The Ministry of the Holy Spirit Part 2 - Guiding Disciples and Glorifying God - John 16:12-15

3:00With him. And so the themes that come out of this upper room discourse and what shortly and shortly thereafter are really important to John and really important, obviously, that the Holy Spirit wanted these thoughts written down at the end of the first century for the churches and left for our benefit as well. And as you work your way through these chapters, as we have been doing, you see several key themes coming out. Number one, Jesus is saying, look, don't expect the world to exalt you because the world isn't going to exalt me. In fact, it's going to crucify me so you can expect tribulation. And he's preparing them for his departure. Second theme is on prayer. This idea of prayer is going to keep coming up. And a third and very important theme is the Holy Spirit. He spends a lot of time speaking about the Holy Spirit in these chapters. I just want to bring to view just what he's already said just in the last, if we're standing here at verse 12, where we're going to pick up today.

4:21As we're standing there at the moment, these words were uttered. I just want to look back a couple of hours into that evening and kind of look at what Jesus said. Has already said. And there are really five passages, five helper passages. He speaks a lot about the helper, the one that's going to come alongside. And there are really five distinct passages that we can make out. And I just want to run through them really quickly, just so you can get a feel for where all this is going.

4:54The first is in John chapter 14, verse 16. And remember that Jesus made it very clear that he's sending the Holy Spirit, and he's sending the Holy Spirit because Jesus knows that his disciples need his Spirit's presence. John 14, 16 says, I will ask the Father, and he will give you another helper, that he may be with you forever. That is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it does not see him or know him, but you know him because he abides with you and will be in you. So, this external presence, yes, they know the Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit has been there last three years spending with Christ. They witnessed, sort of from an external perspective, from an alongside perspective, they saw the Holy Spirit in and through the ministry of Jesus. So they knew his presence, they knew him, but then he says, he will be in you. So that external presence is going to. To change to an internal presence. Second passage deals with the teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit. In John 14, 26, Jesus says, 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 said to you. So the Holy Spirit has a teaching ministry that involves calling to mind the remembering ministry. So you can think of the Holy Spirit as having a remembering or a remembrance ministry, bringing to mind of Jesus' disciples the events, the things said, and then having meditate and as they work through those, the Holy Spirit teaches them the implications of those events and words.

6:55A third ministry of the Holy Spirit is his witness ministry, his witnessing ministry. In John 15, 26, Jesus says this, when the helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will testify about me, and you will testify also, because you have been with me from the beginning. So that is the internal witness. He's going to come. He's going to be present with them. He's going to be in them. He's going to be calling to mind the things of them. That he said to them, and he's going to be relating those things, teaching them from those, and he's going to be witnessing, he's going to be testifying to Christ.

7:43And what that internal witness of the Holy Spirit will do is will produce an external witness from the disciples to the world. And that is how the Holy Spirit is going to then convict the world, as we looked at last time. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin because they do not believe, or righteousness and judgment, concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment. So it is through the ministry of the Holy Spirit, internally testifying to his disciples, that is then going to become an external testimony to the world. And through this, he is going to convict the world of its sin, its wrongdoing, and concerning righteousness, that is the world's wrong standard of righteousness, and judgment, its wrong assessment of Jesus. And the Holy Spirit does this so that people who are in the world will no longer remain in the world, but come out of that paradigm of death into the paradigm of life.

9:01And so that takes us to our verses this morning. Let me reread them. I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own initiative, but whatever he hears, he will speak, and he will disclose to you what is to come. So the ministry of the Holy Spirit, he has a convicting ministry to the world, and he has a guidance ministry to the disciples. And next time we will see his glorifying ministry to Christ. But today we'll focus on these two verses and look at his guiding ministry to his disciples. And I want you to understand the Holy Spirit's guidance ministry so that you will welcome his guidance in your life.

9:58Well, two things. The Holy Spirit guides his disciples, and he does so because for two reasons. Number one, we need the Holy Spirit's guidance. The disciples in that generation needed the Holy Spirit's guidance. We in our generation need the Holy Spirit's guidance. And we need it for a couple of reasons. First of all, really just the definition of a disciple. Well, a disciple. Disciple needs guidance. That's what a disciple is. A disciple is one who learns and follows. So the very definition of a disciple is a learner and a follower, one standing in need of guidance.

10:47Now, the disciples had followed Jesus, and Jesus was leading them. And so they needed another guide. We have a guide, really, for several reasons. A guide is needed for those who cannot see, for those who cannot make it alone, or for those who do not know where they're going. One of my daughters asked me this morning, she said, Dad, you have an illustration. She likes my illustrations. I don't really do that many, and she wants me to do more. And so she asked, What's the passage about? And I said, I told her, and she goes, well, I got a great idea. Why don't you blindfold someone and illustrate that? And I said, okay. And so, since I have a bunch of spoil-rotten kids, I said, that's what I'll do. And so I said, would you be willing to come up on the platform and let me blindfold you? No way.

11:55So she decided she'd get Heather to do it. So, Heather, will you? Come up and be my guide. And you can figure out who it was. I guess this all goes down to see who really trusts their dad. So here's the game. I'm going to blindfold you, and I'm going to give you a set of detailed instructions, okay? I'm sorry I'm messing up your hair, but it's okay. It's sacrifice for the Lord. Okay, so now I'm going to turn you around a little bit. You don't know where we are. You don't know where we're going and all that kind of stuff. Okay, so now, here we go. There she is. Now, I have some detailed instructions for you. Pay attention, okay? I want you to leave this room. I want you to find my car keys, and I want you to go get into the car, my forerunner, and I want you to drive. I know you don't have a driver's license, but that's okay. You just follow my instructions. I want you to drive, and I want you to drive over to Easterwood Airport, and I want you to get a plane ticket. I know you don't have a credit card, but I'm sure all that will work out.

13:10I want you to go get an airplane ticket, and I want you to fly to the Grand Canyon. And then I want you to go and explore the Grand Canyon. And you can't take your blindfold off, okay? I want you to explore the Grand Canyon, and I want you to point out several of the key and important features, geologic features, of the Grand Canyon. And then I want you to write a report, and I want you to bring it back to me, okay? Is that something you think you could do?

13:36No, okay. Well, then, how about this? Can you just go back and sit down next to your mom? All right, just try. Let me help you here. Let me bring you around here, okay? Now, get ready. Step down. Okay, take another step down. Okay, turn to your left. All right, now, no, keep coming now, keep coming around. Okay, now you can go take you can take that off when you get that. Okay. Okay. So, if you can imagine just how difficult it would be for someone who cannot see to jump in a vehicle that she's never driven, drive, get to the Grand Canyon, explore the Grand Canyon. It's almost preposterous, right, to even think. Well, that's really the situation that the disciples were in. They did not, they could not see. And that's what really a guide is needed for somebody who cannot see, who cannot make it on their own. So, even if she could see, she really didn't have the means to get to the Grand Canyon. And then, if she, even once she did, she doesn't have, doesn't know how to get to the Grand Canyon, even what she might be looking. Looking at. So, a guide is needed for all of that, right? And this is where the disciples are. Jesus is about to leave them. And they don't even understand the implications of Jesus at this point. They don't understand. They can't make it on their own. They don't have the power to make it on their own. And they don't even know where they're going or what their purpose is. And so Jesus says, I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. And so, and this is the second reason. So a disciple needs guidance.

15:41We need guidance. And we need guidance because we cannot assimilate all of God's revelation about himself at one time. Look at Jesus in verse 12. I have many more things to say to you. I have a lot more I want to share with you, but you cannot bear them right now. You cannot carry them right now. You do not have the capacity to handle them. Remember, my dad had this construction company that he did. And one of his chief superintendents was a guy named Luciano. And they had this construction project, and they found themselves needing to. To move some concrete or some cement bags. And so, now Luciano was a thinking man, quick wit, and sometimes I wondered who needed to be working for who.

16:44But Luciano, this one day, says, as they're moving these bags of cement, he said, Jim, I bet I can carry more bags of cement than you. My dad says, no, no way. Here, put one. I don't know if you've ever carried a bag of cement, but they're heavy. I think they're like 90 pounds or something like that. So he says, put one on me. So put another one on me, too. And he's like, come on, give me another one. He puts another one on him. So you got three. That's a lot. He can hardly stand up. And he's like, one more, one more.

17:18So he throws another one on there. Okay, so then, you know, he hobbles over there a few steps, sets them down, whatever. And so my dad says, beat that. Luciano says, I can only carry one at a time. But if you're smart, you won't have to carry as many. So who needed to be working for who? But you think about the idea of, okay, you picture a guy weighted down with four bags of cement. And obviously, if you threw another one on there, it would have just brought the guy, even strongest of men, bring them down, right? Well, that's. That's the idea. You cannot carry this. And so the disciples have been witnessing some monumental, weighty, eternal truths about God, who he is, revealed in the person of Christ.

18:15And they are trying to get their minds around it, but they just don't have the capacity to do so. In fact, you see this numerous times throughout the gospel, stated in several different ways. And you remember, just in John chapter 12 and verse 16, right after the entry into Jerusalem, John says these things. These things his disciples did not understand at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered. Sound familiar? Remembering me? Then they remembered that these things were written of him and that they had done these things to him. Luke says it like this: as the disciples were heading up to Jerusalem, Jesus said this: Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem. And in chapter 18 and verse 31, Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all the things which are written through the prophets about the Son of Man will be accomplished. For he will be handed over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and mistreated and spit upon. And after they have scourged him, they will kill him. And on the third day, he will rise again. But the disciples understood none of these things. And the meaning of this statement was hidden from them. And they did not comprehend the things that were said. So you get these disciples, okay, they don't understand, they couldn't grasp the realities that were present in Christ. And so Jesus says, I've got a lot more to say to you, but you're not ready to bear it.

20:01Just as a side note, just a glimpse into the heart of our Lord and something I really appreciate. He understands us, doesn't he? He doesn't push us beyond what we are able to bear. And with every temptation, there is a way of escape, even when that temptation is caused by our own failures, drawn away. Yet, even then, there is a way out, if you will turn to him. And I don't care who you are, but he patiently brings us along. I love that because we need that, right? We're not able to handle the revelation of God all at once and the implications that that bears upon us. But he shows us, he is patient. He is a teacher. He is a guide. And that is why we need. A guide.

21:02Disciples need spiritual guidance. Those disciples that evening needed it. Jesus was leaving. We need him. In fact, the disciples, if you think about that situation, they couldn't understand Jesus until they had lived through the cross. They needed to live through the cross. They needed to live through the resurrection. They needed to live through the ascension. They needed to do all that before they had even a shelf in their mind to be able to understand the things that he was talking about.

21:46They needed to see. They needed to have the blindfold removed so that they could just see who it was that was standing before them. And then they needed to be empowered because the implications of following Christ in a world that crucifies him is going to be profound. And learning the new paradigm of life, living as he lived, is going to take a power. Because that's not resident in them. They're still talking about who's going to be the greatest. Well, probably not at this moment. They're really sorrowful, but just moments before, they're still talking. About who's going to be the greatest. So they still have this idea of political kingdom, political reign, being exalted by unworldly standards. And he's saying, Look, the system of this world is not going to exalt you at all because it's going to crucify me because I don't fit in this system because I testify that its deeds are evil because they are. And you need to come out of this paradigm of death into life.

22:56And so the Holy Spirit led him to the cross. And he's going to lead us there as well. You know, it takes time to assimilate information, doesn't it? It takes time to sort it all out, to understand it, to be convinced of it, and then to set our hearts on obeying it. It takes time. And we often think that we can expect in a flash of light to understand all the deep things of God, right? Or anything.

23:32But we're not God, are we? Learning isn't like that. That's why they call it learning. It takes time. We're finite. We need the right information. We need time to assimilate it. We need motivation to live out its implications. And that is why the helper is sent by Jesus, because he knows we need these things. That is why we're at a. Meditate upon God's words. See, life is a thing that happens as you grow closer to God. The Holy Spirit knows where He wants to go.

24:15Heather couldn't have made her way to the Grand Canyon to explore its mysteries blindfolded. No, she needed a guide to do all that. And likewise, these disciples, with the road that was ahead for them, they needed to have their blindfold removed. They needed a guide. The Holy Spirit knows where He is going, and He knows where He wants to take us, and He knows how. And He brings us along just at the right pace, just right, just right.

24:55You guys remember the story of the Three Bears? Some of you, you know the story of the Three Bears? Three bears? You guys know? I'm seeing some. No, you don't. What's this world coming to? The Three Bears. The story. You know, I used to tell the story, and I used to, this is a throwback to my youth ministry days, but just to make sure you understand the story of the three bears, it goes something like this.

25:26Down in the forest, in a wee little cottage, Lived the three bears. One was the papa bear, one was the mama bear, one was the baby bear. Then along came a walking, a stalking, pretty little Goldilocks. She came a knocking. No one was home, no one was home, so she walked right in and had herself a ball. She didn't care. Uh-uh. She didn't care. Uh-uh. Home, home, home came the three bears. Someone's been eating my porridge, said the papa bear. Someone's been eating my porridge, said the mama bear. Baby Bere Bear, said a little wee bear. Someone's broken my chair. Just then, Goldilocks woke up, broke up the party, and beat it out of there. Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye, said the papa bear. Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye, said the mama bear. Baby Bere Bear, said a little wee bear. This is the story of the three bears. You remember it? Okay.

26:44Thank you. Now, if you remember the three bears, if you remember the three bears, it's all about just right, right? One bed was too hard, the other was too soft, the other was just right. Right. Just right. One was too hot, one was too cold. Just right. Well, if you think about the ministry of the Holy Spirit to his people, it's it's I know it's kind of a hard, right turn, but we can get there. It's it's it really is. He knows what we need, he knows when we need it, and he knows how to instruct, he knows how to guide, and he's not going to take you through any circumstance that is going to be too much for you to bear. Your job is to respond to him, to accept his guiding ministry, to accept where he leads. Woe to the one who resists the ministry of the Holy Spirit. That is why you live in defeat. That is why you are stuck in some of the things you are stuck in.

27:57That is why you live more in the paradigm of death than the paradigm of life is because you resist the ministry of the Holy Spirit. He is very good. And he isn't going to bring you along quicker than you can bear. He gives you his word so that you can live by it. So the disciples need guidance. We need the Holy Spirit. Guidance, and that's why Jesus sends the Holy Spirit. But there is something else here. We need very specific guidance. It's not just that we need a guide. Yes, we need a guide. But we need a guide that's going to take us into a very specific truth, to a very specific kind of guide. Look at verse 13. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own initiative, but whatever he hears, he will speak, and he will disclose to you what is to come. That is, he will guide, he will instruct. A beautiful picture of this is given in Revelation 13, where the Lamb is the guide, guiding his people to the streams of living water, and they will shed no more tears. He knows how to... And then on the contrast to that, there is the awful leadership of the Pharisaical traditionalists in Matthew 15, 14, who guide, who are blind themselves, and they guide the blind into a pit.

29:50But they need specific guidance, and it's specific guidance in three areas. First, look back at verse 13. First area of his guidance, specific guidance, is that he will guide his disciples into the truth. But he, when the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into the truth, into all the truth. See, Jesus is the embodiment of the truth. What does all that mean? Jesus said in John 14:6, he said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. Here, the Holy Spirit, the helper, is called the Spirit of truth. He is the Spirit of truth. He knows the person of truth. He is completely competent to guide us into the truth. He knows the truth intimately. And so he is completely competent to guide his disciples in the way of the truth.

30:48Notice it's all the truth. He's not saying he's going to guide you into every fact of the universe, nor is he talking about here the facts such as who should I marry, what job I should take, or what socks I should wear. That's not specifically as important as those things are. I don't believe that's primarily what is on his mind here. He's talking about truth in the sense of understanding God as he has revealed himself in Jesus Christ. Jesus is saying, I am the truth.

31:25I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. God has revealed. Himself. When you see me, you see the one who sent me. You see my father. To see me, I act. And to see me is to see him. Now they have all these facts, but they're still not understanding all the implications. And so, what the Holy Spirit, and what I believe Jesus is speaking about here, is that the Holy Spirit is going to guide you into all the truth. That is, he is going to finish out the revelation of Jesus Christ. That's what the Holy Spirit is going to do. And he's going to bring that revelation to bear upon the world and upon the followers of Christ.

32:10Listen, the Holy Spirit is not coming, was not sent to come up with something radically new. But he was to guide his people in the teaching already provided by Jesus himself as the one who is revealing the Father. So in other words, he's not coming up with something radically new. He's taking them into the implications of what Jesus Himself has revealed about the Father. In fact, the writer of Hebrews is going to say in these last days, God has spoken to us through his Son. And yet the writer of Hebrews is writing way after the time of the gospel writers. So the writer of Hebrews is writing, right? Speaking for God, of course. But what he is doing is he's bringing to bear the implications of the person of Christ upon the antecedent scripture, the Old Testament, and how it relates to the New Testament believer. He's guiding them in the truth. He's taking them, the truth is there in Jesus Christ. We just don't comprehend it. And so we need the Spirit to take us into the truth so we can understand all the implications for our lives and how it relates to what God is doing on planet Earth. We need the Spirit to show us the implications of Jesus' life.

33:38And so he sends the Spirit of truth, who knows the person of truth, to walk us through that. Second truth that we specifically need, or the disciples needs, look at, he guides us, observation just to make about how he guides us, look at how he guides us. He guides his disciples by speaking words. Look at verse 13. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own initiative, but whatever he hears, he will speak. He is speaking. He speaks.

34:19He speaks words. And notice that, I mean, this is how one spiritual being relates to another. Listen, we are spiritual beings. I am relating to you right now through my words. You are hearing those words. Their relationship is between those words. And so the same is true with God and man. He relates to us through words, intelligible words. If there is no intelligence, if I just stand up here like Charlie Brown's teacher, there is no connection. There is no relationship, other than you think I might just be off my rocker.

34:58No, he speaks intelligently. And he speaks, notice what he speaks. He does not speak things that originate from himself. He speaks only what he hears, and he discloses, as what verse 14 is going to go on to say, and we'll look at next time, only what belongs to Jesus. He speaks what he hears. He isn't the origin. He is speaking what he hears. And this is the way Jesus was, right? Remember, Jesus never spoke or acted on his own initiative. He said he did only what the Father gave him to do. He said only the things that the Father gave him to say. You see how Jesus' life, and now you see the Spirit's life, is going to be just like that? He's not going to originate. He's going to speak only that which he hears.

36:01Well, number three, I have to move along. But notice he will disclose to his disciples the things to come. But whatever he hears, he will speak, end of verse 13, and he will disclose to you what is to come. Now, this phrase has brought a lot of discussion. What does Jesus mean by the phrase, what is to come? The more literal translation, I would translate it something like this: The things coming, he will make known to y'all.

36:40The things coming, he is going to make known to everyone, or to his disciples, to the plural disciples. He's not saying that, you know, the Holy Spirit is going to come so that Jesus' disciples can have some mystical sense to just predict the future. There are a lot of things that the Spirit, or that the disciples didn't know that were coming. But they did know the big picture. Even the Son, when he was here, he didn't know the time of some things.

37:21But I believe what Jesus is saying here in the things to come is that he's going, I believe he's given us a condensed way of saying. That the Holy Spirit is going to complete that revelation of Jesus Christ. And this is going to involve the insight, the things coming, insight into the crucifixion, the burial, the resurrection, the ascension, and future glory of Christ. All of that the disciples have yet to experience. What's the significance of his death? What's the significance of his burial? What's the significance of it? All that stuff he's going to guide them in so that they can make sense.

38:00I believe this things to come also has implications for illuminating the Old Testament. I think then you look at Acts chapter 2, you really see Peter just understanding the scripture and being able to communicate it, the illuminating work of being able to take what has been written and understand and drill that into the minds of people. But it also involves, I believe, the inspiration and revealing of the New Testament. The implications, the understanding of Christ, the implications of his life and what God was doing in Christ, and the future events. New Testament speaks about all the way to eternity future, right? All these had to be revealed. I mean, I believe, so I think there's the illuminating work. There's the inspiration, revealing of the New Testament involved in that. Things that are going to be necessary to complete the revelation of Jesus Christ. Disciples are going to have to be able to grasp the crucifixion, the burial, the resurrection, and all what this meant and means. But also, it involves insight into the whole Christian way of life.

39:19I mean, think about this. They are at a transition time. They are, we're going from old to new covenant. We are, there's going to be many questions. What does the community of believers look like? How are they to relate to one another? This whole mystery of the church, all this, all this are things coming. And the Holy Spirit is going to guide Jesus' followers into finishing out or fleshing out the implications of God's revelation in Christ.

39:55In other words, we can say it like this: the disciples need light, but light doesn't do any good if you cannot see. And so you can think about the Holy Spirit. We need light. We need the revelation of Christ, but then we need the illuminating work within our own so that we can see. So he gives us his light. The light has walked among us, but then he does an internal work that we might perceive and understand and be empowered to relate and connect. So we need light and we need the ability. To see first for that generation and then for the following generations.

40:39So, Jesus articulated the Holy Spirit's ministry to the world, it's a convicting ministry, and the Holy Spirit's ministry to his disciples is primarily a guiding ministry, at least in this passage. Well, this morning we're going to celebrate the Lord's Supper, and what I would suggest to you is a spiritual feast, a banquet. I'm going to do something a little unusual this morning, and I'm going to ask you to bear with me, and I'm going to actually celebrate or administer the Lord's table from the baptismal.

41:27And I want you to get some picture in your mind the implications of what you're about to receive. And so, in a moment, I'll ask the ushers to come forward to distribute the elements. We're going to do that because we have baptism tonight, and I'm going to beg your indulgence. We may go just a few minutes longer than normal, but not a whole lot. So, but I want you to think about. What is our message here at Emmanuel Baptist Church? What is the message of the gospel? What is the message of Scripture? What is the witnessing ministry of the Holy Spirit? Bear with me.

42:25If you think about everything that we talk about here at Emmanuel, it's to lead you to the cross. We're going to celebrate baptism tonight. Jesus, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, went to the cross. And this is going to be the work of the Holy Spirit in all of our lives. It's going to lead us to the cross, coming down to the foot of the cross. Why? Why does He want us here? I can give you three reasons, and there's a whole lot more, but just want to give you three this morning. First of all, the cross is our meeting place with God, it is where we meet with Him. Listen, where can I, a sinner, finite, limited, where can I meet God? Where is that intersection point? If you're a mathematician, where is that connecting point? Where is that overlap? Where is it? Well, it's not in my morality. Right? I cannot connect with him. He is infinitely good.

43:35It's not in my wisdom. He is infinitely wise. So where can I meet with him? Where can I touch where he touches? It's only one place, right? There's only one place we can touch where God touches. This is the only place. I deserve to be here. Right? And he came here. And so I can meet God here. You will never outgrow the cross. This is where we meet with him. Second thing, second thing about the cross, it is our satisfaction point. This is why the Holy Spirit leads us here.

44:23It is our satisfaction point. Listen, when you live in the paradigm of death, and much of what you see in this, in the baptismal is the paradigm of death. Somebody who lives in the paradigm of death, coming into the paradigm of life. And how do you come into the paradigm of life? You must go through death. Death to that self-will, death to that self-paradigm. That's the paradigm of death. When you live the way you want to live for yourself, that is the paradigm of death. That is what has brought catastrophe upon this world.

45:00That is what wreaks havoc in your own life. You say, well, Pastor, you don't really know what I'm going through. You don't understand my addiction. You don't understand. You don't understand the power of the cross. That's the message. Paradigm of death into the paradigm of life. And you come in, you die. He takes you there, and you find your satisfaction point there. Listen, we live for the good pleasure of man, don't we? We want to be esteemed by others. That's the paradigm of the world. That's why the disciples wanted Jesus to march right into Jerusalem, set up his earthly kingdom, and then elevate them to his right and left, because they still had this paradigm of death in their mind.

45:54But when you come to the cross and you meet with God, all of a sudden, you realize that the higher expression of love could never be made. The highest favor of the highest one is right here. And so I can find my complete satisfaction in life because there is no one higher. There is no one greater. And there is no greater expression of his. Favor for me. And so the Holy Spirit leads us to the cross because the cross is our satisfaction point.

46:41But I also find a third element here. The cross is our inspiration point for life. Let me tell you what I find here. I find him calling me to die. See, that's my problem. I've lived in this paradigm of serving myself, of living for myself, and that paradigm has wreaked havoc not only in my own life, but in those around me. And so I must come and die. And you know what's on the other side? Resurrection.

47:23When you die to self, there is resurrection. I find in the cross my inspiration to live because on the other side of the cross is the life, the resurrection life that God gives his people. And so the ushers will come forward. We're going to celebrate this spiritual banquet that is just a little cup, a little piece of bread, but it is called to bring our minds. Minds to reflect upon these eternal truths. We meet God at the cross. In Him, we find our satisfaction, and in that cross we find our inspiration for new life. All of that is communicated and brought to remembrance by the work of the Holy Spirit through the elements. We practice an open communion here, so if you put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, we ask you to, you're welcome to join us. If you're living in unrepentant sin, if you have broken or disregarded the body of Christ, and I would ask you to let them pass. If you have not put your faith and trust in Christ, these things are completely meaningless to you. Let them pass. But let the words that I've just spoken to you bear upon your heart, because they were shared so that you would become a partaker in the glorious beauty of the body of Christ. I just want you to bow your heads.

49:09I'm going to ask the ushers to go ahead and distribute the elements and then hold them all together and we'll partake together.