Sunday, August 24
2025-08-24
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LolU0sJ-s6E

Amen. Amen. Amen.

Let's pray. This is as good as we're going to be. Hey, Luke, Luke, Luke. Yeah, Luke, Luke, Luke. Okay, all right, we're ready. I had a question. Are you doing prayer? If George comes up, or somebody comes up and the TV is not on, just switch the input. There's only two, HDMI 1 or HDMI 2. Well, it wasn't on. Well, I turned on the stuff, so the stuff should be on. Yeah, so if you want to check it. Anyway, I have no idea. I don't think so, but I have not really seen anybody since, like, because I was up and out before everybody was, yeah, yup. So, yeah, I think there's one in the sound room right now, underneath the table, so.

All right. Good morning. We are very glad to be gathered for worship this morning. So far, it's been a bit of a morning of not necessarily technical difficulties, but technical challenges, and I think we are set and ready to go. So we are glad that you are here with us this morning. We're looking forward to worshiping together this morning. We're going to begin with a word of prayer. Let's pray. Father in heaven, I thank you for Jesus and for grace. We thank you for how you teach us and strengthen us and lead us. May we listen to your word. May we be encouraged by your people. May we be reminded and strengthened in salvation. We just ask that you would be with our time together, that we would speak truth, that we would live truth,

that we would rejoice in the truth, and that your spirit would be at work in our lives. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Just a couple of quick announcements as we get started. If you'd like to follow along with our service, there are some bulletins in the back on the little table with sermon handouts. There's an order of service, some announcements, and some notes to follow along with our message if you would like to do that. And if you would like to, this morning, we're taking the Lord's Supper with us. There are communion elements on that back table right as you come in, and we'll do that later in the service. And so we're going to begin this morning with a Scripture reading from the 85th Psalm. And so if you would, go ahead and be standing with me.

We're going to read verses 7 through 9 together. If you would, read with me. "Show us your steadfast love, O Lord, and grant us your salvation. Let me hear what God the Lord will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints. But let them not turn back to folly. Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him, that glory may dwell in our land." This is the word of the Lord. And so as we come with those words that we have just spoken and we have just heard, we want to focus on that beginning part. Let me hear what God the Lord will speak. And so as we prepare to sing, we're going to sing an older hymn. In fact, it was written in the 1750s. To some of you, it will be familiar.

And even though it's several hundred years old, to some of you, it may be new. But I want to give you a little bit of background. A man by the name of Robert Robinson, which is quite the mouthful. And as a young man, he was pretty troubled. He went to, him and his friends went primarily to heckle the preacher, George Whitefield, as he preached. And it's interesting that the Holy Spirit, through his work in convicting of sin, heckled this young man's heart. And several years later, he came to know Christ. And it was on the third anniversary of him becoming a Christian. He was getting ready to preach, and he was preaching on Pentecost Sunday about the Holy Spirit. He wrote this song specifically for his church to sing. And so the first verse is very much focused on the work of the Spirit in our lives.

And so as we're speaking about the Spirit this morning, as we move into our message, it fits. But it's also biographical. The second and third verses, as he writes about his life and how God changed him, remind us of our salvation. And if you are not a Christian, they call us to salvation. So we're going to start by singing "Come Thou Fount."

Come Thou Fount of every blessing. To my heart to see Thy grace. Streams of mercy never ceasing. Call for songs of loudest praise. Teach me some melodious sonnet. Sung by flaming tongues above. Praise the mountain fixed upon it. Mount of thy redeeming love.

Here I raise my Ebenezer. Here by thy great help I've come. And I hope of thy good pleasure. Safely to arrive at home. Jesus saw me when a stranger Wandering from the fold of God He took me to help me from danger Interposed his precious blood

Oh, to grace how great a debtor To the unconstrained to be That I could be like a flair By my wandering heart to Thee Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it Prone to leave the garden Here's my heart, Lord Take and seal it Seal it for Thy courts above God bless you, God bless you, God bless you, God bless you, God bless you.

God bless you, God bless you, God bless you, God bless you, God bless you. God bless you, God bless you, God bless you, God bless you, God bless you, God bless you. My eyes are lifted upward for his glory and my will. There is hope in every trial, for I can trust the Lord. He will turn my heart towards you, and help me bear the thorn, so in faith I follow Jesus. On the road not understood, for I know that he is working for his glory and my will. To our God be the glory. To our God be the praise. He alone, the name above all names. I will boast ever only in the Lord my God. For I know his glory is my good. See the open arms of Jesus upon the cross that day. What they understood as weakness.

Deserves my every praise. For the charge that was against me, it was down to the wood. Yes, I know the King. For his glory and my good. To our God be the glory. To our God be the grace. He alone. The name above always. I will boast ever only in the Lord my God. For I know his glory is my good.

Would I gladly be made nothing that Christ would be made more? Would I seek the only King that far outweighs them all? I will stand before my Father where the faithful saints have stood. And with joy my heart shall praise him for his glory and my good. And with joy my heart shall praise him for his glory and my good. To our God be the glory. To our God be grace. He alone, the name above all names. I will boast ever only. In the Lord my God. For I know his glory is my good. To our be the glory. To our God be grace. He alone, the name above all names. I will boast ever only. In the Lord my God. For I know his glory is my good. To our be the glory. To our God be grace. He alone, the name above all names. I will boast ever only. In the Lord my God. For I know his glory is my good. Yes, I know his glory is my good. Amen. Amen. Amen. Focused and reminded to repent of sin, to find strength and hope in Jesus. We're going to sing at the cross. There's a place where mercy reigns, and never dies. There's a place where streams of grace flow deep and wide.

Where all the love I've ever found comes like a flood, comes flowing down. At the cross, at the cross, I surrender my life. I'm in awe of you. I'm in awe of you. Where your love ran red and my sin washed white. I owe all to you. I owe all to you, Jesus.

There's a place where sin and shame are powerless. Where my heart has peace with God and forgiveness. Where all the love I've ever found. Comes like a flood. Comes flowing down. At the cross, at the cross. I surrender my life. I'm in awe of you. I'm in awe of you. I'm in awe of you. I'm in awe of you. Where your love ran red. And my sin washed white. I owe to you. I owe to you. Here my hope is found. Here on holy ground. Here I bow down. Here I bow down. Here I bow down. Here, arms open wide. Here, you saved my life. Here I bow down. Here I bow. At the cross, at the cross, I surrender my life. I'm in awe of you. I'm in awe of you. Where your love ran red. And my sin washed white.

I owe all to you. I owe all to you. I owe all to you. I owe all to you. I owe all to you, Jesus. One of my favorite pictures of one of our children. We were visiting mom and dad when we were in Vermont. One of our kids was a toddler. In this particular picture, there was a gate around the backyard. We were just walking somewhere outside the gate. I don't remember where we were going, but we look over, and there's our child standing there still in their pajamas, hands on the gate, just looking at you with these giant eyes going, "Where are you going? Why can't I come with?" I've been reminded of this. If you walk down the hall, my office has a baby gate not for baby people, but a puppy, and every time I get up to go get a drink of water or run down to the other office to grab something off my

printer, there's a dog with his paws on either side of the gate going, "Where are you going, and why can't I come with you?" And a little bit of that is happening in the 14th chapter of the Gospel of John. As Jesus is celebrating the Passover with his disciples, we frequently know this as the Last Supper when this meal finishes, he is going to go to the garden, he will be arrested in the middle of the night, he will be tried, he will be beaten, and the next day ultimately he will be crucified. And it's in the middle of this meal the disciples have begun to realize that something is going on, and Jesus says, "Don't let your hearts be troubled." And Jesus doesn't have to say that unless their hearts are already troubled. And he says, "I go to

prepare a place for you." And Thomas, who sometimes gets a little bit of a bad rap for what comes after the resurrection, but before the resurrection you find him just simply wanting to be where Jesus is, and he goes, "Lord, how are we going to know where to go? How are we going to know how to get to you?" And you could almost see Thomas standing there as Jesus says, "I've got to go." And he goes, "I just want to go with you." And Jesus says this to him, and it's a very familiar verse in John chapter 14 in verse 6. He says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." And so he says, "Thomas, right, I'm going away. I'm going to prepare a place. I'm coming back, but I am the way." When you don't know where you're going

or how to get there, I am the truth, the one thing that is really true and really reliable. I am the way in which you have life. And it's during this meal as Jesus reminds them of who he is and what he is about to do and tries to teach them that he institutes the Lord's Supper. This meal of this bread and this cup that for the disciples was part of their celebration of Passover, but for us, and as Jesus institutes it on that night, becomes a way in which to participate in the good news of the gospel. The bread that reminds us and directs us to the broken body of our Savior in the cup, which directs us to his blood of the new covenant that was poured out for us for the forgiveness of our sins. And so maybe like

Thomas this morning, we feel maybe like we're a little bit alone and we're a little bit uncertain and we're unsure of where to go and how to get there. And one of the reasons why we celebrate this and partake together is because we need to be reminded of who Jesus is and what he has done. And not simply reminded, but strengthened and encouraged and nourished by the good news of the gospel that Jesus, our Savior, came home. He lived. He died in our place for our sins and rose again. And through his resurrection, there is victory over sin and Satan and death and how all the things we fear and we avoid, there is victory in Jesus. Let's pray together. Father, we come to you through your Son, by the power of your Spirit, and we ask that as we partake of these small

elements that you would remind us of the greatness of the truth by which we are nourished. Remind us of the cost of sin. Remind us that the price has been paid. Remind us of the hope that is found in you and in you alone, that you are truly the only thing that really lasts and matters. May you direct our hearts to the Gospel. May you help us to see our sin and brokenness. May you call us to repentance. May you strengthen us by your Spirit for the work that you have for us. So I ask that you bless this bread and this cup. And may we proclaim your Son until he comes again. It's in his name we pray. Amen. If you would, take the bread with me. And as Jesus says, "This is my body, which is for you. Do

this in remembrance of me." And after supper, he takes the cup, and he says, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. For as often as you drink it, do so in remembrance of me." Father, may our hope be built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness, and may we not trust anything else, any other name, any other promise for salvation other than the one that you have made to us through your Son. Give us strength. Help us. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. We are moving to the Gospel of John here in just a minute, a little further in the 14th chapter of the Gospel of John. We'll be there in a minute, kind of moving around. There are handouts in your bulletins if you want to follow along in that. We are in the middle of

three short weeks of talking about the work of the Spirit in the lives of God's people. We talked about that He is the Comforter from John 14. We're going to talk this morning about how He is the Spirit of truth, and then next week we will talk about how we are given a spirit not of fear to be afraid, but one to speak and proclaim the Gospel boldly. And then coming up, we'll announce a little bit more about this later. It's also in your bulletin, beginning the second Sunday of September. We're going to begin about ten weeks in the book of Daniel, and I'm excited to be there. So before we dive into the Word of God this morning, let's go to hymn and prayer. Father in Heaven, thank you for taking care of us. Thank you for your work in our lives, through your Word, that we would

see truth, and that we would not just simply see it, but we would respond to it. That we would live in it, and may you help us as we seek to follow you. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. So names are kind of a funny thing, especially if you're trying to pick out a name, whether it's for a child or a new pet. We tend to go through a lot of names, and for most of us, a name is simply the way to identify a specific person. And I always sort used to tease my grandma when I was very young, because she had seven children, and then those seven children had a bunch of grandchildren, and so sometimes when grandma was trying to get your attention, it was like she had to flip through a

Rolodex of which one you are. And then I realized, not very long ago, when I was trying to do the same thing to get the attention of one of my children, and I only have three, but there were several friends there as well, and I'm like just running through the names until I got the right one. Names for us primarily are ways to identify one person from another. Now biblically, names become a little bit more important, because names not only are ways to identify one person from another, but names are frequently used to describe. So for example, Jacob and Esau, twins that are born. Esau is born first, and he is a very fuzzy baby, so they name him Esau, which just simply means hairy. And then Jacob comes out, and he's grabbing Esau's heel

as he is born, and so he is called Jacob, which means supplanter, or one who's trying to grab a hold and pull himself ahead. And so not only do these names, Jacob and Esau, describe these two brothers, but they also picture the character specifically of Jacob. That for most of his life, he was the guy who was grabbing and pulling people back and trying to get ahead, whether it involved dishonesty or trickery. Names weren't just a description of physical characteristics, but they could be descriptions of your character as well. Names also, in the Bible, describe hope or promise. So Noah was named so by his dad because he's going to be the guy who gives the world rest. And sometimes names describe transformation. So Abram goes from exalted father, which is what Abram means, to father of a multitude,

which is what Abraham means. And so in Scripture, when you find names frequently, they don't just give you a label for a person. They describe them, whether that's their appearance, whether that's their character, whether that's their attitude, whether it's their mission or the promise of God for them. And so one of the ways that we, when we seek to understand the indescribable greatness of who God is, one of the ways in which we do that is we look at the names that have been given to God. So when we think about, for example, we talked a few weeks ago about Hagar in the wilderness, and God appears to her twice, makes a promise, and she refers to God like this, that he is the God who sees me. And so she describes God as the one who sees. And we find God with his

name, I am, being the God who is, not just God who was, not God who will be, but wherever you are in history, in all of history, from eternity past to eternity present, God simply is. And we can understand some things about God the Father through his name. The same is true of Jesus. One of my favorites is in Matthew chapter 1, when it says, "You shall call his name Emmanuel." And I love how Matthew in parentheses puts the translation of the meaning of that name that says, "God with us." That God is not far away, sort of looking on, thinking about you, but that God is there with you in that moment. The same is true of the Spirit. He's called the Comforter, the Spirit of Truth, the Spirit of God. And so what I want us to do as we

seek to understand the Spirit is to look at this name, the Spirit of Truth. And it's the one that's used frequently in these last moments of Jesus's life in John 14, 15, 16, and 17, as he speaks to his disciples about the promise of the Spirit. He will refer to the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of Truth, and it sticks with the Apostle John so much as he writes his letter in 1 John that he also reminds the church that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth. So let's look at this promise, and then we'll spend some time unpacking what it means. "I will ask the Father, and he will give to you another helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor

knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you." And so we want to zoom in on that name of the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, the Spirit of Truth. In John's Gospel, just a little bit after this, Jesus is going to be before Pilate, the Roman governor, and Jesus is going to be speaking to Pilate, and Pilate will ask him, "Are you a king?" And Jesus will say, "Yes, I'm a king for this purpose. You say that I'm a king. For this purpose I was born, and this purpose I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice." And Pilate said to him, and this is sort of the age-old question, it's not just unique to Pilate, it's unique to the people, it's part of the

people who come before him, it's part of our world as well. This question, "What is truth?" And our world has struggled with truth. It always has. It's not a new situation. And the reason we struggle with truth is because instead of looking to God who is truth, we tend to look to ourselves and to our desires. In fact, Romans 1 will say this. They exchange the truth about God for a lie and worship and serve the creature rather than the creator who is blessed forever. And we don't have time to dive into every Scripture about God and truth, but I just simply want you to see this, that God is truth and that he is the source of all truth. In Exodus 34, describing God the Father, the Lord descended in a cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed

the name of the Lord. And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed the Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. And that picture of faithfulness is also the word of truth. As we just read, as we gathered around the table, Jesus says of himself, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." And in 1 John 5:6, the Spirit of God is referred to as the Spirit of truth. And so, in part, that question that is so frequently asked, "What is truth?" should be replaced with this question, is, "Who is the source of all truth?" And what we find is that truth, first of all, is not comparative. We're used to comparing things, sometimes in order to find

out something about it. So, for example, temperature for us is comparative. When you ask the question, "Is it cold or is it warm?" In some cases, it depends on who you ask, but it also depends on the time of year in which you ask. So, if you've just been having 95 or 100 degrees days, and you walk out in the morning, like I did last week or earlier this week, and it was like 60 degrees, I went back inside and got a coat because it was cold. However, in March or April, and you get that first 50 degree day after being in the winter, what happens? 50 degrees feels warm. And so, we're sort of used to, in a lot of ways, sort of seeing truth as comparative, right? True compared to what? What we find is that because God is unchanging, truth is unchanging.

The truth is not comparative one thing to another. It is solid, it is unchanging, and it corresponds to reality, right? Fire is hot, and it will burn you, right? No amount of comparison or explanation can change the fact that if you're roasting marshmallows over the campfire, and you set your marshmallow on fire, and then accidentally set yourself on fire that you're going to be burned. And our world, and many of us frequently, try to do it the other way around, sort of change truth and change reality. Let me share with you a quote that I read this past week. I'll share it to you in two parts. Here's a simple definition that is drawn from what the Bible teaches. "Truth is that which is consistent with the mind, will, character, glory, and being of God." Even more to the point, truth is the self-expression of God. That is the

biblical meaning of truth, because the definition of truth flows from God. Truth is theological. Truth is also ontological, which is a fancy way of saying it is the way things really are. Reality is what it is, because God declared it so and made it so. Therefore, God is the author, the source, the determiner, the governor, the arbiter, the ultimate standard, and the final judge of all truth. We simply say what we're trying to say is that truth is by God, from God, and directs us to God. And so here is Jesus, God the Son, speaking of God the Spirit, saying the Spirit of truth. And Jesus repeats it, driving it into the hearts of the disciples so much that in his letter, 1 John, refers to the Holy Spirit that way. And one of the things that Jesus is doing by

referring to the Spirit as the Spirit of truth is that this Holy Spirit is utterly trustworthy. Remember, these are disciples who are about to be alone, Jesus is about to leave, and they're terrified of what will happen, and Jesus says, "I will send another helper to be with you, the Spirit of truth, the one who is ultimately trustworthy, who will never mislead or misguide you." And the picture of the word truth used in John 14, the opposite of that word is illusion. And in that word truth, we find something that can be depended upon, something that is reliable, something that is true. And so when Jesus describes the Spirit as the Spirit is the Spirit of truth, what he is saying is you don't need to worry that you will be led astray if you have the Spirit, or that you will be led wrongly. You can depend upon him and trust him, and he wants his

people to understand that he will, through his Spirit, lead us where we are supposed to be. So there is a reassurance in these words, the Spirit of truth. Now, the problem for us in our world is that so frequently we struggle to see the truth. So I was cooking earlier this week, and what I was cooking was pre-packaged, and so I picked up the package and I flipped it over to see what the cooking instructions were, and they used the lightest blue color font on the back, but the back of the package was also clear. And so I pull it out of the refrigerator, and I'm looking at it, trying to figure out what temperature I need to preheat the oven to, and it wasn't so much as a color as it was like clear with light blue,

so the blue was kind of clear as well, and I'm like, do I look through the top part of my glasses, the middle part, the bottom color? Do I take the glasses up? Do I hold it up to the light? And the reality was it was just like invisible ink on invisible paper, and I had no idea what was being said. And so many times this is where we find ourselves in regards to sin, right? We struggle because we've been conditioned by it, and we're familiar with it, and it all just sort of looks the same, and we can't see the truth. Sometimes it's because we become so accustomed to sin. We build up calluses. And I remember the first time I did those monkey bars where you swing back and forth down the length of them,

and upon that realization of finding out that we could do it, me and my friend did it so much that we ended up with blisters on our hands, and our hands took a while to heal, and then we did it again. We did it again and eventually do it all day, and there was no blisters because we built up calluses. And our hearts, who are consistently choosing ourselves and our desires over the truth of God, sometimes become calloused to the truth. And because we're so familiar with sin and so callous to it, it's really just what we see. It's interesting. If you've ever gotten a car, whether a new car or a new-to-you car, and all of a sudden you're driving this car down the road, all of a sudden you start seeing this car everywhere.

You're like, "Oh! There's another one! There's another one!" Everybody has one of these cars. And the interesting thing about this is they've done some research on this, and it's because it's an interesting commentary on how we see the world. In part, we're noticing it's because that's what we have. It's what we're familiar with. So as you drive down the road in your car, your brain has a tendency to see other cars that are just like that. So in part, we see cars like ours because it's familiar with what we have. However, the other part of this is a trick of our mind because subconsciously, we're counting all the cars that are looking like ours, and we have two categories: cars like ours and cars I don't count or care about. So it's not really a scientific thing when we're looking and going, "Man, everybody else is driving a Honda Accord."

We're just not counting the other ones, and so we have two lists: cars that don't matter and Honda Accords. And so, of course, the list you're counting is going to be bigger. And sin is so much the same way we live in it. It's what we see. It's what we're used to. It's what we've become calloused by. And so we don't see the truth, and we struggle to see the truth. And we don't just struggle to see the truth in general. Don't just think this is sort of a general problem for humanity. We struggle to see the truth in regard to ourselves. Have you ever noticed that unless you are exceptionally honest with yourself, it's usually not your fault? Right? Our default mode, if we're not real honest, is generally it's somebody else's fault. And when someone truly takes responsibility for something, we sit up and notice because it's not very common.

And it's not just in general, but with sin, it's our struggle to see, unless we're brutally honest. And I don't know that we can be without the work of God in our life. And the remarkable thing about this is, while we may not be able to see our sin, we're sure able to be experts in seeing everybody else's. And have you noticed that all of us as sinners, like we're always good people? Well, yeah, I may have some problems, but I'm basically, basically a good person, right? We become immune and calloused to sin. And sometimes we struggle to see the consequences of sin, right? Not for me. I've done enough good other things. I didn't do what they did, so I should be blind. I should be fine. And you see, we struggle because we struggle to see sin. We struggle to see how we are not good.

And we struggle to see that there is judgment for sin. Let's take a look at how the Spirit of Truth comes into our life. Speaking about the Holy Spirit, and when He comes, He will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment. Concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me. Concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you will see Me no longer. Concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. Notice what the Holy Spirit does. And this is before we're Christians. This is for the world. He will convict the world, show us the truth about our sin, our righteousness, and our judgment. And the word conviction here is used like 18 times in the New Testament. And most of the time, in fact almost every time, it's used in a way that says, "You're wrong, and there's a better way to live. Leave sin behind and run to what is right."

That conviction here is not just a, "Hey, look at how bad and how broken and how hurting you are." But rather, there is a different way to go. It's a call to live differently. And so what we find is the work of the Spirit in the world is gracious. It's designed to bring men and women of the world to recognize our need and to turn to Jesus and stop being, as we see in this text, the world. Right? The part of the work of the Spirit is to come and to wake us up, to shake us. Now, let's be honest, being woken up when you don't want to be is not often super fun or super great. Got the puppy. Sound asleep. Middle of the night. He, for whatever reason, decides he wants to sleep on the bed.

Comes flying up onto the bed, like jumps right on your face, right? It's like, "I was sound asleep. I did not want to be woken up." And most of us, when it comes to our sin, do not want to be woken up. And so when the Spirit comes to convict us in regard to seeing sin, to seeing that we are sinful and there is judgment, right, it can be a difficult and painful process. And then, as He can fix us of sin, He also shows us the good news of the Gospel. Right? That through Jesus and through the work of the Spirit, we can be born again. It's all of John chapter 3. And that those who see their sin, who respond to Jesus, then the Spirit of truth goes to work in a different way.

He doesn't just show us our sin, but if you are a Christian, what He does is He transforms you to live in the truth. We all know the difference between joy and obligation, right? There's things that we love to do, things that we have to do. And think about our attitude as we go to do something that we love to do. We're excited and we're energized. And if it's something that we have to do, not that we want to do, right? It's like, "Oh, I guess I got to go get this out of the way." Not to keep bringing up dogs, but we love dogs. Not just me, but as a church, right? Watch a dog, you say, "Hey, come here." The dog kind of goes, "Oh, why would I come there?" Now, if you're eating a cheeseburger, and you go, "Hey puppy, come here."

At least ours, like that dog is, it's no longer an obligation. I've got to go over and see Brandon, right? It's like, "There's a cheeseburger. I can't wait to be there." And one of the transforming works of the Spirit in your life, if you are a Christian, is He changes your attitude and your heart in regard to obedience to God from, "Oh, I guess I've got to do this," to this joyful explosion of righteousness. Look at this promise that's made all the way back in the book of Ezekiel. God says, "I will give you a new heart and a new spirit I will put within you. I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh from that hard, calloused view of sin, and I will give you a heart of flesh, and I will put my Spirit within you

and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules." Through the work of the Spirit, we don't just know the truth, but we're also able to live in it. The fruit of the Spirit, and I can't do it without the cadence of our VBS song, "Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, goodness, and self-control." He's saying the fruit of the Spirit is not a coconut. He doesn't just show us the truth, but He causes us to have a transformed heart that desires the truth and then brings that to fruition in our lives. So one of the questions is, "How can I walk more deeply in the work of the Spirit?" Well, the first answer to that is that you have to be convicted of your sin to see your brokenness,

to be saved by Jesus. And for Christians, Paul says something very interesting in Ephesians 5:18. He says this, "Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit." And then he gives you a list, "Addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ." Now the structure of this is interesting, because he's describing two ways to live, and he starts by saying, "Do not get drunk with wine." We probably know what that looks like. He says, "Instead of that, be filled with the Spirit." Let's pray.

It's because we've been fixed on and listening to other things. And so if we are struggling, and one of the good blessings and the good gifts God gives us in gathering together is we get to speak encouragement to each other in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. We get to sing together. Not just saying those words, but there's something different about saying something and something different about singing something. To give thanks together. To serve and to help one another. You see, these things, I think, are both evidence of the work of the Spirit, but there are ways for you and I in Christ to see the Spirit of truth working more deeply in our lives. And so if we find ourselves this morning, I think, far from the Spirit, maybe you're not a Christian. You cannot be filled with the Spirit if you are not in Christ. And if you are a Christian, sometimes the call for us is to repent of those things we've been chasing and listening to elsewhere.

Sometimes it's a call to listen to what God has said through His Word and through His people. And sometimes, right, what we need is to share that, what God has done in our lives, to speak that truth to others, to sing with others, submit to others, and give thanks with each other. So the Holy Spirit is at work in the lives of His people as they worship together. Let's pray. Father in heaven, I thank you for your Son who has saved us. We thank you for your Spirit who empowers us. We thank you that you have given us a way to be restored, that in our selfishness we have chosen ourselves, and in your grace you have saved us and equipped us. So I ask this morning that you would convict us where we need to be led to repentance, that you would encourage us where we are tired and weak,

that you would give us courage where we are fearful, and that you would give us strength to follow you. It's in your Son's name we pray. Amen. So one of the truths that the Holy Spirit testifies to in our lives is Jesus, His person, who He is, and His work, what He has done. And so what we're going to do, we're going to stand and sing, "I set my hope on Jesus." If you would, go ahead and... When this life of trials test my faith, I set my hope on Jesus. When the questions come and doubts remain, I set my hope on Jesus. For the deepest wounds that time won't heal, there's a joy that runs still deeper. There's a truth that's more than all I feel. I set my hope on Jesus. I set my hope on Jesus. My rock, my only trust. Who set his heart upon me first? I set my hope on Jesus.

Though I falter in this war with sin, I set my hope on Jesus. My rock fell and sank within. I set my hope on Jesus. Though the shame would drown me in its sea, and I drained the wave of justice. I cast my life on Calvary. I set my hope on Jesus. I set my hope on Jesus. My rock, my only trust. Who set his heart upon me first. I set my hope on Jesus. I set my hope on Jesus. Though the world call me to leave my Lord, I set my hope on Jesus. Though it offer all its vain rewards, I set my hope on Jesus. Though this heart of mine broke, give me grace enough to finish, till I worship on that final day. I set my hope on Jesus. I set my hope on Jesus.

My life, my only trust. You set His heart upon me first. I set my hope on Jesus. I set my hope on Jesus. My life, my only trust. Who set His heart upon me first. I set my hope on Jesus. I set my hope on Jesus.

The following, September 7th, where you're going to begin the book of Daniel. Throughout Daniel, you find a lot of really remarkable accounts from difficult decisions to all different kinds of dangers, from fiery furnaces to angry kings to a lion's den to some scary visions, and through it all, the message of Daniel is this, is that we can be unshaken, whether that's in conflict or struggle or fear or even in light of the future. Because God reigns. In fact, it's at the center of the book in chapter 7 is the Ancient of Days to sit on His throne. So that's where we're going on Sunday mornings, beginning September 7th, and then September 10th. On Wednesday nights, we're going to dive into discovering sort of the truth and the treasure of the Word of God. And so how do we know that we can believe what the Bible has to say?

And then also, what makes it so full of treasure as we unpack some Scripture and see and find our hearts encouraged and strengthened. So that's what's coming up. We will be here this Wednesday night, but not the Wednesday night following, and then we will be back next Sunday as well. And also in September, our normal children's church schedule will resume the second and the fourth Sunday. So that's coming up as well. If you'd like to stay in touch with us, we'd love to grab your information or your email address. There are some cards in the back. If you want to leave your email address with us to be added to our email list or just to keep in touch, you can do that. I'm going to go ahead and have a word of prayer. We'll read from Romans, the 15th chapter, and then we'll sing the doxology.

Father in heaven, I thank you so much for your people and the encouragement that they are to us. We thank you for all that you have done and all that you are doing, and we thank you for all that you will do in the future. So be with us. Watch over us. Take care of us. Strengthen us in your word and through your spirit. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Romans 15 says this in verse 13, "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope." Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him, all creatures. Here below, praise Him above the heavenly host. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.