Published: April 26, 2026 | Speaker: Mark Freitag | Series: The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit 2 - Part 15 | Scripture: Acts 26:22-23
Transcript
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So as we uh we finish this session um today uh looking at the the the ministry of the Holy Spirit. All right.
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Uh want to remind you uh of a of a few things that we've looked at over this um quarter uh trimester, whatever we call this. Um and one of the uh the
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commentators probably um John Owen u in his um his um volume on the Holy Spirit. Um likes to
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call these the peculiar works or peculiar operations of the Holy Spirit. Um but if you were to define it um I I
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think what you would see is
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from the day of creation. to present day um declaring the mind of God, revealing
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um who God is and the plan of of redemption um and the the gift um that he gives to the church is
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of course the the gift of prophecy that it's not um that it's revealed
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through the works of of creation and then into um works with with men and women,
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but also through the works of people uh that um the Holy Spirit gifted. And we've we've gone through many of those instances.
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But from the very beginning, um the the gift of prophecy, I I would say, and probably oversimplification here, but um
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Will we think of as the church. Um the the people of God, I guess, would be a better um way to say that. But it's it's
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the promises related to related to the Messiah. And there's much more, you know, how God works and deals with people, but these
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seem to be the, you know, points A and B or A1 and A2. Um, Genesis 3,
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Genesis 3, and I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel. the beginnings that um protoe
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evangelical um the beginning from the beginning of Genesis uh the Holy Spirit there working
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and then the promise um and Paul kind of summarizes this um in Acts 26 in his um meeting with um and I'm probably going
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to get it wrong but I think it's before King Agria. Um he says, "So having obtained help from God, I stand to this day testifying both to small and great,
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stating nothing but what the prophets and Moses said was going to take place, that the Christ was to suffer, and that by reason of his resurrection from the
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dead, he would be the first to proclaim light both to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles." the Gentiles." um summarizing
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um summarizing this this gift of prophecy that here I stand as the the one testifying um as he said to both small and great
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and I'm not making anything up. All I'm doing is what the Holy Spirit did through the gift of prophecy, the foundation of the church, the
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promise of the Messiah, his suffering, his death, his resurrection. Um, and this is a proclamation that goes all the way back to the beginning.
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And then of course, uh, we looked at the confirmation by the prophets. Um really
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Peter um what I call the privilege of There's the gift. But Peter says, "Yeah, but what a what a privilege
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in first Peter 1." And to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries, seeking to know what person or time the spirit
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of Christ within them was indicating as he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. Um, it's a it's that privilege that that
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comes all the way down to us. Um, and it was immediate in its effects because of that
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writing and the inspiration of the of the Holy Spirit. We we we have Paul saying sentences like this. Um, all scripture
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is inspired by God. that God breathed that Holy Spirit in inspiration and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in
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righteousness, so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. It's a continual operation that has immediate effects to those who hear.
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one of the and I I didn't write it down and um I do them disservice when I don't do that. Um I think it was uh Thomas Shriner uh writing about um in his
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commentary on Peter says the the Old Testament prophecies Testament prophecies not only apply to believers now they were intended for
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believers now. Um and that comes through in in second Peter 1. He says, uh, Peter writes, "For we did not follow cleverly devised tales." Again, kind of echoing
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what what Paul has has said. I I'm not making this stuff up, not following cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and
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coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were witnesses of his majesty. For when we received honor and glory from God the Father, such an utterance as this was
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made to him by the majestic glory, this is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased. Well, we we see that in the in the gospels at the um
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baptism of Christ with the Holy Spirit there descending as a dove. And he says, "And we ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain." So at the
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transfiguration again, so we have the prophetic word made more sure to which you do well to pay attention as to a light lamp shining in a dark place until
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the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts. But know this first of all that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever
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made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. um their prophecies, their gifts that come through in the Old
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Testament, privileges for us, but they were all moved and inspired by the Holy Spirit. And so
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the the words of the prophets um again part of the privilege is knowing that what we read and what we study is
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authoritative. It's accurate and it's it's full of insure assurance for us because it's not the invention of any man. Um revealed to
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them by the spirit. um the spirits sent from Jesus who spoke words of truth. Um and they
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spoke the words of the promise of of the Christ, the Messiah, his coming, his suffering, his laying down,
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his life, his resurrection. Um, and we've we've talked about it some, and I'm I'm not going to try to draw, but
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helping direct our attention to who Christ is that he has that thing. You look at me as I point to him.
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So keeping your eyes on Christ, but where does the the help come from to do that is is by the Holy Spirit. And I don't know how to depict that um so much
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as that's the um the nonvisible power uh that is is the gift of the Holy
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Spirit to the believer. Um Peter says it this way. It was revealed to them the prophets that they were not serving themselves. Goes back to
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Shriner's point. They were not serving themselves, but you in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preach the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven.
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Things into which angels long to look and yet they were intended for us. Um the prophets didn't know when, you know,
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they're they're searching the when and the who. Um and yet they were ministering to New Testament believers. They were ministering to
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those so that they would understand um at least um the prophets understood I think to some
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degree what Peter is saying. It's for us. It's for someone else bes besides them. But they did have as from what I
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can understand that the Holy Spirit of God was um a transcendent gift from God for men. Um, I think they understood
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that. Um, that. Um, the writer to the Hebrews seems to indicate that somehow they they knew that the design,
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if I could say it that way, now that I read what I typed, it's I don't mean it to be uh confusing, but the spirit is the author
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of extraordinary gifts. The writer to the Hebrews, Hebrews 2 says, uh, of these men who wrote, "God also
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testifying with them both by signs and wonders and various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit according to his own will." There's there's again, it's that
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trinity and unity, unity of the Trinity. Um and and what a privilege it is to stand on this side and be able to read and understand more of who that author
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of extraordinary gifts is. Yes. Just regarding their awareness that it was for others as well. Daniel serves a really good example of that
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Yeah. Yeah. And I I'm always kind of amazed that and when Moses um who did have um the Holy Spirit um
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you know telling his lieutenants, I guess you could call them, I wish you all all had the Holy Spirit. Um he could see that there was something that was
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transcendent from God. Um and Part of part of me looks at some of these Old Testament saints, their faith
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as as the Bible says, they they didn't see it, but they greeted it from afar. That faith and then we we sing the hymn, oh um may the day when our faith become
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sight. Those men and women too, uh they had a faith that was almost sight. Um and um quite an inspiration, quite a
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gift to see um faith exhibited by those folks even in Old Testament time.
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I don't I've kind of lost my numbering here, but
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I don't know that I've heard it recently. But in years past, occasionally in some discussion or Bible study or
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something, there would be those who who questioned which is more important, the authority of the scriptures
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or the authority of the Holy Spirit. and almost as if it's a conflict that if you
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put too much stock in the authority of the Holy Spirit, then you're you're somehow denigrating the scriptures. But I I don't see a conflict.
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the Holy Spirit as as we've seen from Paul in 2 Timothy 3:16, all scripture is God breathed, inspired.
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uh that inspiration, the Holy Spirit. It's almost as if you're making a false dichotomy
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that the authority of the scripture and the authority of the Holy Spirit are it's the spirit and the scripture or as
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um Martin Lloyd Jones writes the spirit through the word. Um that
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we make a we we try to make or force a a conflict where there is none
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by the word. Um, we're told to examine and and test all the spirits of the world. Uh, John writes this in his first
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Um, beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
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But this you know the spirit of God. By this are you know the spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from
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God. And every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist of which you have heard that it is coming and now
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it is already in the world. The Holy Spirit speaks to believers through the word, in the word, both in
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the preaching and the teaching of the word. Um, and and the world, as Jesus predicted, you know, the world
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doesn't have the Holy Spirit. The unbeliever doesn't have him. Therefore, the things of the word are are foolishness. As Paul says, "For the word
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of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God." The the Holy Spirit is in that power uh taking
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the word and helping us understand it, guiding us in it. Um but we don't
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at least it's been my experience. Um experience. Um and one of the reasons that I wanted to do this study starting several years ago
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is we don't hear or read a lot about the authority of the Holy Spirit in the church. Um and
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Um and Lloyd Jones in his little booklet on um the authority authority of the scripture and the authority of the Holy Spirit says uh of this question
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of the authority of the Holy Spirit. He says here I truly believe we are dealing with the main source of weakness in modern evangelicalism.
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Uh in in past sessions we've we've mentioned some of the reasons the spirit is not much uh discussed among uh believers and and some of that is a fear of being labeled as a fanatic
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um as a uh someone um who delves into excesses of
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Um and there is um we talked about it a little bit or Chuck did some I think yeah my week chopped all the pieces I think must have
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been Thursday night um is the formalism versus uh what some people would label
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charismatic of of the need um and and some um circles that I've been in over the years um they
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would use the word dignified that that um your your service is not dignified um and more of a formalism um and and the scriptures do uh Paul in
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1 Corinthians 14 uh he uses that that phrase but all things must be done um decently and in order in an orderly
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manner and again to me the question is well if you're if you're making a scale and you're trying to are you trying to
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say well there's some people who've got it they're here and other people now you don't have it you're here um I think the the question again would be back to
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Galatians 5 Galatians 5 if we live by the spirit Paul says let us also keep in step with the spirit
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That's seems to me to be a bigger question of you know how does where are you on a scale that individuals define? Um
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Lloyd Jones uh in his day um and I believe he he died in 1980, but in his day um he said the
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the churches who were arguing for a more dignified service dignified service were um they use the word
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respectability. that they wanted to to show the world their kind of their answer to answer to how does the church
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how would I say it regain an authority regain a presence in the world um was their their answer was well we
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need to study more we need to have more scriptural knowledge scriptural knowledge we have to have more education we have to have pastors and teachers that are the highest level of education
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and some notion of what it means to be respectable in our in our worship. Lloyd Jones responded to those by writing this. It's a rather long
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sentence, so I'll try to read it slowly. He says we are so concerned about ourselves and our selfimportance
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that we are almost afraid to allow the Holy Spirit to gain control lest we find ourselves doing something or saying something or appearing in a guise which does not accord fully with
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our ideas of what befits the modern educated sophisticated individual.
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the phrase they're afraid to allow the Holy Spirit to gain control uh he would say is the main weakness of the church in terms of its
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its own authority. the church's authority in the world, its influence on the world around us, its um its presence. Um
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and you know, he asked the question, how does the church make an impact in the world? the world? And he had some answers and I've added a
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few answers here. We've discussed some of them the other night again in uh in the class. Um some answers that the the church needs
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to defend the Christian faith that's called apologetics. So with our arguments that that we we line up all arguments against every
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argument of the unbeliever um and we have an answer. So by formal explanations uh we reply to those skeptics, the doubters, the haters and
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we have a rebuttal for every argument and every charge they would bring against Christianity. And the idea is that once you show that
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you can you can answer that you can um parry every thrust of the unbeliever that the church would then uh gain their position of authority of
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um of leadership uh of um respectability.
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Some say the answer is the the clergy needs to step up. And uh this includes um in in some cases um
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presenting the clergy as set apart. Uh we talked it about again the other night of of the uh the vestments
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and the uh the robes, the presentation of the person, but also position in the church that we would elevate and we'd have an altar. we'd
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have, you know, something that um puts um some kind of and I I'll use the word
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that's been used about the RCC, but a monolithic dignity and presence that that if if you impress people by that kind of appearance
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that the world in the minds of some uh one of the writers wrote, "Then they would quote come and listen in fear and trembling
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end quote." Some say it should be through teaching the Bible the Bible but in a more critical literary,
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historical and scientific manner that we in our teaching should relate more to the 21st century Christian
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in terms of how they think and how they view the world and people in the world. So it would involve getting in involved
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in all kinds of social reform movements, uh becoming active in politics, joining social advocacy groups and that
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sort of thing. Some people think that the church should become a kind of house of all needs. You need to
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look at the needs that people have in your neighborhood. your neighborhood. child care child care support groups for every
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thing you can think of that needs Recovery programs, homeless shelters, aid stations,
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food court in your church basement. every need every need of the society.
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And some think um and I have relatives who um who um have have wondered why we don't join uh society like this. Um the answer is the World Council of Churches
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that you have a community that sets up um ecumenical programs where faith groups faithbased
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and I I don't remember the setting that I was in. Uh I wasn't not in a I I don't even remember where the discussion it may have been at work. Uh it may have
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been someone here in um the church years and years ago, but uh someone asking a group that I happen to be standing with uh why churches in Greenville didn't get
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involved in ecumenical activities. And the statement as I remember it coming out of the person's mouth was, "You all believe in the same God, so why
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don't you work together?" And I'm thinking, you don't understand anything about Christianity. about Christianity. Uh we do not all worship the same God.
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And yet there are people in our world today who believe that we do. And they don't understand why faithbased people do not work together on a more
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formal basis formal basis um to change the world.
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The question is, does our do our programs, do our techniques, do our
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does our style of evangelism, do anything that we do as a program, does it influence how the world reacts to Christianity?
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The scriptures tell us that Jesus exercised his ministry in the power of the Holy Spirit. John chapter 3, for he whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for he gives the spirit
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without measure. without measure. I believe that's John the Baptist speaking of Christ. And yet
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we've been entrusted to the words of God to speak them, to teach them. And again, the combination, and I didn't write it down, but the spirit and the word. Yeah.
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Spirit through the word. Um, I believe that for the purposes of his mediatorial work,
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mediatorial work, for the purposes of redeeming people, the work that Christ did on earth,
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Jesus could not have accomplished that work unless the father had given him the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit. That's what I believe that the scriptures teach.
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scriptures teach. Yes, the son of man was also the son of But Paul helps us in Philippians 2 to tell us that
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the son of God, Christ laid aside that status, the honor
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um the honor of his glory. And he humbled himself to live as a man. And in that living as a man, he had to
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He had to suffer. He had to endure what people in the world endure.
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He had to receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Jesus um in arguing teaching, speaking to
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who wanted to look at their particular, if you will, technique or program for
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worship. Jesus responded in John 6 by saying,"Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which is in enduring to
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eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him the Father, God has set his seal." Well, what is that seal? Was that seal
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not set not set with the Holy Spirit at his baptism? When the spirit came down
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to Jesus as he came up out of the water, the voice of God came from heaven. This is my beloved son in whom I'm well
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pleased. God has set his seal upon him. And Jesus seems to be saying, "Here was my authority.
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Here was my voice. Here was my power and authority to do the things that I
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And I guess my my point today is that that authority, that authority, the authority of the Holy Spirit is found in the world still today in
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believers and is directed toward not only the individual believers but life in the church. The Holy Spirit
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works in regeneration in regeneration and conversion. The scriptures are clear. No one comes to the father unless he be
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salvation. Again, reading the words of of our our privilege, these things intended for us. the the assurance of there are men,
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women, children who walk by faith, who keep in step with the spirit who without seeing they have faith, they have eyes of
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faith. The Holy Spirit works in helping us to understand the scriptures, understand the doctrine the doctrine that we hold so dear that we do as again
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as the writer of Hebrews said, how how can we neglect so great a salvation? The Holy Spirit works to allow us to to cling to
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cling to we have again as the writer to Hebrews says we we we have a steadfast anchor of our souls our souls and he helps us to understand that
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the Holy Spirit works in defense of the truth. Yes, we we don't fall into that of, you know, we we just wait until the day when
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we're confronted and the Holy Spirit will help us. Yes, there is that help. But he also helps us understand what do you believe and why do you believe it?
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As we read the scriptures as we as we understand what the words mean and how they're connected and we we look at the
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whole of scripture and see how it and he does help us in our witnessing. We will have those people who want to
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thrust their doubts, their accusations at us as believers. We need yes to put on the armor and we need to know how to handle the sword of
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the spirit. the spirit. But he helps us in that.
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How does the church make an impact in the world? the world? Well, I know that it has no impact. Everything that we do has no value unless it's done in the power and the
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authority of the Holy Spirit.
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gifts that this church might grow, that the church might be strengthened, that the church might be a church. And Paul writes
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that all of these things come by that spirit. Now there are varieties of gifts but the same spirit
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and there are varieties of ministries and the same Lord. We fight the good fight.
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We know that in the end we win. And yet we're called to make an impact in the world, to be effective, to
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influence, and to not be afraid of who we are. And I believe that as the Holy Spirit brought that
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authority and power to our Lord, he's showing us that this is how we ought to live. That we ought to keep. If we say that we
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have life by the spirit, we ought to keep in step with him. Let us pray. Our father, we
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father, we are in awe of these things that you have thought of, that you have done that over the the centuries. You have
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used your Holy Spirit to show us the things that you have
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brought to us. That you have set apart men of faith to record the scriptures, to record the words of prophecy, that we might know
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your mind, your mind, that we might know the plan of redemption in Christ. And that we might rejoice in these things because we have seen how in
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through the scriptures they were fulfilled in Christ. And how now the spirit has an authority and power in the world
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to bring men and women and children to faith to walk in a manner that truly pleases you and glorifies your name.
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and builds up the church to be influential, to be a light, a light, to be salt, to be that city on a hill.
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And so we ask, Father, that you would do your work, the Holy Spirit would work within us, and that we would not quench him, that we would not
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leave him aside and put other things ahead. that we would not think that we can generate an authority or a power or a a technique or a program in our in our
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own selves in our own church that would take the place of the spirit. But we ask, Father, that you would
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you would grant us that energy and strength to walk. And so we we thank you for these things and we ask Father that you not us, you
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would be glorified in them. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.