Gooding, David: Christ Living in You

First epistle of Paul to the Corinthians, chapter twelve and verse 12. For as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, being many, are one body, so also is the Christ. For in one spirit were we all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether bond or free, and were all made to drink of one spirit. The other two passages are to be found in Paul's letter to the Ephesians, and first of all in chapter one. Ephesians chapter one and verse fifteen. For this cause I also, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus, which is among you, and which you show toward all the saints, cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers. The God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your heart enlightened, that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, what the exceeding greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to that working of the strength of his might which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead and made him to sit at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come. He put all things in subjection under his feet and gave him to be head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all. And finally, from chapter three of this same letter and verse fourteen: For this cause, I bow my knees unto the Father from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that he would grant you according to the riches of his glory, that ye may be strengthened with power through his spirit in the inward man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, to the end that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be strong to apprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge, that you may be filled unto all the fullness of God. Now unto him that is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us. Unto him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus, unto all generations, forever and ever. Amen. May God give us good understanding of Of his his holy holy word. blood. Last night's talk and in tonight's, we are thinking together on the great gift that God has given to all who trust Jesus Christ our Lord, the gift of his Holy Spirit. Last night we were thinking in particular of that Holy Spirit given to us for our spiritual good, for our personal spiritual edification. Tonight we are to think in particular, later on, of the Holy Spirit as giving us who trust Christ certain gifts so that we in turn may be able to help other people. For the work of the Holy Spirit within us is thus twofold. First of all, he is given to us so that we ourselves may benefit, and then he gives us gifts so that we in turn may benefit other people. But we ran out of time last night, as usual, at least I ran out of time, as usual. And so before we come to talk about the gifts that Christ has given to us, wherewith to help others, let us think for a short while longer on the Holy Spirit, the gift that God has given to those who trust Christ for their spiritual edification. We observed last night that God gives his Holy Spirit to everyone that trusts the Savior. We observed that Paul tells us in his letter to the Romans that those who trust Christ, of them it can be said, you are not in the flesh, but you are in the Spirit if the Spirit is in you. A categorical statement that gets us clear in our thinking from the start. If a believer is in Christ, then he is in the Spirit if the Spirit is in him. You can't have the one bit without the other bit. Secondly, we were noticing the gracious ministry of the Holy Spirit, pouring out the love of God in our hearts, being the very root and ground of our spiritual life, acting as our guide and as our comforter and advocate, to lead us step by step through life to the final goal of being conformed to the image of God's Son, praying his prayers alongside our prayers, until we learn to make his prayers our own prayers, so that by our activity and yet by his activity, and his activity that is nevertheless coming to be our activity. We make progress along the path of Christian holiness, till finally we shall be conformed to the s- to the image of God's Son. And we talk too of his ministry of witnessing to the believer. Witnessing direct to the believer's spirit that the believer is a child of God. Witnessing through the holy word of the prophets that God has covenanted in Jesus Christ our Lord to write his laws upon our hearts, and what is sublimely wonderful, has covenanted this, that our sins and iniquities he will remember no more. But someone may say, now look, if I bel- when I believe Christ, when I first trusted him and received eternal life, if I then receive the Holy Spirit, Is is that that gift gift a static thing, that I had it then and had it all? Or are there deeper experiences of God's Holy Spirit waiting for me as a believer, if only I had the grace and sense to see? And the answer to that question is yes, indeed, there are deeper experiences of God's Holy Spirit waiting for us. And for that reason, I read those two passages in Paul's letter to the Ephesians, in which he prays for deeper experience of the Holy Spirit's power in the lives of believers. Let me remind you what he says to these people. He says, ever since I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus. Oh, so they were already Christians. They had already trusted Christ, and on trusting Christ they had received the Holy Spirit. But for these people that were already believers and already had been sealed with the Holy Spirit, Paul prays a deeper experience of that same Holy Spirit. Let us consider what that experience is. In his first prayer, he tells us, I pray this, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your heart enlightened, that you may know. He goes on to enumerate three things that it is the Spirit's ministry to make known to the believer. And to make them known to his heart, to open the eyes of his heart, as Paul puts it. So that with his whole being he grasps these things, and they become a real part of his existence. He sees them not just with his mind, but with his whole being. What are these three things that a deeper experience of the Holy Spirit would lead us to know? They are, says Paul, this, that we may know what is the hope of his calling, number one, What the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, number two, And what the exceeding greatness of his power is toward us, and number three. Now, it is the fact that when people seek a deeper experience of the Holy Spirit, very often they will express themselves in terms that they are seeking greater power. They wish for greater spiritual power. Well, God bless them. We could all do with more genuine spiritual power. I wonder, would you notice that that is the third in the list and not first thing that we need to know, and know with our very hearts, is the hope of our calling. That is to say, the reason and purpose for which God has saved us and called us. I ask you? You who claim to have trusted Christ, and you have been saved, you have been called. Thank God. What do you save for? You say, ah, that's easy. I'm saved to serve. Why, evangelists galore have told me I am saved to serve, to help to bring others to Christ, and may God help you to do it. But wait a minute, when everybody's saved that's going to be saved, then what are we going to do? What's the point in getting them saved? What is the hope of our cordon? Where are we going to. You know, it's lovely to have a lot of power at your disposal, isn't it? Suppose you had one of these mighty great Mercedes-Benz then. Put the pedal down, woof, it goes. Yeah, before, before you put the pedal down, it might be wise to know where you were going with it. But power just for the sake of power isn't any good. So first we need our hearts enlightened to know what is the hope of his calling? What is the purpose of our salvation? And if we say, well, what is that anyway? Paul here gives us in chapter one and chapter two the answer to that matter. It is first that we should forever be before God in love. That would we should be able to meet all the interests and demands of God, our Creator. He made us for himself, made us for his own enjoyment, and our first end, the first great purpose of our salvation, is that we should meet all his desires, all his pleasures, all his interests, and satisfy his heart. How miserably we have failed. And even since I have come to know Christ, how easy it is for me to turn inward upon myself. I'm grateful for forgiveness because it makes me feel good. I seek experience of the Holy Spirit because it makes me feel good. We have to be careful, lest in our spiritual experience we become self-centered, merely seeking our own satisfaction, whereas the purpose of our being saved is that we should satisfy God. And secondly, Paul phrases himself like this, that it is the purpose of God for the organization and the administration of the age to come, to head up all things in Christ. That's a glorious concept. God hasn't done with this world yet, nor would he for a long while. For God is yet going to fulfill the purpose that he had when he made the world. You say, what is that purpose? We remember that the early chapters of Genesis tell us that when God made this world, he put man on this world. And he said to Adam, the first man, now Adam, old fellow, look, I have put you a garden here. Lord God planted a garden in Eden. That shows the rest of it wasn't a garden, doesn't it? Now he said, Adam, you get on, old fellow, and you develop it. I want you to have dominion. I want you to fill the earth. I want you to run the place. I want you to administer the earth for my pleasure. What fun it would have been to have been presented with a brand new earth, only you in it. You had the responsibility of developing the whole show. What fun they want. Where would you start? God gave Adam a helpmate, her name was Eve, as God's viceroy to develop this planet. And he very soon found that developing this planet isn't an altogether child's play. You don't get very far down the road before certain very big, large moral problems come up. Whose world is it? And who's to have the say how it should be run? Man, as we know, disobeyed God and miserably fell. Introduced into our world the chaos that now we see around. Until in this nineteen seventy four, we are approaching a peak of economic crisis, not only in these islands, but around the whole world. In spite of our computers, in spite of our economists. We've got vast deserts in our world that the nations dare to, dare try and cope with. Because if the Americans got the Sahara into shape, then the Russians would be jealous of the Americans, and goodness knows what the Chinese would say. And we've got millions of folks starving, though there's enough food for everybody, but man's selfishness won't let it go round. And we've got our world into an impossible tangle. You say, what God going to do with it? Ditch it? Oh no, not ditch it. God isn't going to be defeated like that. God originally put man in charge. As the psalmist in Psalm eight observes, O Lord, when I consider the heavens, my sun, moon, and stars, the works of thy hand, what is man that thou art mindful of him, or the son of man that thou visitest him? Thou madest him a little lower than the angels, but you put all things under his feet, and man was to run it. Then the New Testament observes, we see not yet all things put under him. We see a groaning creation, travailing in sorrow until now, blasted with disease and blight, and torn with war and greed and jealousy. We see not yet all things put under him. But, here's the wonderful bit, God hasn't given up. We do see one man, made a little lower than the angels, a genuine man, and his name Jesus. For the suffering of death we see him already crowned with glory and with honor. One day, all things shall be put under his feet. For he who taught us to pray, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as in heaven, is not teaching us to pray some vain repetition that never would be fulfilled on earth. When he taught us to pray, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven, he was teaching us to pray for a purpose of God that shall be fulfilled. His will shall be done on earth as it is in heaven. In that glorious day, says Holy Brethren, it is God's purpose to sum up all things in Christ, in heaven, yes, how about on earth as well? It isn't God's purpose to ditch this world and we all go floating up to heaven and say, thank God that nightmare is over, no more earths, please. Sum up all things in Christ, both those which are in heaven and those which are in earth. And in that day, our blessed Lord shall have a helpmeet, as Adam had a helpmeet. God has given him head over all things to the church. His body, fullness of him, who fills all in all. Why do you need to have your eyes open to see the power of God available to you? Because you have a colossal responsibility waiting you away there in the future. To reign with Christ, to administer this world with him and for him. And you need to be taking the steps to prepare yourself, or to let God prepare you for the tasks that lie ahead. Be assured, my dear brother, that the old hymns that talk of us going home to heaven, taking our shoes off and putting our feet up on the buffet and rest at last forever. A little bit over sentimental. When you get home to heaven, you won't want to rest anyway. Work to be done. Reign with Christ. Listen to Saint Paul again. The earnest, earnest expectation of the creation waits for the manifestation of the sons of God. For creation was subjected to vanity and frustration, not of its own will, but according to the will of who, of him who subjected it in hope that creation itself one day shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption, and oh, how it shall sing then to the praise of his creator. But it waits. Why not yet? Why not already? It waits for the manifestation of the sons of God. Note the term, not the baby children, but the sons, the full grown sons that have achieved spiritual maturity and have been made exactly like Christ. One day those sons will be ready, conformed to the image of God's own firstborn son. God will hand over creation to him. When I think it, and I find I start to get cold feet, I say, my boy, you're getting old in the tooth, you know, you're getting old at an alarming rate. You haven't got much more time. Oh, that God would open the eyes of my heart to see what the hope of my calling is, so that I don't hooter away my time here on little nothings. And I ought to be getting ready to take over the government of Earth with Christ. And then I shall need to know a second thing. For if the first thing is getting to know the purpose of his calling, the hope of our calling, the second thing is not to know what great power is available. No, not yet. We are so impatient to get our hands on the power, aren't we, Lord? The power can be dangerous stuff. So first, before we allow too much power in our hands, let's see what we need to know. We need our hearts enlightened that we may know what is the riches of the glory of God's inheritance in his saints. Which, all being interpreted, means that we need our eyes open to see what a valuable treasure Mrs. Smith down the road is. Mrs. Smith. Isn't she an also ran kind of thing? Oh. If you can't see that every redeemed soul represents to God a measureless treasure. In fact, you better not be allowed to have any power. Because if you don't come to value people, you can hurt Hurt people. people. Power isn't given me to make me feel good. Power is given me so I should help other folks. If I'm going to help them, I shall need to have my eyes open to their real value. It's difficult to see, ain't it, boy? You live with me and you'll find it more difficult every day. And you will need, I'm not joking, you will need your eyes open to see it. For the mere charm, if I had any, of outward exterior, that soon wears very thin. And then you won't need to be a week with me, but what you're beginning to get a little irritated by my funny mannerisms, and a good deal else that's worse than mannerisms. And you will need spiritual enlightenment to see that in spite of all that, I represent to God an inheritance. The God, who can tell one, regards as the glory of the riches of his inheritance, even in such a one as me? Oh, if I have no understanding of the value of dear Christian people to God, I'd better do without the power. But if I have got some concept by God's spirit within me of the hope of my calling, if I have got con- some concept of the tremendous value of God's people to him, then to fulfill my responsibilities to them, I shall need to know that there is available to me, for my own progress and for the helping of them, a power so wonderful that, well, if you want to know how big it is, it is the power that raised Jesus Christ, our Lord, from the dead. That's what I pray for you, just born. We as Christians would do well to pray for our fellow Christians, wouldn't we? I don't know about your prayers, but so many of my prayers for my fellow Christians and friends run like this. Oh Lord, help Tom to get a job, help my, my sister to get better from the flu, um, well, prayers. If I got my proportions right, above and beyond and before all those things, it would be open the eyes of my friends' hearts to know what is the hope of their calling. Grasp what is the glory of the riches of your inheritance in the saints, so that they're not always criticizing one another endlessly. Opened eyes to see the value of one another, realistically. Not pretending that one another have no faults, but in spite of it seeing the work of God. But not only does Paul pray this for those that already have been saved, but another deeper experience of God's Holy Spirit he prays for them in chapter three. He says, I bow my knees out of the Father from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named. I mean that what Paul is praying for is not some sudden experience. He is praying for a process that you may be strengthened in your inner man by his. I don't know if you, I'm very often impatient. I would like to have to say a prayer at night, oh God, make me perfect, and tomorrow be an absolute saint. Forty years of being a Christian has showed me that there's little hope of that. I also know that because the word of God indicates the same. God inter- is interested in carrying out a process in my heart, steadily. Strengthening my inner man by his spirit. What for? Well, that I might, uh, that Christ might dwell in our hearts. Somebody says, but that's curious because goodness me, the moment I trusted Christ, Christ came and dwelt in my heart. Why, the preacher told me the verse, didn't he? Uh, Christ says, I stand at the door and knock, and if any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in. And I did that. I opened the door and Christ came in. Why should Paul need to pray for me now that Christ would dwell in my heart? The simple answer is this, that the word that Paul use- uses here means not merely that Christ should have come in, but that he should take up his residence in every part of my. Now, for that to happen will require a process. There are no shortcuts to it that I know of. You see, it's one thing to know with my head that Christ is in me. It is one thing for Christ actually to be in me. Yes, we can grant that he's in me because I, I asked him to come in, and I received him, and he's in me, and I know he's in me. It's another thing, so to know him. It is everything I do every moment of the day I'm conscious of. Are you arrived there yet? I haven't. I get talking with a fellow believer about a difficult passage of scripture. Now I'm being very spiritual, observing, I'm talking about scripture. He suddenly disagrees. Well, wrong, so I must be told the truth. Any stupid man can't say the truth. And then he has a view of his own. Well, he has any right to have a view of his own. I have a thought I know you should see me stand up. I've quite forgotten that Christ is supposed to be dwelling in my heart and you. I'm discussing theology, but never mind, I- I- I've forgotten for the time being that Christ was meant to dwell even among theology. Let alone when it comes to clearing away the breakfast things or running away that, you know. Lovely to have exciting meetings and be like up top dough, isn't it, with marvelous feelings. Well, let's hope Christ is in them too. It's also good if Christ is in your feelings when you're clearing away the breakfast things on Monday morning. And when the business is going difficult. And when you're trying to deal with the shop steward if you happen to be the managing director of the firm. Christ dwelling in your heart. By faith. To come to that position, it will need my inner man being strengthened. That is a long drawn out process. And God does perform in the hearts of his people bit by bit, by bit, by bit. We want deeper experience of God's Holy Spirit. We would be well advised to listen to Paul praying on his knees. This is the experience of the Holy Spirit to seek and to go in. But I must do as I promised, though I have already mentioned, to the question of those gifts that God, per Christ, with the Holy Spirit, give to his people for the helping of others. It's our duty, isn't it, every one of us as believers, to help other folks. While our duty is to help other folks, we shall be given different gifts, and we shall help them in different ways. So now I turn to talk to those gifts that Christ has given to me. You say, yes, now this is interesting, but I've always wanted to do Christian work. Yes, but now I remind you of what Paul said in that first, uh, passage that we read? That if you want to do Christian work, you must first become a Christian. Yeah? You don't become a Christian by doing Christian work. No. You first, uh... you first become a Christian, and then you do the Christian work. So let's hear Paul tell us about these gifts that God gives and how we get them. He puts it this way, for in one spirit were we all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether bond or free, and were all made to drink of one spirit. If you want to do Christian work, then you must let, uh, Christ put you into the Christian body, make you part of the body of Christ. For it is by being in the body of Christ, members of that body, that we each then have a gift. Let's call it like the human body. The human body is one, yet it has many members. The fingers have one job, the toes have another, the hand does one job, and the brain does another. All sorts of different jobs to do and gifts and faculties. But each member of the body gets those faculties when it becomes a member of the body. So how do we become members of the body of Christ? Paul tells us here of those two fundamental operations that are necessary if any man or woman is to become a member of the body of God. Two things. Says he, in one spirit, were you all baptized into one body and were all made to drink of one spirit. Shall we notice then, for clarity's sake, that Paul, in talking to these Christians, these believers at Corinth, affirms, and who should dare contradict him? That all believers have been baptized in the Holy Spirit, and all have been made to drink of that Spirit. For if any man has not been baptized in the Holy Spirit, if any man has not been made to drink of the Holy Spirit, then he is not in the body of Christ, and he's not a believer at all. What does it mean? Well, let's take the first thing first, and notice there are two things. First of all, says Paul, you were baptized in the Holy Spirit. This is done by Christ, and John the Baptist prophesied. You will remember John the Baptist, how he baptized people in water. But he stood and cried, and he said, there comes one after me who is mightier than he. I baptize you in water. He shall baptize you in the Holy Spirit. So we can begin to get some idea of it, can't we? Let's think of John for a minute. John, if you came to John, John got hold of you, and he put you in the water. John baptized you in water. Now, like I baptize you in water, says John, Christ, when he comes, he will baptize you in the Holy Spirit. Clear, isn't it? You will notice that it's not the Holy Spirit baptizing you, it's the Lord Jesus baptizes you. And just as John baptized people in water, so the Lord Jesus baptizes people in the spirit. That is, when you come to Christ, Christ gets you, and he puts you in. Then he does something else. You have all been made to drink of one spirit. Christ makes us to drink of that spirit, and when we drink of the spirit, the spirit goes into us. Yeah, I've got some water here. I drink some water. Where's the water gone? Well, it's gone into you. Yeah. And when Christ makes me to drink of his Spirit, his Spirit goes into me. So he does two things. Marvelous, isn't it? And you have to have both things at the same time, of course, don't you? He baptizes me in his spirit, that he puts me in the spirit, and then he makes me drink of the spirit. He puts the spirit in me. That is indeed the only way you could have a spiritual body. Take an analogy. Would you care to look at this, uh, body, this physical body, uh, you can put up with a pain just for five minutes, perhaps, uh, have a brief look at this body standing in front of you. It has many members, and yet it's one body. What is it that keeps all these members together in this one body? Don't say, well, it's the bones and the muscles, but they don't. Or if you shot a bullet through my head and laid me out on the floor and break off the fall and came back in nine months, I'm afraid the fingers would be off the body, muscles and bones notwithstanding. You say, well, then what is it keeps all these members together and makes them one body, though they are many members? Well, the simple fact is that I'm standing here in the air, and as I breathe, I am in the air, and the air is in me, yeah? And as the air goes into me, it carries the oxygen through my bloodstream right up to the tips of my little fingers and my little toes, and keeps it all together. And if you were to cut off that supply of air to my little finger, then go gangrene and fall off. So in order to have a human body, mark what you must have. You must have two things at once, mustn't you? I must be in the air, and the air must be in me. No good having one at a time. Try, or don't try. Suppose I'm here in the air, but you tie my tight so tight around my throat that the air can't really get into me. So I'm in the air, but the air isn't in me. So I look back in the face. Try it the other way around. The Americans decide to shoot me into space, and they say, take a deep breath, old boy. The air goes into me, and then they shoot me out into space, but I'm not in the air. Well, then I go pop. No, I've got to have both things, and I must have both things at once. The air in me, and me in the air. And so, my dear Christian friend, is it with this matter. How are we made into the body of Christ? Christ baptizes us in his spirit. He puts us in the Holy Spirit. And at the same time, he puts his spirit in us and makes us drink of the Holy. I in the spirit, the spirit in me. Oh, don't you let anybody tell you that you could have the spirit in you and not yet be baptized in the spirit, because that's nonsense. You might as well talk of having a human body with the air in the body, but the body not yet in the air. That's nonsense too. Oh, but what a glorious thing it is. Every believer baptized in the Holy Spirit and made a drink of that spirit, and let the wonder of it grip our souls. The Holy Spirit isn't so much stuff. The Holy Spirit is a divine. See then what a grand thing God has done for us miserable sinners, that when we trusted Christ, he not only forgave our sins, but Christ was authorized to put us in the blessed person of the divine Holy Spirit, incorporated into the very Godhead. See how the body of Christ is born? I trusted Christ. He put me in the Spirit, and the Spirit in me. You trusted Christ, he baptized you in the Spirit and put the Spirit in you. So you are in the Spirit, and I'm in the Spirit. And the Holy Spirit is one person. So we're in the same person. The same light that throbs through you and around you, throbs around me and in me. We are literally members of that great sutra personality, the body of God. And thus we get our different gifts. One this, one that. And there's no need for us to feel that I must have all the gifts there are. I have one gift, you have another. I can't say I don't need your gift any more than my hand can say it doesn't need my foot. Similarly, if I think my own gift is pretty small, I, I, I mustn't say, oh well, I, I got a very big gift, so I'm not in the body. That's nonsense too. Every single member is needed, and every gift is needed. Would you say, is there no room then, once we have become Christians and are members of the body of Christ, is there no room for seeking other gifts? Yes, there's room for seeking. We are to seek spiritual gifts, says the Apostle Paul. Just like my hand has a general grip of grasping things, can learn to grasp a pen. A paintbrush, the wheel of a car, or horses. So it is possible for us to seek gifts and abilities and faculties, and if it so please God, he may add them to us. But let us again be humble enough to listen to God telling us the motive that must be ours when we seek extra gifts. The prime motive is love. As always in Christian things, it must be, but it is here preeminently that we must see to it that in seeking for gift, our motive is love. For this simple reason, that the whole purpose of the gift is to help the other man. What would you think of me at breakfast table tomorrow? My bellows cornflakes. Yum, yum, my mouth is having a war this time. Mm, mm, mm, mm. Mm, well, well, well. I never swallow the stuff, and my stomach is saying, I pass it on, do pass it on. No, says the mouth, I'm just doing it for my own. That's nonsense. Yes, certainly the mouth enjoys the Kellogg's cornflakes as they pass through, and it sounds like a fucking good time, but the whole purpose of the operation was to get the stuff to the stomach, and the stomach to pass it on to all the rest. Yes, in the exercise of your gift, you will be edified, but that wasn't the purpose of giving it to you. The purpose of gift is to help the other man, and if you seek a gift without the motive of helping the other fellow, you are sinning against the basic principle of love. Seek earnestly the best gifts, particularly that you may prophesy, because prophecy helps other folk. If you've got a gift that doesn't help other folks, be very careful how you use it, lest you offend against the basic spiritual principle of love. You see, let me make it clear. There are two things the Holy Spirit does. He is given to me to help me. For that, I don't need any special gift. For instance, if I am a sinner and I need salvation, and I need to understand the gospel, and I need to receive the gospel and be saved, I don't have to have the gift of an evangelist, you know, to understand the gospel and get saved, do I? Don't need any gift. Why, if there's somebody here saved, uh, not saved tonight, and you can't make out what all these gifts are about, well, never mind, okay. If you're not saved yet, you need the Savior, you need salvation, and you can have salvation this very moment. You don't have to have any Christian gift in order to get it. But on the other hand, if I'm going to be used of God to bring the gospel to somebody else, yes, I, I can need the gift of an evangelist. The gift is not to help me, it's to help the other fellow. You as a believer, you want to understand the word of God, well, you can come to the word of God directly. God has given you his Holy Spirit so that you may understand the things that are freely given to you of God. You don't have to have the gift of a teacher before you can begin to understand the word of God. Thank the Lord. For God has given us his spirit, all believers his spirit, that they might freely understand the things that God has written in his word. But if you are going to teach other foes, you will need a gift of teacher. The gift is to help not you, but the others. Let us see that in our seeking for spiritual things, we maintain this divinely appointed distinction. Let us seek all those deeper experiences of God's spirit that are given for our upbuilding, the enlightening of our hearts, and the strengthening of our heart. Let us use the gifts that God has given us by putting us in the body of Christ. And if we need it, let us seek other gifts. But if you're seeking gifts, I repeat, be sure that you only seek them in order to use them to help the other person. And if the gifts can't help the other person, don't seek them and don't use them. We must draw these long studies to a close. And as I do so, as we have thought of the Holy Spirit, my mind goes to the ancient parable taught by Jesus Christ. Turning our minds to his second coming and our need to be prepared for that coming, he said, then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened to temper. Waiting for the bridegroom to return from the marriage. Five of them took their lamps and a large supply of oil with them. Five of them were foolish and took their lamps, but no large supply of oil. The Bible indicates to us that oil that is used in lamps is, in the symbolic parts of scripture, a symbol of God's Holy Spirit. Let us use the parable to that practical end now. Suddenly the shout was heard, the bridegroom comes, and the virgins woke out of sleep to get ready, and they began to light their lamps. And as five lamps began to bright very, burn very brightly, the other five lamps peered out. Our lamps are going out, they cried. Yes. They hadn't any large supply of oil. Now they went to try and get the bridegroom cave, the door was shut. I They will were outside. hope so. Christ is coming, friend. You know that. You're going forth to meet him? Say, would you mind my asking? You see God's Holy Spirit. You've been born again of God's Holy Spirit. Are you that living well of water that is the Holy Spirit in your life? You know what it means when the Christ said he shall be in you and he shall be with you forever? Have you linked with the great supply? Yes, you have some, some light, and we all have. Have a Bible in your hand, sir? That was inspired by the Holy Spirit. You've got some light, haven't you? You had a hymn book just now in your hand? You were singing glorious Christian hymns. Yes, you have some light. But old friend, having just that bit isn't enough, you know. We need to be linked with the infinite supply. We need to let Christ put us in the spirit and his spirit in us. We need to be born of water and the spirit. Let us all, in these closing moments, ask God to show us our hearts, to show us where we really stand. When Christ comes, we may be found. The Lord bless his word.