Person & Work of the Holy Spirit

OK. One other announcement I want to make, you know, sometimes when you're working through this book that you there's some typos in there and you think I wonder what the heck meant by that. I've got the volume. So if you have any questions that you need to correct in there, just ask me and I'll turn to the page and we'll go from there. OK. We had almost finished. The section on sealing, we're down to the last two I think.

We talked about how does the author describe the sealed believer immune from molestation, we talked about that. Describe, and this is on page 28, describe how the seal of the Holy Spirit is a seal of secrecy. Everybody know what we're talking about? We're at the speed and we're talking about the sealing of the Holy Spirit.

And he seals you for his own purpose. He talked about Revelation 5, I think 1 and 2, Revelation 10, Daniel 12. A book sealed could not be opened and its contents read except for one who was authorized to open it and read it. So the Lord's people are, in one sense, a special people. I don't think sometimes we realize how set apart we are. We are God's hidden ones, as the write-out says.

And he says in 1 John 3.1, therefore the world knows us not as it knew him not. What do you think he means by that?

They don't understand. You don't understand, therefore the world... They don't understand. The world doesn't understand. Yeah, we're standing right in front of them, but they don't understand what's going on with us. They don't know who we are. That's exactly right, they don't know. And of course you guys are always explaining it to them, right? You can't figure out why they don't get it because you've been so articulate. You've been really good at showing them. So why don't they understand?

They can't. They're on a different plane than we are. And they can't. Yeah, the natural man perceives not the things of the Spirit of God, their foolishness unto them. They can't know them. It doesn't matter if they want to or not, or will to or not, they can. It's like broadcasting on channel 7 and you're listening on 9. You just don't get it. The world hates us, and Muslims especially, they call us the great Satanists. I kind of understand that, but the Koreans hate us, everybody hates us. Is that because of jealousy? So the Americans hate you too.

Well, I think it's pretty simple because we have what the Bible describes as the smell of death to those that are perishing. That smell of death is not visible, but it's a sensory thing. If you're living in life and you run into somebody who's living in death, Everything about you is foreign to them. You are irreconcilable with them.

It's when I talk to especially young people that think they're in love and they want to get married to a non-believer. It's kind of crude but I say, let's say now. After you talk about sex, sports, politics, what are you going to talk about next? What's next? If Christ isn't the center of your life, you're done. There's nothing to talk about because you're going to want to be talking about Christ all the time and they're not going to want to and so you're starting off marrying the enemy. The problem is that with the culture of political correctness that we live in, that hatred is covered over because we've got to be nice.

But it's there. It's there. And it will come out. You can scratch them a little bit and see what happens. Tell a non-believer that the Word of God says that they are perishing, which is in the present tense. It doesn't mean they're going to perish when they die. It means they're perishing right now. And I don't think we appreciate the enmity that's there.

I have a friend of mine who is a non-believer, but she's real tolerant, she thinks, of everything, every religion, and every kind of person and stuff like that. And since I've become a Christian, that's like one thing She's not tolerant of. It's very interesting. Well, in our society, you know, you can't pick on anybody but Christians.

Why do you think that is? Is that because we're the truth? Because we're the only ones that take showers. It's not so much that we're the truth and they're not. It's just the enmity that's there. Here's something else that's interesting. We all have a sin nature.

You've got the built-in hatred towards who you are in Christ. And you're always trying to fix it up and make it Christian. It isn't going to be Christian. Why do you think Christ crucified you with himself? Your sin nature is just as enmity with you as your neighbor is.

And they hated him first. That's right. They what? They hated him first. But most of the people that I come in contact with now were Christians and then they are very bitter about the church. There's a lot of that. And you know why I think that is? Because they were never taught. They were never taught grace. They were never taught who they are in Christ and who the rest of us are in Christ. The dependency on the Holy Spirit, they were taught to get busy and act like a Christian. And then when they saw that they and their neighbor Christians were not acting like they should, they got mad about it. Because they probably got stuck to them a few times. It's like they're taught religion. Yeah. Yeah. It's sort of like what Holly said.

The majority of people who assume they're Christians don't really know what it is. You know, maybe they're trying to be good or they think God is powerful or something, but that's not it. That's why I tell a lot of, especially people that are so well spiritually educated like you guys, But if you want to talk to a believer who maybe doesn't get it, wait until God creates a need in their life. Don't tell them when things are going fine. Because if you don't know the truth and you're not resting by faith in the truth, as soon as you get a little bump in your road, you're going to get loose in the corners. That's when you want to talk to them. You want to open up the word and show them who they are. Did you read Numbeth the Hungry Heart this morning? I did.

There's a great quote in there by J.B. Stoney. It is necessary that the truth conferred by grace should be known as a possession. and the virtue of it apprehended before there can be any walk in keeping with it. So that's really so profound. Some people put it in words I can't. That was great. That's right. You know I don't know if we all think we're the spiritual wizards of smart but we're not. The whole idea is to know Christ.

Let me finish out this sentence. It's pretty good. The world thinks it's strange that we, quote, run not with them to the same excess of riot. 1 Peter 4, 4. The world cannot understand the secret of our joy or the secret of our strength, of our growth, of our separation, for we are sealed, we are marked peculiarly, I can't say that, belonging to and understood by our blessed God. So it boils down to simple. you know, are you satisfying to God and nobody else? And they're not going to understand that.

You know, on top of all of this that we're talking about, if God loves us, I guess it's a Peter or a Paul kind of if, God loves us, We love other people regardless. Sure we do. Whether they hate us or not. No matter what. That's exactly right. Whether they hate us or not. Right. We still love them. Right. But you know what? That's probably the most important thing because otherwise you could get bogged down in all the hate. But you can't make them love you.

I remember in high school when a teacher put down Christians and she said Christianity is just a crutch. And you know that made me so angry. And then years I thought about it and thought about it and I said oh thank God for the crutch I have. When I was a young believer there was a business guy at Cherry Hills And he said, yes I did. Yeah, that's exactly right. When you're broken, you need a crutch.

So the Lord knows them that are his. That's really important. Now, the last question is, who's the sealant for? Who's it for? I have a Christian and I have a God over here. How many think it's God? Put your hands up in the air. Oh, I think it's for believers. You think it's for believers?

Yeah. Let me tell you, let me show you what Rideout says. The steel is, as we have seen, God's authentication of his people. It is his side. I'm teaching here, Winnie. Every once in a while you've got to lay down that apostolic authority. I can only get by with that with my mother.

It is God's side as it were, in beautiful symmetry we have our side by the witness of the spirit with this we close. Healing is largely for others, for God we may say, assurance is for us. So the sealing is for God's benefit. And I think another thing that it is, is that the sealing has, because the Holy Spirit himself is the seal, and it's not necessarily, the seal is not necessarily visible in a material world, but there's a whole other world, spiritual world, and there's no question that I'm seal of God and every spiritual creature knows it. You belong to God, you're his personal possession and you're the gift to Christ and every creature knows it. It's hidden from those who are outside of Christ but in the spiritual world they know.

You know I've thought about it through the years, traveling around a different bit with my husband and when we'd run into someone who's a Christian I mean, immediately, you're more than just people. You recognize them. Oh, intensely. Intensely. And there's just something there that you belong to each other and they may be perfectly strangers with you. Even if they're Baptists.

Chuck Swindoll has written a book the grace awakening and I saw that on the computer where he said that when he first started out he was so rigid you know this is the way it has to be and he said I am so free now so happy so it's spreading. Does he still have his Harley? Of what? When you took over, when you took over as the president of Dallas Center, you rolled up in a Harley.

OK, moving on to the next section. The next section is called Assurance. I wonder why. He's right into the last one. So my first question was, which I've already given away, if sealing is from God's side, what would be our side? Assurance maybe? Yeah. Tell me about assurance. What is it? Knowing that you know that you're in Him and you're saved. Knowing that you know, okay. Would you say it's more than just knowing?

If the ceiling is God's authentication of his people, it's his side as it were, a beautiful symmetry right out says we have our side, the witness of the spirit, and with this we close. Then he says, I quoted Romans 8, 15 and 16, for you have not received the spirit of slavery leading to fear again. But you have received the spirit of adoption as sons whereby we cry Abba Father. The spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are the children of God.

Assurance is a very interesting subject that I think we could probably stand to spend, or at least for young believers, or if you are mentoring a young believer, it's important for you to teach them assurance. that all that goes into the salvation is true and they can settle down on it and then you don't get the real assurance I think until you begin to enter into what we call identification truths.

A little story, I had a guy, this has been years ago, on a Tuesday men's group when we were meeting out in Lakewood One of the guys said, I'm going to bring a new guy next week. And I said, great. And he said, well, he's a guy that is a believer, but he's just, he's not convinced. I mean, his life is a mess and he's, he's just wavering. Great, you know, bring him.

And we happen to be studying Romans 5, 6, 7, and 8 at the time, which is the identification truths. And after about four or five sessions, you know, he said one day, he said, he said, I now know that I couldn't lose my salvation because the only way I could lose it is if Christ went back, because the salvation is of him, not me. And then he made an incredible statement, because this guy suffered from depression. He said, I've learned also that my depression isn't me. Understand what I mean by that? That the depression is part of the old man.

The new person he is in Christ, settled in Christ, isn't depressed. So he was assured because of the facts that he now knew and the fact that he rested on them by faith. So it's important, the information as to who you are, what you are, where you are in Christ is critically important when it comes to assurance. To know you're a son. and all that that means.

How many of you, could you ever not be a Riker? You might get married and put another name on it behind you, but you're a Riker. You can't change that. You can't change it. You are what you were created to be. So if you're recreated in Christ and he did it all, how can you change it? You didn't save yourself. So assurance is important. So. OK, wait a minute. OK.

I'm sort of missing this year with the depression that all of a sudden when you have faith, you've lost your depression. Yeah, I'm like that straightened out. Can I say something about that? I'm sort of in the psych thing. What I think, my opinion that unless it's like a physical, you know, something that can be like a physical kind of disease. Yeah. You know, because there are those. Sure.

I think depression is a habit of bad thinking. Just like an addiction to bad thinking. And so when you become a Christian, you can change those bad thinking habits to overwhelmingly good thinking habits. And then I think your depression can go away. So then you stop taking the pill? Eventually, maybe. Because it would mean that depression... Unless it's physiologically based. If it's there, it's there. Let me explain it as fast as I can. How many of you understand the identification truths? How many don't understand them? Come on, you chickens, get your hands up. I don't.

There are two great men in all of history. Do you know who they are? Adam and Christ. They are the two men. Every human being traces their existence to one of those two men. All human beings conceived and born on the planet come from Adam. Adam is a terrific guy, isn't he?

He's condemned in sin and trespass. He has no vision. He can't know the things of God. He has a propensity to sin. He's unsavable in and of himself and he's dead to God and he's going to die physically. He's a terrific fellow. We're going to do whatever we can to make life comfortable for him until we actually have to experience physical death.

The trouble with that is that God had a whole different plan because God knew that the Adamic nature, this man Adam, would not be reconciled. Would not be reconciled. What did he do with Adam? Killed him. When Christ died on the cross, Adam died with him. Now what does death mean? Separation. It doesn't mean Adam stopped existing. But you as a person were separated from him when you believed in the person and work of the Lord Jesus.

Romans 6.3 says, don't you know that when you were baptized into Christ, you were baptized into his death.

So the minute that you believed, the Holy Spirit got a hold of you and put you into Christ at the very point in which he died. Now, what caused him to die? He was made sin for us. So what God did is he took all of Adam's sin and the nature and he put it on Christ. And when Christ died, Christ separated from all that Adam was. You separated in him. So now, just as Christ was buried, so were you. And when he was risen to newness of life, so were you. So now you are this new resurrected creature in Christ. believer has two natures.

So when I start talking about Adam and Christ and you say, well you have to explain to me, it comes down to which man is it? Who are you really? Are you a safe center in Adam or are you a brand new resurrected creature in Christ? You're this. That's who you are. And the reason that you're saved is because you're in Christ. You're no longer in Adam. Well, let's say no one ever tells you that.

So what do you do when you become a Christian? So what do you do with the rest of your Christian life? You're really trying to get this guy to act like this guy. Rather than living by faith in the facts of who this guy is and who you are, who is Christ.

So you stop fixing and messing around with this man and you walk away from him. And you walk to Christ. You behold the Lord Jesus Christ who is your very life now. You're being continually conformed to his very image and you don't have habits. What you do is you begin to think God's thoughts after him. Because you have the mind of Christ. You have his resurrected life.

That's who you are. But it's a gradual process. Oh, no question. It's a lifelong one. And it's going into the Word and it's over and over. And that's how the old stuff falls away. Because you have brand new good stuff. You know why the old stuff falls away? Because you find something better. Yeah, you forget it.

And the better is Christ himself. Randy? I would say circling back to where you were with the statement that the depression is not who I am. Fundamentally, your position is in Christ, and who you are is in Christ. So whether or not you have a hormonal imbalance, a physiological problem, or bad thinking habits, that is not positionally who you are.

That's exactly right. You are in Christ. You are perfect. You are one that he has made an inheritance. You are one that the 34 things is true of, or the 215 things is true of. Whatever it is, yeah. Okay, but you're still depressed. Well, now hold it, hold it, hold it.

Is Christ depressed? No. Are you in Christ? Yes. How can you be depressed? You can. You can physiologically be depressed. There is no question about that. Your body may not function properly which is your brain matter. Maybe you have a chemical imbalance or something like that. There are drugs to balance that out and your brain isn't working.

It does not change who you are. Positionally I am in Christ. My faith as a resurrected believer in Christ is in my position. I may, like Christians of old, I may suffer physically tremendously, but it doesn't change who I am. It doesn't change it. I can rest in what I know by faith in spite of what my brain is doing.

But just to know that there's help and change, that it can get better, and it will get better. Your brain? No, not necessarily. It'll get better, but I just can't be here and have you think that, because, I'm sorry, because I have depression that I don't believe. Right, and that's what it makes it sound like. If it's like, oh, if you're depressed, then obviously you don't have enough knowledge or faith. No, that's not right. But that's what it sounds like. The poster child for depression was Mal Stanford's wife, Cornelia. She had a chemical imbalance in her brain. And for a couple of years she was really grumpy. I mean really grumpy.

And then they found the right medication and overnight she was okay. Her physiological brain didn't change anything. Yet what was interesting about watching her is she knew what was happening. She knew who she was. While it was happening she knew. She was always apologizing to Betty because she knew she was grumpy. Let's say it's not a chemical imbalance.

Let's say it's because someone you love passed away or because you had horrible experiences in a war or because you, you know, all those things. I think you can get very depressed and over time when you go to the Word and go to God and let the Holy Spirit do it, He can show you how those things are, those things can fall away and those things over time when you you know, are in the word. He can show you the good stuff. He can turn all that bad stuff, you know, to use it for good. So that's why I mean like over time, if that's the situation, it gets better.

The other thing that's true is that you can start out depressed about something, and it's an emotional thing. Right. And if you don't come out of it, it can become a physiological thing. You can literally change the chemical balance in your body by being psychologically depressed.

The reason I know that, the guy that I admire the most as a Christian counselor, what he would do with people, he would make them go get a physical first because he wanted to know or rule it in. Either way, to know what you're dealing with. Here's the great thing about your position in Christ. There's nothing that has the power of the Holy Spirit to get you balanced, to get you moving towards being conformed to the image of Christ. It's the same thing, I've talked to guys that are alcoholics and when I explain identification to them I say to them, is Christ an alcoholic? No he's not. Are you in Christ? Yes I am.

So why don't you just focus and stay and live by faith in who you are and walk away from this guy. Because you don't have to. You don't have to. And then each time, let's say that you fall, alright, if you're an alcoholic and you're doing that, but inevitably you fall, then you go back to God. You don't turn away.

You don't see this as like, it was my failure. It's like, well, I did fail, but I'm still keeping it in your hands. I'm not going to turn away from you because I failed. And to go over that even repeatedly. It's a process. I'm not a psychologist or psychiatrist and I don't study depression. But you sometimes kind of knock it. I do knock it, you're right. And it is the old man.

I understand that. And that's why I guess even sort of that Bible study and stuff, it's like when I say sort of the Holy Spirit gives you those experiences, the Holy Spirit gives you those failures, the Holy Spirit gives you all that stuff to take you to where He wants you to be, which is the image of Christ, and so each time you experience that failure, each time you experience those feelings of depression and stuff like that, the Holy Spirit is going to use that, and so And he does that with anything. He could use that with psychology. He could use that with, you know...

Let me ask you a question. Is your depression something God ordained? I don't think so. Well, that would be like saying depression or alcoholism or drugs. Is it something where God just put you on vacation that week when you started drinking too much? No. No. and he absolutely will use whatever your need is because you won't turn to him unless you have need. You won't do it.

I try to make myself do better. I get mad at myself when I slip, you know. Well, it's like it's like if any of you have a copy of Newell's Romans commentary home, go to the end of Chapter six and read what he calls about. Talks about when a man under grace experiences. And one of the things is to be disappointed in yourself is to have trusted in yourself in the first place. I was going to say, welcome to what I think you're getting at, because I was leading worship at a, I don't know what you would call it, it was a place where people were mentally unstable and we were worshiping and this girl started weeping and she was saying that Her whole life, she had read in the Bible, be holy like your Heavenly Father is holy. She didn't think she willed. She knew she wasn't. She didn't think she could. And that was part of what had put her in there. But if she understood that identification truth, then there's no condemnation for her and all of that. That's why I think that Randy brought it up.

To understand the difference between your position in Christ and your condition, your everyday walking around experience. Which one is reality? Your position or your everyday walking around experience? It's your position. Well, if you don't know you've got a position, where do you focus your faith? You focus it on your condition and how you're working things out. But if you know your position and the study of the Word of God enhances your position, you start to get overwhelmed with what God has already done. Do you live by your experience or do you live by who God says you are?

Well, I would just, to close this, my little trauma here, all these years I had not had faith in God. If I had not felt that God had his hand on me, I couldn't live. Oh I agree with that. So it wasn't a matter of not having faith, it was just a matter of having to deal with something.

Let me add one thing there, I think it was probably a matter of ignorance of Who you really are. Did you know you were crucified with Christ and resurrected and seated in Him in the heavenlies? Well, before I came here, yes, I did have a glimpse of that. But I'm very grateful to be here where that's something that's stressed. But that is not, if you think it's, no, I'm sorry, I don't know how to say this. I know people who are, have struggled with depression all their life. So have I. And you do, I'm sure, having worked all your life. Yeah, I do too. We all do.

You can just see. My child who was the most focused, the most achievement-oriented, the most who wanted to follow her grandma's examples, both of them, who were really good in things. And you can just see them. They can just go crazy in front of your eyes. And they'd get on the right medication and they're themselves again. Yeah, it's interesting that the guy that I mentioned... Except that they're so embarrassed about what's happened in the meantime.

The guy that I mentioned that I have always admired is probably the most skilled Christian counselor that I ever knew. He said that Christian counseling is 90% biblical education. And that's the kind of counselor I've worked with for almost all my life. Off and on. I mean, think about it. Do you go to a counselor who's always telling you what to do and act like a Christian, or do you go to one who tells you who you are and what you have? Different.

Because you can't, you know, my friend Monique back there, she's always telling me, yeah, but... And the but is really legitimate because positional truth is not something, oh now I know it, I'm going to be this perfect Christian from now on. No I'm not. But my position doesn't change because my condition changed. You see that? That's really important to know that. My position never changes no matter how I feel about it, think about it, sin about it, or anything about it. My position is set in spiritual concrete and can never be changed. I'm a son of the Most High God. I can't sin my way out of that.

The butt is because you explained it to me and then the butt is gone. All right, here we go. Yeah, I know. Even Jesus said, Satan, get thee behind me. Sure. While he was talking to Peter. Well, when he was being tempted, remember? All right, we're streaking on to question two. Well, OK, one more. What about Jeremiah, the weeping prophet? OK.

He was certainly depressed. The identification truths are true of those who are believers from Pentecost to the rapture. Jeremiah was not in Christ. He didn't have a new nature. He was not identified with Christ on the cross. He was a saint, he's saved, but he's still dealing with the old material. Was he blessed by God? Absolutely he was. There's no question. But he's not nearly what you are. Not even close to what you are.

You know, you hear me say this all the time, when the millennial kingdom comes and we are ruling and reigning with Christ, how are those other guys around on the earth going to know that you're a son of God? How are they going to know? Are you going to wear a name tag that says I'm a son? Used to be a Baptist? It used to be a Catholic. You'll have to have one of those too. We'll always be grateful to those old Baptists who raised us too. Yes we will.

Here's the thing, the glory of Christ, his very glorious essence will radiate out of you. And you'll walk around on the earth and those who are not in Christ but who are saints will look at you and know that you're different. Just by the glory that comes out of you.

That's really cool. Where do you get that information? That's a good point. Your condition will finally line up with your position. Paul said when you see him you'll be just like him. Just like him. Positionally we are already there. That's the cool thing about it. It's better to be a depressed Christian than a non-believer. The issue with depression is not that it does or does not exist. It is not how you are identified. It is not the personhood of who you are.

When you said it immediately, I recognized that. But you know, I just we were talking about this on Wednesday night a couple of weeks ago. Can you control the thoughts that come into your mind? Yes. Can you control the thoughts that come into your mind? Like commercials on TV? That's right. You can't control. You cannot control what comes into your mind. But you can have other words that you say, you know, like a scripture or something. Can you control what you do with those thoughts? Yes, you can. And how do you control it?

By the Word of God. And if you don't understand identification, you can't say, well, here comes this barrage of garbage. Wait a minute, I'm dead to that. Because the Word of God says so. I can reckon myself indeed dead unto sin and alive unto God. Why? Because I reckon so hard? No, because it's already true. I don't have to do that. I don't have to go there. What I do is start praising the Lord and thanking him for all his blessings. And singing. Okay. Back to question two. How would you explain the spirit himself testifies with our spirit? How would you explain that to somebody? What the spirit would have to do, we can't.

Well, right out says... Changes occur within us as we are conformed to him. Say that again? The changes that occur within us that other people see is the Holy Spirit conforms us to Christ. Anybody else? He takes away our bondage of fear. He's the truth. The Spirit of God testifies to our spirit. As believers, you're spiritually alive now. Non-believers are not spiritually alive. He has begotten us as children. We are born of the Spirit.

He does not leave the child's feeble voice alone. We might often be tempted to doubt the testimony of our own renewed hearts, for the testimony is oftentimes very feeble. Sometimes it is but the cry of a child, an infant crying in the night with no language but a cry. But the Spirit unites his mighty testimony with the feebleness of ours.

He bears witness with our spirits that we are children of God, and children means we are legitimate organic offsprings of the God of the universe. And he gives his value to both testimonies. And then right out says, Can we then doubt? What a great question. Here's what my boy William Newell says. The manner of communication between the Holy Spirit and our spirit is a profound mystery.

Indeed, all man's vaunted knowledge is challenged by Jehovah's Word to Job. Who has given understanding to the mind? We do not speak now with the mere purpose of ridiculing man's vaulted knowledge, but simply to state facts. Human philosophy and science know absolutely nothing about the quality or nature of the Spirit of God. God in this passage in Romans, which is 8, does not address himself to all human intellect, but to the consciousness of his saints.

The Spirit bears witness with our spirits. There is no certainty compatible with this. I'm convinced that everybody in this room, including yours truly, has been persuaded and witnessed to your spirit by the Holy Spirit. And you know what? Half of that persuasion you can't articulate it because it's a spiritual discernment. It's a spiritual discernment. As an example, how many of you are absolutely certain? Let's do it this way. How many on this side of the room are absolutely certain that you're saved? Everybody. How many on this side of the room are absolutely certain that anybody on this side of the room is saved? No hands went up. You know why? Because the Spirit didn't witness to them about you. He witnessed to them about them. Do you see that?

My elderly mother who died at age 97 in 1993. Anyway, that's immaterial. Anyway, my husband and I live down in Pagosa Springs and we were taking a trip with her, she came to visit us, over Red Mountain Pass. And you know how Red Mountain Pass is and there's no shoulder there. My husband's driving this small car, Mama's sitting beside him and I'm in the back seat. And all of a sudden we're going over Red Mountain Pass and all of a sudden Mother's arms fly up. And she says, Glory! And he says, My husband, here we go! And he said, Ma, why did you do that? She said, I looked at all the creation of God and his spirit communed with mine and I couldn't hold it anymore.

So, let's talk about this witnessing. The witness of the Holy Spirit to a believer, what is he going to witness to you, Val? Who he is. So he witnesses, all of you have been witness to, at least on this side of the room, all of you have been witness to by the Holy Spirit that you are saved, right? You are absolutely persuaded about your own salvation, right?

But you're not so sure about Jack and Winnie over here. Now let's go a step further. So the Spirit of God begins to show you that you have been crucified buried and resurrected with Christ. How many of you are absolutely sure that that's true of you? The Spirit of God has witnessed to you and you're now settled on that and it won't ever change. Not everybody put their hand up.

And that's rightfully so. That's the way it should be. Because as Holly says, we're all growing in Christ. Spiritual growth is conformity to Christ and it's line upon line, precept upon precept. Truth upon truth. It just so happens that God put his Bible together so that those were all sequential. So as you learn more, as the Spirit of God witnesses to your spirit more, and you become persuaded more, that's where spiritual sanity comes from.

So you only have persuaded? I'm sorry? So you're now only half persuaded? Half persuaded. Well, you may have just found out about it. I mean, were you persuaded of the absolute certainty of your salvation five minutes after you were saved? No, but I am now, so now I should... That's what I mean. Okay, but you're telling me now that I should just not be. No, no, I'm not saying that. No, I'm not saying that.

It's that as you grow in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ and His grace, The Spirit of God witnesses to you from the Word that what you know is absolutely true. And you get settled down on it. You see that? And you're talking about a million different things and you know half a million right now are true. Ooh, that's pretty good. That's pretty good. What was that? He said there's a million things for you to learn and maybe you know half a million now. Pretend. Do you think that it's knowing? that the only thing, I mean we talk about, well a child, I mean if a child is saved or whatever you want to say, that child has their whole life if they live to learn these things step by step.

It depends on what church I go to. It depends on the teaching they get. It depends on who mentors them and shows them in the word of God. Let me put it this way. The Bible is written for us, all the Bible is written for us, but not all of it is written to us. from Romans onward up to Revelation it's written specifically to the believer.

So let's say a 5 year old comes to Christ and you spend the next 30 years teaching her the Old Testament. Is she growing spiritually? No. Why? Because she's reading somebody else's mail. She's not finding out about who she is. This argues against that book.

Where did they start? They were hungry. That's why so many people come, show up over time and say, boy, you know, I'm so glad to start to find this out. I knew there was more and I've been hungry for it, but I didn't know where it was. So that doesn't mean that you aren't saved. No, no. I mean you're hungry on your life and you're looking, you're seeking. Salvation is just the beginning. Right. I was going to say something like for one is not for one to say, but no one needs no seven of a man to be saved. But it's helpful to know the rest. Yeah. Yeah. Whatever. Sure. Yeah.

Let's say we're saying this is just gravy running the rest of. We're being informed of the image of Christ, but that won't be completed until we're revealed to him as Colossians 3, 4 tells us. So, Mike is still growing. Roger and my dad are still growing.

Here's the thing about faith. Faith has to have an object. Christians don't operate on faith for faith's sake. They know specifically what they believe. and the expansion of what they believe grows every day in the Word. Because every time you open up the Word of God, especially in the Pauline epistles, you're finding out something new.

You think, gee, I never saw that before. The Spirit of God is witnessing to you. Here's the next thing. What do you do with that information? You believe it. It's simple. You just believe it. It's his job to do the confirming and the witnessing. It's your job to believe what he shows you.

And the most positive thing that I've learned so far in this church is what grace means. I mean I knew about grace but I didn't really know what it was. And that's a good example. Every believer knows what the word grace is, but most of them think it's that I got what I didn't deserve. Boy, if that was the definition.

Let's close. Dear Father, how we thank you again for your word and especially your spirit who confirms us in your word and that your word becomes personal and we're confirmed in the Lord Jesus Christ himself. We thank you. We pray in his precious name. Amen.