Which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we. (ii) (Quality: Very good)

[0:00] depending upon the Lord the Spirit of God I will direct your attention again to the text you will find in the Acts of the Apostles the 10th chapter and the latter part of the 47th verse the Acts of the Apostles chapter 10 the latter part of the 47th verse which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we most of you will remember that in looking at this text this morning we made a brief reference to the general circumstances and the instruction given to Peter that he was not to call that clean that unclean which God had cleansed and we then went on to speak of the work of the Holy Ghost and how that work is demonstrated in respect to the wind blowing where it listeth so thou canst not tell whence it cometh or whither it goeth and linking this with this point so is everyone that is born of the Spirit and then we went on to speak briefly about the mysterious operation of the Holy Ghost in the Church of God whilst children are brought forth there is also a prevailing in Zion this briefly summarizes the chief points in our discourse this morning coming now to look at this word which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we one of the prime works of the Holy Ghost is to take of the things of Jesus and to show them to us or as we had it in the chapter that we read he shall testify of me all real real religion centers around the Lord Jesus

[2:13] Christ and what he is and if we are therefore taught by the Holy Ghost then Christ will be precious to us Christ will be exalted in our affections and therefore we shall be made willing to suffer all things for Christ's sake counting all things but done that we may win Christ and be found in him not having on our own righteousness which is of the law but that righteousness which is by the faith of Jesus Christ now as we may be led by the same spirit this evening we would seek to set before you some of those revelations which Christ which the spirit of God does give to his children to the children of God in respect to Christ himself it must ever be remembered what thinking of Christ is the test to try both your state and your scheme you cannot be right in the rest unless you think rightly of him how much there is that goes for religion and yet is defunct as well as being also faulty because the thinking about Christ is wrong we can never think rightly about Christ apart from the Holy Ghost many people in the world have all sorts of thoughts and ideas and opinions about Christ but it will be a blessing of blessings a mercy of mercies if we are separated from the world that lies in wickedness by this important and separating power the power of the Holy Ghost in his teaching which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we what can we say ourselves as to an experience of Christ being made precious to our souls by the Holy Ghost in the next chapter to the one we read 16th chapter we find that the Holy

[4:46] Ghost is the Spirit of Truth and there we are reminded of his work and when he is come he will reprove the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment of sin because they believe not on me of righteousness because I go to my father and ye see me no more of judgment because the prince of this world is judged it is surely an overriding sin of the human race that they believe not on Jesus Christ people may be very upright in their life and acceptable amongst men and even regarded as having a Christian status but if they do not believe on Jesus

[5:50] Christ in the only way the way that the Holy Ghost teacheth then alas they are sadly lacking this will therefore make God's own people very concerned that the views which they have of Christ are those views which have been given to them through the teaching of the Holy Spirit maybe we can put this point the views that you have of Christ if you have any and I believe most of you have would you have thought of them if they had not been revealed by the Spirit of God natural mind has views and thoughts about Christ but the spiritual mind will soon distinguish between them the

[7:01] Spirit will show us that there is a blessed view of Christ in his birth the wise men were instructed by the Holy Ghost when they were inquiring where is he that is born king of the Jews they had seen his star and they were led to the place where the young child lay with his mother we may mention this point that when those wise men came to the place where the young child and his mother were found that these wise men worshipped but let me read to you the words of the scripture and when they were come into the house they saw the young child with

[8:16] Mary his mother and fell down and worshipped him not Mary not Mary they fell down and worshipped him therefore they worshipped him because of the inward testimony of the holy ghost who had given to them a new heart new eyes so that when they came in to the presence of that babe they were able not only to recognize but also to believe that this is him who was born king of the Jews later on the same blessed truth was taught to the disciples to

[9:24] Peter who is here speaking and to those Jews who were appointed unto eternal life which have received the holy ghost as well as we we may be able therefore to find here a touch stone we shall be able to have here a touch stone upon which people's beliefs may be evaluated they will not be evaluated by the natural mind but they will be evaluated by the spirit dwelling in one person feeling the impact of the spirit dwelling in another person and when those wise men came to worship they were of one mind they fell down we do not read that one fell down first and then the other fell down because the other one did but they fell down and if we are instructed by the spirit of

[10:32] God and we know and understand that experience we shall know that whenever Christ is revealed we shall fall down may not be literally but we shall fall down in our spirit and if it is possible for us to fall down literally then we should be willing to do that also because here before us in the person of this babe of Bethlehem there is the Christ there is the son of the living God there is he who has come into the world we have received the Holy Ghost as well as we on this point therefore in respect to the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ can it be said that you have received the Holy Ghost can it be said that you have had your eyes opened and instead of this account of the incarnation being something of annual interest it has been more than that it has been your beloved

[11:39] Christ your King as well as your Redeemer seen in that child of Bethlehem which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we now it is only by the testifying of the Holy Ghost of Christ in our hearts that we can really rejoice in the birth of Christ and also worship him this will not be idolatry we need to distinguish this from what is often referred to as baby idolatry and we know our natural affections and nature is sometimes drawn in a very strange way towards the babe that is not to be confused with this revelation given to those men when they fell down and worshipped and they were worshipping in one heart one mind with one spirit now let us leave the free men no it does not say the free men the wise men and let us come to the same spot ourselves have we known a moment just a moment when

[13:21] Christ in his incarnation has been set before us so that we fell down to worship to worship and to adore the most high God set before us in all his humiliation which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we now what took place at Bethlehem was the result of prophecy and prophecy was fulfilled in every detail because the Jewish Sanhedrin and the intelligentsia did not understand the scripture spiritually there were many things that they missed but we are favored to see the interpretation of those scriptures in all very exactitude so that such a scripture as

[14:32] I have called my son out of Egypt is clearly defined because in the providence of God such things occurred as Joseph and Mary had to take their child down to Egypt which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we we may pause here just to look at the immediate context which speaks of the manifestation of the Holy Ghost in these people at Caesarea and they of the circumcision that is the Jews which believed were astonished as many as came with Peter because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost now this is the point for they heard them speak with tongues and magnify

[15:35] God this is nothing to do with the charismatic movement speaking with tongues a magnifying God if you are born of the Holy Ghost you will be speaking with tongues in a tongue of which you have never been accustomed to use magnifying God will you find the world able to understand the language which is spoken by the church of the living God as they extol the most high and magnify the Lord and join with the psalmist when he said I will bless the Lord at all times his praise shall continually be in my mouth my soul shall make a boast in the

[16:37] Lord the humble shall hear thereof and be glad oh magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt his name together what was the reason for this wonderful speaking in spiritual tongues so different from the natural tongues I sought the Lord and he heard me and delivered me from all my fears now this is what was underneath therefore those that are taught of the Holy Ghost and are instructed and led by him will will have this background so to speak upon which the glory of Christ can be fixed I sought the

[17:39] Lord and he heard me and delivered me from my fears and delivered and delivered me from all my fears we need to weigh up what Christian experience is from the scriptures as distinct from what Christian experience is supposed to be according to tradition the Holy Ghost speaks by

[18:39] David and tells us I sought the Lord and he heard me and delivered me from all my fears they looked unto him and were lightened and their faces were not ashamed this poor man cried and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles now to find our troubles lifted from us even as we may fall down and worship Christ in his incarnation is a wonderful blessing a remarkable truth yet clearly that which forms part of Holy Ghost Christian experience I'm not speaking now of an experience which must be had in depth I would rather put before you that experience in its littles the word of

[19:48] God tells us it is here a little and there a little a babe cannot drink deeply but has to be fed according to the scriptures with milk and cannot take strong meat now you're as much taught by the Holy Ghost if you are taking the truth in milk that which is well digested for you that which is simply explained to you I say you're still taught of the Holy Ghost you have not come have not to come to the time when you eat strong meat when you can understand the deep doctrines of God before you can say ah now I'm taught by the Holy Ghost the Holy Ghost teaches babes testifies of Christ to babes testifies in simplicity yea yea the faith of God is simplicity itself

[20:50] I always become suspicious when anything which belongs to the truth of God becomes involved the truth of the scripture is simple to our faith if we attempt to delve into it try to explain it with our natural mind we may think it is very involved but you see to the poor and to the needy and to the ignorant to those that are out of the way the scriptures themselves will be very simple very plain very understanding when those scriptures are taken by the eternal spirit and show forth the testimony of Christ in the soul by that spirit which have received the

[21:50] Holy Ghost as well as we now the psalmist referred to praying and having distresses out of which he was delivered now these distresses are the distresses which the Holy Ghost will bring about when he enlightens the sinner to show him that he is a sinner you will never be able to say that Christ is precious really and truly unless the Holy Ghost has shown you that you're a sinner and that's very different from what people might tell you Holy Ghost sinners if we can use such an expression are not those sinners that are concerned merely with avoiding this and being assured that they do that in the hope that they may please

[23:04] God but Holy Ghost sinners are those which feel the malady of sin which feel the truth of the words when sin hath conceived it bringeth forth death and when they consider it in that light they can see their doom is fixed now has God made you a Holy Ghost sinner because you have come to the point where you can see that your doom is fixed and when we speak of doom there's only one word that we need to put in place of it and that is hell hell we must know something about hell however slightly if we are to be aware of ourselves as sinners taught by the Holy

[24:04] Ghost without such conviction I do not say deeply but sufficient to make you realize that if you carry on as you are then the wrath of God will come upon you I've often thought how salatory those words have been that were spoken to the Pharisees by John the Baptist not to the church of God but how often has the church of God been exercised by them who had warned you to flee from the wrath to come now there's only one that can warn you effectually from with an institute in you a desire to flee from the wrath to come and that is the Holy Ghost and how does God do it it is absolutely sovereign

[25:04] I may just bring before you an experience of a godly man who I believe is now in heaven that may illustrate the point here was a man of the world and he married a Christian woman and he had to come as a condition with her to the house of God now there are many warnings in the scriptures in respect to being unequally yoked with unbelievers and we should pay attention to it but in this case evidently the overruling power of God was being manifest and after these two had been married for a few months this young man then he had a dream a sovereign dream from God not just that which comes out of the multitude of his thoughts and in that dream he saw the world was on fire and he went this way and he went that way but wherever he looked the world was on fire and suddenly there appeared in the flames flee from the wrath to come and then he woke up maybe you can imagine what he felt like when he woke up the end of the world was a reality the wrath to come was a reality the holy ghost had given him a dream to tell him about the end of all things and to make him realize that he must perish that there were these words flee from the wrath to come that night as far as sleep was concerned was finished and he had to get up and his wife got up with him and she tried to bring to his attention some words of comfort and she began to read one of our hymns number 144 and she came to the fourth verse which somewhat remarkably in a good many of our hymn books is divided two lines on one page two lines on the next the more

[28:06] I strove against its power I sinned and stumbled but the more and by this man the poor man was almost cemented he said it's no use it's no use do not read on but she turned over the page to his wife to read these words till late I heard my saviour say come hither soul I am the way and by the mercy of God that had a calming effect now sometimes perhaps you may read down a page and in your feelings of utter despair you may say it's no use but turn over who can tell about the message of grace the message of hope the message of faith the message of the love of God may come into your very soul till late

[29:10] I heard my saviour say come hither soul I am the way which have received the holy ghost as well as we that is holy ghost teaching and only the holy ghost can teach it now the holy ghost teaching is real and it is full of reality and it will leave its mark upon you and upon me we shall not forget it well here was an occasion in which we have a preparation which the holy ghost had brought about for him to testify of the things of Jesus Christ I am the way the truth and the life which have received the holy ghost as well as we the testimony in Peter's heart of having received the holy ghost is surely contained in his noble confession when he said to who shall we go thou heart thou hast the words of eternal life and we believe and are sure that thou art that

[30:45] Christ the son of the living God that Christ that is able to save that Christ who is the way to God that Christ who is an intercessor a mediator an advocate with the father if any man sin we have an advocate with the father Jesus Christ the righteous the holy ghost will take of these things of Jesus and show to us the glory of his what we sometimes call his office characters and those office characters will be so suitable to us do we need pardon then we may bring into into the scene several of the office characters of Christ a high priest necessarily must be involved whenever anyone needs to receive pardon because if sin is to be pardoned it requires a an offering a sacrifice a sacrifice of nobler name it requires the sacrifice of Christ himself now the spirit of

[32:23] God having brought a sinner love having convinced the sinner of his guilt and that sinner being unable to dispense with that guilt will need to be taken by the spirit of God no other to have his eyes opened to see that Christ Jesus is the propitiation for our sins Christ Jesus is the atonement Christ Jesus is reconciliation Christ Jesus is that one who by his sacrifice perfect sacrifice takes away sin and having taken it away it is taken away forever but now the high priest's work being completed in order to receive pardon that must indeed come from the king in our country laws we have pardon granted but only by one person that is by the supreme person in the land recommendations may be made the high priest may indeed recommend and recommend with all authority recommend without fear of rejection but the power in itself has come from the king supreme which have received the holy ghost as well as we now have you received pardon for your sin if so it has come from the king supreme and it is stamped with divine authority and sealed with the seal of divinity but then we now are speaking of what we might perhaps call an advanced experience the holy ghost does not manifest his work upon your soul merely or as and when you attain to such a point what about the occasions in between what about the anxieties in your soul when you have prayed unto

[35:19] God and said and perhaps used words like this and though my sins deserving hell are not despair for who can tell that God will turn and be gracious unto me and if you are kept on in that line of things perhaps for some time and you are still looking and hoping and saying now who can tell I can't give up you receive the holy ghost as well as we I can't give up temptations may be very fierce sometimes and I say well you must give up you'll never hear you'll never get what you want has Jesus said so this is the point that you have to investigate has Jesus said that you'll never get what you want has

[36:19] Jesus said that you'll never get absolution from your sins has Jesus said that you will never hear that voice of love and mercy from the king saying I have pardoned whom I reserve well Jesus has not said so we read in Isaiah I have not said unto the seed of Jacob seek ye me in vain now you may there are many voices in the world and because of these voices amongst them you're bound to hear at some time or other you're seeking vain you keep on you're wasting your time you're wasting your time but Jesus has not said so and he clearly declares it may I repeat the words

[37:22] I have not said to the seed of Jacob seek ye me in vain so take courage they shall not be ashamed that wait for me now all these points are the teaching of the Holy Ghost we need to have patience after you've done you need to have need of patience and after you've done the will of God ye might receive the promise forgiveness and so whilst we are waiting for a blessing that we long for do not mistake it dear friends the world never long for forgiveness because they are unwilling to confess forgiveness but if you long for forgiveness then that surely is a mark of the

[38:25] Holy Ghost working in your soul one of our poets speaks of it as a great boon this special boon of heaven to know my sins forgiven we may have a long exercise sometimes and when you're ready to give up then the Holy Ghost will maintain your seeking but you're being led by the Holy Ghost and there will be times when you will feel what the psalmist felt I will praise the Lord at all times come and let us magnify his name together as these people did in the immediate context for they heard them speak with tongues and magnify

[39:33] God now that will be a very distinctive tongue magnify God people of the world will magnify themselves they will even magnify themselves when they speak of salvation and feel it's important to introduce into their report the part that they took but if you are taught by the Holy Ghost and the Holy Ghost testifies of the magnificence of Jesus then you'll be caught up as it were on the wind of the spirit that you too must magnify his name thou shalt call his name Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins it is a great and distinguishing feature in the souls of everyone that are taught and have received the

[40:44] Holy Ghost that as the Holy Ghost testifies of Jesus then their soul will want to magnify Jesus now how do we stand in respect to this do we find that welling up from time to time that we want to magnify Jesus and we cannot find words to speak of him as we want to speak of him and you know the very worst of sinners will have reason to love Jesus more than others because being the worst of sinners how great must that love of being to them that has brought this truth so powerfully before their eyes eyes you have chosen me but I have chosen you despite all your wickedness despite all your filthiness despite all your baseness despite all your evil disposition despite all your weaknesses of the flesh despite all your rebellion

[42:08] I have chosen you you have not chosen me and I would venture to say this that you will have no argument there had not thy choice prevented mine I ne'er have chosen thee but chosen of God for him beloved of my God for him again with love intense I'd burn chosen of God ere time began I choose thee in return which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we one aspect of the work of the Holy Ghost upon the soul is this that the people of God must persevere persevere you will not persevere in your own strength neither will you be able to boast in your own diligence but you will persevere and you will not know how you persevere and why you persevere but you will know that you do persevere and that is because the Holy

[43:29] Ghost is working in your soul and when you are tempted to give up and go back these words are immediately seen no man having put his hand to the plough and looking back is fit for the kingdom of heaven which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we the things of God the word of God will be presented to our holy souls and we can rightly use that expression because that which is born of God is holy all these things will appear to us holy unto the Lord one of the prophecies concludes with these words and on the bells of the horses there was written holiness unto the

[44:48] Lord now the teaching of the Holy Ghost will show us holiness unto the Lord holiness in what is written in prophecy holiness in what is written in regard to fulfillment of prophecy holiness unto the Lord in respect to the work of the Spirit of God as it operates in us in others connecting two people together and in the providences of God in bringing his people to the appointed place for the blessing to be enjoyed the Holy Ghost will be in the one person and will be in the other Peter now Peter being blessed of God called of God whose very body was the temple of the

[45:57] Holy Ghost who had been spoken to by the Holy Ghost in respect to his going to see the rear looked upon these Gentiles and in the few remarks that they may have made there was sufficient feeling betwixt these two for Peter to perceive that the Holy Ghost had been manifested in them and that manifestation was not made by a multitude of words or an extremity of emotion but in the words that were said and in the way in which those words were pronounced and this made Peter say then answered Peter can any man forbid water that these should not be baptized which have received the Holy

[47:08] Ghost as well as we there are many hindrances that people may put in the way because they're not well informed but Satan may put in the way in regard to this important Holy Ghost ordinance of believers baptism but the simple point for our consideration in regard to eligibility is this which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we now there are before us those who will be on the one side and those who will be on the other that is some of us have already been baptized and we barely believe that we have been led by the

[48:11] Holy Spirit and taught by the Holy Spirit and that the Holy Spirit has lifted up Jesus before our very eyes and Jesus has been precious to us as the sinner's holy holy and our gracious Lord and there are others who may well have been led by the same Spirit the same Holy Ghost yet have not been baptized now we shall say no more than this can any man forbid water can I forbid water can you forbid water that these should not be baptized which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we and he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord then prayed they him to tarry certain days may the

[49:15] Holy Ghost be upon us to move us in the ways of truth and love and as we are reminded by the Lord Jesus himself if he loved me keep my commandments and honor him in all you do Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen