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Every Wednesday We Post Studies in the Word
"Holy Spirit Study"
12 Studies in the Holy Spirit Weekly
(currently)
-Chuck Smith-
(1)
Jesus is about ready to go to the cross to be crucified. He is in the final sessions with His disciples who are deeply disturbed by His words as He speaks about going away. But in John 14 He said,
And 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; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. (John 14:16-17)
The purpose of the series that we are beginning tonight is to bring you into the knowledge of the person of the Holy Spirit, in order that you might come into a full, rich relationship with Him. It is our desire to so present His glory and beauty that you will seek to yield your life fully to Him, that you might know His grace, His love, His power, and the gifts of the Spirit in your life. We desire that you might come to experience Him as did Finney—that great American evangelist and theologian, who wrote these words:
After dinner we [referring to Squire Wright and himself] were engaged in removing our books and furniture to another office. We were very busy in this, and had but little conversation all the afternoon. My mind, however, remained in that profoundly tranquil state. There was a great sweetness and tenderness in my thoughts and feelings. Everything appeared to be going right, and nothing seemed to ruffle or disturb me in the least.
Just before evening the thought took possession of my mind, that as soon as I was left alone in the new office, I would try to pray again—that I was not going to abandon the subject of religion and give it up, at any rate; and therefore, although I no longer had any concern about my soul, still I would continue to pray.
By evening we got the books and furniture adjusted; and I made up, in an open fireplace, a good fire, hoping to spend the evening alone. Just at dark Squire W, seeing that everything was adjusted, bade me goodnight and went to his home. I had accompanied him to the door; and as I closed the door and turned around, my heart seemed to be liquid within me. All my feelings seemed to rise and flow out; and the utterance of my heart was, "I want to pour my whole soul out to God." The rising of my soul was so great that I rushed into the room back of the front office, to pray.
There was no fire, and no light, in the room; nevertheless it appeared to me as if it were perfectly light. As I went in and shut the door after me, it seemed as if I met the Lord Jesus Christ face to face. It did not occur to me then, nor did it for some time afterward, that it was wholly a mental state. On the contrary it seemed to me that I saw Him as I would see any other man. He said nothing, but looked at me in such a manner as to break me right down at his feet. I have always since regarded this as a most remarkable state of mind; for it seemed to me a reality, that He stood before me, and I fell down at his feet and poured out my soul to Him. I wept aloud like a child, and made such confessions as I could with my choked utterance. It seemed to me that I bathed His feet with my tears; and yet I had no distinct impression that I touched Him, that I recollect.
I must have continued in this state for a good while; but my mind was too much absorbed with the interview to recollect anything that I said. But I know, as soon as my mind became calm enough to break off from the interview, I returned to the front office, and found that the fire that I had made of large wood was nearly burned out. But as I turned and was about to take a seat by the fire, I received a mighty baptism of the Holy Ghost. Without any expectation of it, without ever having the thought in my mind that there was any such thing for me, without any recollection that I had ever heard the thing mentioned by any person in the world, the Holy Spirit descended upon me in a manner that seemed to go through me, body and soul. I could feel the impression, like a wave of electricity, going through and through me. Indeed it seemed to come in waves and waves of liquid love, for I could not express it in any other way. It seemed like the very breath of God. I can recollect distinctly that it seemed to fan me, like immense wings.
No words can express the wonderful love that was shed abroad in my heart. I wept aloud with joy and love; and I do not know but I should say, I literally bellowed out the unutterable gushings of my heart. These waves came over me, and over me, and over me, one after the other, until I recollect I cried out, "I shall die if these waves continue to pass over me." I said, "Lord, I cannot bear any more;" yet I had no fear of death. (Finney)
The experience in his own words, of Finney, that great American evangelist.
It is my prayer that you also shall come to a very vivid, glorious experience with the person of the Holy Spirit. It is important that we realize that the Holy Spirit is a person. If you think of the Holy Spirit only as an essence, only as a breeze, only as a power, it is very difficult to develop a meaningful relationship with an essence. If you think of the Holy Spirit as an impersonal force, an unintelligent power that permeates the universe, you really cannot love Him or call upon Him in your time of need.
He has been sent by the Father at the request of Jesus to come alongside of you to help you. Jesus said, "I will pray the Father. He shall give to you another Comforter, even the Spirit of truth" (John 14:16). And even in that you have—what we will take up in the next lesson— the Trinity, or the triunity of the Godhead. You have Jesus declaring,
I will pray the Father. He will give to you another Comforter [paraclete], even the Spirit of truth. (John 14:16)
The Son is praying to the Father that you might receive the Spirit.
Now there are certain necessary characteristics of personality. Three things are necessary for personality: 1) will, 2) intelligence, and 3) emotions. Personality has will, intelligence, and emotions. And if the Holy Scriptures ascribe these characteristics to the Holy Spirit, then it is safe to assume that He is indeed a person.
Personal pronouns are also used in reference to the Holy Spirit. In this promise that we read,
I will pray the Father. He [that is, the Holy Spirit] or the Father, He will give you another Comforter that He [the Holy Spirit] may abide with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him. But you know Him for He dwelleth with you and shall be in you. (John 14:16-17)
And then in John 16,
Nevertheless, I tell you the truth, it is expedient for you that I go away. For if I go not away the Comforter will not come unto you. But if I depart, I will send Him unto you. And when He is come, He will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment. Of sin because they believe not on Me. Of righteousness because I go to My Father and you see Me no more. Of judgment because the prince of the world is judged. I have yet many things to say unto you but you cannot bear them now. Howbeit, when He the Spirit of truth is come, He will guide you into all truth, for He shall not speak of Himself, but whatsoever He shall hear that shall He speak and He will show you things to come. He shall glorify Me for He shall receive of Mine and shall show it unto you. (John 16:7-14)
And so all of these personal pronouns are in reference to the Holy Spirit.
Intelligence is ascribed to the Holy Spirit. In 1 Corinthians 2,
But as it is written: Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those that love Him, but God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit, for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of man save the spirit of man which is in him. Even so, the things of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God. (1 Corinthians 2:9)
He knows the things of God.
Which things also we speak [Paul said] not in words which man's wisdom teacheth, but with the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. (1 Corinthians 2:13)
Now notice the things that Paul says about the Holy Spirit in this passage. And that is that God reveals things to us by the Holy Spirit—that the Spirit searches all things, the deep things of God. The things of God that man does not know, the Spirit knows. We have received the Spirit of God that we might know the things that are freely given to us by God, and the Holy Spirit then teaches us.
The Holy Spirit is spoken of as having a will—a second characteristic of personality. In the disbursement of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, in 1 Corinthians 12, Paul said,
But these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as He will. (1 Corinthians 12:11)
And then the Scripture speaks of the emotions of the Holy Spirit in Romans 15,
Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake and for the love of the Spirit, that you strive together with me in your prayers to God for me. (Romans 15:30)
Again the three, "I beseech for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake...for the love of the Spirit...and that you would strive together with me in your prayers to God for me"—Father, Son, Spirit.
In Isaiah 63 it says,
But they rebelled and vexed His Holy Spirit, therefore He was turned to be their enemy and fought against them. (Isaiah 63:10)
You can vex the Holy Spirit. Ephesians says,
Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption. (Ephesians 4:30)
So He can be grieved.
Now this would be impossible to say of just an essence or a non-person. A plant is a non-person. It would be ridiculous to say, "Oh, don't grieve that plant," or "You have vexed that plant—he is angry with you," or "Oh, that plant loves me." You see, you cannot say this of something other than a person. The Holy Spirit is a person who loves you and who can be grieved by you.
Not only are these characteristics of personality ascribed to the Holy Spirit—personal pronouns given to Him—but also there are personal acts that are attributed to the Holy Spirit. He speaks—again, it is hard for you to think of something other than a person speaking. In Acts, as they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said,
Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. (Acts 13:2)
In 1 Timothy,
Now the Spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith. (1 Timothy 4:1)
In Revelation,
He that hath an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit sayeth unto the churches. (Revelation 2:7)
Secondly, He intercedes,
Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities, for we know not what we should pray for as we ought, but theSpirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. (Romans 8:26 KJV emphasis added)
In the Revised Standard Version, "the Spirit Itself" is changed to "the Spirit Himself."
Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himselfintercedes for us with sighs too deep for words. (Romans 8:26 RSV emphasis added)
He testifies in John,
But when the Comforter has come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth which proceeds from the Father, He shall testify of me. (John 15:26)
Note again the three—when the Comforter has come, whom I will send to you from the Father—I will send from the Father. You have the Father, the Son, the Spirit.
Even the Spirit of truth which proceeds from the Father. He shall testify of me. (John 15:26)
It is doubly bound up in that verse. The Spirit of God teaches,
But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. (John 14:26)
And in Nehemiah,
Thou gavest also Thy good Spirit to instruct them and withheldest not the manna from their mouth and gave them water for their thirst. (Nehemiah 9:20)
He guides us in Acts,
Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden by the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia, after they were come to Mysia, they assayed to go to Bithynia; but the Spirit suffered them not. (Acts16:6-7)
And then He communes with us. Paul said,
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you all. Amen. (2 Corinthians 13:14)
Again notice the three: grace of our Lord Jesus Christ; love of God; and communion of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit strives with men in Genesis,
And the Lord said, 'My Spirit shall not always strive with man.' (Genesis 6:3)
And then He works miracles in Romans,
Through mighty signs and wonders by the power of the Spirit of God; so that from Jerusalem and round about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. (Romans 15:19)
Mighty signs and wonders are worked by the power of the Spirit of God.
Personal treatments are accorded to the Holy Spirit—that is, He can be grieved.
Paul said,
And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption. (Ephesians 4:30)
He can be lied to. In the case of Ananias and Sapphira,
But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? (Acts 5:3)
He can be resisted. Stephen, in his defense, in Acts said,
Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye. (Acts 7:51)
He can be vexed. We have already looked at that in Isaiah,
But they rebelled and vexed his holy Spirit. (Isaiah 63:10)
He can be blasphemed. In Mark, Jesus said,
Verily, I say unto you, All sin shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme. But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation. (Mark 3:28-29)
Now from these passages we can safely conclude that the Holy Spirit is indeed a person, possessing all of the characteristics of personality. And as a person, He can be known. As a person, you may develop a relationship with Him. As a person, you can come into a close, intimate fellowship with Him. And as a person, you can commune with Him.
Jesus, in promising the Holy Spirit, referred to the Holy Spirit as theparaclete. And He promised His disciples that He would pray the Father to give to them another Comforter—parakleton. The word paraklete in Greek means one who comes alongside to help. Jesus has been alongside of the disciples for several years. And He is now saying to them, "I am going away. Where I am going you cannot come now."
Surely you can imagine how they felt because they had come to so trust in the Lord. They had such confidence that He was the Master of every situation. Jesus was just a handy person to have around. They never had to worry when Jesus was there. If the Pharisees were trying to trip them up and stump them with some kind of a technical question, Jesus would handle them. And He could handle them quite handily. And so they would not have to worry—just talk to Him, you know. If there were taxes to pay and they did not have the money available—it was wonderful to have Jesus around—He would tell them just exactly how to get the money. "Go catch a fish, take the coin out of his mouth and pay the man." If they were out on a stormy sea in danger of sinking, it was always great to have Jesus around because He had the power to still the storm and to bring them safely into the desired haven.
All the way along they had come to trust in Jesus. They had come to rely upon Him. When Jesus was there, there was nothing to worry about. There was nothing to fear—He was there helping them. Now He is saying, "I am going away," and the disciples' hearts are filled with fear and turmoil. And that is why Jesus said, "Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." Those words indicated that their hearts were troubled—they were afraid. They wondered, "What will we do without Jesus?" And Jesus is now telling them what they will do.
"I will not leave you comfortless." The word there is orphanos. I will not leave you as orphans. I will pray the Father—He will give you anotherparakleton, another Comforter—one who will come alongside of you to help you. And that is exactly what the purpose of the Holy Spirit is. He is the one to whom you may come into a personal relationship, who will come alongside of you and help you in and through every situation of life. And Jesus is saying, "Just as I was with you and took care of every situation, so the Holy Spirit will be with you and will take care of every situation for you."
And that is why it is so very important that each of us come to know the person of the Holy Spirit. To know Him in His fullness, in order that we might experience that comfort, that help, the strength that we all need, especially in these days in which we are living.
Through the grace of God we are praying that during this series of studies, God will give to you such a knowledge of the Holy Spirit, such a hunger for the Holy Spirit, such a thirsting after the Spirit, that you will come to know Him as He has been revealed to us in the Scriptures. As you come into a deep, personal, intimate relationship with Him, your life will be absolutely transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit working in you.
So, it is my purpose during these studies to introduce you to the Holy Spirit. And it is my prayer that you come into a long and fruitful relationship with Him—that you will come to depend upon Him for your guidance, for your help, for your strength, for your comfort, and for power. And I pray that He will come and become closer to you than any person you know. May you be bathed in His glory and may you yield to His influence as you allow Him to conform your life into the image of Jesus Christ.
Now it is always dangerous to look at the experience of others and seek to have a duplication of their experience. Although Finney described his experience as waves of liquid love just flowing over and over and over until he cried out, "I will die if these waves continue to pass over me"—and though he described his experience as electricity, waves of electricity going though and through him—that could very well not be your experience. It is not necessary that you have the same reactions to the Holy Spirit or the same feelings that Finney had. The Holy Spirit is sovereign in the gifts that He bestows upon the believers. He is sovereign in the way He relates to us. Some, as Finney, have described experiences like electrical shocks and others have described tingling sensations. Some have described just waves of glory, while still others have described just an incomprehensible peace and love filling and flooding their soul.
I cannot tell you what experience you may have or how you might relate and how it will feel to you. That is not the important issue. It is not the feelings that are important and the Lord did not give us the Holy Spirit that we might have sensational feelings, such as electricity or liquid love. Those are wonderful! I am not discounting them, but I am just saying, do not premise your experience on the feelings or reactions that you may have to the Holy Spirit. Yours may be entirely different and it may be that you will not feel anything. But that does not negate the relationship with the Holy Spirit and the power that you will experience in your life when you come into that full, complete relationship that God wants you to have—that the Holy Spirit desires to have with you.
The purpose is not that you might get more of the Holy Spirit; but the purpose is that the Holy Spirit might get more of you—that your life will become controlled by the Spirit. Your character will be controlled by the Spirit, so that you will be led by the Spirit, that you will walk in the Spirit, and that you will be filled with the Spirit.
We have some exciting days ahead. Now, you do not have to wait for the end of the lessons to gain the benefit. You can go home tonight and just yield yourself to the Holy Spirit, giving yourself over to His control, to His filling—the yielding and the surrendering of your life to Him. And you can begin even this night—that glorious walk in the Spirit and experience that fullness that God desires for each of us.
When you look at the life of Finney and read of his revival meetings in which thousands of people came to Jesus Christ—eighty-five percent of them stuck with the Lord. When you read about cities where he was holding meetings and, after the meeting, every bar in town was closed due to the lack of customers, you begin to realize what the Holy Spirit can do when He comes upon a person's life. You will never know your full potential in Christ until you have yielded to the fullness of the Holy Spirit in your life.
Gordon, Finney, Moody, Torrey, Jonathan Edwards—down the line, these men of God who have done such a great work for God in their lifetime—each of them have their own testimonies of experiencing of the power of the Holy Spirit in their lives. And we hope, that as we go through this series that each evening, we will be able to give you a little personal testimony of these men as they relate, as did Finney, the experience they had of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And you will realize that the church is in desperate need today of a new, fresh work of the Holy Spirit. Unfortunately, we have sought to substitute programs and psychology and many other gimmicks for the power of the Holy Spirit. The church is suffering as a result and I am praying that God will give to us a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit in each of our hearts and lives—a renewing of the life of the Spirit within the church. Surely we need it and surely our community needs it desperately.
Shall we pray?
Father, we thank You that You sent the Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth; to teach us; to bear witness of Jesus Christ; to empower us. And we pray, Father, that You will bring us into a very rich, meaningful relationship with the Holy Spirit. As we learn about Him, as we learn about His work, as we learn about His gifts, and as we learn about His power, may we know more of His power in our own lives. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
WORKS CITED:
Finney, Charles. "Conversion to Christ." The Autobiography of Charles G. Finney. ChristiansUnite.com. 1876. 21 July 2005.http://bible.christiansunite.com/Charles_Finney/finney02.shtml.
[Unless otherwise noted, all Biblical references are quoted from King James Version.]
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It is the purpose of this series of studies to bring you into a close, intimate, personal relationship with the Holy Spirit. Our study last Thursday night dealt with the person of the Holy Spirit showing that, from the Scriptures, He has all the characteristics of personality and He is referred to with the personal pronouns. Thus He is not an it. He is not an essence. He is not just a force, but He is the person of the Holy Spirit. Tonight we purpose to show to you that He is the third person of the Godhead.
Before we get into those Scriptures, I would like to read to you the testimony of R. A. Torrey, who was the founder of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles, commonly known today as Biola University. He was an associate of Dwight Moody and in his book, The Baptism with the Holy Spirit, he recounts that he had been in the ministry for some years before he came to the place that he realized he had no right to preach until he was definitely baptized with the Holy Spirit. He told a friend that he was never going to enter the pulpit again until he knew that he had been baptized with the Holy Spirit, or until God, in some way, had told him to go. He then shut himself in his study alone and he spent the time continually on his knees, asking God to baptize him with the Holy Spirit. He said that he had mapped out in his mind what would happen—
But what Torrey had mapped out in his mind did not happen. He said he recalled the exact spot where he was kneeling in prayer in his study. It was a very quiet moment—one of the most quiet moments he had ever known. Indeed, he thought one reason he had to wait so long was because it took that long before his soul could get quiet before God. Then God simply said to him—not in an audible voice, but in his heart—"It is yours. Now, go preach." And he went and preached. And he was a new minister from that day on. He was then the pastor of a very obscure church, though he had taken two degrees at Yale and had studied at two German universities. But from that time his field began to wonderfully enlarge until at last, he had preached the gospel around the world and had seen hundreds of thousands converted to Christ (Torrey 266-267).
He recalls that sometime after that experience, while sitting in his room one day—that very same room—he does not remember what he was thinking about, but suddenly he was struck from his chair unto the floor and he found himself shouting. He said that he was not brought up to shout and that it was not his temperament. But he shouted like the loudest shouting Methodist. He was shouting, "Glory to God! Glory to God! Glory to God!" He said that he could not stop. It was like some other power, other than his own, was moving his jaw. These are the experiences of R. A. Torrey as recorded in the book, The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit.
As we look at the subject of the Trinity or the triunity of God, we first of all recognize from the Scripture, that it indeed is a mystery. In1 Timothy 3:16 Paul said,
And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.
So, God the Father was manifested in the flesh and Jesus Christ is justified in the Spirit.
I have no intention of trying to explain to you the Godhead. It is beyond the boundaries of the human mind to understand the nature of the infinite God. There is one God and yet He is manifested in three persons—that of the Father, and the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
G. Campbell Morgan declared,
The idea of one essence subsisting after a three-fold manner and in a trinity of relationships, finds nothing in the phenomena of nature upon which it can fasten as a sufficient symbol.
We are always trying to give some kind of a symbol by which we can then make an analogy to the Godhead, but as G. Campbell Morgan said, there just is not any symbol that can tie together what we understand about the Trinity (or the triunity of God.) Because it is a mystery, we cannot expect to reduce it to logical precepts. To our finite minds the doctrine is a contradiction.
How can you have one God and yet three persons? Some have tried to say that it is the three masks that the one God wears. The denial of the Trinity always brings with it the denial of the deity of Jesus Christ and the personality of the Holy Spirit. Some have suggested that the Trinity is a mathematical absurdity—one plus one plus one, they point out, equals three. However, one times one times one equals one—so that mathematically you cannot disprove the Godhead.
Paul, in speaking to the elders of the church at Ephesus in Acts 20, beginning with verse 28, said,
Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.
Notice the three there—"the Holy Spirit has made you the overseers of the church of God, which He purchased with His own blood." Paul said,
For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. Therefore, watch. (Acts 20:29-31)
So, he is telling them that it is their duty to watch and to take heed over this charge that they were given by the Holy Spirit to feed the church of God.
Now the triunity (or the Trinity of God) is manifested in the Old Testament not nearly as clearly as it is in the New Testament. But in the Old Testament, we surely have indications, hints, and declarations of the three aspects of the Godhead.
In Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning God..." the word translated "God" in Hebrew is Elohim and Elohim is a plural noun. The singular form in Hebrew is El, while the plural is Elohim. It is interesting that "in the beginning God," the first mention of God, would be plural rather than singular. Some seek to explain the use of this plural, Elohim, as what they call the plural of majesty or the plural of emphasis. But that is only an excuse that has been offered to explain away the fact thatElohim is plural and it is the name for God in Genesis 1.
The other Hebrew word for Lord is Adonai, which also is a plural. In Genesis 1 is the first mention of the Holy Spirit.
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
So the first mention of the Holy Spirit is right in Genesis 1:1-2.
And then when we get down to verse 26, "And God said, [that is,Elohim (the plural again) said] Let us [plural pronoun] make man after our own likeness and image." And here, plural pronouns are used concerning God, which wipes out that concept of the plural of majesty.
The Scriptures teach us that all three persons of the Godhead were active in the creation.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. And all things were made by him and without him was not anything made that was made. (John 1:1-3)
So John declares that Jesus was in the beginning with God; that He was the Word, the Eternal Word, and that He was with God; that He was God and that all things were made by Him. "Without Him was not anything made that was made."
Paul said, "For by Him were all things created [Him being Jesus.] And He is before all things and by Him all things consist" (Colossians 1:16-17).
The Son is in creation.
Also in Psalm 33:6, we read about the part of the Holy Spirit in creation.
By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the hosts of them by the breath [or the ruach] of his mouth.
The word ruach in Hebrew is breath, wind, or spirit. So the translation of Psalm 33:6 could very well read: "By the word of the Lord were the heavens made [and of course Jesus is the Word of the Lord] and all of the hosts of them by the Spirit [breath, ruach] of His mouth."
In Deuteronomy 6:4 is that which is called the Shema of the Hebrews. It is that which was chanted over, and over, and over again during their worship time at the temple—especially during the feast days. They would cry out over and over the Shema, "Yishrael Yahweh Elohim ekad Yahweh." Over and over they would chant that. And that was the whole basis of the monotheistic Hebrew religion—the oneness of God. But in looking at the Shema, it is interesting that the Yahweh (orJehovah) Elohim—again the plural for God—is combined with ekad Yahweh—one Yahweh (or one Jehovah.) This means: Israel, Jehovah Gods [plural]—one Jehovah. Not only is it interesting that the Elohim[plural] is used, but so is the use of the word ekad—for the word ekadin Hebrew is a compound unity. When God created Eve out of Adam, He said, "And the two shall be [ekad] one flesh"—compound unity.
There is another Hebrew word for "one" that is an absolute one, and that is yakad. And had, in the Shema, they declared, "Yishrael Yahweh Elohim yakad Yahweh," then you would have no basis to try to make an argument for the Trinity. But the fact that the Elohim is plural and theekad is a compound unity—even within the monotheistic chant of the Hebrews—is a suggestion of the triunity of God.
Moses commanded how Aaron and his sons were to put the blessings of God upon the people. According to Numbers 6:24-26, they were to say:
The LORD [Yahweh] bless thee and keep thee: The LORD [Yahweh] make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The LORD [Yahweh] lift up is countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.
Notice the threefold declaration of Yahweh—one Yahweh, yet why would it be repeated three times? "Yahweh bless thee and keep thee. Yahweh make His face shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee. And Yahweh lift up His countenance on thee and give thee peace."
And thus, the Lord said, you will put My name, the name Yahweh, on the children of Israel, and I will bless them. This is the trinity of the blessing in unity.
We also find when Isaiah saw his vision of the Lord high and lifted up, sitting on the throne, he heard the seraphim as they were saying, "Holy, holy, holy." Why three times? It is the Lord of hosts—the threefold holiness.
In the prophecy of the Messiah, in Isaiah 48:16, the Lord said,
Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord GOD, and his Spirit, hath sent me.
Notice, "the Lord God and His Spirit hath sent Me"—Jesus the Messiah. It is the Messiah speaking in verse 16.
Come ye near unto me. Hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning. From the time that it was, there am I. (Isaiah 48:16)
"In the beginning was the Word" and now, "The Lord God and His Spirit sent Me." The Revised Standard Version reads: "The Lord God hath sent Me and His Spirit" and that is more literal from the Hebrew. We find first of all, it is a prophecy of the coming of the Messiah and then the coming of the age of the Holy Spirit. So,
The Lord GOD hath sent me and his Spirit. (Isaiah 48:16RSV)
Of course in the New Testament, we have the triunity of God all the way through. At the baptism of Jesus in Matthew 3:16,
And 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.
Notice that Jesus was being baptized and there was then the Spirit of God descending like a dove. And then a voice from heaven was saying, "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well-pleased." We see Jesus baptized, the Spirit descending, and the Father speaking from heaven declaring His pleasure in His Son.
Now there is a sect that is called the Jesus Only sect. They are quite strong in the southern part of the United States and they have spread as far west as Arizona. There are a smattering few of them here in California, but not many. This Jesus Only sect has taken up the error of the early heresy in the church that was known as Sabellianism, which denied the separateness of the three persons of the Godhead. The Jesus Only sect declares that Jesus is the only God, that He is the Father, that He is the Son, and that He is the Holy Spirit—that He is all three.
Well, this particular passage of Scripture in Matthew 3:16 would seem to me to provide sort of a problem for them. Jesus would have to be some kind of a magician bringing forth a dove to land upon Himself—the Holy Spirit. And then He would have to be a ventriloquist throwing His voice up to heaven as He declared, "This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Hear ye Him."
In John 14:16-17 Jesus said,
And I will pray the Father and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth him: but you know him; for he dwelleth with you, and he shall be in you.
So the Spirit of Truth, the Comforter, was sent at Jesus' request to the Father.
Also in John 14:26, we have, "The Comforter, which is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name"— so again, all three.
When Jesus commissioned His disciples to go and to teach all nations, He said, "baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit"—all three again.
When Paul wrote his letter to the Ephesians he said,
There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. (Ephesians 4:4-6)
So, the Trinity being one Spirit, one Lord, one God—one times one times one.
It is interesting that most generally the Spirit is mentioned third—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. That is why He is commonly said to be the third person of the Trinity, because usually He is the third one mentioned. It is in nowise a reflection of inferiority, because surely, the Scripture teaches the co-equal aspects of the Godhead. But here the typical formula is reversed—the Spirit is mentioned first, Jesus second, and God third.
In Romans 15:30 Paul said,
Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that you strive together with me in your prayers to God for me.
So notice the three again, but this time Jesus is first, the Holy Spirit is second, and the Father is third. When we refer to the Spirit, as I mentioned, as the third person of the Godhead, there is no thought of inferiority. The Westminster Confession, says
There is but one only, living, and true God. In the unity of the Godhead there be three persons, of one substance, power, and eternity; God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. (The Westminster Confession, II:i,iii)
As Jesus was talking with His disciples in John 15, He said,
But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me. (John 15:26)
These personal pronouns are referring to the Holy Spirit. But the Comforter was sent to them from the Father at the request of Jesus.
In Paul's benediction in his second letter to the Corinthians, he said,
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with you all. Amen. (2 Corinthians 13:14)
Paul notes the grace of Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit—the three in one.
In Peter's message in Acts chapter 10 to the group that had gathered at the house of Cornelius, he declared how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit—all three are mentioned.
How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him. (Acts 10:38 )
In 1 John 5:7, we have the strongest declaration of the Trinity in the New Testament.
For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.
Now there is an objection by some who say that this particular Scripture does not exist in the original manuscript. The interesting thing of course, is that we do not have any original manuscripts. We are not certain what is in the original manuscript. For a person to say that it is not in the original manuscripts cannot be spoken in certainty, because we do not have original manuscripts that we can examine and look at. The oldest manuscripts that we have—and in my opinion they are rather poor manuscripts to say the best—are the Codex Sinaiticus,the Codex Alexandrinus, and of course, the Codex Vaticanus. And these are all from the same school of manuscripts. And it is true that this passage is not in these manuscripts. Nor is the latter portion of Mark's Gospel, from 16:7 on. They are not in those manuscripts. However, those manuscripts are dated about A.D. 412, which would be some 300 years after the original manuscripts. So, you have an intervening time of 300 years in which we have many, many other manuscripts and portions of manuscripts.
This particular verse in 1 John is not in the majority of the manuscripts. However, it is quoted by some of the early church fathers, who wrote in the second century, as is the latter part of the Gospel of Mark 16. So, the fact that it is quoted by early church fathers who lived in the second century some 150 to 200 years before theCodex Sinaiticus, they must have been quoting from some manuscript that was older than the Codex Sinaiticus. And so, the argument that it does not appear in the oldest, full manuscripts—and the Codex Sinaiticus is not really a full manuscript—it really does not bear that much weight. And I think that that is one of the major mistakes of the Westcott and Hort text. They relied almost completely, over ninety-five percent, on the codices Sinaiticus, Alexandrinus, and Vaticanus.But that is only for you who are interested in the textual criticism.
But even without 1 John 5:7, which of course is very strong—
There are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit and these three are one.
—even without this particular text, surely there are enough other texts in the New Testament where the three are coupled together, as we have already demonstrated, that the evidence is conclusive that there are three persons and yet one God.
Now divine names are given to the Holy Spirit. In Acts 5:3,
But Peter said, "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back part of the price of the land?"
You remember Ananias's wife, Sapphira, sold some land and they brought a portion of the money earned and laid it at the apostles' feet. Now this was a bit of hypocrisy because Ananias was acting like he was giving everything—giving all, you know. And Peter says,
Why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit in that you have kept back part of the price of the land?
And then he said,
Look, you did not have to give anything. While it remained was it not your own? And after you sold it, it was in your own power. You could do with the money whatever you wanted. But why have you conceived this thing in your heart?
This was deception. And then he said,
You have not lied unto men, but unto God. (Acts 5:3-4KJV)
Now, in the previous verse he said you have lied to the Holy Spirit and now he said you have lied to God. And so there is a geometrical theorem that applies here. It has been too long since I have had my geometry to remember the theorem. But it is something about equal sides and equal angles. If you have lied to the Spirit and then you have lied to God, then it makes them equal. It means they are the same.
In 2 Corinthians 3:18, Paul speaks of our being transformed from glory to glory by the Spirit of the Lord. Now the phrase, "the Spirit of the Lord," has been translated in the newer versions more correctly and more literally from the Greek, "by the Lord, the Spirit." And it is in the Greek, hapo curios numetous—the Lord the Spirit.
The Holy Spirit possesses divine attributes. He is eternal.Hebrews 9:14 says,
How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
Again the Trinity—the blood of Christ, through the eternal Spirit, purges your conscience from dead works to serve the living God.
The Holy Spirit is omnipresent. Psalm 139:7-10 says,
Wither shall I go from thy spirit? or wither shall I flee from thy presence? 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.
The Spirit is omnipresent. In heaven, He is there; in hell, He is there; and in the uttermost parts of the sea, He is there. I cannot flee from the Spirit.
He is omniscient. 1 Corinthians 2:10 says,
But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit, for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
He knows all things—the deep things of God.
For what man knoweth the things of man save the spirit of man which is in him. Even so, the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. (1 Corinthians 2:11 KJV)
He knows—as with God—all things. He is omniscient.
The Holy Spirit is omnipotent. When the angel was promising to Mary that God had chosen her as the vessel to bring the Messiah into the world, she questioned,
How can this be since I am really a virgin? I have not had relationships with a man.
The angel answered and said unto her in Luke 1:35,
The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee. [The Holy Spirit is the power of the highest.] Therefore also that Holy One, which shall be born of thee, shall be called the Son of God.
All three are there—the Holy Spirit, the power of the Highest, and the result is the Son of God.
The Holy Spirit is identified with Jehovah of the Old Testament. Verses in the Old Testament that are described to Jehovah are ascribed, in the New Testament, to the Holy Spirit. In Isaiah 6:8 for instance:
Also, I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send and who will go for us?" Then said I, "Here am I. Send me." And he said, "Go and tell this people, Here ye indeed, but understand not. See ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat and make their ears heavy and shut their eyes, lest they see with their eyes, hear with their ears, and understand with their heart and convert and be healed." (Isaiah 6:8-10)
Another example is found in Acts 28:25 with Paul the Apostle:
When they had agreed not among themselves, he departed. And after that Paul had spoken one word, well spake the Holy Spirit by Isaiah the Prophet unto our fathers saying, "Go unto this people and say, hearing ye shall hear and shall not understand, and seeing ye shall see and not perceive." (Acts 28:25-26)
So, that which the Lord spoke to Isaiah, Paul ascribes to the Holy Spirit in the Book of Acts.
Jeremiah 31:31 says,
Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah, not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, which my covenant they brake, although I was a husband unto them, saith Jehovah. But this shall be the covenant that I shall make with the house of Israel after those days, saith Jehovah, I will put my law in their inward parts. I will write in their hearts. And I will be their God and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor and every man his brother saying, Know Jehovah, for they shall know me from the least of them to the greatest of them, saith Jehovah, for I will forgive their iniquity. I will remember their sin no more. (Jeremiah 31:31-33)
Hebrews 10:15 says,
Whereof the Holy Ghost also is witness to us. For after that he had said before, "This is the covenant that I make with them after those days, saith Jehovah. I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them. And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more." (Hebrews 10:15-17)
So, the Holy Spirit is declared to be the one who inspired the prophet Jeremiah, though Jeremiah said it was Jehovah who spoke to him these things. The Holy Spirit is the one who inspired the writing of the Bible.
In Mark 12:36,
For David himself said by the Holy Spirit, "The Lord said to my lord, Sit thou on my right hand till I make thine enemies thy footstool."
David said this by the Holy Spirit.
In Acts 1:16 Peter said,
Men and brethren, this Scripture must needs have been fulfilled which the Holy Spirit by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas, which was a guide to those that took Jesus.
This is acknowledging that David was speaking through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
And Peter tells us in 2 Peter 1:21,
For prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.
He was the one who inspired the writings of the holy men of old, which we call the Bible—the Scriptures.
But not only that—Jesus said He was the one who would inspire the apostles. And so, after telling them that they were going to be brought before the synagogues and to the magistrates and the powers, Christ says in Luke 12:12,
Take ye no thought how or what thing ye shall answer or what ye shall say. For the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what you ought to say.
Do not take any forethought. Do not worry about it, for in the same hour the Holy Spirit will give you what you need to say. Inspired, the Old Testament writers would be the inspiration to the apostles and to the servants of Jesus Christ when brought before the judges, the magistrates, and the councils.
Now, the fulfillment of this is clearly seen in Acts 7, when Stephen was arrested and brought before the council and he began to give his defense of his faith. And the latter part of Acts 6 says,
And all that sat in the council, looking steadfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel. (Acts 6:15)
And then the high priest asked Stephen, "Are these things so?" And Stephen began to preach to them one of the most masterful sermons ever preached. He started out on the common ground, speaking of their favorite subject: their fathers, their illustrious fathers. They were a very proud people—proud of their national heritage. They were always saying, "Well, our fathers..." and boasting in the illustrious, glorious fathers of the Hebrew nation. So he pointed out to them how that their fathers sold Joseph for twenty pieces of silver; deciding not to kill him, they sold him as a slave for twenty pieces of silver and he was carried away to Egypt. They were so hard-hearted they were not moved by his tears and all.
When Joseph was being taken away to Egypt, they did not realize that God had indeed ordained him to rule over them. They did not recognize that the first time around with Joseph. But the second time around, when they came to Egypt and they were all bowing before him when he was giving them a bad time, then they recognized that Joseph was ordained by God to the position that he had. They rejected it the first time with Joseph, but the second time they saw, they acknowledged, they recognized.
Their illustrious fathers turned their backs on Moses and he had to flee. And Moses thought that surely they understood that God had chosen him to lead the children of Israel out of the bondage in the Egypt. He knew the call of God and when he first tried to fulfill it, they rejected him. They cast him out; He had to flee to the wilderness, but the second time around, they recognized that, yes, he is God's ordained leader.
Can you see what he is building to? The first time around, they rejected Jesus, just like their fathers rejected Joseph—just like their fathers rejected Moses. But the second time around they recognized what God was doing. And so he is saying basically, "Hey, next time around you will know that you were more stupid than your fathers."
But then Stephen went on to say, "Which of the prophets did not your fathers kill? I mean, they were ignorant. But you have done the worst of all because you have killed the one whose coming the prophets all declared." And that really burned them. I mean, the truth cuts and hurts.
And so, they would not listen and they stopped their ears. They began to gnash their teeth—screaming. They drug him out and stoned him to death because they could not stand the truth. But how masterful to show them that they were following the pattern that had long-existed in the nation: that of missing God's Anointed the first time around, but recognizing Him the second time around. Inspired by the Holy Spirit!
We read that Peter was standing before the council being asked a leading question that could lead to his being stoned. It says, "But Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit said, 'Ye men and rulers of Israel...'" He was filled with the Holy Spirit and thus speaking to them. And when he was through, it says they wondered. They were marveling because of the wisdom—because they perceived that they were ignorant and unlearned men. The Jewish council was thinking these guys do not have any college degrees, and yet, the wisdom with which they spoke! Why? Because it is the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is a person, the third person of the Godhead. He is the gift that God has given to you and to me—to His church. And He will come to be a Comforter, Parakeltos. He will come alongside of you to help you in your Christian walk. He will come alongside of you to guide you in the way of truth. He will come alongside of you to strengthen you. He will indwell you that you might be empowered to be conformed into the image of Jesus Christ.
As we continue our study in this most important subject—the Holy Spirit and you—we are going to talk more about the indwelling and the out flowing of the Holy Spirit; the gifts of the Holy Spirit; the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer; the work of the Holy Spirit in the church; the gifts of the Holy Spirit in the church; and the work of the Holy Spirit in the world. Shall we pray?
Father, how we thank You for the gift of the Holy Spirit that has been given through the request of Jesus—given to the church and that we have now this blessed privilege of our bodies becoming the temple of the Holy Spirit to dwell in us. And so Lord, we wish to present our bodies to You as living sacrifices. And we invite the Holy Spirit to come and to take residence within us. We yield ourselves to be controlled by the Spirit, filled with the Spirit, baptized in the Spirit. Lord, work in our hearts by Your Holy Spirit, as He conforms us into the image of Jesus Christ and as He gives us the power to bear witness of Jesus Christ to a dark and dying world. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
WORKS CITED:
Torrey, R.A. The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit. Whitaker House, 1996. pages 266-267
[Unless otherwise noted, all Biblical references are quoted from King James Version.]
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Regarding the subject of the Holy Spirit, C. H. Spurgeon said,
I believe, brethren, that whenever the church of God declines, one of the most effectual ways of reviving her is to preach much truth concerning the Holy Spirit. After all, He is the very breath of the church. Where the Spirit of God is, there is power. If the Spirit be withdrawn, then the vitality of the godliness begins to decline and we are backsliding. Let us turn to the Spirit of God crying, 'Quicken Thou me in Thy way.' If we sorrowfully perceive that any church is growing lukewarm, be it our prayer that the Holy Spirit may work graciously for its revival. Let us return to the Lord. Let us seek again to be baptized into the Holy Spirit and into fire and we shall yet again behold the wonderful works of the Lord. He sets before it an open door and if we enter not, we ourselves are to be blamed. (C. H. Spurgeon)
Note that last part: "Let us return to the Lord. Let us seek again to be baptized into the Holy Spirit and into fire and we shall yet again behold the wonderful works of the Lord. He sets before us an open door. If we enter not, we ourselves are to blame." Tonight we would like to look at the subject of the work of the Holy Spirit in the world.
Jesus, in promising the Holy Spirit, the Blessed Paraklete, to the disciples said,
Whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: But ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and he shall be in you. (John 14:17)
The Holy Spirit has been dwelling here on the earth from the beginning of creation. In verse 2 of Genesis,
The earth was without form and void and the Spirit of God moved over the face of the waters. (Genesis 1:2)
Now in John16:7, when Jesus was speaking of the coming of the Holy Spirit, He declared,
Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient [or necessary] for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world [The work of the Holy Spirit in the world] of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they believe not on me; Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. (John 16:7-11)
In Genesis chapter 6, when God saw the wickedness of the earth was exceedingly great and He declared His intention of destroying man from off of the face of the earth because the imagination of his heart was only evil continually, God declared, "My Spirit will not always strive with man." God's Spirit had been striving with those people in Noah's day. The Spirit had been convicting them of their sin. The Spirit was working in the world, reproving the world of their sin, but they were rejecting the Holy Spirit. Though He was striving with them, in their hearts they knew what they were doing was wrong. They closed their minds and their hearts to the Holy Spirit and thus, God warned, "It is not going to always be. My Spirit will not always strive with man." There comes that day when the Spirit ceases to strive and the judgment of God comes, just as it did in the times of Noah.
Today we often call the striving of the Holy Spirit with man, the voice of conscience. Paul, in Romans 2, speaks of the law of God that is written in the hearts of man—the unregenerate man. Even in man's heart, God has written His law. Paul said, "The conscience also bearing them witness, as their thoughts either accuse or excuse them." So, God's law is written on the hearts of man and their conscience is reproving them. Paul is talking about unregenerate men. In First Timothy 4:2, Paul speaks of those whose conscience had been seared as with a hot iron, who had rejected the voice of the Holy Spirit until they were able to do things without feeling guilt or without feeling any kind of remorse.
I was at a seminar at which some of the social scientists who follow the trends of society were sharing with us on how the church should prepare for the year 2000. And a man who has done a lot of research and written a book on the subject was saying that, for the most part, we adults are out of touch with what is happening in our world. We are out of touch with what is going on with the young people. He said we are living in a day and fast moving towards that time when the young people will have no consciousness of evil. They will not even know what evil is, and thus, they will be able to commit the most horrible crimes and not feel any sense of remorse. And since that conference, many times I have observed the remarks of the commentators after some of these serial killers are caught. When they are sitting there being tried, or even when sentence is passed, so often the remark is, "And they showed absolutely no remorse." They have consciences that are seared as with a hot iron.
The Spirit of God does convict of sin. He reproves the world of sin. But people can and do resist this work of the Holy Spirit. When Stephen was standing before the Jewish council, he finally accused them of resisting the Holy Spirit, even as their fathers did.
When Jesus apprehended Paul on the road to Damascus, Jesus said to Paul, "It is hard for you to kick against the goads." This is interesting because Paul testified that as far as the righteousness of the law was concerned, he was blameless; that he had always sought to live with a clean conscience before God. And yet there was something inside that was goading him, so that when the Lord apprehended him, He said, "It has been hard for you to kick against the goads." (Acts 9:5 NKJV)
In Zechariah 7:12,
Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the Lord of hosts has said in his Spirit by the former prophets.
They hardened their hearts, made them as adamant stone, so that they would not hear the Spirit—hear the law and the words which the Lord of hosts had sent by His Spirit—by the former prophets. Therefore came a great wrath from the Lord of hosts. When a person hardens his heart and will not listen to the Spirit, then God has no alternative but judgment.
So we see a world today that has turned a deaf ear to the reproof of the Holy Spirit. We hear people mocking against a righteous life, mocking Jesus Christ, and mocking the witness of the Spirit. Now the witness of the Holy Spirit to the world is that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the only Savior. Jesus said He is witnessing of sin because they believe not in Him.
The name "Jesus" bespeaks His mission. The angel said,
Thou shalt call His name JESUS [or Joshua]: for he shall save his people from their sins. (Matthew 1:21)
His name, Jesus, derives from the Greek for the Hebrew, Joshua, which is the contraction of Jehovah Shua, or Jehovah is salvation. He said He came to seek and to save those that were lost. That was His mission. And the Holy Spirit testifies to the world, reproves the world, of sin because they do not believe in Jesus.
It is my belief that the continual rejecting of the witness of the Spirit to the heart of man constitutes the sin of the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. It is the sin that will ultimately consign a person to hell. And when the final day of judgment comes and the books are opened, you will be judged by your works. But the second book is the Book of Life and if your name is not found in the Book of Life, then you will be cast, according to the Scripture, into the lake that is burning with fire. The refusal to accept Jesus Christ, thus not having your name in the Book of Life, is an unpardonable sin.
Jesus said He did not come into the world to condemn the world, but that the world,
through Him, might be saved. And he that believeth is not condemned. Oh, that you would underline that in your mind and in your heart. He that believeth is not condemned. Those words should strike a chord of rejoicing in your soul. He that believeth is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already.
Now the Holy Spirit is reproving the world of sin because they do not believe in Jesus. "He that does believe is not condemned. But he that believeth not is condemned already," Jesus said, "seeing he has not believed in the only begotten Son of God." This is the issue: your believing in God's provision for your sin, your believing that God sent His only begotten Son who bore your sin, who died in your place. This is the witness of the Holy Spirit. This is the witness of the Spirit to the world.
They are suffering from the conscience. They know that they are not doing what is right, but they will not come to Jesus Christ to receive the cleansing and the forgiveness. So this is the condemnation—that light has come into the world, but they will not come to the light because men love the darkness rather than the light because their deeds are evil.
When Jesus sent His disciples into all the world to preach the gospel, He said,
He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. (Mark 16:16)
The whole issue is believing in Jesus Christ. It is the difference between being forgiven and being condemned. That is the whole issue. "Of sin," Jesus said, "because they do not believe in Me." It is interesting He did not say, "Of sin because they are, you know, into pornography, and they are into fornication, and they are into this, and they are into that." No: "Of sin, because they do not believe in Me" (John 16:9).
John testified,
He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him. (John 3:36)
And then John said if you believe not, actually you are making God a liar. You are making the Holy Spirit a liar. You are blaspheming the Holy Spirit by your rejecting, or your refusal to believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, who bore the sins of the world. If you believe not, you make God a liar, for you do not believe the record that God gave of His Son. You do not believe the testimony of the Holy Spirit concerning Jesus Christ.
Concerning the day of final judgment, Revelation 20 says,
And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which was the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:11-15)
Your name is written in the Book of Life by virtue of your believing in Jesus Christ.
Now the Holy Spirit is not only reproving the world of sin, but He is also reproving the world of righteousness. Sin is doing the wrong thing. Righteousness is doing the right thing. Righteousness—the Holy Spirit shows to the world what is the right thing to do, the right actions to take, and the right reactions to take. Sin is missing the mark. Righteousness is hitting the mark. And the Holy Spirit bears witness, or reproves the world of righteousness, by pointing to Jesus Christ as the prime example of righteousness. He is what God intended us to be.
Peter said, "He has set for us an example that we should follow in His steps" (1 Peter 2:21). Do you want to know what God wants of you? Look at Jesus Christ. Do you want to know what God intended man to be? Look at Jesus Christ. And so the Holy Spirit in reproving the world of righteousness does so by pointing to Jesus Christ. He is the example. He is what God would have you to be. As you yield—and we will get to this in a further lesson—as you yield to the Holy Spirit the work of the Holy Spirit within you is that of conforming you into the image of Christ.
But to the world, He reproves them of righteousness—again, pointing to Jesus Christ.
Jesus said, "Of righteousness because I ascend unto My Father" (John 16:10). Now the logical question would be, what does the ascension of Jesus Christ testify to us of righteousness? How does the Holy Spirit put the two together? Jesus said, "Of righteousness because I ascend to the Father."
Paul the Apostle tells us that the unrighteous are not going to inherit the kingdom of heaven, in 1 Corinthians 6:9. In Galatians 5, when he lists for us the works of the flesh, Paul adds, "I told you before that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of heaven." So read 1 Corinthians 6:10 in its context and read Galatians 5, the works of the flesh, in its context. And they that do these things—these things are unrighteous things. They are not right. And if you do these things, you are not going to inherit the kingdom of heaven.
In the Book of Revelation we are told that God will not allow anything to enter that defiles, because it would defile heaven. In Ephesians 5, Paul tells us that "no whoremonger or unclean person or covetous man who is an idolater hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God." So the Holy Spirit is reproving the world of their unrighteousness as He testifies to them of righteousness and as He points to the ascension of Jesus Christ into heaven.
In Hebrews we are exhorted to "Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord" (Hebrews 12:14). So the Holy Spirit is speaking to us about a holy life, about a righteous life—the denial of the flesh life. But what about the ascension of Jesus into heaven? What does that have to do with it?
Well, we have been talking about the things that will keep a man out of the kingdom of heaven. The works of the flesh will keep a man out of the kingdom of heaven. When Jesus ascended into heaven, God was bearing witness to the world that here is a man who lived such a righteous life that His righteousness grants Him an entrance into the kingdom of heaven. In other words, God is saying, "This is the righteousness that will get you in. This is the righteousness that it takes to get you into the kingdom of heaven."
Now one day Jesus said to His disciples, "Except your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will in no wise enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:20). And what a shocker that must have been to the disciples, because the scribes and Pharisees were known for their righteousness! They were the fellows who were always straining at gnats and swallowing camels. They were men who were always so careful to demonstrate their righteousness before the people, trying to keep every little jot and tittle of the law, according to their interpretations of it. And they even went beyond the intention of the law in many places, as far as the physical keeping of it. But of course inwardly, they were breaking it all the time because of the attitude of their hearts. But the scribes and Pharisees were known for being righteous and yet Jesus said, "Unless your righteousness exceeds theirs, you are not going to enter the kingdom of heaven."
Do not believe the lies of Satan, whereby he seeks to convince you that somehow God will be persuaded to let all kinds of people into heaven who are basically sincere, good people. Do not believe that God will tolerate evil or that God will allow evil within the kingdom of heaven—providing you are not too bad. Do not believe that God will give you some kind of special dispensation and allow you to live after the flesh, but still grant you entrance into the kingdom. Read again the list and read the warning. We know that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of heaven.
Jesus lived the kind of life and exemplified the kind of righteousness that God will accept. And by His ascension into heaven God is saying, "This is it. This is the standard that will get you into heaven, a righteousness greater than that of the scribes and the Pharisees." Nothing short of that righteousness can grant you entrance into the kingdom of heaven.
You might say, "Well Chuck, aren't you closing the door to all of us?" Yes, as far as your own righteousness and efforts are concerned, I am. If you are thinking you can get there on the basis of your good works or your good intentions or your efforts—forget it! You will never make it. There is only one way that any of us will find entrance into the kingdom of heaven, and that is through the righteousness of Jesus Christ that is imparted to us by our faith and trust in Him. You cannot perform any kind of service or duty to God that He will accept as admission into the kingdom of heaven. Only by faith in Jesus Christ can you ever find entrance into the kingdom of heaven.
The third thing the Holy Spirit reproves the world of is judgment. And Jesus said, "Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged." We earlier read in Revelation concerning what is commonly called, "the great white throne judgment of God." The Holy Spirit is not really reproving the world of that. "Of judgment," He said, "because the prince of this world is judged." Where and when was the prince of this world judged? On the cross of Jesus Christ, the power of Satan was broken. His hold over the earth was wrested. Paul tells us inColossians 2:13,
And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of the flesh, hath he made quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses, blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it [or in the cross]. (Colossians 2:13-15)
So, on the cross Jesus Christ triumphed over the principalities and powers of darkness. And He made an open display of His victory in the resurrection. He defeated or spoiled those principalities and powers of darkness, which were against us. He triumphed over them on the cross; and thus, the prince of this world has been judged. His authority and his power that he once had has been overcome through the power of Jesus Christ.
Now, when you belong to Jesus and are walking in the Spirit, you have power over the principalities and powers of darkness. The world is still under the power of Satan, but the Holy Spirit bears witness to the world that they do not have to be chained by sin any longer. They do not have to be a captive and be held by the enemy in darkness any longer. You can be free! Jesus broke the chains. And He will break the chains by which Satan is holding you. The prince of this world has been judged. He has been thoroughly defeated and he only holds people by usurped authority and power. Jesus died for the sins of the world and you can be set free from the power of sin. You do not have to live in sin any longer. And this is the witness of the Holy Spirit to the world, as He is seeking to draw men unto Jesus Christ and unto the kingdom of God.
So we have the threefold witness of the Holy Spirit. 1) Of sin, because they do not believe in Jesus. 2) Of righteousness, because Jesus is the standard of righteousness that you must attain if you ever have any hope of entering the kingdom of heaven. And when you look at the righteousness of Christ, you will realize that you cannot attain it in yourself. You are bound up to God's provisions through faith. That is the righteousness that God imputes to the believing sinner. And 3) He then testifies that you do not have to be ruled by sin any more because the prince of this world has been judged. Therefore sin is not to reign in your mortal body any longer.
Writing to the Romans, Paul said,
Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin, therefore, reign in your mortal body that ye should obey it in the lusts of thereof. (Romans 6:11-12)
That is a command. Do not let sin reign in your mortal body that you should obey the lust. "Neither yield your members as instruments of unrighteousness" (Romans 6:13). That is, your body; do not yield the members of your body as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin. But yield yourselves unto God and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. "For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace" (Romans 6:14). Sin shall not have dominion over you. Satan has been judged. His power has been broken. And you can have, through Jesus Christ, that victory over the powers of darkness. That is the witness of the Holy Spirit to your heart and to the world.
Thank God! I am free. Shall we pray?
Father, we thank You for the work of the Holy Spirit in the world even tonight, a world that is darkened by sin and the powers of darkness. We thank You, that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. That His power still avails and prevails over the powers of darkness. Thank You, Lord, that Your Holy Spirit bore witness of the truth to our hearts and drew us to Jesus Christ. He planted faith in our hearts towards Him whereby our sins were forgiven. The Holy Spirit came in and is bringing to us that righteousness of Christ, as He conforms us into the image of Christ. We thank You, Lord, that through our faith it is imputed as though it was already done and accomplished. We thank You, Lord, the powers of Satan have been broken and we have been set free from the power of sin and the darkness of Satan. He has been judged and sin no longer reigns in our mortal bodies, but the Spirit of God reigns. Lord, fill us with Your Holy Spirit. Lord, draw us by Your Holy Spirit to Jesus Christ and to the fullness that You desire for each of us as we walk in the Spirit, not fulfilling any longer the desires of the flesh. Lord, we desire to be filled until we overflow with the fullness of Your Holy Spirit. In Jesus' name. Amen.
[Unless otherwise noted, all Biblical references are quoted from King James Version.]
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Last week we talked about the work of the Holy Spirit in the world and the convicting of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment in drawing men to Jesus Christ. Tonight we wish to continue the subject of the work of the Holy Spirit in the world, as we see Him as the restraining force against evil.
The Bible tells us that there is one final, great battle to be fought before Satan is forced to give over the control of the earth to the Lord. And at the present time, Satan is mustering his forces for this final conflict, in which I feel that Satan is deceived into thinking that he is going to win.
In Revelation 19:19, John said,
And I saw the beast [that is, the antichrist], and the kings of the earth, and their armies gathered together to make war against Him [that is, Jesus Christ] that sat on the horse, and against His army.
So there is this one final conflict before the Lord establishes God's kingdom upon the earth.
In Revelation 13:2, John said,
And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon [or Satan] gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.
This is a reference to the antichrist, the man of sin, the son of perdition, who will soon come on the scene to take over the governments of the world. Satan endows him with his power. He gives to him his throne. And he also gives to him great authority.
Originally the earth was the Lord's and the fullness thereof. He created it. When God created man and placed him upon the earth, He said, "Let Us make man and give him dominion over the earth" (Genesis 1:26). And so, God gave to man that dominion, or rule, over the earth. But man surrendered that dominion unto Satan in his double action of disobedience to the command of God, and obedience to the suggestion of Satan to eat the forbidden fruit.
Paul said in Romans 6:16,
Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
And when Adam yielded himself in obedience unto Satan, he became a servant of Satan. And, thus, Satan gained dominion over the earth. Adam rebelled against the authority of God and the commandment of God. And it was a double action of disobedience and rebellion to the commandment of God and, by the same token, it was obedience to the suggestion of Satan. Man became a servant of sin unto death and Satan gained the rule over the earth—the dominion of the earth.
Now, God sent His Son in order to redeem the world back to God. And when Satan took Jesus up to the high mountain, he showed Him the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them. And Satan offered them to Jesus if He would just bow and worship him, for Satan boasted, "They are mine and I can give them to whomever I will" (Luke 4:6).
Now this is manifested in Revelation 13:2, when we find that the dragon or Satan gives to the antichrist (the beast), his power, his throne, and great authority. Satan said, "It is mine. I can give it to whomever I will." Jesus did not dispute that. He recognized that Satan was the prince of this world. He called him such. But Jesus had come to redeem the world back to God. And by His death upon the cross, Jesus paid the price for our redemption. We are redeemed not with corruptible things, such as silver and gold from our vain manner of living, but with the precious blood of Jesus Christ, who was slain as a lamb without spot or blemish.
So Jesus, through the virtue of His death upon the cross, paid the price for the redemption of this world. But in Hebrews 2:8 the writer said,
Thou hast put all things in subjection under his [that is, Jesus'] feet. For in that he put all things in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under Him.
We do not yet see it. He has not yet laid claim to that which He purchased. In the meantime—and we will deal with this more fully at a later discussion—in the meantime, He has sealed us with the Holy Spirit of promise. This is the down payment, so to speak—the earnest of our inheritance until He redeems His purchased possession.
The Lord has redeemed me. I belong to Him. He has not yet claimed me and taken me home. But in the meantime, He has given to me the Holy Spirit to show that He is earnest in His intent to redeem me fully and completely, and to claim me as His own. So, God has put all things in subjection unto Jesus. We do not yet see all things in subjection. He has not yet taken the authority by which He is to reign.
Now in Revelation chapter 5, we find Jesus doing just that—taking authority. We find Him coming, taking the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sits upon the throne, as His worthiness is declared. But that is a yet future event. We do not yet see the world in subjection unto Jesus Christ. In fact, the world lies in the control of the wicked one, even to the present time.
For His own reasons and purposes, God has left Satan in control over the present, evil world system. God intends that during this time in which Satan is still in control, those who desire to serve God, to live with God, can be redeemed from the power of sin through Jesus Christ. They can be sealed with the Holy Spirit, and they can be empowered by the Holy Spirit to live in obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ. And so, Christians are then waiting for that day.
We are living in an unredeemed world as yet. However, being redeemed and living in this unredeemed world that is still under the power of Satan, we find ourselves in the midst of a spiritual warfare. And it is becoming more pronounced every day. Satan is mustering his forces for this final battle and he is manifesting his power as never before. Satan is seeking to destroy all of the influence of Jesus Christ from this earth and that also entails the destruction of the Christians and their influence of righteousness.
We are in a battle! Jesus said to His disciples, "You are the salt of the earth. You are to be a purifying influence. You are to prevent the rottenness. But if the salt has lost its savor, it is thenceforth good for nothing but to be cast out and to be trodden under the foot of man" (cf. Matthew 5:13). We are in a heavy spiritual battle.
Modern technology has brought the darkness of the world right into our homes, by way of television and by way of radio. And the church of Jesus Christ has been extremely weakened by compromise with the world. When Jesus was writing to His faithful church of Philadelphia (and that is the true church in the last days), He said, "Thou hast a little strength" (Revelation 3:8). That is all. We are not a great, mighty force and power for righteousness. Would to God we were. But there has been too much leaven, even within the church. And the church's position, as far as the world is concerned, has been extremely weakened as a result of so many compromises.
It is Satan's strategy to bring all of the governments of the earth under the control of one man, who is referred to in the Bible as the man of sin. He is the son of perdition: the one man that Satan will vest with his powers, with his throne, and with his authority. And so, Satan's instrument to rule the world—and through this man be worshipped by the world—is called by various names in the Bible. "The beast" is the name generally used in Daniel 7 and Revelation 11 and 13. 1 John 2 and 4 refer to him as the "antichrist." Paul calls him, "the man of sin and the son of perdition" (2 Thessalonians 2:3).
Now as he has been vested with the powers of Satan, he will be able to work all kinds of supernatural signs and wonders by which he will astound the world. He will be able to do miraculous things. InMatthew 24:24 Jesus declared,
For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders, insomuch that if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
Second Thessalonians 2:9 Paul said, "Even him [that is, the antichrist] whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders"—Satan gives him his power. And so he comes with all of these powers and signs and lying wonders.
Revelation 13:11 speaks of the false prophet who will work together with the antichrist.
I beheld another beast [that is, the false prophet] coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, but he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all of the power of the first beast before him, and he causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast whose deadly wound was healed. And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. (Rev 13:11-13)
Daniel tells us,
And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practice, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people. And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify [himself] in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand. (Dan 8:24-25 KJV)
He will be a violent enemy of God. He will speak blasphemous words against God. Daniel 7:25 says,
And he shall speak [great] words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time [or three and a half years].
Daniel 11:36 says,
And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvelous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.
Second Thessalonians 2:4, speaks of this man of sin (or son of perdition),
Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
Revelation 13:5-6 says,
And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months [three and a half years]. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.
And we then read that he will make war against the Jews, who will be known as the saints and God's elect in that day. The church will already have been raptured out of the world. We will deal with that in a moment.
It was given to him power to make war with the saints,Revelation 13:7, and to overcome them. Power was given to him over all the kindreds and tongues and nations.
Daniel 7:21 says,
I beheld and the same horn made war with the saints and prevailed against them.
Now Jesus spoke of His church in Matthew 16, after Peter's confession that He was the Messiah, the Son of the living God. Jesus said, "Upon this rock I will build My church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it" (Matthew 16:18). The church of Jesus Christ, though weak, shall still prevail. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, the church will prevail.
However, when the antichrist comes on the scene and makes war with the saints, he will overcome them. He will prevail against them, thus showing that those saints cannot be the church; but they are often called the tribulation saints. And for the most part they are the Jews who will turn to Jesus Christ during this period of great tribulation.
The antichrist will rule over all the earth. Revelation 13:7-8 says,
And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
Daniel 7:24-25 says,
And the ten horns out of this kingdom [that is the final federation of nations, world governing empire, ten kings combining together] are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. And he shall speak [great] words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.
Revelation 17:16-17 again speaks of the ten horns, [the ten kings],
And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, [the false church], shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. For God hath put in their hearts to fulfill His will, and to agree, and to give their kingdom unto the beast.
So, God will put in their (the kings) hearts to turn the world over to the rulership of this man—unto the beast, "...until the words of God shall be fulfilled" (Revelation 17:17).
Now the antichrist will inaugurate a new system of exchange, where money will be done away with and he will usher in a cashless society. Now a few years ago, I used to talk about a cashless society and everybody sort of scratched their heads. They said, "Oh, a cashless society. Whoever heard of that?" Well, who has not heard of that now? If you read the business section of the newspapers, surely you have come across this. If you have read Forbes magazine surely, you have come across this. We are hearing more and more of the cashless society. I noticed just this past week in the grocery store, that it has a sign, "We accept VISA, MasterCard, Discover cards." I mean, it is all there. And more often I find people standing in the line, who are giving their cards at the registers now. They can take their cards and just sign a little receipt. So, more and more we are moving towards this cashless society.
Listen to what the Bible has to say about this,
And he causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand or in their foreheads. And that no man might buy or sell save that he had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. (Revelation 13:16-17)
At home in my drawer, I have a little plastic device that looks sort of like a squirt gun. But it has a little needle and it is a little device to inject these little transmitters, which are about a half of an inch long and a fraction of an inch wide. And some of them are even smaller. It is used to insert these little chips—microchips or transponders—right under the skin. Now with these and with the use of satellites, they can trace, triangulate, and find anybody anywhere in the world, who has one of these little transmitters. I have one of these devices at home, designed to inject these little transmitters under the skin. This microchip, of course, can have all kinds of information concerning you—your bank balance, or whatever. You say, "I am not worried about that. I do not have any money."
People are becoming reluctant (and rightfully so!) to carry cash any more because of the fact that crime is really out of control. The ideal answer is to go to computerized transactions. We are already doing it. We are doing it now with cards, but it would be a very simple step to move it to identification that is affixed upon a person's body, either the right hand or forehead. With this new health program that they are touting, in order to make certain that you have a right for the healthcare, they are talking about everyone receiving a national kind of an identity card or some kind of an identification. Children now, at birth are given social security numbers. I mean, the whole thing is coming down. Where are we?
Well, as we look at the world, it is rapidly moving toward this one-world government. We hear words such as "global community," "global economy," "global banks," and "global action." I mean, we are hearing it all the time. We are moving towards the global world, a one-world government. These terms are constantly being used in the media until they have become very common for us to hear.
We talk about the necessity of global cooperation. We talk about the necessity of united efforts to go in and stop the war in Bosnia, and how it is necessary to have a global army—a global peace force. And more and more the United States is surrendering its troops to control of the U.N. and the generals and so forth of the U.N.—not necessarily the United States—as we are moving towards this global effort to bring global peace.
With the weapons of destruction that have been developed by modern technology, they realize the only hope for survival of mankind is through global government. There are powerful forces here in the United States known as the Council for Foreign Relations and the Trilateralists, who have as their goal this global government and they are in a position to move our nation into cooperation and submission to the global authority. More and more powers are being given to the U.N. to make laws, world laws, which supercede the laws of the states or the independent governments.
With the crime rate rising, as it is out of control, the only way that can effectively stop all the robberies and the drug dealings, is to get rid of money. It is estimated that the government is losing billions of dollars every year in uncollected taxes. So, if all of the transactions to buy or sell were made by computerized identity numbers, then they will be able to trace everything that you bought or sold and it will eliminate stealing money, because money will be worthless.
I have a five hundred billion dollar bill in my office. It is the largest bill ever printed—five hundred billion dollars! Of course it is Serbian. It is becoming a collector's item. I am going to keep it. It is worth about eight dollars to collectors now, because it is the largest bill ever printed. And so it is becoming sort of popular with some of the people who collect those kind of things. And so they say it is worth eight dollars now in Germany, as a collector's item.
The banks are calling for a cashless society. The businesses are moving towards a cashless society. In fact, I am still one of those rare individuals who pay cash and I usually shock them. They say, "Do you want to put this on your charge card?" I say, "No, I will pay in cash. Do you still take it?" "Well yeah, but..."
Things are really pretty much in place for the surrendering to the world system—world government. They are definitely in place to eliminate money as a means of exchange, and to go to the cashless society. That could happen any week. You could at any time pick up the morning paper and read that you have two weeks to turn in all of your cash. After two weeks, it will have no value. In fact, this is being proposed right now and if you turn in more than $5,000 in cash, then you will have to fill out an IRS form and so forth, because they wonder why you have that much cash. And so, this has already been proposed and it could happen over night, and it will happen over night. You will not be given any warning of this. But just one day you will pick up the morning newspaper and it will say that cash is to be eliminated in two weeks. And you will have two weeks to turn in all of your money into the account—the numbered account. Things are in place for this to happen.
What is the delay? What is holding back these powers and forces of darkness that are wanting to take over the full control of the earth? Here we have the work of the Holy Spirit in the world, restraining these powers of darkness and hindering them from inaugurating their final man of power.
Second Thessalonians 2:7 says,
For the mystery of iniquity doth already work. Only he who now hinders will hinder until he is taken out of the way, and then shall that wicked one be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming.
The Holy Spirit is hindering, standing in the way, restraining these powers of evil. Until He is taken out of the way, and immediately the wicked one then shall be revealed. Now it is actually the Holy Spirit in the life of the believers that is the hindering force. Some say, well, it is just the Holy Spirit. No, it is the Holy Spirit in the church—in the life of the believers. And as soon as the church is taken out of this world, there will be no more restraining forces against evil—no more voices against evil. The restraining force of the church will be removed and immediately, once the church is removed, this man of sin will take over using his powers that will be given to him by Satan. And the world will be plunged into darkness such as the world has never seen before, or will ever see again, thank God!
It is only the presence of the Holy Spirit in the church that is keeping Satan from this final thrust to gain absolute control over all the earth and plunging the world into its darkest hour. The mystery of iniquity is already at work. We see it. We see the decaying effects of sin. We see it everywhere. The spirit of antichrist is all around us. Jesus Christ is being mocked, being scorned, being ridiculed and derided.
A cultist is now being defined in governmental circles, as one that believes that the Bible is the inerrant word of God and that Jesus is coming again. If you believe these things, you are now being classified as a cultist. And such belief gained you the title of a religious fanatic. And this is a term—watch for it—for they acknowledge the greatest hindrance to this move towards the absolute control over the world, the greatest hindrance is the religious fanatics. And you hear a lot of groups being termed as religious fanatics. And religious fanaticism has been branded as one of the greatest evils in the world today. One of the greatest threats to peace comes from the religious fanatics. The thing that is holding back the New Age is the religious fanatics. There is a movement towards the eradication of the religious fanatics, in order that there will be nothing to hinder.
Well, there is a master plan to remove a good portion of the religious fanatics and then will the powers of evil have their day. But unbridled evil cannot last long. A society with unbridled evil cannot exist for any length of time. So once the power of the Holy Spirit within the church is removed and no longer restraining, the powers of evil will take over. It will be a quick plunge into the darkest hour of the history of man. It will not last long at all. It will be straight down into the abyss, as far as the world is concerned.
There are powerful men who have been in the media spotlight for many years, who are waging a powerful war against the born again believers. Steve Allen, Carl Sagan, Ed Asner, and Norman Lear, have all been seeking to subvert the faith of many and to make Bible-believing Christians look like people who are bereft of their senses. Oh, how the powers of darkness long to take over the control of the world completely! But they cannot just yet. The Holy Spirit in the church is restraining it. He is that restraining force in the world today, holding back the tide of evil that is building up and ready to flood over the earth.
We are told in the Bible about two witnesses that God is going to send to the Jews in these last days after the church is gone. And they are, quite possibly, Moses and Elijah. We are told how they will be hated by the world. And if a person seeks to hurt either of these two witnesses, fire comes from their mouths and destroys their attacker. Thus, the Scripture says, those who try to hurt these witnesses of God are to be killed.
You remember when Elijah was on the earth before, the king sent out a captain with fifty men to bring him in as a prisoner. And he said, "Oh thou man of God, come down. The king has sent me to arrest you." And Elijah said, "If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men." And fire came down and consumed him with his fifty men. The king sent out another captain with fifty and he said the same thing, "Oh thou man of God, come on down. You are under arrest." Elijah said, "If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you with your fifty men." The third fellow was a little smarter. He said, "I am a family man, sir. And I am under orders of the king. Please, would you mind? Have mercy on me." But here again, anyone seeking to hurt them, fire comes out of their mouth and destroys them and thus are they killed.
However, the Scripture says, when they have completed their testimony, then the beast will make war against them and overcome them and put them to death. But he cannot do it until they have completed their testimony, until the church has completed its testimony. We are here to be a restraining force against the evil through the power of the Holy Spirit, not through the political processes. That will never work. This is a spiritual battle and it is only through spiritual weapons that we will ever have any hope of success.
Satan loves to draw the Christian into the physical arena because he can make mincemeat out of him. Jesus said, "The children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light" (Luke 16:8). And if you try to go in and fight the political processes, look out—you are going to get just taken care of, but good! God has given us spiritual weapons. We need to use them. They are the only thing that we have of real force in this conflict. God will preserve us until we have finished our testimony. And when the church has finished its testimony, then the Lord will remove His church. The restraining forces will be gone and Satan will take over. Then the powers of darkness will be in full control.
In Revelation 5, John sees the church in heaven rejoicing over the victory of the Lamb. The church is declaring the worthiness of the Lamb to take the scroll and to loose the seals—the title deed of the earth. When Jesus takes the scroll, when He begins to loose the seals in chapter six—first notice the church is in heaven in chapter five. They are rejoicing in the Lamb and declaring His worthiness, because He has redeemed us by His blood out of every nation, tribe, tongue, and people. He hath made us kings and priests unto our God. We shall reign with Him on the earth. But then in chapter six, when He begins to break the seals of this title deed to the earth, the first seal brings forth the antichrist, coming forth to conquer and to destroy.
The power of the Holy Spirit in the world is to restrain the power of the antichrist from taking over. As soon as the Spirit of God within the church is removed, then the powers of darkness move in. So, the Holy Spirit in our lives today is a very important factor in this world that is ready and willing to be taken over by the powers of darkness. The forces of darkness are in control now.
I personally believe that they cannot quite understand why the whole program cannot be culminated. They have been attempting to, but I do not think that they even—well, I think they are beginning to realize it because they are beginning to talk about the religious fanatics that are keeping back the progress of world peace. So they are beginning to realize what it is. But they are ready to move. Me too! I am ready to move. Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!
Father, we thank You for the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. And Lord, we pray that we might be that purifying influence while we are here. Let us be, Lord, a strong witness for You. May we bear faithful testimony to the truth. Lord, we pray that You will hasten the day, that we might complete our testimony. Lord, that You might receive us out of this dark, black world, in order that those powers of sin might have their final day, in order that You might come and establish Your kingdom of righteousness, light, joy, and peace. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
[Unless otherwise noted, all Biblical references are quoted from King James Version.]
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We are studying the subject of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. This will be part one of three parts that we will examine on the subject of the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
In Luke 3:16, we read concerning John the Baptist that,
John answered saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire.
In John 1:33, again John the Baptist is speaking his testimony concerning Jesus. He said,
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.
So John was prophesying of the one who was coming after him, who was mightier than he was, and who would baptize them with the Holy Spirit and fire. And John now testifies of Jesus, declaring that he really did not know that Jesus was the one until he saw this Spirit of God descending and remaining upon Him. For the one who sent him to baptize, told him that the one upon whom he saw the Spirit descend and remain was the one that would baptize with the Holy Spirit.
In Acts 1:4, Jesus was assembled together with His disciples and He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem but to wait for the promise of the Father, of which, He said,
Ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. (Acts 1:4-5)
What do we learn from these verses? First of all, that there is an experience that is properly called the baptism with the Holy Spirit. John said, "There is One coming after me, mightier than I am. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire" (Luke 3:16) And he testified that Jesus was that one. It teaches us that the baptism with the Holy Spirit is separate and distinct from regeneration. It is one thing to be born of the Spirit, and yet another thing to be baptized with the Holy Spirit.
In John 20:22, we read that Jesus breathed on His disciples and He said unto them, "Receive ye the Holy Spirit." It was at this point that the disciples did receive that indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit in their lives.
Now I know that there are those who would object and say that the action of Jesus in breathing on them and saying, "Receive the Holy Spirit," was only symbolic. I would like to suggest that their declaration, that it is only symbolic, is their interpretation of the experience. But they are totally without scriptural warrant in making that interpretation. There is nothing in the Scripture that would indicate that they did not receive the Holy Spirit when Jesus breathed on them and told them to receive the Holy Spirit. In fact, it is sort of hard for me to believe that Jesus could breathe on you and say, "Receive ye the Holy Spirit," and you not receive it. But the reason why they say it was only a symbolic action is because of their presupposition position, that regeneration and the baptism of the Holy Spirit are one and the selfsame experience.
But from the time that Jesus breathed on them, the Holy Spirit indwelt them. However, in Acts 1:4, Jesus told His disciples that they should not depart from Jerusalem but wait for the promise of the Father. For He said, "John indeed baptized with water unto repentance, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit in a few days." And Jesus here speaks of and acknowledges two different baptisms. He acknowledges the baptism with John in water and the subsequent baptism of the Holy Spirit that they were to receive in just a few days.
Now in 1 Corinthians 12:13, Paul the Apostle declares that we were all baptized by the Spirit into one body. Note that it is baptism, by the one Spirit, into the body. In that case, it is the Spirit who is the one who is baptizing you into the body of Christ. But Jesus is the one who baptizes you with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit baptizes you into the body of Christ. Jesus baptizes you with the Holy Spirit.
Those who seek to deny that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is separate from regeneration, usually quote from Ephesians 4:3-5, where Paul is encouraging the church to keep the unity of the Spirit. "For," he declares, "there is one Spirit, one Lord, one faith, one baptism." Now what they usually do is put these two passages together. One baptism— "And you were all baptized by the one Spirit into the body of Christ" (1 Corinthians 12:13). When Paul is telling the Ephesian church to endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit and speaks about one Lord, one faith, one baptism, what he is referring to is that there is only one baptism into the body of Christ. There is only one body of Christ.
I believe that Paul was warning about the things that we see happening today, in that we have built up denominational barriers. And each denomination sort of claims its own exclusivity, as far as spiritual things are concerned. So, if you want to join the Missouri Synod Lutheran Church and they ask you if you have been baptized and you say, "Oh yes. I was down at Corona del Mar and I was baptized." They will say, "Well no, we cannot accept that. Unless you have been baptized as a Lutheran, you cannot really join the church and so you will have to go through your classes and then be baptized by the Lutherans." They will not accept baptism from Baptist churches or other churches, only their own.
The same is true of the Church of Christ. You may have been baptized by the Lutherans, but the Church of Christ will not accept that, nor will they accept Presbyterians or Baptists. They will only accept baptism by the Church of Christ. But then, if you want to change and you want to be a member of a Jesus Only fellowship, they will not accept that either. They say that a baptism is not valid unless you were baptized into the name of Jesus Only.
So this is just the very thing that Paul was warning about and seeking to guard against, the fact that everyone establishes their own parameters and you have to be baptized by us and into our church. Paul is saying, "No, no. There is only one body—the body of Christ. There is only one baptism." Do not go around to be baptized by all of the different groups who require baptism by their group in order to be accepted into their fellowships. That is dividing the body of Christ and that is what Paul was speaking against.
We know that there is baptism in water. And the one who baptizes you in water is usually the pastor of the church. He is the one who is baptizing and the water is the element in which you are being baptized.
There is the baptism with the Holy Spirit and Jesus is the baptizer. John said, "He shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit" (John 1:33). And the Holy Spirit is the element in which you are immersed, even as you have been immersed in water. So, to be immersed in the Holy Spirit is the thought and the idea behind the baptism with the Holy Spirit.
Now in the Greek language, there are three prepositions that signify relationship with the Holy Spirit. When Jesus was talking to His disciples the night on which He was betrayed, in John 14, He is encouraging them. Their hearts are discouraged. He is talking about going away and where He is was going they cannot come and they are upset. He seeks to encourage them and comfort them, promising that He would pray the Father who would give to them another Comforter, even the Spirit of truth, that He might abide with them forever. And speaking of the Holy Spirit, Jesus said,
Whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye knoweth him; [Jesus said], for He dwelleth with you and shall be in you. (John 14:17, emphasis added)
So the Holy Spirit, Christ said, is dwelling with you. He is there alongside of you. The Greek preposition is para, but He is also going to dwell in you. He is going to come in and He will indwell you. And I believe that is what transpired in the twentieth chapter of John, when Jesus breathed on them and said, "Receive ye the Holy Spirit." I believe that the Holy Spirit began to indwell them at that time.
Now prior to your conversion, it was the Holy Spirit who convicted you of your sin. It was the Holy Spirit who revealed Jesus Christ to you as the One who could take care of your sins. It was the Holy Spirit that convinced you to accept Jesus as your Lord. And the minute you accepted Jesus as the Lord of your life, the Holy Spirit came into your life and began to indwell you. But that is not the baptism with the Holy Spirit.
As the Holy Spirit is dwelling in you, He begins that marvelous work of conforming you into the image of Jesus Christ. And we will talk about this in a subsequent lesson, when we are dealing with the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer—conforming him into the image of Jesus Christ. But there is that working of God's Spirit within me and within every child of God. No man can call Jesus Lord except by the Holy Spirit. Paul said, "Don't you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, which is in you." The Holy Spirit is in every child of God. You are not your own. You have been bought with a price. "If any man hath not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His" (Romans 8:9). The Holy Spirit indwells every born again believer. You are born again by the Spirit into the body of Jesus Christ.
However, not every believer has the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And in our next lesson we will look at many instances of believers who were not baptized with the Holy Spirit upon their believing in Jesus Christ. But the baptism of the Holy Spirit was a subsequent experience to their believing, which occurred sometimes days later, sometimes weeks later, and sometimes even perhaps years later. We will be looking at these instances in our next lesson.
But we have two prepositions to look at now. He is with you. He shall be in you. And every one of you tonight, who have been born again, have had both experiences. You had the Holy Spirit with you to convict you and to bring you to Jesus Christ. And the moment He came, He began to indwell you. In Acts 1 again, where Jesus told His disciples to wait in Jerusalem—not to depart, but wait there for the promise of the Father—He then said to them, "For you shall receive power, when the Holy Spirit comes upon you." And here He uses the third Greek preposition, which is epi. He comes upon you or He comes over you. And I personally prefer when He overflows you.
And this epi baptism of the Holy Spirit is the empowering of the believer for service. Dwelling within me, He empowers me to be like Jesus. It is an inward work. It is a subjective work of the Holy Spirit within the believer, but the baptism is an outward working of the Spirit. It is the flowing forth from my life in the dynamis (the dynamic)—the power of God's Spirit working through my life in touching those around me. It is one thing to have the Holy Spirit with you—para. It is another thing to have the Holy Spirit in you, but even more to have the Holy Spirit upon you, or over you.
Now, if I should have an empty glass up here on the pulpit, and next to it a large pitcher of water, and the pitcher of water was setting here and the empty glass next to it here, this pitcher of water would bepara—with the glass. If I start pouring the water from the pitcher into the glass, then the water is now in this glass—this vessel. Now, as the glass gets filled with water and I continue to pour water out of the pitcher, it now begins to overflow. It now is upon, or overflowing from, the glass and it is the epi at this point. So, you started out with thepara, as it is setting beside it. Then it is in it. And now it is overflowing it. And so it is with the Holy Spirit. Our life is like a vessel. The Holy Spirit is with us. He begins to dwell in us. But then the Lord continues to pour into us, until the Holy Spirit flows from us—the epi, or overflowing experience of the Holy Spirit.
Many Christians have the Holy Spirit in them, but the Holy Spirit is not flowing forth out of their lives. In John 7:37-38—and we will be covering this also in a subsequent lesson—Jesus, on the last day of the feast, stood and cried to the people 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.
And John tells us that this He was speaking of the Spirit. He is speaking of this third relationship, the overflow or gushing forth from their lives like torrents of living water— that overflowing of the Spirit manifesting the real dynamic of the Spirit through your life.
Certainly, God wants us to be filled with the Spirit. In fact, that is a command of the Scripture. When Paul was writing to the Ephesians, he said, "Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be ye [and he uses the present perfect tense] being filled with the Spirit" (Ephesians 5:18)—or be continually filled with the Spirit.
But God also wants us to be overflowing with the Spirit. So many people have the Spirit just all bottled up inside and there is no flowing forth of the Spirit from their life. They are content to just be nominal Christians, just participating but never to overflowing. But it is God's desire, God's purpose, and God's will that your life be overflowing with the Spirit.
On the Day of Pentecost, the people gathered because of the supernatural phenomena, and Peter stood up and preached that message of Jesus Christ to them. The Holy Spirit brought conviction to the hearts of the people who were listening to Peter's message. And inActs 2:37-39, they cried out and said, "Men and brethren, what shall we do, seeing that we have crucified the Lord of glory?" They recognized their sin—what they had done wrong. "What shall we do?" And Peter said, "Repent first. Secondly, be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins." You see, the Holy Spirit was with them. They were convicted under the conviction of the Holy Spirit and they were crying out, "What shall we do?" Peter said, "Repent and be baptized." That is when the Holy Spirit will come into your life and begin His indwelling.
And then thirdly, he went on to say, "And you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." That would be the epi, the overflowing, this glorious gift of God's power for service. And then Peter said,
For this promise is unto you and to your children and to those who are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. (Acts 2:39)
So, there is no thought or indication that this gift of the Holy Spirit would cease at the close of the apostolic age, with the death of the last of the apostles. No thought of that at all; in fact, the opposite is indicated. This promise of the gift of the Holy Spirit is to you, to your children, and then to those that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. So in reality the promise is for us today, in this day.
I am convinced that the greatest need in the church today is a renewal of the teaching on the subject of the Holy Spirit, in order that the church might come into the fullness of the Spirit. We need a renewal of teaching on the baptism with the Holy Spirit, where your life will be empowered to go into this world in which we live and be a witness for Jesus Christ. I believe that the only hope for our nation today is a spiritual awakening that will begin in the church with a fresh movement of the Holy Spirit upon the lives and the hearts of the church, who is seeking, who is thirsting, who is asking.
Jesus said,
If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him? (Luke 11:13)
Jesus said,
Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. (Matthew 5:6)
Now, the baptism of the Holy Spirit is not the end all of all experiences that God has for you. It is just the opening of the door into this vast new dimension of power. After the baptism of the Holy Spirit, there is then the necessity for the walk in the Spirit. There is the need to be led by the Spirit, and to be constantly being filled with the Spirit, being controlled by the Spirit, and being empowered by the Spirit. And we will see as we go through and look at the examples of the apostles in the Book of Acts, how they were directed, guided, led, and warned by the Spirit as they were walking in the Spirit and after the Spirit.
Oh, how desperately we need that today! We need it for survival. We are living in those perilous days that the Scripture said would come. We are living in those days when the love of many is waxing cold. We are living in a day when, you can hardly dare to watch TV because of the filth and the smut that is aired, that can be planted into your mind. How we so desperately need to just wait upon God, to be overflowing with the Spirit of God, that the church might be a powerful witness and turn back the tide of evil that is engulfing our society and our community.
I am praying that as we study the subject of the Holy Spirit, God will give you such a hunger and such a thirst, that this series will end with the whole church waiting on God and being empowered by the Spirit of God. I am praying that there would be a fresh, new outpouring of God's Spirit upon His church and upon His people. If this does not happen, it is only a matter of time until we will find ourselves crushed by the degraded world around us.
Let us pray.
Father, we thank You for the promise of the Holy Spirit, this wonderful gift of Your Holy Spirit, Lord. The promise that is to us, far off down the centuries from those first days, yet we are called of Thee. Lord, when we read of the power of the early church, we recognize, Lord, that we are very weak. But Lord, we also recognize how desperately we need that power of Your Holy Spirit tonight. Lord, how our hearts long to just be empowered by Your Spirit. And so, Lord, whatever it is that is holding back our lives from Your fullness, we pray that Your Spirit will reveal it. And Lord, we pray that we might see that sovereign work of Your Holy Spirit, dividing to each man severally at He wills, of the gifts of the Spirit, that Your church might be empowered, Lord, to be Your witness in these last days. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
[Unless otherwise noted, all Biblical references are quoted from King James Version.]
I would like to continue tonight in our study on the baptism of the Holy Spirit. First of all, we will look at the promises of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. In Matthew 3:11, John the Baptist said,
I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire.
And then Jesus gave the promise of the baptism with the Holy Spirit inActs 1:4.
Being assembled together with them [the disciples], commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. (Acts 1:4-5)
So that promise of John the Baptist and that promise of Jesus was fulfilled. And in Acts 2:1-4 we read:
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.
I have no doubt that this experience in Acts chapter 2 is the fulfillment of the promise of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Here it is declared that they were all filled with the Holy Ghost. And the word "filled" with the Holy Ghost seems to be used interchangeably with the term "baptism" of the Holy Ghost.
Now the issue that arises is whether the disciples were converted before the experience in the second chapter of Acts? Were they born again prior to this experience? You see, whether or not the baptism, the gift, or the filling of the Holy Spirit—which are all interchangeable terms—whether or not that is subsequent to and separate from conversion is a matter of debate within the church. And it is my belief that this baptism with the Holy Spirit, this filling of the Holy Spirit, was an experience that was subsequent to conversion.
In John 20:22, when Jesus breathed on His disciples and said to them, "Receive ye the Holy Ghost," the question arises: did anything happen at that time? Now there are those who say that was only a symbolic action by Jesus. His breathing on them and saying, "Receive the Holy Ghost," was just a symbolic action and that they did not receive the Holy Spirit at that time. That would be a very hard position to support or to prove with the Scriptures. It must be acknowledged that it is purely suppositional to say that nothing happened when Jesus breathed on them and said, "Receive ye the Holy Ghost." It is hard for me to think that Jesus could breathe on me and say, "Receive the Holy Ghost," and nothing would happen.
You see, the promise of the baptism of the Holy Spirit by Jesus came after this event. It would perhaps mean, that when Jesus breathed on them and said, "Receive ye the Holy Ghost," that at that time they were born again by the Spirit. Jesus had said that we have to be born again. We have to have a spiritual birth. We have had the fleshly birth, but that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. And it could be that at that time when He said, "Receive ye the Holy Spirit," that that was the time when they were actually born again of the Spirit, or converted.
Earlier Jesus had said to Peter, "When thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren"(Luke 22:32). After this event, we find Peter in the position of strengthening the brethren. As we look at the first chapter of the Book of Acts, when Jesus ascended into heaven, Peter began to take a leadership role in the church. Peter began to be more or less the spokesman within the church, strengthening the brethren.
Now according to biblical interpretation—the laws of biblical interpretation—they say that the obvious meaning is usually the correct meaning. And that makes sense to me. I believe that God meant what He said and said what He meant. And thus, as you go through the Scriptures, it is best not to try to read something into the Scriptures or to find some kind of subtle hidden meaning to the Scriptures. But the obvious meaning is usually the correct meaning.
Now if Jesus breathed on them and said, "Receive ye the Holy Spirit," then the obvious understanding would be that they received the Holy Spirit. That at that point the Holy Spirit began to indwell them. But they were not yet baptized with the Holy Spirit, which was a subsequent experience that took place on the Day of Pentecost. Thus, the baptism with the Holy Spirit was subsequent to conversion and their receiving the Holy Spirit as an indwelling presence and power within their lives.
Now let us take a look at the Book of Acts to see if this interpretation is not born out by the subsequent events of believers and the filling, or the baptism, or the gift of the Holy Spirit. In Acts 2, after Peter had preached to the multitudes, who had gathered because of the supernatural phenomena that took place with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the people were convicted of their sin. And they said, "Men and brethren, what shall we do, seeing we have crucified the Lord of glory?"
And Peter said,
Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For this 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 2:38-39)
Thus, the threefold command: repent, be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins, and then the third—"and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." It seems that it would also be an experience that would be subsequent to their repenting and being baptized in the name of Jesus for the remission of their sins. Then you shall receive—subsequent to that, the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Now of course, I admit that it is not an airtight kind of an argument. It is again, just looking at what seems to be obvious. However, as we go on to Acts 8, we find that Philip had gone to Samaria as the result of the persecution. And he was preaching Christ unto them, and many believed the preaching concerning the kingdom of God and they were baptized, both men and women. So, they believed the preaching of the gospel by Philip and they were baptized. But then we read that, when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John, that they might receive the Holy Ghost. "For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus" (Acts 8:16).
So, here they are believing and had been baptized in the name of Jesus, but they had not yet received this gift of the Holy Spirit. So, the church in Jerusalem sent Peter and John that they might receive this subsequent experience of the baptism with the Holy Spirit. In believing and being baptized in the name of Jesus, the Holy Spirit would, of necessity, be residing in them, because no man can call Christ, "Lord," except by the Holy Spirit.
And yet, there was a relationship with the Holy Spirit. He had not yet come upon them. And this is that preposition epi. We dealt with epi in our last lesson as we looked at the threefold relationship with the Holy Spirit demonstrated by the three Greek prepositions, para, en, andepi. He is with you (para). He shall be in you (en). And you will receive power when He comes upon you (epi). They had not yet had the epiexperience. They had the with—they were convicted. They had the in—the Holy Spirit had come within them because they were baptized in the name of Jesus. But they had not yet had the epi, the overflowing (or baptism) with the Holy Spirit. The Spirit had not yet fallen upon (epi) any of them.
And so we read that Peter and John prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Spirit. "And they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit" (Acts 8:17).
Now there must have been some visible or audible evidence that they had received the Holy Spirit; why else would Simon the sorcerer ask to purchase the power that he saw manifested? Because he wanted to go around and lay hands on people that they might receive the Holy Spirit also. He desired that power—offered to buy it. There must have been some kind of audible or visible evidence, though it is not recorded, by which they knew that they were receiving a special gift from God. I would assume that it was their speaking in unknown tongues, but that is only an assumption. The Bible does not tell us.
As we look next at Acts 9, we read that Paul, who was then known as Saul of Tarsus, was on his way to Damascus to imprison those who were calling on the name of the Lord. Suddenly, there was a bright light from heaven about noontime, but it was brighter than the noonday sun. And Paul fell on the ground and he heard a voice saying unto him, "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me?" And he responded, "Who are you, Lord, that I might serve You?" And the answer came, "I am Jesus of Nazareth." And then he asked, "What would You have me to do, Lord?" (Acts 9:6).
Now, I do not believe that anyone can question that Paul was converted at that moment on the road to Damascus. I believe that when a man submits himself to the lordship of Jesus Christ, that is a definite sign of conversion. It is also a definite sign of the Holy Spirit. No man can call Christ, Lord, except by the Holy Spirit. And here he is saying, "What would You have me to do, Lord?" (Acts 9:6). And so the Lord told him to go into a town and what he was to do would be shown to him. So, Paul came to Damascus blinded as a result of his experience. Being led into Damascus, he was taken to the house of a man whose name was Judas, who lived on the main street in town. It was called Straight street.
Now there was a certain disciple in Damascus whose name was Ananias and he had a vision. The Lord appeared to him in a vision and told him that he was to go to the street called Straight, to inquire at the house of Judas for a certain man, Saul of Tarsus. The Lord said, "Behold he prayeth." Ananias was hesitant and argued with the Lord. He said, "Lord, I have heard about this fellow, how he has wrecked the church and has even come to Damascus to imprison those who call upon Your name." But the Lord assured Ananias that He knew what He was doing and commanded him to go and pray for Paul that he might receive his sight and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. And so, Ananias came to Paul and he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus that appeared to you on the way, has sent me to you that you might receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit." And here again, Paul's filling with the Holy Spirit was subsequent to and separate from his conversion on the road to Damascus.
In Acts 10, Peter had been called by the Lord to go to Caesarea, to the house of the Centurian whose name was Cornelius. And as Peter came to the house of Cornelius, Cornelius had assembled a lot of his friends. And Peter began to share with them the truth of Jesus Christ. And as he shared with them the truth of Jesus Christ, we read that the Holy Spirit fell upon (epi) all who were hearing the Word. And those who came with Peter were surprised that the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the Gentiles. They realized that the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out upon them because they heard them speaking in tongues and magnifying God.
Now in this instance, the gift of the Holy Spirit was associated with their believing in Jesus Christ and took place before their baptism in water. In fact, it was decided that it was alright now to baptize Gentiles, seeing that God had given them the gift of the Holy Spirit. It would appear in the case of the house of Cornelius, that the filling with the Spirit and their conversion was a simultaneous experience and that, indeed, with their conversion, they were filled with the Spirit.
Now Peter was explaining to the Jews in Jerusalem what had happened when he went to the house of a Gentile, since he was sort of called on the carpet because of this experience. As he was explaining to them what had happened, he was not wanting to accept any responsibility for it. Peter said,
And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell upon them, as on us at the beginning. Then remembered I the word of the Lord, how that he said, "John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost." (Acts 11:15)
So Peter said, "I was just talking to them and while I was talking, the Holy Spirit just fell on them. I did not do anything. I mean, the Holy Spirit just did it. And when it happened, then I remembered the words of Jesus, 'John indeed baptized you with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit'—I remembered then those words of Jesus." So what had happened to them was the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Peter relates it to that. It talks about their being filled with the Spirit, and thus again, these terms—gift of the Holy Spirit, baptism of the Holy Spirit, and filled with the Holy Spirit—are all describing the same event and they seem to be used interchangeably.
Now in Acts 19, Paul had come to Ephesus. And just the other day, I visited Ephesus, and it is indeed an extremely remarkable city. The ruins of the city of Ephesus are probably the most extensive ruins of any of the ancient cities of the ancient world. It has awesome marble streets that go for blocks and blocks, many of them. The remains of the temples and the buildings and all are phenomenal. It was the major commercial city of Asia Minor. It was the gateway to Asia. All of the goods coming from Asia to Europe passed through Ephesus and vice versa. It was a bustling city when Paul came to it, but Paul was not the first one to come to Ephesus with the gospel.
When Paul had taken the gospel to Corinth, because he was a tentmaker, he got a job with a couple whose names were Priscilla and Aquilla. And when he left Corinth to go back to Jerusalem, they came with him on his journey as far as Ephesus. They remained in Ephesus, as Paul went back to Jerusalem for the Jewish holiday. While they were there, there was a certain Jew, a brilliant man and an eloquent man, whose name was Apollos. He was a man who was well-versed in the Scriptures and a man who was able to prove by the Scriptures, that Jesus was the Messiah.
And Apollos was preaching to the Jews in Ephesus, showing by the Scriptures—proving by the Scriptures—that Jesus was the Messiah. However, there were certain parts of his theology that were not complete. So, Priscilla and Aquilla upon hearing him, took Apollos aside and shared with him the truths that they had learned from Paul. As a result, he had an even more complete grasp of the life and the nature of Jesus. Many people believed in Jesus Christ in Ephesus as a result of this ministry by Apollos.
Now, there was something that was lacking. It is possible to meet believers in Jesus Christ, and as you begin to relate to them a bit and are around them a bit, you can discern that there is just something that is lacking in their experience. There is a lack of joy. They say they are Christians, but you would never know it by looking at their faces. They seem to be so sober and almost angry with the world. There is a lack of love. They are cutting and critical. They have a lack of fervency and are neither hot nor cold, but just sort of lukewarm. There is no fervency in their experience.
And so, as Paul met these believers in Ephesus, he noted there was something that was lacking in their experience and relationship with the Lord. And Paul was seeking to get hold of the problem: What is wrong here? And so he asked them the question,
Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? (Acts 19:2)
"Have you had this subsequent relationship? You have believed, but did you receive the Holy Spirit?" Now the Greek scholars say that should be translated, "did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed," rather than "since you believed." It really does not matter how you translate it, if you use the word since or when, it still has the same implications. And that is, that the receiving of the Holy Spirit, this gift or baptism or filling, is subsequent to believing.
And one can believe without receiving this filling or baptism of the Holy Spirit. If one asks, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit since you believed?" of course, the quite obvious implication is that the receiving occurs subsequent to belief. And if one asks, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" the question would indicate that you could believe yet not receive. So however it should properly be translated into English, it has the same effect, in that both cases show that this baptism or infilling of the Spirit is subsequent to believing.
Now they responded,
We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. (Acts 19:2)
They were totally ignorant. "Holy Spirit? What is that?" And Paul said, "Well, how were you baptized?" In other words, when Jesus commanded the disciples to go into all the world and to teach all nations, He said, "Baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit." It was there in the baptismal formula. So, Paul's question was: "You have not heard of the baptism of the Holy Spirit? Well, how were you baptized? Were you not baptized in the baptismal formula that Jesus commanded—in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit?" They answered, "No! We were baptized with John's baptism."
Now John's baptism was a baptism of repentance from sin. And so they were then baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. And then we read that when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came "epi" upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied. So again, it was an experience that was subsequent to their believing and their conversion. Paul laid his hands upon them, and they then received this gift of the Holy Spirit, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.
It is interesting that there is some confusion that has been generated over the baptismal formula. It is true that in the Book of Acts, we do not find any mention of baptizing in the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. We do read, however, "And they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus" (Acts 8:16). Yet Paul's question would indicate that it was generally accepted practice to baptize in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Now as we have looked at these cases in the Book of Acts, what we have observed is that there was a variety of experiences, methods, and ways by which the people received the gift of the Holy Spirit, or the filling of the Holy Spirit, or the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
In Acts 2, they were all sitting there, when suddenly there was a noise from heaven that sounded like a mighty rushing wind filling all the house. There were cloven tongues, like as of fire, sitting upon each of them. And they all began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them the ability.
In Acts 8, the gift of the Holy Spirit was imparted by the laying on of hands by Paul and by John. It is interesting that this was not done by Philip, who was an evangelist and used mightily of God in working miracles. But Philip was not used of God in the imparting of the Holy Spirit. And we will talk about that in subsequent lessons.
In Acts 9, the Holy Spirit was imparted to Paul by an average believer. Ananias? Who is he? He was not an apostle. He was just a certain disciple in Damascus, but really not of any spiritual hierarchy. Ananias was just a common believer in Damascus.
Now the Holy Spirit was imparted to those in Samaria when Peter and John laid their hands on them. Yet there is no mention of any supernatural phenomena accompanying their being filled. However as we pointed out, there obviously was something that occurred, though the Scripture does not record it; or else Simon would not have sought that power.
When Paul received the Holy Spirit, there was the healing of the blindness that took place at the same time. But there was no mention of any other supernatural phenomena accompanying his receiving the Holy Spirit. However, it should be mentioned that later when Paul was writing to the Corinthians about the gifts of the Spirit, he declared that he did speak in tongues more than all of them.
In Acts 10, Peter did not get a chance to lay hands on them. While he was speaking, suddenly his message was interrupted by the Holy Spirit, who just fell upon them and they began to speak in tongues. As Peter was speaking to them, there was just that sovereign move of God's Spirit, and this empowering, this filling of the Spirit.
In Acts 19, when Paul was there in Ephesus, again he laid his hands on them and they spoke in tongues, and they prophesied. So that in all of the illustrations that we have of the infilling of the Holy Spirit in the Book of Acts, there are no two identical experiences. There was not a repeated experience recorded. In every scriptural passage that was identified, the closest thing was perhaps the experience of the house of Cornelius with the disciples. But there was no mighty rushing wind and no cloven tongues of fire. They were just speaking in tongues, which says to me, that God is not bound by a particular method or by a particular way.
God can do things as He wants to do them and we are wrong in trying to pattern our experience after somebody else. We are wrong to look for the same kind of an experience that someone else has had. And I think that there is a real danger of this in the church. God deals with us as individuals according to our own nature and according to our own temperaments. You cannot formulize God and say, "Well now, do this and lay your hand there, and touch this spot. I mean, there is no formula. God is sovereign.
There are people who have testified of their experiences and I accept their testimony as legitimate. I am not going to disclaim what they are saying. Finney described these waves of liquid love that just kept flowing over and over him, until he had to shout out to God crying, "God, stop! I cannot take any more." Now that is wonderful, and that is glorious, and that is how Finney experienced the baptism with the Holy Spirit. But it does not mean that is the way you are going to experience it or that I am going to experience it. And you see, the danger is to hear someone else's experience or to read about someone else's experience and think that such an experience is what happens or that is how you are going to feel.
I have heard people talk about how they felt like there was electricity going through their body from the top of their head and out through their toes or something. Well, that is great. I have never experienced that. I was struck by lightening once and I felt like there was electricity going through me, but I would not attribute that to the Holy Spirit. It was a bolt of lightening and I was laid on the ground by it. But their experience is wonderful!
I am not discounting the experience of others, but I am saying that not everybody has that experience and it is wrong to look for a particular experience. Because when you are looking for a particular experience, then the tendency is to put your faith in the experience rather than in the promise of the Word of God. And so often, when you are looking for a particular experience that someone else had—because God does not follow a pattern—it may be that you will not have that kind of an experience. This does not mean that God is not working in your life. It does not mean that you are not filled with the Holy Spirit because you did not have the similar experience that someone else had.
And so God shows us in the Book of Acts that there is a wide variety of ways by which He operates in the lives of individuals. And it does not follow a consistent pattern all the way through; rather there seems to be a total inconsistency of the way God did it all the way through the Bible. Experiencing the gift of the Holy Spirit was never exactly the same; and thus, the testimony of scripture leaves room for you to experience God in your own personal way. God is not bound to a formula.
Thus, my suggestion to you is just to be totally open to whatever and however God wants to work in your life. You should not look for a particular sensation, not look for a particular gift, not look for a particular reaction or a response. But just be open to let God work and to do however He desires through the imparting of this glorious gift upon your life. It may be that it will be through the laying on of hands by someone—one of the pastors, or one of the laymen in the church, as it was with Paul. It may be that no one will lay their hands on you, as was the case in Acts 2, when the believers were just all sitting together—and notice they were sitting. And I have heard of people who were standing, and I have heard of people who were lying on the floor. It does not matter—even lying in bed. God is not bound to one particular way.
And just open your heart. As Peter was preaching in the house of Cornelius, the hearts of the people were opened by the Spirit. The Spirit was bearing witness of the truth to their hearts. And as their hearts were opened by faith, they were receiving the Word of God. And as they were receiving the Word, the Holy Spirit just came upon them and it was beautiful!
So just be open. Do not try to pattern God. Do not look for a particular experience, but just receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Receive that power—that dynamic power in your life to be what God wants you to be. Receive the power to be a true witness for Jesus Christ in this world.
Shall we pray?
Father, we need, we desire, and we long for the power of Your Holy Spirit in our lives. And we thank You that You have promised that if we ask anything according to Your will, then we have received those things that we have asked of You. We know that it is Your will that we be filled with the Spirit, because it is Your command. And thus, Lord, we ask that we might receive. We seek that we might find that power—that dynamic. And as You work Lord, in Your own sovereign, special way, may we be open and may we receive, even in this moment. In Jesus'name. Amen.
[Unless otherwise noted, all Biblical references are quoted from King James Version.]
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