We've been having some good heart -to -heart
talks. And I don't think that I'll describe them
as bzorkorn bread. They're good, wholesome bread.
The bread of everlasting life. Oh, my friend,
I pray that you will have been fed. from His
own giving hand. Isn't it wonderful to sit and
feast on the things of God? And that's exactly
what we've been doing. And we've been talking
about the personality of the Holy Spirit. If
you have not yet gotten acquainted with Him,
if you've been listening to us day after day,
and the Holy Spirit is still a mystery to you,
and you have no understanding whatsoever of His
person, His power, His personality, and his work,
his manifestation, if he means no more to you
now than he did before we began talking about
him, then I pray that you'll go alone and just
look up and say, please open my understanding,
dear Lord. Please take my mind and reveal to
my heart this wonderful third. person of the
Trinity. Desire him. Desire knowledge. Go deep
under the surface. Go very deep. That's where
they go after oil. And when you start after the
oil of the Holy Spirit, drill deep, my friend.
into the deepest of spiritual revelations. Well,
there is something that is quoted very often
and yet few people stop long enough to see the
real meaning of something that is very precious
in the last verse of the last chapter of 2 Corinthians.
the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love
of God, there we have two persons mentioned,
Jesus, and the love of God, the Heavenly Father,
and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you
all. Amen. Mm -hmm. Oh, Paul understood. He knew.
At the very beginning of this series regarding
the personality of the Holy Spirit, I told you
that this very moment, God is seated upon His
throne. There's only one throne in heaven, the
throne of God. God is seated upon His throne.
At His right hand, this very hour, is Jesus,
the Son of God, in position of great high priest.
He is our mediator, ever living to make intercession
for you and for me. He's the mediator between
man and God. In the world today, this very moment,
is the Holy Spirit, the third person, the Trinity.
And when we talk about communion, when we talk
about fellowship, this nearness, this closeness,
oh, I know the person of God the Father is very
real. Please don't misunderstand me. And that
wonderful knowledge that we have that we belong
to him and that he is our heavenly father. And
the nearness of Jesus is very real to us. But
there is a constant communion that goes on. A
fellowship that's as constant and as real as
the beating of our heart. as the next breath
that we take, nearer to us than any human being
standing by our side. And it's something that's
constant. There is a fellowship that goes on
constantly. There is a communion that goes on
constantly. I am aware of that. constant communion
when I am awakened in the middle of the night.
I can be awakened out of a sound sleep. And I
am instantly aware of that constant communion
that has never ceased between myself and the
Holy Spirit. Constantly, within walking down
the street, whatever I am doing, I am aware.
of the communion that I am having with Him. It's
something I can't understand. It's something
that really seems almost fantastic. I cannot
describe it to you. I can only tell you it's
as real as my breathing. Just as real. He is
there constantly. I am constantly aware of His
presence. I am... constantly aware of that communion,
that fellowship. When I go into a service, I
do not go into that service to commune with him.
I am communing with him 24 hours a day. There
are some people who tell you that they go to
church for one hour. to commune with Him. Oh,
sure, I believe. Don't misconstrue what I'm saying.
Sure, you can go to that place of worship to
commune with Him. But there is a fellowship,
there is a place in the Holy Spirit where you
do not especially go someplace to commune with
Him. It is a constant thing. You fellowship the
saints in that place of worship. But when it
comes to this communion, you go in the place
of worship where Jesus is magnified and you worship
him in that place of worship. But what the scripture
is talking about here is a constant communion
of the Holy Spirit. It is constant. Have you
found that place in him? It's for you. You'll
only start to live when you have your very being
in him. You move in him. You have your being
in him. He is closer to you than your next breath.
And you are constantly, Conscious of his presence.
I wish I could tell you. And it's something that
I cannot impart to another. It's something that
you have to experience. All right. Now we're
going to come to something that I like so much.
He reveals. And I want you, please, and I'm sure
you got your Bible out when you were thinking
about me coming into your home. And you turn,
if you will, please, to the second chapter of
Luke. And this is most revealing. All right,
let's begin with about the 25th verse. And behold,
there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon,
or Simon. And the same man was just and devout,
waiting for the consolation of Israel. And the
holy... ghost was upon him. Now remember, there
is only one Holy Spirit, just one. The same Holy
Spirit, the same Holy Ghost that you and I have
been talking about in these heart -to -heart
talks. And it was revealed unto him by the Holy
Ghost that he should not see death before he
had seen the Lord's Christ. And he came by the
Spirit into the temple. And when the parents
brought in the child Jesus to do for him after
the custom of the law, then took he him up in
his arms. Oh, can't you see, Simeon? Taking the
babe up in his arms, he knew who he was. And
blessed God and said, Lord, now lettest thou
thy servant depart in peace. According to thy
word. In other words, he said, I'm ready to go.
Because remember, he was up in years. He was
not a young man. He was up in years. And he said,
I'm satisfied now. I'm perfectly satisfied. You
see. The Holy Spirit had revealed to him that
he should not see death, that he would not die
before he had seen Jesus Christ. And when he
saw Jesus with his father and mother, he knew,
he knew that this was the very Son of God. Oh,
this is beautiful. He knew that was the Messiah.
And when he took Jesus in his arms, there wasn't
any doubt in his mind whatsoever, but that he
was the Christ. He said, Now, Lord, lettest thou
thy servant depart in peace. I am ready to die
now, according to thy word. For mine eyes have
seen thy salvation. I've seen, I'm satisfied.
Which thou hast prepared before the face of all
people, a light to lighten the Gentiles, and
the glory of thy people Israel. Mm -hmm. He knew.
Because the revelation came from the Holy Spirit.
He knew he was right. He knew exactly. that for
which Jesus had come, a light to lighten the
Gentiles and the glory of thy people Israel.
And Joseph and his mother marveled at those things
which were spoken of him. Joseph just, he was
amazed that this man, a perfect stranger to them,
came and took the child in his arms and he knew
who he was. And the mother of Jesus marveled.
He was a perfect stranger. And he knew all about
Jesus. He knew why he was given, for what purpose
he'd come. And Simeon blessed them and said unto
Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for
the fall and rising again of many in Israel and
for a sign which shall be... spoken against,
yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul
also, that the thoughts of many may be revealed.
Oh, watch something. Doesn't that do something
to you? And remember, that's the same Holy Spirit.
The same Holy Spirit who gave Simeon that wonderful
revelation. Now, The account that is given us
concerning this Simeon or Simon, he dwelt in
Jerusalem. He was eminent for his piety and for
his communion with God. And there were learned
men who lived then, had such high regard for
his intelligence that he was given one of the
highest titles that could possibly be given to
a doctor during those days. And Simeon was one
of seven to whom this honor had been bestowed.
He succeeded his father as president of the college
which his father founded and of the great Sanhedrin.
And the Jews said that he was endued with a prophetical
spirit. Mm -hmm. And because of it, they... They
turned him out of his place because he could
not see eye to eye with the religious Jew at
that time concerning the temporal kingdom of
the Messiah. You understand something, don't
you? There is no fact in history more clearly
established than the fact of the first coming
of Christ. But when it comes to his first coming,
All the Jews could not agree. It was because
the religious leaders of Christ's day failed
to distinguish between the prophecies that related
to his first coming and those that related to
his second coming, and that's the reason they
rejected him. The religious Jew rejected... Jesus
as the Son of the Living God when He came at
Bethlehem because they expected Him to come in
great glory, setting up a great temporal kingdom.
They didn't understand that there was a time
space between the sufferings and the glory of
Christ. Between the cross and the crown. There's
a reason Jesus is going to have to come back
to earth the second time. Because only a part
of prophecy was fulfilled at the time of his
first coming. He must return to earth again.
We call it the second coming of the Lord Jesus
Christ. To fulfill, completely fulfill. all the
prophecies regarding his kingdom and his glory.
He will rule and reign a thousand years in bodily
form upon this earth. He will return in glory.
And this is exactly what the Holy Spirit had
revealed. To Simeon. He saw it. He recognized
it. The Holy Spirit had revealed to Simeon's
heart that which the religious Jew did not see
at the time. Oh, sure. And you know something?
It's the same way today. There are... Still those
to whom the Holy Spirit is revealing his word
of prophecy, he is the great revealer. The same
Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was upon Simeon,
not only as the spirit of holiness, for it said
he was a devout man. He was just. He was devout.
That's why. I am convinced that the Holy Spirit
knows exactly what he's doing. He knows exactly
to whom he can reveal things. He knows exactly
to whom to bestow gifts, precious gifts. All
these things are a trust. And the Holy Ghost
was upon him, not only as a spirit of holiness,
but as a spirit of prophecy. He was... filled
with the Holy Ghost. And the Holy Spirit enabled
him to speak things above himself. He had a glorious,
a gracious promise made to him that before he
died, he should have sight of the Messiah. I'm
going to talk to him about it one of these days
when I get home to glory. I've got a lot of things
I'm going to ask him. I believe that he was so
consecrated to the Lord because it said right
here, he was a just and devout man waiting for
the consolation of Israel. And the Holy Ghost
was upon him. He was searching. And the Holy
Spirit said, all right. I'll promise you something.
Before you die, I'll see that with your own eyes,
you will look upon the Messiah. You will see
the Anointed One. You will see the very Son of
the Living God. Wasn't that a promise? And the
thing is, and this was so wonderful, Simeon came
by direction of the Spirit into the temple. The
same Spirit that had provided for the support
of his hope now provided for the transport of
his joy. He knew the Holy Spirit always carries
through, always. When a certain thing is of the
Holy Spirit, when the Holy Spirit... gives a
promise when the Holy Spirit reveals something,
he always carries through. He never leaves a
job half done. You can stay your very life on
the mighty third person of Trinity. And somehow
the Holy Spirit whispered in his ear and said,
go to the temple now. Now's the day. Now's the
time. and you shall see what you have longed
to see. You will see the Messiah. You'll see
him. But I believe that from the time that the
Holy Spirit made Simeon the promise that he should
not taste death until he would see the Messiah,
he was constantly in tune. with the Holy Spirit.
So the minute the Holy Spirit said, this is it,
he went, he saw, he was satisfied. That is the
glorious Holy Spirit.