From Greenville, South Carolina, we present, Let the Bible Speak. Let the Bible Speak is the radio ministry of the Free Presbyterian Church of North America, preaching Christ in all His fullness. Thank you for joining us today. This is Alan Kearns saying hello to you and welcome once again to Let the Bible Speak. It's good to have you listening in as we continue the series of messages that we started last week on the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. Last week we thought of his baptism with a baptism of repentance, how he started his public ministry. Immediately following that baptism the Holy Spirit descended upon Christ. So through this week we're going to be thinking upon the descent of the Holy Ghost upon the Lord Jesus Christ. That's in a few minutes. Later also in the program we're going to have our hot topic or our commentary for today and that's going to be on the subject of unhappy kids. All that in a moment or two. But first a piece of music one of Ireland's most beautiful ancient hymn tunes, and certainly one of the most wonderful texts. I trust that this will be your prayer. Be thou my vision. Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart. Come be all else to me, save that thou art. I will love thy name all my life, great be God's blessing. Be thou my wisdom, thou my true word, I am a witness, thou with me Lord. The wind is whirling, and I will be one. Be Thou my battle shield, strong for the fight, Be Thou my dignity, Thou my delight, Thou my sole shelter, Thou my light now. Great Thou behead not, O power of might, I need a better love than victory won. May I be just like the brightest star. Heart of my own heart, According to Reuters, a recent survey of young people around the world shows that kids in underdeveloped nations are happier than their counterparts in the developed nations of the West. In all, it appears that few young people are happy, but those in the richest countries seem to be the most unhappy, with those in Japan being the unhappiest of all. At first it seems surprising that the kids who have the most are among the world's most unhappy people. But a moment's reflection will remove any feeling of surprise. The simple truth is that while money and possessions may make for what we think of as a more comfortable lifestyle, they can't buy happiness. They can't produce contentment. This is a truth that millions are spending every living moment trying to disprove. In the West, we are living through a social upheaval that expresses the idea that if we can only acquire a lot of wealth and be free to indulge the desires of our hearts, we'd be happy. But this is selfish, godless hedonism, and it doesn't work. Even if it did, it would be disastrous. But it doesn't. Man was made for God. It's impossible to divorce happiness from godliness. True happiness begins by knowing God, as He has revealed Himself in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus calls this knowledge life eternal, and no man has begun to live who does not possess it. The Bible has a lot to say about happiness. The book of Psalms commences with a description of the happy man. He does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly, or stand in the way of sinners, or sit in the seat of the scorners. Rather, he delights and meditates in the law of the Lord. The Lord Jesus Christ commenced his sermon on the mount with a series of statements about happiness. Matthew 5 verses 1 through 12 records them. His description of a happy man cuts clean across all that this ungodly age holds to be necessary to happiness. In a word, the happy man is the man who has God as his Father and Christ as his Savior. Such a man will find that godliness with contentment is great gain. With Paul he will be able to say, to me to live is Christ, to die is gain. or following John Calvin's translation of that text, we may put it like this, whether I live or die, Christ is my gain. And that's the only wealth that produces real happiness. That's what our kids need to learn. I am amazed that God could ever love me. Amazed that God could ever love me so full of sin, so covered or with shame. Make me to walk with Him who is above me, cleansed by the power of His redeeming name. I am amazed that God would ever save me. Not but the cross would take away my sin. Through faith in Christ eternal life He gave me. Now he abides forevermore with thee. I am a mate and God should grant salvation to such as I and all who need his word. Eternal life to every land and nation. This is the wondrous message we have heard. I am amazed that God would ever save me, not but the cross would take away my sin. Many of you have become avid readers of Let the Bible Speak's quarterly magazine. and we'd love to see many more of you join the ranks of our readership. The January to March issue of the Let the Bible Speak Quarterly is available. It's always a beautifully produced magazine, and the subject matter is always instructive, edifying, challenging. It's something that we thoroughly recommend to you. The current issue is on the book of Psalms. And I think you'll find that there's much here that will be of great benefit to you, so it's not an issue that you'd want to miss. If you'd like to obtain a free copy of the magazine, and I should emphasize that I don't mean simply one free copy and then you get a bill for something else following. If you simply ask to be put on the mailing list, we'll let you have your copy of the Let the Bible Speak quarterly free as it appears each printing. So if you'd like to receive your free copy, we invite you to be in touch with us. You can write to us or you can call us. Our mailing address is Let the Bible Speak, 1207 Haywood Road, Greenville, South Carolina 29615. You may write us by email and our email address is ltbs at Free Prez, F-R-E-E-P-R-E-S L-T-B-S at Free Prez dot O-R-G. Or if you'd prefer to call us toll free, you may call us at 866-877-L-T-B-S that is 866-877-5827. I trust we'll hear soon from you and that you'll very soon be enjoying reading. Let the Bible Speak Quarterly. He plants his first steps in the sea, And rides upon the storm, And rides upon the storm. ♪ Speak, fearful saints, fresh courage fake ♪ ♪ Our bounties so much dread ♪ ♪ Argue with mercy and shall break ♪ ♪ In blessings on your head ♪ ♪ In blessings on your head ♪ The Bible reading is going to be a little different this morning, so if you've got three fingers that are unoccupied, if you can take your Bible, open it Matthew 3, and then put a finger in it Mark chapter 1, and another one in it Luke chapter 3. Each of the four Gospels, and we will turn to John as well in a minute, but each of the four Gospels carries a reference to the fact that the Father sent the Holy Spirit upon the Lord Jesus Christ at the beginning of His public ministry. And the first three Gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke, note that it was at the time of Christ's baptism that this took place. So that we can be in no doubt whatsoever as to the importance for Christ's ministry of this event when the Spirit of God descended upon Him. But we also can be, I think, in no doubt, as to the primary importance of the same event in our own lives and in our own service for Christ. Now the sequence of events surrounding this anointing is clear. We turn to Matthew chapter 3. We find that first the Lord Jesus was baptized. As you remember last Sabbath morning, I dealt with the significance of the fact that the sinless Son of God was baptized with a baptism of repentance for sin. And then, immediately, the Holy Ghost descended upon him. We read in Matthew 3.16, Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water, and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him, or coming upon him. Mark 1, verse 10, straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him. Luke 3, verse 22, speaks of the Holy Ghost. It says, He descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him. And so Christ was baptized, and the Spirit, in the bodily shape like a dove, descended upon Him. Then the Father testified with a voice from heaven, Matthew 3.17, a voice from heaven saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Mark 1.11 again says, there came a voice from heaven saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And Luke 3.22 tells us exactly the same thing. So Christ was baptized, the Spirit came like a dove upon Him, the voice spoke from heaven, and then John, The Baptist testified of him. We read it in John chapter 1 verses 32 through 34. John bear record saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. And I knew him not. But he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. And I saw and bear record that this is the Son of God." When all that happened, we are told that Jesus was filled with the Holy Ghost. Luke 4 verse 1 follows immediately on this narrative, and it says, Jesus, being full of the Holy Ghost, returned from Jordan. And John puts it in different words in chapter 3, verse 34. But nonetheless, it's a testimony to the same fact. God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto Him. That is the Lord Jesus Christ. So He was baptized. The Spirit descended upon Him. The Father spoke from heaven. And John bore witness on earth. The result was that Jesus was filled with the Holy Ghost and then immediately was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. We are told in Matthew 4 verse 1, Then, consequent upon all these things, then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. Mark 1 verse 12 says, "...immediately the Spirit driveth him into the wilderness." And look 4. The first two verses tell us clearly, Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost, returned from Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being forty days tempted of the devil. We're not going to deal with the temptations at this time. But immediately after these temptations, we read Luke 4 verse 14, Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit unto Galilee, so that this fullness was not just a momentary experience, but it was an experience of the Spirit of God coming upon him at the very commencement of his ministry that marked the rest of the ministry of Christ where, with the Holy Spirit granted without measure, he ministered in the fullness of the Spirit of God. Now, all these texts are summed up very simply in one statement that the Apostle Peter made in the household of Cornelius. And I suppose if you want the text, this would be our text that will sum up everything else. In Acts chapter 10 verse 38, we read that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power. God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power. And that sums up the teachings of the four Gospels on this very significant and important matter. The message is simple and clear, that by anointing Christ with the Holy Ghost, God the Father established Christ's credentials, and then He supplied him with all the necessary power for his ministry upon the earth. God, by sending the Spirit upon Christ, first of all, clearly established his credentials to be the Savior, to be the mediator, to be the redeemer, to live and to die and to rise again. And He gave him all the power that was necessary for the Savior to do the work that He had been sent to do. Now, that's a simple statement. It's easily made. But it has far-reaching consequences. I want you to think first of all that descending upon Christ The Holy Spirit identified Him as the Son of God. We have read in Matthew 3.17 how that a voice from heaven came when Christ was baptized and the Spirit came upon Him, and the voice said, This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. And the other Gospels tell us how that the Father actually addressed Christ personally as the Spirit came upon Him and said, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Now this is how God the Father identified His Son for Him to be recognized on earth, so that we may know who He was and why He came into the world. Now, when you stop to think of it, there's something rather amazing about that, something very instructive. I say it's amazing because here we have God manifested in the flesh. We have the Creator of the world walking among His creatures. We have the One whom heaven's angels worship, and He's standing among them. The amazing thing is, in the words of John, in chapter 1 of John's Gospel, the words of John the Baptist, "...there standeth one among you whom ye know not." If ever you needed a testimony to the blindness that is natural to the mind and heart of man, here it is. People wonder, how is it that sinners can't see that they're sinners? How is it that they can't see that their time is short? How is it that they can't see that they need to be seen? How is it that they can't see this and they can't see that? Why should we be amazed when the second person of the Trinity took flesh and dwelt among men, walked amongst them, John said, there's one standing right in your midst, the very God of glory manifested in flesh, and you don't recognize Him. You can't see Him. My, what blindness there is! What a result of the fall! Surely, until God deals with that blindness, In a way, that will not only identify Christ, but take the scales from off the eyes of the blind, that remain blind. That's why salvation is of the Lord. That's why the work of the Holy Spirit in effectual calling is first the enlightenment of the understanding, and then the renewing of the will, so that He gives the light, and He gives the desire to have the light. without which no man will ever be saved." Amazing indeed that God would need to make an identification. But this is how He did it. And I want you to notice very clearly that this is the way God does identify His Son. And we'll see in a moment how very important that is for us. by the Spirit of God coming upon him. You have been listening to Let the Bible Speak, the radio ministry of the Free Presbyterian Church of North America. I hope that you found today's broadcasting a blessing to your heart. If you'd like to email us, our email address is ltbs at freeprez.org. Or if you'd prefer, you may write us at Let The Bible Speak, 1207 Haywood Road, Greenville, South Carolina, 29615. We would love to hear from you. If you'd like to know how to be saved and how to be sure you're saved, we'd like to send you my booklet, A New Beginning, and I think that you'll find it very helpful. Each quarter we publish a free full-color magazine, Let the Bible Speak Quarterly, with a good variety of Bible teaching and testimony. It's available to all who request it. If you'd like to receive more information about the Free Presbyterian Church of North America and its ministry, we'd like to send you our booklet, Separated Unto the Gospel. Or if you'd like to have tape or CD copies of the messages here in Let the Bible Speak, you may have them by contacting us, or you may visit us on the web at letthebiblespeakradio.com. Now that's a lot of information to digest all at once, but you can find it all on our website letthebiblespeakradio.com. There you'll be able to listen to and download our programs, visit our online bookstore, and read a text version of each day's commentary. So visit us today at LetTheBibleSpeakRadio.com. This is Allan Kern saying, thank you for listening. I trust that you'll join us each day at this time, Monday through Friday, as we Let the Bible Speak. you