The Holy Spirit of God I

Fred R. Coulter—August 27, 2011

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Greetings, brethren! Welcome to Sabbath services. We're going to talk about the Holy Spirit, how we're led by the Holy Spirit, and we're going to talk about how does God begin drawing someone. And how does He know when someone is knocking and seeking and asking, so that God can respond to them.

Let's take a look at the throne room of God. Let's go to Revelation 4 and here we find something very interesting. Here it tells us about the eyes of God. Now we know that God has two eyes Himself and here is something else concerning the eyes of God. They are called the seven Spirits of God.

Let's see what John saw when he was told to come up and see these things. Revelation 4:2: "And immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one was sitting on the throne." He saw in vision the Father. He didn't see Him directly, personally. Remember that in the Old Testament when God made the tabernacle, everything that the tabernacle was patterned after were the things that were in heaven.

Here at the throne of God He has the cherubim. And in this case it shows there are also four living creatures. Verse 3: "And He Who was sitting was in appearance like a jasper stone and a sardius stone; and a rainbow was around the throne, like an emerald in its appearance." I've never been able to quite grasp that, whether it was completely around in a circle, because rainbows, if they are not inhibited by the land do form a circle.

That's why sometimes in the winter you can look up in the sky at a full moon and you see a ring. You can't see the colors, because it's not directly from the sun, but you can see the ring. I know when I was a kid, I looked up and I thought, there's a ring around the moon. I thought that was clear up where the moon was. But that wasn't so.

Here's the rainbow. Let's look at it this way. When God said He would set the rainbow as a sign that He would not flood the earth again, this comes personally from God. Of course, all light—the light that you see, as you can look out the window here and see the sun shining—has the colors of the rainbow in it when it comes to the earth. But you can't see it unless it hits some moisture and you see the colors.

Verse 4: "And around the throne were twenty-four thrones; and on the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white garments; and they had on their heads golden crowns. And proceeding from the throne were lightnings and thunders and voices; and seven lamps of fire..." (vs 4-5). The seven lamps of fire go back to the lampstand that was set on the outside of the Holy of Holies. It was right there before the priest would go in. Many people believe that the seven lamps on the lampstand represent the churches, because there are seven churches. But they are not.

Christ told John when he was in the spirit on the day of the Lord, Revelation 1:11: "Saying, 'I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last'; and, 'What you see, write in a book... [He wants it written, just like the Old Testament.] ...and send it to the churches that are in Asia: to Ephesus, and to Smyrna, and to Pergamos, and to Thyatira, and to Sardis, and to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea. And I turned to see the voice that spoke with me...'" (vs 11-12). I've often thought about that. You never see a voice, but it was 'turn to see' who was speaking.

"...and when I turned, I saw seven golden lampstands... [It is not a lampstand with seven little vials where they had light. These are seven golden lampstands. How were they set? They were set in a circle] (because it says): ...and in the midst of the seven lampstands one like the Son of man, clothed in a garment reaching to the feet, and girded about the chest with a golden breastplate" (vs 12-13).

Verse 20: "The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, is this: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches; and the seven lampstands that you saw are the seven churches." That is different than what he was looking at back here in Rev. 4.

Revelation 4:5: "And proceeding from the throne were lightnings and thunders and voices; and seven lamps of fire, which are the seven Spirits of God, were burning before the throne…. [This was the pattern that was given to Moses to make the lampstand right at the entrance of the Holy of Holies.] …And before the throne was a sea of glass, like crystal. And around the throne and over the throne were four living creatures, full of eyes before and behind" (vs 5-6). This is a little different vision of it than the two cherubim that were over the Ark of the Covenant that God instructed Moses to make.

Then it describes them. Let's come down here to Revelation 5:6: "Then I saw, and behold, before the throne and the four living creatures, and before the elders, was standing a Lamb as having been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God... [Here are the seven Spirits of God (Rev. 4:5). These then are directed by Christ; these are not the seven churches, because here's what these Spirits do.] ...that are sent into all the earth." What do they do? How do these seven Spirits operate? There are "…seven eyes, which are seven Spirits of God, sent into all the earth." Exactly how those work? I couldn't tell you! But we do have a couple of clues as to what the seven eyes do.

Let's come here to 2-Chronicles 15, please, and what we are going to see is that if we are seeking God, we can find Him. We will see that the eyes of God go to and fro in the earth. This is very much like a tremendous monitoring system on earth.

• Are there people seeking God?

—and if they are:

• Will God notice?

—and if they are not:

• Will God also notice?
• How does God keep track of things?

Let's come here to 2-Chronicles 15:1: "And the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded. And he went out to meet Asa, and said to him, 'Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin. The LORD is with you while you are with Him... [That is a very profound statement—isn't it? That's why we are told in Isa. 55, 'if you seek Him, you will find Him.'] ...The LORD is with you while you are with Him. And if you seek Him, He will be found by you. But if you forsake Him, He will forsake you'" (vs 1-2).

Those are some pretty powerful ifs. And this also helps answer the question as to why things happen in the world, because people are not seeking God! As we have discussed, you have to seek God His way. You have to seek God in repentance. That's why, as we were discussing before services, that people turn to God in time of trouble. Because somehow they think when there is no trouble, they don't need God. But that's when they really need God, so that He will help you in trouble.

This is really something here, v 2: "…And if you seek Him, He will be found by you." Jesus said, 'Knock and it shall be opened, seek and you shall find, ask and it shall be given.' We're also told in John 6:44 that the Father draws the individual who is seeking God.

Now then, let's continue on here and see what happened. Verse 3: "And for a long time Israel had been without the true God..." Sound like today? I thought with this hurricane that's coming on this Sabbath while we're speaking, I wonder if that has anything to do with the fact that perhaps God is letting His presence be known in New York City where they dis-invited God from the 9/11 ten-year commemoration—no religious services at all.

"...been without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law. And when they turned in their trouble to the LORD God of Israel, and sought Him, He was found by them. And in those there was no peace in him who went out, nor to him who came in, but great tumult was upon all the inhabitants of the lands…. [Isn't that parallel with what we have today?] …And nation was destroyed by nation, and city by city, for God troubled them with every adversity" (vs 3-6). This is showing when you recover and come back to God; God is going to acknowledge it. But you've got to continue seeking Him and you've got to continue being with Him.

Here's what Azariah told Asa, v 7: "'But you be strong and do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded.' And when Asa heard these words, and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage and put away the abominable idols out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the cities which he had taken from mount Ephraim. And he renewed the altar of the LORD before the porch of the LORD" (vs 7-8).

Then he gathered them all together and they offered offerings. God blessed them; God was with them. It's not how you start. This is a good start, but it's also how you finish, because he turned from God. After God blessed him, after God fought the battles for him, after God heard his prayers, after they sought God, after they offered the offerings and cleaned out the temple.

2-Chronicles 16:1: "In the thirty-sixth year of the reign of Asa, Baasha king of Israel came up against Judah and built Ramah so that he might let no one go out or come in to Asa king of Judah." There were people going down from Ephraim and Manasseh to the temple. Remember that Jeroboam had the temple in Bethel and in Dan. So this meant that if they went to Jerusalem, then they took the offerings and things there and they didn't bring it to the pagan temple site that they had in Bethel.

Instead of turning to God, notice what he did, and this is an object lesson throughout all the book of 2-Kings and 2-Chron. Rather than turning to God; rather than saying, 'God, this is a terrible thing; we're sorry that we have this war from Israel against us. What do you want us to do?' No! What he did, he's going to do it on his own.

Verse 2: "And Asa brought out silver and gold from the treasures of the house of the LORD... [taking God's money] ...and of the king's house and sent them to Ben-Hadad king of Syria, who lived at Damascus..." Sound like what we do today? How many treaties do we have and how many of these friends are against us?

If you want some instructive reading, read Ezek. 16 and 23 about Judah and Israel and how they conducted themselves like prostitutes and whores giving the blessings that God has given us to our enemies to make friends with them. That's exactly what Asa did here.

Here's what he said to them, v 3: "Let there be a treaty between you and me as there was between my father and your father. Behold, I have sent you silver and gold. Go, break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel so that he may depart from me." If you're going to send gold and silver to me, okay, I'll do it, said old Ben-Hadad.

Verse 4: "And Ben-Hadad listened to king Asa and sent the commanders of the armies against the cities of Israel. And they struck Ijon and Dan, and Abel Maim, and all the store cities of Naphtali. And it came to pass when Baasha heard it, he left off building Ramah and let his work stop. And Asa the king took all Judah, and they carried away the stones of Ramah and timber with which Baasha was building. And he built with it Geba and Mizpah.... [Sooner or later your deeds are going to catch you out.] ...And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him, 'Because you have relied on the king of Syria and have not relied on the LORD your God, therefore the army of the king of Syria has escaped out of your hand'" (vs 4-7).

Then he asked a question, he said, 'I want you to remember.'—v 8: "'Were not the Ethiopians and the Libyans a huge army with many chariots and horsemen? Yet, because you relied on the LORD, He delivered them into your hand…. [Here's the key; this helps answer what we have been studying about the eyes of God and that Christ is in charge of those]: …For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro in all the whole earth...'" (vs 8-9).

God knows what's going on. God knows those who are His. God knows what is happening in all the nations all the time. In addition to the seven eyes of God, what else does God have? He has all the angels—doesn't He? And the angels are in charge of the nations. The angels communicate to God. Remember, they participate in war behind the scenes against Satan and his demons.

Verse 9: "For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro in all the whole earth to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is perfect toward Him... [When you leave God and trust in allies and trust in other people, then your heart is not perfect toward God.] …In this you have done foolishly; therefore, from now on you shall have wars.'" Asa could have repented right there, but in every case repentance also is a choice! You have to choose to repent.

But notice how Asa reacted. Compare all of chapters 15 and 16 and see the difference that over that period of time he left God. Here was his reaction, v 10: "And Asa was angry with the seer and put him in prison house, for he was in a rage against him because of this. And Asa oppressed some of the people at that time. And behold, the acts of Asa, first and last, lo, they are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. And in the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa was diseased in his feet until his disease was very grievous. Yet, in his disease he did not seek to the LORD, but to the physicians. And Asa slept with his fathers and died in the forty-first year of his reign" (vs 10-13).

So, 'the eyes of God go to and fro' knowing what is going on, as well as the angels with that. Now let's look at some other things concerning the eyes of God. You might ask: What about the two eyes of the Father? You would suppose that they would be on the saints who have God's Spirit, begotten by the Father; same way with Christ.

Let's see how we have the confirmation that through the seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits which are before the throne of God, which are sent in to all the earth to all nations, and that's why no one can hide himself from God. Notice just the exact opposite of what Asa did. Here is a Psalm of David and here's what David did when he had troubles and difficulties. And this is what we are to do.

Psalm 11:1: "In the LORD I have taken refuge; how then can you say to me, 'Flee like a bird to your mountain'?…. [You can't do it. You can't get away.] …For lo, the wicked bend their bow; they make ready their arrow on the string, so that they may secretly shoot at the upright in heart. If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?" (vs 1-3).

There's another lesson—isn't it? Don't leave the foundations. And what is that foundation but Jesus Christ. And what are we to do? How are we to build on it? Gold, silver, and precious stones. And actually the foundation then includes the Word of God. First you have Christ, then you have the Word of God.

Verse 4: "The LORD is in His Holy temple... [We saw that.] ...the LORD'S throne is in heaven. His eyes behold; His searching gaze tests the children of men." Remember what happened in the days of Abraham when God was going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah? He and two angels came to visit Abraham. Then after they had eaten, God said to the two angels, 'Shall I withhold from Abraham what I'm going to do?' He told him that He was going to go down to Sodom and the other cities there to see if the cry—that is of their sin—was as bad as was being heard. You know the rest of the story what happened. God sends His angels to act and God also acts.

Verse 5. And in all of this, what happens to us? "The LORD tries the righteous... [as well] ...but His soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence. Upon the wicked He shall rain snares, fire and brimstone; and a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup" (vs 5-6).

Have we seen that? I wonder if that sounds a little bit like Texas today? Record days of over 1000—no rain, everything drying up. I wonder when they're going to have to start importing water. I saw some pictures recently where the lakes are just getting down to virtually nothing. Remember that tropical storm? They were hopeful that they would get up to five inches of rain. It came right up to the southern coast there, right around Houston and just dissipated. They got a little rain, didn't relieve anything with the drought.

It would seem to me, just a question—just kind of thinking on it a little bit—I wonder if those hard-shelled Baptists are going get the point? Because you cannot take your way as the Protestants do and the Baptists do and go make your voice heard on high. God wants them to repent.

Verse 7: "For the LORD is righteous, He loves righteousness; the upright will behold His face." There's a good example of it. Again, we see the same thing. Isn't it interesting, people can't see what God is doing, but God is doing it. People can't see what Satan is doing, but Satan is doing it. And remember this: Satan can only do what God allows. And what God allows depends upon the conduct of the people whether it be in the world or whether it be in the church.

Psalm 66:7: "He rules by His power forever; His eyes keep watch upon the nations... [The seven eyes of God and the angels of God.] ...let not the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah…. [think on this] …O bless our God, O peoples, and make the sound of His praise to be heard, He Who keeps us in life and does not allow our feet to slide, for you have tested us, O God. You have refined us as silver is refined" (vs 7-10). There again, we're tested. God knows it.

Come back here to Psalm 34:11: "Come, hearken to me, you children; I will teach you the fear of the LORD. Who is the man that desires life, and loves many days, that he may see good?" (vs 11-12). Everyone wants that. No one wants to die young. But then when they're getting old and everything is wearing out, then it's a different story.

But if you want to see good days, live many days, v 13: "Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking guile, depart from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry" (vs 13-15). Never think that even though circumstances and difficulties have come upon you that God won't hear you, because He will. Don't think that God won't answer you, because He will. But we have to seek God and we have to do the things that are pleasing to Him. Don't worry about the wicked, especially when they prosper in this world.

Verse 16: "The face of the LORD is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth. The righteous cry, and the LORD hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles" (vs 16-17). This is absolutely more important for us because we have the Spirit of God. We're going to talk about the Spirit of God. Right now we're talking about the seven eyes of God, the seven Spirits of God and the angels, and now you can see we're getting close to coming to the things we need to discuss about the Holy Spirit of God and God dealing with us.

Verse 18: "The LORD is near to the broken-hearted and saves those who are of a contrite spirit.... [That's what we have to have. This is the basis of our relationship with God.] ...Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all" (vs 18-19). If you're having troubles and trials,

• claim these promises
• draw close to God
• He can change the circumstances
• He can intervene

—and He will.

God has the seven eyes, which are the eyes of God, which are going to and fro in the whole earth to see what's going on. This keeps Him in communication to know

• who is seeking Him
• who He can bless
• who He needs to correct

With those who have the Spirit of God in them, when you have trials and difficulties Christ and God the Father are right there with you—Their Spirit is in you—because we are a temple of the living God.

This puts us in a different situation than the seven eyes of God, which are the seven Spirits of God. Before we get into the Spirit of God, let's understand that there is another spirit operating in the world. There is the prince of the power of the air, Satan the devil. He is the one who is operating in the children of disobedience. And, I think, operating big-time in the governments.

Have you ever wondered why governments are so stupid? Because you have a lot of ungodly people working in government, that's why! And they have their political agendas that they want to fulfill. And those political agendas are against God. That's why we're in so much trouble. We get the leader we deserve. Everybody's complaining about Obama and blaming Obama. But what people need to do is look at the sins of the general population of America and understand those are the real reasons why we're in trouble and why we have Obama. So, unless there's some real repentance and God sees that repentance, not too much is going to change.

Let's see this other spirit that's working in the world, Ephesians 2:1: "Now you were dead in trespasses and sins." As long as we're living in sin and without the Spirit of God, we are the dead. And if we follow dead leaders, the dead are going to bury the dead; that's what Jesus said. Same way with the blind: 'If the blind lead the blind, both are going to fall into the ditch.'

Verse 2: "In which you walked in times past according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now working within the children of disobedience" It's just like a net that is around the whole world.

But those that God calls, we need to understand this, v 3: "Among whom also we all once..." That's why we're not to go back into the world. That's why we are not to try and use the world's ways of success to make our lives better. That's why we're not to fall back into the habit and the pattern of most human beings, that once God has blessed you, that we turn around and do like Asa and try and work out things our own way, because it's not going to work.

"...once had our conduct in the lusts of our flesh, doing the things willed by the flesh and by the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath, even as the rest of the world" (v 3). When people eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the apparent good looks good, but they can never get rid of the evil. That's the difficulty when people try to do it their way. That's why once we receive the Holy Spirit, as we will see, we have passed from death to life. Jesus promises that when we die at the end of our lives, we will not see death forever. The King James translates it 'shall not die.' That's really not what the Greek says, so therefore, that adds to the false notion that the souls go to heaven.

Let's talk about the Spirit of God. Let's come back here to John 14, and then we will see how the Spirit of God actually has two parts to it.

The other day I asked Ron to look up a letter that I wrote a couple of years ago and that was about the possible forming of the Muslim world and the different things that were going on then. So, I asked him if he could look up the letter and send it to me. Sure enough he found the letter, sent it to me, and that was four years ago. So I'm going to use that letter and I'm going to update it and add some things to it, because a lot has happened since that time. A lot has happened since it looked like the EU was going to be a slam-dunk to really be the leader in the world. Now everybody's worried over them that the whole euro will collapse. That's why we need to keep on top of things to know and understand what's going on. Likewise, with what we're going to cover here. I believe I've covered it in a sermon sometime in the past, but I don't know how long ago it was that I did. But here in John 14 we have some very interesting things concerning the Spirit of God.

John 14:13—Jesus was going to the Father: "And whatever you shall ask in My name... [That's why we close all of our prayers in Jesus' name.] ...this will I do that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it" (vs 13-14). We're also to direct our prayers to the Father. The main portion of our prayers should be directed to the Father. Some of them can be directed to Jesus, because He said, 'If you ask in My name, I will do it.'

Verse 15: "If you love Me, keep the commandments—namely, My commandments…. [That's a literal translation of the Greek. And as we know, Jesus was the Lord God of the Old Testament. That includes the commandments of God and whatever He taught in the New Testament.] …And I will ask the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that it may be with you throughout the age" (vs 15-16).

Now we're going to talk about the Spirit of God, v 17: "Even the Spirit of the Truth... [We'll see this again, the Spirit of the Truth. That's what the Holy Spirit of God is to do to us, to help us overcome our deceitful nature, to help us overcome the wickedness of our hearts, and to help us overcome when we repent and yield to God when we find that we have sinned.] ...which the world cannot receive... [Why can't it receive it?] …because it perceives it not, nor knows it... [This in the Greek is neuter all the way through. There is no personality to the Spirit.] …but you know it because it dwells with you, and shall be within you."

Let's put together what we have learned about the seven Spirits of God and the Spirit of God so far. The seven Spirits of God go through all the earth to keep track of what's going on and to find out who is seeking God. Then when they are seeking God in earnest, then the Holy Spirit from the Father comes to begin to draw that individual, as we have seen in John 6:44. The Holy Spirit will be with them if they continue to seek God and do His will. We also know that when we are baptized the Holy Spirit is within us.

"...and shall be within you..." (v 17). When it's within you, then you are converted. When it's with you, you have to yield to God, and the Spirit of God, or you remain as some of the disciples that Jesus said, 'Oh, hard-hearted and slow to believe.' You have to yield to God. And once the Spirit of God is drawing you, you have to respond to God, otherwise the Spirit of God will leave you.

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Let's continue on in John 14, so we can understand about the Holy Spirit of God, concerning Jesus Christ and the Father.

Verse 18: "'I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.... [He did come and teach for 40 days and 40 nights before He ascended into heaven, but He's talking about how He is going to come with the Spirit to individuals who respond to Him.] ...Yet a little while and the world shall see Me no longer; but you shall see Me. Because I live, you shall live also. In that day, you shall know that I am in My Father, and you are in Me, and I am in you" (vs 18-19). This shows the ongoing relationship that we need to have with God the Father and Jesus Christ constantly. That is accomplished through the Holy Spirit.

Let's see what is required, because this runs totally contrary to what the Protestants say. The other day Dolores and I were eating a hamburger and it's called Johnny's Bar and Cafe. They have the best hamburgers in town, so we go there; they have a good price. The owner of the bar I know and he also had. on the side, his own painting company and handyman company, and years ago I had him do some work on our house. Lo and behold, one day he showed up at my office and I gave him a Bible. He said, 'Well, I'm on the wagon. I found the Lord.' I said, 'Well, good, let me give you a Bible.' How much of it he read, I don't know.

The other day Dolores and I were in there waiting for our hamburger to come, so he comes out of the kitchen with a little cup of soup and he said, 'Here, try this, this is delicious.' And Dolores said, 'Is there ham in it?' And he said, 'Yes.' And she said, 'Well, we don't eat any pork at all.' He knew that had to do with what he would consider our 'religion,' but you can't have a 'religion,' you have to have God's way of life—there's a difference.

So he said, 'Oh, well, when the Lord came, all the laws changed,' just like that. I said to him, 'That's a lie.' And he took the soup and went back in the kitchen. You have to do v 21. You cannot come to God your way. The seven eyes of the Lord going to and fro in the world will not recognize you if you're coming to God your way. This also applies to those who have been in the Church a long time who get all exalted like Hezekiah did and proclaim themselves to be some great one and God has to leave them to try them.

Verse 21: "The one who has My commandments and is keeping them... [Present tense participle, ongoing. And my friend owns Johnny's Bar and Grill and yet he's on the wagon. He stayed dry, you have to give him that much. But you don't come to God your way.] ...who has My commandments... [Everybody who has a Bible has them—right?] ...and is keeping them, that is the one who loves Me... [The negative of that is if you're not keeping the commandments of God you are not loving Him, because John also wrote in 1-John 5:3 that 'this is the love of God that we keep His commandments'—correct? Yes!] (He says): ...and the one who loves Me shall be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will manifest Myself to him."

This became a mystery. A lot of people say, 'Well, God appeared to me. I had a dream.' I had an email sent to me by this movement that is going to make the world a paradise in two years and then Christ will come. I answered him, 'You are not Christ. That is Christ's job, not our job.' Well, He appeared to me and told me.

To manifest Himself to someone became a mystery to, v 22: "Judas (not Iscariot said to him, 'Lord, what has happened that You are about to manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?'…. [How is that going to take place? It's still an ongoing thing today.] …Jesus answered and said to him, 'If anyone loves Me, he will keep My Word...'" (vs 22-23). Singular there means the whole message. All the pretense of Protestantism that they love the Lord, please understand, they are well intended, but good intentions are not Truth. Sincerity is not faith. "…he will keep My Word."

What happens when you set your course to do that? "...and My Father will love him... [Now we have up here, 'The one who loves Me' (v 21), 'shall be loved by My Father.'] ...and My Father will love him... [And notice what takes place. When the Holy Spirit comes in you and that has to be through repentance and baptism:] ...and We... [That's something!] ...will come to him and make Our abode with him" (v 23). That's something that you need to really grasp, because we're going to see there are two parts to the Holy Spirit of God.

Verse 24: "The one who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word that you hear is not Mine, but the Father's, Who sent Me." Anytime anyone rejects the words of Jesus Christ, they're rejecting God the Father. And the way that Christ is manifested to someone is that they are convicted in spirit, because they are answering the call and God is choosing them. 'Many are called, but few are chosen.' And you choose God by obeying, and then God's Spirit comes to be with you. That convicts you of further sin and leads you to repentance. Because God is the One Who leads you to repentance (Rom. 2)—right?

God is the One Who leads you to repentance. God is the One Who draws you. "...make Our abode with him" (v 23)—the Word of the Father. Now, let's think on this here just a bit.

Verse 26: "But when the Comforter comes, even the Holy Spirit... [That's always in neuter. It is the power of God.] ...which the Father will send in My name..." The Father sends the Holy Spirit.

I want you to come back to v 23 and key on this: "...We will come to him and make Our abode with him" And the 'We' is understood and "We will make our abode with him"—the two of them.

"...which the Father will send in My name, that one shall teach you all things, and shall bring to your remembrance everything that I have told you" (v 26). That is everything that they needed to know to preach the Gospel.

Let's read this into the record, so we get all the Scriptures together on how the process happens, John 6:44: "No one can come to Me unless the Father, Who sent Me, draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day." That last day is not the Last Great Day, but it is Pentecost. Pentecost is the fiftieth day or the last day of the count to Pentecost. That's why Pentecost is the day of the first resurrection.

Verse 45: "It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall be taught by God.'"

What does it say here? John 14:26: "But when the Comforter comes, even the Holy Spirit, which the Father will send in My name, that one shall teach you all things…" That's why when you study the Bible it is a spiritual exercise. It's not like reading a book. The Bible is special. Every word in the Bible, in the original, is God-breathed or God-spirited. God's Spirit is behind every single word in the Bible, in the originals.

That's why translation is so critically important, because unless you are honest and faithful in translating, and you adhere to the Word of God, and don't insert your own ideas into it, which has happened with all these modern translations. They have been done by committees of men who were not converted, who do not obey God, who do not follow Christ. They are lobbied by special interest groups: the feminists and the homosexuals, so that they can take away the masculine gender in the Bible.

That's why when I finally made up my mind to do the New Testament and publish it, that was in 1995, and I had received—someone sent it to me—The Inclusive New Testament. Where they went through they neutered gendered everything that they could. When I came to the point where they said the name of God is a metaphor. Well, it's not a metaphor! They said: 'The name Father is a metaphor, so to make it easier for people to understand the nature of God, we have translated it Father/Mother, so that the reader can contemplate on who God is.'

After studying the Greek for seventeen years and doing study translations, I said at that point, 'I've got to do the New Testament. This cannot stand! If we in the Church of God stand and let something like this go without an answer, God is going to judge us. So, understanding the Bible is a spiritual experience. That's why church and teaching is also a spiritual experience. It is not because someone is a great speaker. God can confound the greatest speaker in the world unless they yield and repent and preach the Word of God.

And the truth is, everyone who is teaching has got to understand that you cannot teach, you can preach the words, but unless you have the Spirit of God in you—and those whom you are teaching have the Spirit of God in them or with them, so they can understand—you are there as a vehicle to help them in the spiritual experience of understanding the Word of God. It's not a reward. It's not because someone is a good speaker. All of those things are required, but:

• Are you converted?
• Do you love God?
• Do you fear God?
• Do you want to handle the Word of God faithfully all the way through?

—because here is the result of it.

John 6:45: "…Therefore, everyone who has heard from the Father... [Because the Father draws them.] ...and has learned... [So there is an educational experience that must take place.] ...comes to Me." That's why we need the words of God.

Verse 63: "It is the Spirit that gives life..." And also as we saw last time, it is the Spirit that reveals and gives understanding—correct? Yes! That's why when you read and study the Bible and you go along, and all of a sudden something becomes clear, like there's a light that goes on, that's the working of God's Spirit while you're reading and studying. This is what God wants. He doesn't want us to take the Church of God and pattern it after the evangelicals, because they don't obey God and they don't have the Spirit of God. Who is the counterfeiter? Satan the devil! Who is the prince of the power of the air? Satan the devil!

"It is the Spirit that gives life; the flesh profits nothing…." (v 63). That's why you can never accomplish spiritual things by physical means. Never! You cannot accomplish righteousness in a nation by political means. The only way there will be righteousness in a nation is if the people are taught the laws and commandments of God and this becomes the format, the basis, for the law of the land. That's why when Christ returns, that's exactly what's going to happen.

"…The words that I speak to you, they are spirit and they are life" (v 63). It's not just paper and ink. The paper and ink must be a faithful translation of the Word of God in order to convey spirit and life while you study, while God's Spirit is working with you.

John 14:26: "But when the Comforter comes, even the Holy Spirit, which the Father will send in My name, that one shall teach you all things, and shall bring to your remembrance everything that I have told you."

John 15:26: "But when the Comforter has come, which I will send to you from the Father..." It is a joint operation, from the Father and from Christ together. What did He tell us in John 17? 'I and the Father are one.' And the goal and purpose is that we all may become one with the Father and Christ as they now are one.

"But when the Comforter has come, which I will send to you from the Father, even the Spirit of the truth, which proceeds from the Father, that one shall bear witness of Me" (v 26). It comes from the Father, Christ is involved in sending it also. This becomes a very important thing to understand concerning the Holy Spirit.

Let's come to Romans 8. We're going to go through this and analyze it and come from where we were carnally to where we are spiritually. Chapter seven lets us know we have a lot of things to overcome. We have lust to overcome, we have lying to overcome, we have all the pulls of the flesh to overcome. That's why we end up doing things that we don't want to do, but we do them because we yield to the flesh when we should not have. But we can repent, because that's not a sin unto death. Now how do we stand before God, because we have this battle defined in Rom. 7 going on in our lives all the time?

Romans 8:1: "Consequently, thereis now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who are not walking according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit." Living by the words of God. 'The words that I speak to you, they are spirit and they are life and the flesh profits nothing.' That's what we're trying to do. This is what God's Spirit is leading us to do.

Here is what God had to do in order to make that possible, v  2: "Because the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has delivered me from the law of sin and death." Doesn't mean it's taken your carnal nature clear away from you. You have a deliverance from you if you keep the faith and are working and overcoming. This answers the question: Why couldn't the children of Israel obey God? Because they didn't have the Spirit of God! So when anyone says, 'Well, under the Old Covenant the Jews,' because they think the Old Covenant is Judaism, 'they received salvation by law-keeping.' Well, if they received salvation by law-keeping, why is it that they didn't keep the law? And if they received salvation by law-keeping, why is it then that God didn't continue that program? Salvation is salvation—is it not? New Testament reveals in 1-Peter that the prophets and certain of the righteous kings and of course going clear back to the patriarchs, those are the only ones that receive salvation in the Old Testament. Remember, God was only dealing with the children of Israel—correct? Wasn't dealing with the other nations. But human nature befalls all of us—doesn't it?

Verse 3: "For what was impossible for the law to do, in that it was weak through the flesh..." A very important thing: no law can make you do anything! The law defines what sin is. The law has the power of God's judgment behind it, that if you transgress you suffer the penalty of the law. But it has no power to make you do it. God gave that choice to every human being. We choose to do it and motivated by the Holy Spirit of God.

Here's what God did. "...God, having sent His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh" (v 3). He was talking about the law of sin and death in Rom. 7 and also right here in chapter eight.

Here is the key concerning Christ. Now if you don't have The Christian Passover book, you write for it. There's a reason why we have the Passover book, and it explains this verse very clearly that Jesus Christ had to have inherited human nature from His mother Mary in order to be the Son of man. He inherited the nature of His Father in heaven. But Jesus had to carry in His own body the law of sin and death in Him and never sin in order to be the sinless sacrifice.

"...having sent His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh... [the exact sameness] ...and for sin..." (v 3). That means an offering for sin. Like John wrote, 'Behold, the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world.' Because all human sin goes clear back to Adam and Eve. Part of the judgment that God put upon them was that they would die and they also had a nature where then they had the law of sin and death within their members, as Paul wrote of. If we have it in our members, and Christ would come without carrying human nature within His own body, how could He be the sin offering for the sins of all human beings? No!

"...for sin, condemned sin in the flesh" (v 3). Whose flesh? Jesus' flesh! {Write for the Passover book, we'll send it to you. You can call the office or email us, either one.}

Let's see what Peter wrote of this, and he helps add to the understanding here. Remember how that ties in. 1-Peter 2:21: "For to this you were called because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow in His footsteps Who committed no sin... [Though He had the law of sin and death within Him. Jesus' overcoming was no comparison to our overcoming. Do you understand that? Carry the law of sin and death and yet never sin and if He sinned once, He would die for His own sins—correct?] ...neither was guile found in His mouth; Who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when suffering, He threatened not, but committed Himself to Him Who judges righteously; Who Himself bore our sins within... [the Greek there is 'en'] ...within His own body on the tree, so that we, being dead to sins, may live unto righteousness; by Whose stripes you were healed" (vs 23-24). That's how He was the perfect sacrifice. Sin had to be condemned in the flesh of Jesus Christ. He had to carry the law of sin and death.

Now back to Romans 8:4: "In order that the righteousness of the law... [By keeping it in the Spirit. If you don't have the series, God's Grace and Commandment-Keeping, you write for it and you study it and you go over it so that you understand that all commandment-keeping for Christians spiritually is accomplished through the grace of God by His Spirit. ] ...in order that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who are not walking according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit." We'll get into being led of the Holy Spirit.

• What does it do for us?
• How do we know?
• How do we yield to the Spirit?

Verse 5: "For those who walk according to the flesh mind the things of the flesh... [That's where people get off the track. They start doing things from a carnal point of view.] ...but those who walk according to the Spirit mind the things of the Spirit." That's what your mind is on:

• the things of God
• the Word of God
• how I'm to live

And when I sin, go repent. Ask God to cleanse it away. That's spiritually minded.

Verse 6: "For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace." This is what it has to be with the Spirit of God within us. It doesn't make us arrogant. It doesn't make us better than the world. It doesn't say that, 'Oh, yeah, well, I'm converted and you're not.' No, I'm converted and you're not and I better work very hard to make sure I stay converted and yield to God and endure unto the end and be faithful. Just the opposite!

Here's a verse you read all the time—right? Verse 7: "Because the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the Law of God; neither indeed can it be." If then you have the Spirit of God and you're operating spiritually minded then, you are subject the Law of God to be looking at it to keep it in the spiritual letter of the law as Jesus defined.

The Holy Spirit, which is the Spirit of Truth, operates within our minds. Does it not? Yes, it does! What does the Spirit of Truth do in our minds to help us get rid of sin? Because when you repent and you are baptized and receive the Holy Spirit, you're just starting. Now you need to overcome. But your mind has been programmed with all the carnal things and all the sins of your life—correct? Yes! Those have to be cleansed out of there. You need the sermons that I did some time ago, The Washing of the Water by the Word.

What happens with the Spirit of God in you? You go along and all of a sudden BANG! The Spirit of God will reveal you have a sin in your mind and you need to get rid of it. You ever experienced that? A lot of people think, 'Oh, well, am I really converted?' Yes! But the Spirit is helping you to see there is still sin you need to repent of and get rid of.

Verse 8: "But those who are in the flesh cannot please God." Now we'll talk about pleasing God and the Spirit of God and all of that here as we go along. Let's go ahead and go through some more verses so we'll bring you up to date where we are with the 'We—the Father and Christ—will make Our abode in you.' Let's see how that's defined right here in Rom. 8.

Verse 9: "However, you are not in the flesh... [Though you're still walking in the flesh, but you have the Spirit of God and God views you differently.] ...but in the Spirit, if the Spirit of God is indeed dwelling within you... [We'll talk a little later how the Spirit is to lead us, how the Spirit teaches us, and all of this.] ...But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ he does not belong to Him. But if Christ be within you... [By the Spirit of Christ, which helps us develop the mind of Christ.] ...the body is indeed dead because of sin; however, the Spirit is life because of righteousness" (vs 9-10).

Verse 11 becomes very important to understand, because we saw how Jesus said the Father would send the Holy Spirit and that He would send the Holy Spirit—right? "Now if the Spirit of Him Who raised Jesus from the dead is dwelling within you..." The Spirit of Him! Who is that? The Father! The Father sends the Spirit. Jesus sends the Spirit. So you have the Spirit of Christ, you have the begettal of God the Father so that you are now a child of God the Father.

"Now if the Spirit of Him Who raised Jesus from the dead is dwelling within you, He Who raised Christ from the dead will also quicken your mortal bodies because of His Spirit that dwells within you" (v 11).

The Holy Spirit of God has two aspects:

• from Christ the Son
• from God the Father

Here it talks about both. Now we'll go ahead and pick it up in part two. What about the Spirit of the Father? How do we receive that?

Scriptural References:

• Revelation 4:2-5
• Revelation 1:11-13, 20
• Revelation 4:5-6
• Revelation 5:6
• 2-Chronicles 15:1-8
• 2-Chronicles 16:1-13
• Psalm 11:1-7
• Psalm 66:7-10
• Psalm 34:11-19
• Ephesians 2:1-3
• John 14:13-24, 23, 26, 23, 26
• John 6:44-45
• John 14:26
• John 6:45, 63
• John 14:26
• John 15:26
• Romans 8:1-3
• 1-Peter 2:21-24
• Romans 8:4-11

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Isaiah 55
• John 6:44
• Ezekiel 16, 23
• 1-John 5:3
• Romans 2
• John 17
• Romans 7

Also referenced:

Book: The Christian Passover by Fred R. Coulter
Sermon Series:

• God's Grace and Commandment-Keeping
• The Washing of the Water by the Word

FRC:lp
Transcribed: 9-5-11
Formatted: bo: 9-6-11

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