Beyond the Walls with Jeremy Thomas
Jeremy approaches Bible teaching with a passion for getting the basic doctrines explained so that the individual can understand them and then apply them to circumstances in their life. These basic and important lessons are nestled in a framework of history and progression of revelation from the Bible so the whole of Scripture can be applied to your physical and spiritual life.
Beyond the Walls with Jeremy Thomas
NT Framework - Unseen Power, Unmistakable Impact
The Holy Spirit, the often overlooked but equally important member of the Trinity. Though spoken of less frequently than the Father and Son, the Holy Spirit's impact flows continuously through Scripture and history like an invisible current shaping everything He touches.
More information about Beyond the Walls, including additional resources can be found at www.beyondthewalls-ministry.com
This series included graphics to illustrate what is being taught, if you would like to watch the teachings you can do so on Rumble (https://rumble.com/user/SpokaneBibleChurch) or on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtV_KhFVZ_waBcnuywiRKIyEcDkiujRqP).
Jeremy Thomas is the pastor at Spokane Bible Church in Spokane, Washington and a professor at Chafer Theological Seminary. He has been teaching the Bible for over 20 years, always seeking to present its truths in a clear and understandable manner.
Welcome to Beyond the Walls with Jeremy Thomas and our series on the New Testament Framework. Today, the full lesson from Jeremy Thomas. Here's a hint of what's to come.
Speaker 2:When you come into the New Testament, they just speak of this as like the natural flow of events, not a novel idea, but as something that was already in place. He says it's clear that as we read the New Testament, we're not witnessing the birth of a new conception of God. The doctrine of the Trinity does not appear in the New Testament in the making, but as already made.
Speaker 1:There is less said about the Holy Spirit of God in the Bible than there is about the Father and the Son. This does not make him lesser than either the other two. He is truly an equal part of God, an equal member in the Trinity, full of the same nature, attributes and character as the Father and as the Son, but he takes on a different role. His role is in the background, motivating and moving forces and people and time and history, encouraging and empowering, restraining. It is a less public, less obvious role for the Holy Spirit, but no less important. Today we're going to dive into just exactly who the Holy Spirit is, what his role is, how he works and how God describes him. Much like the air that we breathe, he is unseen and yet we feel his impact and effects everywhere. So, although he might not be spoken of as much, his impact is amazing and continuous and throughout the Bible and throughout history. So today we look into this lesser known but equally important aspect of God the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 2:We have been working through the first event in the New Testament, which is the birth of the King, and it's been going on for a while in the New Testament, which is the birth of the king, and it's been going on for a while. That's okay. The doctrinal implications or repercussions of the virgin birth are very significant and we've gone through, of course, the most complicated person who ever came into the world. It's the only person who's come into the world by means of a hypostatic union, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. So just the endeavor of trying to understand the hypostatic union and that is the Lord Jesus Christ, so just the endeavor of trying to understand the hypostatic union, is an endeavor in itself, and so we spent quite a bit of time working through that, and the next doctrine that works out of that is, of course, the Trinity. Some of these things we've already discussed, so I'm just going to briefly go over them. Last week we talked about Trinity in the Old Testament, right, which many people think there's not much, or not any about the Trinity in the Old Testament, and what I tried to show is that indeed, in fact, there's quite a bit of information in the Old Testament that sets us up for a more developed Trinity in the New Testament, but that all the pieces were there in the Old Testament. So it's easy for the assembly of these parts to be natural in the New Testament and that's something that we'll see. I'll give you a quote here in a moment from a New Testament scholar about Trinity and how it was just a natural thing for the authors to portray this. They didn't go into some kind of great defense about it in the pages of the New Testament, it was just already there.
Speaker 2:First of all, trinity in the Old Testament right, there are Hebrew words for one, okay, several Hebrew words. The one that's used of God, echad, is a word that allows for diversity in the oneness. This is a great trouble for non-Trinitarians and for Jews. In fact they are very upset about this to the extent that in Jewish formulations they replace the word echad with the word yachid. Yachid means an absolute oneness, because they don't want any diversity in that oneness. That Christians keep saying is in this word in Father, son and Holy Spirit. So the fact that echad is used of God consistently and yakid is never used has been quite significant and used by Christians throughout the centuries in apologetics, with Jews and anti-Trinitarians. Also plural names of God, like Elohim. A plural name of God but used with singular verbs. So very interesting that God would be referred to in the plurality, but the verb that follows will be a singular, indicating the oneness but also the plurality in God.
Speaker 2:The passages on the angel of Yahweh. So the angel of Yahweh is referred to as someone distinct from God, and in other passages the angel of Yahweh is referred to as someone distinct from God and in other passages the angel of Yahweh is referred to as Yahweh himself. So very interesting he's distinct from Yahweh, yet he is Yahweh. So what does that imply or where does that point? The word or wisdom of Yahweh, another concept of trinity or multiplicity in Yahweh. And then the explicit passages Isaiah 48, 16, 61, 1, and 2. Those are two passages that actually talk about a threeness in God, not three gods, but a threeness in the one God, right? So those passages, you might want to memorize as to where they are located so you can quickly pull them up.
Speaker 2:Today we're going to get into really the Holy Spirit. We're just going to talk about the deity of the Holy Spirit and the personality or person of the Holy Spirit. We're not going to go into the deity of Christ, because we already did that and we're not going to go into the deity of the Father, because nobody has a problem with that. Okay, so all we're going to do is elaborate on the third person of the trinity. But just so you know, we didn't skip christ. We've already dealt with the deity of christ and I've just summarized those three lines of evidence that we discussed, I don't know, a month or two ago.
Speaker 2:The christ for yahweh name substitutions. In other words, in the old testament a passage will be talking about yahweh. In the new testament, that passage will be quoted, and yet Christ is inserted for Yahweh. So what does that mean? What is the implication of that right? Then you've got other passages that are Christ for Yahweh, function substitutions, in other words, things that only Yahweh can do as a function. In the New Testament, christ is said to do those things.
Speaker 2:One example is forgive sins. Remember the passage you know Jesus forgives sins and they say gosh, he's making himself out to be God and anyway he goes on to say well, which is easier to do? Say I forgive your sins, or to raise this man, to heal this man. So the point is that he's forgiving people, and yet the Old Testament taught that only Yahweh could forgive sin. So where is that pointing?
Speaker 2:And then explicit passages on the deity of Christ Titus 2.13,. 2 Peter 1.1,. Those both use the Granville Sharpe rule, which is used 198 times in the New Testament and always holds that when you have that construction in the New Testament and always holds that when you have that construction, the two nouns I mean the two descriptors refer to one and the same person. So Titus 2.13, our great God and Savior, jesus Christ. Who is our great God, jesus Christ? Who is our Savior, jesus Christ? Both God and Savior are referring to the same individual under this construction. Hebrews 1a. To which of the angels did he ever say, you know? And goes on to describe the second person as God, colossians 2.9,. In him dwells all the fullness of deity in bodily form. So lots of and there's more, lots of passages on explicit passages on the deity of Christ.
Speaker 2:But today we want to focus on the Holy Spirit. As we go into this, remember we've got Father, son and Holy Spirit in one person. This is the concept of Trinity, and I've got you up to speed with the Old Testament. So this is from a scholar from several generations ago now BB Warfield. He said if they, that is, the New Testament writers, but they betray no sense of novelty. And so, speaking of God as a trinity, this is undoubtedly in part because it was no longer a novelty, so to speak of him. In other words, when you come into the New Testament, they just speak of this as, like the natural flow of events, not a novel idea, but as something that was already in place. He says it's clear that as we read the New Testament, we're not witnessing the birth of a new conception of God.
Speaker 2:The doctrine of the Trinity does not appear in the New Testament in the making, but as already made, which is super interesting because most people they don't think the Trinity is in the Old Testament. They think, oh, that's the New Testament, the New Testament gave us that. But no, the way the New Testament authors speak of it is something that's not really novel and they're not making this doctrine. They're showing that it's already on the table and was in the Jewish mindset. They don't have a problem with it at all, which I find so interesting, right, because I mean of all people you'd think who would be like strict monotheists. You'd think of somebody like Paul, right? Or Saul. You know he was a Pharisee, right, yet he didn't struggle with this.
Speaker 2:In Acts, chapter 6, verse 7, it says many of the Sadducees believed. I think this verse gets overlooked. Like the Sadducees, I mean, are you kidding me? These are the people who didn't even believe in resurrection, by the way. And in Acts, chapter 6, verse 7, it says many of the Sadducees believed. That's kind of striking, because they would not be the people you would expect to believe, and so to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, they'd have to be believing that he's God. They'd have to believe, of course, in the resurrection. So their beliefs were being challenged. And yet these ideas were already in the air. The concepts of Trinity were already in the air and they were familiar with these concepts. So it was not that great a leap.
Speaker 2:Let's go into the person of the Holy Spirit and the deity of the Holy Spirit. It's an interesting discussion. The reason we have to do this, especially about both personality and deity, is because not all groups claim that the Spirit is a distinct person in the Trinity, claim that the Spirit is a distinct person in the Trinity. Many groups claim that he is just an impersonal force of God, something that God uses to accomplish things, but something that is simply literally as impersonal as gravity, and so these would be non-Trinitarians. They would also be anti-Trinitarians or Binitarians. Binitarians would just hold to two members of the Trinity being God, but groups like, for example, jehovah's Witnesses or Mormons, they don't believe that the Holy Spirit is a person. They think of the Holy Spirit as a force from God by which he accomplishes things.
Speaker 2:Now, the Spirit is not a force, as we'll show, but he is in the background, which is very interesting, and this is intentional. It's intentional that he's in the background and not at the forefront or taking center stage. Now, this is seen from the words for Spirit in the Hebrew ruach and in the Greek pneuma, seen from the words for spirit in the Hebrew ruach and in the Greek pneuma. You know, if you have pneumonia, that's a problem in your what, in your lungs, and that's where we breathe. And we have a diaphragm that you know presses up on the lungs to push the air out, the breath, the wind out, and then, of course, the diaphragm allows also us to breathe in. But that's where we get our word pneumonia from. There's some the greek word pneuma, so we have these two words. The hebrew word is translated various ways.
Speaker 2:Spirit doesn't always have to be the holy spirit, right, it could just be a spirit like a demonic spirit, or the human spirit, or a good spirit, a good angel, wind, of course, breath, breeze blowing nothingness. And of course I've put some passages down here where it refers to the Spirit of God. That should be, I think, genesis 1-2, not Genesis 12-3. Genesis 1-2, I mean he's in the second verse of the Bible. I always find this amazing.
Speaker 2:People think, well, how could you get Trinity out of the Bible? I mean, did you read the first three verses? If you read the first three verses and you actually know some more of the Bible, you see all three persons in the first three verses. In the beginning God, plural Elohim, created singular verb, so unity and diversity. Already he created the heavens and the earth and it says the earth was formless and void and darkness was over the surface of the deep and the Spirit of God there's, the Spirit in the very second verse of the Bible was moving over the surface of the waters. And then God said, verse 3, let there be light. And that's word, that's speech. Who is the word? Who is the word? Become flesh? Who dwelt among us in the New Testament. Well, that's the second person of the Trinity, so you really have all three members of the Trinity in hindsight in the first three verses of the Bible.
Speaker 2:But there it is ruach. There in verse 2, the Spirit of God. He's also used in Genesis 6, verse 3, where, just before the flood, the Lord said my spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he's also flesh. Nevertheless, his day shall be 120 years. So he was restraining prior to the flood, but he would not go on restraining forever Another 120 years and then God would judge, which he did. But there are other usages of rock just for our breath, for example, job 4.9,. For wind, psalm 78.39,. For a cool breeze, job 7, 7.
Speaker 2:But this is and we're going to talk about the influence and why this word is used a word for breath, wind, breeze, air, these concepts. There's a very particular reason this word was chosen. The New Testament word is the Greek word pneuma. Again, it means similar things like air, blowing, something that's moving, movement, wind, breath and spirit. And the spirit, interestingly and intentionally, is sometimes referred to as a what. What I mean is in the neuter, not as masculine, but in the neuter, and other times he's referred to by the masculine. Now, part of this is due to the fact that the Greek word pneuma is a neuter word. It's just a neuter word.
Speaker 2:This seems intentional though, because, as I said before, he's in the background, just like wind is in the background. See, you don't see the wind, you see the effects of the wind, right. And so this is a setup for us to understand more about the Holy Spirit and how he works. So the fluctuation is really clear as far as him being referred to in the neuter and in the masculine, and you say this is strange. So let's just look at John 14, 26. John 14, 26. John 14, 26. The reason some people say well, he's not a person, he's just a force, is because of the neuter, and that's true on one side, but there are also references to him as the masculine, and that's what keeps him as a person. We don't know entirely why God decided to do it this way, but it does point in a direction. I think that direction is the idea that he is in the background. John 14, 26,.
Speaker 2:Jesus says but the helper, the Holy Spirit neuter okay, that's neuter whom the Father will send in my name, he masculine pronoun will teach you all things. So there it is. You've got neuter and you've also got masculine. How about chapter 15, verse 26? 15, 26. Also a reference to the helper, who we already know is the Holy Spirit. Now, when the helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father? That is the Spirit of truth, neuter Spirit, who proceeds from the Father, he masculine pronoun will testify about me. When I say masculine pronoun, I mean it's in the Greek text, it's masculine. I don't mean here, it's masculine, obviously here, it is in the English, but I mean in the original language, of course. Now, this verse is important, by the way, for another reason that I want to mention the question who will send the Spirit, who will send the Helper? It says when the Helper comes, whom I will send? That's Jesus is saying that right To you from the Father. Okay, sent to you from the Father. That is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father. So, who sent the Spirit? Well, the Father. He proceeds from the Father, but he's also sent through the Son. Okay, from the Father through the Son. So both the Father and the Son are involved in the giving of the Spirit, what we call the procession of the Spirit. Why is this important.
Speaker 2:You've heard people say the first, second and third members of the Trinity. This doesn't have anything to do with one being more superior than the other. You may wonder why they call the Spirit the third, and why is he not the first? Or why is he not the second? Why is Jesus not the first? You may wonder about these things. It's because of the order of procession, for example. Who sends the Father? Who sent the Father? No one. No one sends the Father. Who sent the Son? The Father Did the Spirit send the Son? No, the Father alone sent the Son. Now then the question becomes who sent the Spirit? Well, the Father and the Son. And so since no one sent the Father, he's the first person. Since the Father sent the Son, then he's the second person. And since the Father and the Son sent the Spirit, then the Spirit is the third person. It's called the order of procession, and so that's what those numerals 1, 2, and 3 are all about with reference to the three members of the Trinity. But anyway, he's referred to neuter and masculine. He's a what, and he's also a he.
Speaker 2:Now let's go to John 3. We're in John, so there's been a lot in John, as you've noticed with this section of the framework studying Trinity, deity of Christ, a whole lot of this. In John we see that from the second line of evidence that he's not a force is from the influence of a spirit. So I just want to talk in general about the influence of spirit, both in a wind sense as well as in demonic sense, and, of course, the Holy Spirit and the sense of the Holy Spirit himself, both in a wind sense as well as in like demonic sense, all these and, of course, the Holy Spirit and the sense of the Holy Spirit himself.
Speaker 2:So in John 3, we have the story of Nicodemus, right, nicodemus comes. He comes when he comes at night, okay, well, he didn't want to be seen, right? And he has a specific question. He's saying in verse 2, we know that you've come from God as a teacher. No one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him. I mean, he recognized that the signs that he was doing were what we call messianic miracles, like they were not just miracles on the order of things that Moses was able to do. This is something beyond that. Or, elijah, these are things beyond that. He recognized that and Jesus answered and said to him.
Speaker 2:Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. No entrance, unless you're regenerated. You have to be a regenerated individual to enter the kingdom of God. Okay, you know, no entrance unless you're regenerated. You have to be a regenerated individual to enter the kingdom of God. To see it, nicodemus said to him how can a man be born when he's old? He can't enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born. Can he and Jesus? Come on, guy? Jesus answered, truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. And we're not here to reflect on that concept. But that's not water baptism, for whatever it's worth, that which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, you must be born again.
Speaker 2:And then he gives this illustration with wind. See, regeneration is a work of the Holy Spirit, right, and he's just mentioned the Spirit. That which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. He says the wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but you don't know where it comes from and you don't know where it's going. So is everyone who's born of the Spirit. In other words, the Spirit has this background work that is illustrated by the work of wind. Again, we don't know where wind comes from, we don't know where it's going, but we see the effects thereof, right. Especially as this fall comes, we'll have some windy days and the leaves will blow off the trees, and then everybody will be out in their yards picking up leaves, right. This is all due to this behind-the-scenes thing we call wind, and so that's just an illustration. Now let's go a little bit further and we'll turn to Daniel, chapter 7. Daniel, chapter 7.
Speaker 2:In the Bible, nations are set up as, basically, water. We are viewed as water. Water is something that's very unstable, of course. You know this from your own experience. But in the New Testament you'd have the Sea of Galilee, and if you've ever been there, you'll see the hills on the east side, and the winds will sweep over those hills and down onto this lake and cause quite a tumult on the water, big waves, and that's the story, you know. Jesus is asleep in the boat and they're like how can he sleep, you know? And he wakes up and he rebukes the winds, the spirits, and it becomes perfectly calm. The waters become calm, but the nations are viewed in the Bible as like bodies of water, which are very unstable and are easily tossed right and caused to turn into confusion. And here's a section that discusses that concept Daniel 7, verse concept.
Speaker 2:Daniel, chapter 2, or 7, verse 2, 7-2. Daniel said I was looking in my vision by night and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea. The four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea. See, the great sea is a well. What's the great sea? Well, now you have verse 3.
Speaker 2:Four great beasts are coming up from the sea and they're different from one another. We know these if you've studied this chapter. We know these four great beasts are the four great Gentile kingdoms or empires Babylon, medo-persia, greece and Rome, right that will rule during the times of the Gentiles and they're viewed as coming up out of the sea, the seas themselves being the nations of the world. And so these are the four great nations of the world rising up and they're being stirred up by the four winds of heaven. And then he goes on to describe these four beasts, and they're all kingdoms that suppress man and oppress man and hurt man. They're not good for man we live in.
Speaker 2:So spirit influences or when influences causing humanity to go through all sorts of fluctuations. We see these forces in the economy, in politics, in military. We just saw yesterday in military, you know, if you ask the real questions, what I call the metaphysical questions, that's, the questions about what's behind reality, that is structuring the reality, that we see the physics, the metaphysics behind the physics that we can see, what are the forces behind? You know the military engagement against Israel, for example, which is, in Muslims' mind, war since 1948. Not a bunch of separate wars, but they view it as war from 1948. What's behind all that, this military maneuvers? Is it just humanity? Is it just what we see? Or there are spiritual forces of darkness behind the military machine? What about politics? I think somebody almost laughed. Is this just humans or is there something more? Are there spiritual forces of darkness behind this as well? Daniel 10 seems to indicate there are spiritual. There's spiritual warfare taking place between good angels and bad angels over political rulers and nations.
Speaker 2:Daniel chapter 10, over Iran, what we call ancient Persia. Right, it's not just human. These forces, these spirits are acting upon them, but they're unseen like the wind, but you see the effects thereof. I mean, who can predict the economy? It's behind the economy. Who can predict? If all the people in finance and the market really knew what they were talking about, wouldn't they all be billionaires? Which means what? They don't know what they're talking about. They can't predict the market. Why not? Is it because there are unseen spiritual forces that are behind all the things that we see in this world? So there are these influences, what you might call metaphors, spirits, okay, and the human race is viewed like this unstable body, water that's being tossed to and fro, by the way, we're told ephesians 4, 14. So let's go there.
Speaker 2:Very important application ephesians 4, 14, in the section on unity and the diversity of spiritual gifts that are to enforce unity. There's one in the many in this chapter. This chapter is all about one in the many, many different spiritual gifts that are to enforce unity. There's one in the many in this chapter. This chapter is all about one in the many, many different spiritual gifts, but one body of Christ. Why all the different spiritual gifts? So we can all be separate? No, so we can all be unified.
Speaker 2:And in verse 14, he says as a result, as a result of what? As a result of these speaking gifts that he's just discussed, which are for the building up of the body of Christ to a full stature of maturity verse 14, result we are no longer to be children tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine. There's the analogy between the waves and being tossed by the wind, and we're not supposed to be tossed waves and being tossed by the wind, and we're not supposed to be tossed. The world is tossed to and fro by every idea that came down the pike. We're not supposed to be tossed to and fro. How do we avoid being tossed to and fro? We know Bible doctrine, we know truth, we know what's going on because we analyze the world through the lens of the Scripture, and the Scripture gives us the tools to understand the world around us. And if you don't know what the Scriptures teach, then you're going to be tossed to and fro because you don't know what is going on.
Speaker 2:That's why I think when people get into Bible doctrine, they go to a content Bible teaching church, and this happened to me when I started listening to content Bible teaching. I was like I've been in a church all my life and I haven't heard any of this stuff. What is all this stuff? I had no rudder, so to speak, to keep me on course. I was being tossed to and fro by all sorts of ideas. This is why our young people, who aren't trained in most local churches how to think, they don't know Bible doctrine, they don't know the word, they don't know why it's important, they're thinking well, I don't need this to make money, I just need to get a degree. And they don't understand the significance of this because most of the time they're not taught in local churches and so they go to college, right, and then what happens? Oh boy, here they go, because you know I mean, I've been on the university campus way too many hours One of my professors wrote in a legal brief when I actually was going to take him to court over refusing to let me have a recommendation for medical school because I didn't believe in the theory of evolution hypothesis of evolution, I should say.
Speaker 2:He said that it is the professor's job to to indoctrinate their students away from the teachings of their parents. I have this, I have this written in a legal document. Yeah, it's very purposeful that you will be tossed to and fro by all these doctrines that you're taught in secular university. It's there on purpose, okay. So my point is there's something more that's going on. This isn't just people. There is a complicated system, a spiritual realm that is deeply involved and enmeshed in all of our lives in this world, to the extent that Paul says in Ephesians 2.2, the prince of the power of the air, who is in unbelievers, it doesn't say he just impresses upon them or influences them. He's in them, like he's operating through them. People aren't neutral, nobody's neutral, but we're not to be tossed to and fro by these things, because we keep our eyes on Scripture, we learn the Scriptures. We go on and on.
Speaker 2:By the way, you don't know it all. You probably know very little of it. If you're honest with yourself. If I'm honest with myself, I don't know all the Psalms. Do you? Do you know Ezekiel? Do you know Jeremiah? Do you know Lamentations? Have you read Lamentations in the last decade? If you're honest with yourself, you realize you don't know that much. The more you know, the bigger your arsenal is. And the bigger your arsenal is and the bigger your arsenal is, the easier it is to not be tossed to and fro, isn't it? That's why you keep coming right, because you realize I really don't know everything and I really have a lot to learn.
Speaker 2:So, the spirit, right. Another illustration be here at this point that which God created in man. Right, we have a body. He took the dust of the ground, he formed the body and then he breathed into that body a spirit, the breath of life, and man became a living soul. Right, god breathed. I just want you to just back away from the Genesis 2-7. It says this right, god breathed into his nostrils.
Speaker 2:What Did you ever actually think about that statement? Did it make you think, well, does God have a nose? Does he have lungs? Does he have a diaphragm? Because it's using this concept of breath and we know what that is involved in with us. But what is this a picture of? Was this like CPR?
Speaker 2:Another question to ask is was the spirit involved there? The spirit himself? I mean, god doesn't have a nose, we know that. We know he doesn't have a mouth, we know he doesn't have lungs. He's a spirit being. But what is this conveying? Was it the pre-incarnate Christ? This is a question I began to ask. Was it the pre-incarnate Christ who carried this out in a picture of like CPR, don't you wish you could have been there to see this?
Speaker 2:But see, there's an aspect of you that's not physical, it's your human spirit. It's where your personality comes from, it's where your conscience is, it's the source of love. I mean, those are the things, aren't things like your body, where, if you don't, this is not a loving person. Let's take him and get surgery done, get the love organ put back in this person. You can't do that because it's not a part of our material being, another thing. So then you ask yourself well, why do we have a mouth, nose, lungs and diaphragm? Why do we have those things? Is it not because those things in some way reflect God as spirit, as breath? You know, like wind, like an entity like that, and without the diaphragm, without the lungs, without the in and out process of breathing, we don't really have a concept of our spirit. But this is giving us something tangible breathing in and breathing out that reminds us of the intangible human spirit that we are all essentially. That's who we essentially are, right, that's who you are.
Speaker 2:My wife will always say you see a person's spirit by looking in their eyes, like that's the closest you can get to seeing a person who they really are seeing, their spirit. I mean your eyes are physical, but you know what she means, right? You're detecting who they are through their eyes. That's why, sometimes, when you're in conversation with people, there's some people that won't look at you. You have to wonder what are you hiding? What are you hiding from? Why do we think that? Because we know intuitively that the eyes are where a person really is. That's where you're seeing them. So if they're hiding their eyes from you, maybe it's because they're hiding from you. Now, I'm telling you this, but I'm giving you tools. These are scriptural tools, though. These are scriptural tools. This is how you don't get deceived, right? You watch people, you understand, because you understand these divine truths that we're talking about and therefore you know what's going on. All this is because we're made in God's image. So there's another aspect of spirit your breath, a tangible manifestation of the intangible spirit that we all have.
Speaker 2:Let's also talk a little bit about the relationship of the spirit and the Word of God Proverbs 1.23. Let's turn to this one Proverbs 1.23. Just so you see, this wasn't something new in the New Testament. This is an old idea, and it uses what's called Hebrew parallelism, where you have two phrases and the two phrases are parallel. They essentially mean the same thing, but the words are different. Notice Proverbs 1.23,. Turn to my reproof, and then we have the two phrases that are in parallel.
Speaker 2:Behold, I will pour out my spirit on you. I will make my words known to you. So what does it mean? I will make my words known to you. It means I will pour out my spirit on you. What does it mean that I'll pour out my spirit on you? It means I will make my words known to you. It means I will pour out my Spirit on you. What does it mean that I'll pour out my Spirit on you? It means I will make my words known to you. So those two clauses, clause one and clause two, are parallel. They essentially mean the same thing. How do we pour out our Spirit before someone? Just in everyday life, when you have something on your heart and you go to your loved one and you start to pour out your spirit before them, don't you? What are you doing? As you do that? You're speaking word. You're telling them what's on your heart. And so there's something very intimate between the connection of spirit and words, your human spirit and your human words. Same thing's true for the Bible and the Holy Spirit, as we'll see.
Speaker 2:Ephesians 5.18,. Let's go to that one. Ephesians 5.18. 5.18. Let's go to that one, ephesians 5.18. Right after Galatians. If you see that, ephesians 5.18. And you'll just hold your place there, stick a little marker or use your pinky, go over to Colossians 3. These two books were written about the same time by Paul, one to the church at Ephesus, the other to the church at Colossus. These letters are very, very similar. They use a lot of the same language and they follow a lot of the same structure.
Speaker 2:In Ephesians 5, verse 18, he says and do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the what, the Spirit. And then what does it say? Speaking to one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks for all things in the Lord, and so forth. Okay, now hold your place and go to Colossians, chapter 3, verse 16. And go to Colossians 3, verse 16. And notice what he says in verse 16. Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you. Okay, ephesians 5 was be filled with the Spirit. This is let the word of Christ richly dwell. And then he says what? With all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts, and so forth. In other words, it's the same context, isn't it? It's the exact same context. Now, why in Ephesians did he say be filled with the Spirit, but in Colossians he said let the word of Christ dwell richly within you.
Speaker 2:They're parallel expressions, aren't they? They mean the same thing. If somebody says well, what does it mean to be filled with the Spirit? I mean, because that is a little amorphous for us it's like what, what is that? I don't know what that is. Well, you can just tell them this it's letting the Word of Christ dwell richly within you. You mean that's the same thing? Yeah, it's a parallel expression. I mean what's happening? As you let the Word of God dwell richly within you, are you not letting the Spirit, whose words those are, influence your life? Yes, that's what you're doing. So, again, they're used in parallel the Spirit and the Word.
Speaker 2:How about Acts, chapter 2? Most people don't think of this one, and I actually forgot about it. That's why I say most people forget. I forgot about this. In Acts, chapter 2, the day of of pentecost, you have this event where the 12 are there and then there's these tongues distributing themselves like fire and they began to speak in all these languages, right, that they had never studied. But the people who were there on the day of pentecost, from all over the mediterranean world, they were hearing them speak in their native dialects and tongues. Right, how is it interpreted by Peter in Acts 2.33? What was happening? How was it that they were speaking in tongues or languages that they had never learned? Well, he explains it in 2.33, that he has poured forth this, which you both see and hear. Well, he explains it in 233, that he has poured forth this, which you both see and hear that is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was the one who enabled them to speak in languages they had never spoken and never studied. So, another connection between pouring forth of the Spirit and speaking words, speaking words. There's nothing mystical about it, so to speak. I mean the Holy Spirit is doing this and it wasn't an ooh, I mean it was an interesting moment, but it's an evidence of the Spirit speaking words and that connection was well known.
Speaker 2:Now, 2 Peter 1, 20 to 21. 2 Peter 1, 20 to 21. Last one here. But you know we don't spend a lot of time on the Spirit, so we're taking a little time today to get better concept. So we're taking a little time today to get better concept. Another connection between the Spirit and the Word. And I'm wanting to make that connection the Spirit working in conjunction with the Word. 2 Peter 1.20.
Speaker 2:Know this, first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation. Why Verse 21,? For no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will. But men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. Men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. It's the idea of wind. There's a nautical terms here the moving. This is a nautical term. It's like a ship with sails and that's the picture of the men. And they're moved by the wind. Right, like a ship is they're moved by the Spirit of God to write what they wrote. In other words, the Scriptures aren't just human ideas. Humans didn't just come up with this, they were moved by the Spirit of God to write what they wrote. In other words, the Scriptures aren't just human ideas. Humans didn't just come up with this, they were moved by the Spirit of God to speak these particular words in the Hebrew, aramaic and Greek languages and then they were transmitted down through time by careful copying.
Speaker 2:Right Now we have over 25,000 copies of the New Testament, not full copies, but we have 5,700 or so pretty thorough manuscripts and beyond that fragments, adding up to about 25,000 in all. No ancient book has anywhere close to that amount of copies and things manuscripts. I think Homer has the next most in the ancient world, has about 800 copies. After that it dwindles pretty quickly. Aristotle, plato there are works numbered less than 15 that we have. So you know, if people want to question whether we really have the Bible, I'm like well, do you think you really have Plato? I mean, are you sure? I mean you have almost nothing compared to a biblical manuscript Men, I mean, are you sure I mean you have almost nothing compared to a biblical manuscript?
Speaker 2:Men moved by God, though see spoke words Men moved by the Spirit of God. So the Spirit and the Word are always connected and this is the way it works in our life. I mean you have to have the Word in you for the Spirit to use the Word to produce the wonderful fruit of the Spirit. Now, the last one I'll mention is the Spirit testifies from within us in words Romans 8, 16. Remember, he's within us and he cries out from within us Abba, father.
Speaker 2:And the passage describes this situation where we have the Spirit of God indwelling us, uniquely during this age and when we don't know how to pray. Uniquely during this age, and when we don't know how to pray because we are so troubled by a circumstance that we are facing. I'm sure you've been there. Something is heavy in your life, something has happened and you don't even know how to pray about it. But here's the good news you have the Spirit within you who testifies and he prays on your behalf. And it doesn't mean that he moves your mouth, it just means it's on a secret line. That's the way it's described. He's praying on a private line. Do you think he has good prayers? Yeah, do you think they'll be answered? Does he ever pray outside the will of God? No, so this is to comfort us in this passage. Then we don't know how to pray. Guess what? We have the Holy Spirit indwelling us and he prays on a secure line for us. But again, notice, it's connected with words. It's connected with words. The Spirit prays. Those are words he testifies.
Speaker 2:Now let's move a little bit to the personality of the Scripture, because some people just say he's impersonal force. Is he really a person? Well, let me ask you a question Does a force testify? See, that doesn't make any sense. How about Acts, chapter 5? Acts, chapter 5.
Speaker 2:This is the story of Ananias and Sapphira. Really, it's a story. It's not a story of Ananias and Sapphira, it's a story of Barnabas, ananias and Sapphira. But people forget because the chapter break is unfortunate. At the end of chapter 4, it's talking about a man from the island of Cyprus named Barnabas, who sold his property there and he gave the proceeds to the church. And then chapter five says but, and it begins to tell you a story about a couple who did the opposite of Barnabas. I mean, they sold their property, right, but they went to Peter and they said these are the full proceeds of the property that we sold. But it wasn't so. In other words, they lied right.
Speaker 2:And so, in verse 3, peter said to Ananias why has Satan filled your heart? To lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back some of the price of the land who had? Ananias lied to the Holy Spirit and it was influenced by Satan, right? Can a believer be influenced by Satan to lie. Well, yeah, there it is the world, the flesh and the devil. These are avenues of temptation, so sure enough. So he lied to the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 2:But look at verse 4. Peter says while it remained unsold, did not the property remain under your control? And after it was sold, was it still not under your control? In other words, it's your money, do with it what you want. You don't have to give it to us, right? No requirement there. He says why is it that you have conceived this deed in your heart? You've not lied to men, but you lied to who? To God, no way. He lied to the Holy Spirit, said in the previous verse. But now it says you lied to God. Well, yeah, because the Holy Spirit is God. Right, verse 9 just gives us a little bit more.
Speaker 2:Then Peter said to her, his wife, when she came in later why is it that you have agreed together to put the Spirit of the Lord to the test? See, it's the Spirit that proceeds from the Lord. Order of procession is being referred to there, but obviously the Spirit is a person. Can you lie to a non-person? Can you lie to a rock? Can you lie to the water? No, no, you lie to personal beings and the Holy Spirit is a personal being.
Speaker 2:Lots of other passages here about the personality of the Holy Spirit 2 Corinthians 3.17. 2 Corinthians 3.17. 2 Corinthians 3.17. These just give us further vindication that the Spirit is a person and not just some kind of force from God, some kind of impersonal thing. 2 Corinthians 3.17. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there's liberty. Now, do non-entities, non-personal beings, give you freedom? I mean, these sentences don't make sense because they're silly sentences. Unless the Holy Spirit is a person we know, there can't be this concept of freedom. It's not in existence without a person. Lots of other ones here. Let's see Hebrews 10.15 also talks about he testifies with us.
Speaker 2:How about Romans 5.5? Since we're pretty close, just turn back to the left and then we'll stop with this one. All we're trying to do here is show that there's a third member of the Trinity, a third person who is God. Romans 5, 5. Talking about the results of justification, some of the benefits that we have, one of which verse 5, hope does not disappoint. Hope is something future, a future expectation. Right, hope does not disappoint. Why? Because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who he's given to us.
Speaker 2:Do impersonal beings pour love into our hearts? No, no, no. It has to be a personal being, because love is a personal thing. And what is the fruit of the Spirit? The fruit of the Spirit is love. You nailed it. Singular, right, interesting, because then it goes on Joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, self-control, faithfulness, etc. But the fruit of the Spirit is love. Again, that's personal, and then all the manifestations of love are then clarified Joy, peace, patience and so forth. But just to show that he really is a person, romans 5.5,. The love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
Speaker 2:He personally has taken up residence in the believer. This is different from his omnipresence. Is he omnipresent, meaning, is he in all places, at all times, completely present? Yes, well then doesn't that mean he's in unbelievers? No, no, we're misunderstanding the point.
Speaker 2:Omnipresence doesn't mean that he is material around us. It means he's alongside as a sixth dimension and in that sense, has taken up residence in us. He's not your liver, okay, and he's not going to make it quiver. You do that by eating something you shouldn't eat. Okay, god, okay, doesn't. He's not material. You don't knock on God and say, are you in there?
Speaker 2:He's alongside of space that we live in and, in a very personal way, the Holy Spirit has taken up residence in us. If you don't have him, romans 8 and 9 says you don't belong to him, you don't belong to God. All believers have his residence in us. Okay, and that's a basis for living the Spirit-filled life and having the fruit of the Spirit produced through us, which is love, and it's extremely personal. It's extremely personal. There's nothing almost more personal than love. Love is almost the height of what it is to be a person, but of course there's many other manifestations that are also very personal and show us the image of God. So all that just to show the person, see and the deity of the Holy Spirit. I hope you don't question that right.
Speaker 1:Thank you for joining us on Beyond the Walls with Jeremy Thomas. If you would like to see the visuals that went along with today's sermon, you can find those on Rumble and on YouTube under Spokane Bible Church. That is where Jeremy is the pastor and teacher. We hope you found today's lesson productive and useful in growing closer to God and walking more obediently with Him. If you found this podcast to be useful and helpful, then please consider rating us in your favorite podcast app, and until next time, we hope you have a blessed and wonderful day.