The Gift of the Spirit

[0:00] Well if we could, this evening with the Lord's help and the Lord's enabling, if we could turn back to that portion of scripture that we read, the Gospel according to John, John chapter 3, and if we read again at verse 8, sorry verse 5, to verse 8, John 3 at verse 5, Jesus answered, truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, you must be born again.

[0:52] The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.

[1:08] As you know, this evening we're continuing our study in the Persian, the study of the Persian and work of the Holy Spirit. And what we've discovered so far is that the Holy Spirit, well, as you know, he's the third Persian of the Godhead. He is a Persian. But as a Persian, he also has a purpose in our lives. Because when the Holy Spirit begins to work in our lives, he brings form, fullness, and fellowship. And as we've learned, he does that through the Word, the Word of God, because he makes the Word of God a living Word. Because even, well, my own experience and your own experience, in your life and in my life, there was a time when the Word of God meant nothing to us. We hardly ever read it, and if we did read the Bible, it was probably out of routine, maybe even ritual. But when the Holy Spirit breathed life into us, the Word of God came to us with power and with conviction. Because this Word, this Bible that we now love and enjoy reading, it's God-breathed, it's Spirit-filled, and it's the divine breath of God the Holy Spirit.

[2:20] Now, last time, a couple of weeks ago, we were asking, how did the Holy Spirit minister to God's people in the Old Testament? And we said that the Old Testament, it was like a darkened room full of furniture.

[2:35] And all the furniture, we could only make it out because there were shapes and shadows and silhouettes, but nothing was clear. There's no detail in the Old Testament until the light of the New Testament is switched on and everything is finally revealed. And as we said, the old saying that goes, the new is in the old concealed, and the old is in the new revealed.

[3:00] So the new is in the old concealed, and the old is in the new revealed. And you know, this is what we often refer to as progressive revelation, how God gradually reveals his plans and purposes in salvation. It progresses through the story of the Bible. It's progressive revelation.

[3:20] But then we also saw that in the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit dwells in saints and is upon servants. In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit dwells in saints and upon servants. So during the Old Testament period, the Holy Spirit dwelt in all those who believed the promise of the Messiah. But the Holy Spirit only dwelt upon prophets, priests and kings who were used for specific tasks of service.

[3:53] So in the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit dwelt in saints and upon servants. But as we progressed into the light of the New Testament, we discovered that Jesus, Jesus who was conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary, by the power of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit rested upon him in order that he would fulfill his God-given task as prophet, priest and king. And then after Jesus' death, as Scripture progresses even further, after Jesus' death, his resurrection and his ascension, the promise of the Holy Spirit was given to the church. And that promise was fulfilled. The Holy Spirit came upon the church at the day of Pentecost. And now, today, as those who are part of the New Testament church, living in the presence and the power of the new covenant, all of God's people, all those who believe in Jesus by faith, they have the Holy Spirit in them as saints and upon them as servants. So we all have the Holy Spirit tonight in us as saints and upon us as servants. And the reason the Holy Spirit is in us as saints and upon us as servants is so that we will be witnesses for Jesus to the ends of the earth.

[5:12] That's our role as Christians. So that's a summary of our study so far. But the question I want us to think about this evening is, what is the gift of the Holy Spirit? What is the gift of the Holy Spirit?

[5:29] And not surprisingly, the best person to answer this question is Jesus. Because in this well-known passage, Jesus gives to us, or he gives to Nicodemus, a lecture. Jesus gives to Nicodemus a lecture on what it means to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Now, as a lecturer, Jesus, he follows a very simple model of teaching. State, illustrate, apply. State, illustrate, apply. So I want us to look at Jesus' lecture to Nicodemus this evening. State, illustrate, apply. So first of all, Jesus makes a statement.

[6:08] State, look at verse 3. Jesus says, truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Jesus begins his lecture to Nicodemus, a lecture about the work of the Holy Spirit. And he begins by making a statement. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. And by using the well-known phrase, truly, truly, or verily, verily, Jesus affirms to Nicodemus and to us that you can't be a Christian unless you're born again. You can't be saved. You can't receive forgiveness. You can't experience salvation.

[6:58] You can't see or enter the kingdom of God unless you're born again. And as you would expect with such an alarming statement, Nicodemus, he immediately questions his lecturer. As Nicodemus, you could say, he just, he's sitting in class. He's the only pupil in the class, but he's sitting and he's listening to the greatest teacher, the teacher, as Nicodemus says himself, who had come from God. And in his confusion and misunderstanding, Nicodemus, he puts his hands straight into the air and he asks Jesus, how can a man be born when he is old? And you can almost see the confusion on Nicodemus's face because he's asking, how can someone be born again if they're already born?

[7:48] How can someone have a new birth if they've already experienced birth? And Nicodemus, he's trying to get his head around the whole thing. So he goes on to ask, can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born? Is that actually possible? Is that how you become a Christian? Is that how you experience forgiveness? Is that how you see and enter the kingdom of God? That's what Jesus, as he responds to Nicodemus's question with a further statement. And we see that in verse 5.

[8:25] Jesus says, truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the spirit is spirit. And again, Jesus affirms the importance of his teaching to Nicodemus with the phrase, truly, truly, truly, or verily, verily. And with this, Jesus then distinguishes in verse 6. He distinguishes between the physical and the spiritual. Because he says that you don't enter into the kingdom of God by your physical birth. No, the only way to enter the kingdom of God, he says, is by when you're born of water and the spirit. The only way to enter the kingdom of God, Jesus says, is if you experience a spiritual birth. Now, I'm sure that we're all familiar with the statement.

[9:22] Maybe you've heard it being said before. I'm a born again Christian. I'm a born again Christian. Now, this statement, it's often made because there are some, and they're even in our community, sad to say. There are some people in our community who say that they're a Christian because they were baptized as a child. There are others that say that they're a Christian because they've said a prayer, or they responded to an altar call. Some say that they're Christians by choice, or by their upbringing, or by the way they live their life. They live in an exemplary life. Even Roman Catholics, they would say that they're Christians because they follow the teaching of the church, and they worship God, and they partake of the mass, and they pray to the Virgin Mary. But that's not genuine biblical Christianity. Because as Jesus emphasizes here in verse 7 to Nicodemus, you must be born again. And you know, this is what we need to emphasize and to re-emphasize as a church.

[10:28] That it's not enough to follow certain rules and live according to tradition and seek to live an exemplary life. That's not Christianity. That's not what it means to be born again. That's religion.

[10:42] That's living as a Pharisee. And, well, you know, Jesus, he's teaching this Pharisee here. He's teaching Nicodemus that religion, it doesn't save anyone. Because as Jesus emphasizes to Nicodemus, it doesn't matter about your physical birth and what the religious pedigree of your family was. It doesn't matter if we're brought up in a Christian home with Christian parents, and our father was an elder and our mother was a godly woman.

[11:13] It doesn't matter if we're brought up to keep the Sabbath and to read our Bible and have worship morning and evening. It doesn't matter if we've spent our life going to church and sitting under the sound of the gospel. It doesn't matter if we've kept the traditions of our fathers and lived a strict and holy life. Certainly all these things are good for us. But none of them will save us. None of them will save our community. None of them will save the people in our community. None of them will give to them a spiritual birth. None of these things will give to them a new beginning and a new birth.

[11:48] And you know, this is what our community needs to hear, because most of them think that they're safe and secure in the Christianity of their imagination. And sad to say, they're just like Nicodemus.

[12:04] There's far too many people like Nicodemus in our community. And you know, this is the very reason Jesus said to Nicodemus in verse 7, Do not marvel that I said to you, you must be born again. You must be born again. And with this Jesus, he affirms that religion is of no use. We can only experience salvation by receiving the Holy Spirit.

[12:33] And for Nicodemus, sitting there, class of one, he's listening to this lecture from Jesus. And you know, it would have been radical teaching to his mind.

[12:45] He was a professor of theology, but this stuff would have blown his mind and caused him great confusion. And you can see that it did. And it caused him confusion because as a Pharisee, as a ruler of the Jews, Nicodemus, he was still living under the darkness and shadow of the Old Testament.

[13:05] Nicodemus was still living according to the rules and rituals and religion of the Old Testament. And in his mind, that was salvation.

[13:16] Because Nicodemus thought that he was already saved. He thought that he was saved because of his physical birth into a religious family. Nicodemus thought that by having the covenant sign of circumcision upon his body and living according to tradition, and by sticking to the strictest possible rules of his religion, he thought that by doing all these things and having all these experiences, that he would be accepted into the kingdom of God.

[13:44] But Jesus just turns it all in his head and tells him, you must be born again. And the reason Nicodemus needed to be born again was simply because he was walking in darkness.

[13:58] In fact, John tells us, the Gospel writer, he tells us that when Nicodemus came to Jesus by night, he's actually telling us more than the hour of the day that this meeting took place.

[14:14] John is telling us that there's another kind of darkness that's covering the soul of Nicodemus. And the only way Nicodemus and every other sinner in our community, the only way that they can be brought from darkness, the darkness of religion, to the light of a relationship with Jesus Christ, the only way is if they're born again.

[14:38] Which is why Jesus affirms to Nicodemus and to us, you must be born again. But as a good lecturer, Jesus not only states this teaching to Nicodemus, he also illustrates it.

[14:55] That's what we see secondly. State, illustrate. Illustrate. Look at verse 7. Jesus says, Do not marvel that I said to you, you must be born again.

[15:08] The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from, or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.

[15:23] And so as Jesus continues to teach Nicodemus about the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer, Jesus affirms that by being born again, or being born again, it's not an impossibility.

[15:35] Jesus says to Nicodemus, Do not marvel. Do not stand amazed. Do not become perplexed and confused. Don't think that what I've said is impossible.

[15:48] You must be born again. But for Nicodemus, he couldn't get his head around this need to be born again in order to enter the kingdom of God. Because as we said, in his mind, he was already in God's kingdom.

[16:03] Sadly, Nicodemus thought that he was already saved. Nicodemus thought that if anyone was going to enter the kingdom of God, it's him.

[16:23] But when Nicodemus is brought back down to earth with a bang, when Jesus states, Except a man be born again, he cannot see or even enter the kingdom of God.

[16:38] And you know what? Jesus actually teaches Nicodemus, and every Nicodemus like him, what Jesus teaches is that salvation is all of God.

[16:48] And because salvation is all of God, it's a gift of God. It's all of grace. In fact, when Jesus says to Nicodemus, you must be born again, he's literally saying to him, you must be born from above.

[17:07] You must be born from above. You must be born of God, because salvation is all of God, and it's all according to God's unmerited grace.

[17:23] And you know, this is actually how John begins his gospel, in chapter 1. Because as you know, John, he opens his gospel by reminding us that Jesus, he is the eternal word, which was in the beginning with God.

[17:39] But then John goes on to say later on, he says, Jesus was in the world, and the world was made through him, and yet the world did not know him.

[17:49] He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.

[18:03] And John explains that those who are saved, those who become Christians, those who are born again, he says they're born. Not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

[18:20] In other words, he says, this salvation that I'm going to present to you in my gospel, this salvation, you will be saved, he says, you'll become a Christian, not because of your family, not because of your background, of your upbringing, not because you decide that that's what you want to be, not because you think that being a Christian is a good thing, not even because you desire to become a Christian, no, he says, you'll be saved, all because God has graciously worked in your heart, by the power of the Holy Spirit, and given to you the gift of salvation.

[18:55] And you know, my friend, tonight, that's what can be said of us. We are saved, all because God has graciously worked in our heart, by the power of the Holy Spirit, and given to us the gift of salvation.

[19:10] And we can see, and we can enter the kingdom of God, only because we've been born again. We've been born from above.

[19:21] We've been born, not by blood, not by the will of the flesh, nor by the will of man, but of God. And this is the wonder of salvation.

[19:33] The gift of the Holy Spirit is all of grace. God has given to you his greatest gift, the gift of eternal life, the gift of the Holy Spirit.

[19:49] And you know, what a lesson for Nicodemus to learn. A lesson that salvation is all of God, that it can't be earned, it can't be worked for, it can't be achieved.

[20:02] As the saying goes, salvation is not a goal to be achieved, but a gift to be received. Salvation is not a goal to be achieved. That's what Nicodemus thought it was. But salvation is not a goal to be achieved, but a gift to be received.

[20:19] And you know, undoubtedly salvation is the gift of the Holy Spirit. But how do we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit? How do we receive salvation? Now, as a good lecturer, when Jesus speaks about salvation and the need to be born again, he uses the wind to illustrate the way in which the Holy Spirit works in someone's heart.

[20:41] He says in verse 8, the wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.

[20:53] Now, as those who live on an island, we're very familiar with the wind. We're very familiar with the effects of the wind. Because we see the effects of the wind, we see the evidence of what the wind is able to do in knocking over bins and moving leaves and taking slates off our roof.

[21:11] We can see what the rough seas. We can see that there's power in the wind and the wind comes with force. But it doesn't matter how many storms we've witnessed and how much movement the wind causes.

[21:24] We have never seen the wind. We've seen the effects of the wind. We've witnessed the power of the wind. And we've seen the evidence of what the wind can do. But we've never seen the wind.

[21:36] And that's what Jesus is saying to Nicodemus. That just like the wind, you can't see the Holy Spirit. But you can see the effects of the Holy Spirit. You can see evidence, the evidence of the Holy Spirit when he's been working and moving in the life and heart of a sinner.

[21:54] Because when we're given the gift of the Holy Spirit, he moves with life-giving power and he gives to us a new birth and a new heart and a new beginning. And you know, when the Holy Spirit is at work in the life and heart of a sinner, you can see the effects of the Spirit.

[22:10] You can see the evidence of the Spirit. You can see that he's moving and slowly working in their life. Because the Holy Spirit, he's bringing about renewal.

[22:21] He's bringing about restoration. He's bringing about regeneration. He's bringing about change. And sometimes that change is sudden, like it was for the Apostle Paul on the road to Damascus.

[22:37] The change is dramatic. But most of the time, that change is gradual. Just like it was for Nicodemus. And I say that it was gradual because when the Holy Spirit started to work and move in the heart of Nicodemus, we see that here in this chapter, Nicodemus, he was challenged and convicted.

[23:01] As Jesus spoke to Nicodemus, Nicodemus was challenged and convicted by his condition. But as the Holy Spirit continued to work in his heart and in his life, as the Holy Spirit continued to strive with him, that challenge and that conviction became a concern and a consideration.

[23:24] Because you come to John chapter 7, you move in the timeline of John's Gospel. And when you come to John chapter 7, you see Nicodemus' concern and consideration of Jesus, it's growing.

[23:38] He wants to know more. He wants to know more about Jesus. He wants Jesus to teach him more. He wants to hear more from Jesus. And you see that with people. They want to be in church more.

[23:49] They want to be under the Word more. They want to gather with the Lord's people more. They have a concern and a consideration for the things of God. But then the last glimpse we're given of Nicodemus is in John chapter 19, where there's confession and commitment.

[24:06] Both Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, they're there removing the crucified body of Jesus from the cross. And you know, you could say it's the greatest act of confession and commitment.

[24:18] It's the greatest act of confession and commitment of any Christian. But it's also clear evidence that the Holy Spirit had, yes, gradually, but effectually been working in Nicodemus' life and working in him for renewal, restoration, and regeneration.

[24:37] And you know, it may seem obvious, but I believe it has to be said. Although we cannot give anyone the gift of the Holy Spirit as much as I would love to, and I'm sure as much as we would all love to give somebody the gift of the Holy Spirit, we have to keep praying that the Holy Spirit would be moving and working in the hearts and lives of those in our family, our congregation, and in our community.

[25:04] Because without him, we can do nothing. But unless they're born again, unless they're born from above, they cannot enter the kingdom of God.

[25:18] But as a good lecturer, Jesus doesn't leave it there. Because having stated his teaching and then illustrated his teaching on the Holy Spirit, he now applies it.

[25:30] He applies this teaching to Nicodemus. So state, illustrate, and apply. State, illustrate, and apply. Now look at verse 9.

[25:44] Nicodemus said to him, How can these things be? Jesus answered him, Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony.

[26:00] If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you of heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.

[26:14] When Nicodemus sat under the teaching of Jesus, he questioned everything Jesus said. But the reason Nicodemus questioned Jesus was because at that point in his experience, Nicodemus was still walking in darkness.

[26:32] Of course, Nicodemus, you could say, he had heard the outward call of the gospel when Jesus said to him, You must be born. Again, he had heard the outward call, but it's only when Nicodemus received the gift of the Holy Spirit that he received the inward effectual call of the gospel.

[26:53] It's only when the Holy Spirit started working that he received the inward effectual call of the gospel. And our catechism, it reminds us that the Holy Spirit, he works faith in us by uniting us to Jesus Christ in our effectual calling.

[27:11] And you know, I think it's the best catechism out of all of 107. It says, effectual calling is the work of God's Spirit whereby convincing us of our sin and misery, enlightening our minds in the knowledge of Christ and renewing our will.

[27:28] That's the amazing part. He renews our will and he doth persuade and enable us to embrace Jesus Christ as he's freely offered to us in the gospel. And you know, it's when we're effectually called in the gospel.

[27:43] When that moment happens, we are regenerated. We're born again. We're born from above. We're given a new heart.

[27:53] We're given a new beginning. And that's what regeneration is. It's been brought from death in Adam to life in Christ. Because to be regenerated is to be brought from death to life, from darkness to light, from the dungeon to liberty.

[28:12] To be regenerated is to be brought from the power of Satan to Christ. And the wonderful thing is, as we've been reminded this evening, is that it's all a work of the Holy Spirit.

[28:24] It's the gift of the Holy Spirit. And it's all of grace. It's all of grace. And you know, when Paul, Paul, he wrote many letters, but when he wrote his letter to Titus, his letter to Titus wasn't just about church matters.

[28:43] Paul explains to Titus in chapter 3, in the last chapter, he explains to him about the wonder and glory of our salvation. And Paul says to Titus that our salvation, it's all of grace.

[28:55] Paul writes in Titus chapter 3, he says, when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Saviour appeared, he saved us. And he saved us, he says, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Saviour, so that being justified by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

[29:31] And what Paul is teaching us there is that salvation comes to us only by the gift of the Holy Spirit. Because when we're united to Jesus Christ, when we're in union with Christ by the Holy Spirit, there's actually a process of salvation.

[29:49] There's an order of salvation. And that's what Paul actually talks about he says that regeneration happens before repentance. Regeneration comes before repentance.

[30:02] There's this order to our salvation he says. And this is the wonderful gift of the Holy Spirit. And this order of salvation, theologians often refer to it as the ordo salutis, which is Latin for the order of salvation.

[30:18] And you know, God willing, in the future, I'd love for us to do a study on the ordo salutis, the order of salvation. Because the Bible teaches that there is an order and it's a wonderful order to our salvation.

[30:32] That salvation, the Bible teaches, it began in the realms of eternity where we were elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father.

[30:43] And in time, we hear the gospel, we hear the outward call of the gospel, maybe even for many, many years. But when we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, when the Holy Spirit begins to work in our life and in our heart, it's only then that we're inwardly and effectually called in the gospel.

[31:03] And in that moment, we're regenerated, we're brought from death to life, and we experience conversion. Conversion through faith and repentance. And through faith alone, says the Bible, we receive justification.

[31:18] justification. We're made righteous before a holy God. But more than that, the Bible tells us we're brought into the family of God. We're adopted as sons and daughters of the King.

[31:30] And when that wonderful work of salvation begins in our life, so does the work of sanctification. And the perseverance of the Holy Spirit working in us and through us, He ensures that our sanctification continues until we have fought a good fight and finished the course and kept the faith.

[31:52] And you know, the wonder of it is that there will be a crown of righteousness, says Paul, awaiting us there. And we will receive that crown when? When we're glorified.

[32:02] There's this wonderful order to our salvation. It's the Ordo Salutis. Election, effectual calling, regeneration, conversion, justification, adoption, sanctification, perseverance, and then glorification.

[32:19] There's this wonderful order to our glorious salvation. And we have received, the Bible tells us, we have received this salvation not by any merit of our own.

[32:33] And that's something we need to remember. We have received this salvation not by any merit of our own, but through our union with Christ, by the gift of the Holy Spirit. We have a wonderful salvation.

[32:48] We have great reason to rejoice. And so this evening we're just asking, what is the gift of the Holy Spirit? And as we said, the best person to answer this question is Jesus.

[33:01] He's given us a lecture on the gift of the Holy Spirit. And he's followed the very simple model of teaching, state, illustrate, apply. And what Jesus has taught us here this evening is that the gift of the Holy Spirit is not speaking in tongues.

[33:19] The gift of the Holy, we'll address this subject in a few weeks time when we come to gifts of the Spirit. But the gift of the Holy Spirit is not speaking in tongues. The gift of the Holy Spirit is salvation.

[33:32] And our salvation is all of grace. And this gift, it's offered, as Jesus says, it's to be offered to whosoever.

[33:46] Because whosoever believes in him, and of course they will not believe unless the Spirit's working, but whosoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

[33:57] And you know, is it any wonder to us that when you come to the day of Pentecost and Peter is preaching, he calls everyone in the hearing of the Gospel to repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

[34:17] My friend, the gift of the Holy Spirit is salvation and you have received a wonderful gift. And so for that you ought to rejoice that your salvation is all of grace.

[34:33] Well, may the Lord bless these things to us. Let us pray. O Lord, our gracious God, we give thanks to thee this evening that we are thy workmanship, that thou art the God who saw us in eternity past and the God who called us in the present to draw us to thyself in the future.

[34:58] And Lord, we bless and we praise thee that this wonderful work of salvation, that it is all of grace, that it is not of works lest any man should boast.

[35:09] And help us, Lord, this evening and every day of our lives always to boast in our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ. We bless thee, O Lord, for thy spirit that he works in us and through us, that he is moulding us and shaping us, he is sanctifying us.

[35:27] And help us, Lord, we pray, day by day to be led by the spirit, to walk in the spirit, to know that the spirit is thriving with us. And Lord, we pray for those who are all still strangers to thee, that our longing is that thy spirit would work in their lives as he has worked in ours.

[35:48] Lord, our longing is that those in our homes and our families, our husbands and wives, our children and even our grandchildren. Lord, we plead that thou wouldest move in their lives, that thou wouldest work in their heart, that they would be born from above, that they would taste and see that thou art good and trust in thee and be blessed.

[36:11] O Lord, hear us, we ask, for we know that without thee we can do nothing. But Lord, with thee all things are possible. Hear us then, we pray. Go with us, we ask thee, as we part one from another, that thou wouldest keep us on the way, ever looking to Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith.

[36:30] Cleanse us, we ask, for we ask it in Jesus' name and for his sake. Amen. We'll bring our service to a conclusion by singing the words of Psalm 87.

[36:46] Psalm 87 in the Scottish Psalter, page 342. Psalm 87, we're singing the whole psalm.

[37:03] And this psalm is a psalm that reminds us that those outside of covenant Israel will be born again. It's amazing, it's an Old Testament passage that's looking forward to the time when the Gentiles will be brought in.

[37:22] because it says in verse 5, and it of Zion shall be said, this man and that man there was born. And he's talking about different places, he mentions them in verses 3 and 4, Rehab, Babel, Tyrus, Palestine, Ethiopia, all these places outside of Israel.

[37:39] And he'll say, this man and that man there was born and he that is most high himself shall establish her. When God the people writes, he'll count that this man born was there, there be that sing and play and all my well springs in the air.

[37:56] It's a psalm that calls us to praise God for the wonderful work of regeneration, that God is going to save people and regenerate them, that they'll be born from above and they're those who are outside covenant Israel.

[38:13] That includes us this evening. So Psalm 87, we're singing the whole psalm to God's praise. Amen. God more than Jacob's dwelling song, He likes in Zion's case.

[38:58] day, Lord, forget it. Lord Hart. 그다음 God floridlijkbrot beats hunters hear more than Beatish looking he of the heavenly grave and tablet nelle and greatそして leveling you lose bread that though me will record, behold in Tyrus and within the land of Palestine, and like wise him, he opened up, this man was born there, and it of Zion shall be said, this man and the man there was born and he that is most high, itself shall establish her, when God the people rise, he'll count, that this man born was there, there be God sing and play and all my well springs in the air.

[41:20] The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all, now and forevermore.

[41:30] Amen.