Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Speaker A: Welcome to NUMA Church Podcast, wherever you are in the world. We are so glad you've joined us. Our prayer is that this message will reveal more of who our Heavenly Father is as we all grow deeper in intimacy with Jesus. Enjoy the message.
[00:00:19] Speaker B: Okay, let's jump into the word of God. We're going to go to Luke chapter three this morning. Luke chapter three, I want to talk about. This is really going to be a series that I'm going to teach on, and it's. It's about Holy Spirit. Okay. We're going to be talking about the baptism of Holy Spirit and fire. Okay. But can I just tell you that the fire part, we'll touch on it today, but it's going to take several sessions to really unpack that. It's not a separate thing like saying, oh, yeah, you'd be baptized in the Holy Spirit or you baptized in fire. No, it's baptized in the Holy Spirit and fire. It's not. There's no. It's not two distinct types of baptisms here. Right. But we're going to start off in Luke chapter three.
And this is really an interesting thing because this is the story of John.
Some say he was Baptist. I don't know. I think he was. He wasn't Pentecostal because Holy Spirit hadn't come yet, but.
So maybe he was Baptist, I don't know. But it says starting at verse one of Luke chapter three. Now, in the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod being the tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip, tetrarch of Igeria, and the region of Trachatonitis, and Lysanius, tetrarch of Abilene. There you go. While Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of the Lord came to John, the son of Zacharias in the wilderness and went into all the region around the Jordan, and he went into all the region around Jordan preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of. Of sins. Notice that he preached a baptism of repentance for the remission or the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah, the prophet saying, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make his path straight. Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill brought low. The crooked places shall be made straight, the rough way smooth, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God. Okay, let's jump down to verse number 15.
Now, as the people were in expectation and all reasoned in their hearts about John, whether he was the Christ or not. John answered saying to all, I indeed baptize you with water. But one mightier than I is coming whose sandal strap I'm not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the holy spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in his hand. He will thoroughly clean out his threshing floor and gather the wheat into his barn. But the chaff, he will burn with unquenchable fire.
Wow. This is such a profound, profound event. It's the introduction of someone named John who. His purpose was to prepare the way and to make straight paths for the coming of Messiah. And, you know, one of the old Testament obviously prophesied this, already referred to in the book of Isaiah. Also, Malachi chapter three talks about this. The one who would be sent to prepare the way for the Lord, and suddenly the Lord whom you're seeking shall appear in his temple. It says in Malachi 3. So it's very powerful. John knew his mission. He understood what he was called to do. He was not the Messiah, but he was the one sent as a forerunner, the one that would prepare the way for the coming of Messiah. Yeshua hamashiach, Jesus, the anointed one who would bring salvation to all people. It says, as we already read, and all flesh shall see the salvation of the Lord. That's a powerful thing. So John's focus was a baptism of repentance. Okay. Baptism of water unto repentance. So he called the people to repentance. He called the people to do that. Why? To prepare the way for the coming of the Lord. Jesus was going to come and baptize with fire, Holy spirit and fire. But John was preparing the people for that. And there's an analogy here or an imagery that's used which is very profound, that is that he would prepare the way. He would make straight paths. And this actually is drawn from ancient middle Eastern customs, where roads would be prepared and straightened for the arrival of a king. So literally, they would say, hey, the king is. Is going to come. And there was a messenger, there was a herald, there was a person that would say, the king is going to come. The king is coming. And he would cry out and say, prepare the way for the king. Make the rough places smooth, the crooked ways straight. And it would actually involve every valley being filled, every mountain and hill made low, the crooked roads becoming straight, the rough way smooth, as it actually says here in our text. It was a powerful thing. Now, John is borrowing that imagery, saying that we are called or the people at that time to prepare the way for the coming of the Lord. Now, that was certainly true then, and it is true also for us today if we're going to experience the fullness of what Jesus made available. Even though some would say that Jesus has already paid the price, obviously that's true. There still is a work of preparation. There's still a call to prepare ourselves for what it is that he wants to do. And Jesus even spoke about that repeatedly when he was on the earth. He talked about preparing themselves. And you know, there are people that had not prepared themselves for his visitation, right, talks about that in Luke 19, that they failed to recognize the hour of their visitation.
They failed to recognize the hour of their visitation. Jesus was there. He was among them. He was doing amazing things. But there was a people that it literally went because they failed to recognize the hour of their visitation that Jesus had come. In other words, they had not prepared themselves for what it was that he wanted to do.
Now, there's a lot of different ways that we are called to prepare ourselves. But can I just say that there's one word that summarizes it all? It's the word repent.
Repentance. Now, repentance isn't a dirty word.
It's not something negative. Oh, you're telling me to repent? That means you're accusing me of living in sin. No, that's not what the word means. It actually has to do. It comes from two different words, which literally means to change your way of thinking. Metanoia. Change your way of thinking, change your mind.
And changing of the mind isn't just, oh, I'm justifying how I'm living. I'm trying to excuse, you know, a lifestyle of debauchery or sordid sin. That's not what it means.
That's part of it and can be true if that's the case for us as, as God's people, or even as those who don't know Him. But the idea is this. Bring your mindset, bring your thinking into alignment with God.
And remember, Paul said this in Philippians chapter 2. Let this mind be in you, which is in Christ Jesus. So it's bringing ourselves into alignment, sinking our thinking with God's word and will for our lives. Come on now, say that. Say, sinking our thinking with God's word and will for my life. So what does God say? That's truth. Remember, revelation talks about that. 19, verse 10, that the Spirit of prophecy is the testimony of Jesus. So sometimes people think, well, prophecy is when someone reads My mail, yes, that certainly is part of it. But prophecy is this. It's the testimony of Jesus. What does Jesus say? That's prophetic. Have you ever been in a situation where you just don't know what God is wanting of you or the way forward? You're finding it difficult. Look, what you need at that point, what we all need is, is to know what the testimony of Jesus is. What is he saying about this situation? And he still speaks, right? Because man doesn't live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds. Present continuous tense in Greek, which means that the word is always coming forth. It doesn't. It's not. Just like he spoke 10 years ago to me. No, he's still speaking today. He's still speaking today. He speaks, as we said before, through. Through the. Through the Logos, which is the message through the rhema. And the scripture, of course, embodies both the graphite. So the idea is that we're called to a place of hearing God's voice, understanding his word and his will, in order that we can align with what he says.
And where we go awry often is we try to align God's word or literally adjust God's word to line up with what we think, what we believe, or even our current experiences.
But we're not called to do that. We're called to repent, not God. God's not a man that he would repent. We're called to repent. We're called to change our minds and to come into agreement with God's assessment of who we are, who he is, what his will, and what His Word says. We come into alignment with that. So we prepare the way for all that Jesus wants to do in our lives through repentance. And if you look at the imagery that's actually used here, it's very interesting because as I said, the valleys would be filled, the hills would be leveled, the crooked path straightened. And John is calling for the leveling of pride.
Mountains made low. Wow. The leveling of pride. The lifting up of the humble valleys filled. And what does that mean? Oh, if we're proud. Yes, we want to humble ourselves, but what does the Bible say about those who humble themselves? They'll be lifted up. Right? He's a good father. He doesn't just tell us to go low and then just leave us in a place of debasement. And no, he says, I want to exalt you. I want to lift you up. If you humble yourself, if you go low, I want to use you for my glory. You know, One of the greatest tragedies of the Welsh Revival and, and those of us who are familiar with. With Evans is what ended up happening. There was Evan Roberts. Sorry, what ended up happening is he came to a place where he was so focused on humility that he took it too far. So he said, look, I don't want even to be used by God anymore. And, and literally he stepped back, some, some historians believe to the point that this was a false humility that literally took him out of the game, so to speak, so that he wasn't able to be continually used by God. Now the enemy wants to decimate us and debase us. God humbles us in order that he can raise us up and use us for his purposes. And he's not trying to. To destroy us. He's not trying to disengage us from his purposes, but he's looking for people that recognize that our strength is made. His strength is made perfect in our weakness. It's not just about, I'm weak, I'm low, I'm humble. No, it's a place of, yes, I'm preparing the way in order that his strength can be made perfect in my weakness, so people will see his strength. And 2 Corinthians 1:9 says this. We have the sentence of death in ourselves, though we might not trust in ourselves, but in God who what, raises the dead. So there's a place where we don't trust in ourselves. We have this sentence of death not so that we were like, stay in this place where useless, but that God can raise the dead. God can raise us up and use us for his purposes. Let me say God wants to give you a testimony. He wants you to be able to testify and tell everyone about his great works, about his goodness. So he's a God that wants to do amazing things in our life, and we have to prepare ourselves for that. But we don't stay in that place where it's. It's just, you know, the. The leveling of pride. There's also the lifting up of the humble and there's a straightening of the crooked ways in our life.
The straightening of the crooked ways, which I really has to do with repentance. What is out of alignment with what God wants for life. Now sometimes, guys, we think of ourselves in a way that is out of alignment with who God says we are, right?
Oh, yeah, I'm this, I'm that. I was. Nico and I were hanging out yesterday and we talked about the fact that there's a teaching that says, basically, I'm A sinner saved by grace. Well, how many know that's a biblical teaching, right? But do you know, if you leave it there and you just say, I'm a sinner saved by grace, you know, I'm a worm, I'm a wretched. And we don't recognize that Actually he made a saint now in the New Testament, yes, we were sinners and he forgave us. He says in 1 Corinthians 6, it's talking about the Corinthians before they came to Jesus. And he says, such as some of you were.
But then he says, but now you're sanctified, now you're washed by the blood. The word sanctified, the word saints, and the word holy all have the same root in the Greek language. And some people will tell us, well, that means that I am a person set apart for God's purposes. Yes, it does. It means that. But it's a much deeper definition when you really study it. You know what the word actually means? Holy saints sanctify. It comes from a Greek word, hagios. And hagios has an antecedent, ha, which is. It's literally an antecedent. It negates. Ghee is the root. Do you know what gi means in Greek? Glad you asked.
It means dirt, soil, earth.
So to be holy means you're not of the earth, you're not of the dirt, you're not of the soil.
So where are we seated? In heavenly places? In Christ Jesus. The first Adam was a living soul, but the second Adam, and we are what? He's the firstborn among many brethren. The second Adam is a life giving spirit.
So we're seated in heavenly places. Our life is hidden with Christ, in God. So it's a reality of who we're called to be. Now, John's ministry was a ministry of preparing people's hearts for the coming of Messiah through a baptism of repentance. But how many know? It didn't stop there, right? What did he say?
No, I'm not the Messiah. I'm not the main character in the story.
Like, there's one coming after me. He's my cousin.
But the fact is, right, he's mightier than I. I'm not even worthy to unloose his sandals, which was the role of a slave, a household slave, a doulos. I'm not even worthy to do that.
He said so when he comes, he will baptize you as well. But his baptism is not in water unto repentance, but his baptism is a baptism with the Holy Spirit and fire.
Now, what does that mean? It means that the New Covenant is all about the reality of living a life in surrender and yieldingness to Holy Spirit.
Now, now, this is where a lot of Christians miss it. And can I just say, today I'm not picking on any particular denomination or, you know, stream of theology here, meaning those who don't understand the baptism of the Holy Spirit or believe. I'm actually picking on everyone, okay? Because we're all guilty of. Of shortchanging the true significance, purpose and power of Holy Spirit. And what I mean by that is we've got Pentecostals and Pentecostals who say this. Oh, have you been baptized through the Holy Spirit? And do you speak in other tongues?
Yes, but there's so much more than just speaking in tongues. Now, we know in Acts 1:8, he said, you will receive power when Holy Spirit comes upon you. But there's more to it than just healing the sick. There's more to it than praying in our heavenly language or whatever. There's a lot more to this. And we're going to unpack what it means to walk and live in the Holy Spirit. In order to do this, we actually have to go to the Book of Acts. And chapter two, verses one through four tells us that after ten days of waiting in Jerusalem, the disciples who had gathered literally for the, you know, what happened on Passover. Jesus died, we know, on Passover. Correct. So the Holy Spirit came on Pentecost.
But can I tell us that Pentecost was not a Jewish feast.
The Jews didn't celebrate Pentecost. In fact, there is no such thing as Pentecost. Back then, the Jews celebrated what's known as the Feast of Weeks, or in Hebrew, it's Shaviot.
And Shavuot literally means. It speaks of weeks.
And they did something where the day after Passover, they would begin a countdown and they would count down for seven weeks and seven weeks for the day after Passover, they would celebrate the Feast of Weeks, or Shavuot. And Shavuot is literally a celebration, one of the three great feasts that God gave to Israel to uphold. There was. There was Passover, Pentecost, and then Tabernacles. So this is a powerful imagery of what many of us have missed. If you go back to the Old Testament, to the very beginning in the second book of the Old Testament, chapter 19 of Exodus, we see. And in the 20th chapter as well, something powerful takes place. You remember what it was. God calls Moses to assemble the people.
Let them, you know, they Put. They put boundaries around the mountain. Moses goes to the top of the mountain, and while he's there, guess what he receives from God? How many? Remember the Ten Commandments, the Law, the Torah, whatever you want to call it. But you know something that the Jews commemorate? Shabiot. It was a. A literally a harvest festival as well, for. For the wheat harvest and in. In subsequent years. But they celebrate or they commemorate and recognize that Cheviot, or the feast of weeks, what we call Pentecost, was the occasion when God gave Moses the law.
But you ask the average Christian, what is Pentecost? Well, that's when Holy Spirit came. You ask the Jew, they'll say, that's when Moses received the law.
But there's something that both of us are missing.
Are you ready?
One of my mentors, the late Dr. John Ruthven, who actually, as a professor, really opened my eyes to this in some sessions, you know, that we did in terms of mentoring sessions. The idea is this, guys. When Pentecost occurred, when God spoke to Moses to gather the people, it wasn't about receiving a book or tablets with laws on it had nothing to do with that.
Let's look at this.
On the day of Pentecost, they're gathered. Holy Spirit comes, tongues of fire, a flame for each name.
And they begin to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gives them utterance. Powerful, right?
The significance of this really unpacked more in Acts 2:17 and 18, where we gain insight into the real purpose of Holy Spirit coming, which is a direct quote from the book of Joel.
Peter's quoting the book of joel. So Acts 2:17 and 18, when people are saying, these guys are drunk, what's this all about? Peter stands up. He goes, now, in the last days, these men are drunk, as you suppose. But this is what the prophet Joel foretold. In the last days it shall be. God declares that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh, on all people. And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. Even on my male servants and female servants in those days, I will pour out my spirit, and they shall prophesy.
So he mentions prophesying twice, speaking forth the word of God. He talks about dreams and visions as well. But he highlights that the purpose of the coming of the Holy Spirit is to be a people that hear the voice of God, that encounter God and actually speak forth his word.
So that is a clue to the purpose of God calling the children of Israel to gather before him back in the wilderness, in Sinai, In Exodus, chapter 19, see, Pentecost, as I said, is this occasion where the Jews typically, you know, celebrate the giving of the Torah. But I want you to see this, that God's original plan was to have direct communication and relationship with his people.
We see this clearly expressed. Let's go to Exodus, chapter 19, verses 5 and 6, and then verse 9. Look at this.
Now, therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be meaning Israel, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine, and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. Now, listen to this verse number nine. These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel. In other words, Moses, I want you to tell my people, this is my word. This is my will. Now, we look at this and we think, yep, Moses had direct communication with God, and he did. He was honored that way. But I want you to see that God was actually wanting to have direct communication and communion with his people. Look, as it continues, it says, the Lord further emphasized this desire when he says in Exodus 19, verse 9, behold, I'm coming to you in a thick cloud. This is what he says to Moses, that the people may hear when I speak with you and may also believe you forever. In other words, I want the people to hear me speak to you. I want them to hear my voice. It wasn't just Moses, you come up to the mountain, and I'm going to have a chat with you, and you can write it down on, you know, on these tablets, and then go give it to the people. No, that was not the full intention of this encounter. And as we continue, we see in Exodus, chapter 20, which is where we have the Ten Commandments, the Decalogue, what we see in Exodus 21:17, it unpacks all of this. But here's what it says, that God spoke all these words, saying, now, whoa. What does that mean? It means, when Moses is with the Lord on top of the mountain, guess what happens? We think he has a nice chat with the Lord, and then the Lord writes it down. No, it says that God actually spoke the words.
God said to him, I am the Lord your God. You shall have no other gods before me. God spoke these things. And guess what? The children of Israel heard him say it.
They actually heard him speaking. How do I know that? For the Bible tells me so.
Look at Exodus 20, verse 22. Thus, you shall say to the people of Israel, you have seen for yourselves that I have talked with you from heaven.
Whoa.
Powerful.
However, Israel's response wasn't good.
What did Israel say?
Well, they actually chose rules and laws over a living relationship with God.
They rejected God's voice in favor of a mediator and the written law.
In other words, we'll read your book, but don't talk to us.
It's too personal, it's too convicting, it's too challenging.
And frankly, you know what, God? Just speak to Moses and tell him what you want us to know.
Look at verses 18 and 19 of Exodus 20. Now, when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled and stood far off and said to Moses, you speak to us and we will listen, but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.
Now I understand.
It was definitely scary. It was terrifying. We read in Hebrews that it was terrifying. But the point is, God was doing something. He was speaking to his people in order. If you continue to read this, he says, don't be afraid, because the fear of God has come.
The fear of God has come. In other words, it happened even in Jesus Day. Don't be afraid. You know, and there's a sense in which we fear God. But the fear of God is not meant to shut us down or to distance us, to separate us from having an intimate relationship, but to give us a posture that we need to be able to approach him in humility and in fear, recognizing how awesome, how holy he really is.
So the whole purpose of this encounter is to say to the Israelites, I want you guys, I've called you to be different. I want to have a relationship with you that's unique. You are actually my special treasure, my treasured possession. And the idea of that word, it actually referred to a king who had a treasure chest. And in that treasure chest, the king had all sorts of things that were so valuable and of great worth. And he's saying that, I want you, my people, to be that to me. I want to have a special intimate relationship with you, where you are a treasure to me.
It speaks of how much God wants to have relationship with his people and how much he yearns and desires that we would become his treasured people.
We would be a kingdom of priests.
We would become a special people set apart, different from all the other people on the earth.
Now, Israel pursues the knowledge of the word of God more than the place of knowledge or the knowledge of God himself.
So this choice established a pattern that would persist until the coming of the new covenant.
So what happens is there's priests, right, Moses? Later on, there's priests, there's high priests, there are mediators, all of that. But in the beginning he says, I want you guys to be my priests.
A priest is a mediator. He, he's a go between. He's someone that stands in the gap between God and the people.
I want you to be my priest, to have direct access, all of you, to me. Yes. Moses would speak to them. He would have a special relationship in a sense. I'm not negating that, but I am questioning whether or not we've made it, what it has become.
It's not what God want. I mean, whether we've made it something it shouldn't have been. He's always wanted a special intimate relationship with his people.
It's amazing. You know this, this passage later on in Exodus 25 where he says to Moses, let them build me a sanctuary.
Let them build me a sanctuary. It's the Hebrew word that we get, Kadesh, from that, you know, Jehovah or Yahweh Kadesh. Right. I'm the Lord that sanctifies you. That's found in Ezekiel 20, verse 12, where we're introduced to Yahweh Kadesh. I'm the Lord that sanctifies you. Allow them, Tell them, build me or prepare me. We're talking about preparation. A sanctuary.
That word was, was never used of just an ordinary, mundane venue or meeting place. It was always used of a very holy, set apart, sanctified place to go and encounter God.
And he's saying, build me a sanctuary that I may dwell among you. Exodus 20:5, verse 8, Dwell among you that I might be the God who has communion and fellowship with my people. Then he continues, in the next verse he says, build it according to the pattern. Build it according to the blueprint. So when Moses is on top of Mount Sinai, many of us, we think, oh, that's when he received the ten Commandments. Can I tell you that there's only one chapter and the book of Exodus that's devoted to the Ten Commandments, chapter 20. But if you read after that, the duration of the entire book of Exodus, which I believe is 36 chapters or 38 chapters. Fact check. Go ahead.
It actually 40. Thank you. 40 is a better. Oh yeah, that makes sense. Exodus 40. 40 days in the wilderness. I'll get it. 40 years. Yeah. Okay. So what happens is God actually is preparing a people to have encounter with Him. Exodus 20 is about ten commandments.
The entire duration of the rest of the book is the blueprint, the pattern, how to build this sanctuary that he might dwell among his people.
So just a little bit of the law right here, the commandments. The rest is build me this amazing sanctuary. It was called the tabernacle, but I want you to have relationship and encounter with me. And everything that went into that, all of the details, the composition, the materials, the dimensions, everything that went into that was a prophetic picture of a heavenly reality. Do you know that it actually says in Hebrews chapter 8 that this tabernacle that Moses was called to build was actually an earthly type of the heavenly prototype? In other words, it was heavenly. It was in existence in heaven first.
And I want you to build it on the earth. What is that on earth as it is in heaven now? We're like, no, no, no, it's an earthly prototype, right, Of a heavenly reality. No, it already existed in heaven is what Hebrews says. And Moses is called to construct it on the earth as it represents what our relationship with God is all about. How many know it will take six months to unpack that badger skins and colors and cubits and everything else. It would take a long time, but it's so profound. Every. Every detail in that has a picture of who Jesus is and what he's done for us. So powerful.
Now let's fast forward the coming of Jesus. The beginning was the Word. The Word was with God. And the Word was God and what he came and he dwelt among us. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Correct. The word dwelt is what? Tabernacle.
He tabernacled among us.
Feast of tabernacles is fulfilled when Jesus coming. The feast of tabernacles is all about being a habitation.
And when he returns, ultimately, when he is second coming is a fulfillment of that.
That we will be with him forever. Right? And he will be with us. Amazing. So Jesus comes and he tabernacles among us.
Now here's what happened. When Jesus is on the earth for those three and a half years, he is initially a mediator. We know that says that in Timothy, he is a mediator between God and men by his death.
But he shows his disciples that they one day will have direct access to the Father.
Okay. So when he baptizes them in the Holy Spirit, they will know the presence and the voice of God perfectly. Watch this. Let's go to John chapter 14, the last week of Jesus life recorded in John chapter 13 through 19.
Can you imagine the chapters the book of John 21, chapters I know that one.
It actually verses 13 12. Technically, to 19 is literally the last week of his life.
So what happens is this. Jesus is speaking to them about, I'm leaving, but I'm not going to leave you alone. You're not going to be orphans.
He actually says in verse 14, I'm sorry, chapter 14, 15, 18, if you love me, keep my commandments and I will pray the Father and He will give you another helper that he may abide with you forever.
The Spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know Him. For, for he dwells with you, but he will be in you. So something's going to change. Right now he's with you. Later on, after Jesus dies, John 7 tells us that he had not yet been glorified, so the Spirit could not yet be given. So what happens is he glorified. After his death and resurrection, the Holy Spirit is poured out and the Holy Spirit now is in us. It moves from being upon us to being in us, or even with us to in us. I'll not leave you orphans. I will come to you. Now, when he says another helper, there's two words. Let's get a little technical for a second. There's two words in Greek for another.
This word means another of the same kind, another of the same type. So he's saying, I'm going to send you another helper, the Paraclete. Paracletos. He's just like me. He's just like me. He's the Spirit of Christ.
Then look at verse 16. I'm sorry, chapter 16 of John, verse 7.
Jesus makes a remarkable statement about the coming of Holy Spirit. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage. It is expedient that I go away.
For if I do not go away, the helper will not come to you. But if I depart, I will send him to you.
The advantage is profound. Jesus, in his physical body, while he was on the earth, could only be in one place at a time, right? Holy Spirit would be omnipresent, able to dwell within all believers simultaneously. The withdrawal of Jesus limited bodily presence prepared the way for a universal presence through the Spirit. Jesus could help all believers at once, demonstrating both omniscience and and omnipotence.
In other words, the Spirit's entrance into the world, which Jesus said, it's for your benefit that I leave so the Spirit can come. The Spirit's entrance into the world would not take place until Jesus left the earth in his fleshly body.
Guys, have you ever thought. I've thought this many times. Oh, man. Can you imagine being with Jesus, walking with Jesus, being on the earth with Jesus like that would be amazing. Absolutely. Who wouldn't want to experience that? But Jesus is saying something here.
I haven't left you.
I sent you another company just like me.
In fact, it's actually better off that I leave in order that he Holy Spirit can come better off.
We've received an upgrade.
What the apostles experienced was absolutely amazing. Jesus yielded to the Holy Spirit, full of the Spirit, knew how to walk in the Spirit, only did those things he saw his father doing.
Amazing. But he's saying, I give you Holy Spirit, I give you this spirit, my spirit, the Spirit of my Father, he said in another place.
And he will abide with you forever.
He's with you forever. So the coming of Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost was the fulfillment of God's original plan that his people would hear his voice and know his presence.
[00:44:40] Speaker C: Thank you for joining us. We hope that you enjoyed today's podcast and we realize that not everyone has had the opportunity to respond to the good news of the Gospel. And for this reason, in all of our services and platforms, we want to extend to you the opportunity to follow follow Jesus. The Bible teaches us that we have been created for a relationship with God. However, sin, which is essentially disobedience, independence and disbelief, or are simply missing the mark entered the world and separated us from God. Romans 6:23 says that the wages of sin is death and a debt was owed. And the Bible tells us that he, Jesus, demonstrated his love for us that while we were still sinners, he died for us. Jesus paid the penalty for our sin. John 3:16 says, For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. God so loved the world that he gave us Jesus, that whoever believes in him will be saved. All that is required of anyone is that they believe in Jesus, the Son of God who came, lived, died and rose again so that we could be forgiven, made right and given the right to become children of God and to have life forevermore with Him.
Today you can begin a relationship with Jesus. To believe in him is to simply to respond with faith in our hearts and confess with our mouths that he is Lord. And we do that through a simple prayer.
Follow along with me. Dear Jesus, I believe that you are the Son of God. I thank you that you love me and came to forgive me of my sin. I repent from my old way of life and I turn to follow you. I receive the free gift of eternal life and I ask that you fill me with the Holy Spirit so that I can live a life of following after you. I thank you that I am born again as a child of God and that I am a new creation in Christ Jesus. Amen. If you prayed this prayer for the first time, we would love to connect with you and connect you to your next step and the local church in your area. You can contact us on our website at NUMA Church. Thanks for listening.
