26 But when the Comforter
is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of
truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me: 27 And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with
me from the beginning. John
15:26-27
1 These things have I
spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended. 2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time
cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service. 3 And these things will they do unto you, because they have
not known the Father, nor me. 4 But these
things have I told you, that when the time shall come, ye may remember that I
told you of them. John 16:1-4a
Luke 24:44-53 44 And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while
I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in
the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms,
concerning me. 45 Then opened he their
understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, 46 And
said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it
behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: 47 And that repentance and remission of sins should be
preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 And ye are witnesses of these things. 49 And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but
tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high. 50 And
he led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and blessed
them. 51 And it came to pass, while he
blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven. 52 And
they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy: 53 And
were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God. Amen.
Can a physical body exist in more than one place at a time?
Jesus must return to the Father in order that the whole
world might receive the witness of the Comforter – the Holy Ghost. The Holy
Ghost is a spirit and may be in all places at all times.
Do not offend the Holy Spirit, who is always with you, by
vile and sinful living. We have the very serious warning against bringing the
Holy Spirit into an environment which is unholy:
Mark 3: 27 No man can
enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind
the strong man; and then he will spoil his house. 28 Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven
unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme: 29 But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost
hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation:
Jesus made this observation as a result of the scribes and
Pharisees claiming that Christ worked miracles through the spirit of Beelzebub.
Beelzebub is a demon spirit. The Holy Spirit must not be
offended in this hateful manner.
All that we do in the presumed privacy of a dark room are
performed in the presence of the Holy Spirit.
Consider the Holy Spirit to be similar to your loving
mother. Would you do some of the things you do in her presence?
Language, sex, drinking, smoking, cursing?
Would you allow your friends to use vile language in the
presence of your mother who bore you? Do you honor your father and your mother
enough? Do you honor the Holy Spirit who lives in your heart?
And what of your heart? Who is its guardian? Who dwells
there?
Mark 3: No man can enter into a
strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong
man; and then he will spoil his house.
Before you invited Christ into your heart, who was its
Ruler? Satan, himself. Satan was the Strong Man of your heart. But Christ is
stronger.
Invite Jesus Christ into your heart, and He will bind Satan
and clean up the entire house.
Can we clean up our hearts? No, we must invite Christ
to do so. And He will!
The world, or, in reality, every
one's own heart, is—we have the authority of Christ to say it—"a
house" or a palace, which Satan, as a strong man, holds and keeps. So long
as the strong man holds his palace on an undisputed tenure, it is all quiet;
his goods are in peace. But when Christ, who is represented as the stronger
One, comes, there is warfare—warfare to the death; and thus warfare in the
breast is the first, and for a long while the only, token for good. There are
three stages, then, which we will examine in order:
I. "the strong man armed keepeth his
palace." The strong one—none know how strong, but those who try to escape
and break off his tyranny—so strong, that his strength is unseen, while in
stillness and in silence he holds his own; so strong that the greatest
determination of the most strong-minded man, unaided, trying to break any one
of those many bonds, would be as if he were to try to uproot a mountain.
A prison is a strong fortress.
One man cannot break its bars. But when a mighty Army comes, it shall yield to
the overwhelming power of strength.
II. But the stronger comes, and now the fighting
begins. Unknown to you, the stronger is binding the strong one. Heavy blasts
blew, bitter winds came, and severe discipline and desolating bereavements fell
upon you; but they were never meant to hurt you; they were to kill the strong
one, the power of evil that is in you.
III. Now mark the spoil. He will bind the strong
man, and then he will spoil his house. The habit of sin broken, the power of
sin reduced, the love of sin destroyed—the soul is emancipated; and now Christ
is free to claim His own property, which His own blood has purchased, and His
own right hand has rescued. Has He not a right? Are not all the spoils His? So
once, two thousand years ago, when He had gained the victory over the whole
world by His death, and when He had led captivity captive "up to the highest
heaven," He took His seat before the throne, and distributed to men, from
His royal greatness, the good things which, by that death, He had redeemed from
Satan's grasp. Then, the outpourings of the day of Pentecost—then the largesse’s
of pardon, life, grace, joy, wisdom, service, love, heaven, which from His
throne He is always pouring upon men. He had bound the strong man on Calvary.
He had restored the property to the lawful owner, and then He ascended into the
heaven of heavens, and "divided the spoils."
Life is affected by two different forces.
I. The strong enemy – Satan.
II. The strong friend – Christ! Man must be under
one or other of these forces, the enemy or the friend. Those who continue under
the devil will share the ruin to which he is doomed. When Satan's head is
bruised, all who are in Satan's empire will be crushed. ~ Dr. Parker
We can belong to only one of two families –
that of Heaven, or that of Hell.
The day is coming when some of you will be persecuted for
your faith. But that is OK. It means that you belong to Christ.
John 15: 1 These
things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended. 2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time
cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.
Who murders innocent victims today believing they do God a
service?
Have you witnessed the throat cuttings of the moslem
fanatics in the Middle East? They bind their victims, who have done nothing
wrong, and cut their throats while singing, “Allah Ahk-Bar!” – “God is Great!”
So you can be sure the day is coming when many shall die for
Christ.
Have you been kicked out of a church for your faith? I have
been. So will you.
Why do the evil rage? Because they do not know God. Why?
Because we have not told them of Him and given evidence in our own lives of
Him!
Christ has ascended to the Father where He prepares a place
for us.
We must wait our days here on earth and also build our place
upon a solid foundation.
Hear the words Christ uses to describe our building and
living:
Matthew 7:24 Therefore whosoever
heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise
man, which built his house upon a rock: 25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds
blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a
rock. 26 And every one that
heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a
foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: 27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds
blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of
What kind of foundation are you building your lives upon –
the Rock of Christ, or the Sand of Satan?
