Mark O'Grady - Born of the Spirit - Class 3 - The Spirit in a Son

Automatically transcribed. Accuracy is good but not perfect, and words are sometimes wrong. Trust the audio over the text.

1. 0:00

   Good. We’ve been looking at the subject of the Spirit and we’ve learned that it’s an extension of the work of God himself. So it’s it’s his power which is used to achieve his will and his purpose. And we noted in our last class that there are times in history where the the work of the power of the Holy Spirit has been made spectacularly obvious. There are other times when there were prophets and there were things that took place, but there are certain periods in history where there was a spectacular outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

2. 0:32

   We noted last time that it was the intertestament period of 400 years where there was no direct and visible evidence of the Holy Spirit. Last time we looked at the fact that the area of the time period of creation was one of the very spectacular demonstrations of the power of the Holy Spirit.

3. 0:53

   As was the time period of the Exodus when God established the Mosaic system of things, called his nation, his people out of Egypt and, and put them into the Holy Land, established them in the land that he’d chosen for his name to dwell, the birth of the nation of Israel. And another such momentous time in history, which we’re looking at today.

4. 1:16

   At top of the day was the remarkable time when God, through the work of the Holy Spirit, would reveal himself in earth, on earth, in the person of his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, of all time periods in history, that was a period of the most momentous change. It’s the time when the gospel, the good news concerning the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ was going to be preached. This was a time period when the sacrifice of the Son of God would make possible the forgiveness of sins and open a way of salvation for all men and women that would believe. So this is a time period that we personally have a great debt of gratitude for In terms of the work that was accomplished then, I don’t know if you’ve thought about this, but it was also in many ways the end of an era.

5. 2:12

   This was the point in time when God would remove the nation of Israel from their land for a terrible nearly 2000 years. It was also the point in time when the Mosaic system of things and the institutions of the law and worship in Jerusalem would be done away and a better way would become visible in Christ.

6. 2:37

   This was also a point in time when the nature of worship itself would change the human race, because now the gospel is going to be spread out to the Gentiles. So there’s going to be believers now who are non Jews all around the world. So from that time forward, the worshippers are going to be gathered in scattered little groups in Gentile lands cut off from worship in the city of Jerusalem. So this is a rather extraordinary time in history. And it was spoken of by the prophets for centuries beforehand.

7. 3:18

   So not surprisingly, it was also a time of spectacular outpouring of the Holy Spirit. In fact, I think we could say it was the most dramatic demonstration of the work of the Holy Spirit that the world has yet seen. So the time period of the birth of Christ is an era when the work of the Holy Spirit became powerfully manifested on earth again after 400 years of silence.

8. 3:47

   No prophets, no miracles, no direct guidance, and suddenly God’s purpose bursts into visible manifestation again. Now to get a bit of a sense of the meticulous planning for this event, let’s just remember that the time period of the Lord’s death, the year of the Lord’s death, had been identified in the 70 weeks prophecy in Denim. Everything was meticulously planned. As the Apostle Paul writes in Galatians 4 verse 4, when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law.

9. 4:29

   It’s such a momentous occasion that when his Son is finally born, Luke 2 verse 30, and it says suddenly there was with the Angel a multitude of the heavenly host, and they’re praising God and they’re saying glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace and goodwill toward men. So as you would expect, the work of the Holy Spirit exploded into prominence in those days. Now, in preparation for that time, we won’t turn it up, but in Luke 1, verse one, an Angel of the Lord appears to Zacharias who was standing at the right hand of the altar of incense. Can you imagine the impact of that when there had been complete silence for a period of 400 years? No visitations from God, no prophecies, no direct voice from God at all.

10. 5:28

    Silence for 400 years, I presume. The day began like any other. Zacharias may have had toast for breakfast, or probably not, but he would have got up, had his breakfast. It would have just been like an ordinary day, like any other. By the time that day finished, no lesser personage than the mighty Angel Gabriel had been seen standing on Earth again talking to me.

11. 5:56

    What a remarkable transformation. You know, it’s no wonder that when Zacharias saw the Angel, we’re told that he was troubled and fear fell upon him. As I was saying to the teams this morning, probably it had the same sort of impact on him that it will have on you and me. When we see our first Angel. It will have that sort of impact. You imagine what that will do for you when you see your first Angel.

12. 6:29

    So here’s Zacharias quietly going about his business, worshipping in the temple, doing the work beside the altar of incense, and suddenly the Angel Gabriel is standing there. Now the Angel tells Zacharias in Luke one, verse 15, that his son, whose name was going to be called John, would be full of the Holy Spirit from his mother’s womb.

13. 6:48

    Note that full of the Holy Spirit. That’s an expression we’re going to come across quite a few times today, full of the Holy Spirit and note also from his mother’s womb. Just think through the implications of that right from birth in Luke chapter one verse 41, when Zacharias’s wife Elizabeth hears the voice of Mary, it says she was filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke out with a loud voice. Later when John the Baptist is born, Zacharias writes down his name should be John and Zacharias. His tongue is loosed.

14. 7:21

    It says in Luke one verse 67, Zacharias was full of the Holy Spirit and he prophesied saying so you get that father, mother, child, all fum of the Holy Spirit. Only Spirit exploded onto the sea after 400 years of thought. Now if that level of spirit engagement, spirit involvement was involved with the birth of the forerunner, what would you expect to see when it comes to the birth of the only begotten Son of God? Well, it all began in Luke chapter one, verse 26 with a visitation again from the Angel Gabriel. And he conveys to Mary the extraordinary message that she is going to as a virgin, bring forth a child. So in verse 36 of that chapter, the Angel says unto her, the Holy Spirit will come upon thee and the power of the highest shall over shadow thee.

15. 8:19

    Therefore, also the holy thing that is born of thee should be called the Son of God. Now this is this is extraordinary. The concept of a virgin birth. This is unmatched in the history of the human race before or after. This is the utterly impossible. But it was a beautifully crafted solution for the impossible situation that the human race found itself in man’s impossible predicament. And it was also a fantastic fulfillment of Zizi 7, verse 14. Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Emmanuel, God with us.

16. 9:02

    So as Joseph starts to hear of what’s been happening and he’s understandably quite perturbed, then an Angel appears to him as recorded in Matthew one verse 20 and tells him that what Mary is about to bear is conceived by the Holy Spirit. Then when the baby’s born, a sign appears to the wise men from the east. A star guides them to where the child is. The shepherds are visited by an Angel of the Lord with shining glory.

17. 9:31

    Then multitudes of the heavenly host are praising God. God’s glorified and praised for all the things that the shepherds had seen and heard. Then after the child’s born, they bring him up to the city where Simeon’s waiting. It says in Luke 2, verse 25, Behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. The same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. Verse 26 And it was revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he’d seen the Lord’s Christ. Verse 27 And he came by the Spirit into the temple. Do you get the sense that is an explosion now of the activity of the Spirit seen in the land of Israel around the time period of the birth of Christ?

18. 10:20

    Later Joseph and Mary are warned by an Angel to go to Egypt, which they do. Later when they come back, they’re told to go and settle in the region of Galilee. All right, I’d like you to come with me now to the book of Luke, Gospel of Luke and chapter 2. There’s an interesting little phrase there, actually, when it comes to the birth and development of this child. Luke chapter 2, pick up the record in verse 40. So they’ve turned in verse 39 to Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth, verse 40.

19. 10:52

    And the child grew and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him. The dialogue says The little child grew and was strengthened in spirit, being filled with wisdom. The favour of God was on it. Young’s literal very similar. The child grew and was strengthened in spirit, being filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him.

20. 11:22

    So is this suggesting that the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of God, was actually working directly in the Lord Jesus Christ even before his baptism? And I believe the answer to that is yes. And there’s a few reasons for that. First of all, this expression here that he was waxing strong in spirit and filled with wisdom. Wisdom is actually an explicit gift of the Spirit that’s referred to in the New Testament. But remember the words to Zacharias in chapter 1 and verse 15 that his son, whose name would be John, would be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb. So I think it’s unlikely that the Holy Spirit was in John from his mother’s womb and not actually in the Lord Jesus Christ.

21. 12:11

    Now we know that later the Spirit descends on Christ at his baptism, but that doesn’t mean that it wasn’t working with him in his life beforehand, as we’ll see later. For example, Acts chapter 2, the disciples received the Holy Spirit. They actually had aspects of the Holy Spirit before Acts chapter 2, as we shall see as we go through this morning. So here we have two remarkable lads, John the Baptist, the Forerunner and the Lord Jesus Christ. And their existence is absolutely a result of the work of the Holy Spirit.

22. 12:46

    And as they come to adulthood, the day arrives when they will start being revealed to the nation of Israel. So first of all, we’ve got the ministry of John the Baptist. Now, the ministry of John the Baptist resounded like a thunderclamp over the heads of Israel as this extraordinary man comes out with this roaring voice and this great message of repentance to the people. And yet he’s John the Baptist.

23. 13:13

    He’s full of the Holy Spirit, but he does know miracles. It’s interesting. It’s almost like an offhand comment that the people make when they come to see Christ in John 10 verse 41. Many resorted to Christ and they said John did know miracles, but all things that John spake of this man were true. Well, truly John spoke the truth. He was full of the Holy Spirit, but actually his role was to be the voice of Isaiah 40, the voice that cries. So the Holy Spirit manifested in John the Baptist was not to do miracles actually, but to work as the voice of one crying to prepare the way for the Lord.

24. 13:57

    And then John the Baptist spoke of 1 coming, who would baptize them with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Matthew 3 verse 11. Now those are quite amazing words because when he says that there’s one coming, He’s going to baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire, He’s saying there’s someone going to come. He’s not only going to be full of the Holy Spirit, but he’ll have the ability to pass the Holy Spirit on to other people. He will baptize them with the Holy Spirit and with fire. And from that point on, things only become more potent and more intense as the record starts to open of the work of the Holy Spirit now manifested in the only begotten Son of God. Because now what we’ve got is the beginning of the new creation process itself.

25. 14:42

    So like you to come with me to John chapter 1, Gospel of John and chapter 1 here we’ve got a reference to the baptism of the Lord Jesus Christ. We’ll pick up the record in verse 29. Next day John sees Jesus coming to him and he says, behold, the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world. So John one verse 30.

26. 15:04

    Well, verse 31 I knew him not, he said, but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore I’m come coming baptizing with water. Verse 32 John B records saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. I didn’t know who he was, but he that sent me to baptize with water.

27. 15:26

    The same said to me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining on him. The same is he which baptizes with the Holy Spirit, and so he bears record that this one is the Son of God. So let’s try and work out what’s actually happening here in this particular record. He’s watching and the Spirit descends in the shape it says of a dove and rests upon him. Now that’s a bit unusual, isn’t it? You see the Spirit in the shape of a dove resting upon them. We need to try and work out what’s happening here in the record in John chapter 1.

28. 16:08

    So what’s the context? Let’s turn back the page to the beginning of the chapter. How does the Gospel of John begin in the beginning? Heard those words? Prefer. Where do those words come up? That’s the opening words of Scripture, Genesis chapter one in the beginning. So straight away it tells us actually that there’s a reference here back to Genesis one. In the beginning was the Word.

29. 16:33

    The word was with God. The word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him. We’ve got a creation process in him. Was life the life? Was the light of men versified? The light shines in darkness, The darkness comprehends. If not, you can see all these echoes of the creation process from Genesis chapter 1.

30. 16:56

    So what do we have? We have the Gospel of John opening up a new creation process as the new creation begins in the life in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. So how did the first creation process begin? An earth without form and void. Darkness is upon the face of the deep, and the spirit is brooding or moving upon the face of the waters. And we looked at that word moving yesterday, Raka, and it means to hover or to flutter like a bird. So now we see the Holy Spirit in the shape of a dove as of a bird descending and sitting upon the head of the Lord Jesus or upon the Lord Jesus Christ.

31. 17:38

    So now we’ve got a very clear reference that this is the new creation process beginning in the work of God through the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is a momentous occasion. This is one of those foundation stones of history. Now 3 of the gospel records then mention that the Lord is led by the Spirit into the wilderness. But Luke’s gospel adds another significant little statement. It says in Luke chapter 4, verse one, that Jesus, being full of the Holy Spirit, returned from Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness.

32. 18:19

    It’s a noteworthy comment, isn’t it? Has our Lord and he’s full of the Holy Spirit. See how this phrase is starting to come up? Zacharias, Elizabeth, John the Baptist, now the Lord himself full of the Holy Spirit. In fact, as the Gospel of John knows, we’re in John. Let’s just turn over to John 3, verse 34, an interesting little phrase that’s used there.

33. 18:44

    John 3 and verse 34 For he whom God hath sinned, speak of the words of God. For God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him. In other words, God didn’t give a little bit of the Spirit. Measure out two bushels of the Spirit. He was full of the Holy Spirit, without measure, without limits. So the work of God now through the Holy Spirit is absolutely embodied in the Lord Jesus Christ, who’s described as here as being full of the Holy Spirit and without measure. So this meant that as the Lord Jesus Christ began his ministry, there were extraordinary things being seen by the people around. Most amazing displays of power that the world has ever yet experienced.

34. 19:38

    This was a power that could save. This was a power that could heal. This is a power that could release those who were in bondage. This is a power who could discern the thoughts and the intents of the of the heart. This was a power which could thwart the most devious and the evil minds of that generation. In fact, this was a power that could even raise the dead. There’s a beautiful expression in Mark Matthew chapter 4 in verse 16.

35. 20:12

    The people that sat in darkness saw great light, and to them, which sat in the region of the shadow of death, like the Springer, those words are graphic. These people are sitting in the region of the shadow of death, and great light suddenly shines upon them, it goes on to say. And Jesus went about old Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the Kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people. And his fame went throughout all Syria. They bring to him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, those which were lunatic, and those that had the palsy, and he healed them.

36. 21:01

    So we’ve got people that were living in oppression and squad. They’re subjected to just about every disease and sickness which was known to man. They were living in a nation which had lost its way and its relationship with God. And suddenly this bright light springs up and the flame of that light was ignited by the work of the Holy Spirit.

37. 21:27

    That was the power that enabled this extraordinary turn around to take place. And what we have in that little scene is a cameo of the work of salvation that a loving Messiah was then going to actually bring for the entire world.

38. 21:43

    Now one of the one of the specific objectives of the work of the Holy Spirit at that time was not just to give the Lord these miraculous powers, but it was to work as a witness. And it’s referred to in the New Testament as being the witness of the Holy Spirit, not just for the Lord Jesus Christ, but also later for the for the disciples as well.

39. 22:06

    And it’s one of the key roles of the work of the Holy Spirit. Let’s just look at these passages, John five. If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true, but I have a greater witness than that of John for the works which the Father has given me to finish. The same works that I do bear witness of me that the Father had sent me.

40. 22:30

    So the Holy Spirit was there as a witness with the works that it enabled him to do, or John 10. Jesus answered them, I told you, and you believe not. The works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me if I do not. The works of my Father believe me not, but if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works that ye may know and believe. And so the works that were accomplished through the Holy Spirit were part of the witness to the veracity of of our Lord’s message as well.

41. 23:07

    So the 3 1/2 vibrant tumultuous years, our Lord’s ministry was a demonstration of the Holy Spirit work in power in in glory. In the process, our Lord begins to gather around him a group of of believers of disciples amongst those, of course, we know particularly that the 12 disciples were called forth. And as our Lord starts preaching with his ministry, even way back then, he started sending them out to do preaching without him.

42. 23:41

    And it was a way of extending the reach of the gospel preaching campaigns, even when he wasn’t their present himself. So I’d like you to come with me to Luke Chapter 9 where we send him first see him first of all, sending out the the 12 disciples. And just look at what we read here. And this this may come as a surprise to you. It certainly did to me to stop and think through it. In fact, it’s fairly obvious, I guess, when I look back now. But it was a surprise to me.

43. 24:09

    Luke Chapter 9, verse 1. He called us 12 disciples together. And note, these words gave them power and authority over all devils and to cure diseases. So what does that tell us? It tells us that in a limited extent, they were given the power of the Holy Spirit to work miracles well before they received it on the day of Pentecost. They were granted aspects that would enable them to to keep, to heal, and to cast out devils.

44. 24:45

    All right, let’s turn over to Luke chapter 10, Luke 10 verse one. This time it’s not 12, it’s 70. After these things, the Lord appointed other 70 also and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whether He himself would come. It’s a very clear echo here, isn’t there? Remember yesterday as we were looking at the Holy Spirit being outpoured in the days of Moses, and we talked about the 70 elders and some of the power of the Spirit was taken from Moses and placed upon the 70 elders who then prophesied and did not cease.

45. 25:22

    Well, here we’ve got the New Testament equivalent in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ as He takes these 70 and He gives them also the power to do some extraordinary things. Now let’s have a look in verse 9.

46. 25:41

    He sent them out and he said that they were to heal the sick that are therein and say to them, the Kingdom of God is come nigh unto you. And in fact, when we get to verse 19, when they came back rejoicing, they said, well, verse 17 the 70 returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject to us through thy name.

47. 26:03

    We can we can heal sicknesses, we can do extraordinary things. And he says in verse 19, Behold, I give you power to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. So it’s actually clear from these passages that to a limited extent, the work of the Holy Spirit, the power of the Holy Spirit was actually given to these people well before Acts chapter 2 in a limited extent, to be able to go forth and do miracles, to do miracles of healing as part of the the Witnessing campaign. There’s actually another little incident which illustrates the same thing.

48. 26:44

    You remember when the Lord came down from the Mount of Transfiguration and there was a man there with the disciples, the remainder of the disciples, and he had a son who was extremely unwell. And he said, I bought them to your cycles and they couldn’t heal him. And the indication there, of course, is that there was an expectation that they would be able to do that because they had been doing miracles of healing before that particular point in time. So these, these, I call them the early manifestations of the Spirit in the work of the disciples. And they were given to enable them to extend the work of the ministry of the Lord was also, I guess, an opportunity to to teach and to train the disciples. Of course, the big question is what was going to happen once the Lord departed?

49. 27:35

    Now we know, of course, that the disciples had had no, no comprehension of this. They had no idea of the impending bereavement that they were about to experience. They thought the Lord was about to restore the Kingdom to Israel. They didn’t understand that He was going to suffer and die. They certainly didn’t understand that He was then going to be removed from them for a long period of time. They didn’t understand that then the work of preaching was going to fall very squarely on their personal shoulders and that then for the rest of their life, however long or short that was going to be, they would be tasked with carrying on the ministry of their absent Lord.

50. 28:19

    Of course, our Lord understood this only too clearly. And so as the, as the days and the months of his ministry draw to a close, we can actually sense from the, from the record, the way in which he’s intensifying, intensifying his, his communication with the disciples and he’s trying to prepare them for that time. He’s intensely aware of their needs and of their own struggles as he’s working to develop their characters, but he’s also trying to prepare them for the time when he’s not going to be there. He speaks to them about the fact that he’s going to suffer and die.

51. 28:56

    They don’t comprehend it. He speaks to them about the fact that actually they are going to be persecuted. They don’t understand what he’s saying. And so as the gospel records draw to a close, we, we, we sense the Lord focusing more and more on preparing the disciples for the lessons they needed to learn.

52. 29:14

    So he’s trying to train them. He’s trying to prepare them. He’s, he’s trying to enlighten them. They knew what it was that they were actually going to be facing. And then he’s trying to set up an understanding which they can refer back to in their minds after he’s gone. They’re like, ah, that’s right, this happened. And the Lord said this and he, he did these things and you can, you can appreciate the emotions that would have filled our Lord as he’s working with his disciples before he’s taken away from them.

53. 29:45

    He alone knew the burdens that they would be facing, opinion of persecutions that they were going to go through, and he warned them that in the same way that the Jews had persecuted the Master, so that we’re going to start persecuting the followers. I’d like you to come with me to John chapter 15, because of course, the most intense record of our Lord’s preparation of His disciples is the record over several chapters in the Gospel of John of His discussions with them in the Upper room on that last fateful night. John chapter 15.

54. 30:24

    Pick up the record. Well, pick up the record in verse 19. If you were of the world, the world would love His own. But because you are not of the world, but I’ve chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember what I said to you. Remember what I said, The servant is not greater than his Lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they’ve kept my saying, they will keep yours also. So here he is with them in the upper Room on that last night. He’s saying to them, Remember what I’ve told you. They are going to persecute you in the same way that they’ve persecuted me.

55. 31:09

    And because He was so concerned for him, a few moments later he prays to the Father to help them. We have that beautiful prayer of John 17 where he’s praying to the Father that when he’s gone here, the Father would keep working with them, that He would keep them in His own name, that they’d be able to keep on with this work of the gospel.

56. 31:29

    So it’s a plea. Look at John 17 verse 15, for example. I pray not that thou should just take them out of the world, but that thou should just keep them from the evil. And so he’s praying that God’s going to be able to work with these disciples once he’s been taken away. So let’s not underestimate the importance of what’s actually happening here, the enormity of what was at stake. Once our Lord was gone and ascended to the Father, his personal physical work on earth came to an end. So from that point on, the work of extending the gospel not just to the Jewish people but to the entire world was then going to fall upon their shoulders.

57. 32:29

    This process of spreading the gospel around the world and doing so in such a way that for 2000 years that work of gospel proclamation would survive and continue, that depended on the eleven of those men in front of him actually taking up the mantle that he was laying upon their shoulders. Just think about that. The work of the preaching of the gospel for 2000 years depended on eleven of those men taking up the mantle that he was laying on their shoulders at that particular time. Brothers and sisters, if that work hadn’t succeeded, you and I wouldn’t be sitting here now.

58. 33:18

    It’s that intense. It’s that personal. It was that important. If that conveying of that message to those disciples had not worked, we wouldn’t be sitting here now. And every single one of those men then those eleven were to give their lives for that work and their passionate commitment to that work. Also shown by by the beloved brother Paul, the apostle Paul meant that the Lord’s work would then continue and prosper.

59. 33:44

    It worked. But of course sheer willpower and commitment and enthusiasm wasn’t going to be sufficient. The Lord said truly the Spirit is willing about the flesh is weak. So something more was needed to make sure that that work of preaching the truth would actually continue. And our Lord knew that there was one additional factor which was absolutely essential for them to be able to continue that work. One major thing which He could do which would enable them to endure all of the persecutions and succeed in this extraordinary work of gospel proclamation. Of course, as we can imagine, that is the gift of the Holy Spirit.

60. 34:28

    So the gift of the Holy Spirit is not just like, I don’t know, giving someone a spare pencil or an extra pair of trousers or cash flow for their journey. It’s not like a self help manual or some sort of mutual improvement for incremental, incremental advancement of these people on training for when they go out to do their tasks. These men were full of the power of God, extraordinary concept when he sent them out.

61. 35:00

    They were a living, walking, talking manifestation of the power of the Almighty. We’re going to read a succession of passages and I want you to see if you can spot the common phrase. They’re all from the book of Acts. It’s not hard by the way. X2 verse 4 and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit.

62. 35:24

    Acts 4 verse 48, no verse 8, sorry. X4 verse 8, Peter when he’s speaking to the Jewish leaders and he talks about their personal responsibility for rejecting the head cornerstone chosen by God. It says in Acts 4 verse 8 that Peter being full of the Holy Spirit spoke and did things. In Acts 7 verse three, they choose seven men full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom to look after the Grecian widows. X7 verse 55.

63. 35:50

    Stephen being full of the Holy Spirit, looks up steadfastly into heaven and sees the glory of God and Jesus standing on the right hand of God. X11 verse 24. Barnabas was a good man and full of the Holy Spirit in faith X 13 verse 9. Peter. Sorry, Paul being filled with the Holy Spirit blinds Elimus the Sorcerer X13 verse 52 when Paul and Barnabas are expelled from Antioch, it says the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit. You hear the common phrase, you hear the point. These are men who were just full of the Holy Spirit. So it’s not just a small thing here. They were full of the almighty power of God. It’s the same power which created the the world in the first place.

64. 36:41

    It’s the same power which sustains the life of all flesh. And that power was entrusted to these men because the magnitude of the task before them required that. And it was possible because God gave His Son the authority to be able to do that, to share the work of the Holy Spirit. Now, why was this necessary? Well, let’s just keep thinking about this. Why was it so necessary that they had this visible demonstration of the power of God? Well, if the task was fallen on your shoulders, how would you convey the power of the gospel to others? How would you have the power to convince all your hearers that Jesus of Nazareth was actually the Christ, the anointed, the Messiah?

65. 37:35

    So, for example, take Stephen in Acts 6 verse 10. It says they would not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spoke. Well, how would you perform like Apollos X 18 verse 28. He mightily convinced the Jews and that publicly showing by the Scriptures that Jesus was Christ. So let’s imagine for a moment that we’re one of the 12. How would you remember everything that the Lord Jesus Christ had taught you?

66. 38:12

    How would you be able to to open up the limitless power of the Scriptures to convince people of the way in which the Scriptures spoke beforehand of the work of the Lord Jesus Christ? And later, when you’re dragged, beaten and and persecuted before the council, in pain and in stress, how would you be able to answer with wisdom and power and might convincing people that Jesus Christ is the Son of God? How would you have the stammer and the ability to walk into foreign cities you’ve never been in before and find fertile soil into which you can plant the Word of God, the seed of the Word of God?

67. 38:53

    How can you show the wisdom to refute the arguments of the Jews in that city and then persuade the Pagan idol worshippers in that city that there was a better way as you lead the hearers to listen and respond to the invitation in the court? And you’re not going to do this just once or twice, but again and again and again for decades until the gospel is spread throughout the entirely known Gentile world.

68. 39:20

    Colossians one, verse 23, The hope of the gospel which you’ve heard, which was preached to every creature which is under heaven. How do you persuade Gentiles that a Jewish man was actually the Son of God? How would you illustrate then the fact that there’s this new power which they have never, ever heard about, and it’s a power which is able to raise the dead and is going to set up God’s Kingdom on earth? Yeah.

69. 39:50

    When you stop and think about it, what was actually achieved through these menaces, it’s nothing short of truly remarkable. Well, think about the breathtaking claim that was made to the authorities in Thessalonica, Acts 17, verse 6. These are the men that have turned the world. Upside down.

70. 40:10

    Now that’s one element. That’s the preaching of the gospel. Now overlay over that something else, which is the very obvious fact that just submerging converted souls in the water of baptism and then abandoning them would be a surefire way of ensuring that the gospel record died just as quickly as it was attained.

71. 40:36

    You’ve now got thousands of new converts and little groups all around the world. What are you going to do with them? They’re in isolation. They don’t have a Jewish background, meaning them to call upon. There’s suddenly these new believers that are baptized. Now what? Well, now we, we need, we need to establish these new little communities and they can’t be established on the basis of Mosaic law and worship for several very good reasons.

72. 41:04

    Number one, the entire Mosaic system is about to be done away. In fact, it was pointing forward to Christ and now he’s come. So we need some other way which reflects the work of the Lord Jesus Christ a better way. Not only that, the city of Jerusalem’s about to be destroyed, the temple’s going to be burnt with fire. So even if it was possible for you to travel from all around the world regularly to Jerusalem, there’s nothing there to worship him when you get there. And even if there had been, do you reckon they would let you as a Gentile into a Jewish temple?

73. 41:37

    So the whole system of worship which you prevailed for 1200 years wasn’t going to work? There has to be something completely new set up with these eclisias to be established. Little communities of believers who were dispersed, sitting in isolation all around the world. This is, this is, this is a brand new concept. This is foreign to anything that’s been there in Scripture before.

74. 42:03

    And just look at look at some of these questions. Where would they meet? What would they do when they meet? How would they be organized?

75. 42:17

    What type of activities would they run? Would there be any system of administration or organization Who would be in charge? How would you protect against false beliefs? How do you respond if there were false teachers inside the flock? How should you deal with brethren the earth? How would they maintain their faith? How would their understanding grow? Who would teach them the glories of the ways of God? Now those are just 12 simple questions. There were hundreds of such questions to be answered. Just think about it.

76. 43:01

    This is a new system of worship that’s being set up and not just last for 10 years or 20 years or even for one person’s lifetime. It had to last for centuries. And how do you make sure that this this teaching process continues throughout each of those succeeding generations once the apostles and the Spirit gifted elders have actually been removed and have died out?

77. 43:31

    So in God’s foreknowledge, he and his Son knew that the system of truth which was to be established had to last for two millennia. That’s mind boggling to think about. That is truly mind boggling to think about. How do you establish a system of worship and a system of preaching which is going to last the distance for millennia? You know, it’s almost incomprehensible to think about how you’d start trying to plan that process. How would you enable that result? Now, as if that wasn’t enough, one of the greatest tools to achieve this required the completion of the Canon of Scripture.

78. 44:19

    When the apostles began their work, there was no New Testament in existence. It’s only the Old Testament. There was no New Testament. The Gospel of John appears to have been one of the earliest ones that were written, and the other gospels followed over the process of time. But to begin with, there wasn’t even that.

79. 44:41

    And what about the Epistles? Well, the epistles hadn’t even been written yet, as they were starting to breach the truth through the then known world. So those epistles were carefully written under inspiration, and they were preserved for later generations to be able to come and read them literally for millennia afterwards. Where would we be in ecclesial life if we didn’t have the Epistles to refer to?

80. 45:13

    Just just think about ecclesial life as we know it. Where would we be in ecclesial life if we had no guidance from any of the Epistles to refer to? They’re brilliant. They’re not just addressing matters of the moment in cities that are now long forgotten and have ceased to exist for more than 1000 years. They were recorded for men and women to be able to read for 2000 years later.

81. 45:42

    And they contain all the essence of the little principles of a collegial life that we know and love today and and then the ultimate book, the Book of Revelation or the Apocalypse, the revealing as it means this is a dissipation given by God through his Son, delivered by an Angel to the apostle John, who writes by inspiration and provides encouragement for the Saints who lived throughout those 2000 years.

82. 46:10

    A message of hope and salvation to all the men and women that would come through all those periods of time as they could see the work of God all planned and as he’s working through for the ultimate establishment of His Kingdom. That book alone is truly extraordinary, unfolding the future course of history for those that would live as the Saints in each of those epochs and time.

83. 46:35

    You know, brothers and sisters, when I stopped and thought about this, I was silenced by just in amazement, in awe at what a Heavenly Father has been able to accomplish.

84. 46:49

    That’s why the Holy Spirit was given to those men. That’s why I say it was such a momentous time period of change in the history of the world. The method of God in calling through His word and the work of the disciples to be able to complete that work. All of those things, the preaching of the gospel, the establishment of the Eccleses, all the things that we think of as the truth, the day it was the work of the Holy Spirit that was used to enable that work.

85. 47:19

    All right, let’s start. What’s your time? We’re finishing at 11:00, aren’t we? Yep, we’re good. So let’s start to build a little bit of a picture about what the Lord said to them would be happening. We’re going to go to Luke chapter 24. I mean, the passages we’re looking at now are right at the end He had actually started and we won’t look at them, but about about a year and a half before his death, he started telling them that he would send the Holy Spirit and that it would give them the ability to to say things which they wouldn’t otherwise be able to say.

86. 47:48

    They didn’t have to worry about what they were going to be saying at the time because the Holy Spirit would teach them. But let’s pick up the record, Luke 24 and verse 49. Behold, he says I sin. So this is our Lord after his resurrection. He’s, he’s there with them just before his departure. And he says, Behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you, but tarry ye and the city of Jerusalem until ye be endued with power from on high.

87. 48:18

    So here clearly they’re given the promise of something which is going to be given to them from God. They need to wait in the city of Jerusalem till it arrives. And it’s described on as them being endued with power from on high when it says they would they would be endued with power.

88. 48:39

    The Greek word enduro, it literally means to be to be clothed with, to put on or to be clothed with. So you are going to be clothed with power that’s going to come down to you from on high. The ESP says, behold, I am sending the promise of my father upon you, but stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.

89. 49:02

    All right, well, let’s go back to the last chapter of Mark. Mark chapter 16, the same occasion being spoken of, but there’s some extra detail recorded in the gospel of Mark, Mark chapter 16. We’ll pick up the record in verse 15. And he said to them, Mark 16, verse 15, go ye into all the world, preach the gospel to every creature. Verse 17.

90. 49:30

    These signs shall follow them that believe in my name. They shall cast out devils, they shall speak with new tongues, they shall take up serpents. If they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them, and they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. So it explains to them what this power from and high would actually enable.

91. 49:56

    It would be with them as they were preaching, and it will be a demonstration. It would be a sign as a witness for those that believe what are they going to be able to do? Well, they’re going to be able to heal people. They’re going to be able to speak in tongues. They would be able to do things which would otherwise normally kill them. They would recover the sick.

92. 50:15

    So it’s an explanation of what this power which they were going to be clothed to, it would enable them to actually do. And in verse 20, not this sort of phrase, they went forth and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word with signs following. So it tells us that the Lord was actually, as it were, traveling with them on the way because he’s given them this power to do these things.

93. 50:45

    And as they did them, this was the Lord working with them. This is the Lord confirming their works. This is the Lord enabling them to do things through this particular power. All right, let’s go to Acts chapter 1 because we’ve got a few more details again, again about this very same conversation, Acts chapter 1.

94. 51:05

    It’s quite helpful having so many records talking about this one little conversation the Lord had with them just before he departed. Acts chapter one, pick up the record in verse 4 being assembled together with them. He 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, and in verse saying, he says, You shall receive power after the Holy Spirit is come upon you, and you’ll be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth.

95. 51:50

    So now this power is described as the Holy Spirit which is going to come upon them and enable them to be witnesses throughout the earth. Now, in addition to those statements which were just before the Lord was taken away, we know that back in that upper room just before His arrest, He spoke to them about the Comforter.

96. 52:14

    Let’s go back to the Gospel of John and add a few extra things here in the record. From this idea of the Comforter, let’s go back to the Gospel of John chapter 14. He actually refers to the comforter in chapter 14, in chapter 15, and in chapter 16. Bear in mind, of course, it’s all just one, one evening where he’s talking with them, so it all just runs to get in the narrative.

97. 52:39

    But there are references in chapter 14, chapter 15, and chapter 16. It’s helpful for us to know that the word comforter is the Greek word paracletos. It’s better rendered or translated as advocate. It’s a joining together of 2 words para which means alongside in cletos, which means calls to. So here’s someone who’s called alongside to provide assistance. Grim Thayer says the meaning of the word is one who pleads another cause before a judge, a pleader, A counsel for the defense, legal assistance and advocate. So it conveys the idea of someone who’s who’s there in a court of law providing assistance to the person who was actually being examined or presenting a case. And when you think about the work of the Holy Spirit, that’s really appropriate because as they’re there out witnessing, the Holy Spirit’s working alongside them to assist them in that work.

98. 53:42

    Now, it can be wider than just a legal sense. It can also be used in the sense of providing strength or support. So it’s someone who’s come alongside or something that’s come alongside to assist that work of speaking. It’s actually very different from what we think of when we see the word comforter in English, the word to comfort over time.

99. 54:04

    The word comforter for us means to sort of to console or to to soothe someone. Well, that’s not the idea. This is the idea of someone who comes alongside. Now it’s similar, it’s a little different, but it’s very similar to the word parakaleo, which is comes up frequently in the New Testament, which has the idea of encouragement, but paracletos has the idea of someone who stands alongside to assist in this particular work. The word paracletos is actually only used by by John. It’s here in the Gospels and it’s also in the Epistle of John 1 John 2 verse one.

100. 54:40

     It talks about the Lord Jesus Christ being our advocate as it explains who our Lord pleads our cause in heaven or speaks of our cause in heaven. And that’s quite a useful cross reference because it shows us what this idea of the paracletos actually is. Now there are some divergent views as to what this comforter is.

101. 55:01

     The suggestion by some is that, well, maybe it was one of the angels that was actually sent along. I’ve seen suggestions that it was Gabriel. I’ve seen suggestions that it was Michael, that it was one of the one of the important angels that was set alongside. Well, regardless of this, either way, whether there was angels involved in the work or not, fundamentally it had to involve the work of the Holy Spirit. And there are several reasons for that. We won’t go into them in detail, but in verse 17 of John 14, it’s described as the spirit of truth. In verse 26, it’s described as being the Comforter, which is the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in My name. In chapter 15, verse 26, it’s described again as being even the spirit of truth, and in chapter 16, verse 13, it’s described again as being the spirit of truth. So it certainly involves the work of the Holy Spirit, whether or not there were angels involved in assisting them from time to time.

102. 56:01

     What we know is that the emphasis in Acts and through the rest of the New Testament is of the Holy Spirit being given to do these various things. And it’s also described, the Holy Spirit is described as enabling them when they go to speak, when they’re put on trial. So it’s something which causes them to be able to bring things to remembrance, to be able to answer any particular question.

103. 56:23

     So whichever way we look at it, the Holy Spirit, the comforter here involves the work of the Holy Spirit. OK, let’s pick up John 14. And no, we won’t. I’m just looking at the time. Actually, what I’m going to do is I’m going to short circuit this by putting up on the screen the various things that described of described in relation to the comforter. It’s going to strengthen them in Christ’s absence. So if you read through chapter 14, chapter 15, chapter 16, these are the things which it’s described the comforter would do.

104. 56:55

     It would strengthen them in Christ’s absence. It would be sent by Christ after his request of God. It would abide with them for the period, the Aeon. I’ll come back to that because that’s actually quite important, that little phrase. It was the spirit of truth. It’s described as the Holy Spirit. It would dwell with them. It would be in them.

105. 57:20

     It would teach them all things. It would bring all things to remembrance that Christ taught. It would be a witness to Christ. It would guide them to all truth. It would reprove the world of sin, of righteousness into judgement. There are certain elements of, of judgement that are involved in this record as well.

106. 57:43

     And by the way, when I, when it says there on the third bullet point down, it would abide with them for the period. The actual phrase in the English is that the comforter would be with them forever. And there’s a lot of discussion about that. What does that mean? Does that mean that the Holy Spirit is because of course the disciples didn’t live forever. Obviously the Holy Spirit carries on down through time. Well, maybe some aspects of it carry on. Now the word forever there is the word aeon, which means a period, an indeterminate only by context that it would actually be with them for the aeon or for the period. And you may just want to note down Matthew 28 verse 20. When the Lord sent them out to preach, He said that He would be with them even till the end of the aeon. So he uses the same expression, the aeon, the period and that preaching.

107. 58:36

     He would be with them till the end of that period. By the time the Jewish age ended, I think all but one of the disciples was dead. Actually John lived longer. He lived probably until the mid eighty 90s, but actually the work of the preaching had gone forth and been done. And it was through that period that the Holy Spirit enabled them to do that extraordinary work of preaching.

108. 58:59

     So I, I personally believe that here when it talks about it being with them forever, it’s actually referring to that period of time for that specific ion of that initial preaching of the gospel. All right, OK, a couple of last passages we’ll look at. I’m going to read it out to you. John 7 verse 38 Christ was talking about those that believed on Him, as the Scripture says, out of his belly will flow rivers of living waters.

109. 59:27

     Verse 39 But this spatey of the Spirit which they that believe on Him should receive the Holy Spirit was not yet given because that Jesus was not yet glorified. What does that mean? Well, that only received some aspects of the Spirit. We’d seen that earlier, but the actual filling off them with the Holy Spirit took place in Acts chapter 2. And there’s this interesting little phrase that he’s Speaking of the Spirit which they that believe one and would have to receive, but it wasn’t yet given because the Lord was not glorified.

110. 1:00:02

     Well, I’d like you to come with me now to John chapter 20, because this now is after the Lord has been raised from the dead. It’s after he’s been made immortal. It’s just before he ascends to his father. John chapter 20 verse 21 Then said Jesus to them again, peace be unto you, as my Father hath sent me, Even so send I you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Spirit. Note the word breathing.

111. 1:00:44

     Isn’t that interesting? What’s he doing here? He’s showing that this is the concept of the Spirit which is exhaled from the Father. Now through the Son, he’s been given the ability to share that, and so he breathes on them. It’s a physical demonstration of what he’s about to do for them in Acts chapter 2, and what a magnificent way to convey this.

112. 1:01:10

     He breathes on them and says, Receive thee, the Holy Spirit. It is a physical way of demonstrating that the origin of this power came from God and now is being shared by His Son. And so the disciples returned to the city of Jerusalem. It says they are bowed with 1 accord in the upper room.

113. 1:01:31

     Well, Can you imagine the sense of expectation which rested upon them as they sat and gathered together in the city of Jerusalem, just as the Lord had said. And they sit there holding their breath, excused the pun, holding their breath, waiting for the sharing of the Holy Spirit power by the Son of God gobbling. That’s our study tomorrow.