[0:00] John chapter 16, verses 12 through 15, would you please stand with me as we honor the reading!
[0:30] I have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth, for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears, He will speak, and He will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take what is Mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is Mine, therefore I said that He will take what is Mine and declare it to you. May God add a blessing to the reading of His Word. Would you please be seated?
[1:03] I was excited a few years ago when the new Star Wars movies that they had been planning to make came out. I grew up watching Star Wars, and so I was interested to find out what had become of Luke Skywalker. What was Han Solo doing? Where was Princess Leia? And also I was interested to discover who the new characters were and what role they had to play in a galaxy far, far away. But the new movies were terrible. They were terrible. You may disagree with me on that, but they were bad. And in my opinion, one of the reasons why they were so bad is that there were so many inconsistencies. There were inconsistencies with the original movies. There were even inconsistencies between the three new ones that they had made. And while I know that those are fictional stories and they are meant to entertain, those inconsistencies, or what we call plot holes, can sometimes be so distracting that you lose interest altogether. And I know that I'm not the only one. Critics love to point out and pick apart plot holes in movies or in TV shows or in books. In fact, when I did a Google search for plot holes in
[2:35] Star Wars, I received 7,150,000 results. That's a lot of articles written by a lot of people who have spent a lot of time critiquing plot holes and flaws in a fictional story that doesn't really matter. But it's interesting, isn't it, that a story which first came to life on the big screen in 1977, about 45 years ago, and which has only had a handful of directors who have told that story, could contain so many discrepancies. But human beings are flawed creatures, and so it should not come as a surprise to us that often our stories reflect those flaws. One of the amazing things about studying the Bible is how remarkable its unity is. The Bible was written over a period of about 1,600 years by at least 40 different human authors who had very diverse backgrounds from one another.
[3:45] Some of those human authors were kings. Some were priests. Others were scribes. Some were shepherds, or soldiers, or farmers, or fishermen, a tax collector, and a physician. Yet it contains no plot holes.
[4:04] The Bible is perfectly consistent from beginning to end in its facts and its truths that it reveals about God. And as it progressively reveals His plan to redeem sinners through His Son, Jesus Christ.
[4:23] And so how could a book written over such a long period of time by so many different human authors who were so different from one another have such consistency and unity in what it reveals?
[4:39] Well, it's because the Bible is unlike any other book ever written. And the reason why it lacks errors is because it is divinely inspired by God. The Bible is invested with His truth, with His power, and with His authority. And so as Christians, we believe that the Bible testifies about itself. We believe what the Bible testifies about itself is God's Word. And because it's God's Word, it therefore is infallible, it is inerrant, it is authoritative, it is sufficient, and it is effective. The central figure of all of Scripture is Jesus Christ is Jesus Christ, the Son of God. All of Scripture, from Genesis through the maps in the back, point to Jesus Christ. He is the incarnate Word of God, as John testified to in the beginning of this gospel that we've been studying. Back in John chapter 1, verse 1 and verse 14, inspired by the Holy Spirit, he writes, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And then in verse 14, he gives further revelation about who this Word is. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. In chapter 1 of
[6:20] Paul's letter to the Colossians, he echoes that reality of how important Christ is. He says in verse 15, He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. And He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything He might be preeminent. For in Him all of the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of His cross. In other words, the Bible says that Jesus is a pretty big deal, and that's an understatement. If you want to know what God is like, then you look to Jesus. If you want to hear
[7:27] God speak to you today, then you read His Word, which was inspired by His Spirit. And that's what Jesus' encouragement is for us today as we step back into John chapter 16 and into this text, these verses. Jesus is meeting with His disciples for the last time before He will die on the cross. He's been preparing them for that, for what is about to happen, not only for His death, but for what will come after it, His resurrection, His ascension back to heaven, and then their continuation of His ministry on earth, that they will be testifying to the world about Him and what He has done to save sinners from their sins. Jesus has just explained to the disciples that, like Him, they will be hated as a result. But then He comforts them by revealing that they will not be left alone to accomplish this task. He will send another. He will send the paraclete. He will send the Holy Spirit who will be with them and who will live and dwell inside of them. He will empower them as they proclaim the gospel. He will, as Jesus said in verses 8 through 11, be at work through them to convict the world and its sin of its inability to measure up to God's perfect standard and His righteous judgment. This conviction, Jesus tells them, will either lead to repentance and salvation or rejection and condemnation. And so having explained how the Spirit interacts with the world, Jesus in these verses, verses 12 through 15, reveals how the
[9:18] Spirit interacts with His disciples and with His church. And so the main idea for this morning's sermon is this, the Holy Spirit has inspired God's Word and helps us to know Christ correctly and glorify Him rightly. You know, I've been encouraged this week from some of our community group facilitators who have talked to me about the conversations that you all had in your groups last week, talking about the person, talking about the work of the Holy Spirit, digging into God's Word as you ask those questions and as you find answers from it. I'm so thankful to hear those kinds of reports because it's a great thing when God's people are in God's Word, especially when we're, well, in this case, whenever we're talking about the Holy Spirit who oftentimes is the forgotten member of the Trinity. And so I hope that this message brings even greater clarity to you and to our church regarding the Holy Spirit and primarily and how He's inspired God's Word and how He guides us in our study of it so that we come to know Christ correctly and we then glorify Him rightly. And so in these verses, Jesus reveals three activities of the Holy Spirit that help us better know Christ correctly and glorify Him rightly. And that first activity is this from verse 12, the Holy Spirit gives revelation. The Holy Spirit gives revelation.
[11:05] Jesus says in verse 12 to His disciples, I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. See, Jesus had been with His disciples for at least three years and He had taught them a lot, so much so that John concludes his gospel with this statement in John 21, 25. Now, there are many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Jesus here had more to reveal to His disciples, but at this time, they weren't able to bear any more, which makes us wonder and ask a couple questions. Well, first of all, why not? Why couldn't they bear to hear more of those things that He had to taught them? And then secondly, what were those things? What were those many other things that He said that He had to share with them?
[12:11] So let's take that first question first. We know that the disciples were exceedingly sorrowful at this point. Jesus told them that He would be leaving them soon and that He would die. He's explained to them also that one of them, one of their brothers, they thought, who had been with them every step of the way in Jesus's ministry, would betray Him. Peter, who often was the leader of the disciples, Jesus said, would deny Him. And Jesus has told them that they would be hated and persecuted by the world for their proclamation of the gospel. And so that all was a lot to take in, wasn't it? Imagine being there and hearing all of these things in one setting, that is a lot to take in. And Jesus knew that these things were weighing heavily on His disciples and their hearts. And though He had more to tell them, He knew that at this point, at least mentally and emotionally, they could not bear much more in this moment. Once again, Jesus's treatment of the disciples testifies to how selfless our Savior is.
[13:32] His disciples were in a sort of state of mourning over the news that Jesus's death was imminent. And yet He, the one who would die, the one who would be crucified, He is primarily concerned for them and their mental and emotional state. Now, what I love here is we don't see Jesus saying something like this, you know, snap out of it. Why aren't you guys thinking about me? I'm the one who's going to die, not you. I'm the one who should be worried, not you. And you know what? You guys never listen to me.
[14:21] How many times have I told you that this is going to happen, yet you never listen? I said I'd rise again. Jesus doesn't take that approach. And don't you love that? Don't you love and appreciate the patience and the compassion that Jesus continually expresses over and over again to His disciples? Aren't you thankful for how patient He is with you when you likewise, like them, just feel overcome with sorrow and stress and grief? How in those moments, He continually sustains you as you go through those trials? How He continually strengthens your faith rather than having it shattered into a million pieces?
[15:11] Down at the end of verse 13, Jesus reveals what those many things are. He says, He has to tell them, He says that they are regarding things that are to come. What was to come soon was His death, His burial, His resurrection, and then His ascension. He would reveal in greater detail to them the significance of those events. But at this point, the disciples, like their fellow Jews, still held on to that view that the Messiah would be a political deliverer who would drive the Romans out of Israel and establish a messianic kingdom in fulfillment of their understanding of the Old Testament Scriptures. They still didn't fully grasp the concept of a dying Messiah who came not to vanquish the Romans but to conquer much greater enemies, our enemies that are sin, Satan, and death. Later, when the
[16:13] Holy Spirit came, He would make complete sense of the things that the disciples weren't fully comprehending at this time in this moment when they were first happening. John records the first time Jesus cleansed the temple back in chapter 2 of His gospel. Remember when He made a whip and He drove out the livestock from the temple and He overturned the tables of the money changers? And He explained there in chapter 2 how it wasn't until after Jesus' death and resurrection and exaltation that He and the rest of the disciples understood the significance of Jesus' answers to the Jews when they challenged Him for doing what He did on that day. Look at what He wrote in John 2, 19 through 22.
[17:00] Jesus answered them, destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up. The Jews then said, it has taken us 46 years to build the temple and you will raise it up in three days. But He was speaking about the temple of His body. When therefore He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He said this and they believed the Scripture and the Word Jesus had spoken. That understanding came later. In John chapter 12, He describes Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem when the crowds greeted Him, remember, with palm branches as they shouted, Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel. The disciples in that moment didn't understand the full significance of what was happening and how it was fulfilling Scripture. It wasn't until after Jesus' death and resurrection and exaltation that they did. As John testifies to in verse 16, His disciples did not understand these things at first. But when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered these things had been written about Him and had been done to Him. It was after these things, Christ's death and exaltation, after these things happened. After these things happened and after the promise Holy Spirit came, that the disciples were able to then fully grasp who Jesus was and how to live out the implications of that revelation as the Holy Spirit was revealing it to them and inspired many of them to write things down, these things down, these things down into what is our New Testament. So what does this mean for us?
[18:54] Well, the Bible says when you are saved, you are indwelt by the Holy Spirit permanently. Permanently. All right? He's not like a roommate who comes and goes. I'm going on vacation. I'll see you in a month.
[19:10] He is with us all the time. Permanently. And since He's with us all the time, He is at work in us to illumine our minds to understand God's Word. He works to illumine our understanding so that we know how to apply God's truth to our lives. That's what 1 Corinthians 2, 9 through 14 says. But as it is written, what no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him. These things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person's thoughts except the Spirit of that person which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.
[20:09] Now we have received not the Spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom, but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.
[20:32] spiritual. The natural person does not accept the things of God, for they are folly to him, and he is unable to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. When you are saved and indwelt by the Spirit, He helps you understand the Word that He has inspired. But if you're not saved by Him and you don't have His Spirit, these things that you read in the Word won't make sense to you. But let's think of this as believers.
[21:04] You know, when I was a boy, I was saved. I was about eight years old. And at that moment, even though I was young, I understood the gospel. I knew that I was a sinner who needed to repent of my sins. I knew that I needed to trust in Jesus Christ as my Savior for my salvation. I knew that it was my sins for which He died for.
[21:25] I knew that it was necessary for Him to die in order for me to be forgiven, and that I was saved by faith in Him, not because I was a good enough boy. However, as I've come to know Christ more, and as I've continually read the Bible, as I've continued to be guided by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, He has given me understanding to comprehend the gospel in greater detail.
[21:57] To see just how great a sinner I am, and to understand just how great a Savior Jesus Christ is.
[22:08] The more I read God's Word, the more the Holy Spirit reveals its truth to me, the better I've been able to grasp the amazing grace of God that saved a wretch like me. Bible's not a book that you read at once and think, I've got it. No, it's one of those books that you just keep going to again and again and again, and you keep seeing new and greater things. You know, when I was eight years old, I wasn't ready for someone to hand me a copy of Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology.
[22:44] If you've seen that book, it's about this thick. You could use it as a defense weapon. You could, you could, you could probably, it probably would, would, would take a bullet for you, and it wouldn't pass through. It's so, so, so thick. It's really not that thick, but you definitely could knock someone out with it if you wanted to. I couldn't handle that. Like a, like a baby needs milk first before it can grow and, and develop a body that is able to eat meat. So, it is with us, but it should be the case that as we grow up in our faith in Christ and our understanding of His Word, that we get to a point where we're able to, to eat more of those meatier passages of Scripture. The Holy Spirit has revelation to give you in His inerrant Word, which He has inspired, but He won't force your face into this book. You've got to open it up and study it yourself. You know, a student who reads Cliff Notes or watches the movie, instead of reading the book, is not going to do as well as the one who read the book, are they? I've learned that lesson the hard way more than once.
[24:04] But honestly, it's sad to me how many biblically illiterate Christians we have today who allow themselves to be guided by their feelings instead of by the Holy Spirit, who teaches us primarily when we read His Word and as He illumines our minds to understand it.
[24:35] I just think how healthy, how vibrant, how strong the church would be today if its people, if its members were as faithful to trust in God's inspired Word as they are tempted to trust in their feelings.
[24:53] Your feelings will mislead you. My feelings have often misled me, but God's Word never will. God's Word will never mislead you. And so my prayer and my hope for our church is that our congregation would know God's Word even better and better and better, that we would strive together to be people of the book, that we would not be like some who are addressed in the book of Hebrews who had a malnourished faith because of their lazy approach to God's Word and their lack of desire to have the Holy Spirit illumine their minds and hearts to receive. Hebrews 5, 12 through 14 says, for though by this time you ought to be teachers, right? By this time you who have been saved should be more knowledgeable of the Word. You need someone still, he says, to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food. For everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the Word of righteousness since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. You know, there are often times where I've wished that I could take a Bible and put it under my pillow at night and just sleep on it and all of it, all of its instruction would just seep through my ear into my brain. It would be there forever. Did you ever think that? I know that computers, maybe you don't,
[26:34] I'm just strange, but I know that, you know, our brains are like computers, but I often wish it was more like my computer on my desk that I can just download something right onto it and it's there permanently. I wish that my mind worked that way, but it doesn't. You've got to study the Bible to know the Bible. You've got to open the Bible and read it so that its truth will pour not just over you, but into you. As the Holy Spirit illumines your mind to comprehend the awesome God who has called you from death to life. And as we do that, the second activity of the Holy Spirit, Jesus says, is this, the Holy Spirit guides to the truth. He gives revelation and he guides to the truth. Jesus says in verse 13, when the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears, he will speak and he will declare to you the things that are to come.
[27:41] In addition to activating Christ's promises in the disciples, in addition to convicting the world of sin and comforting Jesus's followers when they're persecuted, the Holy Spirit also guides disciples into all truth. And so right here in this verse, Jesus is pre-authenticating the New Testament scriptures that the Holy Spirit would inspire and that his apostles would write. Jesus had already alluded to this, that the Holy Spirit would perform this action back in John 14, 26. He said there, 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 that I have said to you. And so Jesus is identifying the Holy Spirit in this verse as, again, the spirit of truth. And being God who is sinless and perfectly righteous, it is therefore impossible for him to inspire error. And his inspiration includes all of scripture. As 2 Timothy 3, 16 says, all scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness. Now, there are a lot of biblical scholars who will say that the Bible is inspired but they will refuse to say that the Bible is inerrant, that it doesn't contain errors. Why? Well, I think that it's because there are parts of the Bible they like and there are parts of the Bible that they don't like. The parts that they like are inspired. The parts that they don't like must be in error, or so they are led to believe. And if you've ever had a conversation with someone who says that the Bible is inspired but not inerrant, it's like trying to nail a piece of jello to the wall. It doesn't work. And you can't really hold them to what they believe. R.C. Sproul described an interaction he had with someone who believed that the Bible was inspired but not inerrant. He said, on numerous occasions, I have queried several biblical and theological scholars in the following manner. Do you maintain the inerrancy of Scripture?
[30:16] No, they say. Do you believe the Bible to be inspired? Yes, they say. Is the Bible errant? No. No. Is it inerrant? He asks. No. At that point, he says, I usually take some headache medicine.
[30:31] It's not a conversation that you should leave, but it's a conversation that will give you a headache. It's inspired and it's inerrant. It can't be one or the other. It is both. Those who say that the Bible is a mixture of truth and error ultimately have a low view of Scripture. And a low view of Scripture means that you have a low view of God. If God is the source of all truth, and if His Word is truth, and if His Spirit is the Spirit of truth who inspired it, to say that the Bible is full of errors is to cast doubt ultimately on the character of God. It's to elevate your opinions and your feelings and your emotions over the truth that God has revealed. Psalm 119, 105 says, Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. So, to deny the truthfulness of God's Word is in effect to turn the light out on your life. It means walking in darkness.
[31:44] Darkness and walking in darkness will eventually get you hurt. You will stumble and you will fall. My first year serving here as senior pastor, you know, people are scared of being in the sanctuary when all the lights are off. I kind of like it. I don't know why, but I do. And this one time I came in, I think it was, I don't remember, it doesn't matter. It was sometime early in the morning when nobody else was here but me. And I came into the sanctuary. And at that point in time, I felt like, you know, I'd been here long enough and I sort of knew where all the furnishings were. But I forgot that we have these wonderful little prayer kneeler benches. And so, I walked right into it because it gets really dark in here. I hit my knee and I landed with my faith somewhere on the cushion.
[32:41] Thankfully, not the wood. But that hurt. That hurt. And I learned where that was. And I haven't forgotten.
[32:52] But the same thing happens to us when we ignore God's Word. We turn the light out. And then we're trusting in our senses to guide us in darkness. And we can't see in the dark without His Word. And we will stumble and we will fall and we will get hurt. Sometimes very, very badly. In these verses, Jesus makes the point that just as He never spoke or acted on His own initiative but said and did exactly what the Father gave Him to say and to do, so He says the Spirit speaks through His Word, revealing Christ and guiding Christians through that process of sanctification in which He is conforming them evermore into the image of Christ and His likeness. And so, as you read the Bible, the Holy Spirit uses it to make you more like Jesus as He's using His Word to conform you evermore into His image.
[33:53] The Holy Spirit guided the New Testament writers to write a new revelation that would take its place beside the Old Testament Scriptures that He likewise inspired. In so doing, the Spirit reminded them of His past revelation, enabled them to rightly interpret for their present situation as He revealed things to come for them and the church. That's the primary promise that Jesus makes here about how the Spirit would guide His disciples soon after His return to heaven. But there is a secondary promise here that is meant for us. The Holy Spirit will continue to use His inspired Word to instruct believers in this present day. 1 John 2 20 and verse 27 say, But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge. Verse 27,
[34:55] But the anointing that you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you, but as His anointing teaches you about everything and is true and is no lie, just as it is taught, abide in Him. As the Holy Spirit works to guide Christians in truth, He simultaneously then works to guard them from any teaching that contradicts the truth that He has revealed. The Bible says that Scripture is complete. Revelation 22, 18 through 19 declares this and gives this warning, I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book, if anyone adds to them, God will add to Him the plagues described in this book. And if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away His share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book. So, any person or any religion that claims additional revelation from God that contradicts
[36:04] His Word is in error and those who trust it are in grave danger. The Book of Mormon, the Quran, any other religious writing that claims to be inspired by God must be rejected by those who have been guided into the truth. Here's the thing about abiding in God's Word. Here's the thing about the more you study God's Word. The better you know it, the better the Holy Spirit helps you distinguish what is true from what is false. It's like these Holy Spirit alarm bells start sounding in your mind whenever you hear those false teachers teach whenever you hear even a pastor or a preacher use God's Word out of context. Or when you hear someone begin a statement with something like this, God told me. Well, however they finish that statement, it must be finished with a word from God's inspired Word, the Bible. And so, what should you do?
[37:08] Well, this is what I believe the Lord encourages us to do through His Word. When you study the Bible, begin by doing this. Pray that the Holy Spirit will illumine your mind to comprehend it. Pray for understanding. Pray for conviction. Pray for His help to apply what you've read to your life. And pray that He would help you to take what He has revealed to you and share it with someone else. Pray to receive your daily bread, the nourishment that you need from God's Word which strengthens and sustains you. Charles Spurgeon said, it was God's Word that made us. Is it any wonder that His Word should sustain us? Read the Bible and it will sustain you. The third activity of the Holy Spirit which Jesus describes in this passage is that the Holy Spirit glorifies Him. The Holy Spirit glorifies Christ. Having promised that the Holy Spirit would reveal the truth to the disciples, the Lord then gave them the ultimate purpose of the Holy Spirit's revelation. He said of Him that He will glorify Me, for He will take what is Mine and declare it to you, all that the Father is Mine. Therefore I said that He will take what is Mine and declare it to you.
[38:33] So just as Jesus glorified the Father by revealing Him, so the Spirit glorifies Christ by revealing the truth about Him too. He works to direct our attention to Jesus Christ. And it's Christ's glory revealed on the pages of Scripture that the Holy Spirit uses to mold and shape believers.
[38:55] again, into the image of Jesus Christ the Son. 2 Corinthians 3.18 says, And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
[39:17] And so, since it is the Spirit's purpose to glorify Christ in revelation, how much more than is it our purpose, or should it be our purpose as the church, as the bride of Christ, to glorify Him in our proclamation of the gospel which has saved us? I encourage all of us to be asking one another these questions. Where are you in Scripture? What are you reading in God's Word? And then the second question, what has the Holy Spirit been revealing to you in it? And I believe that the more we ask those two questions, the more conversations we are having about God's Word, and the more that we are seeing how it is impacting the lives of our brothers and sisters in Christ, I believe the more we will each be driven then further into our study of His Word. So, I'm asking you to ask those questions.
[40:28] And you can use me as the scapegoat. Well, you know, Pastor Mike said I needed to ask you this question, so I'm going to ask it. I don't mind that. We need to be asking each other these questions because a healthy and a thriving church is one that abides in God's Word. A healthy and a thriving church abides in God's Word and does not grieve the Spirit by being tossed and turned by every wave of false doctrine and blown about this way and that way because we trust in our feelings over the revealed truth contained in the pages of the inspired and inerrant Bible. And so, here's the main point of application for this sermon. Be in the Bible.
[41:17] Be in the Bible. Live biblically and glorify Christ as you proclaim the good news He has revealed to you. Be in the Bible. And by that I mean read the Bible. If you have questions about the Bible, guess what?
[41:33] You've got a lot of people here who would love to have those discussions with you. Don't be too prideful that you won't ask. Be in the Bible. Live biblically. Live out what it says and glorify Christ as you proclaim the good news He has revealed to you. Three application questions. Question number one, how does the Holy Spirit guide the disciples in all the truth?
[41:59] And then a follow-up question, what does He specifically help them to do? And then there's a couple of Scripture references that I encourage you to look up as you answer that follow-up question.
[42:15] Question number two, how does the Holy Spirit glorify Christ? How did the Holy Spirit glorify Jesus through the disciples? How does the Holy Spirit guide you to glorify Jesus in your life right now?
[42:31] How is He wanting to guide you in your life to glorify Christ with your life right now? And then the last question, what are you currently reading in Scripture? Ask yourself these questions that I hope that you'll ask other people in this church. What are you currently reading in Scripture?
[42:50] What has the Holy Spirit been revealing to you? And who are you going to share that with this week? And listen, maybe you're not. Maybe you're not in Scripture. Honestly, for many of us, we know, unfortunately, in the church, the only time Christians are in the Word is when they come to church on Sunday morning. If you only ate one time a week, you would starve to death. I don't mean to put you down, but to encourage you. God wants you to be in His Word. He has things to show you in His Word.
[43:20] And I often tell people who've never really studied the Bible before to go to the Gospel of John. Read the Gospel of John. If you've read the Gospel of John, maybe you're looking for something else, I say go to 1 John and read those five chapters every day. If you're struggling to find, to get yourself in a pattern of reading God's Word, I tell people to use the 10-20-30 method.
[43:43] Wake up 10 minutes, or wake up in the morning, read the Bible for 10 minutes. In the afternoon, at lunch, read it for 20. In the evening, before you go to bed, read it for 30. You can mix all of those times around, but guess what? If you do that, you're spending at least one hour a day reading God's Word. And the more that you do that, you do the math. It's going to be beneficial for you, for your friends, for your family, and for this church. Let's be evermore in this book that the Spirit has inspired. Let's pray.
[44:16] Lord, I pray that this message has been an encouragement. I pray that it's one that has pleased you. God, I know how often in my life I have ignored your Word. I've left it on a shelf only to be pulled down once a week. God, I pray that for each of us, you would encourage us to understand that what you've given us in your Word is awesome, and that we cannot neglect its truth and the things that you have to reveal to us in it. Lord, I pray that your Holy Spirit would encourage each one of us here, no matter what our current habits are when it comes to your Word, to excel still more in our desire to be in your Word. And as we spend time in it, Lord, I pray that you would open our hearts and our minds to understand the deep, deep truths contained within your Word, and that then we would be so excited that we can't wait to get with others and share the things that you are showing to us in your Word. And so, Lord, I pray that your Spirit would be at work in this place to make us people of this book, to make us people who are becoming increasingly like Jesus Christ, and that we would be about your business. We ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen.