The Indwelling and Outflowing of the Holy Spirit - Charles Spurgeon Audio Sermons

the indwelling and outflowing of the Holy Spirit by Charles Haddon Spurgeon this sermon was originally preached on May 28th in the year 1882 the text for today comes from the book of John first from the book of John chapter 7 verses 38 to 39 whoever believes in me as the scripture has said streams of living water will flow from within him by this Jesus met the Spirit whom those who believed in him were later to receive up to that time the spirit had not been given since Jesus had not yet been glorified and now John

chapter 16 verse 7 but I tell you the truth it is for your good that I am going away unless I go away the counselor will not come to you but if I go I will send him to you it is essential dear friends that we must worship to living in true God it will be dreadful for us if it can be said you worship what you do not know worship the Lord your God and serve him only the heathen disobey this command by worshipping many gods and making many images to be the object of

their adoration their excess runs to gross superstition and idolatry I fear that sometimes we we who profess and call ourselves Christians sin in exactly the opposite direction instead of worshipping more than the one true God I fear we worship less than God this happens when we forget to pay the adoration do to God the holy spirit the true God is triune Father Son and Holy Spirit and though there is only one God yet that one God has manifested himself to us in the Trinity of his sacred persons if then we worship the father and the

son but forget or neglect to adore the Holy Spirit then we worship less than God while the poor heathen and his ignorance goes far beyond and sins we must be careful for fear that we will fall short and also fail what a grievous thing it will be if we do not pay that loving homage and reverence to the Holy Spirit which is so justly due to him may it not be true that we enjoy less of his power and see less of his working in the world because the Church of the Living God has not

been sufficiently attentive to him it is a blessed thing to preach the work of Jesus Christ but it is an evil thing to omit the work of the Holy Spirit for the work of the Lord Jesus itself is no blessing to that man who does not also know the work of the Holy Spirit there is the ransom price but it is only through the spirit that we know the redemption there is the precious blood but it is as though the fountain had never been filled unless the Spirit of God leads us with repenting faith to

wash there the bandage is soft and the ointment is effectual but the wound will never be healed until the Holy Spirit applies that which the great physician has provided therefore let us not neglect the work of the Divine Spirit lest we incur guilt and inflict upon ourselves serious damage you that our believers have the most powerful reasons to hold the Holy Spirit in the highest esteem for what are you now without him what were you and what would you have still been had it not been for his gracious work upon you the Holy Spirit made

you alive or else you would not have been in the Living family of God today the Holy Spirit gave you understanding that you might know the truth or else you would have been as ignorant as the carnal world is at this hour it was the Holy Spirit that awakens your conscience convincing you of sin it was he that gave you a hatred of sin and led you to repent it was the Holy Spirit that taught you to believe and made you see that glorious person who is to be believed our Lord Jesus the Son of

God the Spirit has produced in you your faith and love and hope and every grace there is not a jewel upon the neck of your soul which he did not place there for every virtue we possess and every victory won and every thought of holiness are his alone what have we learned that was good except by the teaching of the Holy Spirit what can we say either in prayer to God or in teaching to men that will be acceptable unless we receive the anointing of the Holy Spirit brethren who is it that has comforted us

in our de-stresses directed us in our perplexities strengthened us in our weaknesses and helped us in our anxieties in 10,000 ways is it not the comforter whom the father has sent in jesus' name can i speak too highly of the riches of His grace towards us can I extol too much love the spirit I know I can't and you that know what he has created in you delight to hear him highly spoken of and his work and offices set forth we are obligated many times over to seek his honor the one who has produced in

us our salvation let us never grieve the Holy Spirit by our ingratitude but let us endeavor to extol him for my part it shall be the labor of this morning to impress upon you the necessity for his work and the superlative value of it beloved brethren notwithstanding all that the Spirit of God has already done in us it is very possible that we have missed a large part of the blessing which he is willing to give for he is able to do immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine we have already come to

Jesus and we have drunk of the life-giving stream our thirst is quenched and we are made to live in him but is this all now that we are living in him and rejoicing to do so have we come to the end of the matter assuredly not we have only reached as far as that first exhortation of the master If any man thirst let him come to me and drink but do you think that the majority of the Church of the Living God have ever advanced to the next level that level which says whoever believes in

me as the Scriptures has said streams of living water will flow from within him I think I am NOT going beyond the solemn truth if I say to you that only here and there will you find men and women who have believed up to that point the thirst is quenched as I have said and they live and because Jesus lives they shall also live but they do not have strong health and energy they have life but they do not have abundant life they have little life with which to act upon others they have no energy

welling up and overflowing to go screaming out streaming out of them like streams they have not thought it possible perhaps or thinking it was possible they have not imagined it possible to themselves or believing it is possible to themselves they have not aspired to it so they have stopped short of the fullest blessing their waiting into the sacred River has made them content and they do not know anything about swimming in the waters like the Israelites of old they are slow to possess all of the promised land but rather they sit down when the war

had barely begun brothers let us go in to get from God all that God will give us let us set our heart on this that we might gain by God's help all that the infinite goodness of God is ready to bestow let us not be satisfied with the sip that saves but let us go on to the baptism which buries the flesh and raises us in the likeness of the risen Lord even that baptism into the Holy Spirit and into fire which makes us spiritual and sets us all ablaze with zeal for the glory of

God and eagerness for usefulness by which that glory may be increased among the sons of men thus this morning I introduced to you my text and by their guidance we will enter upon the further consideration of the operations of the Holy Spirit especially of those to which we should aspire to first we will begin with remarked that the work of the Spirit is intimately connected with the work of Christ the work of the Holy Spirit is intimately connected with the work of Jesus Christ it is a great pity when persons preach the Holy Spirit's work

so as to obscure the work of Christ and I have known some who do that for they have held up before the sinners eyes the inward experience of believers instead of lifting up first and foremost the crucified Savior to whom we must all look to and live the gospel is not behold the Spirit of God but behold the lamb of God it is an equal pity when Christ is so preached that the Holy Spirit is ignored as if faith in Jesus prevented the necessity of the new birth and imputed righteousness rendered imparted righteousness needless have

I not often reminded you dear friends reminded you that in the 3rd chapter of John where Jesus taught Nicodemus the doctrine no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the spirit have I not taught you that we also read those blessed words just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert so the Son of Man must be lifted up that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life for God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him shall

not perish but have eternal life the necessity for regeneration by the spirit is stated very clear and so is the free promise that those who trust in Jesus will be saved this is what we ought to do we must take care to let both of these truths stand out most distinctly with equal prominence they are intertwined with each other and are each dependent on the other therefore what God has joined together let man not separate they are so joined together that first of all the Holy Spirit was not given until Jesus had been glorified the

Holy Spirit was not given until Jesus had been glorified carefully note our first text it is a very striking one by this he meant the Spirit whom those who believed in him were later to receive up to that time the spirit had not been given since Jesus had not yet been glorified the word given is not in the original it is inserted by the translators to help out the sense and they were perhaps wise in making such an addition but the words in the original are more forcible by themselves how strong the statement for the

Holy Spirit was not yet of course none of us dreamed that the Holy Spirit was not yet existing for he is eternal and self existent being most truly God but he was not yet in fellowship with man to the full extent in which he is now since Jesus Christ is glorified the near and dear interaction of God with man which is expressed by the indwelling of the Spirit could not take place until redeeming work was and the Redeemer was exalted as far as men were concerned and the fullness of the blessing was concerned indicated by

the out flowing streams of living water the Spirit of God was not yet oh you say but wasn't the Spirit of God in the church in the wilderness and wasn't the Spirit of God with the saints of God and all the former ages I answer certainly but not in the manner in which the Spirit of God now resides in the Church of Jesus Christ you read about the prophets how that the Spirit of God came upon them sees them move them spoke by them but he did not live in them the Spirit of God did

not live in them his operations upon me and were somewhat temporary these men were at times carried away by the Spirit of God and they came under his power but the Spirit of God did not rest upon them or live in them occasionally the sacred endowment of the Spirit of God came upon them but they did not know they did not know the communion of the Holy Spirit as one French pastor very sweetly puts it when referring to the Holy Spirit he said this he appeared to men he did not incarnate himself in man his

action was intermittent he went and he came like the Dove which Noah sent out from the ark and which went back and forth finding no rest while in the New Testament in the New Testament times he dwells he abides in the heart like the Dove his emblem which john the baptists Sall descending and alighting upon the head of Jesus engaged to the soul the spirit went off to see his betrothed but was not yet one with her the marriage was not consummated until Pentecost after the glorification of Jesus Christ you know how our Lord puts

it he lives with you and will be in you that indwelling is quite different than simply him being with us the Holy Spirit was with the Apostles in the days when Jesus was with them but he was not in them in the sense in which he filled them on and after the day of Pentecost the operations of the Spirit of God before our Lord's ascension to heaven were not according to the full measure of the gospel but now the Spirit of God has been poured upon us from on high now he has descended and now

he lives in the midst of the church and now we enter into him and are baptized into the Holy Spirit while he enters into us and makes our bodies to be his temples Jesus said and I will ask the Father and He will give you another counselor to be with you forever not coming and going but remaining in the midst of the church this shows how intimately the gift of the Holy Spirit is connected with our Lord Jesus Christ in as much as in the fullest sense of his indwelling the Holy Spirit could not be

with us until Christ had been glorified it has been clearly observed that our Lord sent out 70 evangelists to preach the gospel he even as he had sent out to twelve and no doubt they preached with great zeal and produced a lot of excitement but the holy spirit never took the trouble to preserve one of their sermons or even the notes of one I have not the slightest doubt that they were very crude and incomplete showing more of human zeal than of divine unction and hence they are forgotten but no sooner had the holy spirit

entered into the disciples than Peters first sermon is recorded and since then we have frequent notes of the utterances of apostles deacons and evangelists there was an abiding fullness and an overflowing of blessing out of the souls of the saints after the Lord was glorified which did not exist among men before that time observed too that the Holy Spirit was given after the ascent of our divine Lord into his glory partly to make that Ascension the more celebrated the Holy Spirit was given after the Ascension of our divine Lord into his glory partly to make

that ascent the more celebrated when the Lord has sent it up on high he led captivity captive and gave gifts to men these gifts were men and whom the Holy Spirit dwelt who preached the gospel to the nation's the giving of the Holy Spirit on the assembled disciples on that memorable day was the glorification of the risen Christ on earth I don't know of any other way in which the father could have made the glory of heaven so effectually to flow from the heights of the New Jerusalem and to come streaming down among the sons

of men as by giving that chief of all gifts the gift of the Holy Spirit when the Lord had risen and gone into his glory with emphasis may I say of the spirit at Pentecost that he glorified Christ by descending at such a time what greater celebration could there have been heaven rang with praise and the earth echoed to joy the descending spirit is the noblest testimony among men to the glory of the ascended Redeemer wasn't the Spirit of God also sent at that time as an evidence of our divine masters acceptance wasn't the Spirit

of God also sent at that time as an evidence of our divine masters acceptance didn't the father thus say to the church my son has finished the work and has fully entered into his glory therefore I give to you the Holy Spirit if you want to know what a harvest is to come from the sowing of the bloody sweat and of the death wounds see the firstfruits behold how the Holy Spirit is given himself to be the firstfruits the downpayment of the glory which shall yet be revealed in us I need no better evidence from

God of the finished work of Jesus than this blazing flaming seal of tongues of fire upon the heads of the disciples Christ must have done his work or such a blessing as this would not have come from it moreover if you desire to see how the work of the Spirit comes to us in connection with the work of Christ remember that it is the spirits work to bear witness of Jesus Christ if you desire to see how the work of the Spirit comes to us in connection with the work of Christ remember that it is

the spirits work to bear witness of Jesus Christ the spirit does not take a thousand different matters and show them to us but as Christ said he shall take what is mine and make it known to you the Spirit of God is engaged in a service in which the Lord Jesus Christ is the beginning and the end he comes to me and that they may come to Jesus therefore the Holy Spirit comes to convince us of sin that he may reveal the great sacrifice of sin he comes to convince us of righteousness that we may

see the righteousness of Christ and of judgment that we may be prepared to meet Jesus when he shall come to judge the living and the dead do not think that the Spirit of God has come or ever will come among us to teach us a new gospel or something other than what is written in the scriptures Oh men often come to me with their visions and their new ideas and they tell me that they were revealed to them by the Holy Spirit I have wore their blasphemous impertinence and refused to listen to them for a

minute they tell me this and that absurdity and then blame it on the spirit of wisdom it is enough to try our patience to hear their foolish ravings but to find that they claim that it came from the Holy Spirit is more than we can bear we have tests and judgments by which to know whether they who claim to speak by the holy spirit do so or not for the testimony of the Spirit is always most honorable to our Lord Jesus Christ and does not concern itself with the trifles of time and the follies of

the flesh it is by the gospel of Jesus Christ that the Spirit of God works in the hearts of men it is by the gospel of Jesus Christ that the Spirit of God works in the hearts of men faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God the Holy Spirit uses the hearing of the Word of God for the conviction conversion comfort and sanctification of man his usual and ordinary method of operation is to fasten upon the mind the things of God and to put life and force into the consideration of them he

revives and men's memories things that have long been forgotten and he frequently makes these the means of affecting the heart and conscience men can hardly remember hearing these truths but still they were heard by them at some time or other before saving truths are such matters as are contained in their substance in the Word of God and they are concerned with the teaching or the person or the work or offices of our Lord Jesus Christ it is the Holy Spirit's number-one business here below to reveal Christ to us and in us and he steadily adheres

to that work moreover my friends the Holy Spirit's work is to conform us to the likeness of Jesus Christ the Holy Spirit's work is to conform us to the likeness of Jesus Christ he is not working us to this or to that human ideal but he is working us into the likeness of Christ that he may be the firstborn among many brethren Jesus Christ is that standard and model to which the Spirit of God by His sanctifying processes his bringing us till Christ is formed in us the hope of glory it is always for the

glory of Jesus that the Spirit of God works he does not work for the glory of a church or ever community he does not work for the honor of a man or for the distinction of a denomination his one great object is to glorify Jesus Christ he shall glorify me is our saviours declaration and when he takes the things of Christ and shows them to us we are led more and more to reverence and love and adore Our Blessed Lord Jesus Christ I will not detain you any longer with this you will see how the

works of Jesus and of the Spirit are inseparably joined together so that we may neither set the work of Jesus before the work of the spirit nor the work of the spirit before the work of Jesus but we are glad with joy for both and we make much of them as we delight in the Father's love and the grace of our Lord Jesus so we will also equally rejoice in the communion of the Holy Spirit and these three agree together we will now advance another step and here we shall need our second text the operations

of the Holy Spirit are of incomparable value the operations of the Holy Spirit are of incomparable value they are of such incomparable value that the very best thing we can think of was not thought to be so precious as these our Lord Jesus himself said it is for your good that I am going away unless I go away the counselor will not come to you beloved friends the presence of Jesus Christ was of immeasurable value to his disciples and yet it was not such an advantage to his servants as the indwelling of the Holy Spirit

isn't this a wonderful statement it was good that our Lord prefaced it by saying but I tell you the truth as if he felt that they would find it a hard saying for it is a hard saying consider for a moment what Christ was to his disciples while he was here and then see what must be the value of the spirits operations when it is expedient that they should lose all that blessing in order to receive the Spirit of God our Lord Jesus Christ was to them their teacher they had learned everything from his lips

he was their leader they never had to ask what to do they had only to follow in his steps he was their defender whenever the Pharisees or Sadducees assailed them he was like a brass wall to them he was their comforter in all times of grief they resorted to him and his dears sympathetic heart poured out floods of comfort at once what if I were to say that the Lord Jesus Christ was everything to them they're all in all what a father is to his children yes what a mother is to her suckling that was

Jesus Christ to his disciples and yet God the Holy Spirit abiding in the church is better than even all of this now think another thought what would you think if Jesus Christ were to come among us now as in the days of his flesh I mean not as he will come but as he appeared at his first coming what joy would give you all the delights the heavenly joys to hear that Jesus Christ of Nazareth was on the earth again a man moving among men would we not clap our hands for joy our one question

would be master where do you live for we would all longed to live just where he lived we could then sympathize with the blacks in America when they flocked into Washington in large numbers to take up their residence there why do you think that they came to live in that city why because master Abraham Lincoln lived there who had set them free and they thought it would be glorious to live as near as possible to their great friend if Jesus lived anywhere he would not matter where if it were in the desert or on the

bleakest of mountains there would be a great rush to that place that spot would be very crowded what rents they would pay for the worst of tenements if Jesus was but in the neighborhood but don't you see the problem we could not all get near him in any literal or physical fashion now that the church is multiplied into millions and millions of believers some of the Lord's followers would never be able to see him and that most could only hope to speak with him now and then in the days of his flesh the twelve might

see him every day and so might the little company of disciples but the case is altered now that multitudes are trusting in his name if our Lord Jesus were at this time living in the United States we would be very grieved over here in England because we would have an ocean between us and our leader all the companies that could be formed would not be able to run an ships to carry us over now if the master personally came here to our little island it would not hold all the bass company of faithful who would

flock to it yes it is much better much better to have the Holy Spirit because he is dwelling with us and in us the difficulties of the bodily presence are too great and so though we would be thankful like the apostles if we had known Christ in the flesh yet we shouldn't be surprised that they expressed such little sorrow when they said that after he was gone from them that they knew him even more the Holy Spirit the comforter had filled the void caused by his absence and made the disciples rejoice because the Lord had

gone to his father are we not apt to think that if our Lord Jesus were here he would give unspeakable strength to the church wouldn't the enemy be convinced that they saw him no they would not if they will not listen to Moses and the prophets neither will they be converted though one rose from the dead Jesus rose but they did not therefore believe if our Lord had lingered here all this while his personal presence would not have converted unbelievers for nothing can do that but the power of the Holy Spirit but you say surely

it would thrill the church with enthusiasm he imagined the Lord Himself standing in this pulpit this morning in the same attire as when he was on earth Oh what rapturous worship what burning zeal what enthusiasm we would go home in such a state of excitement as we never were in before yes it is true but then the Lord is not going to carry on his kingdom by the force of mere mental excitement not even by such enthusiasm as would follow the sight of his person the work of the Holy Spirit is a truer work a

deeper work a sure work and will more effectually achieve the purposes of God then even would the enthusiasm to which we should be stirred by the bodily presence of our well beloved Savior the work is to be spiritual and therefore the visible presence has departed it is better than it should be so we must walk by faith and by faith alone how could we do this if we could see the Lord with these mortal eyes this is the dispensation of the unseen spirit in which we render glory to God by trusting in his word and

relying upon the unseen energy now faith works and faith triumphs though the world does not see the foundation upon which faith is built for the Spirit who works in us cannot be discerned by carnal minds the world does not see him neither do they know him thus you see that the operations of the Holy Spirit must be immensely precious there is no calculating their value since it is expedient that we lose the bodily presence of Christ rather than remain without the indwelling of the Spirit of God now go back to my first text again and

follow me in the third point of this sermon those operations of the Spirit of God of which I am afraid some Christians are almost ignorant or of wondrous power the text says whoever believes in me as the scripture has said streams of living water will flow from within him these operations of the Spirit are of marvellous power whoever believes in me as the scripture has said streams of living water will flow from within him these operations are of marvelous power brethren do you understand my texts do streams of living water flow from within you notice

first that this is to be an inward work this is to be an inward work the streams of living water are to flow out from within man that is from his heart and soul the streams do not flow out of his mouth the promised power is not rhetoric we have had plenty of words floods of words but this is heart work the source of the streams is found in the inner life it is an inward work at its Fountainhead it is not the work of talent and ability and show and glitter and determination it is

completely an inward work the life flood is to come out of man's inmost self out of the heart and essential being of the man honor is usually shown to outward form and external ceremony though these soon lose their interest in power but when the Spirit of God rests within a man it exercises an internal rule within him and he gives great attention to what an old preacher used to call the internal department sadly many neglect the realm within which is the chief area under our care oh my brother and sister in Christ if you would

be useful begin with yourself it is out of your very soul that a blessing must come it cannot come out of you if it is not in you and it cannot be in you unless God the Holy Spirit places it there next it is a life-giving work it is a life-giving work out of the heart of the man out of the center of his life heart to flow streams of living water that is to say he is instrumentally to communicate to others the divine life when he speaks when he prays when he acts he shall

so speak and pray and act that there shall be going out of him a release which is full of the life of grace and godliness he shall be a light by which others shall see his life shall be the means of kindling life in other men's hearts streams of living water will flow from within him next let us note the magnitude of it let us note the magnitude of it the figure would have been a surprising one if it had said a stream of living water will flow from within him but it is not so

it says streams have you ever stood by the side of a very abundant spring we have some of these not too far from London you see the water bubbling up for many little mouths observe the sand dancing as the water forces its way up from the bottom and there just across the road a mill is turned by the stream which has just been created by the spring and when the water wheel is turned you see the stream flowing forward to supply the River Thames yet this is only one stream what would you think if you

saw a spring yielding such supplies that a stream flowed from it to the north and a stream to the south and a stream to the east and a stream to the west this is the figure before us streams of living water flowing out of the living man in all directions ah you say I have not attained that a point is gained when you know confess and deplore your failure if you say I have attained things and abound I'm afraid you will never reach the fullness of the blessing but if he knows something of your failure

the Lord will lead you further it may be that the spirit of life which comes out of you is but a trickling Brook or even a few tiny drops then be sure to confess it and you will be on the way to a fuller blessing what a word this is streams of living water oh that all professing Christians were such fountains next see how spontaneous it is water will flow from within him see how spontaneous it is water will flow from within him no pumping is required nothing is said about machinery and hydraulics the man

does not need stimulating and stirring up but just as he is influenced of the best kind quietly flows away from him did you ever hear a great clamor in the morning a great outcry a sounding of trumpets and drums and did you ever ask what is that did a voice ever reply the Sun is about to rise and he is making this noise that all may be aware of it no he shines but he has nothing to say about it even so the genuine Christian just goes about flooding the world with blessing and far from

claiming attention for himself it may be that he himself is unconscious of what he is affecting God so blesses him that his leaf does not wither and whatever he does is prospering for he is like a tree planted by streams of water that brings forth its fruit in its season his greenness and fruit are the natural outcome of his vigorous life oh the Blessed spontaneity of the work of grace when a man gets into the fullness of it for then he seems to eat and drink and sleep eternal life and he spreads a savor of

salvation all around and my friends this is to be perpetual not like the intermittent springs which burst forth and flow in torrents and then cease but it is to be an everyday gushing out and this is to be perpetual not like intermittent Springs which burst forth and flow in torrents and then cease but it is to be an everyday gushing out in summer and winter by day and by night wherever the man is he shall be a blessing as he breathed he shall breathe blessings as he thinks his mind shall be devising generous things and

when he acts his acts shall be as though the hand of God were working by the hand of man I hope I hear many sighs rising up in this place I hope I hear friends saying oh that I can get to that point in my Christian life I want you to attain the fullness of the favor I pray that we may all get it for because Jesus Christ is glorified therefore the Holy Spirit is given in this fashion given more largely to those in the church age that all those holy men before the Lord's ascent

to his glory he gives no restricted blessing to celebrate the triumph of his son God does not give the spirit by small amounts to him on such an occasion God's grandest liberality was displayed Christ is glorified in heaven above and God would have him glorified in the church below by bestowing a baptism of the Holy Spirit to each one of us so I close by this my friends which I hope will be a very comforting and inspiring reflection the operations of the Spirit of God are easily to be obtained by the Lord's children these operations

of the Spirit of God are easily to be obtained by the Lord's children did you say that you had not received them they are to be had they are to be had at once first they are to be had by believing in Jesus by this he meant the Spirit whom those who believed in him were later to receive don't you see that it is faith which gives us the first drink and causes us to live and this second more abundant blessing of being ourselves made fountains from which streams flow comes in the same way believe

in Christ for the blessing is to be obtained not by the works of the law not by fasting and striving and effort but by belief in the Lord Jesus Christ for it with him is the deposit of the spirit he is prepared to give this to you yes to everyone of you who believe on his name he will not of course make all of you preachers for who then would be the hearers if all were preachers the other works of the church would be neglected but he will give you this favor that out of you

there shall stream a divine influence all around you to bless your children to bless the fellow workers while you are employed and to bless the street that you live on in proportion as God gives you opportunity these streams of living water will flow in this channel and in that and they will be pouring forth from you at all times if you believe in Jesus for the full blessing and came by faith receive it but there is another thing to be done as well and that is to pray there is another thing to be done as

well and that is to pray here I want to remind you of those blessed words of the master everyone who asked receives and he who seeks finds to him who knocks the door will be opened which of you if his son asks for bread will give him a stone or if he ask for a fish will give him a snake or if he asks for an egg will give him a scorpion if you though you are evil know how to give good gifts to your children how much more will your Father in Heaven give good

gifts to those who ask him you see my friends there is a distinct promise to the children of God that their heavenly Father will give them the Holy Spirit if they ask for his power and that promise is made to be exceptionally strong by the examples which accompany it if there is a promise that God can break which there is not this is not the promise for God has put it in the most forcible and binding way I do not know how to show you it's wonderful force did you ever hear of a man who

when his child asks for bread gave him a stone go to the worst part of London and will you find such a man you can if you like go among the Pirates and the murderers and when a little child around them cries father give me a bit of bread and meat does the most wicked father fill his own little ones mouth with stones yet the Lord Jesus seems to say that this is what he would be doing if he were to deny us the Holy Spirit when we ask him for his power in our lives

he would be like one that gave his children stones instead of bread do you think the Lord will ever bring himself down to that but he says how much more will your Father in Heaven give good gifts to those who ask him he makes it a stronger case than that of an ordinary parent the Lord must give the spirit when we ask him for he has obligated himself by no ordinary pledge he has used an allegory which would bring dishonor upon his own name and that of the very grossest kind if he did not give

the Holy Spirit to them that ask him oh then let us ask him at once with all our hearts are there any here this morning who will immediately ask I pray the son who had never received the Holy Spirit at all may now be led while I am speaking to pray blessed spirit visit me lead me to Jesus but especially those of you that are the children of this promise is especially made to you ask God to make you all that the Spirit of God can make you not only a satisfied believer who has drunk

for himself but a useful believer who overflows the neighbourhood with blessing I see here a number of friends from the country who have come to spend their holiday in London what a blessing it would be if they went back to their respective churches overflowing for there are numbers of churches that need flooding they are dry as a barn floor and very little do ever falls on them oh that they might be flooded what a wonderful thing a flood is go down to the river look over the bridge and see the barges another craft lying in

the mud all the king's horses and all the king's men cannot tug them out to sea there they lie dead and motionless as the mud itself what shall we do with them what machine we can move them have we a great engineer among us who will devise a scheme for lifting these vessels up and bringing them down to the river's mouth no it cannot be done wait my friends wait till the tide comes in what a change each vessel walks the water like a thing of life what a difference between the low tide and the

high tide you cannot stir the boats when the water is gone but at high tide see how readily they move a little child may push them with his hand oh for a flood of grace the Lord said to all our churches a great spring tide then the lazy will be active enough and those who are half dead will be full of energy I know that in particular doc several vessels are lined that I would like to see float but I cannot stir them they neither work for God nor come out to the prayer meetings nor

give up their money to spread the gospel if the flood would come you would see what they are capable of they would be active fervent generous abounding in every good word and work so may it be so may it be may Springs begin to flow in all our churches and may all of you who hear me who hear me this day get your share of the streams oh that the Lord may now fill you and then send you home bearing that flood of grace within you it sounds odd to speak of a man carrying home

a flood with him and yet I hope it will be so and that out of you shall flow streams of living water may God grant it for Jesus sake amen