Saturday, May 26, 2012

The Holy Spirit Part 2

We now come to the second part of our study on the Holy Spirit. We would like to recognize some of the workings of the Holy Spirit. I am a firm believer that God saves sinners, I am also a firm believer that no man can turn from his wicked ways of being a sinner and turn to God, therefore I must conclude that the Holy Spirit is the single one who pricks our hearts and causes us to repent. God has concluded that the Holy Scriptures were written by man, but men inspired by God, this is the reason Paul concluded “All scripture is given by inspiration of God..." 2 Timothy 3:16 and then we must look at what Peter concluded “For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” 2 Peter 1:21 Either these two great men were absolute liars or we must conclude the holy men of God wrote as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. We know that the Holy Spirit was involved in creation because of Genesis 1:2 but notice what Job said about the Holy Spirit and creation "The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life." Job 33:4 He concluded that it was the Holy Spirit that had made him a just man, just as He has made us all that are saved; even what we are in this life. No man works the works of God without the Holy Spirit making him what he is. We also know that the Holy Spirit works with lost people; because if you will remember just before the flood God had concluded "...My spirit shall not always strive with man..." Genesis 6:3 (Now this is not to be equated with the Holy Spirit working with man in salvation.) but rather the Holy Spirit dealing with the lost only. God has much wonderful longsuffering with both the saved and the lost or other wise He would simply destroy us all. But the clock is running on the evils of this world; just as it was before the flood "...his days shall be an hundred and twenty years." Genesis 6:3 we have no conclusion when exactly Jesus Christ will return and then Gods judgments begins to unfold, but we do know there is a set time just as there was before the flood. Gods Holy Spirit will not always “strive” with man. The Holy Spirit does not strive with man in salvation or in His blessed work; He simply calls and we answer just as Paul did "...Lord, what wilt thou have me to do..." Acts 9:6. We know that the Holy Spirit deals with man in salvation because man could not be saved if the Holy Spirit did not save him. "And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father." Galatians 4:6 We are the sons of God because of Jesus Christ but we are saved because the Holy Spirit pricked our hearts and caused us to believe on the works of Jesus Christ. This is why Paul concluded that unless the Holy Spirit has pricked our hearts and caused us to believe that that we are not saved. "...Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." Romans 8:9 there are a lot of people out there that have been sold a damaged bill of goods on the gospel because it is not simply a choice we make in life; we must be saved by God. This is why John concluded “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him..." John 6:44 and if you look up the word “draw” it means to drag because man will never decide to change what he is naturally no more than a dog can become a cat. The Holy Spirit also leads in obedience and service to God. Even after He has saved us He also continues to work in our hearts. We can no more choose to work for God no more than we can choose to be saved. Notice how the writer in Acts put it; “As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. (3.) And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away." Acts 13:2 – 3 it was the Holy Spirit that first sent them and then the church sent them out. The local church has no authority unless it comes first from the Holy Spirit. He also directs our everyday walk; “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.” Galatians 5:16 if you are walking in the Holy Spirit then you cannot walk in sin. We see now how much the Holy Spirit plays a role in our life and without Him we would be lost in more ways that one.

Saturday, May 19, 2012

The Holy Spirit Part 1

John 4:24 “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”

We come now to the third part of the Trinity; The Holy Spirit. Many people in the religious circles have a gross misunderstanding about the Holy Spirit just as they do with God; period. The Holy Spirit is the third part of the Trinity but just as much God as the Father and the Son. In John 4:24 it says “God is a Spirit…” or God is the Holy Spirit. The Godhead is not three separate gods but one single God and He cannot therefore truly be separated. For example most believe the Jesus Christ was incarnate with the entire Son of God but that is not possible because the Son is God and cannot be separated from the Godhead. Well neither can the Father or the Holy Spirit. In creation we read; "And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” Genesis 1:2 This is not the Holy Spirit alone but rather God moved. In we see the Trinity named together as one and not as three; “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:” Matthew 28:19

However we do in the scriptures see the Holy Spirit working with people in a personal relationship. For example in Acts 15:28 we read "For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things;" There is no doubt that the Holy Spirit works in the life of every single Christian and if He has not worked in your life then you cannot be saved. The first act we recognize is the working of the Holy Spirit in salvation and His dealing with our hearts in quickening them. However there are so many other ways in which He deals with the Christian; the more you are in the work of God the more He deals with you. For example He deals a lot with a Pastor because it is He who moves the pastor to teach and preach His word, every single sermon is from the Holy Spirit or there is no sermon, there is simple a conversation. But also He plays such a role in our Christian life that we simply fail to recognize it. He teaches us the deep things of God “But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.” 1 Corinthians 2:10 - It is only the Spirit of God which can reveal the counsels of God because we can never understand them on our own. He speaks to our hearts “For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.” Matthew 10:20. Pastors that want to take credit for their sermons or ability to speak well ought to read this scripture several times however a Pastor that takes credit for any of his sermons or knowledge is most likely not called of the Holy Spirit anyway. God reminds us "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches…." Revelation 2:7 – You will hear the Holy Spirit through His Pastors “And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write..." Revelation 2:8 the “angel” is defined messenger which here is the Pastor; so listen to him and hear the message God has for your church. He is also our teacher "For the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say." Luke 12:12 - all of you who thought your Pastor taught you such wonderful things remember your Pastor is only a messenger and if he is of God then he will be a teacher. The Holy Spirit also leads and guides us "Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth…but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come." John 16:13 and not only in truth but every aspect of our lives. He also He intercedes on our behalf "Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered." Romans 8:26 That’s right we have no idea how to pray to the King of Kings therefore the Holy Spirit corrects our prayers and delivers them to the Father in proper form. Oh how wonderful the Holy Spirit is to all Christians. More next week.

Saturday, May 12, 2012

The Lord Jesus Christ Part Two

Last week we looked basically at the Incarnation of Jesus Christ to prove that Jesus Christ was indeed God but not only Deity but also man; Jesus Christ had two natures unlike any other man that ever lived. Some people have an issue looking at the two natures and separating them. If one cannot separate the two natures they cannot reach a proper conclusion about Jesus Christ and His true actions on this earth. For example many will make the same ignorant conclusion that “God died on the cross”, this is ignorance because if one knows God then they know He cannot die; not even the Son of God because for the Son to die then the entire Godhead must die. Another ignorant mistake made by this misunderstanding is the quote “Mary is the mother of God”, again a proper understanding of God will tell you God is self-existent and eternally-existent therefore God was not ever born not even the Son of God which is God. Since Jesus Christ had two natures it was possible for one to exist without the other and this happened on the cross while death approached for Jesus Christ, Deity had separated from the Son of man therefore leaving Him to die alone on the cross.

His Humanity – This is His human nature, Jesus Christ was in the likeness of man. John told us in John 4:6 "Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour." Jesus was feeling fatigued so He rested at the well but can God get fatigued; no He cannot. The young preacher Timothy call Him a man in 1 Timothy 2:5 "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;" There is no doubt Jesus Christ was a man.

While He was a man; He was also Deity. – While He was man and all man He was also God. There are so many things about God we will not totally understand in this flesh and this is one of those things. However while we may not understand it we cannot deny it because it is all clearly proven in the scriptures. He must have been Deity to live the law and be sinless, and He must have been man to have been born, grown-up, having learned, and to die. Matthew told us in Matthew 1:23 "Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us." And Jesus concluded in John 10:30 "I and my Father are one." No other man can make this conclusion.

His Sinless Life – Jesus Christ is the only man whom never sinned; now some will reach another wrong conclusion and say “He was God that’s why He did not sin” wrong again! Yes He was God very God but during the temptation was Satan tempting the Son of God or the Son of man; it was the Son of man. Satan knew God and knew that He could not tempt God, and how about the hour or so while alone on the cross again just a man. To conclude that He was Deity and that is the reason He did not sin is to take the glory of being our Saviour, High Priest, and suffering death for our sin away from Him. The writer to the Hebrews concluded in Hebrews 2:17 “Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.”

His Sacrificial Death – Jesus Christ the Son of man died on that cross not as a martyr but rather as a Saviour. Many martyrs have given their lives for God and the cause of the church and gospel but Jesus Christ died so that we that are saved could have our sins forgiven. Peter concluded in 1 Peter 2:24 "Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed." It was for our sins that He died and for no other reason.

Saturday, May 5, 2012

The Lord Jesus Christ Part 1

Our study this week brings us to the subject of Jesus Christ whom is the second part of the Trinity. When we look at Jesus Christ we actually must look at Him in two ways; (1.) as the Son of God, and (2.) as the Son of man, now most people will ask “aren’t they one in the same” and the answer would be yes they are, except they must be separated if one is to have a good understanding of who He truly was and is. Jesus Christ was born with two actual natures (1.) the Son of God and (2.) the Son of man and they are actually like two separate beings in one single body. To explain in a little more detail I will use a few examples; the Son of God had no beginning and the Son of man did; The son of God cannot change in any way and the Son of man changed much over the years; the Son of God cannot die and the Son of man gave Him life to save sinners. These are a few basic examples of showing the Incarnation of Jesus Christ. We learn in Philippians 2:6 – 8 "Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: (7.) But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: (8.) And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." As well as many other scriptures prove that the Son of God was Incarnation with the Son of man. The main issue so many have is that they cannot separate the two natures in their minds and therefore they speak out of ignorance and say “God died on the cross” when He did not because God cannot die but the Son of man can and did. There must have been a temporal separation of Deity and man on the cross which explains His cry on the cross "...My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Matthew 27:46. This is the reason for the necessity of the incarnation. The suffering for sin will be both body and soul in hell for all eternity and if Jesus Christ was going to suffer our penalty for sin this then was the requirement also for Him and the Son of God could not do that because He has no body and cannot suffer death. Matthew 10:28 "And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." It was necessary that He have a body that He might be in all points tempted like as we are in these bodies. The writer to the Hebrews wrote this conclusion; "For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin." Hebrews 4:15 we simply cannot say Jesus cannot empathize with man because He most certainly can. While He was not born a sinner and never sinned He was tempted in the flesh just as we were. It was necessary that He have a body to be tested in the flesh, and render perfect obedience to the law, in order that there should be wrought out a righteousness that could be imputed to us. The incarnation was also necessary to His ministry of teaching, His selecting the twelve apostles and founding the church, and His setting for us an example of perfect obedience to the will of God. We all must have a proper understanding of Jesus Christ and in doing so we can have a greater understanding of how precious our Saviour is to us. The suffering by Jesus Christ was real, He felt the same pains we would have and as He drew closer to death He felt the very same as anyone dying today. He felt the beatings and everything else that went with it. John the Revelator said "And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne." Revelation 4:2 and next to Gods throne sits the Son of man Jesus the Christ. This is not to belittle God and insert man over God because let us never forget HE IS ALSO GOD but He is also man. We will look deeper into this subject next week. I would like to conclude with this; “thank you Jesus for dying on that wicked cross for my sins”!!