Gospel, Salvation, and Other Religions - Lesson 10

Dr. Todd Miles
Gospel, Salvation, and Other Religions
th320-10
The Holy Spirit in the Old Testament
Lesson Transcript

[00:00:10] In our last session, we looked at inclusive ism. Inclusive ism, if you recall, is the idea that it is impossible for anybody to be saved apart from the work of Christ on the cross, His resurrection and ascension and ultimate return. However, where inclusiveness differ from exclusivist is the idea that the work of Christ can be appropriated to those who have never heard the Gospel, have never believed the gospel, and may, because of cultural considerations, have even rejected the Gospel. I said at the end that almost every inclusive proposal is moving in a new anthological direction that is having something to do with the Holy Spirit. After all, it's the Holy Spirit who is responsible for conviction of sin and and regeneration sanctification. And so if people are being saved, apart from hearing the gospel, if they're being saved within the context of other religions, apart from any proclamation of the gospel, then it would most certainly have to be the Holy Spirit. And so that's responsible. And so it seems to me that every inclusiveness proposal is is moving on a trajectory towards focusing on the work of the spirit. Now, those who have done the most thinking about this have been very concerned about the Christus centric nature of of the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. And they say, you know, we've been reading the Bible, looking at the Holy Spirit, and we've been circumscribing him within the larger mission of the Son of God, of Jesus Christ. What if we began to look at Christ's ministry as an aspect of the larger cosmic ministry of the Holy Spirit? And so that's where we ended last time. And because this is where inclusive ism is going, I think we need to look at how the Bible presents the Holy Spirit.

[00:02:12] And I'll just cut to the chase. I'll tell you where I'm at right off the bat. And this I think it is totally illegitimate to consider that the Ministry of Jesus is circumscribed within the larger cosmic ministry of the Holy Spirit. That is, that the that that God is the one who saves people. And he does a little bit with the son and he does an awful lot with the spirit. And there's no connection between the son and the spirit. On the contrary, I think that the entire Bible presents the Ministry of the Holy Spirit as being focused upon the glorification of the Son. Call. In one of our earlier sessions, I talked about how we are to read the Bible and Jesus instructs us on how to read the Bible. He tells us that really the entire Scriptures are all about him. Remember the the the passage in Luke 24 where he's talking with the disciples on the road to a mass he gets later in that chapter and with a larger gathering of his disciples. And he's very clear that the law, the prophets and the writings, they they point to him, they focus on him. He's the fulfillment of it. Jesus is the star of this story, this redemptive drama. And so that's how we're to read the Bible. And so we read the Bible the way that Jesus instructs us when He gathered with his disciples. And on the night before he betrayed He, he gave some of the most significant teaching on the Holy Spirit that is found in the entire Bible. John Chapter 14. John. Chapter 16. The Upper Room Discourse. Another passage It's rich with teaching on the Holy Spirit is Romans eight. But those three chapters in the Bible, John 14, John 16 and and Romans eight really form the foundation and are the major sources for for what we know of of the Holy Spirit.

[00:04:06] And Jesus told his disciples he was going away. But don't worry, he's going to send another helper. And when this helper comes he said in John chapter 16, verse 14, He will glorify me. He makes it very clear that when that the Ministry of the Holy Spirit, when the Spirit comes, when Jesus sends the Spirit to those who call on His name, that the Ministry of the Spirits is going to be all about the glorification of the son. And so right there, just in that one verse, I think we have grounds for for rejecting proposals that say that, you know, we need to think of the Spirit's ministry as cosmic, and it's out there saving all or at least making possible the salvation of all. And the son is just a little small part of that. No, on the contrary, Jesus said that when the spirit comes, his ministry is going to be all about me, Jesus said. But I don't think that that is just with regard to when the Spirit comes at Pentecost on forward into. This era, even though if that's all it were, it would still be sufficient in my mind to to, to, to counter the proposals of inclusiveness. But I think that the Holy Spirit has always been about the glorification of the sun, even before the incarnation. And so it it to demonstrate that. Let's open our Bibles and let's start in Genesis chapter one. What I'm going to do for you in this session is we're going to look at the doctrine, the Holy Spirit. I'm going to present to you a biblical theology of the Holy Spirit. And I'm going to try to demonstrate that it is, from the beginning, thoroughly Christopher Centric Genesis Chapter one.

[00:05:51] We are introduced the Spirit right off the bat in verse two. I'll begin in verse one. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the Earth. The Earth was without form and void and darkness was over the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And so right there at the very beginning, we have the Holy Spirit. It is it is clear that the Spirit of God has been involved in the works of God from the very beginning, establishing a a cosmic order. And and this is important for us because it demonstrates that the spirit has had an active role in redemptive history from the very beginning. Now, that's really the last time that we encounter the Spirit of God per se, in Genesis one and this account of the of the creation of the cosmos. But but the other Old Testament writers, they look back on this and they see the Spirit of God being very instrumental. For example, Joe, chapter three, verse four. He writes, The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life. Perhaps that's that's looking at the creation of Adam, where God breathed into man, making him a living soul. Psalm 104, verse 30, Isaiah Chapter 40 versus 12 through 14. Also focus on this work of the spirit in creation. But right off the bat, in Genesis one three, we have God speaking. We note here that the Word of God is active in the creation as well. So I don't think it's any accident that later on in the Gospel of John, that John would refer to Jesus as the Lord grace of God. That is the Word of God. And so here we have God who is the Creator, We have the Spirit, and we also have the Word of God.

[00:07:34] And and throughout the Old Testament, the Word of God and the Spirit of God are going to go hand in hand together. We find at the very beginning here that the word of God is not only preceded by the Spirit, but the spirit goes before it accompanies, and it ensures that the Word of God resounds with power. There's no priority given to the Spirit over the Word of God in this point. And so from from that is we look ahead to to perhaps this this word of God, the speaking of God being a reference perhaps, to the second member of the Trinity. Even here, there's no priority given spirit over son. As we look to the biblical testimony of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament. What we find is, shockingly, not a lot of explicit reference. Here's what I mean by that. There are in the entire Old Testament, all 39 books, the Old Testament, only about 100 people who have an explicit encounter with the Holy Spirit. That is, they are said to be the spirit of God rushes upon them. The Spirit of God fills them, the Spirit of God clothed them. Only 100 people, 70 of those we encounter in one chapter numbers 11. We'll look at that in a moment. So it's not a lot of people in count are are filled or are empowered by the Holy Spirit explicitly in the Old Testament. Now, that does not mean that the Holy Spirit is not doing things and is active in in in the lives of of Old Testament saints and that sort of thing. All I'm saying is that when it comes to an explicit identification of the work of the spirit in an individual, we only have about 100 individuals.

[00:09:27] Furthermore, there are about 100 references to the activity of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament, only about 100. And of those 100 references, 40 of them speak not of what the Spirit is doing at that time, but are anticipating what the Spirit will one day do when the Kingdom comes, when God saves Israel, the Messianic Age, when the Davidic Air sits on the throne. So 40% of the references to the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament, his activity are references to not what he's doing, but what he will one day. Add do this prophetic anticipation of a time when the spirit would do unparalleled things, things he hadn't done. I mentioned there are about 100 people that that the spirit comes upon and we can separate those for those those 100 people into four different categories for different categories of individuals. And what we'll find in each these categories of people is that the primary purpose is of God in sending the Spirit upon these these people are for the protection and the care of his chosen people of God. The Spirit of God is active in driving redemptive history in the way that God wants it to go. Ultimately, I would suggest toward the incarnation, the cross, and the consummation of all things. Let me demonstrate that. Who are these four groups of people? Well, one of the groups that we encounter, craftsmen, and we find this in Exodus chapter 31. If you want to turn to Exodus chapter 31, we find that that God is very, very particular about how he is to be worshiped. And what we will also find, and I think we talked about this briefly in a previous session, was that apart from the spirit of God, we can't even worship him, we can't please him.

[00:11:32] We're not left up to our own devices, but God enables us to worship him rightly, and that comes by his spirit. And we find that even the tabernacle that God does not leave the design of the tabernacle or the the the creation of the Tabernacle up to the whims of his people. But he gives them very specific instructions, and he empowers people by his spirit to make it. So we find in verse one, two and three, the Lord said to Moses, See, I have called by name Bezalel, the son of a great senator of the tribe of Judah. And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship, to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, bronze, and cutting stones for setting and carving wood to work in every craft. And and what they end up doing is they make the tent of meaning. They make the furnishings of the tent. They put together the utensils, the altar, the burnt offering with all of its utensils, the base in the stand, the finely work garments, all these things for the priests. They are they are inspired by the spirit and empowered by the spirit to make them. Interestingly, what we find in the New Testament as the author of the Book of Hebrews looks back on on the Tabernacle and on the temple, the implements of the worship, we're told in Hebrews nine are copies of Things in the Heavens, and they're placed in the sanctuary as a model of the true one. Hebrews 924. All of these things were meant to teach the people of Israel of a higher reality. The one who in Hebrews 926 appeared one time at the end of the ages for the removal of sin by the sacrifice of himself.

[00:13:17] Hebrews 926 What goes on here? The Holy Spirit uniquely gifts Bezalel and a few others to create artifacts that would serve to point the people of God to the Messiah, to the coming of Jesus Christ. So it's not that the Spirit is doing some little separate thing apart from the sun, but even before the sun comes, the spirit is empowering individuals to to, to, to create things that point people, to ultimately the coming of the Messiah. The glorification of the sun turned to the book of judges. The second category of people whom we encounter and in the book of judges and I'm not going to rehearse these stories, you're probably familiar with them, but you know that that the Spirit of God would come upon a judge so that the people of Israel could be rescued. The book of Judges is this endless cycle of of prosperity, then turning away from God, God sends and a people to oppress them as punishment, the people of God, then our cause to to repent. They call it to God to save them. God raises up a judge who then delivers the people of Israel, thus sustaining them and enabling them to for to persevere and endure as a nation. And we find with the judges that the Spirit of God, we come upon a judge for a particular period of time, oftentimes coming upon a judge. Like with the case of Samson, there's times where the spirit came upon him and then just verses later, not even chapters later, but verses later, the spirit of God would come upon him again, empowering him to deliver the people of God. And so what we find here is that the judges were empowered by the Spirit to rescue the people of Israel from their oppressive.

[00:15:10] Sometimes the spirit of the Lord would come upon a man, and that would lead to a violent uprising. Other times, like with the case of Deborah, the judge empowered for leadership to navigate the people of Israel through their troubled times. The presence of the Spirit, therefore, was this personal manifestation of a of divine deliverance for the Israelites. There's no mistaking in the book of judges who is saving Israel. God is saving Israel as He empowers his people through his spirit. It's also interesting that when the spirit comes, it's a presence to bless for the people of Israel. But it is not a presence to bless for those who are enemies of God. I recall that one of the the main tenets of inclusive ism was that when the spirit comes, it's always a spirit to bless that God is omnipresent through his spirit, and he's bringing blessing to the nations. But. But what I find when I read the Old Testament is when God shows up, it's not always a blessing for the people, depending on which side of the ledger you're on. If you're not one of God's people, the presence of God was not a happy time. Imagine if you're a Philistine and the Spirit of God comes upon Samson that that did not mean happy times blessing for them. We cannot equate the Spirit of God with just a simple blessing at all junctures. Empowerment of the judges was not arbitrary. It was not independent. It was not ad hoc. The spirit is driving redemptive history. He's he is empowering people to ensure their their endurance as a people. Because if if Israel does not survive, what happens to the redemptive promises of God? The spirit of God is protecting, guiding, driving Israel toward, I would suggest, to the Incarnation, the fulfillment of God's plans to rescue not just the people of Israel, but ultimately to be a blessing to all the nations making possible the salvation of all from any tribe or town who would call upon the name of Christ.

[00:17:26] The next group of people that we encounter. We've looked at craftsmen. We've looked at judges, next group of people, civic leaders, civic leaders. These. And there are four individuals in the Old Testament who are uniquely empowered by the Holy Spirit for the express purpose of of governing and leading the people of Israel. Moses, Joshua Saul, the first king of Israel, and then David, his successor, and turn back to numbers 11. Turn back to numbers 11. This is a very interesting place because here we get gods empowerment of civic leaders, but we also get the first anticipation of of what the Holy Spirit would one day do in numbers 11. Moses has been given the responsibility of taking care of the people, and they are griping and complaining and it's driving Moses nuts. And he calls out to God. He says, I can't. I can't take care of these people there. They don't like the bread that you're providing for them. They want meat. How am I supposed to do this? They're whining and crying. Verse ten, they're weeping in their clans and God's angry and Moses is displeased. And then. And Moses says to the Lord, Why have you dealt with your civil servant? Why have you not found faith? Why have I not found favor in your sight that you lay the burden of all this people on me, that I can save all this people that I give them birth. You should say to me, Carry them in your bosom as a nurse. Carry the nursing child to the land that you swore to give their fathers. Where am I to get meat to give to all this people a week before me and say, Give us meat that we made? I'm not able to carry all this people alone.

[00:19:07] Burdens too heavy for me. If you will treat me like this, kill me at once. If I find favor in your sight, then I may not see my wretchedness. Moses so fed up and he looks at God and he says, If this what you have in store for me, just kill me. Now, get it over with now because I can't take this anymore. God hears this prayer, if you want to call it that of Moses. And he has mercy on Moses. And he says, You know what I'm going to do? Here's what I'm going to do. You gather 70 respected leaders of Israel, 70 of the elders of Israel, that all the people know and let them take their stand here with you. Verse 17 I will come down and talk with you there and I will take some of the spirit that is on you and put it on them that they shall bear the burden of the people with your delegated authority. But what's interesting here, though, is that there's a the spirit of God, which is on Moses. God's going to God is going to put that same. On these people. And what we find is there's a highly choreographed situation that takes place. The elders are supposed to gather and Moses, he comes out of the meeting and he is his face is glowing. Probably all of that all this stuff that we associate normally with Moses being in the presence of God and then God to make sure that this is not a rejection of Moses in the presence of Moses. Under Moses, his command, the elders gather, they see all of this, and then the spirit comes upon them and we find that that's exactly what what takes place.

[00:20:47] The the elders of Israel show up. And when this happens in verse 25, the Lord God came down in the clouds, spoke to him, took some of the spirit that was on him and put it on the 70 elders. And as soon as the spirit rested on them, they prophesied, but they did not continue doing it. And so they prophesied. What does that mean? I don't know. I don't know exactly what they were doing. But what I do know is that it is evident to all that something supernatural is going on, that their prophesying is a sign that God is at work, that God is empowering. The presence of God's Spirit is upon these people. But notice that this sign, this prophesying, whatever it is they're doing, praising God in in in an amazing way, I suppose it's possible it could be tongues. I suspect that's not the case, but it is evidence something supernatural is going on. They're prophesying, but they don't continue to do it because the point is not. They're prophesying. They're not empowered to prophesy, they're not empowered to be prophets, they're empowered to be civic leaders. The prophesying was just a sign that the Spirit of God was upon them. Now two guys don't show up. Two guys remain in in the city. They don't go to the camp. So there's really only 68 of them. But because God is merciful and he works in spite of us, not because of us, the Spirit of God falls upon these two who have not come to the tent of meaning, but they're still just hanging out in the city. I suspect, as we read this, that this is an act of rebellion, that it's a defiant act against Moses, because when the Spirit of God falls upon them, they begin prophesying to somebody hears about it, a young man, verse 27, runs and tells Moses Eldad me that are prophesying the camp Joshua, son of none, a citizen of Moses from his youth, said, My Lord, Moses, stop them.

[00:22:42] But Joshua can put two and two together. He knows that this is an act of rebellion and it's going to do nothing but. But. But you rode away at the authority of Moses. Look at Moses response Verse 29. Moses said to me, Jealous for my sake with it, all the Lord's people were prophets, that the Lord would put His spirit on them. Moses and the elders of Israel return to the camp. Now, remember, Moses says, with it all the Lord's people were prophets because they're prophesying. But the point of the prophesying was not that they would be prophets per se, but it was a sign that the Spirit of God was upon them, which I think is what Moses is saying here at the end. With that all the people were prophets, that the Lord would put His spirit on them. What's Moses His wildest dream at this point? If someday the Spirit of God would be on all God's people? It's just a dream for Moses at this place. God empowers these civic leaders, these elders, these 70 elders, Moses, Joshua King, Saul, King David to to guide his people, guide his people, where ultimately, I would say to guide them into prosperity, into and then into an enduring life that they might survive as a nation so that so the Messiah can come if Israel is wiped off the face of the earth, what becomes of God's redemptive promises? The next group of people that we encounter are the prophets, and with the prophets, this word and spirit link is developed even further. God spoke to a prophet. He spoke through a prophet, and when the word came, it invaded and it captured. The prophet is what Jeremiah said in Jeremiah 20. So here we have this word, Spirit link.

[00:24:34] It's it's very powerful. A prophet can't prophesy. He cannot deliver the word of God unless the spirit is upon him. What did the prophet talk about? Well, most of the prophets work was that of forth telling, not foretelling a future. Fourth, telling what is the God thinking of the people? Are they obeying the covenant? The prophets were prosecuting attorneys, if you will, speaking out, castigating the people of Israel, calling them back. Calling him into repentance, calling him back to the covenant, a covenant that was ratified in the book of Joshua, that was given in the Pentateuch, but to the prophets, by inspiration of the spirit, also looked at the future. And what we find are many times where the prophets said, You know, there's going to be a day when God's going to save Israel. So when the kingdom comes, there's going to be a day when the Davidic Air sits on the throne throne, the kingdom comes, and there's going to be a day when the spirit is poured out in an unprecedented way. And that's when the kingdom comes. These are the three strands of the Kingdom Court as the people looked ahead to the to the messianic age, they knew it would be when God saved Israel, when when the DVD player sat on the throne and when the Spirit was poured out in unprecedented way, turned to the Book of Isaiah. We'll look at a few of these prophecies of what what will happen when the spirit comes. Isaiah Chapter 32 is a good example. Beginning in verse 15, the verse first 14 verses by Isaiah are words of condemnation and judgment. Things are going to be bad, Verse 15 until the Spirit is poured upon us from on high and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field and the fruitful field is deemed a force.

[00:26:28] Then justice will dwell in the wilderness, righteousness abide in the fruitful field, and the effect of righteousness will be peace and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever. Flip the head to Isaiah 44 and Isaiah 44. We get this prophecy here. Now. Jacob, my servant Israel, whom I have chosen thus, has already made you who formed you from the womb and will help you fear not. Oh, Jacob, my servant Joshua, and whom I have chosen for I will pour water on the thirsty land and streams on the dry ground. I will pour my spirit upon your offspring and my blessing on your descendants. They shall spring up among the grass like willows by flowing streams. Here we have this anticipation that when the spirit comes and it's in the future, it's going to be poured out like water in a thirsty ground. That reminds me of what Jesus said at the end of the Feast of Tabernacles in John Chapter seven, when he promised to send the Spirit Ezekiel Chapter 36. Look at this promise, Zeke. 36. This is the New Covenant promise. But look how it's framed. It's framed in terms of the coming of the Spirit. In verse 25, I will sprinkle clean water on you. You shall be cleaned from here and clean the system from all your idols. I will cleanse you and I will give you a new heart and a new spirit I will put within you. I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules and then endure. Chapter two We get the same sort of idea.

[00:28:06] Joel Chapter two versus 28 and 29. It shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh. Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy. Your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. Sounds an awful lot like what we saw in numbers 11, right? Even on the male and female spirit in servants. In those days, I will pour out my spirit. There's going to be a day where all the people of God, where the sons and daughters of the Covenant are possessed by the Spirit. The Spirit comes upon them without regard to gender, without regard to to class. Just there's no class distinction. Servants and masters. The spirit of God comes upon them all, all of God's people. And what we find out later on in the Book of Acts is that there's no ethnic distinction made either. All those who call upon the name of the Lord, the Spirit comes back. Moses. His wildest dream comes true or it will come true. We also find how this comes. There's passages speak of this coming age where righteousness flows the coming of the kingdom. When God saves Israel, when when the Davidic air sits in the throne, when the Spirit is poured out in unprecedented way. But but then there's a set of prophecies that point to that. These are going to be united in one man, the Messiah, the anointed One, Isaiah Chapter 11. There shall come forth to shoot from the stump of Jesse, a branch from his roots shall bear fruit, and the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him. The spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel, and might the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord and His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.

[00:29:58] There's going to come a man, the Messiah, the Spirit's going to be upon Him. And all of these promises of God saving Israel, the victor sits on the throne in the Spirit being put. Caught out in Preston Way. They're all going to be united in this one whom we call the Messiah. Another powerful promise of this is in Isaiah 61. The spirit of Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and in the opening of the prison, to those who are bound to proclaim the year the Lord's favor in the day of vengeance of our God to comfort all who mourn. These are some of the prophecies of what will happen one day when the Spirit comes and they end up focusing on one individual in particular. Yes, the Spirit is going to come upon all God's people, but it's going to be passed because the Spirit comes with that measure upon one individual in particular. And so Old Testament anticipation, Old Testament references to the Holy Spirit, what do we find? They came upon craftsmen, civic leaders, judges and prophets. They came upon them for a specific purpose on particular people for for limited period of time, because the spirit would depart. There's only a few who have some sort of an enduring presence of the spirit in their life. Someone like an Elijah or an Elijah, maybe a moses, a David. Other than that, we find the Spirit of God coming upon people and then coming upon them again at a later time. Particular people, limited periods of time for specific purposes. I would argue to drive redemptive history to me to protect the people of Israel to to enable the Messiah to be able to come.