Gospel, Salvation, and Other Religions - Lesson 11

Dr. Todd Miles
Gospel, Salvation, and Other Religions
TH320-11
The Holy Spirit in the New Testament
Lesson Transcript

[00:00:10] In our previous session, we looked at the role of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament, and my argument was that the Holy Spirit was came upon certain people, particular people, for a particular purpose, for for a limited period of time to drive redemptive history towards this day where the Messianic kingdom would come. And and now want to look at the New Testament testimony about the Ministry of the Holy Spirit and hear what is hinted at where we connect theological dots in the Old Testament is made explicit in the New Testament. The Holy Spirit is about the glorification of the Son, and we begin that by looking at the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of Jesus Christ. I would I would challenge you to read the Gospels. Well, you should always be reading the Gospels. But but, but sit down one day, read the Gospels with a special eye toward looking for the the role of the Holy Spirit. I think you will be amazed at the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in the life of Jesus Christ. I would submit to you that Jesus did everything that He did, not by some sort of naked appeal to his divinity, but he lived and authentic human life in dependance upon the empowerment and guidance of the Holy Spirit. Jesus lived a life, as you and I do, in dependance upon the Holy Spirit. So where do we find evidence? Well, turn with me to the Book of Matthew. We'll start in Matthew. And in the in the Gospel of Matthew, we're introduced to Mary. We get to the conception of Jesus. And in verse 18 of Matthew chapter one, we find this now. The birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way when his mother, Mary, had been betrothed to Joseph before they came together.

[00:02:13] She was found to be with Child from the Holy Spirit. And how was Jesus conceived? The presence and power of the Holy Spirit. This is made explicit in the Gospel of Luke. Turn with me to Luke Chapter one in verse 35. We're told that that the that the Angels told has told Mary that she's going to give birth to a child. And in verse 34, Mary says, How this be? I am I am a virgin. I mean, she understood how these things work. She didn't didn't have to live through the sexual revolution of that revolution of the sixties in order to understand such things. People are not born unless there is a male and female. They understood that back then. They weren't superstitious. They weren't naive or or scientifically ignorant. They understood these things. Right. It's it's the height of chronological snobbery for us to just dismiss the miracles of the old of the Old Testament in the New Testament by suggesting the people were superstitious and naive. They didn't understand how things work. They understood how things work. Mary knows this, too, the angel tells her in verse 35, The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the most high will overshadow you. Therefore, the child to be born will be called Holy, the Son of God. It's interesting that the Greek word for overshadow you overshadow is the same word that used to translate Genesis one where the spirit of God hovers over. Shadow hovers. We have an appeal at the beginning of creation to the Holy Spirit. And here with the Messiah, who's going to initiate the new creation, the Kingdom of God, ultimately consummated in the new Heavens and the new Earth. The Spirit of God is there doing the same sort of thing.

[00:04:06] But how is Jesus born? By virtue of the Holy Spirit. We find just a few versus later with when Mary visits Elizabeth. Both of them are pregnant. Mary with Jesus, Elizabeth with John, the forerunner to Messiah. Look what happens when when Mary sees Elizabeth. Verse 41 When Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. And she exclaimed with a loud voice, Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit in your womb. And and then she's stunned that she gets the privilege of seeing the mother of her Lord. What's the Holy Spirit doing causing her to rejoice in the Messiah? John is doing what he's supposed to do by power. The Holy Spirit, even before he's born, pointing people to Jesus, causing the fame and glory of Jesus to rise. Luke Chapter two versus 4347, we're told of this of Jesus's boyhood. And we're told there that the the term he goes. Was to the temple with his parents. And you know the story about how Jesus stayed behind and and Mary and Joseph were searching for him and. But, but but look what happened in verse 46. After three days, they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them, asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. Kind of sounds like that prophecy of of Jesus. And in Isaiah Chapter 11, the Spirit of God will be upon the anointed one, and it will be a spirit of understanding, a spirit of wisdom. And we see this manifest in Jesus, conceived by the Spirit and now guided by the Spirit. He has intelligence wisdom that is astonishing even to the learned teachers of Israel.

[00:05:59] Luke Chapter three Just as in Matthew Chapter three, we see the the baptism of Jesus. And here you have Father, Son and Holy Spirit. At one point in time, the triple point of the Trinity, if you will, Jesus, the Son of God in the baptismal waters, God, the Father exclaiming with a loud voice, just how proud he is, how delighted he is, and his Son, and then the Holy Spirit coming upon and resting upon Jesus. I think that this is a public anointing. It initiates his his public ministry in a profound way. And and here at this at this anointing, if you will, when the Spirit comes upon Jesus in the form of a dove, I think we have the initiation of Jesus's messianic ministry. What is it from the Old Testament that makes one the Messiah? If if I were to ask you that, what is it that makes Jesus Christ? Perhaps what might pop into your mind? Or the dominant answer you might hear in the pews of evangelical churches? Well, he's the son of God. That's what he's the chosen one of God. That's what makes Jesus the Christ. But what is it that makes Jesus the Christ? What is the word Christ mean? What is the word Messiah mean? They both have the same meaning. One in Hebrew, one in Greek. Christ is the anointed one. The Messiah is the anointed one. Anointed with white. What was it that Isaiah said? Anointed with the Holy Spirit? It's the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in Jesus that makes Him the Christ the Messiah. And this is initiated at His baptism. Immediately after his baptism in Luke chapter three, we get to Luke for we get to the temptation of Jesus and look how it's how it starts.

[00:07:58] Luke four Chapter one and Jesus full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness. At the end of this, in verse 14, Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about Him went out through all the surrounding country. How did Jesus then fight the temptation that we find in the narrative, squeezed in between those two verses, the talk about the presence of the spirit? I take it he fought temptation, not by naked assertion to his divinity. I mean, notice how Jesus responds. Satan tempts him. Jesus does not say, Who do you think you're talking to? I'm the son of God. He says in quotation of Scripture. You shall worship the Lord your God Him only shall you serve. He says, You shall not put the Lord your God to the test. He says it is written. Man shall not live by bread alone. We know that Jesus was in the wilderness praying and fasting. How does Jesus fight temptation? We dishonor Jesus if we just say, Oh, Jesus, fight temptation, because he really wasn't going to fight. He's the son of God. The narrative tells us that he fought temptation by appeal to the Word of God through prayer and fasting and through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in his life. That is Jesus fight temptation. Jesus lived a sinless life not because he was impervious to temptation by virtue of his divinity. You never encounter in the Gospels Jesus fighting temptation just by dismissing it because He's the Son of God. He fights temptation by fighting temptation the way a man does, dependent upon the Word of God. Prayer, fasting in spiritual disciplines, and by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in his life.

[00:09:51] Jesus, His ministry is empowered by the Holy Spirit. And in Luke, chapter four, verse 14, the passage we read, He returns in the Power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding countryside, and he taught in their synagogues being glorified by all. This is this is a stunning verse because he's teaching in these Jewish synagogues, these monotheistic synagogues, where they're very familiar with Isaiah 4811, where God will not share his glory with another. But when Jesus teaches, empowered by the Spirit, they glorify him. A report about him goes out through the countryside. This is what happens when the Spirit of God is at work. The fame of Jesus begins to rise. There's there's a buzz about Jesus in verse 16. He goes to Nazareth. He he takes the he takes the scroll of Isaiah on on the Sabbath. He stands up to read and he reads this The spirit of the Lord is upon me because He has anointed me literally, He has christened me. He has misfired me, if you will, to proclaim good news to the poor. He's sent me to proclaim liberty the captives recovery of sight of the blind is that at liberty those who are oppressed to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. The exact passage that we read in the last session from Isaiah 61, verse 20, rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the tenant, sat down to pregnant, pause. The eyes of all in the synagogue are fixed on him and Jesus doesn't disappoint. He began to say to them, Today, this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. I am the Messiah. The Spirit of the Lord has anointed me to do these things. We find, as we progress through Luke Chapter four, that Jesus does many things, and I take it by power of the Holy Spirit.

[00:11:46] That's how He introduced his ministry. He's going to be empowered by this spirit. He heals people. He delivers them from from bondage to Satan. And he preaches with great power and authority. And the people are astonished by it. We find that in in in Matthew chapter seven, at the end of his at the end of his Sermon on the Mount, they're astonished at his authority. He doesn't. Teach them as as those who have taught them before in Matthew chapter 12. Jesus. Delivers a man from bondage to Satan. He has. Hee hee hee. Also on the Sabbath and and in. And we notice that Matthew sets up this entire narrative by an appeal to Matthew chapter or to Isaiah chapter 40 to criticize. Behold my servant, whom I have chosen, my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my spirit upon him and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles. He will not quarrel or cry loud, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets. Bruce Grady will not break a smoldering wake. You will not quench till he brings justice to victory. And in his name, the Gentiles will hope. And then we get to verse 22, which starts the story of the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, the unpardonable sin. It's instructive to us that Matthew places this prophecy of the Messiah, the anointed One, upon whom the Spirit of God rests. For one, we're told that He's going to be gentle. He's not going to quarrel. This. This sets us up for how Jesus has responded in the past to attack upon him and how he's going to continue to respond. But it also tells us something about the anticipation of the Messiah. The Spirit of God is going to be upon the Messiah.

[00:13:49] That's how you're to recognize him. And so then we get to the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit passage, beginning in verse 22 here, there's a demon oppressed man. He's blind, he's mute. Jesus heals him. People are amazed. Verse 23 They ask the right question, Can this be the son of David? I mean, if they'd been reading their Bibles, they'd know that that the presence in power, the spirit of God upon a man in unprecedented way should be a tip off. This is the one we've been waiting for. So they ask the right question. The Pharisees, though they hear it, they put an end to it immediately. It's only by Beelzebub, the Prince of Demons, that this man, Kasab, demons. And for Jesus, he has enough. And he says them. I tell you in verse 31, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people. I mean, you can talk about Jesus, I suppose, if you want. He's he's that bruised. Reed that will not break. Or a Bruce Reed. He's not going to break. He's that one. He won't do that. He won't even quench a smoldering. He's a gentile. But blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. He says you can speak a word against the son of man. That'll be forgiven. But you speak against the Holy Spirit. That will not be forgiven either in this age or in the age to come. It will not be forgiven now. No, not ever. Why is that? Why is that? Because the presence and the power or the Holy Spirit upon the Messiah is the thing that makes Him the Messiah. It's that spotlight that enables people to recognize the Messiah. It's the one sign that people should have understood and been looking for and recognized unprecedented empowerment by the Spirit of God.

[00:15:33] And so when the people saw Jesus healing, they asked the right question Can this be the Messiah? Can this be the son of David? Can this be the one that we've been waiting for? And the Pharisees turn the hearts of the people against Jesus by taking that one sign, that's that one spotlight sign. And they say, No, not God, not the Spirit of God, but Satan himself. The one thing that's supposed to enable the people to recognize their deliverer, the Messiah, the Son of David, the Pharisees say, No, not of God, Satan. And Jesus says to them, There is no hope for you. This sin cannot be forgiven, this hard hearted rebellion against the things of God where you have taken the sign that's supposed to point towards me and you attribute that to Satan. That can't be forgiven. Your hearts are hard because the Holy Spirit is the one who points out Jesus. Jesus. Entire ministry was done by power. The Holy Spirit we find there. I mean, right here in this Matthew 12 passage, he delivered demons by the power of the Spirit. In the Book of Acts, Peter is teaching, and he summarizes the entire Ministry of Jesus in this way in verse 38. This is how He preached the Gospel to the Gentile. Cornelius you yourself know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee, after the baptism that John proclaimed. Then verse 38, How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth christened him Messiah. It Him with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil. Why? For God was with Him. How presence and power. The Holy Spirit. We're told even that Jesus's death and resurrection came through the spirit.

[00:17:37] In Hebrews 914, we're told that Jesus went to the cross by the power of the spear, by the power of the spear. He endured all that because the Spirit of God was with him first. Peter 318 We're told that Christ was made alive in the Spirit. The resurrection of God was empowered by the Spirit. And so at the end in Romans eight, verse 11, Paul concludes, If the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, then He raised Christ from the dead will also bring your mortal bodies to life. How through His Spirit, who lives in you, the Holy Spirit summarizes empowered every aspect of the Ministry of Jesus Christ. The response of the witnesses to that ministry. They marveled at Christ and they glorified God. When Jesus preached in the power of the Spirit. The crowds were astonished in Matthew seven because he taught them like one who had power, one who had authority. When Jesus healed in the power of the Spirit, his fame spread in Matthew Chapter four. Even when Jesus went to the cross, when he suffered and died by the power of the Spirit, the centurion proclaimed, Surely this man was God's son. And then when Jesus was raised from the dead in the Spirit, Thomas proclaimed, My Lord and my God, every aspect of the Ministry of Jesus we find the fingerprints, the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, and then the one who had the Spirit Gospel of John tells us upon the Son of God, the Spirit upon Jesus, the Spirit which has been given without measure, the Spirit and the one upon whom the Spirit rests with that measure becomes the Spirit giver. Jesus taught about the Spirit in John, Chapter 14 and John, Chapter 16, preparing His disciples for this one to come.

[00:19:34] And what's interesting, I mean, it would be a blast to to talk about this for for for hours on end. But but just to summarize briefly, in John 14, what we find is and in John 16, we find that the that the ministry, the Holy Spirit, is tied to the Ministry of Jesus. When the Spirit of God comes in this unprecedented way, it's not going to be independent, it's not going to be Jesus has done his thing and now the Spirit's going to do his thing independent of what the spirit the son had done. But the the ministries of the son in the spirit are tied together. They are linked. And Jesus promises to send the parakeet the helper in John chapter 14. And we get these parakeet passages throughout the this the upper room discourse. We're told that that this parakeet is going to be another helper. Jesus says, I'm going to send you another helper and that helper is the parakeet. Now, John, in first, John two will call Jesus himself a parakeet. And Jesus, I'm going to send you another. And this word is very specific. It's not other. Another of a different kind, but it's other. Another of the same kind. Jesus says, I'm going to you know, it's to your advantage that go away because I'm going to send you another helper, one who's like me, except he's going to be in all of you. So close is the continuity between the Spirit and the Son of God that in verse 18, Jesus will tell them, I'm sending the Spirit to you. That is, I am coming to you. And in Matthew chapter 28, he promises Disciples, I'm going to be with you always to the very end of the age.

[00:21:20] How's that going to be? Because he's going to sing the spirit. His spirit will be in them. Jesus, in this upper room discourse, talks about the revelation that the Spirit will bring. And what what's the spirit going to do? He's going to reveal the things of Jesus. He's going to tell the disciples the things that Jesus wants the Spirit to tell them. He's going to bring to remembrance all the things that Jesus has has said and all the things that he's done. He's going to enable those disciples to connect all those dots that they were oblivious to, I think specifically guiding them into all truth, that they might write the gospels, that they might write the New Testament letters. In John Chapter 15 and 16, we're introduced to this New Covenant Ministry of the Spirit and and look at in John Chapter 16. We're told this about the coming of the spirit. We're told that when the Spirit comes, he's going to convict the world. He's going to convict the world with regard to two sin. And righteousness and judgment going to guide into truth and ultimately glorify the son. And it's interesting that the demon is the spirit convicts of sin and righteousness and judgment that all of these things in the passage are tied to Jesus. Jesus has has done these things. And so the Spirit is going to convict the world of sin because the son is going to away. He's going to he is going to bring judgment because the because the the Satan has already been judged by Jesus himself. All of these elements of the spirits ministry are tied uniquely to this, the Ministry of Jesus. And we find this in versus eight, nine, ten and 11 in in chapter 16, we find that he's going to guide the disciples into all truth.

[00:23:21] And ultimately in verse 14, he just says this Well, we could begin in verse 12. I said many things, but you can't bear them Now take it. The disciples are kind of catatonic at this point as they contemplate Jesus going away. You can't bear them now. When the spirit of truth comes, He's going to guide you and all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority. But whatever he hears, he will speak and he will declare to you the things that are to come. Verse 14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the father has is mine. Therefore, I said that you will take what is mine. He will declare to you again. Look how closely tied the ministry the Holy Spirit is to Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit glorifies the Son, inclusiveness, are anxious to recognize the presence and activity of the Spirit. In others, they're looking for evidence that spirit is regenerating others apart from their their Christ, glorifying faith in Christ, that the Spirit of God could be present saving people who have not heard the Gospel or who have even rejected the gospel. But they can't come up with any sort of criteria for how do we recognize the work of the spirit in the life of another? Well, the reason they're having a hard time coming up with criteria apart from something having to do with Jesus is because when Jesus established criteria for what the Holy Spirit would do, He tied it to him. Irreducibly. To him, Scripture presents criteria for discerning the work of the Spirit. And these criteria are more than just being kind and nice and gentle. In First John, Chapter four John's adamant that any alleged experience with the Spirit or any spirit that denies the full humanity or the full deity of Jesus, it's not an experience with the Spirit of God, it's the glorification of the Son involves proclamation of the gospel we find in Romans ten and the Lordship of the Person of Christ.

[00:25:31] And so for the apostles, for the Disciples, and then Paul in particular, Christology is at the heart of discerning the Holy Spirit, the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of a person. Well, at Pentecost, the Spirit is poured out. Jesus makes good on his promise. The Spirit is poured out on all flesh. But. But is it really all flesh universally as inclusiveness would have us believe? I mean, I don't think so, because look what we find in that prophecy, as it's repeated by Peter in the last days, it shall be that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh. But then look what it says. And your sons and daughters shall prophesy. Your young men shall dream, shall see visions. Your old men shall dream dreams. Even on my male servants and female servants. In those days I will pour out my spirit and they shall prophesy. And all flesh is limited. It's modified by those who are part of the covenant, people of God. And then so it's the servants of God upon whom the Spirit comes. But but what we're told here is that the all speaks to all without distinction. Not everybody without exception, all without distinction in this way, that there's no gender distinction anymore. There's no class distinction at all. And what Peter finds out in in chapter ten is that there's no ethnic distinction at all. All who call upon the name of the Lord Jesus are given the spirit. And then when the spirit comes upon the believer, when he's poured out on them, what does the Spirit do? He sanctifies, he washes, he regenerates. All of these things, though, are irreducibly linked to Jesus Christ that sanctification, regeneration comes in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and by the Spirit of our God in First Corinthians six, I mean, you think about sanctifying.

[00:27:31] Nation is its gradual transformation, the process of transformation into what? The image of Jesus. It's it's stunning to me that that that inclusiveness would have us think that the spirit of God is is regenerating people, transforming them into the image of Jesus. When they deny that Jesus is the Messiah. We're told by Paul that it's only by the Spirit that one can confess that Jesus is Lord. No one's speaking by the Spirit of God says Jesus is cursed. For Paul, the ultimate criterion of the Spirit's activity is exaltation of the Lord Jesus Christ. To be in Christ is to be set free by the Spirit. But notice that you're in Christ when you are set free by the Spirit. That's in Romans eight, that your liberty in the Spirit is secured by Christ's work on the cross, and that those who are in Christ Jesus walk according to the Spirit. Again, Son in spirit tied together. They're not independent ministries one of another. The New Testament is very clear on this. And then the New Testament speaks of the of a prolific work of the spirit. Prolific is not a word that's normally in our vocabulary. It's a theological word, but it's a great word. You've got to know what this means. A little bit of the future brought into the present, and the Holy Spirit is this paralytic agent who is dragging the people of God, driving them from this present evil age into the age that is yet to come. And so the spirit of God is given to us in three ways, we're told, as first fruits, as a seal and a guarantee and as a pledge first fruits that we've been given the spirit now. But it's just kind of a down payment.

[00:29:21] We can expect more, much more of the spirit to come. He's a seal and a guarantee. It's like a a it's it's this promissory note of God that you are his child. You are a co heir with his preeminent son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and also as a pledge like a wedding ring or an engagement ring that you are betrothed to the Lord Jesus Christ. And one day, one day you will be united with Him. The Spirit, the Ministry of the Spirit of God presently in the life of a believer is irreducibly tied to the Lord Jesus Christ. How do we conclude this? Well, the role of the Holy Spirit, described by Jesus in John chapter 16, verse 14 The Spirit would glorify the Son. I think it's representative of the relationship between the Son and the Spirit throughout all of eternity. I'm not subordinating the spirit of God in any sense. In His essence, He is fully divine, just as the son is fully divine in the Father is. But what role does the Spirit play in redemptive history? He draws people's attention to Jesus. He causes the fame of Jesus to rise. And so that during the Incarnation, God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. And then He empowered Jesus to live sinless. Jesus preached the Kingdom of God in the power of the Spirit, and He went to the cross, in the power of the Spirit and in Christ, result in glorification, enabled Him to send the Spirit to all those who believe in Him. They would be in dwelt by His spirit and empowered to glorify Jesus. The Holy Spirit always seeks to glorify the Son. How do we know where the Spirit is active? Where people are making much of Jesus? How do you know if the Spirit of God is present in the life of another? I think glorifying the Son.

[00:31:24] How do you know if you live in a spirit empowered or spirit filled church? Well, frankly, there's no such thing as a non spirit filled church. But how do you know? Is your church making much of Jesus? Is the fame of Jesus rising? Is the glory of Jesus rising where the Spirit of God is at work? The Bible is clear from Genesis through Revelation, the fame of the sun rises.