In this sermon, the preacher begins by referencing the story of Elijah in 2 Samuel 5:24, where he hears the sound of abundance of rain. The preacher emphasizes the importance of the sound leading to an echo in the hearts of men, resulting in the instantaneous springing up of good seed. He shares a personal experience of pointing a grieving man to Christ for comfort. The preacher then delves into the concept of the Holy Spirit, using John 3:8 to explain the mystery and secret of the Spirit's work. He concludes by emphasizing the power of God's Word and the importance of being born of the Spirit.

I want to turn in our Bibles this morning to the third chapter of the Gospel according to John, John's Gospel, chapter three. And we are reading verse one to verse eight of this chapter, the third chapter of John's Gospel. Let's read it together. There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. The same came to Jesus by night and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God, for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest a sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth. So was every one that is born of the Spirit. Ending our lesson at verse 8, and God will stamp his holy word to our hearts. Amen and Amen. Open your Bible please at John's Gospel, chapter 3 and verse 8. And there we read these words. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest a sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth. So was every one that is born of the Spirit. I want this morning to commence this sermon with a relation of an experience of Christian Evans, the great revival preacher of Wheel's Hat. He was attending an annual association of churches, and three preachers were to preach there in succession. The first preacher was a very polished preacher. He was very neat, he was very eloquent, and he preached a magnificent address, if you wanted to measure it by logic and by oratory. The second preacher was a preacher of the law, and he denounced sin as it needed to be denounced, warned men and women of hellfire and the terrors of the broken law. It was observed that Christmas Evans was very fidgety, we might use the word, when the first preacher was preaching, and he got more fidgety as the second preacher was preaching. And when he stood up he said this, I came into the valley of dry bones and I found that they were very many and very dry. And a well-dressed little man brought his fiddle with him, and he fiddled the sweetest possible music. But the dead bones did not awaken, and he left them the way he found them. Then he said another man came, and he had a voice of thunder, and he carried with him a great club. And he smoked the bones and shouted at them, Get up you dry bones, get up, get up. But none of them got up. He said there was no stir, no commotion, and no resurrection. And then he said, another man came and said, Gospel of Jesus Christ, which is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth. And he said, I first of all must obey what God told me. He said, Prophesy unto the wind, and say, Thus saith the Lord God, come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, and they shall live. So he said, I'm going to call on the Holy Ghost to make bad bones. That day, scores of dead bones left full that was motivated by and inspired by the Holy Ghost. John 3 and verse 8 tells us something. It tells us the wind bloweth where it listeth. That word means where it willeth, where the wind wants to blow, it will blow. We hear the sound thereof, but we can't tell whence it cometh, nor whither it goeth. There is a mystery, and there is a secret about the wind. But the Bible tells us so is everyone that is born of this spirit. The wind is an emblem of the Holy Spirit of God. We cannot see it, yet by it we live, and bless God we can feel it. You see, God made man of the dust of the earth, and he was lifeless. He was a lifeless image. And then we read these words, but when God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, man became a living soul. What was that made him a living soul? The breath of life. When the bones were brought under the preaching of Ezekiel, in Ezekiel chapter 37, the bones came together. The flesh, the nerves, the sinews arose upon the bones when they were joined together. But what did the preacher have? He had a congregation of dead men, dead men. But then God said, call on the wind to come, let them get the breath. And when the wind came, they stood up a mighty army for the Lord. Could I say to you this day that without the air we die? Without the air we cannot live. God is omnipresent. He's everywhere present, essentially present. That includes all places. Remember what the psalmist said. He said, if I ascend up into heaven, thou art there. If I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall thy hand lead me and thy right hand shall hold me. We're not asking the Holy Spirit simply to come, for he is already here in the hearts of every believing soul. But we are imploring that he will come in the manifestation of his power and in the manifestation of his presence. Only such a manifestation can quicken the people of God. And only such a manifestation can cause a backslider to return. And only such a manifestation can save sinners. We need a great revival of the manifestation of the Spirit of God. God alone can give this manifestation. God alone can cause the sinner to forsake his sins. God alone can cause the chains to smash and the fetters to be scattered. Can make a sinful man and impute to him the righteousness of Christ. Oh, may this day we have the experience that Paul writes of, the Spirit of God shed abroad in our hearts, which the Holy Ghost giveth unto us. Notice, secondly, not only has the Holy Spirit taken for his emblem the wind, but the goings forth of the Spirit is like the wind. They cannot be foretold or traced. Let me say to you today, you cannot trace where the wind comes from. It can be perfectly still. In a moment or two, it can be blowing a gale and a tempest. Why does it not always blow a gale? Because we know not the workings of the wind. But thank God, there is a prayer for that wind of God to blow. And there has never been a revival in the church that has not come from the blowing of the wind of God. The Holy Spirit can, like the wind, be soft in one place and stormy in another place. On the day of Pentecost, what happened? There was a sound like a mighty wind, and it filled the apostles and the house in which they were sitting, and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost. In church history, over and over again, in days of darkness, in days of sorrow, in days of apostasy, God has moved as many times as God has moved. We cannot tell. They are beyond summing up. The Lord made bare His arm, or the Lord stayed His arm. One sows, another reaps, but it is God alone that gives the increase. I remember in the early days when so many people got converted, that the question would be asked by unbelievers. They would say, will the converts stand? I used to reply, if they are God's converts, they will stand forever. If they are my converts, they are worthless, because they never stood up anyway. So you get it straight. It is only God who can. He should be by a divine hand. I was reading an old hymn book the other day, and I came across these words, There is a river, deep and broad, its course no mortal knows. It fills with joy the church of God. It widens as it flows. Clearer than crystal is the stream, and bright with endless day. The waves with every blessing, tea, and life, and health, convey. Where'er they flow, contention cease. And love and meekness reign. The Lord Himself commands the peace, and foes conspire. Along the shores, angelic bands, watch every moving wheel. With holy joy their breasts expand, when men the waters creel. To them distressed souls repair. The Lord invites them now. They leave their cares and sorrows there. They drink, but they never die. Flow on, sweet stream, more largely flow. The earth with glory fill. Flow on, till all the Savior know, and will obey His will. In the last great day of the feast, we read, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto Me. He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. This He spake of the Spirit, which they that would believe should receive. For the Holy Ghost was not yet given, because Jesus Christ was not yet glorified. Remember this, thou will hearest the sound thereof. The wind can be heard, although it cannot be seen, but it can be heard. And when the Spirit of God comes, praise God, the Spirit of God can be heard. David, in 2 Samuel 5, 24, stood under the mulberry trees, and he heard the sound from the top of the mulberry trees. Elijah heard that sound, and he said to Ahab, Get up, eat and drink, for there is a sound of abundance of rain. The psalmist tells us, God has gone up with a shout, with a sound. And in the final book, we hear the voice of Jesus. In chapter 1 and verse 15 of Revelation, in His voice is as the sun. Have we heard the joyful sound? Do we hear it today? The sound of the Holy Ghost is over ears to hear. What a great thing it is when the sound leads to the echo in the hearts of men. The instantaneous springing up of good seed. There are seeking souls everywhere. We should be carrying in our hearts the sound of the commission to open our lips and speak the gospel. I was canvassing, as I've already said, in Philomena yesterday. A young man came up and took me by the hand and burst into tears. I took him to the side way of the footpath. I said, what's your problem? He said, the nearest and dearest one in our family, Mr. Paisley, passed away last night, and I am really shattered. And I had the great joy of pointing that dear man to Christ, who alone can help in a time like that. What do you say to a man when he's shattered? You don't tell him to come to church. You tell him to come to Jesus. And I thought of that hymn as I left him. There's not a friend like the lowly Jesus. No, not one. The sound of Jesus. That's what we want to hear in our hearts. And how the angel's shout of Jesus is heard. The Spirit of God is like the wind that can level the tallest trees and buildings. Oh, how mighty tall centers we have in the world. The Lord can smash every one of them. The great buildings of the devil's iniquity can all be smashed. He can make us the destroyer of the battlements of hell. He'll build his church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against him. As the wind clears the atmosphere and increases the vision, so does the Spirit of God. You only need a wind, and the mist is chaste. The intervening clouds are put away when the wind blows in the right direction. Ships in the sea and ships in the sky make great speed. Yes, and the Spirit of God fills the clouds of infinite blessing and carries them big with power to their God-predestined destination. Oh, that God would put a mark on this church and say to the Holy Ghost, Breathe on that congregation. Breathe on that preacher. Breathe on the elders and the committee members and the Sunday school teachers. Breathe on the Ravenhill Road, O blessed Spirit. Come and breathe upon us. Let prejudice, ignorance, lovelessness be all scattered. Increase our faith so that revival shall break with overwhelming power upon our souls. Remove the awfulness of death by sending us life, which is more. Finally, none may perish, all may live, for Christ has died. Dear sinner friend in this congregation, there's a place and there's room at the cross for you. Heed not the devil. Listen not to the world. Be deaf to your sinful companions. Turn to Christ. Hasten to the cross. Cry out for pardon not. Christ will not refuse you. There is a welcome for you in his blessed bleeding side. Come ye souls by sin distressed. Plunge by faith beneath his blood. Then you'll surely be released from the painful ponderous load. Richly flows the crimson river down the great Emmanuel's side. And that blood would you deliver whence where it is applied. Christ, my sinner friend, is ready to receive you. See his blood-stained cross appear. From your sins he will relieve you and dissolve your every fear. Oh, behold the Lord expiring. See the suffering Lamb of God. And that love be much admiring which appears in streams of blood. Wash you, make you clean, put away the evil of your hearts. Trust in Christ and be saved forevermore. May God bless his word to our hearts for Jesus' sake. Let's bow our heads. Oh God, our Father, we thank thee for the blessed wind of God. We thank thee today for the power of that wind. And we pray that it may come into our souls. That there may be the sound of abundance of rain. Do as good we pray in Jesus' name. And everybody say, Amen. Amen.