Our Ever-Present Helper | Brian Raby

Well, I'm really glad to be back with you all.

Um, as Joel said, uh I've been here numerous times, and it's always such a joy to worship the Lord with you, to uh see some familiar faces, even see some new ones, and just open the word of God and praise the Lord and look to him uh to to just instruct our hearts toward him, to to love him, to know him, to follow the Lord Jesus Christ with all of our hearts together, whether that's down in Durham or up here in New Market.

And uh, I just want to pray before we begin.

Uh so would you just bow your heads with me?

Lord God, thank you for this time.

Uh Lord, it is so sweet to be gathered with your people on the Lord's day, to look to you, Lord, to to look your way and fix our gaze on you and on your word that has been given to us.

And we pray, Father, that as we open your word this morning, you would uh exalt yourself in every heart and meet us, Lord, each one of us where uh it is needed in our lives, Lord.

We we know that many of us go through very um different struggles, different seasons, um, different desires, Lord, different um disappointments, whatever it may be.

And we ask, God, that in this next uh 45 minutes or so, God, as we look to your word, God, you would minister to our hearts, that you would speak to us clearly and directly and personally, and it would all be for your glory in the name of your Son Jesus Christ.

Amen.

Amen.

I should also mention um just the honor that it is for me to open up the word of God in this pulpit, knowing uh that your pastor is um usually the one to stand uh behind here and open the word of God for you.

And and I just want you to all know that I I don't uh take it lightly.

The invitation to be here and uh just to try and uh stand in the gap for you today, uh, in uh the joy of just knowing my beloved brother uh is here most Sundays, opening the word of God to you.

Uh that being said, would you go ahead and open your Bibles to John chapter 14?

John 14 · chapter mention

John chapter 14 is where we're going to uh begin our time together in God's Word this morning.

John 14 · chapter mention

And then as we do that, I want to ask you a question.

What do you need help with in your life?

What do you need help with in your life?

Think about that just for a moment.

See, it doesn't matter who you are, it doesn't matter how young or how old, how strong or how weak, how capable or incapable, every single person on the face of this earth needs help.

And so maybe you can think of a time in your life or an area in your life, maybe even today, where you need help.

It could be practical, it could be physical, emotional, spiritual, whatever it may be.

We all know this, that needs come in all different shapes and sizes.

And as we think about this, I wonder if we could think of anyone who would have been more aware of their need for help than the disciples of Jesus were on that night he told them he was leaving them and going away.

They'd left everything to follow him.

He was their rock, he was their shepherd, he was their teacher, and now he was going away, he tells them.

We've been everywhere with you.

What do you mean we can't come now?

What are we going to do if you're not with us and we're not with you?

How are we going to remember everything that you've taught us?

How will we stay on the right path and make the best decisions to do the right things?

How will we reach the kingdom of heaven and help others to get there too?

How will we hold fast to the prospect that there even will be a kingdom or that we'll be a part of it?

How are we going to make it through life now?

Who's going to help us?

Jesus anticipates these concerns, and as he always does, he has just the right words at just the right time.

And in the upper room in John's gospel, we have a record of his much-needed reassurances to both those disciples and by extension to all of his disciples.

This is going to be a different kind of message this morning.

We're going to begin, like I said, here in John chapter 14, and I want to unpack just a couple of verses for us a little bit.

John 14 · chapter mention

But then what I want to do in our time together is look at a number of different passages in the New Testament that all relate back to what Jesus says here in John's gospel, all with a view to setting our minds on the all-sufficient helper who is ever present in our lives.

In John 14, Jesus has told his disciples that he's going away, and they're having a little bit of a discussion about that.

And if you look in your Bibles to verse 15, you'll see that Jesus says these words, He says, If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another helper to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him.

You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

The word helper here is from the Greek word paracletos, from which we get the transliteration paraclete.

Some of you may be familiar with that word.

Maybe you've seen other English translations and you've seen the word advocate or counselor or even comforter.

The word strengthener would also be appropriate, as would be teacher or guide, representative, even friend.

See, at its core, this word stands for one who is called alongside another to help.

To help.

In a wide range of ways.

Also, what's key to understanding what's going on here is the fact that Jesus describes this helper that he's going to send as another.

Another.

This is another of the same kind.

You see, Jesus, he had been all of these kinds of helps to his disciples.

And even now, John in his first letter says that while Jesus is in the Father's presence, he is a paraclete for his people.

And Jesus, he stands in this upper room and he promises another helper.

And this other helper is one who shares all of his divine attributes.

This is none other than the third member of the triune God.

This is the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth, as he is called in verse 17.

This is the helper, as the ESV translates, with a capital H.

He is a divine person, co-eternal with the Father and with the Son.

And Jesus tells his disciples, he says, you know him.

You've seen his power.

You've been with me as he has remained with me this whole time that I've been with you.

And now Jesus says, as I have been alongside of you, I will send him to be alongside of you.

And he will be in you forever.

Here's the profound truth.

God's Spirit, the Spirit who is sent by the Father and the Son, will indwell Jesus' followers as they become the place where God's presence resides in the world.

Is this how you think of the Holy Spirit?

A person who is the fullness of the living God dwelling inside of you.

And Jesus says, listen, this is not true for everyone.

This is not true for those who are of this world.

They can't perceive this.

He says, but you, if you belong to me, if you belong to Christ, if you love him and your life evidences this reality in that you follow his commands, then you know this helper.

He is with you and he is in you.

And this changes our perspective on everything.

At least it ought to, right?

James Montgomery Boyce says that when we realize these truths, it will have deep implications on our lives.

He says, this means that you will walk with God, the Holy Spirit, as surely as if he were a visible person accompanying you throughout your day, and you will draw on his strength and counsel.

When we truly meditate on the Holy Spirit like this, then we realize that everywhere we are, in every need that we have, he is there, called alongside us to be the ever-present helper that we need.

And with this in mind, I want to look with you today at four ways that the Holy Spirit helps us.

Four ways that the Holy Spirit helps us so that you can be more sure that God is always with you.

And because of this, you would be spurred on to lean into his help with confident reliance.

Let me say that again.

And because of this, that you would be spurred on to lean into his help with confident reliance.

First, the Holy Spirit helps as he illuminates truth.

If you look just a little further down in your Bibles at John 14 and verse 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 have said to you.

Now I know in the immediate context, he's speaking here to the apostles.

And he is speaking to them of the ministry that the Holy Spirit will have specifically in their lives, and there is a very present or near context to that as they will go on to write the pages of the New Testament.

And yet, in principle, in principle, this applies to all disciples of Jesus.

The Holy Spirit is the member of the Trinity who teaches and helps us learn and helps us remember the truth.

In John 16, you can flip there as well.

Verse 13 through 15, Jesus says, When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth.

For he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears, he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.

He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

All that the Father has is mine.

Therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

Again, this is first and foremost applicable to those apostles who were with him in the upper room as they were going to go on and write or oversee the writing of the New Testament through which we would learn the truth and hear the truth and be reminded of the truth by the Holy Spirit.

Peter writes about this in 2 Peter.

We're going to put some scriptures up on the screen.

You can follow along, maybe even just jot down the references.

If you try to turn to every passage this morning, I fear maybe it'll be too much.

But in 2 Peter chapter 1 and verse 21, in the specific context talking about the scriptures, Peter says, For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

2 Peter 1 · chapter mention

The Holy Spirit will declare truth in the way that only God Himself can declare truth.

And in this, as we just read in chapter 16 and verse 14, he will glorify Jesus.

He will glorify Jesus.

That is the role of the Holy Spirit to come and shine the spotlight on the truth about the Son of God, Jesus Christ.

The Holy Spirit magnifies and puts on display the one who said, I am the way, the truth, and the life.

And he doesn't just do this in uh in the hearts of the original disciples, he does that in our hearts too.

In 1 Corinthians chapter 2, in verse 10 and following, as the Apostle Paul is writing about the message of salvation, he says these words, he says, These things God has revealed to us through the Spirit.

1 Corinthians 2 · chapter mention

For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.

For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person which is in him?

So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.

Now we have received not the Spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.

And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom, but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.

So the first thing I want us to understand this morning is that divine truth is a work of the Holy Spirit, revelation of divine truth in our hearts, so that we can see and clearly perceive the things that have been given to us by God is a work of the Holy Spirit.

See, on your own or on my own, we would never comprehend these things.

But Jesus said, I'll send a helper.

I'll send a helper and he will guide you into all truth.

If we go on one more verse in 1 Corinthians chapter 2, Paul says, the natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he's not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.

1 Corinthians 2 · chapter mention

These things are discerned, these truths are only able to be seen through the Spirit.

The ESV Study Bible has a great note on this.

It says that God's Spirit bridges the chasm between the deep things of God and the human heart, graciously enabling human beings to understand the message of the cross, which would otherwise be incomprehensible.

It's a work of the Holy Spirit to illuminate the truth.

He helps us immensely and immeasurably, incomparably in this way.

And not just, listen, not just in our initial understanding of the gospel, but also in our ongoing understanding of the things of God and how the cross of Jesus Christ reaches into every area of our lives each and every single day, in every need, in every area where we need help.

How exactly this works, we do not know.

This is supernatural, it's miraculous, it's invisible, it's inaudible, it's it's a hidden work in the inner being that only God can do, but he promises that he does it through the Holy Spirit.

And so, first I just want to encourage you with this truth that the Holy Spirit illuminates truth.

And so we don't need to, and nor ought we to rely on our own understanding.

Lean in, lean in and depend on the Holy Spirit to help you learn and remember and apply the truths of the gospel, the truth about the one who is the truth, Jesus Christ.

Next, the Holy Spirit helps as he changes lives.

He helps by changing our lives.

Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

So at this point, the Holy Spirit was still yet to come upon Jesus' followers to dwell in them, and we'll get to this, but I want to think for a moment here about this imagery in John chapter 7, this promise that Jesus makes with such vivid words about flowing rivers of living water.

John 7 · chapter mention

The picture here is one of vitality, right?

Of life and blessing.

And it's an inward work that starts in the heart and then it overflows, it goes outward and has dimensions that can be seen and heard.

Think of this portrait that's being painted here on the canvas by Jesus, a person's life just looking like fullness and abundance and refreshment.

And if you are here today and you believe in Jesus, the Holy Spirit resides in you.

And this means your life is significantly impacted, and others will see this as well in you.

Let's look at 2 Corinthians chapter 3 and verse 18.

2 Corinthians 3 · chapter mention

The Apostle Paul writing again to the church in Corinth, he says, and we all with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image, from one degree of glory to another.

For this comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

The Spirit works in us to make us more like our Savior whom we love and look at.

This is such an important verse in our Bibles that shows us that we become what we behold, right?

You probably heard that.

And Paul says in the Word of God that as we behold the glory of Jesus, as we look to Him, as we meditate on the way, the truth, and the life, the second person of the triune God, the Holy Spirit, whom He has sent to help us, will mold us and fashion us into that same image to make us look more and more like Jesus Christ.

To make our lives look like the life of our Savior.

This is called progressive sanctification.

And Paul says that it is a work of the Holy Spirit.

It comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

Perhaps you're familiar with Galatians chapter 5, right?

Galatians 5 · chapter mention

The fruit of the Spirit.

In verse 16, Paul says, But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

Then in verse 22, but the fruit of the Spirit, you know, he talks about what does a fleshly life look like?

What does a worldly life look like?

He says, but but the fruit of the spirit, by contrast, is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.

Against such things there is no law, and those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

This is a work of the indwelling Holy Spirit in us.

When the Holy Spirit dwells in you, He changes your life from the inside out and He makes you like Jesus, the one who perfectly showed the fruit of the Spirit.

This is so amazing.

I I know maybe that uh these truths may be somewhat familiar to some of us, and yet when we meditate on the life-changing work of the Holy Spirit within us, we ought to marvel, right?

We ought to be astounded at this reality.

May we never be so familiar with these truths that they don't affect us deeply as we consider the work of the Holy Spirit as helper within us.

Now, maybe some of you might be here today thinking, well, my life doesn't seem to be displaying evidences of a flowing river of living water.

Maybe I don't feel like I'm becoming more and more like Jesus.

And now we need to start first with this.

Have you placed your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ?

Maybe there are some here today, you're not a follower of Jesus, and so these truths aren't actually reality in your life.

But here's the good news.

If maybe you've heard of the Christian message as the message of good news, the good news is you can have it all freely from Christ Jesus.

If you will look to Him, if you will trust that He is the Lord of heaven and earth, who came down into this world to bear the punishment for sin that we all deserved, lived a perfect life.

He died a sinner's death on our behalf so that all who look to him in faith will be forgiven of sins.

Who believe that he rose victoriously from the grave, conquering sin and death.

He makes this promise that we're talking about in God's word today.

I will be with you and in you.

And you can have that today through faith in Jesus Christ.

There's nothing you need to do.

You don't need to be good enough, you don't need to earn a righteous standing before God.

You just need to bow the knee to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Repent of your sins, turn from your sins, follow him, believe that he is your Savior, and he will send his Spirit upon you to live inside of you and to change your life.

It is the most wonderful news you could ever hear.

And it is the truth revealed to us in God's holy word.

Maybe you're here this morning and you are a believer.

But again, you you you feel like, well, I don't feel like my life is a flowing river of living water.

Well, did you know that you can be more or less filled with the Holy Spirit?

You can be more or less filled with the Holy Spirit.

Ephesians 5 and verse 18, the Apostle Paul writes to the church in Ephesus, he says, Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit.

Be filled with the Spirit.

And this is what's characterized as a passive command.

You could say it like this literally, be being filled with the Holy Spirit.

God does the filling, but we're commanded to be filled.

And what he's saying here, you know, in the specific words of don't get drunk with wine, what he's getting at is don't be under the influence.

Don't be under the influence of anything else but the Holy Spirit.

And maybe today you're a follower of Christ and the Holy Spirit dwells in you, and perhaps you've quenched the Spirit.

The scriptures say you can quench the Spirit or you can grieve the Spirit.

Well, how does this happen?

Well, this happens when we live in sin, when we choose to walk in the ways of the world and not in the ways of God, or when we ignore the instructions of God's word.

We don't listen to God's word, which which can happen very obviously or it can happen very subtly, right?

If we neglect to look to the word of God.

We need to live with the disposition of the psalmist who said, Let your good spirit lead me.

Looking to the Lord continuously in our lives, paying attention to his word and asking his spirit to fill us and to guide us and to lead us.

And there may even be some in this room where, again, you don't feel like you are a river, flowing river with living water, and yet you're not aware of any area in your life where you're quenching the spirit or grieving the spirit.

You're asking the Lord to fill me with the presence, the sense of the presence of the Holy Spirit in my life.

And perhaps you're in a season right now where you're just grasping for that, you're longing for that, but you're not seeing it in your life.

And I would just encourage you, don't turn away from God in these moments of your life, but keep leaning into Him, keep looking to His Spirit, keep fervent in prayer, keep clinging to the promises that Jesus Christ has made.

Waiting on his perfect timing to work in your life.

Tell him you're surrendered.

Tell him, acknowledge that you're dependent on him for every need in your life as the helper.

Tell him you want him to change your life to make you more and more like his son.

Trust that God will do through his spirit what he says in his word that he will do.

So that's number two.

The Holy Spirit changes lives.

Third, the Holy Spirit helps as he empowers mission.

He empowers mission.

He helps us go out into the world and into the church and live the life that he has called us to live.

See, life, you guys know this.

It's not just about wanting to see our own lives changed, but it's about wanting to be used by God as an agent of change in the lives of others.

We want to be concerned.

Our mission is to be used by God for the sake of others.

Right?

We see this in the Great Commission.

I know you're familiar with Matthew chapter 28, verses 18 through 20.

Matthew 28:18–20

Matthew says, and Jesus came and said to them, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I've commanded you.

And listen to what Jesus says.

And behold, I am with you always to the end of the age.

I'm with you always, he says.

How can Jesus say, I am with you always, and yet a different, distinct person of the Trinity is the one who comes to reside in our heart.

But Jesus says, I am with you.

Always.

We can't see him, we can't touch him, we can't hear him, we can't talk to him in the in the in the face-to-face sense that when we will see him in glory one day, but he says, I'm with you always.

In John 14, verse 23, there's no slide for this one, but maybe your Bibles are still open to John 14.

John 14:23

He says, If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.

Church, don't be overly familiarized with this amazing promise in God's word.

Let me read that again.

If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.

When does this happen?

Well, in the book of Acts, we read that after Jesus rose from the dead and before he ascended into heaven, he was with his disciples in Acts chapter 1 and beginning in verse 5.

Acts 1 · chapter mention

Luke says, sorry, Jesus says, Luke records, Jesus saying these words, for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.

And then in verse 8, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.

And you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.

Jesus is saying, the Holy Spirit will come and dwell with you and will empower you for the mission that I have given you.

In Acts chapter 2, we see this very clearly how this began, the foundation-laying stages of the church.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

Beginning in verse 1, when the day of Pentecost arrived, when they were all together in one place, suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a rushing, mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting, and divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

This is the initial installment of the fulfilling of this promise that Jesus made to his disciples.

With this, a new era in redemptive history was inaugurated, and the new covenant empowering of the Holy Spirit that had been prophesied by the Old Testament prophets, and I would add, and by Jesus himself, had come to God's people.

The new covenant age had begun, and one characteristic of this new era was a widespread distribution of spiritual gifts to all people who were made partakers of this new covenant.

Sons and daughters, young men and old men, men servants and maidservants, all received a new covenant, empowering of the Holy Spirit, and then it would also be expected that all would receive gifts of the Holy Spirit then as well.

See, this was the sign we read in the early chapters of the book of Acts of this miraculous sign that what Jesus had promised had finally arrived.

It was here.

This is the new covenant age.

This is now the time when all of his followers would be indwelled by the promised Holy Spirit.

And this would be the norm going forward.

Not this particular manifestation, this particular miraculous sign, but that every believer would receive the Holy Spirit, and then with the Spirit's help, would go forward and advance the mission that Jesus has called all of us to participate in.

Paul, he writes to the church in Corinth, again in 1 Corinthians, now in chapter 12, beginning in verse 4, he says, Now there are a variety of gifts, but the same Spirit.

And there are varieties of service, but the same Lord.

There are a variety of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone.

To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

We should never be proud of the way that the Lord's using us to reach the lives of others.

We should be humble and we should, again, marvel at this reality that a member of the triune, God lives within us and wants to then use us and give us power in our relationships, both inside the church and outside the church, maybe in your home, maybe in your workplace, maybe it's in your neighborhood, to put the Lord Jesus Christ on display with full dependence on the Holy Spirit to fuel you with power for this mission.

See, this promise helps us to confidently, right, rely on the Lord and his strength for every need that we have to go out and to proclaim the gospel, to build others up in the faith, to encourage people with our lips, to serve people with our hands, knowing that he provides all the strength that we need.

Because he's with you and he's in you to help you through his Holy Spirit.

I don't know about you, but how many times have you felt like you just didn't have the strength?

I feel it.

I feel it.

And on our best day when we're paying attention to what the Word of God has to say, we will turn to the Holy Spirit inside of us.

We will lean in to God who dwells within us and we will say, I don't know how I'm gonna do it.

I don't have the strength in and of myself for this mission that you've called me to.

But give me strength from above.

A strength that is not my own, but a strength that is inside of me.

When I am weak, you, Lord, have the power to help me serve you by serving others.

Finally, and uh I should also mention, you know, this list of four that I put together here is not in any way meant to be an exhaustive list for all of the ways that the Holy Spirit helps us, but I trust that these four ways will be helpful for us this morning as we meditate on these truths.

Lastly, the Holy Spirit helps as He grants assurance.

He grants assurance.

The Word of God speaks so plainly to show us the amazing reality that the Spirit of God lives within us to remind us and to reassure us that we truly do belong to God and that we will surely experience his finished work of redemption, and he will bring us into his glorious kingdom.

That is the work of the Holy Spirit to remind us of these truths.

In Romans chapter 8, a fantastic uh chapter.

Romans 8 · chapter mention

I would even just commend you maybe this afternoon or evening, go and read Romans chapter 8.

Romans 8 · chapter mention

It is such a wonderful uh passage of scripture that really concentrates heavily on the Holy Spirit.

I'll read just a few verses for us, beginning in verse 14.

The Apostle Paul says, For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

For you did not receive the Spirit, the small S spirit of slavery, to fall back into fear, but you have received the capital S spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry, Abba, Father.

Look at verse 16.

The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.

And if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

To us.

We see here, right?

We know this.

Life is hard.

Life is filled with many struggles and difficulties, ups and downs, of course.

But God has sent his spirit to us, to live in us, to dwell in us, to remind us, listen, don't worry.

You're mine.

You're mine.

You're in my family now.

You're my child.

And later on in this chapter, Paul's gonna say, nothing can ever separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

The Spirit of God testifies within us, in just a little while, you will reign with Christ in the kingdom.

In 2 Corinthians chapter 1, Paul says, and it is God who establishes us with you in Christ.

2 Corinthians 1 · chapter mention

And he has anointed us.

He's talking to the whole church, not just uh special, specific individuals.

The whole church, he has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.

Such amazing truths.

This idea of stealing is ownership, right?

A king puts his seal on that which he owns.

This this guarantee, it's like it could be translated as a down payment.

An installment.

The Holy Spirit living in our hearts here and now is a guarantee, a first installment that God will surely finish what he started in your life.

Ephesians chapter 1, verse 13 and 14.

Ephesians 1:13

Again, Paul writes to the church, he says, In him, you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, you are sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

To the praise of his glory.

He has given us his spirit to seal us as his sons and daughters and to give us this guarantee that we will inherit the kingdom.

We will reign with Christ.

He's given us his spirit to live with us, to come alongside of us and to dwell within us and to manifest the presence of Christ in our lives and to help us.

He helps us, church, by granting us assurance that we are forever His.

We're forever His.

He empowers us for the mission He's called us to.

He changes our lives from the inside out, and He constantly illuminates the truth about Jesus Christ to our hearts.

If you're a believer in Jesus Christ today, be sure that God is always with you.

And as I said in the beginning, and because of this promise and this reality, be spurred on to lean into his help each and every day of your lives with confident reliance upon him.

Let's pray.

We thank you that every word of God proves true.

And as we've looked today, God, you have reminded us that you have promised to send your spirit to dwell with all who love the Lord Jesus Christ.

May that be true of each and every person in this room.

I pray, Lord, for Redemption New Market that, God, as we've looked at these truths about your Holy Spirit today, that their hearts would be encouraged to lean into the help that you've provided, who is a helper, who is God within us.

We need you so desperately.

We praise you for these realities.

God, would you help us to lift our voices now and express our need for you in songs of praise and worship in Jesus' name.

Amen.