforts going out to service our blessed master in the economy and then that brings us back specifically to the text a rejection of the father and the son is inevitably connected to a rejection of the spirit a rejection of the spirit is inevitably connected to a rejection of the father and the son you don't get one person of the Trinity on his own it's all of God or none of God and that was the fundamental problem of the unbelieving Jews that Jesus is speaking about in this context if you reject or you hate the one sent then you hate the one who sent him and that is precisely the emphasis now in terms of the ministry we've talked about temporal missions what does he do look again at 1526 at the very end he will will testify of me see Brethren when we get consumed with Jesus that's the spirit's leading of us you you cannot look at the persons of the trinity in competition you cannot look at it you know that you've heard about you know stealing a bride's Thunder at the at the wedding you know when the friend of the Bride comes in and she's dressed nicer we go wait a minute that it shouldn't be that way we we kind of impose upon the Triune God our sort of created thinking right there got to be competition it's kind of by Design Brethren that we think more about the father and the son than the spirit I'm not suggesting we shouldn't think about the spirit I just spent 20 minutes telling you as to why we should think about the spirit but notice the function or the purpose of the spirit in that temporal Mission he will testify of me that's the point in Acts 2 acts 2:3 talks about them being filled with the spirit and then them speaking in tongues and then it evidences that that tongue speaking and the the various Nations represented there that were that we're able to hear concerning the great works of God as I've said on many occasion the charismatics and the Pentecostals for them that's everything but that's not the point in the sermon therefore let it be known unto you that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ the pouring out of the Spirit by the son at the right hand of the father there in Acts 233 was for the expressed purpose of shining the light not upon tongues but Upon Jesus and that's the point and purpose of the ministry of the spirit you see that with Jesus as well he comes to do the will of him who sent him he comes to bring glory to the father there's no competition there's no you know stealing one another's Thunder within the context of the Triune God so the object of his testimony is jesus' Life Death Resurrection Jesus words and works we see that all throughout the upper room discourse but as well in terms of the the the nature of his testimony specifically in this context The Works that Christ had done see how did Jesus do Miracles when he was here on Earth well because he was God yeah but because he was a man who had received the Holy Spirit without measure we got to be careful about saying because he was God if his humanity is Tainted with godhood then it's not real humanity and we got to be careful of that there's a union of natures in the one person but the natures aren't co-mingling so we got to make sure we understand the ministry of the holy spirit in the work of Christ so in other words when Christ does these Mighty deeds and in Matthew's gospel the unbelieving Jews there say that he does it by the spirit of be elab what do Jesus call that he calls that blasphemy of the Holy Ghost ascribing The Works of Jesus to the Lord of the Flies to that dungill deity which is called be elab that is to blaspheme the spirit of the Living God and so the spirit testifies of Jesus the spirit testifies of his Works done in his ministry and the spirit testifies guess what through the written word of the living and true God that you now possess in your laps or on your phone so then that brings us to the testimony of the Apostles notice in verse 27 and you also will bear witness because you have been with me from the beginning the object of their testimony their political agendas the latest fads in society the latest boycotts now now Brethren political agendas fads in societies boycotts I'm not going to condemn any of us for doing that I have participated in those things myself but Ministers of the Gospel following the train of the apostolic Ministry they're testifiers of Jesus they're Proclaimers of Christ and him crucified they say with Paul I determine to know nothing among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified I would imagine a fellow like Paul who earned a living as a Tent Maker there in the Roman Empire had a few thoughts about the current government when Nero turns the corner and starts be to become terrible first five or six years of Nero he did great good guy and then something happened I I'm sure Paul noticed that I'm sure the apostles saw that you know maybe in a drunken rent sometime let's raise their taxes well any citizen in anybody politic at any time in the history of the world tends to notice that but when it comes to their ministry as Apostles when it comes to the ministry of pastors as pastors ERS notice what he says you also will bear witness because you have been with me from the beginning the bear witness is obviously connected to that which the spirit testifies concerning you're going to testify of me now the power behind their testimony is the holy spirit so again no competition here between the spirit and the apostles the apostles do what the apostles do because of the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit John 14 16 to 18 the Teaching Ministry of the Holy Spirit 14:26 but the helper the Holy Spirit whom the father will send in my name he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you and the guidance of the Holy Spirit notice in 16:13 however when he the spirit of Truth has come uh he will guide you into all Truth for he will not speak on his own but whatever he hears he will speak and he will tell you things to come so the Apostles are going to go out washed in the blood of Jesus clothed in the righteousness of Jesus having receive the power and the presence of the spirit of Jesus to go to the Jewish synagogues and to testify that Jesus and his life death and Resurrection is the only way of Salvation that Jesus did Mighty Deeds jesus' Doctrine was in fact Heavenly it is by the spirit that the church goes in to uh into the world to do what God has commanded so the spirit and the apostles are not in competition the spirit works by the word and through the apostles to propagate the Glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ to the uttermost parts of the earth we see it in Acts acts 5:32 we are his witnesses to these things and so also is the holy spirit whom God has given to those who obey him the nature of their testimony we see their foundational role in the church it's not that they alone are the foundation but they're certainly foundational in the church Ephesians 2:20 Romans 15:20 there's other passages Revelation 21:14 the apostles were different than other Christians I I know we like to jump into the upper room and make everything personal but Brethren there are things very concretely specific and applicable to the apostles now again by extension the church that they founded but the the the apostles themselves would be foundational in the founding of the church but their writings would be foundational for the health of the church through the subsequent ages God spoke the spirit specifically through those men by way of appropriation if you're following the theological you know trajectory here the spirit has these these men write the word of God why just so they could have a contender on the marketplace for religious books no we have the authoritative word of God that has as its summon substance the Gospel of Jesus Christ Our Lord so the apostles are functioning as Witnesses this is Acts 1:8 Jesus tells them you're going to be my Witnesses first in Jerusalem then to Judea and Samaria and then to the uttermost parts of the Earth Peter preaching to the household of Cornelius in 10:39 and 10:41 highlights the role of the Apostles as Witnesses again not to their agenda you know Cornelius it's too bad that you have to serve a Godless State like Rome let's go found a new nation and we'll let you be the same no no no then again that you might do that go ahead as a citizen but as an apostle of Jesus Christ he was there to tell him about Redemption Through Blood a told through the finished work of Jesus the presence and the power of the spirit falls upon them and then Peter baptizes him and his household so when we come to the apostolic testimony and witness on the one hand we're not wrong we don't look at Peter as Pope we don't look at Peter is the Supreme pontiff the one that has all authority over every church ever no we don't do that that's nonsensical but on the other hand we recognize that Paul and Peter and John and those brother did things that were outside the ordinary calling of every Christian ever since and there's nothing wrong with seeing them in that particular capacity by way of conclusion listen to First John 1 1:4 that which was from the beginning which we have heard which we have seen with our eyes which we have looked upon and our hands have handled concerning the word of life the life was manif ested and we have seen and bear witness and declare to you that eternal life which was with the father and was manifested to us that which we have seen and heard we declare to you that you also may have fellowship with us and truly our fellowship is with the father and his son Jesus Christ and these things we write to you that your joy may be full so Jesus ends this statement or ends verse 27 by saying because you have been with me from the beginning the beginning of his public Ministry to the specific task he appointed them to and for the purpose of communicating those gospel Treasures those Riches of the glory of Christ to the posterity that is now through their written word and to the then Known World in terms of unbelieving Jews in the Roman Empire they had been with him from the beginning for a specific and expressed purpose that they might go and make him known well Brethren I hope that this has not confused or or fuddled the W muddled the waters but but we need to think clearly concerning who God is Father Son and Holy Spirit remember all of this such that Sinners could enter in to Heaven imagine the beauty of the created order shows us something concerning God doesn't it well well it does Paul says that in Romans 1 the effect leads us back to the cause and we learn truth about God his eternal power his his glory his godhead but it's Redemption it's the mission of the son in the Incarnation it's the mission of the spirit at Pentecost that show us something even more concerning that God it's that he's Triune but that he's full of grace and mercy why all this because in the fullness of the time God sent forth his son born of a woman born under the law to redeem those under the law why does God do what he does in the economy yes to show us truth about him in theology but to show us that experientially by calling us out of Darkness into Marvelous Light by Rene our minds and Hearts by giving us a saving interest in the Lord Jesus Christ by causing us to see that Jesus is altogether lovely and chief among 10,000 God does this to save us from our sins that's the purpose of John's gospel as a whole I write these things John says in 203 and 31 so that you might believe that Jesus is the son of God and that believing in his name you might have everlasting life so if you missed every jot and TI about the Holy SP Spirit there that's okay but this is what the Holy Spirit wants you to know that Christ Jesus came into this world to save Sinners the way he did that was through his life his death and his resurrection and the way you receive that is by looking to him in faith well let us pray Our Father in heaven we thank you for your word we thank you for the revelation of our great and glorious god father Son and Holy SP Spirit we thank you for this Upper Room discourse and the great things that our Lord teaches concerning the father son and spirit pray that you would encourage each of us build us up on our Most Holy Faith cause us to stand in awe as we consider your glory and your majesty and again bless the proclamation of your gospel may it go forth conquering and to conquer and may it work according to the power of the Holy Spirit In This Place even now and we pray through Jesus Christ Our Lord amen well let us stand and close our service by sing 564 564 doxology in praise to our great and glorious God [Music] who ho to with work in glory glory blessed be his glor name to allity the whole earth his glory [Applause] all the whole earth is for [Music] Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all amen will please be seated for a brief time of meditation and contemplation on the of our God e e e