The Spirit & O. T. Ministries (2)

Well, I went home last Wednesday evening, a bit troubled in my spirit feeling like maybe I had said too many negative things about some great Bible teachers. You know, I mentioned some names last week of people who taught a particular view that I don't subscribe to, men like Dwight Pentecost and Charles Rierry and John Walward. And I want to make clear that I highly respect each of those men. I have many of their books in my library, probably 40 or 50 of their books in my library, have benefited tremendously from their teaching through the years. And my teeth on their kind of theology. And so have the deepest respect for them and would not even be able to hold a candle to any of those men at all. As we study the scriptures, sometimes we find a particular view that we may differ on. And that's certainly room for that in the body of Christ among people who love each other and agree with each other on the basics to disagree on a few minor things. Those men I would never be able to touch as far as their knowledge and ability in the scriptures and so have tremendous regard for them. So anything I said last week about disagreeing with those men was not intended to put them down in any way. Nobody said anything to me about that. I just was troubled in my spirit about that. And usually for me that's a sign that the Holy Spirit is kind of touching me and saying, you need to back off a little bit. So that's my backing off a little bit tonight. So I have high respect for those men and having said that. And I feel like I said too much about some things that I have written on this topic as well. And probably ought to leave that alone. We'll just study the word tonight and talk about that a little bit. We're talking about the Old Testament ministry of the Spirit. And when we talk about the Old Testament ministry of the Spirit, it is a topic as we talked about last week that is not dealt with a whole lot in the standard writing on this subject. It's one of the things that drew me to this in my own theological studies. But we talked last week about one of the five ministries we're going to talk about, the Holy Spirit having in the Old Testament, empowerment. And that certainly is very prominent in the Old Testament. We looked at a number of different texts last week that talk about empowerment of the Spirit, that coming of the Spirit on someone with a sudden infusion of power to do a particular task. And that is widely talked about in the Old Testament. All of those texts that we looked at last week, and there were some probably 10 or 12 of them, have to do with that kind of enablement or empowerment, and certainly not the indwelling or an abiding presence of the Spirit. The second Old Testament ministry of the Spirit that we want to talk about is regeneration. And there have been many who have said that regeneration is strictly a New Testament ministry. It is not an Old Testament ministry of the Spirit, but let me remind you of what regeneration is. In fact, someone remind me, what is regeneration? What does that mean? Like growing new. Growing new, okay, when you think of husbandry or the world of agriculture, that's exactly what it means, and it has much carry over to what we talk about in the New Testament, and the Bible as well. Yes, growing something new. It is new growth or new beginnings, new birth. Yes, new birth. The idea of regeneration is God infusing new life into us. It is one of the words we use for salvation. And one of the ways to describe and understand salvation is the fact that God gives us new life. It is eternal life. It is a different quality of life. And it is also a life that endures forever. Both of those are involved in the word eternal life. So it is new life. God gives us new life. He breathes into us. We are born again. And we've looked at that concept before with the Holy Spirit. But a lot of folks say that that didn't happen in the Old Testament. That regeneration is only mentioned in the New Testament. And I cannot take you to a particular verse of Scripture that speaks of regeneration in the Old Testament. There are a couple of hints about it in Ezekiel 37 and Jeremiah 31. But both of those have to do with God's future work with Israel in the Millennium. And so for that reason many think it's regeneration did not happen in the Old Testament. So what you have to do with a topic like this is you have to think more theologically. In other words you have to take what you know of the Scriptures, your theology, your belief about doctrine, and think through the implications of that. And when you think through the implications of what we believe about regeneration, then you just about got to come to the conclusion that Old Testament saints were regenerated. The Holy Spirit did that work in their lives of giving them new life just like he does us. So you're outlined. Regeneration I believe is necessitated by the lives they lived. But the lives of Old Testament saints, the lives they lived cannot be explained apart from God granting them new life. And remember regeneration is not just you're born again, you have new life, but it totally reorient your life. You now have a new direction in life. You have a new set of desires. You have a new set of motivations. That's all involved in this new birth. You become a new person going down a new direction in life with new motivations, new desires, new... Empowerments that you have, enablements from the Lord to live a different kind of life. So when you look at the lives that Old Testament saints lived, how do you explain it any other way than that the Holy Spirit did his work of giving new life? Just let me remind you of some of these people and the way the Scriptures describe their lives beginning with Noah. Here's the description of Noah in Genesis chapter 6, verse 9. This is the account of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time and he walked with God. Now just think about those characteristics of spiritual life and ask yourself, can those characteristics be attained by human effort? Or must there have been a work of the Spirit of God to give him new life? Could he have attained his salvation or his ability to walk with God, be a righteous man, be blameless as far as his testimony is concerned? Could he have done that on his own? I think the answer is pretty obvious. But then you think of other people as they're described in the Scriptures, just think of them briefly Abraham is known for being a man of faith. Sure he had some lapses of faith where he tried to pass off his wife as a sister a couple times, but you know that it was a man of faith overall. The general direction of his life was a life of faith and he is even used as the example of justification by faith in the book of Romans. Two Old Testament examples, Abraham and David. But Abraham is the chief example in Romans chapter 4. He was justified by faith and so it's clear that he was justified. I would say also the fact that he lived a life of faith as evidence of the fact that the Holy Spirit had given him this new life with new direction, new enablement to live for God and to please him. You think of Moses. Moses is called the meekest man in all the earth. The concept of meatness is the New Testament concept of gentleness, which is a fruit of the Spirit. How can this be possible unless the Spirit of God has given him new life that has new possibilities, new directions toward the Lord? Joseph, Joseph is a great example of a man, a young man, 17 years old who says no, maybe a little older than 17 at the time that happened, but still a young man who says no to a seductress who wants to cause him to sin. His reason is given that he will not do this against God. He has a very clear concept of walking with God and pleasing God and living for the Lord not offending him with sin in his life. And then of course he has that great perspective on life at the end of the book after his father dies and his brothers come to him and say now that that he's gone, you're going to get us right. You're really going to get us. And Joseph says, what would you think I would do that? What you did to me, you meant for evil, but God meant it for good. He had a clear perspective on the providence and sovereignty of God. I don't think we get that on our own. That's a result of the work of the Spirit of God. David is called a man after God's own heart. It is sad that the thing that is most known about David is his moral failure. And that kind of overshadows the rest of his whole life. When God's perspective on him, when he views his whole life as it is a man after God's own heart, a man who truly sought after God and the Psalms, just breathe out David's passion for God. A direction, a passion in life which can only be explained by a new birth. And then Daniel, you think of Daniel and his consistency and faithfulness on his job so much so that his co-workers could not find any reason to discredit him in his work. Nothing. Nothing at all. And they were pretty close to him and knew him. And he's faithful to the Lord to pray and even willing to give his life if necessary. These are Hebrews 11 kind of people, people who lived by faith. Now, is it possible that they attain that lifestyle by their own effort? I don't think so. When you think theologically, the only way you can have that new direction in life is that's the very definition of regeneration. New birth resulting in a new direction in new life. So I believe regeneration, that ministry of the spirit that imparts new life in salvation is necessitated by the very lives they lived. Any question or comment about that before we go to one other, I think, proof of regeneration in the Old Testament. Great connection with Hebrews 116 without faith that's impossible to please God and then all these Old Testament men and women are given as the examples of faith. And God through their faith gave them salvation and then the ability to please him live for him. So regeneration, I think, in the Old Testament, Old Testament saints were regenerated just like we are. That's necessitated by the lives they lived. When you think about what regeneration is theologically, it's required of those Old Testament saints that couldn't have done that on their own. The second reason why I think regeneration was true in the Old Testament is it's necessitated by a new Testament teaching on salvation. What the New Testament clearly says about salvation requires that Old Testament saints must have been regenerated. And here's the process of thinking through this theologically. Very simple. Number one, New Testament teaches all people are sinners. Romans 3.23 on the screen for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Okay, basic theological truth. We're all sinners. We've all sinned. Here's another basic theological truth. Romans 5.12, that has been true since Adam. Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, who was that man? Okay, good, Adam. Somebody's not asleep. Good. Adam. And death through sin. And in this way, death came to all people because all sinned. So we've all sinned. That has been true since Adam. It didn't start in a new Testament. The fact that all people have sinned started with Adam. Then here's another basic theological truth. Christ is the only way of salvation. John 146. Jesus answered, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. So everybody is a sinner from Adam right on down and Christ is the only way of salvation. Those are three basic New Testament truths about the need for salvation and the way of salvation. The same need that we have was present in Old Testament times and people because they were sinners needed to be saved in the same way that we are saved through the work of Christ on the cross. Now here's the question that that troubles many people. Do you mean Old Testament saints had faith in Christ? Did they know about Christ? They have faith in Christ? Well, obviously. Old Testament saints did not know everything about Christ that we know. That was not revealed to them yet, especially in the early stages. There are hints of what Christ the Messiah would do in the Old Testament. Old Testament enough hints so that Jesus would rebuke his disciples for not having enough faith to trust in his death from the Old Testament scriptures and his resurrection. But those are hints scattered throughout the Old Testament. Certainly in the early stages of the Old Testament, God had not revealed everything about Christ and what he would do. Here's the way it worked. Genesis 156 is the best example I believe. Abraham. Abraham believed the Lord and he credited it to him as righteousness. So what did Abraham believe? What did he place his faith in? Did he place his faith in the fact that he knew Christ was going to come and be crucified, be buried and raised again in the third day? And that would be for his sins? I don't think so. If you read the context, you'll find what he believed. It's been years since God has promised him a son and he's just had this great victory over the five kings of Sodom and God has now promised him I will protect you and I will bless you and Abraham responds, Lord, I've got this servant, Eleazar, but I don't have any son. You said you were going to bless me and God says, okay, Abraham, it is not through your servant that I will bless you. I will give you a son. Now go out and look at the stars of heaven and your offspring will be as numerous as those stars in the heavens. And the very next verse says, and Abraham believed God. It's clear what he believed. He believed the message that God gave him. Was that message a full explanation of the person and work of Christ? No. But God looked at his faith in the promise, in the revelation that God had given him. And then the New Testament in Romans 3, 24 and 25 says that God looked forward to what Christ would do to pay for Abraham's sins later when Jesus would die in the cross and applied that back to Abraham. That's why Paul says in Romans 3 that he overlooked the sins of the past waiting until Christ would come and die for them. So what did Abraham believe in? He believed the message that God had given him. And when Old Testament people put their faith in God based upon whatever revelation he had given them at the time when they put their faith in God and trusted him, they were saved on the basis of what Christ would do for them in the future. So they were still saved by the death of Christ. It's just that it hadn't happened yet. And God was kind of paying their sins forward and saying those sins will be kind of held off the punishment against somebody held off until Christ dies and he will pay for those sins too. So Old Testament saints were sinners. The only way of salvation is through Christ. And so when they believed God, God took the work of Christ and applied it back to them and their faith was credited for righteousness. That's why Abraham's used is the best example of faith, justification by faith in the Old Testament in Romans 4. So these people were given new life. They were regenerated by the Holy Spirit just like we are because they had the same need and the same provision was made for them that's made for us. They're sinners and they can only get to heaven through the death of Christ so they believe the revelation God has given them and the death of Christ is placed back to their account and credited to their account as righteousness. And they are saved. They're given new life. Regeneration is necessitated. I believe by the New Testament teaching on salvation. They're saved in the same way we were. A lot of people have the misconception that we're saved by grace through faith in the Old Testament. They were saved by keeping the law. No one has ever been saved by human effort. No one has ever been saved by keeping the law. Abraham wasn't saved by keeping the law. That's Paul's whole reasoning in Romans 4. Abraham wasn't justified by the law. Paul makes it very clear. He was justified by faith. So Old Testament saints were saved the same way we are because of the grace of God and through faith. It's just that the death of Christ hadn't happened yet and so God was holding off punishing their sins until they would be paid for in Christ. Save the same way we are. Any questions about regeneration in the Old Testament? Salvation in the Old Testament takes place the same way it does in the New Testament. Yes, every Old Testament person who in faith had trusted the Lord, they would be an Old Testament saint, an Old Testament believer. Now, you have to understand that some things were different in the Old Testament in that everybody in the nation of Israel was in a covenant relationship with God by virtue of being a member of the nation of Israel. And so the nation as a whole had certain responsibilities of obedience and so forth that had nothing to do with their personal faith in God. There were lots of Jews who were nationally, ethnically, a part of the nation of Israel, but they were not saved. They were not born again. They were not regenerated. Okay, so you have to understand that there's a little, it's a little different in the Old Testament in the sense that God had a relationship with the nation as his covenant people, but just because you were a Jew didn't mean you were one of his children. You had to place your faith in God, which was demonstrated best in the sacrificial system. That's what it was intended to be. But just as there is today, there were a lot of people who offered the sacrifices with no heart commitment to God at all. Just as there are a lot of people who attend and join churches who have no heart relationship with Christ. So there's no different, no different Old Testament New Testament. Yes, Sharon? Will they be in heaven? No. No. The reason is it's different than it was in Old Testament times. We do have the completed revelation. They did not have the completed revelation of the person of Christ and what he had done, which we do have today. It can seem awful harsh. That's not the reason you're raising the question, Sharon, but it can seem awful harsh to say people who have never had the opportunity are going to be in hell. But the Bible is very clear that no one gets into heaven except through Christ. Even in the Old Testament, people who were not reached by Israel and died without ever hearing of the true God went to hell. So again, it's really no different. But we do have the full revelation of the gospel in Christ and it is incumbent on us. That's the reason for missions. It's incumbent on us to get that message to every nation, every tribe. And that's, you know, the fault is not people who've never heard of Jesus. The fault is ours for not getting the message to them. That's a sobering thought and a difficult thought, really. When you think of folks who've never had the opportunity to hear the name of Jesus. Well, even in those countries where the gospel is not legally allowed to be preached or spread where the name of Jesus is not recognized, there are undercover agents. As you might say, there are people who are infiltrating those cultures with the gospel and even even missionaries who go not as missionaries, but as what we call tent makers. There are many people in closed access countries today who are spreading the gospel. So the gospel is not limited, even when countries try to try to limit it. The gospel itself is not limited in there. Really amazing stories of the gospel through the written word and today through the internet and so forth getting to places where nobody can actually officially go. And so the lots of lots of ways and sharing I'm sure you've seen evidence of that as well. Steve? Okay. Now that's, that is a perspective that I think is true and is biblical that, you know, Romans 9 talks about the lump. God has mercy on who will have mercy and judgment on who will have judgment. And we're all in that same lump and we're blessed to be able to have that privilege of knowing him. But the real motivating feature here is that we need to be taking the gospel to people. And that is why it is so critical that we take seriously our new mission strategy to reach unreach people groups in the world. It is absolutely critical in these days that we are serious about reaching unreach people groups in the world. And they'll never be able to hear, never have that chance unless someone gets them the gospel. And that ought to break our hearts and burden our hearts and move our hearts to be serious about the work of missions. Okay. All right. One more question that we're going to get back to the Old Testament. Right. Exactly right. And that's the tragedy of it. I mean, Romans 1 says that people are without excuse because they know that there can be a God. That means they were accountable to God. It doesn't mean they're saved. It means they're accountable to God. I think that's similar to the question Sharon was asking. Is it the same as Old Testament people who didn't know about Christ yet, but put their faith in God? No, it isn't because God has revealed the whole story to us now. It was not even available in Old Testament times. It's not that people just didn't hear it. God had not even revealed it yet. Okay. And so that's a huge difference. It's not like God had revealed it all, but some people just hadn't heard it in the Old Testament. God had not revealed yet about Christ. And so in this time in our day, God has revealed the gospel message about Christ. And the Bible makes it very clear. There is no other way to heaven except through Christ. It's not just God. It is through the death of Christ. And we have to be clear on that that nobody gets to heaven except through the death of Christ. And faith in what Christ has done for them on the cross. Now that we have that completed message, that is the only way to be saved and get to heaven is that faith in the content of that message. Romans 1 is talking about the fact that people have no excuse for denying God because of the revelation in nature. But they still do that. They still do that. Now I've heard and there may be some implication of this in Romans 1 that people who do respond to the true God based upon the revelation they have in nature will be given more light. And there are examples certainly of that happening in the story of missions throughout the world. I'm not sure that the Bible clearly says that will always be the case. But certainly there are examples of that where people who did come to an understanding of the true God, then God gave them more light through a missionary, through someone who came to them and gave them the message. And I think that's what we can hope and trust for. But I think we have to maintain that there is no salvation this side of the cross without faith in Christ as our Savior. And again that can sound awful harsh that people who have never had a chance. It's not fair. Well on human level it doesn't seem like it's fair. But that's not the right question. The right question is God has given us the responsibility to get the gospel to all those people. Why are we sitting around not doing that? That's the real question. We ought to be pouring all of our energies into our mission strategy to get people to places in the world where the gospel is not known. So that we can do our part as a church to make sure we remedy that situation. That's the real question. Okay. More I'd like to say on that, but our time is is fleeting. Okay, there was regeneration in the Old Testament. I believe that much is clear. Here's the big one and the one of most controversy. Was there indwelling in the Old Testament? I believe there are some texts that refer to Old Testament indwelling both on an individual basis and the nation. Let's just look quickly at these and it would be very easy for me to spend more time than we have on these. Genesis 41 verse 38 has to do with Joseph. This is the statement of Pharaoh concerning Joseph when he realizes this guy can interpret dreams and they're looking for someone to run the grain program in Egypt. So Pharaoh asked them, Genesis 41, 38, can we find anyone like this man one in whom is the spirit of God? Now, your translation is probably like mine does not have spirit capitalized and there's a lot that can be said about this verse. The King James does capitalize it, but did Pharaoh really understand the concept of the Holy Spirit? Probably not. Most Jews did not understand the concept of the Holy Spirit yet. Did Pharaoh understand the person of the Holy Spirit? Probably not. He just recognized there was something in Joseph that was placed there, was energized, could only be described as coming from God. Now, we can look back and say that was the spirit of God. Probably that's not what Pharaoh meant. So this is not the strongest verse, but maybe kind of a side door entrance into the fact that here's a man who was in whom was the spirit of God. Certainly inside and wisdom, which would come from the spirit of God. Numbers 27, 18 is another example of an individual. This one is Joshua. So the Lord said to Moses, take Joshua, son of none, a man in whom is the spirit and lay your hand on him. Now, my translation still has little S, but I've written pretty extensively about this in the work I did on this topic. It refers back to Numbers 11, which is a clear reference to the Holy Spirit. So I'm convinced this is the Holy Spirit here and God is saying of Joshua. Here's a man in whom is the Holy Spirit. So it's an individual case of indwelling here. Then look at Psalm 14310. This is David writing. Teach me to do your will for you are my God. May your good spirit lead me on level ground. And I believe he's speaking here of a continual leading. If you study the original language here and the contract or the comparisons with teaching, God teaching and the spirit leading, this is asking for a continual leading. In other words, a continual ministry of the spirit to him, which can only be true if the Holy Spirit maintains an abiding presence with him. And that, by the way, is the best definition of the indwelling of the spirit and abiding presence of the spirit for many dispensation lists like I've been speaking about people who believe like we do. The indwelling of the spirit has been strictly and narrowly defined as the Holy Spirit coming to live inside you. We have to remember the Holy Spirit is a spirit being. Location is not the issue. It's not like Jesus who has a physical body. The Holy Spirit does not have a physical body. And so the issue is not, does he come down inside me? The issue is does he maintain an abiding presence with me? And that's the way the scriptures most often speak of the indwelling and presence of the spirit with us. Even when Jesus talks about it in John 14, that's the way he describes it. As the Holy Spirit, God and the Father, maintaining an abiding presence with us. So I think that's what David is is praying for here and asking for the Lord to continue to do. One of the strongest passages is 1 Peter chapter 1 and verses 10 and 11. Speaking of the Old Testament prophets, Peter says concerning this salvation, the prophets who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories it would follow. The most interesting thing about this passage is it uses the very exact terminology in the Greek. It's exactly the same terminology that Jesus uses in John 14 to say the Holy Spirit is with you and he will be in you. This is the exact same preposition and pronoun and so forth used of the Old Testament saints, Old Testament prophets had the Holy Spirit in them. So there's evidence of individual indwelling in the Old Testament, but there's also evidence of the Holy Spirit maintaining an abiding presence with the nation as a whole. I'm going to give you just three examples of that numbers chapter 9, the Israelites are confessing their sins and they're referring back to the past in the nation of Israel and how God led them through the wilderness and throughout their entire national life. And in chapter 9 verse 20 he says, you gave your good spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold your mana from their mouths. You gave them water for their thirst in the end of verse 30. He says, for many years you were patient with them by your spirit. You had managed them through your prophets yet they paid no attention. So there is this warning ministry of the spirit and there is this leading ministry of the spirit and instructing ministry of the spirit on a continual basis. With the nation of Israel through their wilderness wanderings and throughout their history. And again, I don't have the time, but a careful study of Roman or of Nehemiah 9 will indicate that it's referring to basically the whole history of Israel. And there is this presence through instruction and warning of the spirit of God to them. Isaiah 63 is another passage that indicates the Holy Spirit maintaining an abiding presence with the nation of Israel. Isaiah 63 verses 10 through 14. Again referring back to the history of Israel. And yet they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit. So he turned to became their enemy himself fought against them. His people recalled the days of old, the days of Moses and his people. Who is he who brought them through the sea with the shepherd of his flock? Where is he who set his Holy Spirit among them? Verse 14, like cattle that go into the plain, they were given rest by the spirit of the Lord. This is how you guided your people to make for yourself a glorious name. A maintaining abiding presence of the spirit among the nation is indicated here. And then Haggai. Haggai chapter 2 and verse 5. This is what I coveted with you when you came out of Egypt and my spirit remains among you. That's a very powerful text. Again, we don't have time to study it real carefully. But this is after the exile when they come back to the land and he's looking back over the whole history of Israel. I coveted this, my presence with you when you came out of Egypt and my spirit remains among you. In the Old Testament, just as in the New Testament, God's spirit maintained an abiding presence with his people. And that is on a corporate level, a national level and an individual level, at least some hints of that in the Old Testament. There's a lot more I'd like to say about that. Did you know the emphasis in the New Testament on the indwelling of the spirit is the church, not the individual? There really is. There's only one clear reference to individual indwelling. All the rest have to do with the church as a whole. 1 Corinthians 3, 16, 2 Corinthians 6, 16, Ephesians 2, 20, 22. All have to do with the temple or the body or they use plural pronouns. And even in 1 Corinthians 6, there's implications of more of a plurality of people involved there, not just individuals. So my point is this, when we talk about the indwelling of the spirit, basically the New Testament and the Old Testament are talking about an abiding presence of the spirit with his people, corporately. And we have individual ramifications of that and individual benefits of that as we call upon the power of the spirit of God. But the indwelling of the spirit throughout the Bible is most often spoken of in terms of the Holy Spirit making the people of God his temple a place where he dwells. That's the statement of Ephesians 2, 22. That the church is his temple a place where the Holy Spirit dwells. All the people of God. So I think there's some indication of indwelling in the Old Testament if what we're looking for is an abiding presence of the spirit with the people of God. I really want to get to John 14 but we don't have time to do that. John 14 is the favorite passage of most of those who teach that the Holy Spirit was only temporarily with people in the Old Testament. He is permanently in us in the New Testament and that is really a misunderstanding of that passage. So we're going to look at that next week. Okay. Times up. Let's pray. Father, thank you that you've given us your spirit that you've enabled him to be with us permanently. We pray, Father, that we will be good students of your word serious about digging into the scriptures to find out what you're saying. And we also pray in a light of our discussion tonight which is indeed convicting that we will be motivated more than ever before to reach the world with the gospel knowing that their only hope is in Christ. You've told us that in James 2 that even the devils, even the demons believe in God and tremble. They know enough about him to fear him and tremble him but they're not saved. So Lord, we know that salvation is only through faith in Christ and we pray, Father, that we will be passionate about reaching the lost with that message so that as many people as possible will have the chance to hear and believe before you come back and before they die in Jesus' name, Amen.