Participants: Jim & Mark Howard
Series Code: ABOTB
Program Code: ABOTB00002B
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00:02 Well welcome back. We are in the book of Acts. We are studying
00:05 in Acts chapter 1 and we are focusing on the promise of the 00:08 Father or the work of the Holy Spirit in the early church. And 00:12 we've talked about how Jesus had told his disciples to wait for 00:16 the Holy Spirit and also how Jesus had promised the gift of 00:21 the Holy Spirit, how it was expedient that he go away and 00:25 otherwise he couldn't send the Helper. A lot of people have 00:28 stumbled over that and we've touched on the idea that the 00:32 expediency came from the fact that it was Jesus ministry that 00:35 provided some raw material for the Holy Spirit to work in a 00:37 special way in New Testament times. However... 00:41 Yeah, he's always been working, right, because we took a little 00:44 detour to John chapter 3 and we spent a little time looking 00:49 at the work of Christ through the Holy Spirit in conversion. 00:53 And we talked about conversion being something that not only 00:57 happens in New Testament times but the new birth process is 01:00 something that happened in Old Testament times because 01:03 Nicodemus was told by Jesus he should have understood from the 01:06 Old Testament scriptures. 01:07 That's right. Now that was a powerful point. I mean honestly 01:11 it's for so many Christians, and I don't say this disparagingly, 01:15 but for so many Christians the new birth is a New Testament 01:18 experience. It's not something that existed in the Old 01:22 Testament times. So for Jesus to be speaking to Nicodemus 01:26 and act like he should understand the new birth. I mean 01:29 sometimes as a reader we're looking at and saying what do 01:32 you mean you should understand. Isn't this a new concept. But 01:35 evidently not because he tells him you're a teacher in Israel 01:39 and you should know these things and by inference you should be 01:42 teaching these things. 01:44 That's right. In the Old Testament we talked about how 01:47 even David spoke about not taking the Holy Spirit away 01:50 from him because evidently they knew, the Godly men and women 01:54 of Old Testament times, that it was the Holy Spirit that gave 01:59 them inspiration, that gave them the motivation, that gave them 02:03 the inclination to want to do right and without the Holy 02:07 Spirit there's no way we could have had godly examples in Old 02:10 Testament times. You know, Jim, it makes me think 02:13 of Romans 7:14 where the apostle Paul says: For we know that the 02:18 law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. 02:22 And he goes on to talk about even though he knows to do the 02:25 right he ends up doing the wrong thing and when he knows he 02:28 doesn't want to the wrong thing he finds himself doing it anyway 02:31 and he talks about this internal struggle with his fallen nature. 02:34 It's interesting there that he brings out the law of God as 02:38 being spiritual. And what I hear you saying is the Holy Spirit's 02:43 purpose is to make us spiritual. If we're not spiritual, there's 02:49 no way we're going to be able to live in harmony with God's 02:53 spiritual laws and ways. So in Nicodemus, and you mentioned 02:58 also in the experience of David this conversion process. 03:03 Yes, it was critical. It was critical to Old Testament times 03:06 and New Testament times. We're taking a little bit of time in 03:10 this session to talk about the work of the Holy Spirit because 03:15 in the book of Acts that Holy Spirit is everywhere and you can 03:19 see throughout the book of Acts that the Holy Spirit is 03:22 prominent in the lives of the believers and there are 03:26 different aspects to the work of the Holy Spirit that we're 03:29 focusing on today. We're focusing on conversion and we're 03:33 focusing on the process of conviction and how the Holy 03:38 Spirit leads us into truth and we're going to talk a little 03:40 bit about the power of the Holy Spirit that was especially 03:43 granted there in the book of Acts. 03:45 That's right and we'll be touching on that throughout our 03:47 study of the book of Acts because of the prominence of the 03:49 work of the Holy Spirit there. But again, we don't want to 03:53 forget that we started this episode by looking at Jesus' own 03:57 command to his disciples to wait until they received the promise 04:00 of the Father. In other words, it was very important to Jesus 04:03 that they understand the importance of the power of the 04:07 Holy Spirit not only in their lives but in their ministry 04:11 because it's not only in changing us as individuals but 04:15 also in bringing conviction. 04:16 That's right. Let's talk about conviction a little bit. If we 04:22 could look back at John chapter 16, we've been there briefly. 04:26 There's a special role of the Holy Spirit that we see. John 04:32 chapter 16 and beginning at verse 8. This is right in the 04:39 process of talking about Jesus going away and sending the Holy 04:42 Spirit and in discussing the work of the Holy Spirit he comes 04:46 right to the point in verse 8. Jesus says: And when he has come 04:51 he will convict the world of sin and of righteousness and of 04:56 judgment. Now the Holy Spirit is often referred to as the 05:01 comforter. And we're so thankful for the comforting presence of 05:05 the Holy Spirit, but the first thing that we find that the Holy 05:09 Spirit does when he comes to us doesn't sound all that 05:12 comforting. It says he will convict us of sin. He will show 05:17 us our guilt. He will bring us to a sense of our lost condition 05:21 He will show us something that does not at all feel comfortable 05:26 And if you look at the progression of things here it 05:29 says he'll convict the world of sin, that's what's wrong, and 05:34 and then he'll convict of righteousness, that's what's 05:38 right, that's what we should be doing. 05:39 Yeah, and it's important to note there too when it comes to right 05:42 and wrong, you know, everybody has their own idea. And I've 05:46 told people this. You know you don't have to be a Christian to 05:49 have a sense or an idea of right and wrong. Everybody his some 05:53 code of morality. But the Holy Spirit is then one who tells us 05:57 what's right and wrong according to God's idea, not according to 06:00 our idea. And he does it through what we would call our 06:03 conscience. Also, I think even more 06:06 primarily, we go to Ephesians 6 and we learn that the word of 06:10 God is the sword of the Spirit. So the Spirit uses the word 06:15 and the truth of the word to show us what's right and what's 06:18 wrong. And when he brings that conviction that leads us to a 06:22 decision. And I think that's why he follows by saying he'll 06:26 convict the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment. 06:30 In other words, our decision whether we go the way of sin or 06:34 the way of righteousness, whether we respond to the Holy 06:37 Spirit's drawing or whether we don't is going to have 06:40 consequences. There's a judgment that will ultimately determine 06:45 and will bring upon us a result based upon that decision. If you 06:49 look further down the passage in verse 13 he gives a wonderful 06:54 promise. He says: However, when he the Spirit of truth has come 06:59 he will guide you into all truth So here we have a picture and 07:04 I don't think that what he's promising here is simply that we 07:08 would know and understand right doctrine. I believe that's true. 07:12 But I think that if we are reading in the context we can 07:16 see that being guided into the truth is being guided into 07:19 making right choices about the truth. In other words, he's 07:23 showing us sin, he's showing us righteousness but if he's going 07:26 to guide us into the truth it's through this process of learning 07:29 how to live the truth. But we can be thankful that unlike some 07:33 who say you know we can't really know what's truth, like Pilate 07:37 who said what is truth, Jesus promises here that if we are 07:42 willing that the Spirit of truth will guide us into all truth. 07:46 Well what's powerful, Jim, is also... I mean we're reading in 07:50 John 16. In John 14 when Jesus talks about the Holy Spirit he 07:53 calls him the Spirit of truth. In John 15 when he talks about 07:55 the Holy Spirit, he calls him the Spirit of truth. This isn't 07:59 an incidental title that he gives. Again in chapter 16 the 08:03 Spirit of truth and again in an age where people are just asking 08:07 like Pilate did what is truth God says here's truth and the 08:11 Holy Spirit bears witness to truth. And you talked about the 08:16 sword of the Spirit of God, the word of truth. Jesus himself 08:19 when he was praying in John 17 said sanctify them Father by 08:23 thy truth, thy word is truth. So you see this element of truth 08:29 and we see the truth being used to bring that conviction. The 08:34 Holy Spirit reaching into our hearts basically and again the 08:39 description of a sword. You know when you think of a sword coming 08:43 on you you're not thinking comfort. But it's interesting 08:47 that I believe what the Lord is saying that the only kind of 08:51 real true comfort that can be experienced is when we yield 08:55 ourselves to the truth. 08:57 That's right. It brings peace to the heart when we find not only 09:03 what our carnal desires would want us to do but when we 09:08 actually come to a point of finding a different, a better, 09:12 way of getting rid of that conviction of the Holy Spirit 09:15 and that is by surrendering. Surrendering to the will of God. 09:19 And finding the truth in our own life. This is what brings peace 09:23 and comfort to the soul. 09:26 Right. And every one of us experiences that approach of the 09:29 Holy Spirit and we're going to see throughout the book of Acts 09:33 that there can be very different responses to the 09:37 conviction of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes I think we would 09:40 assume that well if it's the Holy Spirit and it's true then 09:43 sooner or later you just got to give in to it but that's not 09:46 the reality that we find in scripture. We will find that as 09:49 the Holy Spirit continues to bring conviction different 09:52 people respond to conviction in different ways. Now the last 09:55 thing you had mentioned is the power of the Holy Spirit. We 09:59 don't want to overlook that. We go back to the book of Acts 10:03 chapter 1 and we'll pick up again in verse 6 and it says 10:07 here: Therefore when they had come together Jesus and his 10:10 disciples, they asked him saying Lord will you at this time 10:13 restore the kingdom to Israel and he said to them, it is not 10:16 for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in his 10:19 own authority but you shall receive power when the Holy 10:25 Spirit has come upon you and you shall be witnesses unto me. 10:29 And so he gives them the area, the territory. They're going to 10:34 start close to home and just Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria 10:37 and concentric... you picture concentric circles just growing 10:41 out, out, out, out. You're going to be witnesses and this message 10:44 is going to have a ripple effect through the earth. But it comes 10:47 when the Holy Spirit comes and he brings power. 10:51 I think that power is needed in the book of Acts just like it's 10:55 needed for us because it wasn't easy for them to be witnesses. 11:00 I believe that the Greek word for witness is martus or as it's 11:05 translated in Acts 22, martyr. So there's this very clear sense 11:11 that to be a witness is to be sacrificial, to go against all 11:16 odds to be facing dire consequences and so they needed 11:20 power, they needed courage and the Holy Spirit was going to 11:23 give them that. That's right. And you see power 11:25 not only you see the courage, the power and the courage. You 11:28 see the power in miracles were going to be worked through the 11:32 apostles and power in conversion as people received the message 11:36 and you've got people who are in the heart of heathenism and 11:40 you watch the conversion, the change, the transformation of 11:44 their lives. There comes a point in the book of Acts where the 11:48 religious leaders say you have basically filled Jerusalem with 11:52 your doctrine. Well how does that happen when we start with 11:55 12 disciples and then as we go on in Acts chapter 1 we'll find 11:59 120 and they spread the gospel to the known world. How does 12:03 that happen? It happened through the power of the Holy 12:06 Spirit. That's right and as I think 12:07 about that, you know what, I wonder if sometimes we become 12:11 tempted to think that that power is not available to us 12:15 today. You know when we talk about the acts of the Holy 12:20 Spirit in the book of Acts and we look at all the wondrous 12:24 things that happened, we're tempted to think that what we 12:28 need is some special infusion of power that is not really ours 12:33 but there's never anything in scripture that says that that 12:38 power does not remain with us. We're looking at in the book of 12:42 Acts are acts... In other words, the Holy Spirit 12:44 hasn't stopped working for God's people today. 12:47 That's right. God's people have stopped working through the 12:50 power of the Holy Spirit. And so here we are in the book of Acts 12:53 which emphasizes not just the acts of the Holy Spirit but it's 12:57 emphasizing the fact that here were godly people who were 13:01 willing to do something for God. They were not just the musings 13:06 of the apostles or the thoughts of the apostles. This is not 13:10 merely intentions but the acts of the apostles. And friends we 13:14 invite you to continue studying with us in the Book of Acts. |
Revised 2014-12-17