The Eternal Spirit Work Worldward Saintward Christward — Willie Mullan

To the book of John's gospel chapter 16. I'm having a whole lot of bother tonight and I can't tell you about it. But I'm still moving and this is not the time of my departure. We're at John's gospel chapter 16.

Albert's behind me. If anything happens I'll clear out and he'll go on with the business. He's so kind to me. Now just look at this properly. Let's read from verse 1. John 16 verse 1. These things have I spoken unto you that you should not be offended.

Remember I was pointing out last week that the word offended is the word upset. You should not be upset. They shall put you out of the synagogues. Yea the time cometh that whosoever killeth you will think that they doeth God's service.

These things will they do unto you because they have not known the Father nor me. Which shows two distinct persons. But these things have I told you that when the time shall come you may remember that I told you of them.

And these things I said not unto you at the beginning because I was with you. But now I go my way to him that sent me and none of you ask of me where the ghost thou. But because I have said these things unto you sorrow hath filled your heart.

The Spirit’s Work in Glorifying Christ

Nevertheless I tell you the truth it is expedient for you that I go away. For if I go not away the comforter will not come unto you. But if I depart I will send him unto you 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 you see me no more. Of judgment because the prince of this world is judged. I have yet many things to say unto you but you cannot bear them now.

How be it when he the spirit of truth when he the spirit of truth is come he will guide you into all truth. For he shall not speak of himself but whatsoever he shall hear that shall he speak. And he will show you things to come.

He shall glorify me. That's the text we start off with this evening. One of the shortest in the Bible. Just four words. But one of the greatest. This little phrase begins with he and it ends with me. And it teaches me this.

That whatever begins with the Spirit of God it ends with the glorification of Christ. This is how you judge everything about you. If the Spirit of God comes and gives me the messages then most surely it will not be the Baptist Church that shall be glorified.

The Spirit has come to glorify him. And this is true in every single way. You feel whatever the Spirit of God begins you will find the end will be glory for Christ. Supposing we were teaching about creation and the weak naming of creation.

Creation and the Vastness of the Heavens

Let's go back to Genesis chapter 1 for a moment. Genesis 1 and verse 1. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. That's Almighty's statement. And that little phrase in the beginning takes us away back to a dateless past.

Nobody knows the date of that. I want you to get that. In the beginning. Away back there wherever it was and whenever it was. God took nothing and made everything. He just spoke and it was done. And he just commanded and it stood fast.

And it was not evolution. It was creation. Which is quite a different thing. In the beginning God created, and I want you to get this bit right, the heavens is the old word. I know the word heaven is there.

But in the original it's the word heavens. Because it's taking in a far greater thing than we can imagine. In the beginning God created the heavens and then it says on the earth. You're bound to know tonight that this earth of ours is a very small planet just sailing around in its orbit.

It's just a very small planet in this mighty gigantic solar system of ours. Not a great thing altogether. And then when you think that there are maybe a million other solar systems. And they tell me that they're, they are bigger than our solar system.

And I quite accept what they're saying. And when you get all that into your imagination you're taking in the heavens. But why think about the earth now? Why not just count it in with the planets? Well I'll show you why.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And the earth was without form. Now why the earth without form and void? Just why? Now there's another translation and it's a far better one. It says on the earth became without form and void.

Something happened. Just you take your time. Try to go away out before the foundation of the world. Away into that eternity that was there. And just try to imagine God creating the heavens for all the planets.

And the earth was there. And out of them all the earth became without form and void. Something happened. The French Bible says the earth became poo-hoo boo-hoo. I'm talking French now and you never knew a good man.

Never mind. Yes I think that Dr. Bornholz was right when he said that something happened and the earth was turned upside down without form and void. Something happened to make a mess of the earth. What happened?

Something happened. Now you can easily find out what happened. That's quite an easy subject. And I don't want to waste too long on it but I'll let you see a little bit of it. Come along to Ezekiel. Can you find Ezekiel?

Chapter 28. If you get Isaiah then comes Jeremiah, then Lamentations and then Ezekiel. Behind Ezekiel come Daniel and Isaiah and so on. So I think you should easily get Ezekiel. And we're at chapter 28.

And this is one of the mighty prophetic statements in this prophetic book. And we're at Ezekiel 28 and we're reading in verse 11. Moreover the word of the Lord came on to me saying, Son of Man. Because the Lord always called Ezekiel Son of Man.

And he's telling him to take up a lamentation upon the King of Tyrus. And you're going to find in a moment that the King of Tyrus, this title is just used, it's the figure of speech for somebody else.

I'll explain this to you as we get along. Son of Man take up a lamentation upon the King of Tyrus and say unto him, Thou seest a Lord God, thou seelest up the thumb, full of wisdom. This particular person that's in the mind of God as this lamentation is given, he was perfect in beauty and full of wisdom.

Thou seelest up the thumb, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. Thou hast been in Eden, the garden of God. And there was certainly no King of Tyrus ever in Eden, the garden of God. So you've got to think of it, haven't you?

But you have to think a bit more, because we're going to look at this character and I'll tell you something in a moment. Thou hast been in Eden, the garden of God. Every precious stone was thy covering, the sardus, tulip pot, the diamond, the bird, the onyx, the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold.

The workmanship of thy tablets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. How did you get that? Because whoever was mentioned about, he was created. He wasn't born or anything like that.

And one thing more that's easy for you is, he was in the garden of God. And then the next thing it says about him, thou art the anointed cherub that covereth. So that you can see at a glance that he was one of the cherubims.

He was anointed cherub, one of the cherubims. And he was anointed, he was given a special job. Anointed cherub that covereth. And I have kept thee so. It was the job that God gave him. Thou wast upon the holy mountain of God.

Thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the storms of fire. Lost within the glory and all that sort of thing you know. Thou wast perfect in thy ways. From the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.

All this, this character had made a mess of things. You see this is the devil himself. Cause when God made the heavens, God created the heavens and the earth. You know right there he created Lucifer, son of the morning.

And we'll come out into the open with it in a moment. He was given the biggest job in that mighty, gigantic, wonderful, primal creation. If he was the anointed cherub that was boss over everything. And I think I'm going to be able to show you in a moment that his headquarters was a planet called earth.

That's where God placed it. And in those days the earth was like the garden of Eden. Cause when you talk about thou wast in the garden of Eden, you're not talking about Adam's garden of Eden. He was never in Adam's garden of Eden.

Perfect. He was fallen when he came there. But where we have seen him, he was perfect, full of wisdom, perfect and beautiful. The anointed cherub with all these glorious diamonds and gold and onyx and all shining.

What a wonderful person he was. Until, until iniquity was found in him. Failed some. This is where sin entered, you know. Bank manager said to me one day, he said, tell me where sin entered. I said, I don't think you would understand.

He said, you're like the rest of them, you'll say it was the garden of Eden. They don't. I said, you know, that was man and he was tempted and he beguiled him. The devil beguiled her. And Adam followed on.

I said, where sin entered really, there was nobody beguiling. Here's what happened. Today I show you what happened. Have a look at Isaiah chapter 14 now just so you see. Isaiah chapter 14 and we're at verse 12 and here we're out in the open.

Lucifer’s Rebellion and the Fall of the Earth

Verse 12. How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer? I have no bother with it now. He was really Lucifer, you know. He was sun on the morning. Yes, he was the anointed chair that covered the very throne of God.

Now Isaiah is bringing this bit of the lamentation. How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning? How art thou cut down to the ground which did weaken the nations? For thou hast said in mine heart, I will ascend into heaven.

Now when we get ascending into heaven, we've got to get someplace to ascend from. You see, that's how I know that he was a way down here on this planet and this was his headquarters. And you know, he was so exalted as he had so much power and grandeur and glory and greatness and wisdom.

I really thought he could take over the whole thing. And that's where sin and that's where iniquity was found, where nobody tempted him. He just had so much power, he just thought, I can go up now and I'll take the throne.

Now watch what he said. Verse 13. For thou hast said in mine heart, I will ascend into heaven. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. And the word stars there is an old word for the angels. You remember the morning stars time together.

I will sit upon the mount of the congregation in the sides of the earth. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. I will be like the most high, that's it. He has done it now. He's on this planet, you see, and this is his head, Glossus.

And this perfect man wasn't made at this time. And you know, the glory and the wonder that belongs to him. He says, I'll set this whole thing over. He says, I will be like the most high. See that title, the most high, you always watch it, because everywhere you find it in the Bible, it says that Melchizedek was the priest of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth.

This is what this anointed cherub was going to do, going to take over heaven and earth. And this is what happened. God just turned the earth upside down and left it without form and voice. And darkness dwelt upon the face of the earth and the devil can't make light.

It had to stay in darkness. Dr. Barnhouse said he stood with a stranger in his mouth for maybe a million years. He could do nothing about it. God had made a mess of it for him. Now, when God is going to reclaim it, redecorate it, and restock it, I'll tell you what happens.

The Spirit Reclaims Creation for Christ’s Glory

Let's go back to Genesis now. Genesis chapter one, I want you to get this. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, and the earth became without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep, for God knows the law.

Now, here's the first move, and the spirit of God. There's something starting now with the spirit of God. And you see this, this is the spirit of God starting this. Now, he's going to put the darkness away.

He's going to redress the earth. He's going to do a million things. And I'll tell you when he has properly finished with this planet, Christ will be glorified down here. For nobody else, because the glory of the Lord shall cover the earth one day, as the waters cover the sea.

There's coming a day, you know, and it's not so very far away, when Jesus shall reign wherever he is. When the kingdoms of this world, and that goes for all of them, will become the kingdoms of God and his Christ, and Jesus will be glorified.

Because anything that begins with the spirit of God, it ends with the glory of the Lord. Now, it's the very same thing if you, if you come away from creation, and you take any inspiration. I believe that this book's inspired.

I believe that every jot, and tittle, and sound, and sentence of the original scriptures were God breathed. I believe that holy men of God speak, as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. And he began this thing.

Search it from end to end, look. If the spirit of God began this, tell me who's glorified in it. Oh, it's Christ, from end to end. Just take all the pipes, and the shadows, and the parallels, and the pictures, and the prophecies.

Why, when we were doing the high priest's garments, we could see the glory of the Lord. When we were doing the wilderness, the tabernacle in the wilderness, every whip offered his glory. You take all the prophets, answer him, gave all the prophets witness.

Oh yes, I can tell you this. And when you start to take the prophets one by one, and find what prophet said when he would be born, and what prophet said where he would be born, and how he would be born, and you can go on with it, and you'll find the glory of the Lord staring you full in the face.

Yes, this is what Christ said in his day, he shall glorify me. And you see, the Old Testament writers have had the day, and the 400 silent years between the two testaments, the cross from your last full stop in Malachi to the first letter in Matthew, there is 400 silent years there.

Now Christ is telling that the Spirit is coming, and he shall glorify me. Now I want to get this bit over to you this evening, he shall glorify me in the New Testament. I think that's the bit we need to do.

You know, I think if you go through the whole New Testament, and I assure you I've done this, and you mark every phrase connected with the sacrifice for sin, you'll just see how much the Spirit of God has done.

Christ’s Finished Work and the Purging of Sin

Have a look at Hebrews chapter 1 for the moment. Hebrews, and we're at the first chapter, Hebrews 1, and it's the only book in the New Testament that begins with the word God. God, who at sundry times and in divers manner speak, in time passed on to the fathers by the prophets, as in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds.

For being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he hath by himself purged our sins, stop now, because the work was finished.

But this is a mighty statement, when he hath by himself purged our sins. And the word that's translated purged is a very mighty Greek word, and it's translated by our English word purged. Now many, many years ago, long before I came to Logan, I used to have a Bible class in Lutheran Arts, in an old church there, and it was from these lines that I would expound the chapter, or the phrase, or the verse, or the paragraph, or whatever it was, I would expound it word for word.

And if you wanted to butt in, you just raised your hand, and you had to wait on me. And then I would say, well what do you want to say? And on my right, every time I had a fellow who was a Greek scholar, who knew Greek inside out, he came with a big Greek Bible, so that you had to be very careful what you were doing with him.

And on the other side, was an old man who was a Hebrew scholar of the Dieter's Doctrine, a very clever old fellow. And may I say now that I learned a lot of things from him. You know, when old Cooley came to Newton Arts, I'm going away from the story, but I'll come back again.

I'm not done yet. Old Cooley came to Newton Arts. He was a great old warrior, you know, and he said some terrible things about the cross of Christ, and the blood of Christ. And the Baptist pastor at Newton Arts took him up in the paper.

The Baptist pastor wasn't able for old Cooley. Old Cooley was too wise for him. Old Cooley gave him a thought of thrashing every week in the paper. But my Hebrew friend, this old fellow on the other side, was called Robert Kelly.

Robert Kelly went round one week to help the Baptist pastor out, and wrote the whole matter out for him. Put Cooley in a bit of a fix. And of course, the Baptist pastor was daft enough to sign his name up.

And the next week, you see, in the paper, it said this. Cooley had replied, and Cooley said, the hand is the hand of Esau, but the voice is the voice of Jacob. He was too quick for them, you know. But Robert Kelly knew his way about.

And one evening, I was responding this, you see, and I just got to this place where I had said, when he had by himself purged our sins, that this Greek scholar put his hand up. I said, hello. He says, what, what does this word purge mean?

And if you ever get into an argument, you young fellows, let me try to fed you a wee bit. When they ask you a question, always ask one back. You're allowed to do this, you know. When the Sadducees and Pharisees came to ask Christ questions, he said, whose son is he?

What think ye of Christ? He asked questions back. So this said, what does this word purge mean? And I said, do you not know what it means? What do you think it means from the Greek? And I didn't know, but I was putting him in a bit of a fix.

He says, to tell you the truth, I don't know. And that was a shame for him, because I looked it up, you see, that day. I wasn't walking out to the meetings at night with a Greek scholar on one side and Hebrew one on the other, without knowing every word in both Hebrew and Greek that was before me.

And I said, that's a shame for you. I said, have you ever seen a teacher put numbers on the board, see a four line, draw a line, say copy that. And the moment they have it copied, she takes it back to them.

Now that's it there, is what you call purging. She's blocking out the digits. Oh, but we can't find them after that. If she sits there, the neat line came on top there, when it's blocked it out, you can't find it.

Now that's what Christ did with our sins. They're gone tonight. You shouldn't be walking the floor about your sins and your faith. It's in Christ. He purged our sins. They're gone. And this is something you see, that the Holy Ghost has put in this book very carefully, because he wants to glorify Christ as the sacrifice for saviour.

Christ as Savior of All and Especially Believers

Now let's follow this through in the New Testament. Have a look at this. This is 1st Timothy, 1st Timothy, chapter 4. This is very wonderful, I think, just how this is placed here. Paul is writing here to Timothy, trying to instruct him in things.

And it says to Paul in verse 10, he said this to him, for therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, especially of those that believe.

Now I like the way that Paul put this to Timothy. We trust in the living God. And because we trust in the living God, we both labour and suffer reproach. Just because our trust is there, we're prepared to work, whether we're well or whether we're not, and we suffer reproach at times, because we do.

Now I'd like you to get the hold of this, that the living God is the Saviour. Because some of these plots that come on the TV don't know this. And I want you to get this bit over, I want to get this bit over to you too.

That when we talk about the Saviour, we're talking about Him being the Saviour of all men. And this thousand limitation idea won't work, because if you just think that He's the Saviour of some men, I'm afraid you're not reading this book well along with me.

It doesn't mean that because He's the Saviour of all men, that all men will be saved. But it means that there is a foundation provided for all men, that all men will not be tested. You see some of these fellows try to tell me, you know, He's just the Saviour of the elect.

Well I'm afraid we have the two lost in you. Because first of all it says He's the Saviour of all men, and that has to cover everybody. And then it says specially of those that believe, and that happens to be the elect.

You're not allowed to change it in any way. Now the living God is the Saviour, that's the bit we want to get right with. I think you remember this without me wasting time. You remember Him going to the psycho's well, and talking to the woman, and revealing Himself to her.

And then she went away into the city, and she said to the folks, come see a man that told me all things that ever I did is not this the Christ. She believed the man she had met at the well was the Messiah.

Now a great many from the city came out to see Him. You turn with me to John's gospel chapter 4, and I'll show you what they said. John's gospel chapter 4 verse 39,. And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on Him for the saying of the woman which testified He told me all that that ever I did.

So when the Samaritans were come unto Him, they besought Him that He would tally with them, and He abode there two days. And many more believed because of His own word, and said unto the woman, Now we believe not because of thy saying, for we have heard Him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.

I want to ask you who the Saviour of the world is, and you haven't any problems, do you haven't? The Saviour of the world is the Christ that was at the well, and the Saviour of the world is the living God.

I don't think you could miss that. You would have to tear the book asunder, but in case you're in among this crowd that think they can juggle things by language, I shall tie you up a little bit further.

Have a look at what Peter said in the Acts of the Apostles chapter 4. You know Peter was standing before the Sanhedrin, and they were going to take his life, because he said that Christ was risen from the dead.

But Peter was a very great warrior. Verse 8. Then Peter fell with the Holy Ghost said unto them, ye rulers of the people and elders of Israel, if we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole, be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you all.

This is the stone which was set at not of you builders, which has become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name unto heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

You think there's any other name? I'm telling you this is the Savior. I'm telling you there is no other Savior. I'm telling you that he provided salvation for all men. I'm telling you that when you believe you're among the elect all right, especially they that believe, the Holy Ghost is taking a book now, and he's glorifying Christ as the Savior of men.

I think you can see this. Oosh, you know this bit don't you? That when God raised him from the dead and set him at his own right hand, to be the head of the church. Yes, he's glorified in this book as the sacrifice for sin, and the only sacrifice.

And he's glorified in this book as the Savior of men. Glorified in this book as the head of the church. Glorified in this book as a high priest of all believers. You know he's all high priests, every believer.

You see if we went through Hebrews too much, let's do it just a little bit. Hebrews and we're at chapter 3. This is what Paul wanted all the believers to do. Hebrews chapter 3 verse 4. Holy brethren, and you can see who he's talking to, talking to believers.

For takers of the heavenly calling, consider the apostle and high priest of all professions. You know this is one of the double titles of Christ. He's the apostle. You see an apostle was one who was sent from God to men with a message.

And so in that sense he's the great apostle. But when we talk about the high priest, we're talking about one who goes from men and before God. And so our Lord Jesus is both. He's the apostle that came from God to men with a message.

And then he's the high priest that goes in before God for the man who received the message. He's the high priest of all who believe. What a very wonderful thing. Then if you go on to consider the high priest right through this letter to the Hebrews, you'll find if you go backwards, because the word of prayer is all there.

In chapter 3, the text takes you backwards. Look at verse 17 of chapter 2. Wherefore in all things it behoves him to be laid like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.

For in that he himself hath suffered, being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted. You see that's one of the things our great high priest is able to do when you're being tempted. Just because he's been through it all before you, you know, he's able to succor them that are tempted.

If he met the devil in the wilderness, the worst of enemies, in the worst of places, at the worst of times, after he had fasted for 40 days and 40 nights. Yes, the Holy Ghost has taken the New Testament, and he has glorified Christ as the sacrifice for sin, as the savior of men, as the head of the church, as the high priest for believers.

Confession, Advocacy, and Cleansing from Unrighteousness

Now let me do this little bit, because there's a difference between his high priesthood and his advocacy. You see he's the advocate. It's come to first John and the first chapter. First John, first chapter.

And if there's anything we should learn in this book, it is these last three verses of this first chapter of first John. Verse 8, if we say that we have no sin, then there are people who go about and say they have no sin.

They say they have never sinned. Mom told me one day, I haven't sinned for over 30 years. You should get a boy photographed, because he's a unique species. I said, you know, if you just keep this up for about another five or six, that'll be 36 years.

When you get to heaven, the Lord Jesus won't have the preeminence, because you'll have lived longer down here without sin than he did. How stupid you can be. When the book, when the book that you're supposed to be reading out of says, if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves.

And usually that's the only one you do deceive. Just yourself, you never deceive anybody else. I heard a fellow preaching at a convention once about the holiness that he had had for the last 20 years.

Never the word wrong, never a thought wrong, never a deed wrong. And you know, they make you sick listening. And then when he was coming from Dublin, he said to me, will you give me a ride in the car?

I said, certainly. He says, I don't want you to startle me about holiness, because you'd be too many for me. I said, it wouldn't take a big fella to be too many for you. But when we get to the border, you see, I go in, we used to stamp the car, the most we'd get the car stamped.

He says, you have anything to declare, no sir. Right, on your way. About a mile up the road, he says, I diddle them fellas. Hey, here's what you get talking about. Since I'll get tons of butter in the bag.

In the days when you would have gone to jail for bringing butter. He says, you didn't think it was a sin? Oh, not at all. He says, it's an old law they made. I can break it any time. Oh, I said, I know this sinless perfection now.

Anything that you don't call sin, you can do. You're all right. Oh, this is trite. This book says, if we say we have no sin. Now, verse 9 says, if we confess our sins. I'll just read it a minute. Go to verse 10.

If we say that we have not sinned, there's another bit of it. We make him a liar. He has called God a liar. Now, here's how John, it's a pity these chapter headings came in. John looks at them, he says, my little children.

These things write I on to you that you say no. Doing my best through the book to keep you from sin. I'm not saying you're not on sin. We have an advocate with the father. Now, I want you to get the whole wording there.

We believers have an advocate with the father. Jesus Christ, the righteous. Me woman came to see me today, in the morning hours of this morning. This pastor, I've got to tell you something I've done. I said, no, you shouldn't be playing this old compassion business.

But if I can help you, I'll help you. And then she talked a bit out. And I said, well, you did wrong, you know, in doing that. That was deceiving somebody to do that. It was very wrong. She said, I can't sleep, I haven't slept since.

I said, you're all disturbed about this, aren't you? She said, I haven't eaten. I said, you see, you're a child of God, and you're in the family. And the moment you did this thing and deceived this other woman and told her these lies, then you broke the communion between you and your father.

You're a child of your father. The communion's broken. I said, there's a way of putting it right, you know. You see verse 9 that we left off, here's what it says. If we confess our sins. You see, there are times when you've got to get down on your knees and confess your sins.