The Holy Spirit - The Essence of God

The title of the sermon today is, The Holy Spirit, The Essence of God. The Holy Spirit, The Essence of God. One of the greatest, perhaps the greatest, event in the history of humankind occurred on the day of Pentecost 31 A.D. On this day, the day of Pentecost, 1995 years ago, according to our reckoning, the Holy Nation of God, the Israel of God began, God's holy temple. The tabernacle of David began to be raised up, which is the church, and God began to dwell in man through his Spirit. It is sobering to contemplate that you have, we have within us, abiding within us, the essence of God. You have the essence of God dwelling in you if you have the Holy Spirit. In John 4 and verse 24, if you want to turn to these scriptures, I'll be going rather quickly. I urge you to take down the scriptures and review them later today. Sun sets today somewhere around 820. So you get a lot of time after you go home to review the scriptures. In John 4 and 4.24, it says that God is spirit, and we have to worship Him in spirit and in truth. Also in John 15 verse 26, John 15.26, we find that God is the source of the Holy Spirit. When I say God, of course Jesus Christ is God, but I'm talking about God the Father. God the Father is the source of the Holy Spirit. In John 15.26, it says the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father. The reason why there's a Greek Orthodox Church and a Russian Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church is because of this split that occurred somewhere around 1000 AD over the procession of the Prosection. How does it proceed? The Catholics in the West, the Latin Church centered in Rome, insisted that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. The Eastern Church, at that time, the Greek Orthodox and the Russian Orthodox is a copy of the Greek Orthodox and the Episcopalian Church in America is to a large degree the Catholic Church all over again. Anyhow, the Eastern Church said it was from the Father only, and they, of course, are correct because the Scripture says it proceeds from the Father. So, Pentecost could be called a day of beginnings because on this day, one of the greatest events in history, in the history of mankind, occurred. On this day, some 1995 years ago, as we have said, God sent His Holy Spirit to dwell in man, not just with man, to dwell in Him. So, let's define the Holy Spirit. For a long time in the early years when I first came to the Church, we would say that the Holy Spirit is the power of God. Well, the Holy Spirit, through this Holy Spirit, God does works of power. But God is Spirit, as we read from John 4, 24. That is His very essence. You are flesh. That is your essence. You're composed of flesh. Now, with regard to power, it is through the Holy Spirit that God does works of power. If you would turn to Zechariah 4, one of the last of the minor prophets toward the yin, Zechariah just after Haggai, Zechariah 4, this is a very important scripture.

Then He answered and spoke unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto the rubber bell, saying, Not by power, but by my Spirit, says the eternal host. So the essence of God is Spirit, and He does works of power through His Spirit. It's like you do works of whatever it is that you're trying to accomplish through your flesh.

The Holy Spirit is what we can use to do works of power in the spiritual sense. The Holy Spirit, of course, is holy, and remember that holy things have the presence of God within them. Sacred things point to a higher reality. We sing sacred songs, but with the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit is the very essence of God, and it is in you. So, in Acts chapter 1 and verse 8, and we'll go to Acts chapter 1 verse 8, just before Christ ascended back to heaven and received the glory that He gave up to come to the earth. He didn't give up His glory. He didn't give up His divinity, but He gave up His glory in Acts chapter 1 and verse 8. But you shall receive power after that the Holy Spirit has come upon you. So, through the Holy Spirit, we can do works of power. And you shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth. So, on this day, when we received the Holy Spirit, when the Holy Spirit was sent, I should say to the church, one of the great mysteries of God began to be fulfilled. The greatest mystery of God. What is the greatest mystery of God? It is how mere flesh can become born, first of all, begotten and then born sons and daughters of God. Through the Holy Spirit, now we want to go to 1 Peter chapter 1, 1 Peter chapter 1 and verse 9. Through the Holy Spirit, as we shall see here, we can take on the very divine nature of God. We have human nature dwelling in us, but through the Holy Spirit, we can have God's nature dwelling in us. The divine nature. So we go to 1 Peter 1 verse 9.

Receiving the end or the result, the outcome of your faith, even the salvation of your life essence, of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you. Searching that what or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify with it, testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should be revealed.

So we are now begotten by the Holy Spirit. We go to verse 3. Blessed He be the God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again unto living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Jesus Christ had to be resurrected. You remember He told His disciples, If I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you. The Holy Spirit will not come unto you. To an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation and ready to be revealed in the last time. So we have abiding in us.

Now we go to 2 Peter, 2 Peter, chapter 1, verse 4. We are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises that by this we might be partakers of the divine nature. So we are partakers of the divine nature. The very essence of God dwells in each one of us. And right at this present time, I want you to say under your breath, God loves me. God loves me. Do we ever think about we have God dwelling in us and God loves you, and then at the same time that God loves you, you can say, I am a begotten son or daughter of God.

I am a child of God. There's a wonderful song titled that, I am a child of God. Partakers of the divine nature have an escape, the corruption that is in the world through us. And so we are partakers of the very essence of God, the divine nature.

Now let's go to the revelation of the great mystery, the greatest mystery of all, Colossians 1 and verse 17. In Colossians 1, the Apostle Paul writing in verse 1, G.E.P.C. That's how I remember it. In Colossians chapter 1 and verse 17. Colossians 1 verse 17. What are we talking about? We're talking about the greatest mystery.

What is greatest mystery? Well, I've already given you the answer. It is that mere flesh can become the very begotten Son of God, take on the divine nature and be born into the family of God. And he, this is Colossians 1 and verse 17. And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. And that's talking about Christ. He is the head of the body, the Church, who is the beginning, the first born from the dead. Christ has gone through the same process that you go through.

He was begotten of the Spirit, lived a sinless life, set the law perfectly, died, was resurrected, and ascended back to heaven, making intercession for us as our high priests. That in all things he might have the preeminence. So Jesus Christ has been given under the Father all things. He has power through all things, and yet he washed the apostles' feet. For it please the Father that him should all fullness dwell, everything that God is, he is.

And having made peace through the blood of the cross by him to reconcile all things unto himself by him, so to serve Jesus Christ's sacrifice, we exercise faith upon repentance and exercise faith and come to believe that our sins are forgiven. I say, whether they be things in earth or things in heaven, and you that were sometimes alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now have been reconciled. Much more we shall be reconciled by his death, but much more we'll be saved by his life. So the essence of God is dwelling in you.

In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy, unblameable, un-reproveable in his sight. So when you repent and exercise faith in Christ, God views you as sinless. You're in a state of perfection and reconciliation, and God then can beget you with his Spirit. And when you sin, after you're begotten, you go, of course, through the same process of repentance and faith in the sacrifice of Christ.

If you continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which we have heard and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven, whereof I, Paul, am a minister. There's coming a time, according to Revelation 14, that the three angels' messages will go forth, and God will make sure that every person on the face of the earth has an opportunity to hear the gospel. The Church was raised up to take the gospel to the world.

Verse 24, who now rejoiced in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ, which in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the Church. Wherefore, I made a minister according to the dispensation of God. A lot of people make fun of the Church of God, and we're not the only ones that believe that there are dispensations.

Of course, there are dispensations. The Holy Spirit had not been given to the general populace before the day of Pentecost. And on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was given to the general populace. And we're now in the Church Age, and under that dispensation, there's one more dispensation coming when all things are gathered under Christ, as Ephesians 1.10. So, the dispensation of God, which is given to me for you to fulfill the Word of God. Even the mystery that has been hidden from the ages and from generations, even on the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came and 3,000 were converted, they didn't know for sure that the Holy Spirit was going to fall on the other nations and ethnic groups.

And so, in Acts 10, you have Peter going to the house of Cornelius and preaching and making it known that the Gentiles, too, could receive the Holy Spirit. And as Peter was preaching, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, and they were converted, and someone says, can we deny them baptism?

So that's the case in which the Holy Spirit begot them before they were baptized. That's in Acts 10. So, we continue here. Let me read 26 again.

We also have, according to John 1423, in John 1423, we see that both the Holy Spirit is the Holy Spirit as well as both the Father and the Son. In John 1423, Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will love my word, and my Father will love him, and we, Father and Son, and we will come unto him and make our abode, our dwelling place, with him. So we have the Son and the Father dwelling in us. These things have I spoken, verse 25, unto you being yet present with you. Verse 26, But the comforter, which is the Holy Spirit, the paracleteos, which is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, it, not he, shall teach you all things and bring all things to remembrance. So that's, as we'll see later, one of the works of the Holy Spirit. It's to bring things to your mind. But you can't have things brought to your mind that's not placed in there. So you have to study. You have to labor in the Word. The reason the Holy Spirit can help you recall things is because it's put in there in the first place. So we have received the earnest of eternal life. There's a scripture, 2 Corinthians, turn there. 2 Corinthians 1, verse 18, we'll read into it. We used to emphasize this scripture because people would say, well, you're born again. We're not born again until the resurrection in the technical sense. We have the earnest of the Spirit, which is clear here in 2 Corinthians 1, we'll start in 18.

For all the promises of God in Him are yes, and in Him, amen, and to the glory of God by us. So every promise that God has made, we talk about the providence of God. I have a sermon I've given here, the plan, the purpose, the providence of God. God is going to make sure that His promises are fulfilled.

So verse 20 again, for all the promises of God in Him are yes, and in Him, amen, so be it, and to the glory of God by us. Now He which established us with you in Christ and which anointed us is God. Now anointing means that when you're anointed, they pour out the oil. You remember they anointed Aaron and the oil ran down his beard. That anointing has to do with receiving the Holy Spirit. God is the source of the Holy Spirit.

It is shed on us through Christ. I don't know exactly what role that Christ plays in it, but He plays a role in shedding the Holy Spirit. We'll see that in just a moment. Now our key verse, 22, who has sealed us and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts. If you put down earnest money, it is your intent. You're going to follow through. You're going to purchase whatever it is, and you put down earnest money to secure your contract with a real estate agent or whomever it is.

So we have the earnest of the Spirit of God dwelling in us, a down payment on eternal life. Now I talked about the fact that the Holy Spirit is shed on us through Christ. We go back to Acts 2, and of course that Acts 2 gives the account of the Holy Spirit being sent on the Pentecost. So we want to pick up a scripture here or two. Acts 2, 29, and what are we talking about?

We're talking about that His Father is the source of the Holy Spirit, but it is shed on us some way Christ plays a role. So we'll hopefully see this here starting in 29. Acts 2, 29, men and brethren let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. You know what John 3, 13 says, no man has ascended into heaven except the Son of Man who came down from heaven.

Yet at the funeral they talk about, oh grandpa is in heaven, grandma is in heaven, and so and so is watching the game. He's looking down for heaven, watching his son play. All that is false. You know that. All that is false. So David is not ascended into the heavens, and no one except Christ who came down from heaven. That's John 3, 13. Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with him, or sworn an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ as set on his throne.

Through Christ, in that sense, is the true David. He sits on the throne of David. That's what it says here. He would raise up Christ as set on his throne. He's seen this before, and he has spoken the resurrection of Christ, that his life essence. Christ didn't have an immortal soul, but he had life. And the only way that that life could be renewed, his life essence, was for the Father to resurrect him, which he did.

His soul was not left in Hades, the grave, neither his flesh did see corruption. This Jesus hath God raised, whereof we are all witnesses. Therefore, being by the right hand of God, exalted, and having received of the Father, the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has shed forth this which you now see and hear. Now we go to Titus chapter 3. In Titus chapter 3, Titus, I think, is after Timothy. Titus chapter 3, just after Timothy. Verse 5, Not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us by the washing of the regeneration of renewing of the Holy Spirit.

So we have a regeneration, as it were. We have been begotten by the incorruptible seed, the Holy Spirit, which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to hope of eternal life. So let's briefly just rehearse. We hear the gospel preached, or we read it. We're convicted. We repent. We exercise faith in the sacrifice of Christ. We are baptized. We receive the laying out of hands, the earnest of the Spirit. And then that earnest of the Spirit that we receive is shed on us some way through Christ.

That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. The hope of eternal life. So on this day, the greatest mystery of God began. That is how man can become God upon the resurrection from the dead. Now we read in Revelation 10, verse 7. If you go to Revelation 10, verse 7, you will see that the mystery is finished with the resurrection.

Revelation 10, verse 7. But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when the seventh angel begins to sound, the mystery of God should be finished as he has declared to his servants the prophets. It's like we read from Colossians 1, verse 27. So the mystery is finished at the resurrection. So once again, on this day, 31 A.D., about 1,995 years ago, God began calling out a people for his name's sake. This day is what the Bible is all about.

God and Christ are bringing sons and daughters to glory in his family and in his kingdom. Pentecost is the feast of the firstfruits. We are the beginning ones. So we go back once again to Leviticus 23. We'll read a little more than has been read already today. And Leviticus 23, beginning in verse 15. Leviticus 23, 15. And you shall count unto you from the morrow after the Sabbath, from the day that's the weekly Sabbath, that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering, seven Sabbaths shall be complete.

Even unto the morrow after the seventh Sabbath shall ye number fifty days, and ye shall offer a meat offering unto the Lord. And he describes the meat offering, verse 17. You shall bring out of your habitation two wave lows of two tenths, deals.

Well, the Holy Spirit was not made known to the general populace until the day of Pentecost. Now, these two lows that were waved, I've heard of different things about, well, it's the Old Testament, quote, Christians, and the New Testament Christians. That's not what it is. The two lows represent, one, the nation of Israel, and secondly, the Gentiles.

Even on the day of Pentecost, as I've already mentioned, they didn't know that the Holy Spirit was going to fall on the Gentiles. And Peter, until Peter went to the house of Cornelius, he started preaching, they started speaking in tongues, the Holy Spirit fell on them, they were baptized. And they were amazed, those that came down from Jerusalem, because God had made possible for all peoples. So the two lows are leavened. And we are leavened even after we are baptized. We have the propensity and the potential for sin, which we do.

Only one being has lived in the flesh and lived a sinless life, and that was Christ. So the two lows that are waved represent the Jew and Gentile. The two ways of two-tenths deals that shall be a fine flower. They shall be taken with leaven. They are the first fruits unto the Lord. And so on the day of Pentecost, God began to call out the first fruits. And ever since, God even created humankind, way back in Genesis chapter 1. He has desired to dwell with humankind. And even after God delivered Israel from Egypt, He wanted to dwell with them. And one of the first things that they did after they came up out of the Red Sea, were baptized, which was their baptism.

They came up out of the Red Sea on the last day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. So now we are going to go to Exodus chapter 15, Exodus 15 and verse 1. Now what did I say? I said that from the time that God created humankind, as in Genesis 1, He desired to dwell with man. We've made it clear so far that God dwells in man, His essence, His spirit, both the Father and the Son dwelling us.

We read John 14, 23. Now we're going to trace the history of God's dwelling place, and how that desire to dwell with man has been there all along. And after Israel was freed from Egypt and came up out of the Red Sea, what was the first thing that Moses thought of? So, Exodus 15, verse 1.

We will prepare Him an habitation, a dwelling place. Of course, God dwells in our hearts and minds today. We'll read that scripture a little later from Hebrews chapter 10. We see immediately what did Moses think of? A dwelling place for God. My Father's God and I will exalt Him. So, one of the first things he thought of was to build God a dwelling place.

They took up an offering, you look in Exodus 25, and this part about a dwelling place did not go unheeded. In Exodus 25, they take up an offering to build the dwelling place, the habitation. And the Lord spoken of Moses, saying, speaking of the children of Israel, this is Exodus 25. Exodus 25. Verse 1. And the Lord spoken of Moses, saying, speaking of the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering of every man, and let him give it willingly with his heart, you shall take my offering.

And this is the offering which you shall take of them, gold and silver. And I won't take up time to read the rest of that. But they took up an offering, and God instructed them meticulously, most of Exodus is taken up with how to build the tabernacle. And they're great artisans, and God gave great gifts to men with regard to working in various arts and crafts, to build the tabernacle. And then eventually, we go to the last chapter of Exodus, and we see the reality of the first time that God dwells with men, but he doesn't dwell in man the way we have described already.

So, in Exodus 40 and verse 17. And it came to pass in the first month, in the second year, on the first day of the month, that the tabernacle was raised up. So they raised up the tabernacle. Verse 31, Moses and Aaron and his sons washed their hands and their feet. And when they went into the tent of the congregation, and when they came near into the altar, they washed as the Lord had commanded Moses. And he raised up the court round about the tabernacle and the altar, and set the hanging of the court.

So Moses finished the work, and then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation and the glory. In other words, the presence of the Lord filled the tabernacle. So now God is dwelling with man. And it says in 1 Corinthians 10 that in the rock they followed was Christ. So this cloud, the cloud by day and the fire by night, led them for 40 years into the promised land. God is, through Christ, leading us into the promised land in the same manner. We have much more to go on than just the cloud by day and the fire by night.

We have the Word of God. Now continuing... After Israel pitched the tent at Shiloh, Shiloh was destroyed and the Ark of the Covenant was taken, and it wasn't a Gentiles house for a certain period of time. Then David built a tabernacle and pitched it in Zion. That's in Psalm 78. Then Solomon built a temple and God's presence filled that temple. And then Joshua and Zerubbabel built a second temple. And when that temple was dedicated, the Spirit of God did not fill that second temple.

The second temple, which we call the Reservation or Second Temple, had five things missing that the first temple had. Remember, this is all about God wants to dwell with humankind. He's dwelling in you, as we've already noted in the first part. Now we're tracing it up to the point of what the Holy Spirit will do for you. So this tabernacle, the Reservation, as the tabernacle meant temple, this restoration temple was missing five things.

In Ezra 6 and verse 15, you have the account of the dedication of the temple to God. Ezra 6 verse 15. Ezra 6, 15. And the house was finished on the third day of the month, Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius, the king and the children and the priests and the Levites, and the rest of the children of the captivity, kept the dedication of this house of God with joy.

And that house of God was missing these five things, the Ark of the Covenant. But today the law of God is written on our inward parts through the Holy Spirit. In Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 6, we see very clearly that today the Spirit of God is written on our inward parts.

So in Hebrews chapter 10, we'll begin in verse 13. Hebrews 10. Well, let's go down to verse 16. This is a covenant that I will make with them those days, says the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts and in their minds, and I will write them, and their sins and iniquities, lawlessness, will I remember no more. So that Restoration Temple did not have the Ark of the Covenant, but God is now writing the law of God on our inward parts.

Haggai deals with this, if you want to go to Haggai. Haggai is just before Zachariah. And Haggai is after Zephaniah. I'm sure you know where Zephaniah is. In Haggai chapter 2, the first part of the chapter says, how do you see this house, that is the Restoration Temple, in comparison to Solomon's Temple? Well, by comparison, there was nothing. That's verse 3, the glory of the Solomon's Temple versus the glory of Solomon's, the Restoration Temple, was nothing. But they're told to be strong, and it's key verse here, 6 and 7, for this says the Lord of God, Yet once in a little while, and I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea, and the day and the dry land, and I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come, that is Jesus Christ, and I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of hosts.

So that filling of the house with glory begins with you, that you have received the earnest of the Spirit. That Restoration Temple was missing the sacred fire.

Today we're to become living sacrifices. The sacred fire burned continually. Today we can offer prayer, which is counted as incense in Revelation chapter 8. They offered up their prayer, sweet-smelling Savior and the Savior and the nostrils of God. So today we can offer up spiritual sacrifices. In fact, we're commanding in 1 Peter 2.4 to offer up spiritual sacrifices. The priesthood was missing the Urim and the Thummim.

Before the Babylonians destroyed the Solomon Temple, the priests had Urim and Thummim, and they would consult the Urim and Thummim. Should I do this? Should I do that?

But when this Restoration Temple was built, there was no Urim and Thummim. But today, what do we have? We have the Word of God to consult before we make any decision. There was no Shekinah glory, or some pronounce it the Shekinah glory, the Shekinah or Shekinah glory, which represents God's presence. Today we have God's presence living in us. So that is fulfilled. You are the temple of God, according to 1 Corinthians 3.16. And there was no continuing spirit of prophecy. But today we have the more sure Word of prophecy. That's what Peter calls it in 2 Peter, the more sure Word of prophecy that we do well to take heed. So we have the Word of God to consult in making decisions. We have the Word of God with regard to prophecy. So all of these things that were missing in the Restoration Temple are now fulfilled in the New Covenant in the Church of God, which is beginning. When God called out Egypt, when they called out Israel out of Egypt, they were to be a model nation, a kingdom of kings and priests, with a commission to bring all nations into relationship with God. So we go to Exodus 19. And what did I say? That Israel was to be a model nation, and they were to call all nations into the house of God, make them a part of Israel. So in Exodus 19, verse 2, For they were departed from Rephidim, and came to the desert of Sinai, and had pitched in the wilderness, and there Israel camped before the mount. And Moses went up unto God, and the Lord called on him out of the mountain, saying, Thou shalt you say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel, You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bared you on eagle's wings, and brought you unto myself. Now therefore, if you will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then you shall be a people, a purchased people, a peculiar treasure unto me, above all people, and all the earth is mine. And you shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, a holy nation. These are the words which you shall speak unto the children of Israel. And of course, Moses did that, and they prepared to receive the Ten Commandments, and God thundered through Christ the Ten Commandments in chapter 20. Now we see how that is fulfilled today. We go to 1 Peter chapter 2, 1 Peter chapter 2, and we'll start in verse, I think, 6. 1 Peter chapter 2 and verse 6.

In 1 Peter chapter 2, we greatly rejoice now for a season, if indeed you are in Hamanis through manifold trials, that the trying of your faith being much more precious than a goal that perishes, that you would be tried with fire, might be found under praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. It goes on talking about Christ. I'm reading from chapter 1. I really want chapter 2. Verse 6 of chapter 2, Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone. That's a quote from Isaiah, a chief cornerstone. Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, He lacked precious, and he that believes on him shall not be confounded. And you therefore he is precious, but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient, or unto also they were appointed. But you are a chosen generation. See, there's a group of even churches that say that the church has replaced Israel. The church has not replaced Israel. God is going to restore Israel, and you get a glimpse of that restoration. In Zechariah chapter 8, that the children will play in the streets of Jerusalem, and a lot more is there about the restoration of Israel. It even says in Isaiah chapter 1, that God is going to restore your judges as from the beginning. And you can read about the wonderful works of God in the last eight or so chapters of Ezekiel during the millennium. But now we have our key verse, verse 9. See, I read, you'll be a blend. And from Exodus 19, I read that Israel's mission as a nation was to bring all nations into a relationship with God. But they didn't obey Him. They broke the covenant. Now it's passed to the church, and God commissioned the church through Christ, to make disciples of all nations, teach them to observe all things whatsoever I've commanded you, though I'm with you even to the ends of the earth. Now we look at verse 9, 1 Peter 2.9. You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a purchased people, so you were purchased by the blood of Christ, and you should show forth the praises of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light, which at times past were not a people, but now are the people of God. You're also the Israel of God, the people of God, the Israel of God, the Church of God, all of that and more. The giving of the law was written on tables of stone when Moses went up and received the Ten Commandments, and God wrote them with His own hand. But today, as we have read from Hebrews 10, they are written on your inward parts. So, we know that God is with us and in us.

So even though, but Israel, even though the Ark of the Covenant was with them contained in the Ten Commandments, the law was not written on their inward parts as it is your inward parts today. And it requires active participation on your part for God to write His law on your inward parts.

Remember the Scripture that I've quoted so often? John 6, 63. What does it say? Now, what I'm saying now, what I'm saying is that you have to actively participate, as I said earlier, for the Holy Spirit to call things to remembrance. You've got to be an active participant. You've got to put it in there in the first place. By in there, there is your mind and your heart, your being.

And then the Holy Spirit helps you to recall it. And in the same manner, this verse here reflects that. In John 6, 63, Christ says, the words I speak... Well, let me quote the whole thing. It says, The flesh profits nothing. It is the spirit that quickens. The words I speak, they are spirit and they are life. Spirit and life. The Word of God. So you have to be an active participant. So this day had to be literally fulfilled before humankind as a whole could actually receive the Holy Spirit and be partakers of his divine nature which we have read from 2 Peter 1, verses 3 and 4.

So Christ has paved the way for us and has become the first of the first fruits. God the Father would not recognize any human being as his begotten children and grant them forgiveness of sin until full reconciliation had been made and accomplished through Christ. His death, his burial, his resurrection, his ascension, his sending back the Holy Spirit which proceeds from the Father.

So today we are part of that great mystery. God is bringing sons and daughters the glory in his family in his kingdom. And as I've noted, we're also commanded to worship God in spirit and in truth. The summary of worshiping God in spirit and truth is given in Matthew. Let's turn there to Matthew 22, verse 37. Matthew 22, verse 37. Matthew 22, of course the scribes and Pharisees came to Christ thinking they were going to trip him up.

So in Matthew 22, verse 37. Jesus said unto them, of course their big question was, verse 36. Which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto them, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. And as I have said so often, on the law and the prophets hang the whole ball of wax. These two commandments summarize it all. While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying, What thanks you of Christ, whose Son is he?

Of course, they wouldn't answer after that. So as he summarized the whole thing. The Holy Spirit is at work in our lives. The Holy Spirit in concert with the Word of God is the convicting power. And the Church has been commissioned to take this to the whole world. Let's go to the key to why God raised up the Church. He's given here, and you have a big part in it. So go to Romans 10. Romans 10. And verse 15. For he said to Moses, I will have mercy on whom? I will have mercy, and I will have...

That's chapter 9. I want 10. Verse 12. Romans 10-12. For there's no difference between the Jew and the Greek. I think we made that clear. For the same Lord over all is rich, and to all that dwell upon him, that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Now certain denominations love to quote that and say, well, you just have to call upon God, and you'll be saved. Well, we know a different story, and hopefully you have mastered that.

How then shall they call on him? This is why he raised up the church. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach except they be sent? As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things. For they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah said, Lord, who has believed the report?

Faith comes by hearing. Once again, active participation. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. So the Word of God can fix you. It's like a tennis game. The ball is served in your court. You have to return it. And returning it, which we've already covered, you repent, you exercise faith. In Christ, you're baptized. You receive the laying on of hands. Receive the Holy Spirit, and you're on your way. The Holy Spirit does marvelous things in your life.

So I hope that we will use the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit conforms to the laws of biology. Now, what is the law of biology? Like this muscle, which is wasted away by myself. Use it or lose it. I haven't been used it much, so I've lost a lot of it at the bicep. So the laws of biology, with regard to your muscles, use it or lose it.

With the Holy Spirit, same thing. Use it or lose it. In 1 Thessalonians 5, we're commanded, Quench not the Spirit. See, the Spirit tugs on your mind and your heart. And when you deny it, shove it aside. It becomes easier to shove it aside the next time. And finally, if you're not careful, you're walking on dangerous ground. You don't want to walk on dangerous ground. But all the fruits of the Spirit, in the sermonette, he touched on the fruits of the Spirit.

Love, joy, peace. All those things can be yours and much more if we understand and practice what we have covered here today. I would say that the Holy Spirit means everything. How important is it to you? Without it, you will die. Eternal dead. And it conforms to the laws of biology. Use it or lose it.