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I Need Somebody, Help! Not Just Anybody
John 14-16
Skip Heitzig

John 14 (NKJV™)
1 "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.
2 "In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
3 "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.
4 "And where I go you know, and the way you know."
5 Thomas said to Him, "Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?"
6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
7 "If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him."
8 Philip said to Him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us."
9 Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, 'Show us the Father'?
10 "Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.
11 "Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.
12 "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.
13 "And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
14 "If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.
15 "If you love Me, keep My commandments.
16 "And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever--
17 "the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.
18 "I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.
19 "A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also.
20 "At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.
21 "He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him."
22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, "Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?"
23 Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.
24 "He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father's who sent Me.
25 "These things I have spoken to you while being present with you.
26 "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.
27 "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
28 "You have heard Me say to you, 'I am going away and coming back to you.' If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, 'I am going to the Father,' for My Father is greater than I.
29 "And now I have told you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe.
30 "I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me.
31 "But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave Me commandment, so I do. Arise, let us go from here.
John 15 (NKJV™)
1 "I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.
2 "Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.
3 "You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.
4 "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
5 "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
6 "If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.
7 "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.
8 "By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.
9 "As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.
10 "If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love.
11 "These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.
12 "This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.
13 "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends.
14 "You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.
15 "No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.
16 "You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.
17 "These things I command you, that you love one another.
18 "If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.
19 "If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.
20 "Remember the word that I said to you, 'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also.
21 "But all these things they will do to you for My name's sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me.
22 "If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin.
23 "He who hates Me hates My Father also.
24 "If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would have no sin; but now they have seen and also hated both Me and My Father.
25 "But this happened that the word might be fulfilled which is written in their law, 'They hated Me without a cause.'
26 "But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.
27 "And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning.
John 16 (NKJV™)
1 "These things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble.
2 "They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service.
3 "And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor Me.
4 "But these things I have told you, that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you of them. And these things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you.
5 "But now I go away to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me, 'Where are You going?'
6 "But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.
7 "Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.
8 "And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
9 "of sin, because they do not believe in Me;
10 "of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more;
11 "of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
12 "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.
13 "However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.
14 "He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.
15 "All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.
16 "A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me, because I go to the Father."
17 Then some of His disciples said among themselves, "What is this that He says to us, 'A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me'; and, 'because I go to the Father'?"
18 They said therefore, "What is this that He says, 'A little while'? We do not know what He is saying."
19 Now Jesus knew that they desired to ask Him, and He said to them, "Are you inquiring among yourselves about what I said, 'A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me'?
20 "Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy.
21 "A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her hour has come; but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world.
22 "Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you.
23 "And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you.
24 "Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.
25 "These things I have spoken to you in figurative language; but the time is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language, but I will tell you plainly about the Father.
26 "In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you;
27 "for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me, and have believed that I came forth from God.
28 "I came forth from the Father and have come into the world. Again, I leave the world and go to the Father."
29 His disciples said to Him, "See, now You are speaking plainly, and using no figure of speech!
30 "Now we are sure that You know all things, and have no need that anyone should question You. By this we believe that You came forth from God."
31 Jesus answered them, "Do you now believe?
32 "Indeed the hour is coming, yes, has now come, that you will be scattered, each to his own, and will leave Me alone. And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me.
33 "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."

New King James Version®, Copyright © 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Rediscovering Our Foundations

To live one's life for God in an ungodly world sounds like mission impossible, right? It would be as if we had to do it without help. But be strengthened by this thought: God never intended for us to do it alone! That's why He has provided His people a Helper, the Holy Spirit. This ever-present divine Person is very busy helping God's people become all He wants them to be.

We live in an age where truth has become a relative term. But the Bible leaves no room for doubt when it comes to the absolute nature of truth. Unfortunately, our culture is vastly biblically illiterate. In this series, Pastor Skip Heitzig gets back to the roots of our faith, looking at what the Bible has to say about God, Christ, the Trinity, mankind, the church, heaven, and hell. Learn to stand on a firm foundation in the midst of an unstable culture.

FREE - Download Entire Series (MP3) (Help) | Buy series | Buy audiobook

Outline

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  1. The Helper's Particular Activity
    A. Truth about God (John 14:26, 16:13)
    B. Testimony for God (John14:26, 15:27; 16:5-11)
    C. Talking with God (Romans 8:26-27)
    D. Togetherness in God (1 Corinthians 12:2-12)
    E. Transference to God (Ephesians 1:13; 4:30)
  2. The Helper's Predominant Activity (John 16:13-15)
J1002

Transcript

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We're in John chapter 14 through 16 once again, where we've been camping the last few weeks. And we're going to look at some passages that we have already looked at though with a whole different slant noticing an entirely different emphasis of those parts. Thomas Edison had an assistant and it's said that one evening his assistant was frustrated that they had worked so hard and saw nothing of all their efforts. And he complained saying to Edison, "you know it's too bad that we work so hard and see no results." And Edison put his arm on the young lad and smiled and said, "Oh, we have lots of results. We've just discovered 700 things that won't work." That's a good attitude. I've discovered things that don't work and one of them is to try to live the Christian life alone without help, by yourself. You were never intended to do that. You were intended to be empowered and to be infused to do so. You know it's frustrating to not have help when you really need help.

Several years ago when my son was just an infant, we decided to take a drive and look far and wide and see this great state of ours. So, we had no idea where we were going, we'd go down south and take this turn and that turn and see a bunch of sand and volcanoes. And we end up in this little town called Carrizozo, the thriving metropolitan area of Carrizozo. Well I had this old Volvo that broke down. It needed a fuel pump. And I went into a place and I said, "Can you look at this car?" And they looked at it and they said, "you need a new fuel pump." And I said, "Well great, can you have one, can you put one in?" They laughed at me. They said, "There's not fuel pump like this for miles." Well at the same time my so who was an infant was getting sick and throwing up. So I'm getting concerned and I think, "At least I need a doctor. Do you have a doctor?" And they laughed again, "There's not a doctor for miles. There's a nurse that comes through once every two weeks." So I felt like we really needed help but there was no help at that point to be found.

Some believers don't know of the help that is available to them. Oh, they've heard of the Holy Spirit. They know if they read the right version that he is called the Helper. But it seems like they don't know because it seems like they're content to live their whole lives without acknowledging or relying upon him except in a severe emergency.

Sometime back actor James Garner was in the hospital and he explained how he got there. He said, "This guy ran up to my car, grabbed me through the window and began to beat me up. I fell out of the car onto the ground and the same man kicked me repeatedly." And he said, "But I could tell he was tiring. And if he'da kept it up for five more minutes I'da had him." I read that and I laughed too and I thought, "That's like a lot of us. We're content to get beat up by the world, by the enemy without relying on the Spirit for help.

We discussed in our series on Foundations and the last few weeks on the Holy Spirit, who the Holy Spirit is and what he does in part. We discovered he's a person, not just a power. We discovered that he is deity not just a dignitary. And we discovered that he's busy, he's active in the world. He's busy convicting the world of sin and righteousness and of judgment. But tonight we're going to focus on what the Holy Spirit does for us, God's people, children of God, followers of Jesus Christ in these passages John 14 through 16. And we find that the Hly Spirit is active not only in the world out there but he's very active in the church. Not just one church, not just our church, I mean the church, universal of Jesus Christ, all those who truly believe in Christ. All of his church, segments of our church, the Pentecostal church, the Methodist church, the Presbyterian church, the Baptist church. You know, we may not be disagree with every group but be careful about how you speak about other Christians. You're going to have to spend forever with them. Do you ever think about that? Some of the very people that will be with you in heaven are those who disagree with you about baptism or speaking in tongues, some of these other issues; it's a long time to spend with somebody.

I feel tonight as I have felt last week and the week before sort of like that mighty warrior from the Native American legend who came out from the mountains and for the first time in his life saw the Pacific Ocean. He was so inspired that he took a clay jar and he waded out into the waters with his clay jar and he was dousing it underneath the waves. And somebody saw him and asked him what he was doing. And he said, "Back in the mountains my people have never seen the great waters. I carry this jar to them that they may see what it's like." And that's how I feel tonight. I feel like we have this subject that is so vast, so awe-inspiring, so powerful. And to explain and describe is like trying to put the Pacific Ocean in a jar. It's tough to do, the subject is infinite, our minds are finite and the preacher is inadequate. But here we go, let's look at what he does for us. He is the Helper. That's sort of the practical term that Jesus gives to them, the Helper's practical activity toward us.

Look at chapter 14, a passage we've already looked at. Verse 16, he introduces the subject that evening, "And I will pray the Father and he will give you another helper that he may abide with you forever." Now you notice the term there, the Helper. Some of your Bibles don't say that. There's several different translations of that word because it's one of those cornucopian words, it has a variety of shades of meaning because it's just such an intense word, it's packed with meaning. For instance, the King James Bible it's called the Comforter. The New King James that I'm reading out of, the Helper. The New Living translation and the New International Version he's called the Counselor. The New Revised Standard, the same word is advocate. The Nestle Allen Greek New Testament, the Encourager. Eugene Peterson's translation, The Message, he's called the Friend. Another translation, the Intercessor. Why? Why so many translations of one word? Because it's one of those incredible words. Para cletos is the Greek word, it comes from two words that are combined. Para which means with or alongside of, kaleo to call on. So it means in a literal sense, to call alongside of somebody else or to stand with somebody else. It was an ancient term used in the law courts of the council for the defense, somebody who would plead somebody's case before the court. And so he's called here the helper. Something even more fundamental: Notice Jesus doesn't promise help as much as a person, the Helper. Now I hope you don't think I'm splitting hairs, I think there's a big difference between just help and the Helper, big difference. Example: Let's say you're in a big city and you're lost. Would you rather have directions or a guide? Would you rather have somebody say, "Take a left, take a right, then go down two miles under the underpass, over the overpass, past the subway, dodge the bullets on Fifth Avenue, and you'll get there." Or would you have them say, "Tell you what, I've got time, let me take you there personally as your guide. I'll help you." So it's not just help, we're promised a Helper, in the person, the divine person of the Holy spirit. In fact, listen to it in the Amplified Bible. Jesus says, "I will give you another helper." And here it says, "One called to stand constantly by us who is ready to take part in everything in which his help is needed." And that's good news, I need all the help I can get. Do you ever feel in life that the trials, the temptations, the responsibilities are just too much? They are, if you do it alone. So this is good news, practical news, "I'm sending you a helper."

Notice that this person is an exclusive helper. Jesus says, "The world cannot receive him. The Spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him but you know him for he dwells with you and will be in you." We've received him, the world can't receive him. They don't see him, they're not aware of him, they don't even think about him. Let's think in terms of communication: Right now in this building at this very moment there are radio waves and television waves. So in their raw form there are all sorts of pictures here right now, all sorts of musical genres right here right now in forms of waves. You don't see them, you don't hear them. But if we had the right receiver, we could pick them up and they would be translated into visual or auditory information and we would enjoy them. The world doesn't receive the Spirit, doesn't get help of the Spirit, until that worldly person receives Christ and then the Holy Spirit will come to them. Have you ever shared the gospel with somebody and you get frustrated and you explain something to them and you think, "This is masterful. What I just said was masterful." And they're looking at you like, "Huh?" And you say, "Can't you get it, don't you see?" No they don't It's like trying to explain today's sunset to a blind person. They lack the ability to enjoy it. They don't receive it. Notice something else before we move on, this helper is a live-in helper. Jesus said, "He will abide with you forever," that he dwells with you. That means you have 24-hour roadside help. He's always with you, he doesn't work 9 to 5 and take weekends off. He abides with you forever. Herein lies the secret to victorious, as we call it victorious Christian living. It's this ongoing abiding relationship where we rely upon this helper, who is with us all the time. That's what Paul said, "Walk in the Spirit and you won't fulfill the lusts of the flesh."

A man was an alcoholic, he was converted, he was successful in sort of warding off the temptation for several months. One day however he walked past a bar. And the odor of the alcohol made its way to his nose and it was so tempting to him. It was as if it drew him in and he wanted a drink so bad. He then noticed right across the street was a café with an interesting sign, "All the buttermilk you can drink," it said, "for a dollar." He went in and had glass after glass (now this presupposes you could do that, I mean I hate buttermilk) he filled himself so full to the brim with buttermilk, so satiated was he that he couldn't have a sip of alcohol at that point. There's a secret there you see. It's like what Dwight L. Moody once said, the evangelist to his audience, he held up a glass, an empty glass. And he said, "There's air in this glass, how do you get it out?" And one person said, "You pump it out." Moody said, "It won't work, you'll create a vacuum, shatter the glass." Any other suggestions?" And several made them. Then he took a pitcher of water and filled it. He said, "There's the air, it's gone, it's filled with water." He said, "the secret in living the Christian life isn't sucking out, vacuuming out one sin at a time as much as being filled with the Spirit of God, the Helper around the clock."

Now let's get more specific, that's generic. That's the helper's practical activity. Let's look at the Helper's particular activity, what exactly does he do. And we'll have to move quickly on this and we're going to look in these chapters as well as three other places in the New Testament. First of all, the Holy Spirit helps us with the truth about God. If you go back to chapter 14, but this time the 26th verse, take it in verse 25, "These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name. He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all things that I have said to you." Skip ahead to chapter 16 and look at the 13th verse, no go back to verse 12 it helps to do that, "I still have many things to say to you but you can't bear them now. However when he, the Spirit of truth has come, he will guide you into all truth. For he will not speak on his own authority but whatever he hears he will speak and he will tell you things to come." Now this answers a question. The question is how did twelve fishermen without any education at all, who didn't even understand a lot of what Jesus said and were distracted half the time, remember enough to write down the four gospels? And the only answer isn't because they were brilliant guys, is the power of the Holy Spirit. Because even during this episode of the upper room they were confused about the future. They didn't understand God's plan. They don't know why Jesus has to go to the cross. They don't get the whole idea of he's going away. They're filled with sorrow. And they're arguing about who will be the greatest in the kingdom. So they're confused now but Jesus said, "Don't worry, the Spirit's coming, he'll bring all things to your remembrance and," Jesus said, "He will guide you into all truth." Look at verse 13 once again of chapter 16. It says, "When he (notice what he's called here) the spirit of truth and he guides you into all truth." That's one of his titles, the Spirit of truth. That is, he is the source of all truth and he tells people the truth about their sin, about God's righteousness and about God's judgment. He tells t he truth. He's the spirit of the truth. But there's an important word left out in your translation and mine. He's called the Spirit of the truth. In Greek, the word the is there. In our translation it's not, it just says the spirit of truth. The original translation is tah pneuma taz alaltheos. Or literally, THE spirit of THE truth. So, it's not generic truth we're talking about. It's not 2+2=4, well that's true. No, no, no, it's the body of the truth centering in Jesus Christ. That's the term tah celathios, the truth. How can you tell if a person's filled with the Holy Spirit? They are filled with THE truth as taught by the Spirit concerning Christ. And it will be balanced truth. When the Spirit of the truth is filling you, it's not that you'll emphasize one truth and forget the rest, or another truth and forget the rest, it's this balance of the truth in beautiful harmony together.

So the Holy Spirit is our teacher, our tutor. And I bet you've experienced something like this: You open your Bible, you've read it a dozen times before, maybe a hundred times before. But suddenly you read it and it's like a light goes off. You understand it, you get it, you notice something that wasn't there before but it was, you just weren't there before. And you go, "Wow!" What just happened? Illumination just happened. Illumination. It's where the Holy Spirit shines the light on something that's already bright, he just makes it brighter and you understand it. Martin Luther said, "If God does not open and explain the holy writ (the scriptures) no one can understand it. It will remain a closed book and be enveloped in darkness." Let me encourage you to do something. I want to encourage you to not be content with being sppon-fed Christians, where you rely on somebody else telling you what it says. There's a place for that, there's gifts in the body of Christ for that, they're called pastors and teachers. But don't rely totally on that, any more than you would rely on a study Bible with its notes for the truth. How about daring to learn how to study the Bible on your own so that you can get it right from the source. Right from the source. I've told you before about that family driving through Florida, thousands, millions probably, of orange trees on either side of the road. They'd stop into a restaurant. They'd order, "Orange juice." The guys says, "I'm sorry we have no orange juice, the machine is broken." What's ironic is that there's millions of oranges around them, there's at least a dozen oranges on the table. But there's no orange juice because they had depended so heavily on a machine that "They can't squeeze it on their own." Hey don't rely too heavily on the preaching machine, the teaching machine, the books machine, the radio and television machine. Learn to hear the Spirit's voice as he teaches you all truth. So, that's particular. He helps us with truth about God.

Second, according to Jesus, the Holy Spirit helps us with our testimony for God. Again, you've read this last week if you were with us but go back to chapter 15, verse 26, "But when the Helper comes whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, he will testify of me and you also, you will bear witness because you have been with me from the beginning." Get the flow? With the Holy Spirit's testimony to us in the truth, he then works his testimony through us to the world. What he puts in us, he wants to pour out from us. So he's a helper in that. He's a helper in leading us into the truth. He's a helper with our testimony for God. Think of the disciples. Remember their marching orders? What were the disciple's marching orders? The great commission. What is it? Go. Right? Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. But then do you remember what Jesus said in the gospel of Luke. He said, "Wait." Go. Wait. Okay, well which is it? "Wait in Jerusalem until you are filled with power on high." And then we turn to the book of Acts and we see it all unfold. Acts chapter 1 verse 8, Jesus promises, "And the Holy Spirit will come upon you." Or, "You will be filled with the Holy Spirit and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth." So, the general marching orders are go, testify of me. But you need to wait and get the power to do it first. When you have the power to do it, then you'll be able to go for it. So, the Holy Spirit is our dynamic, a real and relevant force to helps us stand up in the midst of a squabbling, angry, hostile anti-Christ world and give a testimony for Christ.

I love the story about the valiant captain whose sword was feared by all of his enemies. The king heard about this guy and this sword and he demanded the sword be brought to him for examination. And the king looked over the sword of this valiant captain and said, "I don't see anything unusual or special about this sword. I don't know why anybody would fear it." The warrior heard about what the king said and he sent a message back, "Your majesty, with all due respect, you only looked at the sword, not the arm that wields it. Had you studied that you would have understood its power and its mystery." Isn't that the way it is? We look at some people and we go, "I don't get it. I don't get it. They're just, they're even kind of weird. And God uses them." You may be thinking that right now. (laughter) It's because we're only looking at the sword, not the arm that wields it.

That's the particular help the Holy Spirit gives. Peter, prime example. He denied Jesus to a girl, a servant girl in a courtyard. "I don't know him." And he swore, he cussed. And we see him a couple chapters later in Jerusalem on Pentecost preaching the gospel with boldness and power. What happened to Peter? The Holy Spirit happened to Peter. That's why Charles Spurgeon said, "If there was only one prayer that I might pray before I die it would be this, 'Lord, send thy church men filled with the Holy Ghost and with power.'

So, the Holy Spirit is our particular helper. How does he help us? With the truth about God. With our testimony for God. Third, with talking with God. Now I want you to turn to Romans 8 for a moment. And if you don't want to turn there, don't. But I'll turn there and I'll read it to you. Romans chapter 8, verse 26, and probably now with the background we've given you you'll see it in a different light. Romans 8, verse 26, "Likewise the Spirit (that's the Holy Spirit) also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for like we should, as we ought, but the Spirit himself (notice again, not itself, himself) makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now he who searches the hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit because he makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God." Now notice that, the Spirit helps. Now there is a word that is a rare New Testament word which means to help somebody carry a burden or a load. So get a picture here: We're carrying this load, this burden. We're powerless, we're weak. But the Holy Spirit comes along and he helps us carry this load, so that his power, his strength offsets our weakness. And where's the weakness? It's in talking to God. I am weak when it comes to knowing the will of God. People ask me so many times, "Skip, what's the will of God in this?" My answer usually, "I don't know." I don't. "You don't know, what are you doing being the pastor?" "Well I just, I don't know." It's a weakness, it says it's one of our weaknesses. We don't always know the will of God in situations, do we? But we pray. But you've got to know, you've got to know that it's a waste of time to pray for something that's contrary to the will of God. So there's the weakness. Example: I see somebody suffering, I'm going to pray God will deliver them from suffering, from pain, from disease, whatever it is. However, what I may not know is God is actually using that trial and temptation and hardship to refine, to polish, to mold. So I find myself sometimes praying in direct opposition to the will of God. Whew, help is on the way. The Holy Spirit knows our weaknesses. And we're told here that we don't know what to pray for but the Spirit himself makes intercession for us. I love that. So I might be saying, "Lord, I need a brand new speedboat." I don't know what I'd do with one around here, but... And the Holy Spirit might says, "Rather, cancel that. He doesn't know what he's talking about. That's his weakness. What he needs is a '67 Chevy with two gears in it that don't work." You know I say that because there was a time when I prayed for a new car. And you know what the Lord gave me? A '67 beat-up car, gray, bondoed, one of the gears was broken, I had to skip first, go into third. Three speed with a reverse, no muffler. I paid $37.50 for it. Why didn't God give me what I wanted? It's my weakness. The Lord knew what I needed.

Norman Harrison writes, "Were we left to ourselves and our own effort in prayer, we could not be heard. We would be as impotent as a telephone without electricity. As electricity gives carrying power to the human voice, projecting it for thousands of miles, so the Holy Spirit performs a like service winging our worship petitions and aspirations to the Father." So many times we pray for stuff we don't, we don't know what we're asking. Peter did this. Jesus said, "I'm going to Jerusalem, let me tell you what's going to go down before you get there so you know about the situation. I'm going to be betrayed, they're going to beat me up and kill me. But I'll rise from the dead." Peter goes, this is his prayer, "Farbeit from you Lord. This should never happen to you." This is Jesus' response: "Get behind me Satan." You're not thinking like God but like men. And so we have the Holy Spirit in particular helping us in our talking to God.

Now go I Corinthians 12, the Holy Spirit helps us in our truth about God, testimony for God, talking with God; there's a fourth: our unity in the church, our togetherness in God. Now I'm not going to read it all, just a couple verses. I Corinthians 12, Paul says, "Look how marvelously God has woven the church together, the body of Christ. One spirit, different gifts" (whole variety). Look at verse 11, "But one and the same Spirit works all these things distributing to each one individually as he wills. For as the body is one and has many members but all the members of that one body being many are one body. So also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free, and have all been made to drink into one Spirit." Now even folks who know the truth about God and have a testimony for God and speak with God don't always get along with each other. You noticed that? We notice the disciples argued, didn't they? We notice in the New Testament, Paul and Peter had an argument about representing the law versus grace. We know there was a contention among Paul and Barnabas. There was a contention in the church at Jerusalem in Acts chapter 15. So there's not always this smoothness as far as agreeing on everything. So what does it mean then to have one spirit and unity in the body, the very thing Jesus prayed for on that night after the upper room? HE prayed that "they may be one Father as you and I are one." What does it mean to be together in unity under one Spirit functioning together? It basically means this: You and I are Christians the same way, so that there are distinctions. That's Paul's point, there's no distinctions. There's no distinction economically, there should be no distinction in gender, because you're male or female. There should be no distinction when it comes to education or nationality. We're all one in Christ. And why are we all one in Christ? Simply because we've all been rescued from the same hell by the same savior. That's enough reason to get along. That's the unity of the Spirit. Jesus said that when we do that, you remember his prayer in John 17, "Father I pray that they be one as we are one so that the world may believe that you sent me." Now that's revealing. When the world sees our love for each other, our unity together with each other, they want in. They go, "It must be real. It must be real."

There was a security guard that was working in a mental institution. A friend went to see this guy, he noticed something bizarre: Here's this one guard watching a hundred, guarding, in charge of one hundred mentally unstable people, what they called inmates. One guard, a hundred inmates. His friend said, "Aren't you scared that these people are going to get their heads together and rebel?" The guy kicked back in the chair, put his arms behind his head, laughed and said, "Listen, they're in here because they can't get their heads together and work cooperatively together. Don't you get it?" Very suggestive, isn't it? It suggests that to try to preach the gospel without unity in the church is insanity. It's nuts. We'll never get anywhere with the world until there's unity in the church. That's why we're told by Paul, "Endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."

Fifth and finally before we move to ur closing, look at Ephesians chapter 1. Ephesians chapter 1, I'm moving quickly on this, you could spend a week in each one, we don't have the time. the Holy Spirit helps us in particular with our truth about God, our testimony for God, our talking with God, our togetherness in God. Fifth and finally, with our transferrance to God. How do we get from here to there? What guarantees that we're going to go from here after we accept Christ to there, to heaven? Well look at Ephesians chapter 1, verse 13. "In him (that's Jesus) you also trusted after you heard the word of the truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also having believed (notice) you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise who is (if you old King James the earnest, my translation the guarantee or literally down payment) guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession to the praise of his glory." That speaks of two things: ownership and security. Ownership and security. This is how it worked in ancient times: When somebody bought something, the owner or a representative of the owner would take the ring of the owner, the signet ring, and smash it into a seal made out of wax or clay. And that represented ownership, he bought it, he purchased it. And it's going to go from this port to that port, so that at the next port the owner would be there and look at the seal and say, "Ah, that's my impression, that's my seal, that's my merchandise."

You've been sealed by God. Let me ask you this question just to think about through the night: What impression do you leave with people when you meet them? Do they see the impression of your heavenly Father? "Oh, I can see you're owned by God, you live differently, you talk differently, you think differently. The impression that I see with you is that you belong to God." Then it says in verse 14, he's the guarantee or the down payment quite literally of our inheritance. You see, the Holy Spirit is the first installment. First installment.

When a young couple gets married, they all dream of having a home, t heir first house. And they'll save and they'll save and sacrifice and get up enough and they'll bring in this down payment. And they go to the bank and they sign these intimidating reams of papers for 40,000 lawyers that are involved, but they put money down, a down payment. It might only be five, ten percent of the entire house. The down payment doesn't pay for the house but it's a promise that there's more payments to come, thirty years of them usually. The Holy Spirit living in us, helping us is the first installment, a guarantee to us, that one day there's more to come. One day we'll be in heaven. One day we'll be glorified, a brand new body. One day we'll be in the visible perfect presence of God himself. And that's guaranteed, that's security. If you're in Christ today, you'll be in Christ there, transferred from one port to the other. In other words, what God has started, he won't give up on, he's guaranteed the rest.

Okay, let's close. Let's go back to John. John chapter 15. Now I've gone from general to specific and I'm going to kind of go back to general. We've seen that the Holy Spirit is generally our helper, we've seen particularly how he's our helper. But now I want you to look at the helper's predominant activity. This is why he helps. This is the motivation for it all. This sums it all up. Chapter 15, verse 26, "When the helper comes whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of t he truth who proceeds from the Father, he will testify of me. And you also will bear witness because you've been with me from the beginning." I'm not going to read it again but you remember last week's text beginning in verse 5? And he says on down there, "The Holy spirit when he comes he will convict the world of sin, righteousness and judgment. Of sin because they don't believe in Me." I'm tying this thread together. Now go down to verse 14, "He will glorify ME, he will take what is MINE and declare it to you." As we put all of these verses together, we understand, we get the idea that the overarching predominant activity of the Holy Spirit is to point to Jesus. Right? I mean what does the Holy Spirit testify of? Jesus. What sin does he convict the world of? Not believing in JESUS. Who does he glorify? JESUS Whose things does he take and reveal to us? Things of JESUS. So, the Holy Spirit then is like a stage director shining the light, the floodlight on the main actor Jesus, making sure that he gets all the applause, all the glory.

Outside the church we have floodlights so that at night it's shining on the building, you can see the building. They're designed not so that you can see the light. You know, we don't have them shining in your face as you come in, so that you go like this. they're shining on the building, so that the building gets all the attention, not the light itself. The Holy spirit is the floodlight shining on Jesus saying, "Look at him, glorify him, come to him, it's all about him." That's his predominant overarching, motivating activity: to draw our attention to Jesus Christ. Now that only makes sense, since the Old testament has one subject: Jesus. The New Testament has one subject: Jesus. You'd expect the Holy Spirit to have one mission: Look at Jesus. It's all the way through the Bible. Do you know what that means? That means you should beware of any movement, any organization, any church, that emphasizes the Holy Spirit to the extent that it detracts from Jesus Christ. IT's not a move of God. It's all about the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit's saying, "Wait, time out. I'm invisible. It's not about me." You never read the Holy Spirit saying, "What about me, man? I'm part of the Trinity. I want people to think of me, sing to me, pray to me." No, it's all about Jesus. So, when we emphasize the Spirit, whether it's his movement, his gifts, we emphasize the noise, the excitement, to the extent that Jesus himself is detracted from, we're grieving the Holy Spirit who came to say, "Look at Jesus."

So how do you test teaching, how do you test preaching? Does it magnify Jesus? Does it glorify Jesus? Does it point to Jesus? How can you tell if a person's filled with the Holy Spirit? Do they love Jesus? Is it all about Jesus?

A city slicker went out to the country bought a farm, bought a cow. First experience with a cow. Invited his neighbor over one day, and he said, "You know I don't understand it but the cow went dry." Neighbor said, "Now that's unusual, what do you mean?" and the guy said, "Well let me just tell you, if anybody loves animals it's me. If anybody's kind to animals and considerate of animals, I've been so considerate to this cow. In fact, I don't even milk the cow unless I need milk. And if I only need a quart6 of milk, I get one quart, not two, not four, just one." His neighbor, the country farmer said, "That's your problem. That's why the cow went dry. The only way to keep the milk flowing isn't to get as little as possible but as much as possible."

The Holy Spirit's relationship to us is to be a helper so that our lives glorify Jesus Christ. If you only seek his help in emergencies, you're missing out on the joy of the flow, of the daily infilling of the Holy Spirit. That's why Paul used the present tense in the Greek. "Be being filled with the Holy Spirit."

Heavenly Father, we've covered a lot of territory. The stuff that Jesus revealed, that his disciples would learn. But tonight we walk away understanding or revisiting for some of us, reinforcing the truth that life is so tough we're never meant to go it alone but to be empowered. Lord we have seen some of the ways that the Spirit that Jesus left here for us helps us. And so Lord I pray that we would be aware and rely on and be in touch an din tune with the way the Holy Spirit wants to embolden us, help us pray, helps u talk to the world, understand the truth, so that our lives would glorify and magnify Jesus Christ just as he does. In His name we pray. Amen.

Additional Messages in this Series

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9/15/2002
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Does the Truth Really Matter?
2 Timothy 4
Skip Heitzig
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Today I begin a new series I am calling Rediscovering Our Foundations. I am concerned about the vast biblical illiteracy that exists in our country in general and in our churches in particular. Truth is commonly seen by our culture as relative and not fixed. Often sentiments such as, "Well, that is your truth, but it's not my truth," are expressed by many. But if truth is absolute, then why not stand up for it? Why be embarrassed about it? What do you really believe about God, the Trinity, Christ, mankind, the church, heaven, and hell?
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9/22/2002
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Is Anybody Up There?
Hebrews 11:1-40;Romans 2:1-29
Skip Heitzig
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We all remember the scene in The Wizard of Oz when Dorothy and her three friends come to approach the Great Oz. Out of the corner of their eye they notice a man pulling levers behind a curtain, working the mechanical, smoke-breathing Oz. The man then reacts by announcing, "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!" But how can they not? The man is the explanation for everything to them. They discovered that Oz didn't really exist! So how do we know that God exists and isn't a fabrication or projection of our own imaginations?
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9/29/2002
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The Bible - From God or From Men? - Part 1
2 Timothy 3:15-17
Skip Heitzig
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In this series, Rediscovering Our Foundations, it's time to consider your own personal foundation. What is the final resting place for your cares, concerns, griefs, surprises and sorrows? Where do you turn for answers to life's deepest questions? What is your authority? How sure are you that the Bible is the inerrant and inspired Word of God? Can you articulate to others the difference between the Bible and other "sacred" religious works?
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10/6/2002
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The Bible - From God or From Men? - Part 2
2 Timothy 3:15-17
Skip Heitzig
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Last week, we discovered exactly what the designation "Scripture" referred to and how books of the Bible were considered as part of the inspired text. We also learned what inspiration means and how God used humans in His process of having exactly what He wanted written down. But anyone can claim inspiration for their work. Yet how do we know that the Bible is the authentic Word of God? Moreover, how can we share with others its uniqueness so they, too, may listen to its message and apply it?
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10/13/2002
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The God Who Knows It All!
Psalm 139:1-6
Skip Heitzig
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A little boy climbed his neighbor's apple tree when he saw their car leave. He didn't realize that while he was stuffing his pockets full of apples, another neighbor was watching through a pair of binoculars and saw the whole thing! God isn't spying on people, trying to catch them doing something wrong; but God is aware of everything. Such a truth has a profound effect on us: it can either be very comforting or else extremely unsettling.
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10/20/2002
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Are You a Big-Godder or a Little Godder?
Psalm 139:7-24
Skip Heitzig
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11/10/2002
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Wholly Holy!
Skip Heitzig
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In this current series, Rediscovering Our Foundations, we've considered some key attributes of the God we know and love. He is omniscient (knows everything); He is omnipresent (everywhere present); He is omnipotent (operates at full power). But there is another key attribute that is seldom considered, yet is fundamentally key in understanding the Bible—God's holiness. Let's observe one man's encounter with this holy God and what it means to us.
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11/17/2002
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Good Man, Mad Man, Con Man, or God-Man?
Matthew 16:13-17
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No other person from history has generated so much controversy and speculation, as well as written literature, as Jesus Christ. Theologians, philosophers, poets and pundits have all weighed in concerning who Jesus is. What is often forgotten is that Jesus can never be overestimated! John said that the, "world itself could not contain the books that should be written" (John 21:25) about His accomplishments.
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12/1/2002
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A King Among the Critters
Luke 2:1-7
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In our current series, Rediscovering Our Foundations, we've come to the person of Christ. Last time, we considered His identity; today, we contemplate His nativity. For the next few weeks, we'll look closely at Jesus' birth, His early years, ministry, and death on the cross, which was the very purpose of His birth. It's my hope that we'll all emerge with a fuller understanding of Jesus and a deeper desire to worship and serve Him. Today, let's look at the strange circumstances of His birth.
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12/8/2002
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Jesus - The Boy With a Purpose - Part 1
Luke 2:1-52; Matthew 2:1-23
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Jesus' upbringing and boyhood has been the subject of much speculation and endless controversy throughout the centuries. Myths have developed about Jesus based (interestingly enough) on what isn't written. The Bible gives us five cameo glimpses of Jesus from early boyhood to age 30. We'll look at three of these today and then two more next week. We discover that Jesus' whole life was marked with purpose.
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12/15/2002
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Jesus - The Boy With a Purpose - Part 2
Luke 2-3
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We don't give much thought to Jesus growing up, developing into adolescence and then into manhood. But of course He did. Luke is really the only New Testament author who gives us information about these early years. He speaks generally about Jesus' growth as well as specifically about Jesus' capacity as a young boy of 12. At each stage of His life, Jesus demonstrated He knew His purpose for His life on earth.
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12/22/2002
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A Lamb at the River
Matthew 3:1-17; John 1:1-51
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When Jesus turned 30, He presented Himself to the nation of Israel in public ministry. His first appearance, however, seemed so out of character for the kind of Messiah that people were anticipating. What was He doing getting baptized in a river with everyone else? John was about to find out—and so was everyone else.
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1/12/2003
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The Holy Spirit: Invisible, Personal, Powerful
John 14-16
Skip Heitzig
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Today in our series Rediscovering Our Foundations, we consider the Holy Spirit. Most of us have heard of Him, but who is He exactly? What does He do? How important is the Holy Spirit to your personal life, your family life, your work or your leisure time? Perhaps A.W. Tozer was right when he said, "For multitudes of Christians profess today the Holy Spirit is not a necessity. They have learned to cheer their hearts and warm their hands at other fires." It is my sincere prayer that will change for us in the few weeks ahead.
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1/19/2003
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The Gracious and Holy Hound of Heaven
John 16:5-11
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Having understood Who the Holy Spirit is (Person, not just power; Deity, not just dignitary), we now find out what He does, specifically what He does in the world of unbelievers. Since the greatest gift God ever gave to the world was His only Son (John 3:16), it stands to reason that the greatest sin one can commit is to reject the Son (John 16:9). How does the Holy Spirit both sentence the world as prosecutor and yet lead people away from judgment? And what role do we play in all of this?
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2/2/2003
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Brand-Spankin' New Apostles!
Acts 1:1-8
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The legendary missionary to India, William Carey, didn't see obstacles; he saw opportunities. He was the "Let's go for it!" kind of guy. In fact, one of his most famous sayings was, "Attempt great things for God; expect great things from God." Carey did both and saw results! The Holy Spirit can take ordinary men and women and do extraordinary things with them. He is the God who "makes all things new" (Revelation 21:5). Such a truth can only create a sense of wonder and excitement in the heart of a child of God. After all, what new thing could God do through you?
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2/9/2003
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Unholy Responses to the Holy Spirit
Ephesians 4:30
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You might say that we live in the "Age of the Holy Spirit." Jesus promised Him to us after He was done with His own earthly ministry. We have seen that He is very active both in the world among the unconverted and in the church among God's own people. But He has one overriding goal-to bring glory to Jesus Christ in every life. What does that mean to us? It means a total surrendering to Him. As Oswald Chambers said, "The Holy Spirit cannot be located as a guest in a house. He invades everything." But what happens when people don't respond to Him rightly? Then what?
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2/16/2003
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How Can Three Be One?
Matthew 28:16-20
Skip Heitzig
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1+1+1=1. Is this new math? No, it's the doctrine of the Trinity. The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God. At the very heart of the Judeo-Christian faith is the belief that there is only One God. Yet the Bible clearly teaches the plurality within the Godhead—three persons who are distinct from one another yet perfectly One in essence. What are we to make of all this? Why is it important? And more fundamentally, how should it affect us personally?
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2/23/2003
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The Exceedingly Un-Holy Spirit
1 John 5:19
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Satan, the prince of darkness, has been around a long time. He has studied mankind for thousands of years, marking his strategies according to what he sees in us and what God's plan for the world is. He hates what God loves; he fights what God establishes. And let's remember, he's got help! Other spirit beings have joined his rebellion and control the system known in Scripture as the world. John even said, "the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one" (1 John 5:19). What should we know about this arch-nemesis of God in order to stand against him?
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3/2/2003
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Touched by an Angel
Luke 1-2
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As even the title suggests, angels have become popular in modern culture. But whether we know it or not, we've all been "touched an angel." Martin Luther helped us to understand their role by remarking, "An angel is a spiritual creature created by God without a body, for the service of Christendom and of the church." He was partially correct, but angels serve an even greater role than being strictly for the church. Their ministry goes beyond us and is principally concerned with the glory and majesty of God.
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3/9/2003
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Man, Has God Got a Plan For You!
Genesis 1-3
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Alexander Pope once remarked that, "the chief study of man is man himself." That may be true, especially in our culture, but this could also be the reason why mankind is so desperate and spiritually thirsty. Looking only to ourselves rather than beyond ourselves can get pretty lonely! But why are we here? What is the purpose of mankind inhabiting this planet? How can I fulfill the God-given destiny that He originally designed for me?
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3/16/2003
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From Creation to Corruption
Genesis 2-3
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How did we, as the human race, get into the colossal mess we find ourselves in? Was it always this way? And what do Adam's actions, acted out so long ago, have to do with us in this modern technologically advanced age? Am I at all responsible? Can the effects ever be undone? Let's look at these issues in the opening chapters of Genesis.
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4/27/2003
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Church-Building 101
Matthew 16:13-20
Skip Heitzig
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The church was God's idea; it was never man's notion. Jesus Christ is the founder, director, architect, owner and builder of the church. But there is an awful lot of confusion about what a church is supposed to look and function like. Today, we look at the first New Testament mention of the church and look at our spiritual origins. As we are Rediscovering Our Foundations, let's also rediscover our spiritual roots as the people of God.
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5/4/2003
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What Jesus Wants His Church to Be - Part 1
John 17
Skip Heitzig
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The church is not a place, but a people (a called-out assembly of people who gather together and whose heartfelt conviction is that Jesus is Lord). Jesus laid claim on the church—it belongs to Him ("I will build My church"). So then, what does He want His church to be like? What should mark us overall? In Jesus' longest recorded prayer before His crucifixion, He prays for four characteristics that are to mark the people of God. Today we look at the first two.
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5/25/2003
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What Jesus Wants His Church to Be - Part 2
John 17
Skip Heitzig
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Church shopping and church hopping have become one of American Christians’ favorite pastimes. We want a church that suits us, helps us, and pleases us. But since Jesus paid for it, it’s His church (Acts 20:28). So what does He want from us? What should the people of God be like? What ingredients and activities ought to be part of our makeup? In this series, Rediscovering our Foundations, we must rediscover the foundational purpose for our existence as His church.
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6/1/2003
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How to Build a Beautiful Body
1 Corinthians 12:3-22
Skip Heitzig
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6/22/2003
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The Last Days
2 Peter 1-3
Skip Heitzig
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On October 30, 1938, the day before Halloween, the novel War of the Worlds was made into a radio broadcast featuring Orson Welles. As millions of Americans were listening, the play was performed so it would sound like a news broadcast about an invasion from Mars. Many thought they were hearing an actual news account of an invasion from Mars and concluded this was the end. Some even committed suicide as their final fatal act! In Rediscovering Our Foundations, what can we know about the last days of this world and what can we do to prepare?
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6/29/2003
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I'll Be Back
John 13:31-14:6
Skip Heitzig
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A little boy was trying desperately to tell his friends about what Jesus' return would be like. He described Jesus' coming in glory as being "greater than Superman, Batman, and the Power Rangers put together!" Of course even that would be an understatement. Jesus came here 2000 years ago and then left; but He promised to return. What will it be like? What difference should it make to us right here, right now?
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7/6/2003
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The Burning Question
Revelation 20:11-15
Skip Heitzig
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Hell is an eternal and biblical reality that has been relegated to the junk pile of modern myths. Woody Allen once said that hell is the abode of all people who annoy him. The word hell is used on a daily basis in people's dicey language patterns—usually as a fill-in expletive. Of all the Christian doctrines unfolded in Scripture, hell is the toughest one to handle. Most love the notion of a blissful heaven awaiting them; few cling to the idea of a literal hell to punish the lost.
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7/13/2003
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Heaven: Our Final Frontier
Revelation 21:1-27
Skip Heitzig
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Captain Kirk and his starship Enterprise weekly traversed the galaxies on the famed Star Trek episodes. That was fiction! But one day you will inhabit the recreated millennial earth in a glorified body and then explore the vast kingdoms of heaven in the eternal state. That is reality! It will be so different than what you're used to that it's linguistically impossible to convey its vastness. But there's enough here to whet the appetite for heaven!
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There are 29 additional messages in this series.
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