Be Holy

Chapter 1, verse 14. First Peter, chapter 1, verse 14. In fact, let's start reading from 13 says, therefore, gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Indeed, let's gird up the loins of our mind, be sober, be sound-minded, and have peace in the hope that we have. Verse 14, as obedient children, not conforming ourselves to the former things of the world, the former lasts.

You know, as we heard in the sermonette, we're going now into a period of darkness. And of darkness, meaning it's a gap, a long gap, between the festivals, and the world's got its own festivals here, and besides that, as you and I see the world, the way it's going, it's just, it's getting darker. It really is getting bad, aren't it? It really is getting bad. So, as obedient children, don't conform yourself to the former last.

As in your ignorance, in other words, as you did in the past when you did not know the truth. But, as he has called you is holy. As God, who has called us, is holy. You also be holy in all your conduct. You also be holy in everything you do. So, you ask the question, what is it that you and I need to do to be holy?

What is it? Now, we know that you and I cannot declare something holy. I mean, for instance, the Sabbath was sanctified, made holy. Made holy means being set apart for a godly use in being sanctified. And the word sanctified and holy is not based on the same Greek root.

In some languages, it's actually the same word. Be holy, for instance, in Portuguese is be saint. You know, if there's no word in Portuguese for holy, it's actually saint. And sanctified is be sanctified. So, it's the same word and the same thing in Greek. So, sometimes in English, it's translated as holy, sometimes translated as saints. But it's actually the same word, interesting enough, in the Greek language. So, that is being set aside, being separated, and only God can sanctify something, can make something holy.

So, because holiness is the very nature of God. Think about it. It's whether God sanctifies time, like the Sabbath, whether God sanctifies a place, like remember when Moses was with and he saw the burning bush, and he said, don't stand there because it's holy ground. God sanctified it. So, whether it's time, the holiness, the Sabbath, where is the person? Only God can make something holy, because only God can put himself into it, into that thing or into us. So, so how can we be holy? Because he says, be holy. So, it is God in us that makes us holy. Now, does it mean, therefore, we do nothing?

No, of course not. So, the question is, God in us, it's obviously through the Holy Spirit in us, Christ living in us through the Holy Spirit. So, how does God's Spirit work with us for us to be holy? Is it just you have a strange feeling? What a sensation. No, no. So, the question I have today is, what do we need to do to be holy? Well, let's continue reading now in verse 16, because it says, because it is written, 1 Peter 1, verse 16, be holy for I am holy.

And that comes out of Leviticus 11, for instance, verse 45. It's written, be holy as I am holy. So, you and I have to do something to be holy. Today, we're going to look at quite a number of scriptures. So, we're going to do quite a lot of finger-exercise by looking at scriptures. But the first one I want you to look at is John chapter 14. John chapter 14, 15 through 18. John 14, 15 through 18.

It says, if you love me, keep my commandments. So, yeah, it's Christ saying there's something we need to do. Keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper. Yes, Christ is our Helper. He's our High Priest.

But He'll give us another Helper in the form of God's Holy Spirit. That He may abide with you forever. You see, Christ is not with us now, physically speaking. He's in heaven. But He can be in us through the power of the Holy Spirit, because He's given us another Helper. That He may abide with you forever, forever. The Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive. 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 you. Now, this is an interesting point. You see, God's Spirit can dwell with you.

So, if you're not baptized, God's Spirit can dwell with you. Because it says, it's talking up to the apostles, and He says, and you know Him, for He, God's Spirit, God's Spirit dwells with you. So, that God's Spirit was already dwelling with the apostles at that time, present. So, if you are young people in the church, or you're not baptized yet, God's Spirit can dwell with you. So, this point that we're talking about holiness is not only for baptized people. It's for everyone. Because if you're not baptized, God's Spirit can dwell with you. Now, when you're baptized, that seed, you receive the seed of the Holy Spirit and then dwells in you. But if you're not baptized yet, He's dwelling with you. And you are special, you are called, you are set aside, because God's Spirit is already dwelling with you. But you always see three things. We've got to keep the commandments. Two, He's the helper who will abide with you forever. Three, He's the Spirit of truth. And He dwells with you. And I'm emphasizing dwells with you so that I'm including the those of you that are not baptized. He dwells with us. He's baptized in you as well, but dwells with us. He's with us. It's like, my wife dwells with me. I dwell with her. We together, we work together. God's Spirit is with us. Now, I want you to turn to John 16, just a few pages ahead, starting with verse 7. John 16 verse 7. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth. It is your advantage that I go away. For if I do not go away, the helper will not come to you. In other words, that seed will not come to you, and you will not have the seed in you. But if I depart, I'll send him to you. And when he has come, he will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.

You see, today I want to spend a bit of more time about those three points. Because it says he will convict the world. God's only Spirit will convict the world. And understand, in some languages, like Greek, like Portuguese, like Spanish, things have, quote-unquote, agenda in grammar. For instance, in Portuguese, the title is feminine. Wine is masculine. I don't know what that means. Wine is just the way it is. It's just, you know, it's just, you know, a gloss is masculine. So if you're referring to a gloss, you'd say, he, the gloss. If you're referring to a table, you refer she, the table. So, you know, the translators, yeah, obviously translate the Holy Spirit, yeah, with the word he. But that does not mean the Holy Spirit is a person. It's just a gender related to the world. But continue reading in verse 9. It says, you'll convict the world of sin because they do not believe in me. Convict the world of righteousness, verse 10, because I go to my father and you see me no more. And verse 11, convict the world of judgment because the ruler of this world is judged. And continue reading in verse 12. I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. You're not mature enough to grab them to be able to understand them all. However, verse 13, when the Spirit of Truth has come, so it's the Spirit of Truth, He will guide you into all truth. For He will not speak of His own authority. Whatever He hears, He'll speak, and He will let you tell you the things to come. Verse 14. And he has another point. He'll glorify me, glorify Christ. For He will take off what is mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has has are mine. Therefore, I said that He will take off mine and declare it to you. So, brethren, what do we need to do to be holy? And taking it from this Scripture, the first thing, obviously, we need God's Holy Spirit, and I'm sorry to spread it to all with us, but it says because the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin. Now, understand that the word convict, it's a lot more than convince.

It's important to understand that. It's not just convince you of sin, it's convict you of sin. And that's more deep, profound, than just convincing. It's something that you are convicted. When you are convicted of sin, you realize that you've got to keep God's laws and do what's pleasing in God's sight. Because you're convicted. You're convicted. It's hit your heart inside, and you just know, and you know, and you know that you know that's convicted. That's convicted. That you've got to repent. Because it says, because they do not believe in me.

What does belief got to that? Well, belief means if I believe you, I'm going to do what you tell me to do. That's why. And what God and Christ says, keep my commandments. We read a little early on in John 14. So we've got to be convicted of sin. And when convicted of sin, we believe what Christ tells us. And therefore, we're going to do what he tells us. And he tells us to keep his commandments. Like a man came to him and says, you know, if I want to have eternal life, what must I do? And a wonderful opportunity for Christ to say, you've got to do nothing. No, but Christ says, keep the commandments. And God gives his Holy Spirit to whom? Acts 5.32. God gives his Spirit to those who obey him, to those who obey him. These are amazing scriptures that sometimes we forget. And that's in 1st Samuel 15. Let's turn there. 1st Samuel 15. 1st Samuel 15. That is the story of Saul. And Saul was asked to destroy, utterly destroy the Malachites. And that's a whole different story. Not going to go into there. But God had a reason to say that to Saul. And Saul did not do it. But he started offering sacrifices. And so, here comes in verse 22. Then Samuel the prophet came to Saul and said, has the eternal, as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? You know, sometimes we read about holy days and verses. He says, well, you'll offer a sacrifice. Has God got pleasure in you offering a bull or a goat or whatever it is? No. What is God's pleasure is in a living sacrifice. As in Romans 12, verse 1 and 2, it says, present yourselves a living sacrifice. That is our real sacrifice that counts to God. And that's it says, yeah, in verse 22, has the Lord, as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice. So, if you and I obey, we are doing better than the sacrifice during the holy days or any other time.

And to heed than the fact of the range. Now, I want to emphasize verse 23. For rebellion, rebellion, I'm not even going to do it. Might not be as blatant as that, but it might be, I'm not going to obey. God says, for instance, save your second tithe so that you can keep the feast, so that you learn to fear the Lord your God. You read that into the tiches. Or is it a tetronymic instrumental now? But things will draw on to be 14. But anyway, says, keep, save the second tithe so you can go to the place he has chosen, so you can learn to fear the Lord your God always. But, oh well, I'm not going to set a second tithe. God can see that as rebellion. It is as a sin of witchcraft. Think about witchcraft!

Wow! Dabbling with things that you should not dabble. That's rebellion. And stubbornness. I'm stubborn, people. I'm stubborn. I'm not going to do it. Stubborn, stuck naked. Stubbornness. This is iniquity and idolatry. Why? Because you're putting your own image of God in front of God. You're making a God for yourself of what you want to do. As we heard so well in the sermon that was morning. I mean, early on today. Yeah, indeed it was this morning. But so, stubbornness as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Eternal, he also has rejected you. Talking to Samuel, that's Samuel talking to Saul, was you a king, but in applying to us, he says, hey, do we want that to be applicable to us?

Brethren, we must obey. Turn with me to John 1 John chapter 3. 1 John chapter 3. I've got a lot of script in the air and I'm starting to worry. I'm running the iron. 1 John chapter 3.

1 John chapter 3 verse 4-9. 1 John chapter 3 verse 4-9. Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. And as you know, that he was manifested to take away our sins, and in him there is no sin. Whoever abides in him does not sin.

Whoever sins as neither sinning nor nonning. In some translations it says, it does not practice sin, which is probably a better way of putting it, because we all fail. We all slip up. But it's a question of being in that rut of practicing sin. 1 John chapter 3. Little children, let no one deceive you, for he who practices, and the eye does bring in the translator, brings the word practices. So we're talking about practicing, practicing, practicing sin or practicing righteous. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as God is righteous. And he who sins, he who has practiced the sin, is of the devil. For the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose, the son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whoever has been born of God, and in Greek is ganal, which means has been begotten. So maybe a more literal translation would have been, who has been begotten. You and I are not born yet, we'll be born at a resurrection. But we are begotten. We are in the womb of the mother, which is the church. So whoever has been begotten of God, does not practice them. Is not in the wrath of practicing sin. For his seed, it was God's seed. What is God's seed? He's the only spirit. Do you know what is the word used in Greek? You go and look. You go and do your own research. His seed, the word is sperma. His seed is sperma in Greek. It's God's seed when you are after we baptize, and we, the hands have been laid on you, you receive the Holy Seed of God, comes from the Father, the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father. That's why he's the Father, and Christ gives it to us. He's the agent giving it to us. Through him, he sent it to us, the promise of the Father, and begets us. Beget us spiritually. We then become children of God. Just like your physical dad's seed, begot you in your physical mother's womb. And then after a period of nine months, you were born. Likewise, we have been begotten by the Holy Seed, and we are in the womb of the spiritual mother of the Church. And at the end of these quote-unquote nine months of growth, whatever period it is, until you die or until Christ comes back, whichever comes first, until if you persevere to the end, you then will be born again into the kingdom of God. So there it is. So for his seed remains in him. So whoever has been begotten of God does not practice sin, for God's seed, which is the Holy Spirit, remains in us. And that person cannot practice sin as it should be, because he has been begotten of God. So brethren, we must abide with the Holy Spirit, and we must abide with the Holy Spirit. And by that, we must be led by God's Holy Spirit. And the point I'm saying when I referred a little earlier on in John 14, he said, yes, when you receive the Holy Spirit as a seed of the baptism, he is in you. But if you're not baptized, the Holy Spirit dwells with you. So whichever way you and I, whether you're baptized or not, we need to be led by God's Holy Spirit. Led by God's Holy Spirit. Look at Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8. Verse 14. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God.

And yes, so if you are not baptized yet, but you are being led by the Spirit of God, you are part of the children of God. He hasn't begotten yet, but you are along that way.

Now, look at the verb led.

When somebody leads you, it doesn't force you, it doesn't possess you, does not domineer you, it leads you, which means you follow. You voluntarily follow. So, we need to work, to allow God's Holy Spirit to lead us, and we need to follow that prompting of the Holy Spirit. Let's look a little bit more about following that prompting of the Holy Spirit, and that is in James chapter 4 verse 6 through 10. And the other thing James chapter 4 verse 6 through 10.

And the other thing James is talking about, a very important attitude we need to have, in James chapter 4 verse 6 he says, he gives more grace. God gives us more grace, more kindness, more gentleness, more love and care, just more of everything. Therefore, he says, God resists the proud, the stubborn, the rebellious, resists that, but he gives grace to the humble. And the humble is one that is going to be led and is going to follow.

Therefore, submit to God, voluntarily submit, follow his need, resist the devil, which is avoid rebellion, fight that rebellion, fight that stubbornness, change that, resist the devil, and he will flee from you. I mean, it doesn't say he'll crawl away from you, it says he'll flee from you. God's not lying. That's not a vain promise. Draw near to God and he'll draw near to you. How do we draw near to God? Cleanse your hands, your senses. Stop sending. He reacts, but also purify your heart. So you double-minded. Double-minded, because one day you do it, another day you don't. One day you do it, we're all like that. So we've got to change. We've got to become more clean, as far as that's concerned. Lament and mourn. It was repent. Repent. And make means, but require fasting, occasional fasting. And weep. Let your laughter return to mourning and your joy to gloom. That does not mean that right now you're going to be always an unhappy person. But it says, look at yourself, analyze yourself, examine yourself, and say, I've got to be sober-minded, as we read early on. We're going to be sober. We're going to say, no, we've got to do what's right. And repent of those things. Repent of those things. Humble yourselves, verse 10, in the sight of the Eternal of the Lord, and He will lift you up. He will lift you up. So don't be rebellious. Don't be stubborn. Be submissive. And that's how you can be convicted of sin. God will lead us. God will help us to change our thinking processes. When God's Spirit is working with us, and doesn't advertise in us, He's leading us. And He's working with our conscience. Look at Hebrews, chapter 10. Hebrews, chapter 10, verse 19. Hebrews 10, verse 19. Therefore, brethren, have boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus. You know, the blood of Jesus is offered to all of mankind. It's not only to those that are baptized. The blood of Jesus is to all. Sure, you need to repent. Sure, you've got to go and make a commitment, etc. But God is so compassionate, He loves all mankind. You are striving to go the right way. It says, therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the holiest that is God's throne through your prayers, through the blood of Jesus. Verse 20. By a new and living way, which He consecrated for us through the veil, that veil that was torn when He died, symbolizing therefore His flesh that was torn when He died. And we have a helper, a high priest, an advocate, a defense advocate over the house of God. Let us therefore draw near to God with a true heart in full assurance of faith. Don't doubt! Even if He's not baptized, don't doubt in full assurance of faith. And, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, how, through God's only Spirit and Christ's blood and washing off the water, a wash cleanses our conscience. Do you know what? You don't have guilty feelings anymore of things you've done in the past. What a blessing! What a blessing! Sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed pure water. Let us hold fast! Hold on! You probably heard me saying that South African word, fastbait. Hold, bite hard, fastbait. Hold fast the confession of our hope without it wavering. For He who promised is faithful. Therefore, don't doubt, because God does not lie. God does not lie. Don't be afraid. But what you and I need to do, we need to repent. We need to do our part. We need to follow that lead. Look at Proverbs chapter 4. Verse 10, starting in verse 10. Proverbs chapter 4.

Proverbs chapter 4.

Verse 10 through 13.

Proverbs chapter 4. 10 through 13. Hear my son and receive my sins. And the years of your life will be many. There will be eternity. That's how many there will be. Eternity, like we heard in the lovely song. God has given us the capability of envisioning eternity. Verse 11. Verse 11. I have taught you the way of wisdom. In the way of wisdom. I have led you in right path. God's Word through His Spirit is guiding us the right way. When you walk, your steps will not be hindered. Yes, if you are making your efforts to walk the right way, your steps will not be hindered. When you run, you will not stumble. Take firm hold of His structure. Do not let go. Keep her. For she's your life. What a powerful pledge from God that He will be with us. That He will not let us go. And that is our life, our eternal life. So there is an active part that you and I need to do. As we are led by our own free will of the God's Holy Spirit. God's Holy Spirit leads us, and with our own free will, we get convicted and we follow that way.

We need to be convicted of sin. There is a continuous struggle. There is a continuous clash, a conflict with our mind, with our ways. Our temptations are there. We must be actively involved in resisting sin. We must get rid of sin in our lives to conform to the character of Jesus Christ. When you and I are convicted of sin, you and I are growing in holiness. We're becoming more like God. When we are backing sin and overcoming, we are allowing God through His Holy Spirit to rule over our lives and we are resisting the devil. So let's turn back to John 16. John 16, where we were a moment earlier, and you might want to keep a tab there on John 16. I should have mentioned that early on, because I'm not sure. I'm basing this sermon off John 16. In verse 9, we read that it will convict us of sin because they do not believe in Him, but we believe in Him. So we're going to do what Christ says. In verse 10, God's Holy Spirit will convict us of righteousness. In other words, God's Spirit will help us to overcome and be righteous. In other words, because I go to my Father and you see me no more, Christ was righteous. He set the example of righteousness, and because of that, He is now our eye of Christ in heaven. And we're not seeing Him literally speaking physically like they saw Him during the times of Christ. They physically saw Him. They were saying, we have to follow Him. Follow Christ. How do we follow? By practicing righteousness. Follow His example, and God's Holy Spirit convicts us that we have to follow Him. Look at Romans 8, verse 26. Romans 8, verse 26.

Likewise, the Spirit also helps us in our weaknesses. Brethren, we have weaknesses.

So, God's Holy Spirit helps us in our weaknesses. To a point that sometimes we don't even know how to pray. And God's Spirit helps us. But whatever weaknesses you have, whatever weaknesses I have, we need to ask God to give us His Spirit, the Helper, the Comforter, to convict us, to be convicted, converse, that we've got to overcome and make our efforts to be like Christ, to be righteous like Christ. And that's why it says, we, you and I, need to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. That's in 2 Peter 3, verse 18. We need to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. You know, God's Holy Spirit convicts us to be righteous like Christ is. He says, Be you perfect, for I am perfect. Be you holy, for I am holy. We'll never achieve perfection in physical life. I don't think we will. When we resurrect it, God will make up the difference. But if at least we are trying, if at least we are really trying, and making what we can, then God sees the heart. Turn with me to Romans 12, verse 2. Romans 12, verse 2.

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. The word transformed is a similar word to metamorphosis. You know, it's like a caterpillar. He goes through metamorphosis and becomes a butterfly. You and I have to have metamorphosis of transformation process from carnal mind to divine nature, from carnal human nature to divine nature. That is our transformation process. It's not complete, but we're going to be working on it. So we've got to be transformed. We've got to be changing our minds that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. You know, it says, God hears us because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in sight. So you and I need to understand and prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Not just keep His commandments, but understand what's pleasing to Him and do what's pleasing to Him. Look at 2 Corinthians 5. 2 Corinthians 5, verse 17.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. You know, Christ is creating in you and in me a better person.

So if you and I are in Christ, we are a new creation. So the physical creation is, quote-unquote, in relative terms, nothing compared to the spiritual creation. And it's Christ who is work that is creating in us a new creation which is far greater than a physical creation.

So brethren, God's Holy Spirit sanctifies us. Romans 15, 16 says we are sanctified by the Holy Spirit. 2nd Thessalonians 2, verse 13 says the sanctification of the Spirit. It's God's Holy Spirit in us that makes us holy. Saints fit apart. It's the holiness that is being made in us, your sanctification of the Spirit. In other words, sanctification means we are taking the attributes of holiness. In other words, we are taking the attributes of God. We put Him on the new man.

Look at Ephesians chapter 4. Ephesians chapter 4. We start in verse 11. And He Himself gave some to the apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers. It was God has given us the church with ministers, with men. It's God that has given us that. We didn't appoint ourselves. Verse 12, for the equipping of the saints. For the equipping of the saints. In other words, you and I, as true Christians, to equip us for the work of ministry. Oh, we're all going to be ministers now. Because in Greek, the word is the akoneia. For the work of service, God has given us a church leadership, use our dying dead leadership and the cross, to equip the church to service. For the edifying, for the building of the body of Christ, which is the church of God. Till, till, we all come to the unity of the faith. Till we all become one and of the knowledge of the Son of God. That's why it's there since they can be to grow in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. So it's not just knowledge, by the way, because then it's just all intellectualism stuck in the head. It's grace, because it's application in loving kindness and gentleness. Going to grace in the application in loving kindness and gentleness, and knowledge in becoming like Christ is. That's what it is. So we grow, come to the unity of faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, so that we are striving to become perfect. To the measure, to the standard of the stature of the forms of Christ.

That's what sanctification is all about, is the perfecting of the saints, so that you and I can reach the stature of Jesus Christ. How? With the sanctification of the Holy Spirit. So the purpose of the sanctification process, the purpose of the sanctification process, from the moment that we have the Spirit with us, is to help us purify us, cleanse us, till we reach a stage that will overcome till the end, till God says, okay, he or she has done enough, now I can put into sleep, and I can resurrect him and make up the difference. Because I know, and I know that I know, that he's there, or she's there.

That's why it says, when you read Continuing EI in Ephesians chapter 4, it says, put on the new man, and it says, renew the Spirit of your mind, says that in verse 23, and it says that you put on the new man, verse 24. And then in chapter 5, it says that you work towards the bond of perfection, which is life, which is life. And then at the end of chapter 4, it says, do not clean the Holy Spirit. Do not clean the Holy Spirit. What do you mean by that? Don't make the Holy Spirit sad. It was God's Spirit, God's mind, God's what? God's giving us that helper to help us, to lead us. Are we just appointing God by not following, submitting, and following that? Hebrews 12 verse 14. Hebrews 12 verse 14. Hebrews 12 verse 14.

Pursue peace with all people and holiness. Be a peacemaker and pursue holiness. You know, a peacemaker is kind of the last one of the Beatitudes. So pursue peace with all people and holiness. Without each, without which, no one will see the Lord. No one will see the Lord. If you and I are not peacemakers and are not pursuing holiness, we will not see God. And you read, you know, the Scriptures, it says, you know, talk about when Christ said, well, the rich man, and how can it be possible never do it? He said, with you, it's impossible. God, everything is possible. With God is possible. What do you mean? With God, the help of God's Holy Spirit, you and I can't make it. Don't wave it. Hold fast. You and I can't make it. Okay, maybe you don't have as many talents as somebody else. So what? You say, some have five, some have ten, some have one, but use the one. We only have one tiny little thing. Use it. Don't bury it. Use it. And God sees your heart.

Think on the positive. You know, from the psalms chapter 4 verse 8 says, Whatever is good, whatever is positive, whatever is holy, whatever is righteous, whatever is this, meditate on these things. So how do you get God in you? Always by thinking about God's things. Fill your mind with God's things. You know, the model of prayer says, hello, vida ne. You know, it was the very first thing. Praise God. You've got thanks. Thanks for health that you have. Well, if you don't have a lot of health, at least there's something that you've got. A little bit of health. Thank for the children, or for the house, or for the car. It takes so much that you and I can be grateful. Look at the positive. Think on these things. Meditate on these things. And fill that with gratitude. And in your prayers, the very first thing is thank God. That's why we have things like day of thanksgiving. But it's not just day of thanksgiving. We should have that every day, every day. Putting God fully our minds with that. And then the model of prayer says, give us the daily bread. Well, now that you've come, give us daily bread. What's the daily bread? It's the bread from heaven, which is what? The Holy Spirit. Give us daily. Ask in your prayers daily for God's Holy Spirit. Have you prayed this morning for God's Holy Spirit? Oh, I forgot. Well, but maybe we go home and ask daily. And then right at the end, it says, deliver us. Well, lead us not into temptation, which means guide us in the opposite way of our human nature, of God's nature, and deliver us from the pressures of the wicked one. You know, there are some brethren guiding through difficulties. Brethren that need to be delivered from the wicked one. We need to pray for that. Brethren, the Holy Spirit convicts us of the need to be righteous, convicts us and helps us to be righteous. And you and I have to do our part. We have to be growing in holiness. So back to John 16, where we were a moment, and it says, and convict us of judgment. Because the ruler of this wall is judged. God convicts us. There's going to be a judgment. And we heard that on the last high day of the feast, which we lovingly in the church have called it the last great day. Sure, it's a day, but it's the last high day of the feast, the last great day. And brethren, what great hope that is, because there will be judgment. And it says the ruler of this wall is already judged. Satan is already judged. You read in Revelation 20, I think it's verse 10, it says he'll be thrown into the lake of fire. You need to read, for instance, in sections like Matthew 25, I think it is verse 41, but it says in the lake of fire there was bolt or made forsaken and his demons. He's going to be punished, punished, and you and I are going to judge angels. It says you read in sections like in 2 Corinthians 5, it's the judgment steeped of Christ, verse 9 and 10. You're reading John 5, 21, 23. It says God delegated all judgment to Christ. The father delegated all judgment to Christ, and Christ is going to delegate to us. Some of it, because it says, don't you know that you will judge angels?

And angels have sinned, and they're costing to Tartarou and throw the day of judgment. You're reading Jude 1, verse 60. They reserved the everlasting chains until the day of judgment, and you will judge them. Now, the ruler of the wall has already been judged, but the other demons, you and I, will have a responsibility to judge. So there is a judgment, there is a judgment to come, and God's Holy Spirit convicts us of that judgment, convicts us.

And because of that, we are extra-motivated to not sin, and we're extra-motivated to seek righteousness, because there's going to be a judgment. And the weakness you see around you, it will be judged! It says, everyone will be judged according to his works. You heard that during the peace, towards the end of the latter part of the last day of the peace, they will be judged. And then we'll continue reading. I still have many things to tell you in John 16, verse 12, but you cannot hear, you cannot bear them now. Verse 13, However, when he, the Spirit of Truth, has come, he will guide you into all truth. God's Holy Spirit is a convicting agent and guides it into the whole truth. And it also says, sanctify them through your truth. Thy word is truth, which is God's Bible. So God's Spirit working with the Bible helps us to see the truth. So brethren, that is how God's Holy Spirit will help us. God's Holy Spirit is a convicting of sin, convicting of righteousness, convicting of judgment, helps us to understand the truth, because he opens our mind to see it. You read in 1 Corinthians chapter 2, he says, no man can understand the things of man unless he has the Spirit of man, and no man can understand the things of God unless you have God's Holy Spirit. So God's Holy Spirit is a convicting of the Bible. It opens your mind to understand, and it does not mean that you have to be baptized. God's Spirit works with you before baptism. I've got people finding me the other day, they were finding me at 11 30 at night, and I was on the phone with him till two in the morning, all the way from Brazil, saying, please help me, and this, this, and this. Oh, but your booklets are so clear, I can read the Bible, I can understand it. How come other people don't understand it? And I said, you understand it, because God's Spirit is working with you. Because other people read it. And he's not baptized. You see, so God's Spirit is working with him, and God's Spirit can work with us even if you're not baptized. So follow the lead. And then he goes on, reading up, verse 14, he says of John 16, and he, God's Holy Spirit, will glorify me, for he will take off what is mine and he will take it to you. God's Holy Spirit will glorify Christ, will not minimize Christ, will glorify Christ. And when you glorify Christ, you glorify the Father, because the Father is delegated to him, all judgment, and the Father is delegated to him, all authority, and all power.

Look at Colossians chapter 1. Colossians chapter 1. Love, reception of Scripture. Colossians chapter 1. And look at it.

Colossians chapter 1. We give thanks in verse 3. To God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of your love for all the signs, because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel. We've got a hope reserved for us in heaven, so that when the kingdom comes to earth for us to rule, we will get that reward. We give thanks. And look at verse 9. And it says, So yeah, we need to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and converted us into the kingdom of the Son of His love. In Hulma we have redemption. And look at it a bit later. He says, He has preeminence over all. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and converted us into the kingdom of the Son of His love. He has preeminence over all. Christ has preeminence over all.

Look at verse 18. He is the head of the body of the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, and in all things, He, Christ, may have preeminence. There is nothing wrong to glorify Christ. And that's what the Holy Spirit does, as we saw in John 16. There is nothing wrong with that. And that's why it says a little later on in chapter 3, Think, Seek, Seek those things which are above. Set your mind on things above, not on things of the earth. So brethren, if you and I want to be holy, we need God's Holy Spirit, which will convict us of sin, so we are by God, will convict us of righteousness, so that we are growing and overcoming, using God's Holy Spirit to become righteous, and who convicts us that there is going to be a judgment. Because if you don't change, the truth is there's going to be a final judgment. There's no ducking. There's no ducking. It's going to happen. And so, God's Holy Spirit will guide us to the whole truth, and God's Holy Spirit will glorify Christ. So, when it says, Be you holy as I am holy, I have given you today a few points to help you to be holy.