Youth Discussion/Presentation in LLC Summer Services, Essa, Ontario, Canada 03.07.2016

Let's begin in prayer.

Dear Heavenly Father, as we gather this evening, we pray that You would be with us, that You would send Your Holy Spirit into our midst, to open the Word and to open it in our hearts for the honor and glory of Your name, and for the upbuilding of Your congregation, and for the calling of sinners unto repentance. In Jesus' name, Amen.

So a few months ago, I was given this topic, The Office of the Holy Spirit, and as I begin to think about the topic, I wondered, what is meant by an office? And so I went to my good friend, Microsoft Office, and if I want to know something, I can press Shift + F7. And if I press Shift + F7, there will come up a thesaurus, and it will give me what is the meaning of this. So I did this. What is an office? And the first thing that came up was an organization, and I thought of organizational charts, and I thought, "Hmm, is this what we mean by the Office of the Holy Ghost, Office of the Holy Spirit?" And then I thought, "Actually, God is a God of order, and there is an organization that we know as the Triune God: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, three in one."

And then the second option in the thesaurus was workplace, and I started thinking about workplaces, offices, places where people work, and I thought, "Hmm, is this the workplace of the Holy Spirit?" But then I thought, "Well, what if we put people in there? Yes, there is a workplace of the Holy Spirit. It's in the congregation and in the hearts of believers." And then finally, actually, the one that I was thinking of when I was given the topic of the Office of the Holy Spirit was the responsibility or the function, the purpose or the role or the duty of the Holy Spirit. And so this presentation, we will go through these three topics: the organization, the workplace, and the responsibility of the Holy Spirit.

So I thought I had quite good luck with the thesaurus, and so then I thought, "Well, what is the Holy Spirit? What happens if I press Shift + F7 when I want to discover about the Holy Spirit?" I did it, and it said, "We couldn't find any similar words." So what did I realize? I'm looking in the wrong place. That's not the place to find out about the Holy Spirit. I don't go to the internet to search about the Holy Spirit, but where should I go? I was going in the wrong place. So where should I look? Well, I think you know the answer. I should go to the Bible.

And when I did a search in the Bible for the Holy Spirit, I only found it seven times. Three times in the Old Testament, four times in the New Testament. So this is gonna be a very short introduction. However, if I broaden my search and add Holy Ghost, now we're nearly a hundred times, and you'll notice that it's actually all of them were in the New Testament and quite heavily into the Epistles. After Jesus had left and promised the gift of the Holy Spirit in a visible form that really carried the new congregation and carries us today. But if I look up Spirit, so the Spirit and God's Spirit, all those things will come in, and now I see almost five hundred times in the Bible, very balanced between the Old Testament and the New Testament. There's plenty of material there on the Holy Spirit. So we could have a week discussion, many presentations on it. I will try to give you a taste in this half-hour introduction.

Well, I should go to the congregation, go and speak to the brothers and sisters in faith, the elders, the children, the believers. In the congregation, we learn, we hear, and we learn about whatever topic we're looking at in God's Word, and of course, the writing of believers. So when we're wondering about topics related to our faith, the Bible, the congregation, and the writing of the believers, don't fall into the trap that I was starting on, of going in the wrong place to look.

So let's start with the organization. So we've all studied this in confirmation. The Triune God: God the Father, the Creator; the Son, the Redeemer; and the Holy Spirit, the Sanctifier. And God's Word testifies that there are three that bear record in heaven: the Father, the Word, which is Jesus, if you read the first chapter of John, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one. And again, we can't understand that with our mind, but we can only trust and believe that these three are one. And we already sang about this in the opening song. We said, "God made the Son. He is the Creator. Jesus rose from the grave and gave us life. He's the Redeemer. And the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit," which we will focus on tonight, we sang about as well. These three are one.

So where does the Holy Spirit work? We already heard from First John that these bear record in heaven: the Father, the Son, the Word, and the Holy Ghost. But if we read the next verse in First John, it says, "And there are three that bear record on earth, the Spirit," what we're discussing tonight, "the water and the blood, and these three agree in one." So the Holy Spirit has a place in heaven. It also, fortunately for us, is here on earth, where we are. And where is it on earth? Well, it's in God's kingdom. When on Pentecost, the Holy Ghost came in a visible form to show and to reveal to the believers that now Jesus was certainly gone, as they knew, but this Comforter that He promised would come. I think it's not intense, but when it's recorded in Acts about this, it says, "When the Day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all in one accord." They were all in one place. They were gathered together, and that's when the Holy Spirit came, and they were filled with the Holy Ghost. So it's in God's congregation.

And later on in Acts, it says about the churches, several churches in Judea, Galilee, and Samaria, that they walked in the comfort of the Holy Ghost. And we've heard many times already in the services, and it's recorded seven times in Revelation, Jesus' writings to those churches we heard this afternoon, "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches." So certainly, we can simply understand that the Holy Spirit is in God's kingdom.

But it's also in the hearts of the believers. On that first Pentecost, when Peter stood up to speak, he said, "The Holy Spirit had pricked the listeners' hearts," and they said, "What should we do?" And he said, "Repent, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." So this is a personal gift into the hearts of each who believe. Later on in Acts, it's written, "And God, which knoweth the heart... God knew the heart, and he gave unto them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us."

I have an experience from Africa. I just returned a few weeks ago from a mission trip there. Many, many greetings from the believers there. They all want to be remembered as we are the children of the same Father, the same Mother, and united by the Holy Ghost. But at one of these service places, the Holy Ghost entered into a heart of one of the listeners when they believed the gospel. And the Holy Ghost, we could see, the Holy Spirit opened this man's eyes to understand and to see his condition. And it was clear after the service that he spoke, that the sermon was directed to me. It spoke of my whole life, and I certainly know that the speaker did not know anything about this, but the Holy Spirit knew, and the Holy Spirit awakened in his heart and showed him his condition, and he believed the gospel. And when he believed, he spoke after that, "When I came here, someone asked me that, 'Why are you going to this gathering?'" And he said, "I didn't know why I was coming." But he said, "Now I will go and tell this one that I have found God's kingdom." The Holy Spirit immediately taught, immediately taught him, "This is God's kingdom on earth, and I want to go now and speak to the others about this kingdom." So we can see that, and there are many other Scripture portions that show that the Holy Spirit is a gift to the believing and to the obedient.

So we've seen that the Holy Spirit is in heaven, it's here on earth, it's in the congregation of God, and it's in the hearts of the believers. And the last thing we need to do is go through the duties, functions, and roles of the Holy Spirit. But being as we all have the Holy Spirit, I thought it would be good if we reflect on our own lives and think of how the Holy Spirit has helped you in your life. And maybe as we sing this song, which also maybe reflects on the Holy Spirit, God in heaven, God on earth, the Holy Spirit on earth, you can reflect on your life and think about what gifts the Holy Spirit has given for you, or what has the Holy Spirit done for you. And you can maybe write down your thoughts. And we won't have a discussion here, but later this evening, as you go back home, you can share them and speak about the Holy Spirit. So we'll sing this song.

So the Third Article of the Creed is very familiar to us and speaks about the work of the Holy Spirit. It says, "I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting." And then Luther explains what is meant by this. And I thought we could all recite together, either by closing your eyes and from memory or from looking at the screen, what is meant by this.

"I believe that I cannot, on my own reason or strength, believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him. But the Holy Ghost has called me through the Gospel, enlightened me by His gifts, and sanctified and preserved me in the true faith. Even as He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth and preserves it in union with Jesus Christ in the true faith. In which Christian Church, He daily and richly forgives me and all believers all our sins, and the last day will raise up me and all the dead, and will grant me and all believers in Christ everlasting life. This is most certainly true."

So as we were reciting this, you notice that some highlights came up, and if we counted the dark yellow highlights, we would see that there are one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight different things that the Holy Spirit does. Eight different functions that we have in Sunday school, in confirmation, recited and known from memory. And I thought we could work through most of them. The raising, the last part, I just link into one: gives life. But if we begin, there's the list: calls, gathers, enlightens. Enlightens is to inform, to teach, to make clear. Sanctify, to make holy. It preserves, it forgives, it raises from the dead, and grants everlasting life.

So calls. John wrote in the Revelation that, "And the Spirit and the bride say, 'Come!'" The simple call of the Spirit, "Come." And then, "And let him that hear us say, 'Come.'" So our spirit answers, "Come." "And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely." Jesus also said that, "Come unto me, all ye that are labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."

In another village in Africa, we were holding services under a tree. I was with Brother Ari Niskala from Finland, but in my mind, from Toronto Congregation, Canada. But he was representing SRK, and I was with the LLC, but representing the Children of God. And Ari wanted his greetings sent here as well. He was speaking. We were in this village. There was one believer in the village, and we wanted to hold services with him. And as we were speaking, the life of the village goes on. People are going by in their motorbikes, people are washing clothes, people are walking by. And one man told us after that he was walking by and something caught his ear, and he decided to sit down and listen. Well, during the sermon, Ari was speaking about a treasure hidden in the field. He found that treasure. He believed the gospel that was spoken in the sermon. And we can say that what was it that caught his ear? Well, you know, it was the call of the Holy Spirit, "Come." And he answered the call and he believed. And again, the Spirit was in his heart, and he said, "We need to arrange services in this village. We need to ask the chief if we can have a public service in this village." The Holy Spirit taught.

The Holy Spirit gathers. We've heard already how the kingdom of God here on earth is compared to a mother, and it's written in Galatians: "But Jerusalem, which is above, is free, which is the mother of us all." Mother gathers. And then in Ephesians, it's written very important words, because this gathering, this unity, is not a unity that comes from negotiation. When we sit in meetings in the world, and we want to reconcile and come up with one solution, someone will give in a little bit, someone else will give in a little bit. Through discussion, we can come to one conclusion, but that's not the way the Holy Spirit gathers and unites us. It gathers and unites us, as it is written here in Ephesians, "Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, even as you are called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in you all." Nothing there for negotiation. There is one, one, one.

Personal experience. My wife and I, and our children, spent one year in Finland, summer of 2014 to summer 2015. In our area, there were... We lived a little bit outside of a town in about five hundred meters or so—what would be yards? I guess about the same number of yards, five hundred yards, or kilometer, mile, half a mile radius, there lived four believing families. And during that year, it's amazing how close we became as families. Our children played, and we really felt that we stood fast in one Spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel. They were our escorts. We hopefully were their escorts. And I also remember when the brothers and sisters in Saskatoon sent us to Finland. They sent trusting and knowing that over there was the same Spirit that would care for us, the same Mother, same congregation. And this oneness was not certainly because my family is good or no more that their families were good, or that the congregation was good. But as the songwriter has written in Song 335, which again, is broken almost by Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In the fourth verse, it speaks about the Holy Spirit, and it says that, "Whatever good in me may shine, comes only from Thy light divine." This is the work of the Holy Spirit that gathers us together as God's children. And I know you feel it sitting here tonight, that beside you, the brother or a sister in faith carries the same Holy Spirit as you do. And one rainy evening in August, as we were packing up our house, they came through the rain, pushing strollers, and they came, and they sang to us a prayer that God would yet protect us as we left from their midst. We really felt the gathering of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit enlightens. I live on the prairies. We don't often get misty, cloudy days. One day, I was going to the university, where I work, with my son, and as we were driving, it was a morning, it was cloudy, and so I asked Nicholas to take a picture. And he took a picture out the side window, and that's what we saw. Very hard to know where to go in that fog, and many of you have been in much denser fog, but this one. But yet, when we looked forward, we could see a little ways, and we could see the road, and we could see the edges of the road. And there happens to be a sign there you can see, and the markers are there. And I thought, "What is this like?" It was during this time when I was working on this presentation, and I thought, "This is like the Holy Spirit." It shows us, it enlightens, it shows us the way, and it marks the way. And if we look to the side, it doesn't show very far. Well, we don't want to go there. We don't want to know what's out there. Our flesh certainly does, but our spirit does not want to. And the Holy Spirit, of course, can see much further than this, but we are weak, and we are poor. But the Holy Spirit... And sometimes we can only see one step ahead, but that's enough. We trust, and we pray for the Holy Spirit. But then there are times when the Holy Spirit really enlightens the road, and we can see a long way, and we can clearly see the markers. And we really appreciate how the Holy Spirit enlightens, which is to inform, to teach, and to just make things clear.

And Jesus, we've heard this quoted already at the services, how He promised this Comforter, who would remind of all things that Jesus had spoken. And He's here tonight, reminding us, teaching us about Jesus. And we sang in the song: You help all the poor, weak, and unsure. And Paul wrote to the Corinthians, "But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit, for the Spirit searches all things, yea, the deep things of God." We understand very little, but the Spirit, through the Spirit, which teaches us, it can even teach and show and make clear these deep mysteries of faith. It enlightens.

Here's a picture from the summer services in Finland. And when you're there, when you're here in the midst of believers, whether it's in Africa or Ecuador, Finland, here in Canada, my home country, and when you gather with the believers, you really feel, as Paul wrote, that, "The Spirit beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God." The Spirit enlightens. It shows us. It also teaches us how we should behave, how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and the ground of truth. And how do we want to live in this kingdom? We would like to live as God's children under the guidance of the Spirit, and we pray for that.

During my last trip to Lomé, I met the local youth committee. By chance, after services, I started visiting with some young, and they told me that they have a committee. They have a chair, Paul Tolke; a vice chair, Denise Finusu; a secretary, Yves; and Coco is events organizer. And I thought, "What caused them to create this committee?" The Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit taught them, we need help on this journey to heaven, and so let's form a committee to organize events, so we can be together and teach each other. I asked Paul what he thought of the Holy Spirit, and he said, "The Holy Spirit is the only thing that keeps us together. The Holy Spirit is something we always want to listen. Whenever we're before decisions in our life, we want to listen to the Holy Spirit." And he also wanted to make sure that I brought his greetings to the gathering here. He says, "We remember you." He wants you to know that you are remembered by them, and that he wishes that you would remember them also in your prayers.

The Holy Spirit sanctifies; it makes us holy. And Paul, in the eighth chapter of Romans, writes and explains that man is unholy and unacceptable to God. He says, "For to be carnally minded is death. The carnal mind is enmity against God. They that are in the flesh cannot please God." Very straightforward. It's impossible. But the Holy Spirit sanctifies man upon earth and makes him acceptable to God. Paul says, "But to be spiritually minded is life and peace." It's only the Holy Spirit that can make man holy. Now, if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His. If we don't have the Holy Spirit, we are not God's. So we can conclude that it's extremely important to receive and to preserve the Holy Spirit within us.

The Holy Spirit preserves. It keeps us in faith. It preserves the union in its congregation. It keeps us on the way to heaven. We sang already in the song, You Make Us See Heaven is Near. Through the Spirit, we see that heaven is possible, it is attainable, and it is right there. And another songwriter says that, "No man can comprehend that joy that has no end there in heaven," but the Holy Spirit reveals it to us.

The Holy Spirit forgives. We can say that the forgiveness is not possible without the Holy Spirit. When Jesus appeared to His disciples behind locked doors, what did He say? He said, "Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Receive ye the Holy Ghost," and then proceeded to give the keys, the two keys to the kingdom, "Whosoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them, and whosoever sins ye retain, they are retained."

And we will sing after the presentation, this song, which also the songwriter clarifies that forgiveness is possible through the Holy Spirit. When my sins are preached, forgiven, peace, my restless soul can own, for this word is come from heaven, quickened or made alive by the Holy Ghost.

The Spirit gives life. Paul wrote in that same eighth chapter of Romans, "For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die. But if ye through the Spirit do mortify or defeat, crush, put down, if ye through the Spirit do put down or crush the deeds of the body, ye shall live." Another time when Jesus was teaching, He spoke about eating His body and drinking His blood, and this was very offensive. Many people left Him, and even some of His own. And Jesus spoke to His disciples. He said, "It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing. The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." It is the Spirit that gives life. Our flesh certainly doesn't profit. It will one day return to the dust of the earth. It knows that, but the Spirit will quicken, make alive our soul, which can join God in heaven.

So as I went through the amazing features of the Spirit and what it does for us, I also thought maybe we should think about false spirits. Because we know that there are false spirits that are out there. And John wrote in his epistle that, "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God, because many false prophets are gone out into the world." And Paul: "But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him. Neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." When Jesus was on earth and He preached the forgiveness of sins, many people questioned that, "Who is this that can forgive sins?" And in our time, many people believe that they can receive forgiveness of sins through prayer, and they believe very firmly in that. But it's a false spirit. It's a wrong spirit, and we can actually very easily begin to follow a wrong spirit. And so as I thought about this and the false spirits that are out there, I only could come back to the quote from Revelation, that, "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches," that we could listen carefully to what the Spirit speaks in His kingdom.

And then finally, what is the Holy Spirit like? Well, the Holy Spirit is like a dove. It's a gentle spirit. It's a gentle spirit that wants to live in a heart that is free from sin, but it's not a fearful spirit. Paul wrote to Timothy, "For God hath not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." And we sang, Spirit of God, warm and secure. This is what the Spirit is like. And Elijah experienced this in the Old Testament when God told him to go on the mountain. When he was there, there came a very large wind, and the wind was so powerful that it broke rocks on the mountain. But the Scripture says that God was not in the wind. And after the wind, there came an earthquake, and it said that God was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake, there came a fire, and it says, "God was not in the fire." And after the fire, there came a still, small voice. And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his head, and he came out of the cave, and he listened to what God had to say. This is like the voice of the Spirit. Many times we think we would hear some amazing thing or see some miracle, but the Spirit is a quiet voice that speaks in His congregation. And again, I had to come back to Revelation, "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches." I also think of what Jesus said, that, "Blessed are your eyes, for they see. Blessed are your ears, for they hear. That many kings and prophets have wished to see and to hear the things that you do and have not." What a gift we have been given to hear the Spirit that speaks in His congregation.

And then at the end, I thought, you know, this Holy Spirit does so many things for us. It's such a gift. How can we preserve? How does the Holy Spirit remain within us? We have the picture of Jesus and the children. It is really through the gospel of forgiveness of sins. And I know that you, along with me, would like to keep a place in your heart for this gentle spirit to dwell. And maybe in this presentation, you have found yourself to be poor, sinful, lacking, child of God. The gospel still belongs to you. You have permission, just as you are, to believe. Uplift your heart to believe.

Dear brother and dear sister, believe all sins forgiven in Jesus' name and precious blood. Believe all sins forgiven in Jesus' name and precious blood. Jesus' name and blood, all sins are forgiven. In Jesus' name and blood, dear brother, dear sister, in Jesus' name and precious blood, all sins are forgiven. And dear you, in Jesus' name and precious blood, believe all sins forgiven in Jesus' name and blood. In Jesus' name and blood, dear sister, all sins are forgiven. In Jesus' name and precious blood, all sins are forgiven.

This Holy Spirit, without it, we couldn't believe. Without it, we couldn't stay on the road to heaven. It is that which God gave as a gift to us to help us to heaven's way. And through that power of the Spirit, I wish to preach again. Maybe there is one who is wishing to raise their hand, feeling their own poorness and lacking. You have permission to believe all sins forgiven, all doubts of the journey forgiven, in Jesus' name and precious blood, and be of good comfort. And may I also believe my many sins and doubts forgiven. I want to believe with you and remain in the good care of the Holy Spirit.

So in summary, we've seen the organization, the workplace, and the functions of the Holy Spirit. We see that the organization is a Triune God: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. It has a workplace in heaven, and for us, fortunately, it has a workplace on earth. It's here in God's kingdom, and it's in the hearts of the believers. It has many functions that we went through, that it calls, it gathers, it enlightens, it sanctifies, it preserves, it forgives, it raises from the dead, and it grants eternal life. And then finally, the Holy Spirit is a gentle spirit, and it certainly wants to dwell in your heart, in a heart that is free from sin. And finally, I come again back, "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches."

So as we sang that song, I hope you had a chance to think about the gift of the Spirit, the way the Spirit has helped you or through the presentation. And as you go away this evening, please be encouraged to discuss with one another about the Spirit and what it means to you and how it has helped you. Let us close in prayer and benediction.

Dear Heavenly Father, we pray unto You that You, as the Triune God, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, would bless and protect us, that Your Spirit would be here in our midst, continuing to call and to gather, to enlighten and sanctify, to preserve, to forgive, and to give eternal life. Allow Your Spirit to guide us to heaven. Give us the ears to hear the Spirit call in Your congregation. May Your Spirit always remain within us till the last step we take on earth and enter into heaven's home. The Lord bless us and keep us. The Lord make His face shine upon us and be gracious unto us. The Lord lift up His countenance upon us and give us peace. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.