Holy Spirit & the Sanctuary 2

Pentecost

Please turn to John were we will notice the Saviour’s words. Jesus is teaching in the temple at Jerusalem:

“In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)” John 7:37-39.

Here the wonderful gift of the Spirit of God is set forth under the symbol of living water, rivers of living water from which the thirsty may drink and be satisfied.

You know, friends, without the Spirit of God we are just dry and barren. We are like ground without rain. As one of old said, addressing the Father:

“Thou hast made us for Thyself, Oh God, and our hearts are restless until we rest in Thee” [Unknown].

We cannot live without God. And God chooses to reveal Himself to us and live with us through the Holy Spirit. Jesus made that plain to His disciples in the upper room as they were gathered around the supper table, and He was speaking of His going away.

Turn over to John 14. He said, “I am going, but I am going to send somebody.” “I will not leave you comfortless” John 14:18.

 “I will come to you” John 14:18.

And in the sixteenth verse He shows us how that will be:

“I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth” John 14:16, 17.

So, the Holy Spirit or the Spirit of truth, abides in the heart of the believer. It is thus that the Father and the Son live in our human hearts. So He says:

“If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him” John 14:23.

Think of it, friends. Through this wonderful gift the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit abide in the heart of the Christian. What fellowship! We need never be lonesome. What strength! We need never fall. What wonderful blessing, the Spirit of God dwelling in the heart!

But now, this text in John 7 says that at the time that Jesus spoke those words in the temple the Holy Ghost was not yet given because that Jesus was not yet glorified.

We studied last Friday night how that could be. We noted that the Spirit of God had indeed been present in the world ever since the beginning. For at creation, we read that God created the heaven and the earth, and the Spirit of God did what? Moved over the face of the waters. So from creation on the Spirit of God was here.

We noticed Peter’s statement in 2 Peter 1:21 that all down through the ages of Old Testament time the Spirit of God moved upon holy men. That is the way the Bible was written. Moses, Samuel, David, Daniel, Ezekiel; all the prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit.

And yet, dear friends, all those revelations and manifestations of the Spirit were preliminary, preparatory to the great outpouring of the Holy Spirit that Heaven was looking forward to sending at the Day of Pentecost.

Just as Jesus had been God’s gift to this world all down through the ages, and manifested Himself at various times and in various ways in Old Testament times, yet there came a time when He was manifested to this world in the flesh:

“Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given” Isaiah 9:6.

So, there came a time when the Spirit of God in a special sense was to be poured out upon this world, given to this world in a new and special way, and that was the Day of Pentecost.

You remember that Luke writing in Acts 2:1, says:

“And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance” Acts 2:1-4.

You might be interested to know that the gift of tongues was not the great, all-important gift on that Day of Pentecost. I will have occasion to prove that a little later. But I simply now call attention to that, that on the Day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit was poured out like a rushing, mighty wind, He manifested Himself in cloven tongues of fire, sitting upon each of the apostles.

But note that first verse. It was when the Day of Pentecost was fully come. Why did He come on the day of Pentecost? Let me put it the other way around, my friends, and that will make it clear.

You remember that Daniel’s prophecy, as given us in the eighth and ninth chapters of his wonderful book, pointed to the exact time of the coming of the Messiah. He was to appear and be anointed exactly four hundred eighty-three years from the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem. And that decree, going into effect in the fall of 457 BC, the four hundred eight-three years would reach to the fall of AD 27. And at that time Jesus was anointed - that is what that word Messiah, means - anointed with the Holy Ghost and with power, Acts 10:38 tells us.

Daniel’s prophecy also foretold that three and a half years later, that is in the midst of that final week, the Messiah would be cut off, but not for Himself. And at that time He would cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease. And so it came to pass that exactly three and a half years after His baptism our Lord suffered upon the cross, and by that one offering made all the offerings of the Jewish sanctuary to cease, as far as God was concerned.

You remember as Matthew tells it, that at the time that Jesus died upon the cross, an unseen hand rent this veil from top to bottom, throwing open to the gaze of the multitude the interior room, the most holy place. This showed that God was through with the earthly sanctuary. God had no more use for these offerings of lambs and bulls. Why? Because the great sacrifice had been offered, and Jesus was now to begin His work as priest in the heavenly sanctuary, of which this earthly tabernacle was but a type or a shadow. This, you see, was acting out in shadowy outline what Christ would perform in reality in the heaven of heavens.

And so Paul makes very plain in the book of Hebrews that when Jesus left this world He ascended on high, and there was glorified as our High Priest:

“Christ glorified ... to be made an high priest” Hebrews 5:5. In the eighth chapter we read in the first two verses that He is:

“A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man” Hebrews 8:1, 2.

In the third verse we note that His work is to offer gifts and sacrifices. So it is necessary that He have something to offer. Therefore He could not officiate as priest in that heavenly sanctuary until the offering of His life upon the cross had been made. Just as the Jewish priest came into the sanctuary with the blood of a lamb or a goat or a bullock, and thus appeared as the mediator for the people, so Jesus, having offered His life upon the cross, ascended to the courts above, there to appear in the presence of God for us (in Hebrews 9:24).

Oh, I am so glad we have such a wonderful Mediator there. Aren’t you, dear friends? And I am so glad He is there tonight, praying for us.

But now, back to His offering there upon the cross. You know, dear friends, when He died there, Paul tells us in Romans 5:6, reading the margin, that He died according to the time. His enemies thought they were setting the time for His death. But that time had been set hundreds and thousands of years before. Revelation 13:8 tells us that He was the lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

And you remember that when the children of Israel left Egypt, as the twelfth chapter of Exodus tells the story, God said to Moses, “Now on the fourteenth day of the first month at even, kill a lamb and strike the doorpost and the lentil with the blood of that lamb. That will be your safety. And let no one go out during that night. When I see the blood I will pass over you.”

Why the fourteenth day of the first month? Ah, my dear friends, because the eye of God, looking down the ages, had selected the fourteenth day of the first month, Jewish time, as the time when His Son would be sacrificed as the Lamb.

And so, every year for over a thousand years, the people of God celebrated every spring that Passover festival, that slaying of the lamb. What for? In order that God might print deep into their minds the fact that someday, my dear friends, someday there would come a year when on the fourteenth day of the first month the real Lamb would be sacrificed.

And that wasn’t all. Three days later, as God had this program arranged, you can read about it in Leviticus 23, God had the priests go into the sanctuary with some heads of grain as the first fruits and these were waved before the Lord - the wave sheaf. That was to represent that three days after His death, Jesus would rise from the dead to ascend before the Father as the first fruits of them that slept.

You remember Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15 that Jesus died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that He arose the third day according to the scriptures. This is what He is talking about. The offering of the wave sheaf on the third day after the slaying of the Passover prefigured the resurrection and ascension of our Lord.

But now watch! Fifty days later there was another feast in which two loaves of bread were presented in the sanctuary as the first fruits of the harvest that had been gathered. This bread was made from the harvest that had been gathered, you see. And this was called the Day of Pentecost. Pentecost coming from the word or the number fifty. Fifty days after the Passover came this wonderful day of Pentecost.

Why? Because (Watch the point!) in the councils of heaven it had been determined hundreds and thousands of years before this day of Pentecost in Acts 2, that fifty days after the death and resurrection of our Lord, Jesus would be fully enthroned within the sanctuary above, having been inaugurated as Priest and King, and that He would pour upon His disciples down here in this world the wonderful gift of the Spirit.

And so Jesus said to His disciples when He left, “Now I am going to the Father and I want you to pray. I am going to pray that He will send the Spirit. I want you to pray.” And so, while the Head of the church went on ahead to the sanctuary above, and offered His prayers for His church below, the church was engaged in earnest intercession. So Acts says:

“These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication” Acts 1:14.

And then what happened? After that ten days of earnest prayer here on earth, while Jesus was ascending to heaven and His inauguration as Priest and King was taking place, the Day of Pentecost finally came. That is what Luke is talking about:

“When the day of Pentecost was fully come” Acts 2:1.

When it was fully come. God’s clock keeps perfect time, my friends. Think of it. The very day that the Jewish people had celebrated for over a thousand years, fifty days after the Sabbath of the Passover, that very day, true to the type, Jesus was presenting Himself there in the sanctuary above, and from that sanctuary He was showering down upon His people the wonderful blessing that He had promised. Oh, friends, I am so glad for that.

Now, another evening in this series I am going to take you down to 1844 and show you some wonderful fulfillments in these modern times of some more of these types. But this evening we are still studying about Pentecost. We are studying about this mighty outpouring of the Spirit of God.

I want to read what I read at the close of my study last Friday night from the book Acts of the Apostles:

“Christ’s ascension to heaven was the signal that His followers were to receive the promised blessing. For this they were to wait before they entered upon their work. When Christ passed within the heavenly gates, He was enthroned amidst the adoration of the angels. As soon as this ceremony was completed, the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples in rich currents, and Christ was indeed glorified, even with the glory which He had with the Father from all eternity. The Pentecostal outpouring was Heaven’s communication that the Redeemer’s inauguration was accomplished. According to His promise He had sent the Holy Spirit from heaven to His followers as a token that He had, as priest and king, received all authority in heaven and on earth, and was the Anointed One over His people” Acts of the Apostles, pages 38, 39.

They knew that He had gone to heaven and been accepted, and been enthroned as Priest and King, had received of the Father the gift of the Spirit, and thus they were speaking with all the authority of heaven back of them.

Now, I want to notice this wonderful gift that was given to the church at this time, the gift of the Spirit. And I want you to see what it was that was especially manifested on this day of Pentecost. It is called here the gift of the Holy Ghost. And Peter, in the thirty-eighth verse, told those who listened that if they would repent of their sins and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, their sins could be remitted and they, too, could receive the gift of the Holy Ghost:

He says:

“For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call” Acts 2:39.

So, dear friends, the promise is still for us, isn’t it? If we will meet the conditions - repent of our sins, be baptized in the name of Jesus for the remission of sins, we, too, are promised this gift of the Holy Ghost.

Now turn over to 1 Corinthians 12 and I want you to see how the Holy Spirit manifests Himself. Some people have the idea that the Holy Ghost always manifests Himself in a certain way, but the emphasis in the Bible is on the fact that He does not manifest Himself in the same way at all times and in all places:

“Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit” 1 Corinthians 12:4.

What does diversities mean? Why, it means different ones, doesn’t it?

“And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord” 1 Corinthians 12:5.

Notice, diversities, differences:

“And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal” 1 Corinthians 12:6, 7.

This deserves emphasis. It is for some purpose, my friends. It is not for entertainment. It is for what? Profit. God has a purpose whenever He gives a gift. It is not to show off. It is for profit.

Now, he begins to enumerate some of the gifts in the gift of the Spirit:

“For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues: But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will” 1 Corinthians 12:8-11.

Do you see, friends? There are many different manifestations of the gift of the Spirit. Paul repeats that over and over in the Scriptures we have read. He enumerates some of these manifestations, but he says that it is the Holy Ghost, Himself, who decides what gift this brother shall have and what gift that brother shall have. Friends, I am glad it is left with Him, aren’t you? Why not leave it with Him? He knows better than we do what gift is needed in our particular situation, doesn’t He? Yes.

So, we should pray for the gift of the Spirit, but we should recognize what the scripture has made plain here that there are many manifestations.

Now, in the twenty-eighth verse we see these gifts enumerated all in one verse, the particular gifts that have to do with the administration and work of the body of Christ:

“And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues” 1 Corinthians 12:28.

Then the apostle asks, watch: “Are all apostles?” 1 Corinthians 12:29.

What is the answer, obviously? No. “Are all prophets?” 1 Corinthians 12:29.

What is the answer?

Are all teachers? are all workers of miracles?” 1 Corinthians 12:29.

What is the answer?

“Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret?” 1 Corinthians 12:30.

Again he is emphasizing the fact that each one is to have some gift of the Spirit, but it is the Holy Spirit that divides them out. You know I am glad it is that way, friends.

I love to hear a choir, but I am glad some people can sing tenor and others bass. I am glad we have sopranos and altos, aren’t you? Don’t you love to hear somebody that can just soar up there, but oh, isn’t it nice to have somebody that can go down deep? And then we need some voices that are in between, don’t we?

So it is in the work of the church. The Holy Spirit gives to this person one gift, to another person another gift, and so on. And friends, in the early church, at Pentecost and thereafter, these various gifts were in operation. But now watch the thirty-first verse:

What?

“But covet earnestly” 1 Corinthians 12:31,

“The best gifts” 1 Corinthians 12:31. “Covet earnestly the best gifts” 1 Corinthians 12:31.

Then there are some gifts which are more important than others. Is that right? And that is all right.

Now, in the fourteenth chapter we find a gift that inspiration shows us has special value: “Follow after charity” 1 Corinthians 14:1,

(That is love.)

What?

“And desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may” 1 Corinthians 14:1 “Prophesy” 1 Corinthians 14:1. So put those two text together - 1 Corinthians 12:31:

“But covert earnestly the best gifts” 1 Corinthians 12:31. 1 Corinthians 14:1:

What?

“Rather that ye may” 1 Corinthians 14:1,

“Prophesy” 1 Corinthians 14:1.

So there is a special value, something specially to be desired about the gift of prophecy. Would you like to know what it is? Turn over to Revelation 19:10. This makes it very clear, friends. Here is a wonderful gift indeed. Here is John, writing the experience he had there on the isle of Patmos when Jesus came and appeared to him, and Jesus’ special angel, the angel Gabriel, brought the wonderful messages from heaven to John. John says:

“And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy” Revelation 19:10.

What is the testimony of Jesus? The spirit of prophecy. All right, then, what is the spirit of prophecy? [The testimony of Jesus] Do you begin to see why Paul says of all the gifts to be desired, “rather that ye may” what? “Prophesy.” And my dear friends, this was the great gift manifest on the Day of Pentecost. The gift of prophesying.

Now, let’s go back to Acts 2 and we will see that. The scripture makes it very plain. And you remember that the multitude ran together to see what was happening as they heard all the languages being spoken, that were spoken at that time - because the fifth verse says there were men there from every nation under heaven, and the eighth verse says they were hearing the message, every man in his own tongue wherein he was born, and it lists some of the different nations. And so, in the twelfth verse they said, “What meaneth this?” And some people who were trying to sneer and make fun and criticize said, “These men are drunken. That is what is the matter.”

Peter said, “No, that is not what is happening.” The sixteenth verse, he said, “I will tell you what it is.” Now, let us listen while Peter, an inspired apostle under the influence of this wonderful gift of the Spirit, tells us what was happening. I think he knew. He was right there. What do you say? I think he knew a lot more about it than people down here who were not there. Let’s listen while Peter tells us what was happening that day:

“But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy” Acts 2:16-18.

Peter here is quoting Joel’s prophecy, given in the second chapter of the book of Joel. But he says it was being fulfilled. He says that what was going on was the manifestation of this wonderful gift, and it is repeated. It was the gift of what? Prophecy. That is what it says, over and over.

Why, dear friends, let me tell you something. It is true that they were speaking in various languages, and that was certainly a wonderful gift of the Spirit. But the important thing was not what language they were talking in. It was what they said. Never forget that.

If I could talk Chinese here, tonight, or Russian, I doubt if there is a person here who could get a bit of good out of it. Anybody here understand Chinese? Let me see your hand. I don’t see a hand. Well, friends, it is far more important for me to speak in English tonight, than it is in Chinese. What do you say?

And the reason that God enabled the apostles to speak in various languages that day is, as we have just read here in the fifth verse, there were people there from every nation under the heaven. They had gathered in to this feast of Pentecost from all around. And God wanted a message that would go right to their hearts that very day, and so as He poured out the Spirit, He enabled them to speak in these various languages.

But I repeat, the important thing that Peter calls attention to is that, that day they were filled with the Spirit and prophesied. That is what Joel said would happen, and Peter said this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel. And as you follow on through the book of Acts you see that again and again, visions and dreams and the gift of prophecy.

How did Peter get convinced that he should take the message to Cornelius? God gave him a vision on the house-top that day. How did Cornelius know to send for Peter? God gave him a vision. An angel came to his home there in Caesarea.

How did Peter get taken out of prison? (Acts 12). The angel of God came and took him out that night.

And you remember Agabus, who foretold the famine. You remember Judas and Silas - the fifteenth chapter of Acts talks about - were prophets. You remember in Acts 21:9 that Philip, the evangelist, had four daughters, and every one of them was a prophet. Four daughters, it said, which did prophesy. Joel had foretold that in the last days, not only men, but women, would exercise the prophetic gift.

Now, somebody is wondering about that expression from Acts 2, “It shall come to pass in the last days?” How can that be? Well, I will tell you, friends. That is very simple. The world is approximately six thousand years old. Isn’t it?

Suppose that we would liken the entire time of history to one day. Just look at it. There is the clock. It starts at 6 o’clock in the morning. It goes on around, to 8 o’clock, 10 o’clock, noon, 2 o’clock, 4 o’clock, back around to 6 o’clock and we think of that as six thousand years. Do you know where the day of Pentecost would come? At 2 o’clock in the afternoon.

And I want to ask you something, friends. If you were thinking of an entire day, when it got to be 2 o’clock in the afternoon, wouldn’t you think you were getting to the evening hours? Wouldn’t you think that you were getting to the last hours of the day? That is right.

And so with the coming of Jesus to this world. Remember He came two thirds down the stream of the time from the garden of Eden. Two thirds of the time had already passed away. The time since the cross is just half as much as all the time before the cross. So the Bible speaks, in a sense, of all the time since the birth of Jesus as the last days.

But do not let that in any way rob you of the conviction that these are really - the days in

which you and I live - the last days. And I want to ask you something. If this wonderful gift of the Spirit was to be poured out in the last days, and Peter says that began to be fulfilled on the day of Pentecost, wouldn’t it be too bad if it had stopped there and never happened again? That would hardly be carrying out the prophecy.

No. That the manifestation of the Spirit which was poured out in such a wonderful way there on the day of Pentecost, God intended should never be withdrawn from the church, my friends. On the contrary, God intended that as we should come down to the very last of the last days, we would receive of that abundant gift more and more. And I am going to show you, before we finish this series, that, that is exactly what is going to happen, my dear friends. The greatest outpouring of the Spirit this world has ever seen, the greatest manifestation of the Spirit the universe has ever beheld, is just ahead of us.

And it is the purpose of Jesus in His work in the sanctuary, to prepare us for that. Just as when He left this world He said to His disciples, “Now, I am going away, and I am going up to that sanctuary and pray the Father for you. Now, you pray here in this world. And when I am enthroned there as Priest and King, I will send the Spirit, and you will know that I am there,” so today He is asking you and me to send our prayers to Him in the heavenly sanctuary, and to unite with Him in prayer for that one gift which brings all other blessings in its train - the gift of the Spirit of God.

Now, friends, the thing I am thankful for tonight, (Watch this point, and don’t miss it!) is that you and I have in our hands not only all the wonderful books that Moses and Samuel and David and Daniel and Isaiah and Jeremiah wrote, as they were moved by the Holy Spirit, but we have in the New Testament the wonderful things that the Spirit brought from the sanctuary in heaven and revealed to Peter and to John and to Paul and to the other New Testament apostles and prophets. So in the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, we have an unveiling of Jesus, a manifestation of the Godhead.

And Jesus told His disciples that:

“When the Holy Spirit comes, He will guide you into all truth” John 16:13.

But He makes plain in John 17:17, that the truth is the Word. So, watch. The Spirit is not given as something apart from the Word, to lead us and guide us away from the Word or without the Word. Oh, no. The purpose of the gift of the Spirit, whether in the gift of prophecy, or in tongues, or in evangelism, or in the apostles’ gift, or in any other gift, is to guide us into the understanding of this Word, my dear friends.

The devil hates this. So he has false manifestations of the Holy Spirit - false apostles, false prophets, false miracles, false tongues, false healings, false evangelists, all kinds of false gifts, designed to draw the attention of men away from this Word and away from the sanctuary in heaven. But all the while the true Spirit of God is seeking to guide our minds into an understanding of the truth in the Word of God.

Listen, if you are ever wondering whether a particular manifestation of what is called “the spirit” is from heaven or not, the test is very simple. Does that manifestation lead to the word and to the sanctuary where Jesus is? The Spirit gave the word, therefore He leads to the word. The Spirit comes from the sanctuary were Jesus is enthroned, therefore He leads to the sanctuary.

Personally, I am afraid of any so-called holy ghost which does not lead to the word and the sanctuary, friends. I am afraid of it. I want the Spirit of truth, which leads into the truth, which helps me to understand this word and follow it from Genesis to Revelation, and which leads me to the sanctuary, where I see my great High Priest as He lifts His wounded hands and prays for me. Oh, I am so glad that the Spirit and the bride say come.

Come, ye disconsolate, where e’er ye languish; Come to the mercy seat, fervently kneel; Here bring your wounded hearts, here tell your anguish, Earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal.

Ah, friends, Jesus loves to do wonderful things for us.

I want to open the meeting for some testimonies right now. Is there somebody that has a witness to Jesus and His precious gifts that you want to give? No one needs to speak long, but we can have a number that would like to bear testimony to the goodness of God and to the wonderful blessing that comes as you let Jesus have His way in your life. Who would like to witness for Jesus?

[A testimony service follows.]

Now we will close our testimony service. I want you to sing in closing, tonight, the song that means something special to me. I will tell you about it. It is number 211 in the hymn book.

Holy Spirit, faithful Guide, Ever near the Christian’s side.

You will notice that the man who wrote the words and music of this is M. M. Wells. You have probably never heard of him. He was a Methodist minister over a 100 years ago when he wrote this. And he was the man who baptized my grandfather. My grandfather was born down in Mississippi, Dr. Joel. And he never knew this message, but when I hear this hymn, I think of the man who baptized my grandfather.

Well, I want you to sing it with me tonight:

Holy Spirit, faithful Guide; Ever near the Christian’s side, Gently lead us by the hand, Pilgrims in a desert land; Weary souls for e’er rejoice, When they hear that sweetest voice, Whispering softly, “Wanderer, come!

Follow Me, I’ll guide thee home.”

And as we sing these sweet words of intercession, if there is somebody here this evening, who would like, in a special way, to seek this blessing, and you would like to have us seek for you and with you, just come up and kneel here as we sing. Shall we stand.

Holy Spirit, faithful Guide; Ever near the Christian’s side, Gently lead us by the hand, Pilgrims in a desert land; Weary souls for e’er rejoice, When they hear that sweetest voice, Whispering softly, “Wanderer, come! Follow Me, I’ll guide thee home.”

Ever present, truest Friend Ever near Thine aid to lend, Leave us not to doubt and fear, Groping on in darkness drear. When the storms are raging sore, Hearts grow faint, and hopes give o’er- Whisper softly, “Wanderer, come! Follow Me, I’ll guide thee home.”

When our days of toil shall cease, Waiting still for sweet release, Nothing left but heaven and prayer, Wondering if our names are there; Wading deep the dismal flood, Pleading nought but Jesus’ blood, Whisper softly, “Wanderer, come! Follow Me, I’ll guide thee home.”

Father, we are so thankful tonight to be coming to the One who has all power in heaven and in earth. As we think of the sacrifice that Thou hast made to make possible this wonderful gift, we know that having given Jesus, Thou wilt withhold nothing that we need. And Thou hast told us to pray for the Holy Spirit, to open our hearts to receive this precious gift. And so tonight, we do pray that in a special way Thou wilt answer the longing.

To access part 3 click HERE