Participants: David Asscherick
Series Code: AOT
Program Code: AOT000055
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00:11 Welcome to Anchors Of Truth from the 3ABN Worship Center.
00:17 Unknown God with David Asscherick. 00:21 Well, this has been such a tremendous series. 00:25 We're down to part number five, which is the last presentation 00:29 by David Asscherick. 00:31 And I want you to know that those that are here... 00:34 And we have a very good attendance here this afternoon, 00:37 and a fantastic attendance again this morning. 00:41 ...that we have really been blessed by these presentations. 00:47 I'm just amazed at how God works when years back, 00:51 when we would think about people like John Carter and Kenneth Cox 00:55 and Mark Finley, I often wondered to myself, 00:59 how will God ever replace these individuals. 01:03 And before then there had been H.M.S. Richards 01:06 and George Vandeman, and many others. 01:10 God always has a way. 01:13 And the amazing thing to me is that He reached down 01:17 and found a man by the name of Danny Shelton 01:19 and started a network by the name of 3ABN. 01:23 And that was an unbelievable move. 01:26 We are just overwhelmed by how we have seen 01:30 God's leading at 3ABN. 01:33 But then He also needed speakers for that network. 01:38 And He reached down and He touched people like Ty Gibson, 01:43 who had no background whatsoever with this message 01:46 through family or any other way. 01:48 James Rafferty, Shawn Boonstra, John Bradshaw. 01:54 If you know anything about these stories, you know 01:58 that these men were not raised in this message 02:03 or anywhere near this message. 02:06 And He reached down and He found a young man by the 02:09 name of David Asscherick. 02:11 Just as verily as He reached out and touched the apostle Paul 02:17 and called him, He has called these young men 02:21 to continue preaching this message in the last days. 02:25 And there are a lot of others, there are a lot of others. 02:28 But I just mention these because to me it's a great encouragement 02:33 that God's message is going to go forward with power 02:37 even after many of us pass off the scene, 02:41 if He hasn't returned by that time. 02:43 What an encouragement that is. 02:47 And God has reached out, found people that really didn't 02:51 come through the system at all, reached out and touched them 02:55 and called them and equipped them, 02:58 and is blessing them, their ministry. 03:01 And that is exciting to me. 03:04 So we're looking forward to this last presentation, 03:07 Really Understanding the Unknown God. 03:11 And we'll never fully understand Him, but as we study 03:15 more and more, we get a better picture of the God who loves us. 03:20 Just before Pastor Asscherick comes to speak, 03:25 we're going to ask Yvonne Lewis, Dr. Lewis, who's our manager of 03:30 Dare To Dream, our new network, to come and sing for us 03:35 the song, Wonderful. 03:58 I heard He walked on water 04:02 and opened blinded eyes. 04:07 The deaf where made to hear again 04:12 and the dead were called to rise. 04:15 Oh, but when I gave Him all my heart 04:21 a greater thing took place. 04:25 The Lord of every miracle 04:29 redeemed me by His grace. 04:36 Wonders never cease as long as I believe 04:45 and place my life within the nail-scarred hands 04:51 that bled for me. 04:54 And when I think I've seen His best 04:58 I stand amazed to see, 05:04 His glory never ends 05:11 and wonders never cease. 05:31 He still walks on water 05:36 to calm my troubled seas. 05:39 And in the midst of thunder 05:44 I can hear Him speaking "Peace!" 05:48 And though some believe His miracles 05:53 were just part of yesterday, 05:58 oh, I'm living proof His changing power 06:03 will never pass away. 06:10 And wonders never cease as long as I believe 06:18 and I place my life within the nail-scarred hands 06:24 that bled for me. 06:27 And when I think I've seen His best 06:32 I stand amazed to see, 06:38 His glory never ends. 06:48 Wonders never cease as long as I believe 06:57 and I place my life within the nail-scarred hands 07:02 that bled for me. 07:06 And when I think I've seen His best 07:10 I stand amazed to see, 07:17 His glory never ends 07:23 and wonders never cease. 07:30 Oh, His glory never ends 07:37 and wonders never cease. 08:04 Amen, thank you so much. Beautiful, amen. 08:07 Alright, I have a suspicion that some of you are feeling tired 08:12 because you ate too much. 08:14 Is that possible? 08:16 Yeah, listen. Let me tell you. 08:17 It's against my personal policy for anyone to fall asleep 08:21 while I'm speaking. 08:22 So don't test my own personal policy. 08:25 And for the viewers out there, don't do it. 08:27 Don't fall asleep on me. 08:29 Because what we're going to be talking about here in our 08:31 fifth and final session is going to be awesome. 08:34 Have we learned anything in our first four sessions? 08:38 A couple of things? 08:39 I can just tell by your response that you've eaten too much. 08:41 "Yeah, yeah. We learned a lot. 08:43 I learned not to eat two helpings of mashed potatoes." 08:46 No. Have we learned anything about Scripture? 08:49 Yeah, we certainly have. 08:50 And in our fifth and final session here on our 08:53 Anchors Of Truth series... 08:54 And I want to thank Jim and the others here at 3ABN 08:57 for inviting me to come. 08:58 I've had a great time here except for the 09:01 part where I hit the deer. 09:02 That was unplanned and not good. 09:06 But this should be really exciting, our final message, 09:09 what we're going to be looking at. 09:10 And we're going to just continue basically to explore and then 09:14 bring to closure this idea of the Spirit 09:19 as God and as a person. 09:22 We've set the table, we've more than set the table. 09:24 Now we're beginning to partake of the meal. 09:26 And we're going to bring it now to its conclusion. 09:29 Not that it's the conclusion of everything that we could know, 09:32 but the conclusion of our series here. 09:33 So let's just have a quick prayer and then we'll get 09:35 right into our time together. 09:38 Father in heaven, what a privilege and an honor it is 09:41 for us to stand here, and as has been so beautifully song, 09:44 wonders never cease. 09:46 Father, we put our confidence in You. 09:48 And because You are infinite, because You are eternal, 09:51 You are illimitable, we will always wonder in 09:55 amazement at You. 09:57 And so Father, we pray now that as we seek to continue to 10:01 understand who You are and what You are and Your character, 10:06 Father we pray that You will teach us, not just with the mind 10:11 and the intellect, but Father teach us in our hearts, 10:14 teach us in our emotions. 10:16 That we may not just apprehend You, but that we may 10:19 appreciate and love You. 10:22 Father, be with us now as we open Scripture. 10:24 We would ask that you will send the Spirit, 10:26 who we're talking about, to be not just in this room. 10:30 That would not be good enough, Father. 10:31 We would ask that, in keeping with the promise of Jesus, 10:34 that You would send the Spirit to be in us 10:37 to guide us into all truth. 10:38 That the Spirit that inspired the text may now become the 10:42 Spirit that instructs in the text. 10:45 This is our prayer in Jesus' name. 10:47 Let everyone say, amen. 10:51 Okay now, I'm just going to pick up... 10:54 Is it okay if I just pick up right where we left off? 10:56 I mean, it was just like two hours ago so we should be fine. 10:59 We just had two hours and a few helpings of mashed potatoes 11:01 between us and what we were just talking about. 11:04 And our very last thing that we talked about 11:05 was the relationship that is very similar from the 11:10 Spirit to Jesus that Jesus has to the Father. 11:13 Right? 11:14 The Bible says, "In the beginning was the Word, 11:16 and the Word with God, and the Word was God." 11:18 And so from this passage, as well as Revelation 19, 11:21 we get this idea that Jesus is called, the Word of God. 11:24 Are we comfortable with that, everyone? 11:25 He's the Logos. He's the Word of God. 11:27 And so that is one way to describe the relationship 11:31 between the Father, who superintends the Godhead, 11:34 and the Son; the Father and the Son. 11:36 The Son is the word of the Father. 11:38 But Jesus, speaking of another Comforter that would come, 11:42 another Comforter, He says that He would not speak 11:46 His own words, but He would bring to remembrance 11:49 and recollection His words. 11:51 That He would glorify Him, and that He would bring 11:53 all things to remembrance that Jesus had spoken. 11:56 And so here, Jesus, who also said, "The words that I speak 11:58 unto you, they are spirit and they are life," 12:00 we find that it's as if the word of Jesus is the Spirit. 12:04 So the word of the Father is the Son, 12:07 and the word of the Son is the Spirit. 12:09 Each one, as we discussed in our last session, 12:12 deferring to the other. 12:13 The Son pointing the direction and the spotlight to... 12:17 Or the Father pointing the direction and 12:18 the spotlight to the Son. 12:19 The Son saying, "No, no, no. It's about the Father." 12:21 And the Spirit saying, "No, it's about the Son." 12:23 To which the Son replies, "No, it's the Father." 12:25 There's this humility within the Godhead. 12:27 Amen? 12:28 Now we spent a fairly significant amount of time 12:31 in John chapter 14 and we noted several things. 12:33 First of all, that Jesus attributes elements 12:37 and activities to the Spirit that only a person can do. 12:39 He will guide, He will teach, 12:41 He will instruct, He will reveal. 12:42 That's the kind of thing that a person does; number one. 12:44 Number two; He refers to Him with the masculine pronoun "He." 12:49 What the pronoun, everyone? He. Okay. 12:51 And the third thing that I thought was quite fascinating 12:53 is that Jesus says, "I will send you another Comforter." 12:57 Another Comforter. 12:59 Now you remember the illustration with me 13:01 and JD and Shelley. 13:03 As we're eating lunch, I request another... 13:05 Do you remember what it was? 13:06 ...sandwich. 13:07 What do you know by definition? 13:09 There was a first sandwich. 13:11 So if Jesus is saying, "I will give you another Comforter." 13:15 The question is, who was the first Comforter? 13:17 Who was the first one that the word literally means 13:19 parakletos; one that stands beside? 13:21 Who was the first one that stood beside the disciples? 13:24 Jesus. 13:25 And He says, "I'm going away, but I will send you another 13:28 Person to stand beside you." 13:30 Remember the illustration with the contractor? 13:32 Right? 13:33 I've got the job half way done, the addition on your house. 13:36 I'm leaving but I will send you another contractor. 13:40 And only a person could take the place left vacant by a person. 13:44 Does that make sense? 13:45 In what sense could electricity or gravity or electromagnetism 13:49 take the place that was left vacant by a person? 13:51 It can't be. 13:52 Jesus is referred to as the Parakletos in 13:55 1 John chapter 2 verse 1 where he says, "My little children, 13:57 these things I write unto you that you sin not. 13:59 And if any man sins, we have an Advocate with the Father," 14:01 a Parakletos with the Father, "Jesus Christ the righteous." 14:04 So when Jesus then says, "I'm going to send you another Person 14:07 to stand beside you," another Parakletos, 14:09 they're looking for a person. 14:11 Now I need to say something here. 14:13 We sometimes mistakenly assume that personhood 14:17 means physicality. 14:20 Right? We think, "Oh, person." 14:22 Toes and feet and knees and legs and a body. 14:25 No, no, no, no, no. 14:27 Personhood is not necessarily tied to physicality. 14:31 I've had people actually say to me, "Well David, 14:34 that doesn't make any sense. 14:35 How can the Holy Spirit be a person? 14:37 The Holy Spirit is a spirit." 14:39 I said, "Well, wait a minute. 14:40 I didn't say the Holy Spirit was a human. 14:43 I said the Holy Spirit was a person." 14:45 By the way, if we have a problem with the Holy Spirit 14:47 being a person... 14:48 Remember what Jesus said to the woman when He was 14:50 sitting there at the well. 14:51 He said, "God is a Spirit." 14:55 So if God is a Spirit, is God a person? 15:00 Yes or no? 15:01 Okay, so the Father is a Spirit. 15:03 By the way, in 1 Corinthians chapter 15... 15:04 You might want to just make note of that. 15:06 1 Corinthians chapter 15, Paul says that Jesus is a spirit. 15:09 He calls Him a "quickening spirit." 15:12 And so look at what you have. 15:13 The Holy Spirit obviously a Spirit. 15:15 God the Father; Spirit. Jesus; Spirit. 15:19 So this idea of personhood, when we talk about the Holy Spirit 15:22 as a person, what we're saying is this. 15:24 The Holy Spirit possesses volitionality, 15:28 He possesses personality, He possesses a will, 15:31 He possesses intelligence, etcetera. 15:33 We're going to see that right now. 15:35 Personhood is not necessarily tied to physicality. 15:37 And there's many ways to demonstrate this. 15:39 I'll just give you a very quick one here. 15:40 If I was involved in a car accident, heaven forbid, 15:43 and I had to have my right arm removed. 15:46 Okay? Like that. 15:47 Say, I became an amputee. 15:50 Am I now less of a person now that I've had my arm removed? 15:55 Am I less of a person? 15:56 Is that how we treat amputee's? 15:57 We say, "Oh, well he's only half a person." 16:00 No. They're still people. 16:01 Now what if I lost my other arm in an accident? 16:04 Am I less a person now than I was before? 16:06 You Say, "Oh, well David use to be a person, 16:08 but now he's half a person." 16:09 No, no, no, no, no. 16:10 The reality is that my personhood is tied to 16:14 my individuality, my identity, my character, my volition, 16:17 my will, my memory, my hopes, my dreams, etcetera. 16:20 It's not tied to my fingers, my arm, my legs. 16:24 So personhood is not absolutely tied to physicality. 16:28 When we say that the Holy Spirit is a person, 16:30 we're simply saying that He possesses volition, 16:32 that He possesses intentionality, 16:34 that He possesses intelligence, that He possesses a will, etc. 16:37 So far so good, everyone? 16:39 Now with that sort of in mind, what I'd like to do at this 16:41 point is just read a great statement here, 16:44 sort of a cautioning statement as we commence, 16:47 from a great book called, Acts Of The Apostles, 16:49 pages 51 and 52. 16:51 This is a nice little caution as we commence with our 16:54 fifth and final presentation here. 17:31 Okay, this is a great cautionary statement for us, because 17:35 what it basically does is it takes us right up to the edge 17:38 of that sea and it says, here's what you can know. 17:42 And beyond what you can know, don't make conjectures. 17:45 Don't guess, don't put out idle theories or idle ideas 17:49 or imaginings of what the Spirit is. 17:52 No. What we know about the Spirit is that He is a person. 17:55 We're going to see that in just a second. 17:57 That He is God. 17:58 We're going to see that in just a second. 17:59 But to try and figure out precisely what His ontology is.. 18:03 That ontology means, His being. 18:05 What exactly is He? 18:06 Does He have a shape? Does He have a form? 18:09 We should only affirm what Scripture says, and not try to 18:12 conjecture and imagine on what Scripture does not say. 18:15 Are you with me on that? 18:16 The church is not benefitted by that. 18:18 The Spirit is a mystery. 18:20 Now that shouldn't come as too much of a surprise to us. 18:22 Because as we've already seen, God Himself is a mystery. 18:27 Amen? 18:28 I mean, we saw that. 18:29 "Without controversy..." 1 Timothy chapter 3 verse 16. 18:32 "Without controversy..." 18:34 Some translations say, "By common confession." 18:37 "...great is the..." What? "...mystery of godliness." 18:42 So it should not strike us at all as surprising that 18:46 the Spirit is mysterious. 18:48 Because God is mysterious, and Jesus is mysterious, 18:51 and the incarnation is mysterious. 18:52 And it's a mystery. 18:54 Now can we know some things about God? 18:57 Yes or no. 18:58 Yeah, the things that He has revealed. 19:00 This is precisely how, by the way, the unknown God 19:03 becomes the known God. 19:05 The unknown God becomes the known God to us 19:08 when we see what He has revealed about Himself. 19:11 This is the way I like to say it. 19:12 If God decided to play hide and seek, you couldn't find Him. 19:17 If God just decided that He was going to make Himself 19:20 perfectly ineffably impenetrably known... 19:23 In other words, you could not access him. 19:26 ...you would know nothing about Him. 19:27 The only thing that we know about God is what He Himself 19:32 has disclosed to us in Scripture and in the created order. 19:35 Are you with me on that? 19:37 So we're going to stand on those things right here 19:39 on the edge of the sea shore. 19:40 And we're going to rejoice in all of what we do know. 19:43 Amen? 19:44 And we're not going to conjecture 19:46 about what we don't know. 19:47 One final word. 19:48 When we talk about the things that we don't know about God, 19:52 all of that sea shore that's out there, please understand 19:56 very distinctly that what we are talking about 20:00 is God's nature. 20:02 It's God's nature that is unknown to us. 20:05 God's character is very well known to us. 20:09 That has been disclosed in the life, death, 20:11 and resurrection of Jesus. 20:12 So when we talk about God, we know a great deal 20:15 about His character. 20:16 Amen? "God is love." 20:17 "For God so loved the world..." Etcetera, etcetera. 20:19 It's His nature that we should... 20:22 We should sort of come up to that question 20:24 of the nature of God. 20:25 We should take off our shoes and we should say, 20:27 "We're standing on holy ground." 20:29 Because of the limits of human language and the limits of 20:31 human intellect, we really are only babbling like babies 20:35 when we're doing our very best. 20:37 But when it comes to the character of God, 20:39 we know exactly what the character of God is like. 20:41 Because Jesus came and revealed to us who God is. 20:45 Amen? 20:46 Okay, now with that in mind, go with me to the book of Acts. 20:49 Let's spend some time in the book of Acts. 20:51 You might be saying, "Okay, why the book of Acts?" 20:52 Simple. 20:54 I'm going to say this, and I think you'll get it here. 20:56 Pentecost is to the Holy Spirit what Bethlehem was to Jesus. 21:03 You got that? 21:04 Pentecost is to the Holy Spirit what Bethlehem was to Jesus. 21:07 If you were to pick up the biography of the life of Christ, 21:11 say you were to walk up and there was a biography on 21:13 the life of Christ, where likely would that biography begin? 21:18 All the synoptics begin this way. 21:21 Matthew, Mark, Luke all begin this way. 21:24 John begins even further back, "In the beginning was the Word." 21:27 He goes back. 21:28 But for the most part, a biography on the life of Christ 21:31 is going to start right where the synoptics start. 21:33 They're going to start in and around Bethlehem's manger. 21:36 That just makes sense. 21:37 If you were going to write a biography on David Asscherick, 21:39 it would begin in Cheyenne, Wyoming, August 16, 1972. 21:43 So to with the Spirit. 21:45 Somebody says, "Well there's the Spirit in the Old Testament." 21:48 And yes, the Spirit is there. 21:50 Bu the Spirit is far more common and far more frequently 21:55 spoken of and more explicitly spoken of in the New Testament. 21:58 And it really begins on the day of Pentecost. 22:00 And so I'll say it again. 22:01 What Bethlehem was to Jesus, Pentecost was to the Spirit. 22:05 In fact, when you actually go through the whole Old Testament, 22:08 the word "spirit" occurs just 88 times. 22:12 88 times in the Old Testament is the word "spirit." 22:15 Right? The Hebrew equivalent, ruach. 22:18 And when you come to the New Testament, which is about 22:20 one third to one quarter as long, the word 22:22 "spirit" occurs 262 times. 22:25 Right? 22:26 So roughly 3 to 4 times as often in a book that's 22:31 3 to 4 times as small, a section that's 3 to 4 times as small. 22:35 So basically what you have is, the Spirit is spoken of 22:37 ten times more often in the New Testament 22:40 than in the Old Testament. 22:41 The reason for that is, that it was at Pentecost... 22:45 And this is fascinating, by the way. 22:46 It was at Pentecost that the Holy Spirit came 22:49 in all of His fullness. 22:52 In all of His... What word did I say, everyone? 22:54 Now this is awesome. 22:55 The Jews believed... 22:57 And you can make a reasonable biblical case for this as well. 23:01 The Jews believed that the law was given from Mt. Sinai summit 23:05 when God wrote on tablets of stone with His own finger. 23:08 Do you know what day they say that happened? 23:11 Pentecost. 23:13 The Jews believe that it was on the day of Pentecost 23:16 that the law was given on Sinai. 23:18 Right? It's very interesting. 23:20 Now think this through. 23:21 If that's accurate... And I think it is incidentally. 23:23 If that's accurate, look at what happens on the day of Pentecost 23:26 in the New Testament in Acts chapter 2. 23:29 The Holy Spirit comes on the day of Pentecost 23:32 and His primary purpose... 23:34 We'll talk about this in just a bit. 23:36 ...is to write His law, the law of God, not on cold 23:42 tables of stone, but on the fleshly tables of our heart. 23:46 So you can make a very powerful similarity here 23:49 between Pentecost in the Old Testament where the 23:51 law was given and Pentecost in the New Testament 23:53 where the Spirit is given, who writes His law upon our hearts. 23:57 Are you with me on that? 23:58 Awesome stuff. Absolutely awesome. 24:00 Now, when we go to the book of Acts, which in many ways 24:04 is to the Spirit... 24:05 It's the actions of the Spirit. 24:07 It's the acts of the Spirit through the church. 24:10 ...acts is to the Spirit what Matthew, Mark, Luke, 24:13 and John are to Jesus. 24:15 This is the story of the Spirit. 24:17 And when we get there, we're just going to start in 24:19 Acts chapter 5. 24:22 And we'll start here in verse 1. 24:24 We've just mentioned here Acts chapter 2, but I kind of 24:26 want to walk several passages here. 24:28 And I want to get all of this data in. 24:31 So we're going to move, not fast, but we will move 24:33 probably swiftly. 24:35 Acts chapter 5 beginning in verse 1, it says, 24:37 "But a certain man named..." What's his name, everyone? 24:40 "...Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession. 24:42 And he kept back part of the proceeds, his wife also 24:45 being aware of it, and brought a certain part and 24:47 laid it at the apostle's feet. 24:48 But Peter said, 'Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart...'" 24:53 Now watch this. 24:54 "...to lie to the..." Who? 24:57 "...to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the 25:01 price of the land for yourself? 25:03 While it remained, was it not your own? 25:05 And after it was sold, was it not in your own control? 25:09 Why have you conceived this thing in your heart?" 25:12 Now look at this. 25:13 "You have not lied to men but to..." Who? 25:18 "You have not lied to men but to you have lied to God." 25:20 So in one verse, Peter says... 25:22 In one section here, he says, "You have lied to the Spirit." 25:26 And then immediately after that he says, "You lied to..." What? 25:29 "...to God." 25:31 What does this tell us about the Spirit? 25:32 If you've lied to the Spirit and you've lied to God, 25:35 what is the Spirit? 25:36 Yeah, the most reasonable conclusion that you would 25:39 come to based on this passage is that the Spirit is God. 25:42 Peter understood this. 25:44 It was coming clear to him now, after the day of Pentecost, 25:47 when Jesus had said, "I will send you another Comforter 25:49 that He may abide forever. 25:50 Go to Jerusalem and wait for the promise of My Father 25:52 whom I will send from Him." 25:54 So they go to Jerusalem and they're waiting. 25:56 They didn't fully understand exactly what was going to come. 25:58 Who knows, maybe they thought another person was going to 26:00 come walking in the door and say, "Hey, guys. 26:02 I'm here. I'm the..." 26:03 But that's not what happened. 26:04 On the day of Pentecost when the Spirit came down, 26:07 it wasn't just a power, it wasn't just a force, 26:09 it wasn't just an effervescence, or an electromagnetism. 26:12 What came down, and they recognized it, was the 26:15 third Person of the Godhead. 26:17 This was God Himself who was coming, not cumbered with 26:21 humanity, but in all the fullness who lived 26:24 not just beside them as Jesus had. 26:26 He had walked with them and He had talked with them. 26:27 He had spent time with them. 26:29 But the Spirit actually came inside of them. 26:32 And they recognized, this is God in the flesh. 26:35 This is God's representative on earth. 26:38 In fact, just a statement on that, fascinating here. 26:40 This is another great statement here. 26:44 Desire Of Ages, page 671. Listen to this. 26:47 Speaking of this very moment, this very event. 27:23 Now friends, I only speak one language. 27:24 And that's the English language. 27:26 They say that if can speak three languages you're trilingual. 27:28 Two languages, you're bilingual. 27:29 One language, you're white and you're from the United States. 27:32 So that's me, one language. I've only got one. 27:35 So if I can't get it right with this language, I'm stuck. 27:39 I can't resort to my Spanish or resort to my Romanian 27:42 or to my Swahili. 27:43 This is the only arrow in my quiver, is English. 27:46 Are you with me on that? 27:47 If language means anything, third Person means third Person. 27:55 Are you with me on that? 27:56 I mean if language has meaning, third, as in one, two, three... 28:01 Okay, well who would the first two be? 28:03 God the Father, God the Son. And now what? 28:07 God the Spirit. Okay? 28:09 So here we have third, and then Person. 28:13 Is God the Father a Person? 28:15 Okay, is Jesus a Person? 28:17 So what's the Holy Spirit? A Person. 28:19 I just want to rewind here briefly. 28:22 When we started back in Genesis 1 four sessions ago, 28:25 we said that the Old Testament is suggestive. 28:29 The Old Testament is what, everyone? 28:31 There's hints, there's elusions, there's suggestions. 28:34 We went to Genesis 1, Genesis 2, Genesis 3, 28:36 Genesis 11, Genesis 18 and 19. 28:38 We went to Isaiah 6, Isaiah 9, Numbers 6, and Deuteronomy 6. 28:42 All of these passages suggest. 28:45 Then we get to the New Testament and what was implicit in the 28:49 Old Testament becomes increasingly explicit in 28:51 the New Testament where Jesus says, "I and My Father are..." 28:54 What? "...one." 28:55 So what we see is a progressive revelation. 28:59 You might remember that. 29:00 The pulling back of the cloth to progressively reveal. 29:03 But by the time we come down here, by the time we get here 29:07 to Desire Of Ages, page 671, I mean the language is 29:10 just unmistakably clear. 29:12 "The third Person of the Godhead." 29:16 So what was suggestive and became increasingly clear 29:19 becomes explicitly. 29:21 In fact, I don't want to be polemical here, 29:23 but I'm going to go out on a limb and I'm going to say, 29:25 it becomes unmistakably clear. 29:28 Third Person of the Godhead. 29:31 Now I have met many well meaning and well intentioned 29:33 people who say, "No, no, no, no. 29:34 There's no Trinity. There's no... 29:36 That's just a pagan Catholic... You know." 29:38 Well, wait a minute. Wait a minute. 29:40 Forgive me for my naiveté. 29:43 But "third Person of the Godhead." 29:45 If I stand before the throne of God and He says, 29:47 "Oh, you've got that Trinity thing all wrong. 29:49 How could you possible have believed that?" 29:50 I could say, "Well, I guess I was confused by that 29:52 one phrase there, 'third Person of the Godhead.'" 29:56 You tracking with me? 29:57 We serve a very reasonable God who is very good at 30:01 communicating His ways. 30:03 Amen? 30:04 I mean, He's not going to say "third Person" 30:06 when He really means there's only one. 30:09 It just doesn't add up. Are you tracking with me? 30:11 Third Person. 30:12 Now the great thing about this is that in its larger 30:15 theological context, that's exactly what we need. 30:19 We don't just need a force, we don't just need a power, 30:21 we don't just need an effervescence. 30:23 We need God Himself to come into us to do for us 30:27 what we cannot do for ourselves. 30:29 And that's the second part of the statement there; 30:31 that it is the job of the Spirit to make effectual 30:35 what had been wrought by the world's Redeemer. 30:37 So when Peter said, "You've not lied to men, 30:40 you've lied to the Parakletos. 30:42 You've lied to the one that Jesus sent. 30:44 You have lied to God Himself." 30:48 Now we're going to stay in the book of Acts. 30:50 And go with me to Acts chapter 15. 30:53 Stay in the book of Acts, Acts chapter 15. 30:57 Very quickly here. 30:58 This is the burgeoning blossoming New Testament church. 31:03 And they're all in a confused kerfuffle about how to relate 31:09 to the Gentiles who are coming into church. 31:12 And they don't know what to do. 31:14 And so they get together and they pray, and they wrestle, 31:17 and they struggle, and then they write a letter. 31:19 And I want you to hear part of this letter that they write. 31:21 It's in verse 28. 31:22 Actually, we'll pick it up in verse 27. 31:24 This is the church writing, sending this letter 31:26 with Paul and Barnabas. 31:27 "We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who will also report 31:31 the same things by word of mouth." 31:32 Verse 28, "For it seemed good to..." Who? 31:38 "...it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay 31:40 upon you no greater burden than these necessary things." 31:43 So think about that. 31:44 The church is saying, "Hey, we thought this was a good idea. 31:46 And so did the Spirit." 31:50 Well the only kind of being that can think and have good ideas 31:53 and imagine and have opinions and perspectives 31:57 is a person. 31:58 Right? I can't say, "Hey piano, what did you think about that 32:00 last song they played on you? 32:01 You weren't feeling that, were you. 32:03 Come on, don't be so quiet. Don't be bashful, go ahead." 32:06 It seemed good to me and to the piano? 32:08 No. The moment you say it seemed good to the Spirit, 32:11 you are attributing personhood to the Spirit. 32:14 "It seemed good to the Spirit, and to us." 32:16 The church recognizes that the Spirit is not just a 32:20 power or an energy. 32:22 The Spirit is a person. 32:24 Now stay in Acts and look at chapter 16. 32:27 Acts chapter 16 verse 6. 32:30 It says, "Now when they had gone through Phrygia and the 32:33 region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit 32:37 to preach the word in Asia." 32:39 So the Holy Spirit forbids, "Don't do that." 32:42 Verse 7, "After they had come to Mysia, they tried to 32:45 go into Bithynia, but the Spirit did not..." What? 32:49 "...permit them." 32:51 So, not only does it "seem good to us and to the Spirit," 32:54 but the Spirit also forbids and the Spirit permits. 32:59 These are the kinds of activities and characteristics 33:03 that are attributable only to a person. 33:07 Now we're going to leave the book of Acts, we may come back. 33:09 But go to 1 Corinthians chapter 12. 33:12 1 Corinthians chapter 12. 33:14 This is one of the lists of the spiritual gifts 33:17 that we find in Scripture. 33:18 1 Corinthians chapter 12. 33:21 And I'm going to read here in verse 1. 33:24 We've already looked at the triadic passage over there in 33:26 verses 4, 5, and 6. 33:28 The same Spirit, the same Lord, the same God. 33:31 And now look at verse 11 in 1 Corinthians 12. 33:34 It says, "But one and the same Spirit works all these things, 33:39 distributing to each one individually as He wills." 33:46 So notice what the Spirit does here. 33:47 The Spirit distributes. 33:50 Okay, this is the kind of activity that you would 33:53 expect of a person. 33:54 Not only does He distribute, but Paul says that the Spirit 33:58 distributes the gifts to the church according as He... What? 34:02 According as He wills. 34:05 And this is what we were just talking about a moment ago 34:06 when we said that personhood is not tied to physicality. 34:09 Personhood is tied to volitionality. 34:11 Its tied to the possession of will and intention. 34:15 And so it says here that the Spirit gives 34:18 the gifts to who He wills. 34:19 And in the context of 1 Corinthians, it's because 34:21 the Corinthians thought, "Oh, well I'll get this gift. 34:23 And I'll get this gift and I'll be a prophet. 34:25 And I'll be a healer, and I'll speak in tongues." 34:27 And Paul says, "No, no, no, no. You don't make those decisions. 34:30 It's the Spirit who gives the gifts to whomever 34:32 He wants to give them to." 34:35 Are you with me on that? 34:37 So the Spirit possesses will. 34:40 Quite obviously, this is the very kind of thing 34:43 that a person would do. 34:45 The Spirit possesses intentionality. 34:46 Now let's go to Luke, back to the gospels, chapter 12. 34:52 We find another activity that's attributed to the Spirit 34:56 that only a person could do. 35:00 Luke chapter 12. 35:01 This is an easy one to remember because it's verse 12. 35:03 Luke 12:12 35:05 It says, "For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that 35:09 very hour what you ought to say." 35:13 Okay, who will teach us? 35:15 The Holy Spirit. 35:16 This is exactly what Jesus had said in John 14, 15, and 16. 35:18 He will teach, He will guide, He will reveal. 35:21 The Holy Spirit Himself will teach you. 35:23 Notice, all of these activities are being attributed 35:26 to the Spirit as if He's a person. 35:28 Well why? 35:29 Because He is a person. 35:32 Amen? 35:33 Not just a power, not just some force. 35:36 Not like Star Wars, "May the force be with you." 35:39 No, may the third Person of the Godhead, 35:42 the Parakletos that Jesus spoke of, 35:45 may He be with you, beside you, and inside of you. 35:51 Now here's where things get very interesting. 35:52 The Holy Spirit can be grieved. 35:55 Ephesians chapter 4 verse 30. 35:59 Ephesians 4:30, notice this one. 36:09 It says, "And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, 36:13 by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption." 36:17 Don't grieve the Spirit. 36:21 Friends, I have a question. 36:22 Could I grieve this pulpit? 36:26 No. Could I grieve this piano? 36:29 You know, maybe I could. 36:32 If I sat down, I'd do my best. 36:33 But the point is that even somebody who can't play, 36:36 somebody like me who's got thumbs where there should 36:39 be fingers, I can't grieve a piano. 36:43 I can't grieve a speaker. 36:45 I can't grieve a pulpit or a chair. 36:48 Or any other inanimate thing. 36:49 But can you grieve a person? 36:52 Can I grieve my children? 36:53 Can I grieve my wife? 36:55 Can I grieve you? 36:57 Impossible, right? 37:00 So when it says, "don't grieve the Spirit," here again 37:02 what do we find? 37:03 We find the New Testament writers consistently 37:07 attributing to the Spirit the attributes and 37:10 characteristics of a... 37:13 What word am I going to say here? 37:14 ...of a person. 37:16 Not only can the Spirit be grieved, according to the 37:18 author of Hebrews, join me there, Hebrews 10, 37:22 the Spirit can be insulted. 37:26 The Spirit can be insulted. 37:28 And I'm going to say just a word on this here. 37:31 Hebrews chapter 10, I'm reading verse 29. 37:34 Hebrews 10:29 37:37 It says, "Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, 37:41 will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God 37:44 underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant with which 37:47 he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted 37:52 the Spirit of grace?" 37:55 Insulted the Spirit. Grieved the Spirit. 37:58 Now let me just remind you of something here. 37:59 In Matthew chapter 12, Jesus spoke about what we call, 38:02 the unpardonable... What? ...sin. 38:05 Can you tell me, what did Jesus say the unpardonable sin was? 38:11 Okay, very good. 38:12 Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. 38:14 Now think about that. 38:15 In the context of Matthew 12, Jesus says 38:17 a very interesting thing. 38:18 He says, "Blasphemy against the Son of Man 38:20 will be forgiven." 38:22 Okay? Now think about that. 38:24 Blasphemy against the Son of Man is blasphemy against a person. 38:28 Okay? And He says that can be forgiven. 38:30 But blasphemy against the Spirit, He says, cannot 38:34 and will not be forgiven to men. 38:36 Now think about this juxtaposition. 38:38 That's just a fancy word that means, 38:40 setting two things side by side; juxtaposition. 38:42 Okay. 38:44 Can you commit blasphemy against Jesus? 38:47 Yes or no. 38:49 Can you? Can it be forgiven? 38:51 Okay, then the very next thing Jesus says, 38:53 "But the sin that cannot be forgiven is blasphemy 38:55 against the Holy Spirit." 38:57 Okay, so if this is a sin against a person, 39:00 what does this sound like it is when Jesus places it in 39:03 exact juxtaposition? 39:04 Does that sound like it's a sin against a person? 39:07 And this is what Paul is alluding to, and the author 39:09 of Hebrews is alluding to when they say 39:11 don't grieve the Spirit, don't insult the Spirit. 39:16 Don't insult the piano, David. 39:17 Don't insult that piano. 39:19 Don't grieve the pulpit, David. 39:21 Don't insult the speakers. 39:22 No, no, no, no. 39:23 The only thing that can be grieved or insulted is 39:25 something that possesses emotion, intelligence, 39:29 will, and volition. 39:31 That is to say, personhood. 39:33 Are you tracking with me on that? 39:34 Is this making sense? 39:36 It's just clear as can be. 39:38 Well, not only can the Holy Spirit be grieved and insulted, 39:41 the Holy Spirit loves. 39:44 Come with me to Romans chapter 15. 39:50 I love this particular one here. 39:51 Romans chapter 15, notice with me verse 30. 39:56 Romans 15 verse 30 says, " Now I beg you, brethren, 40:01 through the Lord Jesus Christ, and through the 40:05 love of the Spirit, that you strive together with me 40:11 in prayers to God for me." 40:13 "The love of the Spirit." 40:16 The word "of" in the English usually functions 40:19 in what we would call, the possessive. 40:22 Right? If we say, for example, "He is a man of talent," 40:26 we mean that he's a man that possesses talent. 40:29 If we say, "She's a woman of wealth," 40:32 we mean that she's a woman that possesses wealth. 40:34 The word "of" junctions as a possessive. 40:36 So here when it says, "the love of the Spirit," 40:39 it means the Spirit has love. 40:43 This is very similar to what is communicated in a blessing 40:45 that we've already ready, the Apostolic Benediction, 40:48 this is 2 Corinthians 13:14, where it speaks about the 40:52 fellowship of the Spirit; the love of the Spirit. 40:57 Now that makes sense because if someone can be insulted, 41:00 and someone can be grieved, and someone can be blasphemed 41:03 and sinned against, that must be someone that loves. 41:06 That must be someone who has extended His hand 41:10 only to have that hand rejected. 41:11 And who has extended His hand only to have that hand rejected. 41:14 And who has extended His hand only to have that hand 41:16 rejected again and again. 41:18 We don't talk about the love of the piano or the 41:20 love of the pulpit or the love of your car. 41:23 Only a person can be grieved and insulted. 41:26 And only a person can genuinely love. 41:28 No wonder John would say in just a few short books 41:32 away from this, God; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is... 41:37 What's our word? 41:39 God is love. 41:41 Now I want to take you to my two favorites when it comes to this. 41:45 And they're both in the book of Romans. 41:47 You're already there, so go to Romans chapter 8. 41:50 To me, if all we had on this subject was these passages, 41:58 we would have enough. 41:59 If all we had were these passages, we would have enough. 42:01 And the first is Romans chapter 8 beginning in verse 26. 42:08 Romans chapter 8 verse 26. 42:11 It says, "Likewise, the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. 42:18 For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought to, 42:23 but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us 42:27 with groanings which cannot be uttered. 42:30 Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of 42:34 the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints 42:37 according to the will of God." 42:39 Two major things here. 42:42 First of all, is it clear to you that according to this passage, 42:45 that the Spirit intercedes? 42:47 Okay, now wait a minute. 42:49 We've got to think that one through. 42:52 What does the word "intercede" mean? 42:54 Give me some synonyms for "intercede." 42:57 Okay, stand in for. 43:00 Okay, nice and loud. 43:02 Okay, what is that? 43:04 Go between, very good. 43:06 Anybody else? 43:07 Mediate, very good. Okay. 43:08 You've got it. 43:09 Now let's take the one there; go between. 43:13 Go between. Okay. 43:14 Go between what? 43:18 Exactly. Two parties. 43:20 Okay, now think this through very carefully here. 43:23 In order to intercede, you have to have party A and party B. 43:30 And then party C is interceding. 43:33 Is this making sense? 43:34 Now think that through. 43:35 If Paul here says, "The Spirit Himself intercedes for us..." 43:40 There's one of the parties. 43:41 "...according to the will of God..." 43:44 You've got your three parties right there. 43:46 We the saints, and God, as two of the parties. 43:50 Right here, number one is God. Number two is us. 43:55 And the Spirit is making intercession. 43:57 The only way that anything can intercede 43:59 is if you have two other parties. 44:01 See, some people say the Spirit is not a person 44:04 in and of Himself. 44:05 The Spirit is just the extension of the Father. 44:08 The Spirit is just the personal presence of the Son. 44:11 Which sounds reasonably persuasive at times. 44:15 But here's the problem with it. 44:16 There is a very real sense, of course, in which 44:18 the Spirit is the presence of the Father 44:20 and is the presence of the Son. 44:21 But they say He's just the presence of the Father, 44:24 just the presence of the Son. 44:25 He doesn't not possess His own individuated personhood. 44:29 But here's the problem. 44:30 Think about what this verse would be saying then. 44:32 The Spirit, that is to say the extension of God, 44:36 intercedes between God and us. 44:40 Well, wait a minute. 44:41 How is God the Father interceding 44:45 with God the Father on our behalf? 44:47 You see how that's confusing? 44:49 The only way you can have intercession is if you have 44:51 party A, party B, and someone who is interceding between. 44:57 Now on this very point here, Ellen White is just so clear 45:03 and so profoundly encouraging. 45:07 I have to share this statement with you. 45:09 I think it's our final statement. 45:12 This is from the first volume of the Selected Messages series, 45:15 page 344, listen to this. 45:30 Okay, so does Christ intercede? 45:33 Yes or no. 45:34 Okay not just intercedes, but He constantly intercedes. 45:37 So Christ, and who else does she say intercedes? 45:39 Christ and the Spirit. Okay. 45:41 So, do we need the intercession of Christ? 45:45 Yeah. 45:46 The intercession of Christ revolves around the 45:49 pleading of His own blood. 45:51 Right? 45:52 By the way, that simply means His life; the blood is the life. 45:54 So when He pleads His blood, it means, 45:57 "Father, the death that I died was the death that they deserve. 46:00 And the life that I have lived is the life they have not lived. 46:03 I present myself to you." 46:05 That's where the intercession of Christ takes place; 46:08 presenting His sacrificial death and His substitutionary life. 46:12 Are you with me on that? 46:13 But not only does Jesus intercede, 46:17 the Spirit intercedes. 46:19 Question. 46:21 Does the Spirit present His blood? 46:24 Why not? 46:26 Because He didn't die. 46:27 He didn't die on Golgotha's tree. 46:29 So what does the Spirit do? 46:31 Ah, notice as it continues. 47:15 Okay, now this is absolutely awesome. 47:17 This is exactly what Paul is saying in Romans chapter 8. 47:19 That the Spirit Himself intercedes for us 47:22 with groanings that cannot be uttered. 47:25 In the context of Romans chapter 8, Paul has talked 47:27 about the groaning creation, and he's talked about the 47:29 groaning Christian. 47:31 And here, he talks about the groaning Comforter. 47:34 He actually says that. 47:36 He says creation groans, and he says Christians groan. 47:39 And here he says even the Comforter, the Spirit, groans. 47:43 But what is the Spirit groaning? 47:46 Have you ever had the experience of kneeling to pray 47:49 and not even knowing what to say? 47:52 This happens to me like every single time I pray? 47:57 I mean, I'll just be honest with you. 47:59 I'll be very vulnerable here with you, very transparent. 48:01 Prayer is difficult for me. 48:04 I actually read Shelley's book, Pressing Into His Presence. 48:06 Very helpful. 48:09 But for me, study comes natural. 48:11 Books come natural, reading comes natural. 48:13 But prayer? 48:15 I'm just so philosophically and analytically minded 48:17 that when I get down to pray, I think, 48:19 "Well God, You already know what I was going to say 48:22 if I was going to pray, so can we just skip this part?" 48:24 But then I realize, prayer is not about me 48:28 giving God information. 48:30 It's about me coming into connection with God. 48:33 And that takes time. Right? 48:35 But when I kneel down and I'm like, 48:38 "Lord, I don't know how to pray for all the 48:40 people that are sold into sexual slavery. 48:44 I don't know how to pray for all the children that 48:46 starve to death on a daily basis or the children in 48:49 urban situations who never even get to go out of the 48:51 city limits of the town in which they were born. 48:53 I don't know how to pray for the situation. 48:55 I don't know how to pray." 48:57 And in Romans 8 we have this amazing promise. 48:59 That when you don't know how to pray... 49:01 And he says it, we don't even know how to 49:02 pray like we ought to. 49:04 So I get down and I say, "Lord, I'm going to pray." 49:06 Have you ever had to pray for a sick person? 49:09 Is that tough to do? 49:11 Yeah, it's very difficult to pray for a sick person. 49:13 Because do you believe that God can heal them? 49:15 Yeah, but do you know that's what God is going to do? 49:20 Uh, no. 49:21 So when I kneel, when I go to do an anointing 49:23 or I pray for a sick person, I'm always caught between 49:25 my total faith that God can heal and yet my unawareness or my 49:30 lack of knowledge of whether or not He will right now. 49:33 Now God is going to heal everybody at the resurrection. 49:35 Amen? 49:36 So I don't know how to pray. 49:38 I go into hospitals on many occasions and I'm just 49:40 stumbling and bumbling and fumbling. 49:42 And when I pray, I say, "Lord, take this stumbling 49:45 and bumbling, in the words of the old hymn, stammering tongue 49:50 and Father, please will You hear what my heart is saying." 49:54 I don't even know if I'm praying the right way. 49:56 People call me all the time and they say, 49:57 "David, I don't know what I should do with my life. 49:58 Should I go to school? Should I do Bible work? 50:00 Should I marry this person? Should I move to this country?" 50:02 How do I know? 50:04 I don't know. 50:05 But you can kneel and you can pray and you can say, 50:07 "Lord, what do You want me to do? 50:09 How do You want me to go?" 50:10 And you're praying and then you can even say, 50:12 "And Lord, if I'm praying all messed up, 50:16 please let the Spirit intercede." 50:19 May the Spirit gather up those prayers. 50:21 The Spirits listening because He's a person. 50:23 See, He's a person. 50:24 The Spirit is listening, "Um-hm, um-hm, um-hm. 50:28 Hmm, um-hm, um-hm. I've got that." 50:32 He gathers up those prayers, those fragmentary prayers, 50:36 and He brings them to the... He intercedes. 50:39 "This is what he said. 50:41 I know, it sounded stupid. I know. 50:43 But this is what he meant." 50:46 "And this is what she asked for. 50:47 I know, I know. She's immature. 50:49 But this is what she meant." 50:52 The Spirit Himself intercedes. 50:55 Well how can the Spirit intercede? 50:56 Because He's a person. 50:59 And not just a person. He's God. 51:02 Jesus intercedes. 51:03 Jesus' intercession is equal to the Spirit's, but different. 51:07 Distinguishable but not divisible. 51:10 I want to say that again. 51:11 The intercession of the Spirit and the intercession of Jesus 51:14 are distinguishable, but they're not divisible. 51:18 This is what Jesus is doing, He's pleading His blood. 51:21 This is what the Spirit is doing. 51:23 But both are absolutely essential. 51:25 You with me on that? 51:27 Now it gets even more awesome. 51:28 And we stay in Romans chapter 8. 51:30 This is arguably my favorite verse in all of... 51:36 ...the first half of Romans chapter 8. 51:39 I love this verse. 51:40 I love this verse because, to me, it is so 51:43 epistemologically profound. 51:44 But I don't have time to go into that right now. 51:47 Check this out, Romans chapter 8 verse 15. 51:51 "For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, 51:55 but you received the Spirit of..." What? 51:58 "... of adoption..." I can relate to that. 51:59 I was adopted, not once, but twice. 52:01 "...you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, 52:04 Daddy, Abba, Papa..." 52:05 That's what my little boys call me; Papa. 52:07 "...Father." 52:08 Verse 16, "The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit 52:14 that we are children of God." 52:16 This is awesome. 52:18 By the way, the way that we know Christianity is true... 52:23 This is what I was talking about there when I mentioned the 52:25 epistemologically significance of this verse. 52:27 The way that we know Christianity is true 52:30 is because the Spirit tells us that it's true. 52:33 The way that we show it is true is by arguments and by evidence 52:37 and by godly lives. 52:38 But that's not how we know that Christian faith is true. 52:41 We know that Christian faith is true because God's Spirit, 52:44 who is Himself a member of the Godhead, 52:47 comes into our lives and bears witness with our spirit. 52:51 And God's Spirit says to our spirit, "You're a son of God. 52:53 You're a daughter of God." 52:55 Amen? 52:56 And only a person can do that. 52:58 In fact, I don't have the quotation here, 52:59 but Ellen White actually makes that exact point 53:02 based on this verse. 53:03 She makes that exact point. 53:04 She says, "The Spirit is a person," this is a direct quote. 53:07 "The Spirit is a person, else He could not bear witness 53:10 with our spirit." 53:13 Only a person. 53:14 Have you ever poured your heart out to somebody and 53:16 had them say, "I know exactly what you mean." 53:19 Yes or no? 53:20 Yeah, you open your heart to somebody and they say, 53:22 "Man, I know. I know. I feel your pain. 53:24 I know where you're coming from. 53:25 I've walked a mile in your moccasins. 53:26 I'm with you, I'm smelling what you're cooking." 53:28 Right? 53:30 "I'm hearing what you're saying. 53:31 I'm catching what you're throwing." 53:32 There's a resonance there. 53:34 And that's exactly what Paul says the Spirit does. 53:36 The Spirit bears witness with our spirit. 53:42 "You're the Son of God." 53:43 "You're the daughter of God." 53:45 And we know it, intuitively. 53:47 Incorrigibly is the technical term. 53:49 We know in a self authenticating way because God has 53:53 revealed Himself to us through His Spirit. 53:57 Not just a power, not just an effervescence, 54:00 but the third Person of the Godhead. 54:05 Amen? 54:06 Is that just absolutely so thrilling? 54:09 Now the final thing I want to get into here, 54:11 and I have just a moment, is this. 54:13 I've said this at the end of the last two sessions 54:15 and I want to unpack it a little bit. 54:19 We've looked at all the things that only a person could do. 54:21 He forbids, He permits, He teaches. 54:24 He can be grieved, He can be insulted. 54:26 He guides, He reveals, etc. He's a person. 54:31 What's the practical application? 54:33 Several years ago, I was sitting in a restaurant 54:34 and there was a man that was not of my 54:37 particular faith community. 54:39 But he was a wonderful man. A good Christian man. 54:41 And he asked me if I had received the Holy Spirit, 54:43 if I had been anointed by the Spirit. 54:46 And I said, "I think so." 54:48 And he said, "Oh, you don't know?" 54:49 And we were sitting in a restaurant. 54:50 And he said, "Come out back with me and I'll show you." 54:53 "Alright." I was a brand new Christian. 54:55 So we went out back. And his name was Jerry. 54:57 And we get behind the restaurant there and he says, 54:59 "Okay well, haba shabama hamana humana shamana hamana wumana." 55:06 And I was like... 55:08 He's like, "Yeah, it's the gift of tongues. 55:10 You can have it right now. Go ahead." 55:12 And I was just like, "What do you mean?" 55:14 He's like, "Go ahead. 55:15 The Spirit will come upon you. Go." 55:16 And I didn't know anything. Theology... 55:19 I was just like... 55:22 It just didn't pass the smell test. 55:23 It didn't sound right. 55:25 He was like, "No, it's easy. It's easy. 55:26 Go, go, go, go, go." 55:28 And I was like, "You know, Jerry, I don't know. 55:30 I'm just not... I'm not feeling that." 55:33 He's like, "No, you can do it." 55:34 And here's the thing. 55:36 And Jerry is a great guy. 55:38 And I think he was way off on 1 Corinthians 14, 55:40 and way off on Acts 2, and way off Acts 10. 55:43 I don't think that is anything like a manifestation 55:45 of the gift of the Spirit. 55:46 But here's the point. 55:48 Jerry acted in such a way as though the Spirit was something 55:52 he could just summon and then now demonstrate and perform. 55:58 We treat the Spirit like it's a power and we're in trouble. 56:01 We're going to start trying to use this power. 56:06 But we treat the Spirit and we relate to the Spirit 56:09 as He is; as a person. 56:11 Then our plea will be a very different situation. 56:15 Not, "Give me the Spirit that I may be powerful." 56:18 But rather, "Give me the Spirit..." 56:21 Or rather, "Give the Spirit to me. 56:24 May I be given to the Spirit that He may use me." 56:28 A great old story about Dwight Moody, I'll close with this. 56:31 He was preaching a big evangelistic meeting in Chicago 56:33 and a young minister was getting tired about hearing, 56:35 Moody... Moody... Moody... He was at a minister's meeting. 56:37 And so he spoke up on one occasion at the minister's 56:39 meeting and said, "All we ever hear is Moody, Moody, Moody. 56:44 What, does this guy have a monopoly on the Holy Spirit?" 56:50 And one of the older ministers spoke up and said, 56:52 "No, you've got it all wrong young man. 56:55 Dwight Moody does not have a monopoly on the Holy Spirit. 56:59 The Holy spirit has got a monopoly on Dwight Moody." 57:03 And friends, that's what we need. 57:05 We need the unknown God to become the known God. 57:11 The Spirit, the third Person of the Godhead. 57:13 Not just to be beside us or next to us or over us or around us. 57:18 But in keeping and in fulfillment with the promise 57:21 of Jesus, that the unknown God would become the known God. 57:25 That His Spirit would bear witness with our spirit, 57:27 and that He would be in us. |
Revised 2014-12-17