Published: November 10, 2024 | Speaker: Mark Freitag | Series: The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit 1 - Part 8 | Scripture: Genesis 3:15
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we've been looking at this topic the special works of the holy spirit in the Old Testament and we've seen um some of the ways in which uh the
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spirit moves spirit moves men um comes upon them sometimes in a mighty way sometimes in a way to just to
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um give them that push that Force to to govern or to lead to guide his people um but the one topic that we hadn't
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addressed uh in any form I I don't think um was the extraord ordinary Preparatory work of the holy spirit in the Old Testament um
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and that's the idea of of Prophecy the the holy spirit's um I don't want to say role because I I believe that we'll
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discover in the scriptures that the all of the of the prophecy and the gift of Prophecy is the direct work of the holy
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spirit so it's not a again the Holy Spirit we've seen active in many ways but I I don't want to just kind of relegate well this is a role um it's an
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ongoing work from Genesis 3 on um and and that work is one of of
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um so I guess I should have put a or something
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here and if if we look at you know this is the big
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and God said 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 speaking of course to Satan but of
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the Blessed seed of the the seed of of um the how do you say it the Proto
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what the spirit is testifying to is is the truth wow that's not straight is it um it's the truth of this scripture we we read in Romans 15 um Paul says this for I say that
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Christ has become a servant to the circumcision on behalf of the truth of God to conform the promises given to the
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fathers kind of summarizing this is the Old Testament prophecy that the the holy spirit is spirit is testifying has testified of these things
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and now Christ is uh has become the servant of these things he has become the The Living Truth of these things he says on behalf of the truth of God to
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confirm the promises um so the New Testament giving test giving uh uh kind of explaining to us this idea
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of the testimony of the Holy Spirit um in Luke in Luke 24 uh Jesus says to those uh Skeptics and those um even among the uh disciples
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just before his Ascension he's he's saying to them these are my words which I spoke to you while I was still with you that all things which are written
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about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled um he's he's hit the going back to all of these things
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that were written spoken of testified of but they all come from the work uh direct work of the holy
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spirit in Deuteronomy um Moses talks about the Revelation that he's been given um and he he speaks and and we'll
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have opportunity hopefully during this time to to talk about the not just the the what of the Holy Spirit what he's
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doing but how the prophets and those through that the Holy Spirit used used how they reacted to these things um I
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hadn't really thought about it before but um and reading uh John Owen he he brings out um just kind of this um and I guess I'm kind of one of those that
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gravitates toward the the cheerful things um reading um about for example um just you know in in in the Psalms the
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um sons of Kora when they um extol uh God they they the in Psalm 45 for example he says my heart overflows
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with a good theme I address my verses to the king my tongue is the pen of a ready writer there his heart's prepared to do
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these there's kind of this joyful uplifting thing and then you read Jeremiah and and then you you you read the the Lamentations you read some of
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those and you realize that that the prophets themselves um and I'm getting ahead of myself but I I it was just when I woke up this morning out for my walk this
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morning um it just there just the realization that when we think of the
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prophets and we'll look at second Peter when he explains that to us but as as they were used by the Holy Spirit to
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speak and to write the scriptures um they were they were not just robots they weren't just um
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transcriptionist what do you call them the the the fancy word is amanuensis just stenographers just taking notes these men were moved and I I think
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not just moved to write we'll talk about that but moved in their in their Spirit uh they uh they they they UND began to understand the
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words and the depth of what the spirit was doing in them whether they understood the Holy Spirit doing that um may be a question but we all see the
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reaction of people on the one hand like the psalmist but then we'll we'll look at Dan Daniel chapter 8 and Daniel just has to sit down and
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and in and in shock at what has been revealed to him to that is to come so I'm hoping that this is not
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a sterile thing that oh this prophecy these men wrote and there's personality here but there's
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also a depth of
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um that I I I guess what we would say is the word of God in holy men in people that God has prepared is powerful and it's it's a
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living thing that move them to do extraordinary things
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this I I've never thought I don't know me spirit is which passage are you this whole passage says Jehovah
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okay okay well we're specifically talking about the prophets and those who prophesy and so let's look at
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um well let me just let me read from First Peter chapter 1 and then we'll look at second Peter chapter 1 but in in 1 Peter 1 again in this idea of the testimony to the truth
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um Peter writes this and though you have not seen him you love him and though you do not see him now but believe in him you greatly Rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of Glory
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obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls as to this salvation the prophets who who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and
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inquiries seeking to know what person or time the spirit of Christ within them was indicating as he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow it was revealed to them that they
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were not serving themselves but you but in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preach the gospel to you by the Holy
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Spirit Sent From Heaven things into which Angels long to look the the Holy Spirit again if you want to use the word role I'm I have a hard time
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with that word I I don't like that um but
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because to me it's it's more Hollywood and and movies but he's telling them that the gospel that they learned and wrote
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about and spoke about in in their prophecies was sent to you by the holy spirit that this Holy Spirit was the the
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the one who worked in them to do these things and so when we come to Second Peter where we read about that that but
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that work is the direct work of the Holy Spirit um we we read and again the the context I think is very important for us to see
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[Music] um I'll read the verse and then I'll go back but Peter writes in 1 Peter 1 verse 20 but know this first of all that no
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prophecy of scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will but men
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but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God so so there's what I'm trying to get to on on one plane is that men were moved
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by the Holy Spirit and spoke from God kind of you started Genesis 3:1 SE woman and I think it's
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birth of Christ his his work is just woven maybe in the background see it expit in all of these passages yeah but the New Testament reveals that his work has been
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through yeah yeah and and and what I what I see in and Peter and now I'll I'll back up um somebody I don't know was Chuck and
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the other night somebody said about you know reading a book uh do you have to start at the beginning and read through I'm one of those people I when I get a new book I start in the middle and I
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know if if something catches Mye there in the middle I'm going to enjoy it so I go back and start at the beginning okay so I just did this intrigues me here maybe I'm the only one um
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um I sorry at third grade I was I didn't like to read um because the title sometimes intimidated me you know I just
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I was scared of them and I was like well that's too big for me or the thickness of the book so I I enjoy reading more now than I ever have in my life
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um can I go to this yeah okay no I I got uh my birthday was early October and I got six books and I've read four of them already
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um I want to go back
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yeah and again that's why I say it this is not just a me mechanical exercise that they did um I don't take dictation I can't write that fast but that's not what they
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did but I want to set why is Peter so insistent here wh what is the context of this thing this thing and to me it kind of brings us back to
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our Thursday night discussions but briefly second Peter 1 he's talking to them um about the grace and peace being
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multiplied to them and then you get down in verse 5 and he says now for this very reason applying all diligence and faith and moral exence and these things and we
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again I'm one of those I want to I want to read verses 5 through 7 and that's where I want to camp but but his his warning is 10 be more diligent to make certain
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about his calling and choosing you but he's and he's telling them I'm about to go away my time is just about
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done but there are two things that are most important here that I want to say and he says um verse 15 I I will
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also be diligent that at any time after my departure you may be able to call these things to mind and I think these things is not diligence moral excellence
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and all of that I think it's the things below okay I may be wrong but that's what I think for we did not verse 16 we did not follow cleverly devised Tales
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when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty for when he received honor and Glory from 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 and we ourselves heard this utterance and made the heaven uh made
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from heaven when we were with him on the Holy Mountain so he's saying we witness these things we we heard him say these things we were with him for those three years we endured these things we've
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given up all the you know if you read the gospels you know there Peter is one of those saying Lord we left everything our Nets our dad in the boat with the
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fish and we followed you and he's saying don't don't forget we heard these things with our own
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ears but more importantly verse 19 and so we have the prophetic way word word made more sure to which you would do well to pay
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attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place until the day Dawns and The Morning Star arises in your hearts he's he's not just saying this you know we go
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to 21 and 20 and 21 and we say yeah that's you know he spoke and he moved the men but he's trying to tell you there's
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there's a reason to pay attention it would be pretty easy for them to saywell Peter you and John and those your buddies you
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buddies you know we just you want us to just accept what you heard and that was some years ago and do you remember all of that and he's saying and
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so we have made the prophetic word have it made more sure to us he says your hearts are you're like a
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dark room and until that light shines like Day Dawning in your hearts you're not really going to be able to do
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to lay aside all the Earthly things you're not going to be able to be diligent and have moral excellence and have these things and so you know we've talked about that some or heard on
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Thursday night some of the men who who can write an excellent commentary but they're not believers they have not had the word dawned in their hearts and and
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so yes we have their testimony and it's written but why do we believe Peter and John and th those who are with
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them because the Holy Spirits work in the prophecies and the writings of scripture acts Upon Our being upon our
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souls um and again it we don't follow cleverly devised
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Tales but over the years people have and he's warning there will be I think he's giving a warning there's going to be more people more people arise who don't believe the scriptures
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and yet perer to be Christians but you you've had this made more sure to you because the light has dawned In You by
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the work that the Holy Spirit did and preparing you for the things that were were written here um just a couple of things to to follow
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that up um Luke chap 16 verse 16 verse 31 um Jesus is essentially saying the
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the same thing thing um he said uh they they were telling him no F we have Abraham as our Father and Jesus saying
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no you you're not hearing Moses and the prophets and verse 31 he said to them if they do not listen to Moses and the prophets neither will they be persuaded
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if someone rises from the dead see there's there's there's a power here in Moses and the prophets it's because the Holy Spirit has been writing and
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speaking and moving them in in the writing of these things even back in in Jeremiah um sorry it's that's that one's
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coming up
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Paul writing in Romans Chapter 2 um if you bear the name Jew and rely upon the law and boast in God and know his will and approve the things that are essential being instructed out of the law and are confident that you yourself
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are a guide to the Blind and a light to those who are in darkness a corrector of the foolish a teacher of the immature having the law in the law the embodiment of knowledge and the truth truth
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um he's he's talking about where do these things come from how do you become a corrector of the foolish a teacher of the immature um embodying truth and
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knowledge um it it comes through the word but where does that word come from where does the the writings come from these these people who have had their
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mental faculties carried on on are [Music] moved not only to receive the revelations but to be able to impart
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them to others to be able to speak and to write um it's as if again their faculties their as one writer put it their organs
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have been moved as they spoke uh the scriptures so these things um again they move men like the the psalmist my heart
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overflows with a goodly theme um or or David being able to understand what God was telling him um this is from 1
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Chronicles David gave to his son Solomon the plan of the the porch of the temples the buildings the storehouses upper rooms inner rooms the room for The Mercy
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Seat and all the plan that he had in mind for the courts of the house house of the Lord and for all the surrounding rooms for the storehouses of the house of God and for the storehouses of the
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dedicated things so here's the handoff to Solomon this is what is in my mind but he acknowledges at the end of that he says all this the Lord made me
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understand in writing by his hand upon me all the details of this pattern see it didn't come out of David's mind yeah he may have had the the the
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desire but where did the plans come from how did they get in writing the Lord had done this and given him the details and
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he drew upon the divine inspiration and committed those things to writing um I I think it's a a beautiful explanation of of how this
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motion force of the Holy Spirit works um and of course we see um from the connection that we make in the Old
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Testament to the New Testament the spirit of God the ruach of of Jehovah um in the very familiar passage in second
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Timothy 3 all scripture is inspired by God well some of your translations will actually put in the word all scripture
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is God breathed um there is the holy spirit working and summing up I think what we are saying
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here all scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching for reproof for correction for training and
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righteousness um Micah seems to again understand this thing that I I think Peter is talking about here
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about here uh in terms of the belief uh the
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the the scripture as opposed to man um what does what does Peter say no scripture is given by the impulse of
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man it's not of man it's of God and and yet he yet he says those of God will have the light
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shine but others will not uh Micah writes the seers will be ashamed and the divers will be embarrassed indeed they will all cover
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their mouths because there is no answer from God on the other hand I am filled with power with the spirit of the Lord
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and with Justice and courage to make known to Jacob his rebellious act even to Israel his sin um I don't think Mah is just being
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arrogant and arrogant and rude he's just stating a fact they're going to be ashamed because what they're saying is is just foolishness it's it's
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nothing but he could feel he says I am filled with power with the Holy Spirit of of of of Jehovah and these other things the
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Justice the courage to make known to Jacob is and again he he's making know to ja he says his rebellious act even to Israel his sin I mean there there's a
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courage here there's a this is not a normal thing for most normal men to just want to tell people
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how bad they are is it takes courage and he's just I again I don't think there's arrogance I think he's just
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being real this is what the holy spirit is doing in him through him as the instrument uh that the Holy Spirit has chosen um for him to be in this place
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doing this thing
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I think prophecy does more than than two things but we generally think of of the
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is foretelling right telling of future things to things to come uh and I'm not sure um kind of rejected some of the examples that that maybe
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others thought of and maybe they're better than mine but was kind of just struck by how simply um God sometimes just
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reveals to to men just tell them this is what's going to happen um as he did to Moses uh before he went to speak to
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Pharaoh Exodus chapter 7 see I make you as God to pharaoh and your brother Aaron shall be your Prophet you'll you shall speak all that I command you and your
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brother Aaron shall speak to Pharaoh that let the sons of Israel go out of this land but I will harden Pharaoh's heart that I may multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt when
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Pharaoh does not listen to you then I will lay my hand on Egypt and bring out my host my people the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt by great judgments the Egyptians shall know that
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I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand on Egypt and bring out the sons of Israel from their midst heah said go and tell Pharaoh this is what I'm going to
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do and then you know the rest of the story right that's exactly what God was going to do and he did bringing out the host from their their midst um sometimes
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it's it's pretty plain I I think maybe there are other examples you can think of um that um kind of illustrate this but it's pretty plain this is going to
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happen we do have the Obscure you know Ezekiel Daniel those those are hard things to understand we'll talk about Daniel maybe maybe next
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week um so there's foretelling but I think a lot of it is
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just and I capitalize it because I respect that but just revealing the mind of of of God I mean we saw in sorry don't mean to stutter
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um in second Peter 1 uh he says no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from
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spoke from God uh that's a again that's just kind of
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a awesome stat statement um some you know someone speaking from [Music] um letting us know the the mind of God this is from Jeremiah 31 a familiar
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passage but again it's I don't know
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um sometimes God just declares I'm declares I'm God and and there is no other um Jeremiah 31 uh again one of those
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things that that helps us understand or is the is the comforting side behold days are coming declares the Lord when I will sow the house of Israel
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and the house of Judah with the seed of man and with the seed of Beast and as I have watched over them to pluck up to break down to overthrow to destroy and to bring
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to bring disaster so I will watch watch over them to build and to plant declares the Lord and then he goes on later and says but this is the
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Covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days declares the Lord I will put my law within them and on their heart I will write it and I will be their God and
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they shall be my people they will not teach again each man his neighbor and each man his brother saying know the Lord for they will all know me from the least of them to the greatest of them
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declares the Lord for I will forgive their iniquity and their sin I will remember no more this is what I am going to do declares Jehovah um I mean
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we this is awesome statements to to have God speaking um and you know each and every one of
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them would you um think of it
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Aion what I think of Isaiah 41 says tell us the former things form them in our minds and know what they were yeah obviously we experience those things but we don't even have the right
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understanding often what those things were inity that um I I I think think there
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yes there are obscure things that either we will not know or they're revealed as you as you look back from this side of the Cross yeah um even even
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understanding the foretelling um much of Prophecy I think you know can we can we do a what matching the one two
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three and the ABC D can you draw the lines um I think some of we can't know how to draw but that's is that yeah kind
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of I think again I think some of it is even I think of the prophets and the things that they say often the people the Jews were they believe that they were a certain way they could tell you
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the history of what was happening last week and the months and the years but it's almost there's the clarity of the spirit the prophecy that's given says that's not what you think happens yeah you know I can tell you the I can
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that's to me that's what the test of the false god is almost saying tell us what we should believe about the pasted in mind because they realize that often even way the stories that we tell about
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our own past are wrong Spirit telling us about future but also telling us what we really do right right yeah and and there's usually it's a depth Beyond you
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know or that we we accept the simple without diving in further um again I want to look at these two concepts of of the of inspiration even
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in the revealing um we've talked about the psalmist um there's much of Prophecy of of rest and
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and peace and um I had another word in [Music] there um that that we see um Deuteronomy
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uh talks about Joshua at at when uh Moses laid his hands on him it says Joshua the son of nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom and Sons of Israel
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listened to him and did as the Lord had commanded Moses there there's a there's kind of to me a uh when you when you get to that point you you kind of have this
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sigh of relief okay okay there's some some relief here some change here they listen to him and they did as the Lord
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commanded or in Nehemiah talking about God you and your great compassion did not forsake them in the wilderness a pillar of cloud did not leave them by day to guide them on their way the
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pillar of Fire by night to light for them the way in which they were to go you gave your good spirits to instruct them your Mana did not you did not
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withhold from their mouth and you gave them water for their thirst indeed 40 years you provided for them in the wilderness and they were not in want their clothes did not wear out nor did
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their feet their feet swell um I mean 40 years I mean four hours I'm my feet right but that's the kind of you know
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that's that's good but then we read that that there can
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be in the prophet the prophet alarm um I think fear because one of them actually uses that word um and
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obviously an awe at what they were doing okay at what the spirit reveals through them um and we'll we'll end with these these two passages um this is Daniel
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chapter 8 so I'm not going to go through all all the vision but it was the goats and the horns and all those things he says when I Daniel had seen the vision I sought to understand it and behold
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standing before me was one who looked like a man and I heard the voice of a man behind uh between the banks of the Uli and he called out and said Gabriel
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give this man an understanding of the vision so he came near to where I was standing and when he came I was frightened and fell on my face but he said to me son of man understand what
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the vision pertains to the time of the end well it gives that okay I'm going to skip that because this is what I the point I want to make not that it's not important but this is Daniel's reaction
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then I Daniel was exhausted and sick for days then I got up again and carried on the king's business but I was astounded at the vision and there was none to
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explain it see again these are these are not little robots this is not just a little neat you know pack package you know I've translated it and typed that
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all up and here it is it's a man and Flesh and Blood like us and the awesomeness the the responsibility he
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says I I was sick for days because of this word that I had to carry to the people and there was none to explain it and here's habach and this is in the
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context of a prayer and again to me
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um this is a this is a real man Lord I have heard the report about you and I fear oh Lord revive your work in the midst of the years in the midst of the years make it known in Wrath remember
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Mercy I heard in my inward B Parts trembled at the sound my lips quivered Decay enters my bone and in my place I tremble because I must wait quietly for
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the day of distress for the people to arise who will invade us this
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is this is not just an impersonal impetus or Force this is the power of the holy spirit in giving prophecy through mortal men carrying
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awesome yes some sometimes absolutely comforting messages and sometimes causing great alarm at what the mind of the of God how it has
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been revealed to them by the spirit um it's in the book and yet it's from God through the
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Holy Spirit to us um what is what does Peter say we should not
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Peter I'm sorry it's just gone right out of my head
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um not neglecting the words that have been uttered and have been spoken through the prophets let us
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pray Our Father we do ask that you would would help us uh that you would encourage us you would spur us on to read to study to search these things and we do thank you that you have
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revealed of yourself to us and yet you have dawned in our hearts you have caused the truth by the Holy
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Spirit to Enlighten us to shine on us to give us faith and to give us courage to walk ahead walk ahead and so we ask father that we would not take these things for granted that we
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would not neglect so great a Salvation that you have given and we would encourage one another to keep on keeping
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on to love you and to walk with you in Christ's name we pray amen