Be ye holy

Brethren, I'd like you to turn with me to 1 Peter 1. 1 Peter 1. Now, I'm breaking the rules of a good introduction by turning you to go straight to Scripture, but that's okay. We've got 1 Peter 1. Starting in verse 13, it 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. As obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former, lasts as in your ignorance. Here it was in the days of your forgiveness, but as he who called you is holy. You also be holy in all your conduct.

Brethren, how can we be holy? How can we be holy? You know, you and I cannot declare anything holy. For it's the Sabbath. It's God that sanctified it and made it holy. When Moses was in the burning bush, God made it holy. Was Moses that made it? Holy means, as you and I know, it set aside. It separated for a holy, godly use. But holy is also the very nature of God. It's the very nature of God. So only God can make something holy. Only God can put himself into something to make it holy. Only God can set it apart for his godly purpose. It is God that makes us holy. Or does it mean, therefore, I've got nothing to do and you've got nothing to do? God makes us holy. No, because it says, and we'll finish reading, you also be holy in all your conduct so that we all have a part to do to be holy. It is God that makes us holy, but we do have something to do by working with God's Holy Spirit to be holy.

And therefore, my question and my purpose today is to talk about what you and I need to do to be holy. Continue reading in verse 16 says, because it is written, Be holy for I am holy. That comes from Leviticus 11 45. So it's nothing new. But how can we be holy? Let's turn to John chapter 14, please. John chapter 14 verse 15 through 18.

John 14 verse 15 through 18. If you love me, keep my commandments. And I'll pray the Father, and he will give you another helper. Yes, Christ is our helper, is our defense advocate. But God has given us another helper, not another person, but in the form of God's Holy Spirit. He's another helper that he or it, you know, in the English language, it's not like in Portuguese or Greek that everything has a gender. For instance, a table there in Portuguese is she. A chair that you're sitting on in Portuguese is she. But a screen where you project is he. So everything's got a gender in some languages, but not so in English. So in English there's a neutral gender. But in Greek, there isn't, and in Portuguese there isn't. So it's not a proof that by reading at Yahweh that he's a person. But continue reading, therefore, in John chapter 14. And he says in verse 16, he says, and he'll give you another helper that he, that's God's Holy Spirit, may abide with you forever, the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because Ignatius sees him, nor knows him. In other words, the world cannot receive God's Holy Spirit because it does not see God's Holy Spirit. It's a spiritual entity you can't see as a physical human being, nor the world knows God's Holy Spirit. But you, as God's brethren in God's church, you know God's Holy Spirit. For he, that's his God's Holy Spirit, dwells with you.

Jesus Christ was talking to disciples. Pentecost had not yet come. And so God's Holy Spirit was dwelling with the disciples. And they were his disciples. So young people, you do not have God's Holy Spirit in you yet, because it says, yeah, reading it, it says, for he dwells with you and will be in you. So young people, God's Spirit dwells with you today. Dwells with you. Young men, young girls in the church, yeah, in God's family. God's Spirit dwells with you like he dwelled with the disciples before Pentecost. And God's Spirit will be in you when the day you get baptized. And this is important for us to understand, Reverend, because you and I can be holy even if you are not baptized.

So I'm not talking only to baptized members in the spiritual family, but I'm talking to you young men and young ladies. God's Spirit is with you. That's very precious. It's like your mom and dad is with you. They care for you. They're with you. And God's Spirit is with you. So reading a little further in chapter 16, starting in verse 7, Nevertheless, I tell you the truth. It is to advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, I will be with you. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth. It is to advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the help will not come to you. But if I depart, I'll send him to you. And, brethren, God's Holy Spirit is now amongst us and is present in this whole God's Spirit. And God is with us. And he says, And when he has come, he will convict the world of sin. Now, convict is a very interesting word. It's very interesting because it's not convince. It's convict. Now, this is a point that I have to emphasize in Portuguese, because in Portuguese, there is a word convict, but there's no verb convict. So, yeah, in Portuguese, it's translated, he will convince you.

But that dilutes the meaning. That dilutes the meaning, because God's Holy Spirit is not convincing you. I mean, I can convince you, but you still stay of the same opinions, though, right? You've heard that saying. It's convict, which pricks your heart and your mind to say, I have to change. Conviction is far deeper than convincing. It's a very powerful word. And he says, he will convict the world of sin, and he will convict the world of righteousness, and he will convict the world of judgment. That's what it is. He will convict the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment, which basically means it's convict, it's the verb, the action for all three of sin, because they do not believe in me.

What is belief?

If I tell my children, don't cross the street because there's a car coming. If they believe me, they won't cross the street. They don't believe me, they'll cross the street, the car will come and they'll dead. So belief is action.

So basically saying, convict them of sin because they do not do what I tell them to do. Convict of righteousness because I go to my father and he'll see me no more. What does that mean? Because I go to the father and that means, therefore, because you can't see me, now you have to follow me so that you can be in the kingdom with me. You have to be a follower, a disciple. In the words of righteousness, because you'll only make it if you're not if you have righteousness. Oh, therefore, I've got to put on righteousness.

No, that's self-righteousness. You've got to put on God's righteousness. Hang it in first for God's righteousness, not self-righteousness. Big difference. And convict you, verse 11 of judgment. Convict you there is gonna be a day that you're gonna have to give account. You read that in Ecclesiastes. Young man, have fun, but remember, have fun in the days of your youth, but remember you'll have to give account for it. And it says there is a judgment. So it does not mean, oh well, so it does not mean, oh well, because I'm not baptized, I can do whatever I want. No. God is watching your heart, and you're gonna have to, sooner or later, give an answer for all your actions.

You'll be judged according to works of judgment, because the rule of the swole is judged. You know, where Satan is already judged. Yes, you and I will rule, will judge the angels, but Satan is already judged. You know, we'll read a little later. He's gonna be thrown into the lake of fire. Matthew 25 says, prepared for Satan, for the devil, and his demons, and his angels.

He's already judged. So brethren, then he goes on. I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. Oh, there's so much we can learn, but you're just not ready for it yet. However, when you have God's Holy Spirit, and you grow through God's Holy Spirit in this process of growth, of overcoming, and practicing, and then learning, and then overcoming, and practicing, a process which is not a vicious circle, but is a virtuous circle of growth. As you grow through this process, you see, then the Spirit of Truth has come.

You'll guide you into all truth. You grow into more truth as you practice, and you'll not speak of his own authority. But whatever years he will speak, and he'll tell you things to come. So God's Spirit will guide us into the truth. So that's the fruit. The end result of God's Spirit is that we'll learn God's truth. We'll abide. We'll have a better understanding, a better perspective. The cloud, the fog gets done away, and we'll start understanding and seeing it better.

And through God's Spirit, we will glorify Christ. That's what it says. We will glorify Christ. For he, that's God's Spirit, will take off what is mine, Christ's, and will show it to you, declare it to you. All things that the Father has are mine.

Therefore, I said that he will take off mine and declare it to you, and through God's Spirit, will glorify Christ. So what are we talking about? How can we become holy? Here are three points that God's Spirit helps us. And so let's look at those three points in a little bit more detail. The first one is that we must be convicted of sin and obey God. We know in Acts 5.32, it says God gives his Holy Spirit to those that obey Him. But there's one interesting scripture, which is in 1 Samuel 15.

1 Samuel 15. So if you turn there with me, please, 1 Samuel chapter 15. This is the time when Saul, the king, was told to wipe out the Amalekites. And you know the story. He did not. See, because the Amalekites practiced what we nowadays call terrorism. They went behind the people and attacked the little ones and the children and the ones at the back. And God said, wipe out that Spirit. And because that Spirit of terrorism is not wiped out, we have it still today.

The Spirit of Amalekites. It's just spread. You see now, look at in 1 Samuel 15 verse 23. In fact, start reading in verse 22. So Samuel said to Saul, because Saul said, oh, look how good I've done. And then Samuel said to Saul, has the Lord, as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, though obeying the voice of the Lord? Is God really interested in you killing bulls and goats? No!

Behold, to obey His Spirit and giving sacrifices. And to heed than the fact of Ramm's. Look at verse 23. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft. You go to Africa, because Voodoo, there's all those other things. You go to Brazil, it's rampant. It's a frightful thing. We've got to confront these evil spirits. As in the churches, ministers, I've confronted a number of them.

And for reasons of that kind, I have to go to Brazil next week. So please pray. It's not going to be a joyous trip. There is a wrong spirit out there, brethren, and he's attacking the church and God's people. And he says rebellion is the sin of witchcraft. Rebellion is like it. So when you find people that rebel, they don't want to obey God. That is not nice. Put it that way. Stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry, because stubbornness means you make a God out of yourself. That's what it is. Stubborn. Stuff naked. Oh yeah. We look at ourselves. We look at ourselves, don't we? Because you've rejected the Lord, the Word of the Eternal, he also has rejected you from being a king. So brethren, God's Holy Spirit convicts us of sin, which means we realize we must obey. Look at 1 John chapter 3. 1 John chapter 3. Now brethren, young people, some of you are not baptized, yeah? Obedience is for everybody, whether you're baptized or not. God's Spirit is with you if you're not baptized, and you got obey. 1 John chapter 3 verse 4. Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. And you know that he was manifested to take away our sins, that's Christ, and in him there was no sin. Whoever abides in Christ in him does not sin.

Now, we all are human beings and we all trip, but you know we're trying to walk in the light so that we don't trip. But Yah is talking about people that have the practice of just sinning. If our practice is to do the right thing and we trip, it's a different story. There's a difference. So he says whoever abides in him does not sin. He's not in the practice, in the habit, just going on sinning regardless. That's rebellion, that's stubbornness. Whoever sins has neither seen him nor known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices, you see, he's talking about practicing, he who practices righteousness is righteous, just as he is righteous. And he who sins 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. Verse 9, whoever has been born of God, whoever you and I have been born of God, but this born is ganal, which means it's begotten. You and I have been begotten of God. If some of you ladies here are expecting, the dad is already dead because he's already begot that baby in your womb. He's done his part. There's no more he can do now, besides obviously being loving, caring, and doing all the other things. But what I mean is, he's already begotten the baby. He's already your child.

So we have been born of God. In other words, we've been begotten of God. God the Father has done his part. Whoever has been born of God has not said, for his seed. God's seed remains in him. If you have a concordance out there, some of you have gotten yourself out, Hebrews, concordance, you know, it's got a little hash, and look at there, you'll see the word in Greek is sperma. But we should get the English word sperma, the holy seed from God. So when you are baptized, and after the baptism, one of God's true ministers asks God to honor the promise and to give you the promise of the Holy Spirit, God's holy seed is implanted in the spiritual egg in your mind, which is the spirit of man in man, and you become a begotten child of God. You're not adopted. I know a number of English translations use the word you adopted. The Greek word is jios, which means sans of. You have become sans, truly sans of God, not adopted. Oh, I've got something against adoption. No, I don't. It's a lovely deed that a lot of people, and maybe some of you, yeah, do and have adopted children. I have nothing against adoption. But if you adopt a cat into your family, that cat will always be a cat. I know some people adopt pets, right?

If God was adopting you and I, you will always be a human being of the humankind. But God is not adopting you. He's making you one of these children. So you are not going to be any more of the humankind, but you're going to be of the God kind, sans of God. That's the difference. So, brethren, it says, yeah, who has been born of God does not sin. When we receive God's Holy Spirit, the Holy Seed makes us children of God. That's why God's Holy Spirit is in us. But in addition to that, He is with us, guiding us, and we ask for more of God's Holy Spirit, because it's multidimensional. We just can't understand all these things, because it's so difficult to explain, because we are physical human beings, and these are spiritual matters. So God's Holy Spirit is with us and in us as His children, and guides us, and stirs us, and leads us. And therefore, it says in Romans chapter 8 verse 14, Romans chapter 8 verse 14, As many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. If you have the seed of God, which is God's Holy Spirit in you, you have the genetic code, quote-unquote, spiritual genetic code of God. And you know what? You look at some of your children, like they say, like father, like son, right? And they say, oh well, I looked at the picture of this person when he was 10 years old, and now I look at the child, and they look the same. Why? Because they got the same genes. We end up with God's genes, spiritually speaking. And so God's nature is part of us when we baptized, and we've got to follow that lead.

As we're reading here in verse 14, As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. They are behaving as sons of God. Yes, we're still in the womb of the mother, which is the church. We're still not born after the nine months of gestation, whatever it is, has not completed. Right? It completes when we persevere till the end of those nine months, spiritually speaking, which is either when we die or when Christ comes back, whichever comes first. But we gotta be growing, and we gotta be led by the Spirit of God. Look at verse 9. But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. You see, our mindset, our nature, our thinking is not on the things of the flesh. We gotta have self-control. We gotta put those things... it all basically starts in the mind.

Really, we gotta control our thoughts. We gotta have self-discipline. That's the beginning point. We gotta control that. And then we gotta be led by God's Holy Spirit. In other words, we're not possessed by God's Holy Spirit. God's Holy Spirit never possesses you, never domineers you, never dominates you. He just guides and leads you. And you voluntarily, of your own free will, of your desire, you are led by God's Holy Spirit. And you young people, even though you're not baptized, you can be led by God's Holy Spirit, because God's Holy Spirit is with you, just like your mom and dad can lead you and point you in the right direction. God's Holy Spirit is with you and leading you. Don't quench the Spirit. Don't reject it. Submit to God and Satan will flee from you, right? Allow God to lead us. Don't be rebellious, stiff-necked, obstinate. Allow God to lead you. And God will help you with the power of the Holy Spirit to change your mind and your way of thinking. And that's a miracle. It's a miracle. God's Spirit working with us and or in us, leading us, works with our conscience. Look at Hebrews chapter 10. Look at Hebrews chapter 10 verse 19. Of course, God's Spirit works with your conscience, even if you're not baptized. Because you know, oh, I better not do this, right? He's working with your conscience.

Hebrews chapter 10 verse 19. Therefore, brethren, having boldness to entering the Holiest by the blood of Jesus by a new and living way, which He consecrated for us through the veil that is His flesh, and having a high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with true art in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Brethren, God works with us. Let's have boldness. Crisis died for us, for all mankind. We have a new and living way. We've got a new high priest. Let us have a full assurance of faith to go that way, and let's have our hearts sprinkled from that evil conscience. And hold fast. Don't wave us, says YHWH. Verse 23. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who has promised is faithful. God is faithful. He will never leave you or forsake you. Never! Never! See God's Spirit? It's the Spirit of Truth. It proceeds from the Father. That's why we are His children. But it's Christ that sends it to us, comes through Him, He sends it to us. And we, and you and I, we need to be convicted of sin. And you know what? It's a continuous struggle. Why? Because you and I are human beings, and we, you and I are in the flesh, and you and I occasionally have those little thoughts that come in and say, uh-uh, and we got to put them away. It's a continuous struggle. And that's part of the developing character. It's part of growth. Look at Galatians chapter 5.

Galatians chapter 5. Verse 15 and 16. Galatians 5, verse 15 and 16. But if you bite and devour one another, if you are having those snippy, snide little remarks, ting, ting, ting, they're so subtle, but just, uh, just enough to hurt them, uh, get it in, or get it hurt. Be careful! Beware lest you be consumed by one another. I say then, walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the last of the flesh. Walk in the Spirit. Be led by God's Spirit, and walk that way. We, you and I, must be actively involved in resisting sin. And you know what? It starts in the mind. Get those wrong thoughts out. Cheers! Goodbye! Starts in the mind.

Second Timothy chapter 2. Second Timothy chapter 2.

Verse 3 through 7. Second Timothy chapter 2. Verse 3 to 7.

You therefore must endure a hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

So we must endure, we must fight this all the time. We must fight, get rid of sin in our lives. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself the fears of in this life that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier. And if anyone competes in athletics, he's not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. The hard-working farmer must be first to partake the crops. Consider what I say.

And may the Lord give you understanding in all things. Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel, for which I suffered trouble as an evildoer, even to the point of chance. But the word of God is not changed. Therefore, endure all things for the sake of the elect. Endure. We must get rid. We must grow. We must be growing. We must be growing in holiness. We must be becoming holy all the time. We must be battling sin like a true soldier, resisting the devil. So that's one point that the Holy Spirit asks for us, convicts us of sin. The next point in John 16.10, it says, convicts us to be righteous. God's Holy Spirit helps us with our weaknesses, helps us to grow, to be like Christ, to have the character of Jesus Christ in us, to bear the fruits of repentance, to overcome even before baptism, even before you are baptized. We're going to bear fruits of repentance before baptism, not after baptism. No minister will baptize you if there's no fruits of repentance. So you've got to do it before you're baptized. So young people, it's now. It's now. Look at 2 Peter chapter 3. 2 Peter chapter 3. I think it was quoted early on today. 2 Peter chapter 3 verse 17 through 18. You, therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, because there's going to be a judgment and these things are going to happen, and God is patient, and for him a thousand years is a day and a day is a thousand years. But it says, beware, lest you fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked, in a word, sinning. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. God's Holy Spirit will help us to grow and to be righteous, like Christ is righteous. That's what it is, the knowledge of Jesus Christ. That's what we grow in the kindness, in the graciousness, in the loving care. That's the grace and the knowledge of Jesus Christ. It's not in the knowledge of maps or computers or astrology, but it's the knowledge of Jesus Christ. And how do we do that? It was read also early on in the sermonette.

In Romans 12, verse 1 and 2, it said, be you transformed. Be you transformed. Transformation is a metamorphosis, you know, like a little warm becomes a butterfly. That's a metamorphosis. That's the transformation of your mind. That's what it is. The word there in Greek is metamorphosis, the one where you get the word metamorphosis. That's the change of our minds that it's got to be. So we ought to be transformed by renewing our minds from our minds of flesh to the mind of Christ. Look at 2 Corinthians chapter 5. 2 Corinthians chapter 5.

2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 17. Therefore, if any man is in Christ, he is a new creation.

You thought about that?

Your new creation. Is anything wrong with the physical creation of man? No, when man was created, it says, it was very good, but it's physical, but there's the weakness of the flesh. What is a better creation? Isn't it the spiritual creation? Isn't that better? In a sense, isn't that greater? In a sense, isn't that greater?

I mean, nowadays we can do a lot of things with computers and create a lot of things, and okay, we can't create life. Only God can.

But Christ here, it says, if we in Christ is a new creation, we are created through Christ's spirit beings. He's in the process of creating us as spirit beings, and that is a far greater creation than the physical creation. Think about it. And you know, the Father delegated it all to Christ to do it. In a sense, creating physical things, it's peanuts to God. But creating a spiritual son of God, it's something very special, and we are new creation through Christ. Can you see how much the Father has delegated to the Son? Wow! And if we say this, are we insulting the Father, saying, well, we're new creation by Christ? No, because it's to the glory of the Father! If my children do something which is just outstanding, or your children, or your grandchildren do something, you say, well, isn't that a glory to you and your parents? Or you say, oh no, my children are now taking over me.

Brethren, the Father is so much bigger. Of course, He is. But He's delegated it to the Son. We are sanctified. We are made holy. We are made separate. How? By the Holy Spirit. Look at Romans chapter 15. Romans chapter 15.

Verse 16. That I might be a minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering of the Gentiles might be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. We are sanctified by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit comes from the Father, but it comes through Christ. He sends it to us. We are called by the Father, but Christ is the one that does all that work under the delegated authority of the Father. Look at 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, verse 13. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, verse 13.

But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren, beloved by the Lord. Because God, from the beginning, chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and believing the truth. You and I are sanctified. You and I are made holy. The word sanctified or holy is basically the same word. In fact, in Portuguese, there's no word holy. There's only a word sanctified. Interesting. And in Greek, it's the same thing. It's the same word. You are sanctified. You are set apart. You are made holy by God's Holy Spirit. It comes from the Father, proceeds from the Father. But God's Holy Spirit teaches us to imitate God. And who is our big example? Our example we stand to and for is Christ. Christ is the example. He's in the image of the Father. So sanctification, brethren, is the taking on of the attributes of holiness. Taking on the attributes of Jesus Christ or of God. We ought to put on the new man. We ought to put on Christ. That's what we read in Ephesians chapter 4, isn't it? Turn with me to Ephesians chapter 4, verse 11.

Ephesians chapter 4, verse 11. And he himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers for the equipping of the signs for the work of ministry. And people say, oh well therefore I can be a minister because I'm a saint. I'm in God's church. Therefore I can be a minister because it's the work of ministry. They forget that the actual word there is the Akone. The word there is the Akonea, for the work of service. Ministering is serving. God is equipping the signs for the work of serving.

I was talking to Mr. Dowd, I think it was last night, and he was saying, you know, or maybe it was somebody else, sorry, I apologize. It says, people sometimes come into the church and say, oh well, I want to be a minister, I want to preach, I want to whatever they are. He says, now first you've got to serve. First you've got to be a disciple. We are being equipped for the work of ministry, which means serving, for the building, for the edifying of the church of God. In other words, the body of Christ. Till we all come to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, till we all come to the knowledge of Jesus Christ. That's why it says, growing the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. That's where in Israel, come to the unity of the faith of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man. We're not to compare ourselves with ourselves, we're to compare ourselves with Christ. He is our standard. That's who we compare ourselves to. So we come to the knowledge of the Son of God, to the knowledge of Christ. That's who we are to grow in the grace and knowledge. In the grace, that means in the gentleness and the kindness and the compassion and just the loving care that they have, the Father and the Son has for us. We've got to learn that.

So we grow to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, that we should no longer be children tossed to and fro, carried about by every window of doctrine, and by the trickery of man, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but speaking the truth in love, in graciousness, in kindness. There's a lot for us to grow, a lot for me to grow. Brethren, I'm talking to myself. I'm not better than you. Please don't think. I'm just, I look at myself and say, I'm not body, but by the grace of God, I stand the eye, and by the grace of God, you will be in the kingdom of God, and you will be there because you'll never leave or forsake you, unless you forsake him. You'll never leave or forsake you. But speaking the truth in love, grow up in all things and to him, who is the head, Christ. Who is the head? Christ! He's the head of the church, He's the head of the body, He's the one that we follow, He's the one that has been delegated to him all authority. He's been delegated to him the power to make judgment. He's the one that will judge.

For whom the whole body joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, working to the effect of working by which every part as it she causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. I think there's a lot there that we still have to learn, brethren. There's a lot there that we still have to learn. So, brethren, we ought to put on this new man. You can continue reading an Ephesians. It says, put on a new man, renew your mind. You know, with God, it's all possible. You may think, oh, well, it's impossible. No, with God, it's all possible.

You can do it, brethren. We can do it. But it's God's only Spirit that convicts us to be righteous. And with God's help through His Spirit, you and I can do it. You and I cannot do it by ourselves. No, not by ourselves. We can only do it of God's Spirit because it's God's Spirit that convicts us to be righteous. It's God's Spirit that convicts us of sin. It's God's Spirit that convicts us of righteousness. And therefore, we, with the help of God's Holy Spirit, we've got to do our part to grow in holiness and to become like Him. And the third component of the conviction, as we read in John 16 verse 11, is that the Holy Spirit convicts us of judgment. Because Satan has been judged. We know that the judgment seat is the judgment seat of Christ. You can read that in 2 Corinthians 5, 9 through 10. And look at John chapter 5. Look at John chapter 5, verse 21 through 23. I made reference to that a little while back, but I want to read it so you can see it's right there. John chapter 5 verse 21 through 23. For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will. The Son gives life to whom He will. Because the Father delegated that to the Son. For the Father judges no one, but as committed all judgment to the Son, the Father delegated all judgment to the Son. That all should honor the Son, that all should honor the Son, as they honor the Father. He does not honor the Son, does not honor the Father who sent Him. Period.

If people are respecting your children, you feel honored for that, don't you? So, if we respect and honor God's Son, the Father is honored for that. It's the glory of God.

So, brethren, we know that judgment is reserved to Christ, but He then in turn has delegated some of the judgment to us. Because you know, it says you will judge angels. So, in turn, He's delegated. You know, there's a line of delegation, like in an organization, there's manager, and then there's managers under the manager, and so on. It delegates the authority. There's nothing wrong with that.

And we know, look at Matthew 25, verse 41. Matthew 25, verse 41.

I also mentioned that a little earlier on, but I just want to make sure that you say, where did George get that from? Well, yeah, from Matthew 25, 41.

And this is talking about Christ, about Christ talking, that's the Son of Man will judge all nations. And in verse 41, He says, then He will also say to those on the left hand, the part from Me you cursed into the everlasting fire, that's Gehenna fire. Who is that fire prepared for? Read it in your Bible.

Prepared for the devil and his demons and his angels. So brethren, the devil you and I know will be cast into the lake of fire. There is a judgment coming. So if Satan is going to be judged, we're all going to be judged. That's what it says. And therefore, God's only Spirit convicts us that there's gonna be a day where the accountants will have their field day. I'm just joking. You know what? You're all gonna give account. We all have to give account.

You see, we got it. There's gonna be accounts gonna be checked. You and I will be judged according to our works. We're all gonna have to give account. So, as we go back to John 16, when we read a while ago, John 16.

We read, starting from verse 8, when it said that God's only Spirit will convict the wall of sin, of righteous, and of judgment. And then from verse 9 through 11, it explains a little bit more detail, which I did go through into it. But then it says, there's many things for you and I to learn. But God's Word will guide us into all truth. God's Word is truth. And as we live and as we obey God, we start understanding it better and better. Over the years go by, as you in the church longer, things start making a little bit more sense, become a little clearer and clearer. No, we're not changing a chair and saying that now it's a table, but we just start seeing the details of that chair a little bit more in detail. We start seeing it clearer in a better focus, you know, not, you know, not a little bit of... it gets better focus, more focused, clearer. And so God's Spirit and God's Word guides us into all truth. They are God's convicting agents. What convinces us. And then it says in verse 14, God's Spirit will glorify me. Will glorify me. A lovely piece of Scripture for you to read through is in Colossians. In fact, Colossians chapter 1, and it says, you know, that we give thanks to you, and that you bear fruit. And then it says, Christ has preeminence in all. He means, in other words, the Father has given Christ preeminence in all. He's delegated, the Father delegated to Christ everything, everything. And you know, it says everything will get under Christ, and when everything is under Christ, and he's even done a way of death, then you'll land everything to the Father. Right? Christ has preeminence in all. And then in chapter 2 of Colossians it says, walk in Christ. He's the head of all spiritual rule, government authority, all rule out there in the spiritual world that you and I cannot begin to understand. You know, while Daniel, there is the angel that would come in and took two weeks or whatever it was, and he had to fight with the Prince of Persia and all this stuff. There's things out there that you and I don't even begin to understand. Do you know what? When I go into other countries, I soon realize there's a different Prince out there, spiritually speaking. And you go to another country, you can see there's a different Prince. There's a different spirit of evil. And you go to the second country, there's a different spirit of evil. There's powers out there that you and I cannot begin to understand.

And everything is under Christ. Everything. He's the head of all rule, government and authority. And then in Colossians chapter 3 then says, seek those things above. Fill your mind with God's things. Fill your mind with the things of God and of Christ. Let your mind be positive. So, brethren, with God's Holy Spirit, you and I can be holy. Because God's Holy Spirit in us, as God's Spirit leads us, we must not quench it. We must not quench it. We must not kind of put it away and say, I'm not going to listen to that. That's still small voice that guides you and I, that breaks your conscience and my conscience. We've got to listen to it. Because it convicts us of sin to obey God. It convicts us of righteousness to help us to overcome. And it convicts us of judgment because if we don't change, there will be a final judgment. But God's Spirit will lead us into all truth and will lead us to give God glory through Christ. So, what is it that you and I need to be holy? We need to be led by God's Holy Spirit. It's been lovely to be with you, brethren, and I hope you all continue having a lovely