Good morning, friends, welcome to "Sabbath School Study Hour," coming to you here from the Granite Bay seventh day adventist church. A very warm welcome to our friends joining us online, and also our online church members that tune in each week to study with us. Also to the members and the visitors who are here today, it's good to see you on a rainy Sabbath morning. We're glad you came out to join us. Now, over the past few weeks, we've been studying our new lesson quarterly, "dealing with the Holy Spirit.
" Today, we're on lesson number four entitled "the personality of the Holy Spirit." And for those of you who are watching, if you don't have a copy of our lesson for today, you can download today's copy by just going to the Amazing Facts website, just amazingfacts.org, click on the link that says "Sabbath school lesson." And you can download a copy and study along with us. Also, you can go to the Granite Bay church website, just granitebaysda.org, and you can download a copy there as well. We have a free offer that we'd like to make available to those in North America. It's "the Amazing Facts book of Bible answers," and this is the free offer for today. That number is.
.. And you can ask for offer number 785. That number, once again, is... And you can ask for offer number 785, "the Amazing Facts book of Bible answers." And this is a compilation of some of the best questions that we've received at our radio program. So, just a great offer today.
Well, before we get to our study, as usual, we like to begin our voices--lifting our voices in song. So, I'd like to invite our song leaders to come and join me on stage, and let's join in as we sing together. [Music] male: good morning, church family. It's such a wonderful thing that we can praise the Lord together on this Sabbath morning together all around the world. And we're going to begin our singing this morning with song number one, "praise to the Lord.
" Let's all sing together. [Music] ♪ praise to the Lord, the almighty, ♪ ♪ the King of creation. ♪ ♪ O my soul, praise him, for he is thy ♪ ♪ health and salvation. ♪ ♪ All ye who hear, now to his temple draw near. ♪ ♪ Join ye in glad adoration.
♪ ♪ Praise to the Lord, who o'er all things ♪ ♪ so wondrously reigneth. ♪ ♪ Shieldeth thee under his wings, yea, ♪ ♪ so gently sustaineth. ♪ ♪ Hast thou not seen how thy desires ere have been ♪ ♪ granted in what he ordaineth? ♪ ♪ Praise to the Lord, who doth prosper thy ♪ ♪ work and defend thee. ♪ ♪ Surely his goodness and mercy here ♪ ♪ daily attend thee. ♪ ♪ Ponder anew what the almighty can do if ♪ ♪ with his love he befriend thee.
♪♪ Male: and how have your weeks all been going this last week? Sometimes, our weeks goes so well, and other times we fall back into those same patterns that we're trying to avoid. But we know that we have the blessed assurance. Let's sing song number , "blessed assurance, Jesus is mine." [Music] ♪ blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. ♪ ♪ O what a foretaste of glory divine. ♪ ♪ Heir of salvation, purchase of God, ♪ ♪ born of his spirit, washed in his blood.
♪ ♪ This is my story, this is my song, ♪ ♪ praising my Savior all the day long. ♪ ♪ This is my story, this is my song, ♪ ♪ praising my Savior all the day long. ♪ ♪ Perfect submission, perfect delight, ♪ ♪ visions of rapture now burst on my sight. ♪ ♪ Angels descending bring from above echoes ♪ ♪ of mercy, whispers of love. ♪ ♪ This is my story, this is my song, ♪ ♪ praising my Savior all the day long.
♪ ♪ This is my story, this is my song, ♪ ♪ praising my Savior all the day long. ♪ ♪ Perfect submission, all is at rest. ♪ ♪ I in my Savior am happy and blest. ♪ ♪ Watching and waiting, looking above, ♪ ♪ filled with his goodness, lost in his love. ♪ ♪ This is my story, this is my song, ♪ ♪ praising my Savior all the day long.
♪ ♪ This is my story, this is my song, ♪ ♪ praising my Savior all the day long. ♪♪ Jean: I'd like to invite you to bow your heads as we open with a word of prayer. Dear Father, what a privilege to be able to gather together in your house to open up Your Word and study. And indeed, we need the Holy Spirit as we talk about the Holy Spirit, as we look at what the Scripture says about this third person of the Godhead. And so, today, in a special way, we want to invite the Holy Spirit to come guide our hearts and our minds, lead us into a clear and full understanding of the work that you wish to do in us and through us.
Thank you, father, for your promise to be with us in Jesus' Name, amen. Our lesson today is going to be brought to us by one of our regular teachers here at "Sabbath School Study Hour," dr. David derose. Thank you. David derose: well, good morning.
It's good to be with you, and it's good to be continuing our series studying about the Holy Spirit and spirituality. We're in the fourth in our series of lessons, and we're looking at the subject, "the personality of the Holy Spirit," the personality of the Holy Spirit. Well, it was just last night, and there were a number of young adults at our home, and we opened up this very lesson. And as I was sharing some things and as we were engaging in dialogue, I was getting a bit frustrated. And the reason for my frustration is it seemed, as I was looking at this very important lesson, it was too easy to make it all very theoretical, very abstract and not practical.
Have you noticed that that sometimes when you look at these deep theological subjects? And I don't know that there is anything much deeper than trying to fathom the aspects of the character of the Holy Spirit, that sometimes it seems like we're just engaging in theological dialogue that doesn't have much practical significance. Can any of you relate to that? I see a few heads nodding, and maybe a few other people looking very quizzically at me because this is a very practical subject, it is. But sometimes, we can get so abstract that we lose the power of the message. With that in mind, let's look at our memory verse because I think the memory verse brings our focus to some of the most practical things about the Holy Spirit. The memory verse is quoted in the quarterly from the new American standard Bible, which is a very literal translation, very good translation, new American standard version.
John 14, verse 26, and I welcome you to join with me as we read this together if you've got your quarterly. Go ahead with me, John :26, "but the helper, the Holy Spirit whom The Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you." So, this passage in John 14 is actually one of the central passages that deal with the identity and the work of the Holy Spirit. And we don't want to get bogged down so much in the personality of the Holy Spirit, although that is incredibly important, but we want to look a little bit more at why that is significant. Why is it of concern to us? Those of you that have the quarterly, and I'll remind you if you're joining us by way of either live stream or recorded message, you can actually download this lesson, as Pastor Ross mentioned, right on the Amazing Facts website. But I'm actually referring to what I think is one of the most succinct ways of crystalizing the importance of understanding the personality of the Holy Spirit.
It's actually from Thursday's lesson. And it's the second paragraph there in Thursday's lesson. It says it in these words, "if we think of the Holy Spirit only as a mysterious divine power, our thoughts will be, 'how can I have more of the Holy Spirit?' But if we think of the Holy Spirit as a diving person, we will ask, 'how can the Holy Spirit have more of me?'" Do you see that vast difference there? The Holy Spirit is not just a power, an essence that we want to hold onto or have so that we can be energized in the Christian walk. The Holy Spirit is a person who wants to live in us. With that in mind, let's go back to this passage in John that the memory verse called their attention to.
Actually, someone has another reading for us, we're going to read from John 14:16 to 18. Who has that passage for us? John 14:16 to 18, and there's a microphone that they're getting for our readers. But we're going to give a little bit of the context. Turn your Bibles to John 14. Of course, these are some of the closing days, closing hours in fact, of Jesus' life before his crucifixion.
And in John 14, the chapter begins with those beautiful words, "let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would've told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
" So, here Jesus is, he's approaching the cross, and he knows his disciples will be shaken in their faith. Now, here's the question, just to pause for a minute and try to make this relevant. Was it just the disciples at the cross who would have to deal with challenges to their faith? Or do modern day believers, you and i, have challenges to our faith too? It's a stupid question, of course. You know, we all have challenges, right, in our Christian walk. And so, here Jesus is saying, as the disciples are anticipating this great crisis in their faith, that their hearts should not be what? Troubled, "let not your heart be troubled.
" And Jesus gives them a number of assurances in John 14, 15, and 16. And among those assurances is that, although he was going away, he was going to do what? That's right, he was going to comfort them, he was going to prepare a place for them, and he was going to come again, all those things. And so, central to this message, this encouraging message, Jesus gives these words that we find now in verse 16 to 18 of John chapter 14, and we have someone to read that for us. Female: "and I will ask The Father, and he will give you another helper. So, with you--so he will be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him.
But you know him, for he dwells with you and will be with you." And 18, "and I will not leave you comfortless. I will come to you." David: okay, so part of Jesus' answer to the longing of the hearts of the disciples and to the anticipation that he had of their coming discouragement was that he was going to send another comforter. It was very interesting the construct of the Greek. And in your lesson on Sunday, it actually draws some insights from the Greek wording. Now, I do have some seminary Greek behind me, but I don't want that to cloud anything because I really don't feel I have any mastery of the Greek language.
And so, I'm there with all of you if you like to refer to the Greek, and you look in one of those lexicons, one of the--kind of like a dictionary to try to get all the nuances, to get all the flavors of a given Greek word. Now, in Greek, there are more than--there is more than one word for another. There is the word "allos" which refers to another, usually another of the same kind. And then there's the word "heteros," which refers to another of a different kind. Now, if you're a Greek scholar, you'd perhaps want to say, "well, it's not that simple.
" And I'm not saying it is, but there are these different nuances in the Greek. And some of you might be scratching your head, "well, how could there be differences in another?" Let me give you an illustration. This morning, I was at the breakfast table, and this did not happen because we weren't eating toast, but it could've happened. And someone could've said, "do you want another piece of toast?" Right? That means, do I want another piece like the one I've already had? That is the word "allos." So, it's another of the same type. Now, on the other hand, the "heteros" another, that could be illustrated by let's say I'm going to pick up a rental car.
Can some of you relate to this? I travel a fair amount, and I'm often picking up rental cars, and it depends who I'm renting with and whether you have a special relationship with that rental car company. But sometimes they'll say, "okay, you can go down to section a in the lot, and you can pick any car there." Okay, that's all--you know, you paid for that, any car in section a. So, I go over to section a and let's say there's only one car. And maybe there's six of us and it's a prius, okay? Now, I like priuses. But I say, "six people are not going to fit in that car.
" And so, I walk over to the attendant and I say, "don't you have another car? There's six of us. All that's out there is a prius, that white prius over there." Now, would the guy likely say to me, "oh, yes, there is another car over there. There's a blue prius." You think he'd say that? "He might," you say. Well, but if I said it's too small a car and I ask for another one, what am I really asking for? Yes, I'm asking--yeah, I'm asking for another of a different type. And sometime chimed in I'm looking for a suburban.
Well, maybe, maybe not. But you understand the point. So, you can ask for another car, wanting a different one. So, the Greek actually has these nuances. And so, when Jesus' words are being--now listen carefully, His Words are being translated by John.
Because you may be aware Jesus did not speak in Greek. He spoke in aramaic. And aramaic, like Hebrew, is like english, it just has one word for another. But John, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, as he's translating the intent of Jesus' words as we read them here in John 14, which is translated from John's original manuscript that was in Greek, tHis Word "allos" is used. So, when Jesus is saying he will send another comforter, it is the allos, it is another like me.
So, if we want to understand the Holy Spirit, the nature of the Holy Spirit, where can we look to get a glimpse of the nature of the Holy Spirit? We can look at Jesus himself. So, the Holy Spirit is another comforter of the same type like Jesus. And so, it's already giving us this sense that the Holy Spirit is not some ethereal force, but the Holy Spirit is a person, is a physical comforter. Jesus could say that I'm sending you another comforter. Verse 18 in some translations says, "I will not leave you orphans.
I will come to you." Now, some might read this and say, "well, this is a reference to the second coming." But I would suggest to you most literally in the context, Jesus is speaking of coming to us in the person of the Holy Spirit. So, the Holy Spirit, as we read through John 14, , and 16, we get these insights that the Holy Spirit is a divine person, it is a--it or he is a member of the Godhead. Now, some of you say, "well, you know, you got to be careful whether you refer to the Holy Spirit as an it or a he because that, you know, carries with it different definitions." You say, "in my Bible, it always says the Holy Spirit, he." And that's interesting too. Look at these very verses we just read in John 16 through 18. I'm actually reading from the new king James version, and you see this reference in verse 16.
Jesus said, "I will pray The Father and he will give you another helper, that he may abide with you forever, the Spirit of truth. It neither sees him nor knows him." There in those verses, there is actually a neuter article being used. Now you say, "wait a minute, what's going on here?" So, you know, in english, we have he, she, and it. And the article that goes along with that. You know, you see, well, it's obvious what gender.
But in other languages, even nouns have a gender. So, you might say, "the book." And in german, that may be a neuter or a neutral gender. You may say, "the school." In german, it may be a feminine gender. So, you say, "well, you know, what's the significance of all this?" Well, look at these verse for a minute. Sometimes when the Holy Spirit is referred to, that which is translated he is a neuter or neutral gender.
But in other places, it's very definitely a masculine gender. And why I'm sharing this with you is just because we see he in the translation of the new testament, don't try to make that definitive as to whether the Holy Spirit is a person or a thing. I think the evidence is very clear. We're going to look at a number of those evidences this morning, and we've been looking at them already in our study. But be careful that we don't just try to take the english language translation and try to make that the gold standard by which we try to judge the language.
Now, are you starting to feel like I am already? You're saying, "this is all very theoretical." I mean, how does this become practical for us? Let's look at some specific examples that I think make it very practical. And these, by the way, in the Greek are all using the masculine gender for he referring to the Holy Spirit. Look with me at John chapter 16, verse 8. So, we're focusing in on John. And this is, by the way, one of the passages that's highlighted throughout the lesson.
So, we're picking up some of these references to what the Holy Spirit's work is. John 16, beginning with verse 8, it says, "and when he," the Holy Spirit, it's referring to Jesus speaking of the Holy Spirit, "when he has come, he will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment." And it's very interesting as you read on in John 16, it says, "the conviction of sin will come because they do not believe in me of righteousness because I go to my father and you see me no more, and of judgment because the ruler of this world is judged." Even though we may sometimes think the work of the Holy Spirit is a more stern work, I mean, most of us don't like to be convicted, do we? Well, I mean, we do but we don't, right? You don't usually--you usually come to church, most people tell me they come to church because they want a blessing. And you know how I know that? Because there's people that come to churches all the time, not this one, no one's ever been here and come out after the service and told me this, but I've been to other places in the country, or I'll meet someone here at Granite Bay, and they'll say, "dr. Derose, I'm here because the church I was going to, I was just not getting blessed there." Have you heard that one before? So, we come to God usually looking for what? Looking for a blessing. We don't usually come--no one's ever said to me, "well, I've come to this church because the other church I was in, the pastor never convicted us.
He was never--" well, maybe I have heard things like that. But most of us, it's not that we want more conviction, even though it's so often what we most need, isn't it? And that's the work of the Holy Spirit. It is a loving work. In fact, if you're not convinced that someone loves you, if they try to convict you of something, how well do you receive it? Not well at all. The Holy Spirit is given this name, and I know we've looked at it previously.
In the Greek, it comes from two words, "para kaleo." We sometimes call him the paraclete or the parakletos. That literally means the one called alongside of. So, Jesus is saying, "just like I walk alongside you, my disciples, the Holy Spirit will come to walk alongside you." We're getting this sense of a personal Holy Spirit that has a personality. Let's look at a few other examples of this. Let's go back to John 15.
In John 15, we see this other powerful reason why the Holy Spirit was given. And some of this--some of these are recurring themes over these first few weeks. But I think it's especially important in the context of John through 16. In John 15, verse , it says--again, Jesus is the one speaking. "But when the helper, when the comforter, when the parakletos comes, whom I shall send to you from The Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from The Father, he will testify of me.
And you will also bear witness because you have been with me from the beginning." So, the Spirit testifies of me, are you catching the language? Convicting, testifying, these human attributes that are given to the Holy Spirit. And who is the Holy Spirit pointing to? Jesus, right? So, if we're connecting better with the Holy Spirit, we will see Jesus more clearly, we will see Jesus more clearly. Let's look at one more example from John. Let's look at John 16 again. John 16, verse 13 and 14, and that's continuing the thought that we saw there in chapter 15.
John chapter 16, verses 13 and 14, "however, when he the Spirit of truth has come, he will guide you into all truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak and he will tell you things to come. He will glorify me, for he will take of what is mine and declare it to you." So again, very interesting language. So, these personal attributes of the Spirit, but the Spirit is uplifting Jesus. And so, if we're going to be more connected with the Holy Spirit, we are going to see Jesus more clearly. Well, with that in mind, we want to look at some more of the works of the Holy Spirit, just like the Holy Spirit guided dr.
Koenig and guided him to people who are going through adversity, we want to start looking at some of these examples, further examples of the personhood of the Holy Spirit. And not just looking at the theological aspect, not just realizing he is a real person, but also realizing how he works, how he points to Jesus, how he ministers to our hearts. Someone has for us a passage in acts chapter 16. It's acts 16, verses 6 and 7. And before we go there, I invite you to turn in your Bibles to acts 16.
Because this is a very inspiring passage. It's a passage that's actually set in the context of division in the early church. Acts chapter 15 is a story of that great divide and how it was--how it was actually crossed, how it was bridged by the Jerusalem council. So, there was this controversy about whether Christians, converts, gentile converts had to be made like jews physically and undergo the rite of circumcision, as well as other of the mosaic laws. There was a big controversy.
And that was settled in acts 15. As acts 15 is closing on a note of unity, we read another story of division, where Paul is getting ready to go on his second missionary journey. He talks with barnabas. Barnabas' name means son of encouragement. And wants to go on that second what we call missionary journey.
But they get into some conflict over the Gospel writer, he would later be a Gospel writer, and that's John Mark. We sometimes just call him Mark. Barnabas wants to give Mark another chance. He had bailed out on the evangelistic team of Paul and barnabas during their first missionary journey. Barnabas, actually his cousin, wants to give Mark another chance, Paul doesn't, and they are divided over it.
So, that's the background as we come to acts 16. Paul is now traveling with silas, and he is determined to fulfill his God-given call to take the Gospel to the gentiles. Let's read what happens in acts chapter 16, verse 6 and 7. We have someone reading for us. Male: "and they went through the region of phrygia and galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in asia.
And when they had come to mysia, they attempted to go into bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. David: now, interesting, isn't it? Do you see these human characteristics of the Holy Spirit? Forbidding, not allowing, not permitting, are you following along with that? Now, to me, it's interesting the context, and I think this gives me great encouragement. And I think it should you as well. You say, "well, dr. Derose, how do you know? You say you think it gives you great encouragement, don't you know whether it encourages you or not?" Well, what's going on in this story? If you actually study what's happening in acts 16, Paul is sent on a detour of some 600 miles.
He's been called to preach the Gospel to the gentiles, and when he gets to a place where he wants to preach, what did it say? It said, "the Holy Spirit forbade them." Goes to another place, the Holy Spirit will not allow them to preach. Now, here's a question for you. If you think you know what God has called you to do, does that necessarily mean God will always bless you to do just what you think you need to do to fulfill what he's called you to do? And I know that was a mouthful, so let me ask it practically. Let's say you're called to be a mother in the home. Some would make a case that that is the highest calling.
And I would be hard pressed to disagree with you. So, you're called to be a mother in the home, and let's say you've got five children all under six, okay? And you pray to God for help. I'm sure you do need it. But does that mean that God will help you in just the way you think you need it? Not necessarily. And it doesn't mean that God's forgotten you.
When the Holy Spirit kept closing doors--and we get--as you read through acts, you have this very sense of a personal Holy Spirit just guiding the disciples just exactly what they should do. And I can imagine Paul could've been tempted to sin against the Holy Spirit. Now, you know, one of the ways you sin against the Holy Spirit is you say, "this is not the Holy Spirit convicting me. Here, I want to preach the Gospel. How would the Holy Spirit tell me not to preach the Gospel? Can you explain that one?" But it was the Holy Spirit.
And he listened to the Holy Spirit's voice. And if you read through acts 16, you'll see something interesting often missed, that in the context of acts 16 is where Luke joins Paul's missionary team. The physician Luke joins up with them, and it's only because they went on a detour some 600 miles. And by the way, that's also why the Gospel then was taken into greece from what we would say was modern day turkey or asia minor. So, here's my point as we're looking at the Holy Spirit's work.
Yes, we want to realize the Holy Spirit's a person, but as we look at how the Holy Spirit works, the emphasis in the Bible is often not on who the Holy Spirit is, but on what he does. Do you follow along with that? And so, we don't want to lose sight of what the Holy Spirit does. And he guides us, he personally guides us. And when the Holy Spirit sometimes is most powerfully guiding us, we're saying, "where's God? Am I hearing right?" Don't you think Paul had to ask that question? I mean, what's the matter? I mean, here every place I'm going, the doors are closing. Do you realize how far 600 miles is? I mean, how long does it take us today to travel 600 miles? Ten, twelve hours.
How long did it take then? What was the day's journey considered in the days of the apostles? About 20 miles. So, this is a detour of 30 days of travel. And they didn't travel every day. I mean, you read the apostle's practice, and on the Sabbath they were meeting with fellow believers wherever they were, right? So, even if they were traveling 6 days a week, I mean, this is weeks. Have you been praying for weeks about something? Maybe the Holy Spirit's been convicting you, and you're wondering why things aren't being answered the way you want.
Maybe you're like dr. Koenig, you're confused about where you're supposed to be. And God is trying to lead you in a position where you will be the most fulfilled. So, it's true of the apostles, it's true of modern day saints, and it's true whether you're in the home, or whether you're a leading researcher in the medical world. The Holy Spirit is wanting to guide you.
Let's look at some more examples in the book of acts. I told you there were some young adults studying together in my home, some of my--couple of my children are home from college. One is always home, he hasn't left for college yet. Number of their friends were over, and we were studying some of these things. As we were talking about the personality of the Holy Spirit, one of the passages that we looked at in last week's lesson came up.
By the way, it's mentioned again this week. And one of those young adults said, "hey, this is just powerful. This just clinches it." And you say, "well, we've already looked at it." By the way, how many times can you look at a verse before it gets just really old and boring? Okay, well, some of you are giving what I think is a good answer, and that's never. We can look at old truth and appreciate it anew, can't we? Go with me to acts 5, and it's really just a powerful passage. I know Pastor Doug did a great job highlighting this for us last Sabbath when we studied together.
But since it so resonated with my focus group last night, I said, "well, we can't just gloss over it today." Acts chapter 5 is this story of ananias and sapphira. You remember this story, they sell a piece of property. And then, in collusion, they decide they're going to lie to the early church and say they sold it for less than they did. So, they'll get the credit for laying all the proceeds at the feet of the apostles, when really they were keeping some behind. In acts 5, after ananias is caught in this duplicity, Peter says to him, "ananias, why has satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back a part of the price of the land for yourself? While it reMained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own control? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men, but to God.
" You know, one of the most illuminating ways to understand Scripture is look at parallelism in the Bible. Psalms has a lot of parallelism, where it may say, you know, "blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord. Happy is the man who makes the Lord his strength." You see similar words, but they give different shades of meaning. The parallelism in this verse is it first says in verse 3 that ananias lied to who? That's right, he lied to the Holy Spirit. Who does it say he lied to in verse 4? He lied to God.
And so, although we often use that to connect the Holy Spirit to being a member of the Godhead, and that's correct, it also is helping to establish his personhood, right? So, the Holy Spirit is this divine person who lifts up Jesus, who ministers to us, who guides us, who comes beside us, someone who is a personal guide and a comforter. Well, we're going to look at another Scripture in just a moment from the book of acts. But before we do, we're going to look at some of Paul's writings. And we're going to be going to Ephesians chapter 4 in just a moment, Ephesians 4:30. But before we do that, I want to point something out that I find actually very interesting.
Let's look at some of Jesus' words again in the Gospel of John. I'm going to go to John chapter 4. And this is a very provocative verse. John chapter 4, Jesus speaking there to the woman at the well. And Jesus says something that I find quite interesting in light of some who would want to make the Holy Spirit just an essence or just the Spirit of God, if you will.
John 4, verse 24, Jesus says this, "God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." Jesus says God is what? Spirit. So, some people when they read the Holy Spirit, they say, "well, that's just talking about God's Spirit. It's not talking about a specific person or a divine being." And I'm trying to help us see as we go through this lesson together that it's very clear that the attributes of personhood, as well as divinity, rested with the Holy Spirit. But the problem is with the logic of those who would say, "well, when you read the Spirit, it's just referring to God," well, if God is a spirit, why would a Bible writer mention the Holy Spirit? Why not just say God? Do you see my point? If God is a spirit, and the critics that there is a person who is the Holy Spirit, why would the Bible writers even need to say the Holy Spirit if they're trying to refer to God's, quote, spirit as some essence of God when God is a spirit? Is that making any sense to any of you? Well, if it's not, let me reassure you. Because as I was reading through some of this lesson, some of the things that were compelling evidences of the Holy Spirit's personhood to the author were not compelling to me at all.
And so, some of the things I may be sharing with you, you might say, "well, that's just not connecting." And that's why we're trying to look at some of these real life examples in the life of real people and real disciples because our focus--here's the problem. And I think we've said it almost every lesson in this quarter, no matter who's been up here teaching. But the Holy Spirit seems to be shrouded in mystery deliberately. The Holy Spirit does not call attention to himself. The Holy Spirit is pointing to Jesus.
The Holy Spirit is coming beside us and comforting us. And because of the humility of the Holy Spirit, we get into trouble trying to argue about sometimes in some circles as to whether the Holy Spirit's a person, whether he's God. And I would tell you, just as we're looking here, let's look at another example in Ephesians chapter 4. It's not just John, it's not just Luke when he's writing the book of acts. We're going to look at Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 30.
We have someone to read that for us, Ephesians chapter and verse 30. Female: "and do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption." David: so, do not what? Grieve the Holy Spirit. Look at Ephesians chapter 4 a little bit more closely. A lot of people emphasize the comforting role of the Holy Spirit, and that's right. But the Holy Spirit is also a person who convicts us, right? We saw that in John chapter 16.
So, here as Paul is writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, remember a text we looked at earlier, that holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. Do you remember that? And so, Paul is writing, moved by the Holy Spirit. And as he writes in many of his letters, like in Ephesians, Paul in Ephesians first says, "you've been saved by Jesus. We're brought into heavenly places in Jesus." But then as he writes, he starts giving moral imperatives, calling us as to how to live. And in Ephesians 4, one of the things he tells us not to do is to not grieve the Holy Spirit.
Now, does that give us the feel of a person or some kind of ethereal essence? Yes, these are attributes of personhood. And so, the Holy Spirit, this divine being can be grieved. What does that mean? Yeah, it means I can make the Holy Spirit, I can make the Godhead sad. I can make the Holy Spirit sad, I can make Jesus sad. How do we grieve the Holy Spirit? We grieve the Holy Spirit by not listening, right, when the Holy Spirit prompts us.
I told you about this interview I had with dr. Koenig yesterday. And he's now a committed believer, a committed Christian. And he was pointing out how God in his mercy shows us the best way to live. And we call it his commandments.
What do many people think when they hear about commandments? That's right, they think of bondage and restriction, right? "Oh, I don't go to church because there's all those dos and don'ts." Why does the Holy Spirit convict of us sin? Is it to love us, or to make us a little bit more miserable? What do you think? It's because he loves us. He's trying to keep us out of trouble. Now, some of you may not have problems with getting into trouble, but I do. And I need the Holy Spirit to guide me. And I wish I could tell you % of the time when the Holy Spirit's prompting me, I'm yielding to his voice.
We want to look at another Scripture from the pen of the apostle Paul, and this time we're going to 1 Corinthians. There's a whole section in 1 Corinthians we'll be paying more attention to it. It's one of the places in the Bible that speaks about spiritual gifts. We'll look at that in detail later in our series. But in 1 Corinthians 12, Paul gives an incredible insight into the nature of the Holy Spirit.
And again, we're doing just what the Bible does. We're looking at the personhood of the Holy Spirit, but we're trying to say what practical things are there for us? Because we don't want to just leave having studied the Bible saying, "oh, the Holy Spirit's a person and he's God." We want to leave with some encouragement that if I'm going through difficult times, if I'm struggling just like Paul was, the Holy Spirit may be manifestly guiding me. He's just closing doors because I would go to the wrong place, the place where my ministry would not be as effective. Maybe those prayers for my children aren't being answered as I would like them because God has a bigger plan for those children than I have envisioned. Are you following along? Corinthians chapter 12, let's get another insight into the Holy Spirit.
Corinthians 12, verse , someone has that for us. Male: "to each is given a manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same spirit, to another faith by the same spirit, to another gifts of healing by one spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are empowered by one and the same spirit who apportions to each one individually as he wills. David: now, what do you think about that? Is that an attribute of personhood or not? The Holy Spirit is distributing to each one individually as he chooses.
Now, some of you might be questioning why did the Holy Spirit not choose to give you that particular gift you wish you had. Have you ever wondered that? By the way, it is normal to wonder that. Do you know if the Holy Spirit gave you every gift you wished you had, you would not do what the Lord wanted you to do with your life? Are you aware of that? Have you ever thought about it? When you're looking at these talented musicians at Granite Bay, and you're saying, "oh, I wish I could sing like that person. I wish I could play the piano like that brother or sister," well, you couldn't handle all those talents. I couldn't.
No, really, I mean, it takes work to cultivate those talents and to keep--and so, God gives each of us gifts. By the way, according to the Bible, who is excluded from gifts of the Spirit? At least in the church, who is excluded from gifts of the Spirit? No one. So, we all have been given spiritual gifts. And the Holy Spirit as a divine person has given you just the gifts that you need to fulfill the calling God's given you. Now, that's encouraging to me.
That's encouraging to me. Well, there's other aspects of the Spirit's personhood that also tie in with some powerful thoughts for us. We're going to be turning in a minute to another passage in 1 Corinthians. It's in 1 Corinthians chapter 6, we'll be going there in just a moment. But before we head there, I've been telling you something about God's plans for us.
And I might not be able to give you this full thought, but this particular passage resonated in my mind. I had been looking at it this week. And let me just read it to you here. It's from the book "education." And it relates to our children. And particularly it says this, "education" page 262.
"God's purpose for the children growing up besides--beside our hearths is wider, deeper, higher than our restricted vision has comprehended. From the humblest lot, those whom he has seen faithful have in time past been called to witness for him in the world's highest places." And as you read through this chapter, it's on the life work, it's speaking about how all of us have a calling to be involved in giving the Gospel to the world. And one of the reasons I was looking at is because, as I was thinking about John 14 through 16, immediately afterward comes Jesus' prayer in John 17. You don't have to turn there with me, but in John 17, Jesus prays, he says, "Lord, I pray that those whom you've given me will be with me where I am." Jesus is longing to be personally with us. And this chapter in "education" speaks about what sin has cost God.
Speaks about the pain that sin has brought to heaven. And as I was thinking about the role of the Holy Spirit, you know, the Holy Spirit is the one who personally comes beside us. You know, Jesus can't do that anymore. We can't look at the Scriptures. There's a number of Bible references that indicate that Jesus has taken human form for eternity.
He can't come beside each one of us. And Jesus was longing in John to be with each one of us. That's going to happen in heaven, but he can't--he doesn't have that privilege now that the Holy Spirit has. And I was thinking about that. Let's look at this last passage that ties some of this together.
Corinthians chapter 6, verse 19, we have someone to read that for us as well, Corinthians 6, verse 19. Male: "or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price, so glorify God in your body." David: so, our bodies are what? Temples of the Holy Spirit. Now, what lives in a temple? Kings? What lived in the old testament sanctuary and in the temple of Jesus' day? Well, I mean, it was God's intent to live there. You could say in Jesus' day the shekinah glory was no longer in the temple. But the temple is the abode of the divine, right? Even in secular non-Christian religions.
And so, our bodies become the temple not of an essence, but of a person. And I can't tell you that I understand how that works, but the divine person of the Holy Spirit wants to guide us, wants to bless us, wants to use us, wants to give us gifts, and wants to dwell in us. That Holy Spirit convicts of sin, though, we saw. And when I realize my body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, does it affect the way I live? It sure has me. And I'll be honest with you, sometimes, having not grown up in a particularly healthy environment, making healthy choices, some of those convictions of the Holy Spirit I did not at first rejoice in.
But now, I rejoice because God has blessed me. Well, I am thankful for the ministry of the Holy Spirit. He is a comforter to encourage us, to guide us. He is a real person. He is God.
We'll learn more about his work in our future studies. Before we close, we want to remind our viewers that we have a special gift. It's the "Amazing Facts book of Bible answers." It can't be read online, but you can order it by calling -study-more. It's free offer 785. It's available.
.. Until next week, may God bless you. We'll look forward to learning more about the encouraging work of the divine person of the Holy Spirit. Doug Batchelor: friends, would you win souls if you could? Well, you can. Please plan now to join me in doing some evangelism this winter.
It's easier than you think. Prophecy encounter will be a major new, ten-part evangelistic program that will be broadcasted by satellite and streaming on the internet to homes or churches near you, hopefully your home or church. From February 17 through 25, I'll be preaching an all new old-fashioned evangelistic program from sanford, florida. And we'll be using the latest technology and fresh illustrations. So, all you have to do is open your churches, your homes, invite friends and family, be friendly, pray, and let the power of the word do the work.
The programs will be available on 3abn, aftv, Facebook, roku, and more. You'll be surprised, there are people in your community that are really worried about what's happening in the world, and they're looking for answers. Jesus said, "the harvest is truly great, but the laborers are few. So, pray therefore the Lord of the harvest will send laborers out into his harvest." You can be one of them. So, I'd like to encourage you to join us and be praying for the upcoming prophecy encounter meetings.
For more information, check out www.prophecyencounter.com. And who knows, you might be revived in the process. [Music] [music] doug: port royal here in jamaica was once considered the most wicked city in the world. They had more bars and brothels per square foot than any other place on the planet. It was said to be just full of cutthroats and pirates.
But during this time, the King of France, louis xiv, he began to persecute the protestants and the huguenots in the Kingdom, and many fled. That's when lewis galdy and his brother laurent came to port royal. When lewis galdy arrived, he was absolutely dumbfounded at the unrestrained immorality, violence, and extravagance that filled port royal. That's why nobody was surprised when the judgment of God finally happened. Just before noon, June 7, 1692, there was a massive earthquake that affected the whole island, port royal in particular.
Two-thirds of it slid into the sea, then came a tsunami. Thousands perished. Unfortunately, even lewis galdy was swallowed up in the earthquake. You know, much of jamaica is a rock, but port royal was built on the sand. And so, when the earthquake struck, the sand virtually liquefied, swallowing much of the city and thousands of people.
Lewis galdy was buried alive. But while underground, he was still conscious, and he prayed. He resigned himself to his fate, prayed to the Lord, and then another miracle happened. There was an aftershock with volcanic activity that exploded, blowing lewis galdy out of the earth hundreds of yards off into the sea, where he had a pretty hard landing, but he was able to swim until he was rescued. Lewis galdy dedicated the remaining 47 years of his life to serving Jesus in this island, and he's even buried here still today.
You know, the Bible tells us just before Jesus comes back, conditions in the world will be very much like they were in the sodom and port royal. There's going to be a tremendous earthquake, and even islands will be swallowed up. But God's people don't need to be afraid. The same way the Lord took care of lewis galdy, he will take care of you. It says in psalm 91 that you might see 1,000 fall at your side, or 10,000 at your right hand, but only with your eyes will you see and behold the destruction of the wicked.
He can protect you and resurrect you. [Music] male announcer: for life-changing Christian resources, visit afbookstore.com. [Music] [music] ...