A Summary of the Holy Spirit Then and Now Great Assistance from Mark Copelands Executable Outline The Holy Spirit of god Summary: The Holy Spirit Then and Now

Introduction Throughout this series we have seen that it the Spirit can be a challenging subject of study This may explain the diversity of beliefs that people have This should encourage us to study harder to find to find the Truth rather than just ignore the topic because it seem difficult Why take the time to study? Many people will claim that they are being lead in this way or that by the Holy Spirit Many people base their faith on what they believe the Spirit is telling them These beliefs often lead to great contradictions among people clearly indicating something is wrong

Introduction One possible reason for this difficulty may be a misunderstanding of the work of the Spirit His work that was temporary, unique to the beginning of His Church His work that is continuous, continuing on till Christ returns Over the course of the next couple weeks we will look at these two ideas and their distinct differences beginning today with the temporary work of the Spirit then and concluded next week with His work today

The promise of the Spirit As promised by God through Joel the Prophet (Joel 2:28-29) As promised by John the Baptist Mt 3:11; Mk 1:8; Lk 3:16 As promised by Jesus Himself (Acts 1:4-5) The fulfillment of this prophecy occurs on Pentecost Acts 2:1-22; Acts 2:32-33

The work of the Spirit As defined by John the Baptist Mt 3:11-12; Lk 3:16-17 To serve as a winnowing fan in the hand of the Lord Separating the wheat from the chaff, gathering the wheat into the barn The picture is of a farmer at his threshing-floor, the area of hard-beaten earth on which the sheaves are spread and the grain trodden out by animals. His fan, that is his winnowing- shovel or fork, is in his hand, and with it he throws up the mingled wheat and chaff against the wind in order to separate the grain…The whole metaphor represents the Messiah as separating the evil from the good, according to the tests of his kingdom and Gospel, receiving the worthy into his kingdom and consigning the unworthy to destruction (compare Matthew 13:30, Matthew 13:39-43, Matthew 13:48-50). (Vincents Word Studies)

The work of the Spirit This is no other than the preaching of the Gospel, even now beginning, the effect of which would be to separate the solid from the spiritually worthless, as wheat, by the winnowing fan, from the chaff. (Compare the similar representation in Mal 3:1- 3)… and he will throughly purge his floorthreshing-floor; that is, the visible Church…and gather his wheatHis true-hearted saints; so called for their solid worth (compare Am 9:9; Lu 22:31)… not the garner"the kingdom of their Father," as this "garner" or "barn" is beautifully explained by our Lord in the parable of the wheat and the tares (Mt 13:30, 43)… but he will burn up the chaffempty, worthless professors of religion, void of all solid religious principle and character (see Ps 1:4)… with unquenchable fireSingular is the strength of this apparent contradiction of figures:to be burnt up, but with a fire that is unquenchable; the one expressing the utter destruction of all that constitutes one's true life, the other the continued consciousness of existence in that awful condition. (Jamieson-Fausset Brown Bible Commentary)

The work of the Spirit As defined by Jesus to His Apostles To guide them into all the truth (Jn 16:12-13) Will guide you into all truth - That is, truth which pertained to the establishment of the Christian system, which they were not then prepared to hear. We may here remark that this is a full promise that they would be inspired and guided in founding the new church; and we may observe that the plan of the Saviour was replete with wisdom. Though they had been long with him, yet they were not prepared then to hear of the changes that were to occur; but his death would open their eyes, and the Holy Spirit, making use of the striking and impressive scenes of his death and ascension, would carry forward with vast rapidity their views of the nature of the Christian scheme. (Barnes Notes) he will guide you into all truth; necessary to be known, useful to men, profitable to the churches, even the whole counsel of God; what relates to worship, the nature, form, and spirituality of it, as well as doctrine. He is as a guide, he goes before, leads the way, removes obstructions, opens the understanding, makes things plain and clear, teaches to profit, and leads in the way men should go, without turning to the right hand or left, which, without such a guide, they would be apt to do. The Jews (y) have a notion of the Holy Ghost being a guide into all wisdom and knowledge. (Gill)

The work of the Spirit By teaching them all things (Jn 14:26a) Shall teach you all things - All things which it was needful for them to understand in the apostolic office, and particularly those things which they were not prepared then to hear or could not then understand. See John 16:12. Compare the notes at Matthew 10: This was a full promise that they would be inspired, and that in organizing the church, and in recording the truths necessary for its edification, they would be under the infallible guidance of the Holy Spirit. (Barnes Notes) He shall teach you all things. A special promise to the apostles, which fitted them to preach the Gospel authoritatively and leave behind them the records of the New Testament. (Peoples New Testament)

The work of the Spirit By reminding them what Jesus told them (Jn 14:26b) And bring all things to your remembrance - Here Christ promises them that inspiration of the Holy Spirit which enabled them not only to give a true history of his life and death, but also gave them the most perfect recollection of all the words which he had spoken to them, so that they have been able to transmit to posterity the identical words which Jesus uttered in his sermons, and in his different discourses with them, the Jews, and others. (Clarkes Commentary) and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said to you; which through inattention, or want of understanding in them, had slipped their minds, and were forgotten by them. This accounts for it, how the evangelists some years after the death of Christ; at different times and places, and without consulting each other, could commit to writing the life, actions, sayings, and sermons of Christ, with all the minute circumstances attending them. (Gill)

The work of the Spirit By bearing witness together with the Apostles (Jn 15:26-27) he shall testify of me: of his deity and sonship, of his incarnation, of his being the Messiah, of his sufferings and death, of his resurrection and ascension, of his exaltation at the right hand of God, and of his ordination to be the Judge of quick and dead; all which he bore testimony to, by the gifts bestowed upon the apostles, and the great grace that was upon them all; by the signs, wonders, and divers miracles, by which the Gospel of Christ was confirmed; and by the power, influence, and success, which attended the preaching of it every where. (Gill) He shall testify and ye also shall bear witness - He shall bear his testimony in your souls, and ye shall bear this testimony to the world. And so they did, by their miracles, their preaching, their writings, their lives, and by their deaths. (Clarkes Commentary)

The work of the Spirit The Spirit did this through signs and wonders, confirming the Word Mk 16:17-20; Heb 2:3-4 To convict the world (Jn 16:7-11) Of sin (Jn 16:9) Of sin - The first thing specified of which the world would be convinced is sin. Sin, in general, is any violation of a law of God, but the particular sin of which men are here said to be convinced is that of rejecting the Lord Jesus. This is placed first, and is deemed the sin of chief magnitude, as it is the principal one of which men are guilty. This was particularly true of the Jews who had rejected him and crucified him; and it was the great crime which, when brought home to their consciences by the preaching of the apostles, overwhelmed them with confusion, and filled their hearts with remorse. It was their rejection of the Son of God that was made the great truth that was instrumental of their conversion. Acts 2:22-23, Acts 2:37; Acts 3:13-15; Acts 4:10, Acts 4:26-28; Of sin, because they believe not on meAs all sin has its root in unbelief, so the most aggravated form of unbelief is the rejection of Christ. The Spirit, however, in fastening this truth upon the conscience, does not extinguish, but, on the contrary, does consummate and intensify, the sense of all other sins. (Jamieson- Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary)

The work of the Spirit Of righteousness (Jn 16:10) Of righteousness - This seems clearly to refer to the righteousness or innocence of Jesus himself. He was now persecuted. He was soon to be arraigned on heavy charges, and condemned by the highest authority of the nation as guilty. Yet, though condemned, he says that the Holy Spirit would descend and convince the world that he was innocent. (Barnes Notes) Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no moreBeyond doubt, it is Christ's personal righteousness which the Spirit was to bring home to the sinner's heart. The evidence of this was to lie in the great historical fact, that He had "gone to His Father and was no more visible to men":for if His claim to be the Son of God, the Saviour of the world, had been a lie, how should the Father, who is "a jealous God," have raised such a blasphemer from the dead and exalted him to His right hand? But if He was the "Faithful and True Witness," the Father's "Righteous Servant," "His Elect, in whom His soul delighted," then was His departure to the Father, and consequent disappearance from the view of men, but the fitting consummation, the august reward, of all that He did here below, the seal of His mission, the glorification of the testimony which He bore on earth, by the reception of its Bearer to the Father's bosom. (Jamieson-Fausset- Brown Bible Commentary)

The work of the Spirit Of judgment (Jn 16:11) Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judgedBy supposing that the final judgment is here meant, the point of this clause is, even by good interpreters, quite missed. The statement, "The prince of this world is judged," means, beyond all reasonable doubt, the same as that in Joh 12:31, "Now shall the prince of this world be cast out"; and both mean that his dominion over men, or his power to enslave and so to ruin them, is destroyed. The death of Christ "judged" or judicially overthrew him, and he was thereupon "cast out" or expelled from his usurped dominion (Heb 2:14; 1Jo 3:8; Col 2:15). Thus, then, the Spirit shall bring home to men's conscience: (1) the sense of sin, consummated in the rejection of Him who came to "take away the sin of the world"; (2) the sense of perfect relief in the righteousness of the Father's Servant, now fetched from the earth that spurned Him to that bosom where from everlasting He had dwelt; and (3) the sense of emancipation from the fetters of Satan, whose judgment brings to men liberty to be holy, and transformation out of servants of the devil into sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty. (Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary) It is necessary to observe that it was one office of the Spirit to convince of a judgment to come; and this he did particularly by the apostles, in declaring that God had appointed a day in which he would judge the world by him whom he had appointed for that purpose: Acts 17:31. And we find that while Peter was asserting this doctrine at Caesarea, Acts 10:42, the Holy Spirit was poured out on the Jews and the Gentiles which were present, Acts 10:44, etc., and many were converted unto the Lord. (Clarkes Commentary on the Bible)

The blessings of the Spirit The gift of the Spirit Promised to all who obey Acts 2:38; Acts 5:32 And ye shall receive... - The gift of the Holy Spirit here does not mean his extraordinary gifts, or the power of working miracles, but it simply means, you shall partake of the influences of the Holy Spirit "as far as they may be adapted to your case" - as far as may be needful for your comfort, peace, and sanctification. There is no evidence that they were all endowed with the power of working miracles, nor does the connection of the passage require us thus to understand it. Nor does it mean that they had not been awakened "by his influences." All true conviction is from him, John 16:8-10. (Barnes Notes) The gift of the Holy Ghost does not mean in this place the power of speaking with tongues. For the promise of this was not given to all that were afar off, in distant ages and nations. But rather the constant fruits of faith, even righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. Whomsoever the Lord our God shall call - (Whether they are Jews or Gentiles) by his word and by his Spirit: and who are not disobedient to the heavenly calling. (Wesleys Notes)

The blessings of the Spirit The gifts of the Spirit Miraculous manifestations of the Spirit (1 Cor 12:1-11) Imparted by the laying on of Apostles hands Acts 8:1418; Acts 19:1-7; Rom 1:11; 2 Tim 1:6 Obtained by some but not by all 1 Cor 12:29-30; 1 Cor 14:23 Given for the benefit of all and not just those with the gift To reveal the truth (1 Cor 14:6) To confirm the truth Temporary in their duration To cease when knowledge is complete (1 Cor 13:8-12) While faith, hope, and love remain (1 Cor 13:13)

Conclusion The promise, work, and blessings of the Holy Spirit had a truly amazing and miraculous beginning We have seen this morning that some of this work was temporary in nature and has fulfilled its purpose It is our responsibility as children of God to understand this temporary work of the Spirit and help explain to the world today