Welcome to Books of the Book.
I'm Pastor Mark Howard. I'm here
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with my brother, Jim. He's my
co-host and we are studying the
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book of Acts. In our last study
we looked at how in the book
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of Acts and even as the author
Luke prefaced the history that
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we're reading here in the end
of his gospel we found that the
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Bible, the scripture, was the
foundation. Jesus himself set
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his apostles looking at the
scripture as the foundation for
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their faith. The scripture is
really the foundation of all the
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revival and the power we find.
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Yeah. He makes a real clear
point of evidence. The fact that
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in the book of Acts we
find infallible proof as we find
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clear evidence for our faith and
the scripture when it is that
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to us clear evidence it gives us
a compelling desire to share the
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mission, which was the other
area that we really focused on
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last time was the mission that
was given to the apostles was
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what drove them throughout the
book of Acts, that deep love for
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souls and desire to see others
find the same salvation that
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they had is what compelled
them to be bold for Christ.
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That's right. Now I hope
you have your Bibles with you
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because we're going to jump into
the book of Acts and we're going
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to begin reading in verse 1.
Before we do I'd like to ask the
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Lord to guide our study and give
us understanding in his word and
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open our understanding as
he did those disciples of his.
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Father in heaven, we just ask
that the Holy Spirit would now
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give us understanding as we
study your word. We ask it in
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Jesus' name, Amen. I'm
beginning in Acts chapter 1
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and verse 1. The Bible says here
The former account I made, O
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Theophilus, of all that Jesus
began both to do and to teach...
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Now as we mentioned last time
Luke the apostle is writing here
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the doctor I should say, is
writing here his account to a
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friend names Theophilus of his
infallible proofs of the gospel
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of Jesus Christ and the
acts that followed in the
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proclamation of that gospel.
It says in verse 2, he says:
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In fact I should start in verse
1 again: The former account I
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made, O Theophilus, of all that
Jesus began both to do and to
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teach until the day in which
he was taken up after he through
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the Holy Spirit had given
commandment to the apostles who
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he had chosen, to whom he also
presented himself alive after
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his suffering by many infallible
proofs being seen by them during
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forty days and speaking of the
things pertaining to the kingdom
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of God. And being assembled
together with them he commanded
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them not to depart from
Jerusalem but to wait for the
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promise of the Father which he
said you have heard from me; for
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John truly baptized with water
but you shall be baptized with
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the Holy Spirit not many days
from now. Now this is something
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apparently very important to
Jesus. You know he's given them
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a commission. You got to put
yourself there. I mean here's
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your job, you want to do this
job, this is your task. Go out
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and do it, but wait, don't do
it yet. I want you to wait until
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you receive the promise of the
Father. Now what is this and why
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is this so important, this
promise of the Father? Jim.
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Yeah, well first I think it's
important to recognize that he
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was asking them to have faith.
You know it's not always easy to
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wait on the Lord, to wait on
something that has been promised
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but he says God has promised
and now you need to show and
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exercise faith before
that promise can be realized.
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And as we look in the book of
John we find where this promise
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can be traced back to. So let's
take our Bible and go back to...
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It sounds to me, I want to
interject here, but it sounds to
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me like you're equating faith
in this case with some waiting.
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There's some waiting
involved when we exercise faith.
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Yeah that's exactly right.
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Well let's go to John 14 and see
if we can see where this promise
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of the Father is referenced
in the gospels. John 14 and
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beginning in verse 12;
we'll start there. It says: Most
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assuredly I say to you, he who
believes in me, the works that
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I do, he will do also, and
greater works then these he will
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do because I go to my Father.
So he's promising great works
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for his disciples who follow
after him because he says he
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goes to his Father. And whatever
you ask in my name, that I will
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do that the Father may be
glorified in the Son. If you ask
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anything in my name I will do
it. Which is another wonderful
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promise. Now it says in
verse 15 If you love me keep my
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commandments and I will pray the
Father (I'll ask the Father) and
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he will give you another helper
that he may abide with you
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forever. The Spirit of truth
whom the world cannot receive
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because it neither sees him nor
knows him, but you know him for
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he dwells with you and will
be in you. I will not leave you
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orphans, I will come to you.
So here you have this promise
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that is guaranteed and Jesus
in the beginning of the book of
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Acts is preparing to go away.
He's preparing to ascend into
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heaven and he's reminding them
that when he goes away he will
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not leave them orphans, he will
come to them. But how will he
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come to them. According to the
passage, he will come to them in
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the person of the Helper, the
Holy Spirit, who he will ask the
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Father. The Father will grant
him the privilege and authority
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to give the Holy Spirit in great
measure to the early church
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and so they were asked
to wait for this promise.
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That's right. And evidently and
very clearly without this gift
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of the Holy Spirit we wouldn't
have the book of Acts. In fact,
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some people have referred
to the book of Acts because the
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original title of the book
is actually just Acts; it's not
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Acts of the Apostles, and some
people have referred to it as
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the acts of the Holy Spirit
which very clearly we see the
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Holy Spirit's power working
throughout the book, so much so
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that some Christians have gotten
the understanding that the Holy
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Spirit was a New Testament
phenomenon. One of the passages
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that leads people to that
thought process is in John 16.
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When we're looking at the
teaching of Jesus about the Holy
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Spirit, we'll go to John 16 and
Jesus says in verse 5: But now I
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go away to him who sent me and
none of you asks me where are
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you going. But because I have
said these things to you sorrow
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has filled your heart.
Nevertheless, I tell you the
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truth. It is to your advantage
that I go away for if I do not
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go away the Helper will not come
to you, but if I depart I will
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send him to you. And as we read
on here we're seeing that he's
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talking about the Holy Spirit.
In fact, the heading in my Bible
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here says The Work of the Holy
Spirit. Some people have read
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this to say well as long as
Jesus is there the Holy Spirit
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doesn't come and we see the Holy
Spirit coming with power as they
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are waiting for the promise of
the Father there in the book of
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Acts and so therefore the
Holy Spirit must be some New
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Testament phenomenon. Before I
touch on that too much there's a
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legitimate question here when
Jesus makes this point: It is
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expedient that I go away. Why
was it so important for him to
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go away? It was
actually to their
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advantage. It would be better
for them that he go than stay.
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Yeah. Why is it to their
advantage that he go away to
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make way for the Holy Spirit?
Now if we go ahead to verse 14
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I want you to notice there in
John 16:14, Jesus makes a point.
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He says: He will glorify me and
he will take of what is mine and
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declare it to you. Now we want
to hold onto that and there are
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a couple other passages
that kind of go along with this.
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I think you have
one in John as well.
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Yes. In John 15 and verse 26 we
see a very revealing passage as
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well about the Holy Spirit and
what he does. John 15:26. Did I
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say that right? Yes. But when
the Helper comes whom I shall
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send to you from the Father,
the Spirit of truth who proceeds
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from the Father,
he will testify of me.
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Okay, so here we have in the
verse we read in John 16:14 he
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says he will glorify me. Jesus
is saying this. The Holy Spirit
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is going to take what is mine
and he's going to confer it to
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you. Now in the verse you just
read in John 15:26 he says the
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Holy Spirit who proceeds from
the Father will testify of me.
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And then again in John 14:26
the Bible says, again Jesus is
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speaking and teaching about the
Holy Spirit. He says: But the
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Helper (the Holy Spirit) whom
the Father will send in my name
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will teach you all things and
bring to your remembrance all
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things that I have said to you.
Now think about this. He's going
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to bear witness of me, he's
going to glorify me, he's going
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to declare mine to you, he's
going to testify of me, all of
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these passages, how is the Holy
Spirit going to do those things
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without the ministry of Jesus?
He couldn't and it brings to
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mind a passage in 1 Corinthians
chapter 15. 1 Corinthians 15 as
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the Apostle Paul is sharing the
gospel that he preached, we're
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going to go to verse 1. 1
Corinthians 15:1, he says:
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Moreover brethren I declare to
you the gospel which I preached
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to you. Now notice what he says
here as he goes on. Which you
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received and in which you stand
by which you also are saved if
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if you hold fast that word which
I preached to you unless you
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believed in vain. Verse 3: For
I delivered to you first of all
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that which I also received,
that Christ died for our sins
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according to the scriptures...
notice his emphasis on scripture
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there even as we've said
already... Christ died for our
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sins according to the scriptures
and that he was buried and that
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he rose again the third day
according to the scriptures and
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that he was seen by Cephas
and the 12, etc. In other words,
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Paul says my gospel that I
preached to you was about Jesus'
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death, his burial, his
resurrection. The Holy Spirit
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would have no gospel to
bear witness to in the hearts of
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God's people had it not been for
the ministry of Christ. So what
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I see happening here where
Jesus in John 16 is saying: It's
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expedient that I go away or
I can't send the Helper is that
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his ministry on earth provided
the raw material for the Holy
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Spirit to bring that powerful
conviction that we find in the
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book of Acts. I
think when we hear that it
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helps to shed a little bit
of light but it also could cause
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somebody to come to a wrong
conclusion. Some people feel
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that because he provides those
raw materials that we don't see
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much of the Holy Spirit in the
Old Testament, but we need to
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clarify that, because the work
of the Holy Spirit is something
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that has always been essential
for humanity and the place I'd
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like to look is in John chapter
3. So if we can turn to John
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chapter 3. This is a well-known
passage of scripture. Of course
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it has John 3:16 perhaps
the most well-known verse of
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scripture. But this is a passage
in which Nicodemus is in a
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one-on-one interview with Jesus
and the focal point of this
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interview is the new birth.
Jesus comes right out and says
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to him in verse 3, the Bible
says: Jesus answered and said to
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him, Most assuredly I say to
you unless one is born again he
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cannot see the kingdom of God.
And Nicodemus is not sure how to
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respond to that. Perhaps he's
being a little facetious but
00:12:08.77\00:12:11.64
he comes back and says, How can
a man be born when he is old?
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Can he enter a second time into
his mother's womb and be born?
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And Jesus reiterates, he says
in verse 5: Most assuredly I say
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to you unless one is born of
water and the Spirit he cannot
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enter the kingdom of God. Then
in verse 9 Nicodemus sort of
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plays ignorant again and it says
Nicodemus answered and said to
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him, how can these things
be? Then in verse 10 Jesus says
00:12:36.79\00:12:41.16
something very pointed
to Nicodemus. It says: Jesus
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answered and said to him, Are
you the teacher of Israel and do
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not know these things?
Now Nicodemus was a teacher in
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Israel but what did he teach
from? Why he taught from the
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scripture, but what scripture?
The Old Testament scripture,
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right? That's all he had and yet
Jesus expected him from the Old
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Testament scripture to know the
doctrine of being born again of
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the Holy Spirit. So certainly
the new birth is something
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that has been necessary from
the beginning of time until now.
00:13:15.19\00:13:18.65
That's why David prayed in Psalm
51, Take not your Holy Spirit
00:13:18.68\00:13:22.38
away from me. This was very
important. There would be no way
00:13:22.42\00:13:27.46
truthfully for humanity to ever
do anything right without the
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Holy Spirit, because in our
natural flesh we have no good
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inclinations. We require
the Holy Spirit for every right
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thought and inclination. And
this is why we can never come to
00:13:41.12\00:13:45.63
the conclusion that while
the Holy Spirit does have an
00:13:45.67\00:13:48.07
emphasis in the New Testament
and has more raw materials to
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work with, he has always
been working in the hearts of
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humanity. That's an
excellent point, Jim,
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and I want to dive into that
more but we need to take a break
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So stick with us. When we come
back we're going to talk more
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about the work of the
Holy Spirit in conversion.
00:14:03.05\00:14:04.42