NT Framework - Dispensation of Spiritual Gifts

The Old Testament saints didn't have the indwelling Holy Spirit nor did they receive spiritual gifts from Him, so what changed?

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. 

Transcript

Welcome And Bite-Sized Lesson

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Welcome to Beyond the Walls with Jeremy Thomas and our series on the New Testament framework. Today, a smaller, bite-sized piece from the larger lesson. We hope you enjoy

Spiritual Gifts And Our Commission

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it.

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So, for example, we've been given spiritual gifts. In the Old Testament, nobody was given spiritual gifts. No Israeli was given a spiritual gift. You know, you never read about that, do you? But we are. So evidently, this is a necessary component of what we need to be equipped to fulfill our purpose, our commission. And so this will explain in part at least why the Spirit's ministries differ in different periods of history, because we have a certain responsibility as a steward that we've been given. We need these things. So there's a lot of things that we have. So let's look at some of

Genesis 1 Through 11 Overview

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these things. Let's start looking first of all at the first 11 chapters of the Bible where we've got creation, fall, flood, and Noahic Covenant, right? What a period of history that I just called Gentiles, because there was no such thing as Jews and Gentiles, no distinction in that way. In fact, everybody spoke the same words, right? And used the same language.

The Spirit Hovering In Creation

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So during this period of history, we see two instances of the Spirit. First of all, we see him involved in creating. That's Genesis chapter 1, verse 2. Genesis chapter 1, verse 2. We should know the verses. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, right? And the earth was formless or unformed and unfilled, and the spirit of God hovered over the surface of the water. So the original created order was a sphere, let's just say a watery mass or sphere, and the spirit of God hovered over that. It's a word used in Deuteronomy to of like a bird, like a mother bird like hovering over her chicks in a nest in order to keep them warm. It carries with it the idea of imparting heat or energy. And perhaps it's at this point in the creation narrative that energy was created by means of the Spirit of God. It's important, of course, to realize as we go through this and get into Trinity more next week that every everything, every event that transpires, all three members of the Trinity are involved. We'll talk later, of course, about the indwelling spirit. We have him dwelling within us, but John 14, 23 says the Father, the Son, and the Spirit all indwell. It's a Trinitarian indwelling, so it's more than just the Spirit of God indwelling us. There's no event in Scripture where it's just, you know, one member of the Trinity. We can look at the cross and say, well, that's Christ. Christ was crucified. Yes. But who designed or who's the architect of this plan that would be our salvation plan related to the crucifixion? Well, that's the Father. And the Son is the one that applies it to us when we believe. So they're all involved, just in different aspects. And so it is here at creation, right? God spoke, but John says in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And that's talking about the second person of the Trinity. So the second person of the Trinity is the agent of creation. And the Father's the architect of it. And so you have the Spirit here, perhaps imparting energy to the newly created. Well, at this time it would be the earth, as it's described in Genesis 1, 2, this watery mass. That's very interesting. He's in the very second verse of the Bible. People say, well, we didn't know anything about the Holy Spirit to the New Testament. Well, maybe you didn't read the second verse in the entire Bible, right? Because he's right there. So he's introduced super early in the Bible.

The Spirit Striving Before The Flood

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Also in Genesis chapter 6, verse 3, in the days before the flood, we read that the Holy Spirit was striving with man. Genesis 6, 3. Then the Lord said, Yahweh said, My spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he is also flesh. Nevertheless, his days shall be 120 years. So he was striving against man. We call this a restraining ministry of the Holy Spirit. We don't know exactly how he was restraining man, but he was striving against man's fleshly desires. And his action, we know from the Gospel of John, is like the wind. So we don't know how he worked, but like the wind, it we don't see the wind, but we see the effects of the wind. And so it is with the Spirit of God prior to the flood. He was restraining man, but of course, this world became extremely wicked. Every thought of every man's mind continually was only wickedness, and God brought the flood. So he restrains sin, but that does not keep men from rebelling against his restraint and following through with their fleshly lusts, does it? But those are the two ministries we see in the period of Genesis 1 through 11, where we may just say God is dealing with uh Gentiles.

Israel’s Era And Revelation

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But notice that as we move to the second period, which is uh Israel, Genesis 12 through Acts 1, that we're going to find four works of the Holy Spirit, at least. We could probably add one or two others, but these are the main ones. First of all, revealing, of course, at Mount Sinai, the Spirit is claimed to be the one who revealed the law in Zechariah chapter 7, verse 12.

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That's at the very end of the Old Testament, but uh in the highly apocalyptic book, Zechariah. Zechariah chapter what did I say? 11 no seven. Zechariah seven verse twelve.

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The Holy Spirit was involved in giving the law. Some of these books we have to wait a little longer for us all turn, right? Because it's like Zechariah. I haven't read that in a while. It's okay. Um Zechariah 7, verse 12. They made their hearts like flint so that they could not hear the law in the words which the Lord of hosts had sent by his spirit through the former prophets. And because they made their hearts like flint, he says, Therefore great wrath came from the Lord of hosts, speaking of on on Israel. So he revealed the law, but he also revealed the prophets. The law might be considered the first five books of the Old Testament. The prophets is a summary of the rest of the Old Testament. Um and the Spirit of God is the one who is particularly involved in revealing the Word of God.

Inspiration Of Scripture And Wrap-Up

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So we turn to 2 Peter 1 20, one of the greatest verses on the inspiration of Scripture, the verbal plenary inspiration of Scripture. Verbal plenary. And that's the Orthodox doctrine of uh inspiration.

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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.