The Work of the Holy Spirit

[00:00:03] Speaker A: Okay, so we are continuing in our same little categories of theology. We're still talking about the Holy Spirit. We started doing that last week, so we're going to continue to do that. Now, I need a little participation here on the front end. What does. What do your parents do for work? Give me some examples of what it could be your mom or your dad. Okay. Yes. We'll go. Twins. Firefighter and social worker. Okay. A banker. Oh, cool. Cool. I'm not gonna call on Kellen, too. Okay. Lincoln. [00:00:47] Speaker B: My dad works at Holly Frontier. I mean, I think that's. [00:00:52] Speaker C: Okay. [00:00:53] Speaker A: Cool. [00:00:53] Speaker D: Anya, your dad's a nursing professor. [00:00:55] Speaker A: A nursing professor. Okay. My mom's a teacher and my dad's a firefighter. Okay. Yeah, that's great. Teacher, firefighter. So all these professions, these things that your parents do. Have you ever seen your parents meet somebody new or be introduced to someone? Do they sometimes, or at least most of the time, maybe even always tell people what they do? I'm so. And so I do this. This is my wife, my kids, or this is my husband, my kids. Is that kind of normal? I think that's because what people do, it doesn't make you who you are, but it is an important part of what you're doing and kind of who you are, at least at the moment. And I think that's what we can kind of see here. As we think about the Spirit, last week we talked about who he is, and now we're going to talk about what he does. So we don't want to just know who he is, because who he is is so. Even more than your parents, is so connected to his work and what he does in the lives of the people of Earth and in specifically Christian believers. And so there are all sorts of ways that the Spirit might work in people's lives. Does anyone have an example of maybe a way, Paul, the Spirit has worked in your life or maybe in someone you know? [00:02:20] Speaker B: Yeah, I choked on ice and I didn't die. [00:02:24] Speaker A: Okay. [00:02:24] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:02:25] Speaker A: I mean, he could have saved you in that. That's good. [00:02:27] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:02:28] Speaker B: Just like conviction. [00:02:30] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:02:30] Speaker A: I think conviction is an example that we've probably, at least a lot of us have experienced. When you feel convicted or guilty over a sin that you are committing, that is the work of the Holy Spirit. Any other examples? Yeah, Yeah, I agree. I think the Holy Spirit does help give you the desire to love the word of God. You have an example. [00:02:57] Speaker B: Yes. Mercy. [00:03:03] Speaker A: Yeah. He is merciful. That's true. [00:03:04] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:03:05] Speaker A: Yeah. These are some good examples. And maybe even as we're going through this, you'll hear of some of the works of the Spirit and think, I could see this in my life, or maybe even this is something I want to see in my life. So these are the sort of things we're going to discuss. But first, what is theology? Is what we're doing. Okay, Lincoln, I saw your hand first. [00:03:25] Speaker B: The study of God's word. [00:03:28] Speaker A: Yeah, well, more specifically, the study of God, and we do it through His Word. But what else? When we study God, what's the goal? Yes, that's right. We want to become more like Him. Do you have another answer? Yeah. To know him, make him known, for him, to know us and to be like Him. That's right. You see, if we never want to stop at just knowing intellectually who he is, if we properly are studying him, then hopefully we are moved to believe in him and to try to live like His Son, Jesus Christ. So that is the goal of theology. We want it to, you know, fill our brains and transform our lives. Now, what did we talk about last week? I just said it so just a minute ago. [00:04:14] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:04:17] Speaker A: As the overall topic of last week, Kellan. Yeah, that's right, yeah. Do you have a different way to say it? Well, that's this week, but it is about the Holy Spirit and it's. We kind of talked about his attributes. So we were talking about just the person describing who he is, his being, and how he relates to, even to the Father and the Son, which is why I printed out those little handouts for you. I think those are pretty helpful to just keep around and even know how to draw. It's just helpful reminder of the Trinity and how we can talk about it, because it can be confusing. And I think it kind of gives you a visual to make it not so confusing. And so, yeah, we talked about the person of the Spirit last time. I want to remind us we have to know who he is, because if we get who he is wrong, then the works he does won't make sense or they won't happen. Right. We'll get the work wrong. So it's all connected together. Only the one true God can work these things in this way. So now to start again, the Trinity. You can look at that. Now. It's an essential doctrine for Christians to believe. So we don't want to deny this and we want to try to uphold it as we talk about the Spirit. I know it can be a little dense, but I was just hoping that would be a little helpful. And so, as you see, if you're looking at it you'll see what God in the center that is just referring to the one God. And those other lines are not showing like different gods or anything. It's just trying to use the language. So you'll see that God is the Father is God, the Son is God, the Spirit is God. But it also clarifies that the Son and the Father are not the same. Father and the Son are not the same, but they are all still God and the one God. So that's kind of the point of it. So again, hopefully that's helpful. Now, here is a summary. This is kind of like the main idea, the summary of the work of the Spirit, which I think should be on the handout towards the top. The Spirit's work is particularly associated with speaking, so particularly associated with speaking the application of salvation and indwelling the people of God. So, you know, God works together, but these things are particularly associated with the Spirit speaking the application of salvation, so applying it to people's lives and the indwelling of God's people. So Christians have the Spirit within them. Now, while we talk about the work of the Spirit, again, we need to remember that when God does something, when we talk about what God does, actually all three Father, Son and Spirit do the thing. They all work together. We can't completely divide up what they're doing. Now, there are certain works that are associated with one person, like the Spirit or the Son or the Father, but that really is just emphasizing which person is most characterized by that work. Now, you might think that's confusing. If God does everything together, then why do we use different persons to refer to some works and others? Well, we mostly do it because the Bible talks about it this way. So we borrow this language from the Bible. So the language of speaking and applying salvation and indwelling believers and convicting them and guiding them, those are, when we read them in the Bible, typically, almost always associated with the Spirit. But even then, it's not always just about the Spirit. Sometimes it does refer to God as a whole doing that. So we're doing it because the Bible does. So don't let that trip you up. Some of these works are characterized by a person, but God does it together. So I'm saying we cannot say that if the Spirit does something, then the Father and the Son are not doing it at all. Now why do you think that is? Why am I stressing that? They work together, but some are just associated with the work. Why do you think I'm making that point? Does anyone have a guess? Oh, you do yeah, well, even my explanation might be a little confusing. Admittedly, they're probably better people at explaining this, but I think there's a few reasons. So first, the three persons are in perfect unity. So we want to really be hesitant to ever divide them up. Even if you are saying this one does all of this, but no one else does, you're kind of dividing their works and their wills. When God has one will, he is one God. So we want to try to maintain the unity because the Bible maintains that unity when it describes him. They also all three persons dwell together as one God. And so they do works together to divide them. Wouldn't make sense. If they truly are together and one God dwelling together, then they would be doing the same works as the one God. And again, they also share the same will or desire. They share the same knowledge and the same power. So the same knowledge and power are enacting these works. And so we don't want to divide them. But again, as one of my professors says, some works are the particular responsibility of the Spirit without excluding the other two persons. And those are what we're going to focus on today, the ones that are particularly associated with the Holy Spirit. So let's talk about those major affirmations in point one. We have three that I want to make. So the first one is the Holy Spirit speaks to God's people and inspires them to speak. The Holy Spirit speaks to God's people. Holy Spirit speaks to God's people and inspires them to speak. So we're going to go kind of through the Bible and see some examples of this. So everyone in your Bibles go to the Book of Numbers. Numbers is towards the beginning of your Bible. It's the fourth book of the Bible. You're going to go to chapter 11. So it's not the smallest book. So maybe flip around the very front of your Bible, you'll find numbers and then you'll find the big number 11 for chapter 11. And then you'll look for the little number 25, verse 25. So we're going to look at numbers 1125. Would someone like to read this for the group numbers 1125? Anybody want to read? [00:11:25] Speaker D: I can read it. [00:11:26] Speaker A: Thank you. [00:11:28] Speaker D: Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke with him, and he took up the Spirit that was on him with the Spirit of the seventy elders. When the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied, but they did not do so again. [00:11:39] Speaker A: Okay, so what is the result of the Spirit resting on the elders of Israel? What do they do. [00:11:49] Speaker D: They prophesy. [00:11:50] Speaker A: They prophesy. That's right, they prophesy. That means they. What does that mean? [00:11:57] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:12:00] Speaker A: It does mean they have prophecy. But what is a prophecy? What does a prophet do? They do teach the word of God. Specifically. They're speaking God's word to the people. That's great. So, yeah, they prophesied. Now, same book, go to chapter 24. So that's just a few pages over. Now that you've found that, now, can someone else read verses two through four, numbers 24. Two through four. Thank you. [00:12:43] Speaker E: And Balaam lifted up his eyes and saw Israel camping tribe by tribe, and the spirit of God came upon him, and he took up his discourse and said, the oracle of Balaam, son of baal, the oracle of the man whose eye is open. The oracle of him hears the words of God who seeks the vision of the Almighty, falling down on his eyes and covering. [00:13:04] Speaker A: Okay, great. Thank you. Okay, so the spirit in this is coming upon Balaam. What does he do? What happens? Oh, yes, sorry, I didn't see your hand. He does give an oracle. Yeah, in verse three in mine, it says he. He took up his discourse. He gives an oracle. Does anyone know what an oracle is? Been hearing these a lot on Wednesday. So that's a. They're usually girls and they can, like, see the future. Well, I don't know if that's true. That's not how it's being used here. I don't, I, I believe you. I don't. Is that in, like a fantasy novel or something? Percy Jackson. Okay, well, I didn't know that. So I just learned something. The way it's being used, the way it's being used here, it's. It's a type of prophetic speech. So Balaam is prophesying or he is speaking. The Holy Spirit is inspiring him, inspiring him to say something just like the elders did in chapter 11. So now you're going to have to flip all the way to Luke 1, all the way to the New Testament. I know we're skipping a lot, but, you know, all the way to the New Testament. We'll see how this might look in the New Testament. Going to go to Luke 1 towards the end of the chapter. Luke 1 is a long chapter, so we're going to go to Luke 1:67. Oh, did you flip right to it? Oh, no. Maybe the verse guy should have skipped that number 500 years ago when he did that. Okay, so Luke 1, that verse says, and his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit. And prophesied saying, okay, so we know again here the result of the Spirit feeling Zechariah here is not the same one that we've been studying on Wednesday nights. But the result of this is he prophesies, he speaks from the Holy Spirit. So this is a pattern of the Spirit filling someone and leading him or her to prophesy, which, again, means speaking God's words to the people around them. But there's still another way that we experience this today. Still, this isn't commonly happening. I know there's debates about whether this still happens. People receiving words and saying them from God. I lean away from that. But a lot of great Christians do think that. But there's another way. This definitely still happens today. So I'm going to go to Second Peter. You should go too. Yeah, go to Second Peter. This one's towards the end of your Bible. After Hebrews and James and first Peter. And before one John comes second Peter, chapter one, two Peter one, 1921. Okay, sounds like most of you there. Two Peter one 19. And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts knowing this, first of all, that no prophecy of scripture comes from someone's own interpretation. 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. So what does this teach us about the role of the Spirit? Anyone? What does the Spirit do in this passage? [00:17:24] Speaker B: According to Peter, it inspires scripture. [00:17:27] Speaker A: Yeah, it inspires scripture. We see that he carries along humans and humans. Because of that, they speak from God. And so this was true of prophets who are carried along by the Spirit. It is true of those who are writing down the word of God. Because remember, prophecy is speaking the word of God to the people. So scripture falls in this category as well. But they do this because they're carried along by the Spirit. So the Spirit inspires scripture. He is characterized by the authorship of the Bible. Okay, so that is the affirmation number one. Major affirmation number two. The Holy Spirit applies salvation to God's people. The Holy Spirit applies. The Holy Spirit applies salvation. S A L V A T I O N applies salvation to God's people. Holy Spirit applies salvation to God's people. So how is the Holy Spirit involved in salvation? How is he involved in salvation? Salvation. [00:18:56] Speaker D: Once we are saved. You have the Spirit. [00:18:59] Speaker A: Yeah, once. Once a Christian is saved, they do have the Spirit, right? That's right. [00:19:05] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:19:06] Speaker B: The Holy Spirit kind of guides people to salvation because it's not salvation. Isn't like someone choosing to be a Christian. God has predestined and chosen there. [00:19:19] Speaker A: Yeah, well, so the Holy Spirit definitely does guide people to this, and I believe even gives someone the ability to choose. But they do, in fact, make this decision of their own will through the Holy Spirit. And so he is active in the leading of people to salvation. Let's look at some scripture passages and see what we uncover. So first, come with me to Titus. That's not too far from where we are, just a little bit back, so don't flip too far. And it's a little book. Titus 3 after 1 and 2 Timothy, before Philemon, in Hebrews and James, Titus 3. Will someone read verses 5 through 7? Titus 3, 5, 7. [00:20:12] Speaker D: I can read it. [00:20:13] Speaker A: Thank you. [00:20:14] Speaker D: He saved us not because of righteous things we have done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs of eternal life. [00:20:31] Speaker A: Thank you. Yeah, this is a super helpful passage for our purposes. [00:20:36] Speaker C: God. [00:20:36] Speaker A: God saved us. So he's talking to Titus. And then other Christians and churches would read this too. God saved us specifies not by works. So we learned this in Galatians. Not by works of the law. Not by things that we did in our own righteousness. No, that cannot save or justify us. But he does it because he's merciful. We heard earlier that the Holy Spirit is merciful, and he does it by the washing of. We heard rebirth and renewal. Some of your Bibles might say regeneration and renewal. These are words depicting how the Holy Spirit has you born again, makes you new, gives you a new heart. From a heart of stone to a heart of flesh. He recreates you, regenerates you. He makes you renewed and restored in this way. So these are other words that can maybe kind of help us understand what is. Is being said here. Right. So that helps us see the Holy Spirit's role a little bit. Now go to John 3. John 3, the gospel of John 3. All right, now listen to verses 5 and 6. John 3. 5, 6. Jesus answered to Nicodemus, truly, truly, I say to you that unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. So again we see this kind of helping us understand that washing of rebirth and renewal and regeneration of the Holy Spirit. This is being born again, being born of the Spirit. You must be born of the Spirit, made new again, regenerated, called to faith by the Holy Spirit. If you want to be saved, if you want to enter the kingdom of heaven, is what Jesus is telling Nicodemus. All right, First Corinthians, now another verse. There are a lot more we could go to, but I've tried to pick some of the helpful ones. First Corinthians 12:13. So this is after Romans, so go to the right a little bit. 1st Corinthians 12. Make sure you're not in 2nd Corinthians 1 Corinthians 12 3. Can someone read 1 Corinthians 12 3? Yes. [00:23:14] Speaker D: Spirit of God ever says Jesus is. [00:23:16] Speaker B: The Lord, and no one can say. [00:23:18] Speaker D: Jesus is the Lord except the Holy Spirit. [00:23:22] Speaker A: Thank you. Thank you. So just in summary, we'll just rephrase to help us. So if someone says they're speaking from the word of God, but they are cursing or defaming or using Christ's name in vain, that is not of the Spirit. And Paul goes a step further here and says, no one can affirm and declare that Jesus is Lord and mean it except by the Spirit. Of course people can say those words. That's not what he's intending. He's saying no one can truly say and believe definitively that Jesus is Lord unless the Spirit gives him the ability and leads him to do that. So what we see kind of in all of these together, I believe, is that the Holy Spirit is in a way like the initiator of salvation. He is the initiator of bringing us to God. And he does this initiation, this beginning type work by convicting people of sin. And he also then renews the heart of a sinner. And in second Timothy 2:25, we also see that God grants repentance to people. And so I think in this way God is initiating this for us, helping lead people to himself, that they would fall on their knees and worship him and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior, which is. And that faith through which the Holy Spirit then applies this salvation to you. So if we look just a few verses down, so we're in 1 Corinthians 12:3. If you look then at 12:13, we learn even more about how the Spirit is applying salvation. We read for in one Spirit. So it's talking about the Holy Spirit. In one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, Jews or Greeks Slaves or free, and all were made to drink of one spirit. So we see here that this is talking primarily about what people call the baptism of the Holy Spirit. We believe this happens when conversion happens, when you turn in faith and repentance to the Lord Jesus Christ, you are baptized in the Spirit. So that's another phrase for that. Regeneration, renewal, being born again, conversion, baptism in the Holy Spirit. And what does this do specifically? Paul's point here is to point out that it incorporates us into one body. It brings you into the universal church. So that's what the Holy Spirit's doing. He's incorporating you together. And even as we come together as local churches, so individual churches, he is incorporating us together in one bond by the Spirit. And he says either Jews or Greeks, slaves or free. None of that will divide up the body. The Spirit brings us together, no matter who we are, where we come from. The last verse I want to read is Ephesians 4:30. So I'll read that quick. So if you can get over there, you can. Ephesians 4:30 says, and do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. So what does the Spirit do in this verse? What work of the Spirit is how. [00:27:01] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:27:03] Speaker A: Yeah, that's right. He seals you. So the Spirit we see here seals Christians in the faith. I think this. I think this means to protect and preserve Christians from the schemes of the devil and even from their own sinful nature so that they do not forsake their faith. I think he is sealing and protecting them and keeping them. Persevering them is a language used in theology for this idea. But nonetheless, he is sealing us in. You can think of Noah in the ark, being sealed in by the hand of God. God closes the door of the ark. I think that's similar to how the Spirit is working in this verse. Okay, so affirmation number three. Now, the Holy Spirit lives in God's people. The Holy Spirit lives in God's people. Holy Spirit lives in God's people. We're going to turn to Romans 8, and I'm going to read several verses for us. But Romans. But you should go there to follow along. That'll help you kind of understand what's being said. Going to start at the beginning of that chapter. So the Holy Spirit lives in God's people. Romans 8, starting in verse 1, says, There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus for the law of the Spirit of life. Has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law weakened by the flesh could not do, by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh. And for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh. But those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law. Indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You. He's speaking to Christians. You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. If in fact, the Spirit of God dwells in you, Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. So there's a lot there. But what are some of the things that the Spirit does for Christians according to this? [00:29:56] Speaker B: Life? [00:29:57] Speaker A: Yeah. He gives life in sin. We're considered dead. He gives life. [00:30:02] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:30:04] Speaker B: I don't know sure if this is also what Jesus is supposed to do. [00:30:09] Speaker D: But he gives us the right things. [00:30:11] Speaker B: That we need at the right time. [00:30:14] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:30:14] Speaker A: I mean, I think again, God works together to provide what we need. And the Spirit does that, even in some unique ways. Right. Asher, are you raising your hand? No. Okay. Okay. Yeah. Anything else? Brings peace. That's right. Brings peace. You know, we also see that. Oh, yeah? Yeah. Well, explain what you mean, like the Spirit. Are you saying he adopts Christians into the God's family? Yeah, that's true. That's true. Yeah. And we see here Paul's even talking about what the law weakened by humans could not do. You know, works of the flesh cannot justify or save anyone. We've read and studied before. But the Spirit saves people by applying Christ's righteousness to them. And the Spirit then helps Christians to obey Christ, to walk in his ways. Something that we are weakened by the flesh we cannot do unless we have faith. Unless the Spirit enables us to do it. So if you believe, then you should walk and live like Christ. You should pursue that. You will fail. Right? We know this. You will sin. You will not do this perfectly. And I believe in this life you won't be able to. But the difference, something key is that you can follow Christ. You can become more like him. You can do that because the Spirit gives you the ability to. You need the Spirit to help you. And he is there as a helper. Jesus calls him the helper. Yes. [00:32:15] Speaker B: When he's trying to take the steps. [00:32:17] Speaker A: Of faith, like in Onward, Onward in the movie Onward. Okay, yeah, I have seen that. [00:32:24] Speaker B: Yeah. He lets go of the rope on accident and then he walks and he has to believe in every step. [00:32:31] Speaker A: Yeah, I think that's a great illustration. Yeah. He's got to believe in every step when he lets go. And that is really the only way that he is able to do the weird walking thing that I'm trying to picture. Can't remember very clearly, but anyway, yeah, you're right. And this is how we become more like Christ. This is called sanctification. Does anyone remember what this means? I know some of you probably do. Yes. Being made holy, being made like Christ. And we believe as Baptists and even Protestants, that this is something that God does over time in your life when you believe in Him. The Spirit also illuminates scriptures. So this means he helps us to understand it by faith. If you want to read a verse about that, First Corinthians 2, 10, 16. 1 Corinthians 2, 10, 16, you can read that. He kind of lights it up, helps us to see Christ in the text. The Spirit according to Romans 8, 26, 27. So that's Romans 8 26, 27. Later in this chapter, he helps us in our prayers. He helps us as we pray to God. So these are the things that the Spirit does when he's living in his people. But I want to jump to errors we want to avoid. There are two. So the first one is, we must never deny. We should never deny the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit. He still works the ongoing work. It's sinful to ignore the important work that God is doing in your life. If we deny that the Spirit is working still, that means you're not sealed. You have no ability to follow Christ. You don't have a conscience to convict you. You. You lack so much that you need in this life. So we should remember and praise God that the Holy Spirit does work and we should worship him and adore what he does. The second Error is we should never pay excessive attention to the Holy Spirit. And what I mean by this is we don't want to neglect the Father and the Son or even the Word of God because we excessively pay attention to, to the Holy Spirit. I only say this because I think it is kind of common. We don't want to neglect the Father and the Son in our worship and we don't want to collect the word of God and what we do day to day. We don't want to think, oh well, I'm just going to rely on the Spirit to guide me. I don't really need to read the Bible. The Spirit can just tell me what I need to think and do. We don't want to do something like that. We want to be a little more measured because the Spirit works through the Word of God and all three persons work together in our lives. So we don't want to neglect any of these over the others. Your view of the Spirit, I believe, should drive you into the Bible praying that the Spirit would help you understand it. So that's my encouragement is you want to rely on the Spirit, pray to him and then read the Bible and then pray again. That is a great way to follow the leading of the Spirit. Okay, finally, we want to enact the doctrine. I think that's what it's called on your page. This is just application. How. What does this mean for our lives? We've kind of seen some hints here and there. But how can we apply this doctrine or what the Spirit does? How can we live based on this knowledge? [00:36:09] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:36:13] Speaker A: Yeah, that's good. So remember that things come from God, not from our own works. That's great. That'll lead us to thankfulness. Any others you guys can think of? Well, I thought of a couple and Seth said one. I said, be conscious of the Holy Spirit and His works. And so, you know, remember, you know, I think that is an application to be conscious. Don't ignore his important ministry. And if you, if you feel as though you don't know Christ or you haven't experienced these things, then turn in faith, Turn from your sins, trust in the Lord and praise him that he gives you His Spirit as a helper and a guide. And then the second application I had was rely, rely on the Holy Spirit as a Christian. So if you are in Christ, then you can rely and trust that he is there to help you. So pray and rely on him to help you understand the Word and pray and rely on him to make you more like Christ. And that doesn't mean, you can rely on him in a way where you think, I'll just do whatever I want and maybe the Spirit will puppet me into obeying Christ. It's not how it works. Sanctification is something that we cooperate in. It's something we do. So pursue a life like Christ and trust that the Spirit of God really can and will help you do it. Let's pray. Father, thank you for your word and this morning we want to thank you for your Holy Spirit that guides and leads us. Lord, we pray that your spirit would. Would guide many in this room and around us, in our families and our friends, to your son, Jesus Christ. Lord, Holy Spirit, please move in people's lives, convict them of sin and draw them to yourself that they would turn in faith and repentance to your son. God, we trust and know that you can do this. Lord, help us. Also this week and ongoingly, as we read the Word, God, illuminate the word for the students in here that they would truly understand and see more and more how Christ is in the text and God, we pray that your spirit will also help us to be sanctified, help us to be more like Christ and reflect his beauty more. This week we pray this in your son's name. Amen.