The Way – The Truth

It’s going to take some work, but inspired by my local church Sunday Preaching (John 7 39:42) on the 8th Feb 2026 and subsequently listening to Tim Keller’s preaching on  – The Gift of the Holy Spirit = 40mins.

Tim Keller says, “Here’s what I have to tell you. I know who the real rock is, and I know what it means to have the real provision. I know what the real water is”.  Jesus said “Come to me, and living water will flow out from you.”

Now, what’s he saying?  Is it a lot of wonderful feelings? Is it a social vision for the world? Is it a pattern of ethical behavior and upright living? Of course, of course, it’s all those things. But primarily, first of all, the essence of Christianity is direct experience of God. God’s life blood, God stuff, God’s substance, his spirit penetrating you. That’s what makes biblical religion different. Direct, immediate connection with the very love, life blood, the substance, the stuff of God.

Here, listen to the importance of this. What is the heart of biblical religion? What is Christianity ultimately? Is it a lot of right doctrines? Is it a lot of wonderful feelings? Is it a social vision for the world? Is it a pattern of ethical behavior and upright living? Of course, it’s all those things, but primarily, first of all, the essence of Christianity is direct experience of God – God’s life blood, God’s substance, His Spirit penetrating you. That’s what makes biblical religion different. That’s what makes historic Protestant Christianity different from other brands – direct, immediate connection with the very love, life blood, the substance, the stuff of God.

I realized that we live in New York City, where people are so empty that people can make an idol out of experience. And I know that our feelings are not things that we can always listen to, and we can never, for example, follow our feelings when they take us against the truth of God.

And yet, listen, here’s a Baptist minister, Charles Spurgeon, who I love to quote. So often, Spurgeon says this: “Some of us know what it is to be too happy to live.” Are you in that club? The love of God has been so overpoweringly experienced by us on some occasions, but we almost had to ask God to stop the delight, for we couldn’t endure no more. And if God had not veiled His glory in His love a bit, we would have died for joy.

You know, I know that danger. I know the danger of making experience into an idol, another danger of feelings carrying you away. But I want you to ask, you know, what he’s talking about. Have you had anything like… what makes biblical religion different from other kinds of religion is this: 2 Peter 1, verse 4, “We have been made partakers of the Divine nature.” The Spirit of God, (the stuff of God), the lifeblood, the substance of God penetrates. Direct contact, not contact to a priest, not contact through the sacrament, not something general. There’s plenty of churches that will say, “Listen, listen, this needing, of the infusion of the spirit from above, this born-again, Child of God conversion stuff… look, just get out there and live a life of justice and compassion, and that will please God.” But the Bible says, “Nonsense. Ethical behavior is of no help unless you’re quickened by the Spirit of God.” Direct, personal contact with Him – that is the essence of true biblical religion. That’s the essence of Christianity. Accepting God’s Gifts and the Fruits of the Spirit are essential in walking the narrow road of salvation and eternal life.  Don’t wait.

Please, do not underestimate, therefore, the importance of what Jesus is saying. There’s religions of formality and there’s religions of reality. And I know that in any service that I preach at today, any service, there are people sitting alongside of each other who are in both camps. Do you have the gift of the Spirit? Do you know this kind of religion?

Now, let’s take a look at this gift, and this: three things Jesus tells us about it. One, He tells us how the gift is actually prepared, how God prepares it, how God procures it for us. And secondly, He tells us how the gift is received. But then, thirdly, He’ll tell us how the gift uses us – how do you know if you have it? What does it look like? What will it be like if you have prepared, received, and how it works itself out in the effects in our lives?

Look, how prepared. This very cryptic statement, which we’ve got to explore for a moment, it’s right here: “Up to that time, the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not been glorified.” Now, I don’t want you to misunderstand again the import or the impact of this remarkable claim. Up to now, it says, because Jesus hadn’t been glorified. And in the book of John, Jesus’ moment of being glorified is his death. That’s why, when Jesus is about to die, He puts His arms out. Here, in the book of… now, will I be glorified? It’s the death, isn’t it? Not until He dies has the Spirit been given. That’s a pretty remarkable statement.

What we’re looking at is a presence of God issue. In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit and the presence of God are the same thing. So, for example, whenever we talk about getting our Samson or David, or one of these great heroes, the Spirit of God descending on that person to give him power for great feats… indeed, also told, “And God was with him, and the hand of the Lord was with him.” The presence of God and the Holy Spirit are the same.

There’s that wonderful prayer, the famous prayer of confession, Psalm 51, where David, in verse 6, says, “Cast me not away from thy presence, thy face… don’t take me away from your presence, your face.” The word “presence” is that Hebrew word “paneem,” face. “Take not thy Holy Spirit from me.” Same thing when Moses is speaking to God on the mountain, and God says, “Look, you guys can go to the mountain, you guys can go to Canaan, that’s fine, but I’m not going with you. How will you be helped from afar? I’ll… that’s what I think, but I am not going to go with you.” And Moses says, “If you don’t go with us, and if your presence goes not with us… I’ll put my presence, my Holy Spirit, in the Holy of Holies, in the tabernacle, in the temple, and over the Ark of the Covenant.” Over the Ark of the Covenant, which is like the footstool of His throne, there was the Shekinah glory, the Holy Spirit there, was the cloud of His presence, there was His paneem  And He says, “Moses, that’s the place where I’ll speak to you face to face, that’s the place where I’ll meet with you.” The presence of God and the Holy Spirit are the same thing.

Now, the thing that’s so remarkable about this claim is that we know, as I just quoted for you, that the Spirit of God was very active in the days before Jesus. The Spirit of God came on Samson, and came on Gideon, and came on David, and came on King Saul, and came on Moses, and all of this. So, how in the world could David, could Jesus say this, that the gift of the Spirit is about to be given? How could John, the apostle, say this? It’s a relative term, the word “given.” The only possible explanation is that Jesus is saying, “You know how the Spirit of God came upon the people in the Old Testament? You haven’t seen nothing yet. What I have in store for you, compare to what they had, is so much greater than we can talk about. The Spirit of God virtually not even being here… we see it’s a relative turn, it’s a figure of speech.”

You can talk about a team, but if your team, if your football team loses 54 to nothing, the sports writer might say, “They didn’t even show up.”  What does that mean? They weren’t there, just so great, so much greater in comparison, that you could say, “At the other team, that our losing team wasn’t even there.” How else do you explain the fact that when Jesus says, “You know John… about this, he was a great one, John the Baptist, yes.” He says, “Jesus says, in Matthew 11, ‘In all the history of the world up to now, John the Baptist is greater than all the prophets. He’s greater than anyone who’s ever been born of a woman – greater than Moses, greater than Abraham, greater than David, greater than anyone.’” And then He says, “And I say to you…” How can He say that? What He’s saying is, “The presence of God, the power of God, the reality of the Spirit of

A prayer inspired by Tim Keller.

Father, as I take up your offering, help me to see that I’m here to give you myself. I pray that you would just enable us, your Children, to give ourselves to you in a new way. And help us to see that the spirit is someone who is personal, and this is not abstract but personal power, an experience of having rivers of water flowing out from us.

Father, let us see that you were the *Rock that Mosses struck, that your son Jesus Christ took the blow on the cross, and enabled us Children that thirst to know the renewing, cleansing power of the ever flowing and cleansing water of God.

In Jesus’ name. Amen.