Person & Work of the Holy Spirit

Okay, this morning we are on lesson 19. We are working in the person and work of the Holy Spirit and we have arrived at the issue of power and I have put in the questions page 64-72. And the first question is, for those of you who have read this, what is the first conception according to the write up that man has of God?

He's powerful. And it's really interesting. You know, it's one of those statements where you sit and think about it. You think, you know, you're really right. That's everybody, whether they be believer or not, views God as powerful. Braddell says even the heathen, though they early sought lost sight of his holiness and truth. in the sense do still, but they still recognize that he is powerful. Why would you pray to him if you didn't think he was powerful? So it is one of the first attributes that God reveals about himself, that he is powerful. And so every fresh revelation according to Rideout is a fresh manifestation of his power. So it reaches out, as it were, and it lays hold of the man. I think that's kind of a cool observation. So, God being powerful.

Question 2, in Luke 24, 49, Acts 1-8, what was promised and for what purpose was the promise given? Let somebody read Luke 24, 49. Just let me have it here. Behold, I am sending forth the promise of my Father upon you, that you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high. OK.

And somebody else read Acts 1.8. That ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and all of Judea and in Samaria. unto the uttermost parts of the earth. OK, so what was promised in these verses? What was the promise?

Power. And what else? That they would receive the Holy Spirit and accompanying that would be power from on high. Now, that will deal with that in a minute. It's interesting. that they received the Holy Spirit because it was promised by the Father. He promised it. So the Lord Jesus tells them, OK, it's going to happen. And along with the Holy Spirit comes a power endued from on high. Why do they need to have power? To enable them to be witnesses. What's that? To enable them to be witnesses. Yeah, isn't that interesting?

You know, we think that we can get a little song and dance together and a good story and practice it, memorize it, and we can go out and evangelize the world. But at the beginning, at the very beginning of a church, it required, I mean, the Lord Jesus said, don't do anything, don't do anything at all, is going to come. The Holy Spirit is going to come and he is going to empower you to be my witnesses. So that sort of takes away the how to evangelize class doesn't it? I remember the first year of my being a believer I met this church and they had a class on evangelism. and you had to write up your testimony and then you edited it, made it really nice and you had to memorize it. You were supposed to talk it out like you were doing a Dale Carnegie course or something.

You would take that and go on and you would save souls with that. Even then I thought that doesn't sound like it's going to be very effective because what are you asking people to do When you evangelize them, what are you saying to them? Look at me. Well in that case that's exactly what you're saying, look at me, aren't I cool? But the disciples in this case, what were they going to be witnesses to?

Death, burial and resurrection of Christ. Yeah, they were going to go around and they were going to say we want you to bet your eternity on a man who hung around Jerusalem, born in Bethlehem, who had no earthly credentials at all. He was crucified on a Roman cross. He was buried and resurrected. And if you believe that, the God of the universe, who is powerful, will save you for all eternity. I mean, if you have any sense at all, you'd think that's ridiculous.

So it takes more than your good testimony to persuade somebody about the cross and about the Lord Jesus Christ. It takes the power of God to do that. I think it's important that we understand that. That it's not just, oh look at me and what a great person I've become because I'm a Christian.

And here's the other thing that's interesting about it. He gave the business plan. The business plan was first of all we are going to do this in Jerusalem and then he is going to expand out there into the surrounding areas into Samaria and then we are going to the whole world with this. It wasn't just locally in Jerusalem.

This was a heck of a plan. took the power of the Holy Spirit, the power of God to do it. And these people recognize it and the Lord Jesus said to them, wait until the power comes on you by the Holy Spirit. Which sets you up for question three. Should we wait for the Spirit to come to us and give us power?

How many think yeah we should? Raise your hand. How many think no we shouldn't? One, two, three, four. The no's are correct. We already have it. We came up with the wrong answer. You know what the answer was? The answer is no, because we already have it. We already have the spirit. Right? You already have them, so what are you waiting for? My God says, what were they waiting for?

Not power primarily, but the descent of the Holy Spirit, and with him came the power and all else. Now, we have seen abundantly that the Spirit has come from heaven once for all. The Spirit is right here in this room, because he's indwelling each one of you. He comes to every believer, he seals us, he baptizes us into Christ, and he indwells us. So why would you pray for the reception of the Spirit? You wouldn't. You wouldn't. When David sins, right? He goes to God, and what does he pray? Don't take your spirit from me. Is that a good prayer for us Christians?

No, it's not. Why not? Because he's not leaving. I don't care what you say. He's one of those guests that can't even stand. You can't send him out of your life, you can't request him out of your life. So what do you pray for? I didn't request, you just don't get it answered the way you want it. Is there anything wrong with praying to the Lord and waiting?

Rideout says there's a place for that. What's the place? It's for the energy and the leading of the spirit. That's good, Jack. It's for the energy and the leading of the spirit in your life. Lots of times you have to wait for that. But you don't have to wait for the indwelling of the spirit. Every one of us were indwelled by the spirit.

And we've been to previous classes that we've taught. We taught the 34 things that happen to you at the cross, all of which are enabled by and gifted by the Holy Spirit, who you are. One of the things that impressed me negatively about this funeral I was at on Friday was that I could volunteer for a class over there. and I could spend a whole year just teaching them one set of truths.

And what the truths are? Who they are. Because all of their prayers and everything was asking God to come and do something that he's already done. They don't understand who they are as sons of God, as believers, what they possess, and where they are.

So it's interesting to listen in an environment like that, to listen to somebody talk about, I mean it's depressing is what it is. Because the ignorance that there is about their position, just, you know, it's depressing. I can't think of a better word than that. When a believer goes home it's a celebration. Now it really is.

So what's the difference then of being enveloped by the Spirit and being filled by the Spirit? Is there a difference? Well people were filled off and on intermittently in the Old Testament and Christians are filled permanently. Okay. Same Holy Spirit. Isn't it that you're always indwelt by the Spirit, but you're sometimes filled by the Spirit to accomplish something that God wants you to do?

Everybody understand that? Is that clear? Every believer is indwelt by the Holy Spirit, right? Everyone in this room. And you have, not only are you indwelt by the Spirit, but the Spirit of God has baptized you and positioned you in Christ Jesus. But, Being filled with the Spirit is something else. And it's designed for you to carry out whatever ministry God has called you to, or maybe put it another way, He's gifted you for.

Does everybody on this side of the room have a spiritual gift? How about on this side of the room? At that side. I'm not so sure about you guys in here. Does everybody in the room have a spiritual gift? Yes, you do. And you know what's interesting about a spiritual gift? You need the Holy Spirit to carry it out. You need to be filled to carry it out.

No matter how under the radar it is. We were talking, coming down here this morning, and Wanda was talking about, was it a woman or a man that in a grieving time would come up and put his arm around you and comfort you? It was a woman. It was a woman in her community. And what a gift that is. And how comforting it is. Just having a person come and do that. To do that correctly takes the power of the Holy Spirit. It just does. Other than the person being comforted, you probably don't even know what's going on. Which is really a cool thing. There are a few around here that have that. We have a list of them. Just to repeat and make sure it's clear, every person who believes the gospel of the grace of Jesus Christ, who becomes a Christian, is indwelt with the Holy Spirit permanently.

Believers are filled with the Holy Spirit in order to carry out the divine purpose God has called them to perform, Ephesians 2.10. All might not work miracles, but all have divine power to work for the work for which they are to be used. The work in the body of Christ, because we are a spiritual organism, takes the power of the Holy Spirit to get it accomplished.

I think it's important that we understand that. Okay, wait a minute. Okay, I'll wait. Okay, the design for the purpose of doing what God wants us to do, is that how I should write it? Believers are filled with the Holy Spirit in order to carry out the divine purposes God has called them to perform. Okay? I just have a question. Please.

I stand to believe that we are just going through Ephesians 5. Eight canvases do not get drunk with wine, which is debauchery instead of filled with the spirit, which kind of to me kind of says that it's kind of a decision. Or am I right there? I guess it's kind of been a little. And that kind of seems to kind of relate to this a little bit. I'm glad you brought that up because we're going to talk about that.

In question 12, Ephesians 5.18 and 19, there are examples of natural exhilaration or something else. I understand the question, which is really a good one by the way. So, understand that the Holy Spirit is always present, but he is not always manifesting his power. Although I got to tell you, every time I come to Sunday school on Sunday morning, he's here and I know he is.

Because I'm not teaching you. If you guys want to learn anything from me, it better be him that's doing it. Because if he isn't, we might as well go watch the pregame. Okay, so he's reading for you? Is reading for you? You are not reading it yourself? The Holy Spirit is reading it?

Maybe put it this way, when I was first a believer, actually the first year I ever came to Holly Hills, Donna and I came, and Ron Merriman was here, and Wayne was a lot younger then. I remember sitting and listening to him, to Ron Merriman. He was in First Peter. And Merriman was a really good teacher, but he was also kind of a political geek. And he would sometimes launch into some political thing. He would teach from 1 Peter and it came out of his mouth, went down the airways and by the time it got into me, the spirit intercepted it and I understood what he was talking about.

I was a really young believer, I was so excited and I knew it wasn't him. But he was very clear and very precise and I learned a lot from him because he was a careful teacher, very careful. So that's what I mean. You know, I think this goes back to what Sam Dalton, a good evangelist, a friend who's now at the Lord. Like I said, he always carried a little tube around, and that's all there was. He'd pull it out, and that's what I am. And as a teacher or whatever, you're just a vessel to bring whatever message the Lord wants that day. You know, I'm constantly amazed. I shouldn't be.

But how the Lord works here, where, you know, what we teach here, we go upstairs, And very similar things are taught. And I'm going, the Lord, the Spirit is working. Some people, I think, think we plan these things out. That whatever we teach down here, that we've coordinated with Vern upstairs. We send the memo around. And this is what we're teaching. And it's not. And that, to me, It's sort of spirit working. What we've taught down here he either reinforces or says the same. And that to me is demonstrating how the spirit works here.

We're just vessels. We're just a tube. That's exactly right. That's it. And it's cool. I know I've repeated this a lot in the last months because it was really an eye opener to me when we were studying Corinthians. Paul said that he planted and Apollos watered, but it was God who gave the anchors. And that he and Apollos shared one thing in common. You know what it was?

That they were nothing. And when you think about it, in the ministry that God has called you to perform, if you think that you're nothing, that's perfect. It's perfect, it couldn't be any better. Because you don't get your ego in the way. You're the clay pot, the clay vessel, which was the cheapest form of container ship in the ancient world. You know, it's like disposable bags now. That's what this this treasure is. So it's cool. Question five. Let's see. Well, let's somebody read at six, eight through 10. Somebody who hasn't read before and can read English.

And Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great wonders and signs among the people. But some men from what was called the synagogue, including both Syrians and Alexandrians, and some from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and argued with Stephen, And yet they were unable to cope with the wisdom and the spirit with which he was speaking. So my question is what was the most important aspect of Stephen's power?

The wisdom of the Holy Spirit. That's exactly right. As far as we know Stephen was probably one of the educated ones. It's interesting that he did extraordinary work in his testimony. The great thing about Stephen was his faith, I think. Once the Spirit of God revealed who the Lord Jesus was to him, and then filled him for his ministry.

Think about these guys that you have trouble pronouncing, all these scholars. In my neighborhood we have a contingency of Hasidic Jews that wear fedoras and they walk up to the synagogue on Saturday, thanks to Courtney. Thank you. And they wear this white rope thing around their waist, the men do, that sort of hangs down. It looks like maybe their shirts are torn or something. But it's to remind them of the Ten Commandments.

I would love to sit down with these rabbis and talk to them, but if I wasn't filled with the spirit, they would run me right over. Because these guys, the guy across the street, the rabbi across the street, spent 12 years in Jerusalem studying the Torah. These guys are really smart. So here's Stephen in Jerusalem, in the very citadel of Judaism, he takes on these guys.

And if you've read that whole thing that he goes through, or he challenges them, they can't dispute it. They cannot come up with an argument that he can't answer their challenge. What does it do to them? How do they react as it goes on? If you read all those verses, what happens to these men that can't give an edge on him? They think they're a failure. They get angry and they get incensed.

Because what is he doing? He is convicting them via the Holy Spirit that they are the ones that murdered the Masada. And they are so incensed that they are going to stone him to death. But what did they do to him before that? They chewed on his body. Go read the verse. They gnashed on his flesh.

They were so incensed about what he was saying because it was the spirit of God doing the speaking through him. So guys that want to teach and run their mouth better be careful who you're talking to. Well that's what I was thinking then because you always think of being filled with the Holy Spirit and telling that it's to bring souls to God but yet It wasn't. It sounds like it was just too... That's right. Yeesh.

And I think you find even in contemporary Christian circles, amongst Christians, you have that same kind of resistance. Especially when you bring the grace message. You know, I think that's also just, not only here, but today, when light exposes darkness, it doesn't like it. And when it's exposed, light brought out, they're incensed. Today is the same way, I think. When you bring light, that's why people don't like being spotlighted on whatever they're doing or whatever. Just your witness, it makes people uncomfortable in the world. And it's the same thing.

It's this light brought into the darkness, and that's not where they want to be. And they get incensed. And so whenever, you know, you bring the light, the more legal the person is that you're talking to, the more incensed it will be. Was it though that Steven, it's not like he went out to, you know, give them, tell them that, right?

It was like he was in that situation where he sort of defending his beliefs. He found himself in a position because he was challenged. We'll see in a minute. He did some other really cool things that took the power of the spirit to do. Because of some of these other things he was doing, he developed a reputation. Not for him personally, but his service became well known.

Alright next question and I'll be back to that in a minute. And the reason I asked question 6 was to demonstrate an important point. So the question is, was John the Baptist a member of the body of Christ? No. He wasn't? Sure? Oh gee, you mean you can be filled and not indwelled? So let me ask you a question about that.

Do you think John the Baptist, filled with the Spirit, isn't the Spirit indwelling him? Yeah, but wasn't it like in the Old Testament that the Holy Spirit would kind of be filled temporarily and then kind of go where he goes? So what makes John the Baptist? different than you? He was filled with the Holy Ghost from his mother's womb and then he was the forerunner of Christ. So again, what makes him different than you? Because we're always, the Holy Spirit is always with us, where with him the Holy Spirit wasn't.

You can think about it from a position. We're placed into Christ. There you go. You hear that? When you believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, when you were indwelled by the Holy Spirit, He did something to you, not for you, but to you. He baptized you, He put you into Christ's death, burial and resurrection. He didn't do that with John the Baptist.

So your position changed. Those of you who have been through the identification class, you left your position in Adam, the condemned man, And through the work of the Spirit you found yourself positioned in the resurrected glorified Christ. Your position is different now. John the Baptist's position didn't change. Even though he is filled with the Spirit from the time of his mother's womb and he is specifically commissioned to do something that had been prophesied centuries before.

But he wasn't in Christ. Was the oxymoron, was the good thief on the cross in the body of Christ? No. Why not? No Holy Spirit. The church hadn't begun yet. The body of Christ hadn't begun yet. Do you have a question? Can we assume that John the Baptist wasn't filled with the spirit when he was in prison doubting whether Christ was really the one. He's thinking was this all for nothing? Isn't that interesting? I'm thinking it wasn't there. He didn't have it then. But see it says that he was filled with the spirit from the time of his mother's womb. So when they put him in jail the spirit didn't exist.

Well they're talking about from the beginning but what about towards the end? Sure he was. What was his problem? the visible outward circumstances weren't going so good. The Messiah had a lot of opposition. And not only that, he's in jail. You sure this is the right guy? It's hard getting the news. Yeah, I can totally empathize with him in terms of, oh boy, I thought it was going to be different.

I'm the forerunner of the Messiah. What was the Jewish viewpoint of what was the Messiah going to do at that point in history? He was going to kick the Romans out of town and he was going to establish the kingdom and they were going to be the nation in the world. Well, they didn't work it out that way.

So. OK. Question seven. What are the three what are the. I somehow typo this one wrong. The three effects of the filling of the spirit according to Rideout, what does he say they are, the effects? Service, joy and testimony. Say that again. Service, joy and testimony. You fill and you have service, he fills you for joy and he fills you for testimony.

And he says these are not mutually exclusive. A lot of times they're and they're not contrary. A lot of times they're closely linked. But each of these features is prominent in scripture. So we're going to talk a little bit about that. It seems like Stephen had all three. Yeah, he did. I think he did. And Stephen will see in a minute had something. He was the first one to demonstrate something that. We talk a lot about here. Everybody understand? You all right with those three things? I think that's kind of cool that Rideout was able to pick that out because we seem to focus on the filling of the spirit for testimony.

But Mike Finn would say somewhere, and I'm not finding it, but something about Prophecy 2 amongst those three prophecies. I read that but I can't find it at the moment. You know, Winnie, I didn't write that down. It's at the top of page 68, paragraph 1.

In a few cases we have the word full of the Spirit, but in most it is filled. The difference seems to be this. Full of the Spirit indicates the habitual state of soul, one constantly controlled by the Spirit as our blessed Lord and in their measure. Stephen and Varnas, filled with the Spirit, is very frequently, as I've already said, for some special service, prophecy or testimony. Special service, prophecy or testimony. Do I want to tackle prophecy now? If you're filled with a spirit today in 2013, are you going to prophesy? No. Don't they prophesy in Florida? Why wouldn't prophecy be a spirit actuated function today?

Because we have a completed scripture. Yeah, we've got the word of God completed. There's nothing to be added to that. Now there is another aspect of prophecy that I personally think is legitimate and that is a person who through the scriptures can use them to specifically convict somebody or persuade them more so than a teacher does about the truth or about the validity of a certain truth.

Do you call that prophecy? Yeah, someone who just can come to you and say, through the word of God, and boy it just knocks you back. You think, oh wow. That's different from testimony? It's different from teaching. It's my personal opinion. But that's what an evangelist does, right? An evangelist does that only to the lost. An evangelist doesn't waste time with believers. Okay, so you have that gift then. What, evangelism? No, what you said before. Who was the guy that talked about the pipe, PBC? I'm a PBC. What does PBC stand for? Polyvinyl Chloride. That's who I am. You really have a big important sounding name. Yeah, Polyvinyl Chloride. I was going to say Vinyl Chloride kills you.

Why did the Lord Jesus need to be filled with the Spirit in order to accomplish his work? He was fully manned. He's fully man, but he's also fully God. I love what Brightout says here. This is really cool. I wish I could live like this. He says, in the 30 years of retirement in Nazareth, don't you love that? Our Lord was perfect, one truly and absolute to the Father's delight. But when he came forth to serve, the Spirit was sent. not only as a seal of approval upon him for what he had been, but for what he had been during his retirement. I like that, we retire first then we go to work. Right? I like that. So the Lord Jesus is filled with the Holy Spirit in order to fulfill his ministry. Isn't that cool?

I mean if they were going to leave me out in the desert and I couldn't eat for 40 days, I better be filled with spirit. The great thing about the Lord Jesus, when you look closely at him, he never, ever, ever resorts to who he is in divinity while he is on the earth. He never does that. So what does that make him? of the life of the Lord Jesus. Absolute dependence. Absolute dependence.

We read in Acts 10.38 that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power who went about doing good. The Lord Jesus Christ was absolutely dependent on the Spirit and the Father to function. Does that say anything about you and me? That really shows faith when you're saying that Jesus Christ had faith in the Father, because if he didn't, he'd be like, oh my gosh, is this, you know, the doubting himself? Or if he didn't. He would begin to use his own divinity to pull himself off. And he didn't do that. He didn't do any of that.

I only do what I see the Father doing. I'm totally dependent. It is so instructive for you and me to understand that. He was the model for us. He certainly is. He showed the same dependency that we need. You know what was cool? If you're going to depend on somebody, what's got to come before the dependence? You've got to know them. You've got to know them, right?

I depend on Donald to do certain things, because I know that she'll do them. I know her. But I wouldn't depend on Courtney to do the same things. I think I have a similar comment. But then first it's got to be that the source is dependable. That's right. The warranty is only as good as the one who backs it up.

So here we go as believers and he gives us the word and the word is designed to reveal the Lord Jesus to the believer. As you begin to know Christ more and more intimately, you begin to discover not only love and affection for him, but that he never ever is off. He never tricks you, he never maneuvers the situation, he is always faithful. Now maybe not the way you were hoping, But when he says certain things to us, he means that. When he announces to us that I will never leave you or forsake you. Or that those who are in Christ Jesus, there is no condemnation. None. Or that I was crucified with Christ. Or that I am a new creature. Old things.

All this incredible positional truth that the Spirit of God reveals to us that all surround Christ and what he did. Over time, the Spirit of God persuades you through intimacy with Christ that everything he said is true. And it can't be shaken. And trust me, we've all tried to shake it. We've all tried to maneuver God into a situation, maybe unwittingly, where he would not stick to his guns. And he never wavers.

Is he trustworthy? We learn that over time. The Lord Jesus knew it from the beginning because he knew the Father from all eternity. He knew that when they put together the eternal covenant, when he said, if you become a man and die for the sins of the world, I will raise you up. He said, okay, I'll do it. There was never a doubt. There was never a doubt. Until when? When he was on the cross and had all sin on him.

And the father turns away from him, and what does he say? My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Wow. That's what sin will do for you. I think there were some doubts of some sort in that he was not resolute when he went to the garden and prayed, if it's your will, take this away. Oh, he was resolute, but he didn't want it to happen. The thing in the garden that's really interesting is that we have a tendency to think that he knew that the suffering, the physical suffering was coming, That wasn't the issue. He knew the Father was going to turn away from him. Oh boy. It's really hard to get your arms around that, but that's what was coming. And that's why he said, can't we do this another way? But your will be done, Father. He wasn't wavering. He was just thinking, man, we could just do this another way.

So the veracity of God, as the Spirit of God reveals them to us, we learn dependence. And it's very tough for us as Americans to be that way. Because we all are raised in the Constitution. We listen to Limbaugh, or whoever you listen to. And the thing is that I'm from Texas and I can do what I want. Nobody's taking my guns from me. Well, none of those Selma dependents either, maybe. The Spirit of God is working to make us, to make us dependent on Him.

The more dependent you are, the more useful you are. And that was the key to the Lord Jesus' life. He was totally dependent on the Father in every aspect. Every aspect. You know we kind of joke about what would Jesus do? I guess you could sum it all up and what would Jesus do? He'd depend on the Father. You could replace the WWJD with the word dependence.

So, can a talented man be put in service of the body of Christ if he isn't a believer? Well, I think it happens all the time. It does happen all the time. Maybe I should say, should a talented man be put in service of the body if he isn't a believer? How many think, no, we shouldn't do that? Up with the hands. How many think it's probably okay because look at all the talent he's got?

No. Why? Are you saying outwardly not a believer? What's that? Well, if he's not a believer, period. Sometimes you don't really know. You don't know, no. And you should know before you solicit it to do. Why not? Because it's his work and not the Lord's. No, that's not the right reason. God can't accept it. What's that? God can't accept what he does.

OK. But in terms of accomplishing the work, why not? Because he hasn't had the power. That's exactly right. He's not led by the Spirit. Trust me. Come downstairs. today, and go in the back where the kids are going through Sunday school, and even those little ones, it takes the power of the spirit to show them something, to teach them. It really does. You can. If you go in there thinking, oh you know I'm an elementary school teacher, oh boy I know how to do this, they won't learn anything spiritually. It takes the power of the spirit every time.

Back to our boy Stephen. Name all of the service that the Holy Spirit enabled Stephen to accomplish. He did some of the lesser, I mean what you think of, just everyday things. He fed the widows and provided for the poor. Yeah, did it take fulfilling the Spirit to do that? I'm glad I went there because we have to understand if you're going to attend upon widows it takes the power of the spirit to do that. If you're going to feed the flock it takes the power of the spirit to do that.

He said he fearlessly arraigned the Jews for their resistance of the Holy Ghost. Boy it certainly took the power of the spirit to do that. It certainly did. to convict the nation of Israel, the Sanhedrin and all of the people of importance, that they were resisting the Holy Spirit, took the power of the Spirit to convict them.

They were convicted about that. It was not just like Courtney and I getting in an argument of difference of opinion. It's not the same thing. There's a conviction there where they knew Stephen was right. wouldn't admit it, but they knew it. Kind of like Gordon. Now what's the last thing? And this is probably the coolest thing. I've probably only got time to finish this. What's the last thing that Stephen was enabled to do?

Well, he showed grace. What's that? Grace. Think about it. We are going to have to wait because we are going to give you the answer. What is the last thing that being filled with the Spirit enables Stephen to do? To go to heaven. No. He looked into heaven. Listen, listen. He looked into heaven. And he saw Jesus at the right hand of God. What is the significance of that? That the book was finished. That was the first time in scripture that a man could look into heaven and see Christ. Was he the only one? Paul? Paul said he was taken to heaven. And so was John. But how about you?

Can you look into heaven and see the Lord Jesus? How about what Vern's teaching upstairs? or Hebrews 10. Enter into the Holy of Holies. How do you enter into the Holy of Holies? It's exactly like what Stephen went through. You're still here. Colossians says, since you've been risen with Christ, seek those things which are above. How do you do that? It's the power of the Holy Spirit. He will reveal the glorious Christ to the believer in the Word now. Stephen was the first one that was shown to. He'll do it now. And you should expect him to. Stephen's no different than you and me. He's not some sort of super bony special Christian. He's just an ordinary garden variety believer just like you and I. And dwelt and filled with the Holy Spirit.

And one of the aspects of being filled with the Spirit that every believer has is the capacity to behold the glory of the Lord Jesus, 2 Corinthians 3.18. Beholding as in a mirror, the glory of the Lord. Where is the Lord Jesus? He is in the heavenlies. Your beholding his glory transforms you into his very image with an unveiled face.

And right at the last phrase is, even as by the Spirit of God. That is one of the coolest things about Stephen, is that you first find out, wow, a man on the earth who is indwelt and filled with the Spirit of God can behold Christ in the Heavens. All of us, not just Stephen. Dear Father, how we thank you for your word and your Holy Spirit, who without him, boy, we would be so, so in the darkness, Father. We thank you for him, that he was promised and dwells in us. We pray in the name of your Son, the Lord Jesus, Amen.