Past Topics
What is Truth?
Webster's Dictionary:
a fact that has been verified; conformity to reality or actuality;
I
believe that each man must find the truth that is right for him. Reality will
adapt accordingly. The universe will readjust. History will alter. I believe
that there is no absolute truth excepting the truth that there is no absolute
truth.
"Truth, sir, is a cow; which, when
skeptics have found it will give them no more milk, they have gone off to milk
the bull." But milking the bull is not only futile. It can be positively
dangerous to one's health!
John 17:17
– Your Word is truth.
For
teachers and preachers:
Ps 40:10
- I
do not hide your righteousness in my heart; I speak of your faithfulness and
salvation. I do not conceal your love and your truth from the great assembly.
“A God
without wrath brought men without sin into a world without judgment through the
ministrations of a Christ without a cross”
The
“Glory Story”
Easily
accepted and “makes sense” to this prideful world! We came from glory and are
bound for glory. Somewhere in between we got lost and need to work our way “back
on track”. God is your “life coach”. The story is about OUR progress, ascending
“rung by rung”. Talks about religion as suggestions for practical living, moral
virtue and a fountain of health, wealth and happiness. - Dt 8:11-14
Preachers
and teachers lift themselves up. Taking Pride in their numbers or clever
sermons. Acts 12:21-23
The
“Story of the Cross”
“Foolishness to those who are perishing” 1Cor 1:18
A Spirit
driven, humble, self-examination that leads us to despair of ourselves. We don’t
find God but He finds us! This is a story about God’s progress of descending to
us in what can only appear to us as weakness and foolishness.
John 6
5,000 fed
Jesus walks on water
6:26-40 – Jesus warns of “seeking Him” for worldly reasons
6:41-54 –“The truth”
The crowds disappear! – so much for “church growth”
6:68 – to whom shall we go?
Michael
Horton - Jesus decided it was more important to have eleven disciples than 5,000
consumers
Zech
8:3, John 1:14, John 1:17,
John
3:21 -
But whoever lives by the truth
comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has
been done through God."
John
4:23
- Yet a time is coming and has now come
when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for
they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.
John
8:32 -
Then you will know the truth, and
the truth will set you free.
John
15:26
Rom
1:25 -
They exchanged the truth of God
for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who
is forever praised. Amen.
John 14:5-6
-
Thomas said
to Him, "Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?"
Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to
the Father but through Me.
Ps 15
Ps
119:60
What
is the opposite of truth?
Pr 12:17-22
John 8:44 -
You belong to your father, the devil, and
you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the
beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him.
When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of
lies.
Is
there any legitimate area between truth and deceit?
Is God the
Author of Sin?
What is Sin?
Can the objection be raised that if God has
foreordained the entire course of events in this world, He must be the Author of
Sin?
Isaiah 45:6-7
Amos 3:6
I Kings 22:20-23.
II Sam. 12:11
Ps.105:23-25
Is. 63:17
I Chr. 5:22
Jer 44:2
Was the “Fall of Adam” included in the Divine Plan?
Acts 2:23, I Peter 1:19-21, Luke 22:20-22, Eph 3:11,
Acts 3:18
Are the forces of evil under God’s perfect control?
Job 1:6, 16,21, Compare II Sam. 24:1, 10 and I Chr.
21:1
Do sinful acts occur only by Divine Permission?
Augustine –
“God wills with a good will that which Satan wills with an evil
will, — as was the case in the crucifixion of Christ, which was over-ruled for
the redemption of the world.”
God wills righteously those
things which men do wickedly.
Jacob’s deception of his old,
blind father
The sale of Joseph into Egypt
by his brothers - Gen. 45:5, 8
50:20.
Pharaoh and the Egyptians
wrong the Israelites - Ex. 4:21; 9:12
Satan and the evil spirits are
made to carry out the divine purpose – I Kings 22:20-23
The calamities which befell
Job
But Why?
God’s Grace is more deeply appreciated after a person has been a
victim of sin and seeks forgiveness.
Sometimes the person, like the prodigal son, will not appreciate
the Father’s home nor respect His authority until he has experienced the
ravaging effects of sin and the pangs of hunger, sorrow and disgrace
The creature cannot adequately appreciate God’s mercy until he
has been rescued from a state of misery. After the lame beggar had been healed
by Peter and John at the door of the temple, he appreciated his health as never
before, and “entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and
praising God.”
Proposition
Sin allows for the Attributes of God to be clearly displayed
- Many
but not all of the God’s attributes were displayed through the creation
and upholding of the world (General Revelation).
- The
attribute of justice could be shown only to creatures deserving
punishment.
- The
attribute of mercy or grace could be shown only to creatures in misery.
- Until
man’s fall into sin, and redemption from it, these attributes, so far as we
know, were unknown to any but God Himself (Rom 11:32) (Rom 9:22)
- Had
sin not been allowed to enter creation these attributes would have remained
unrevealed.
- Sin,
then, is permitted in order that the mercy of God may be shown in its
forgiveness, and that His justice may be shown in its punishment.
- Its
entrance is the result of a completed plan which God formed in eternity, and
through which He purposed to reveal Himself to His creatures as complete and
perfect.
Something to make you go Hmmmm.
Who were the Ten Commandments written for?
Do the Ten Commandments not
apply to God?
He cannot
have any other god’s before Himself.
He cannot worship
another god because there is none.
He cannot honor His
mother and father because He has none.
He cannot murder
because all life is His to do with as He
pleases.
He cannot covet or
steal because everything already belongs to Him.
He cannot be called to account to a more “ultimate”
lawgiver because there is none.
My (Mike Doban's) Conclusion
While God permits sin,
His connection with it is purely negative and it is the abominable thing which
he hates with perfect hatred. (Prov 6:16-19, Psalm 45:7)
Who is the
Holy Spirit?
The
challenge will be to consider the function, affect and presence of the HS in
your own and others lives. To do that we will need to search God’s Word for
insight into the character of the Holy Spirit.
Outline
The Holy
Spirit is God
The Holy
Spirit in the Old Testament
The Holy
Spirit in the New Testament
The
unseen works of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy
Spirit is God
LBCF.
In this divine and infinite Being there are three subsistences, the Father, the
Word or Son, and Holy Spirit,27
of one substance, power, and eternity, each having the whole divine essence, yet
the essence undivided:28
the Father is of none, neither begotten nor proceeding; the Son is eternally
begotten of the Father;29
the Holy Spirit proceeding from the Father and the Son;30
all infinite, without beginning, therefore but one God, who is not to be divided
in nature and being, but distinguished by several peculiar relative properties
and personal relations; which doctrine of the Trinity is the foundation of all
our communion with God, and comfortable dependence on Him.
27
1 John 5:7; Matt. 28:19; 2 Cor.
13:14
28 Exod. 3:14; John 14:11; I Cor. 8:6
29 John 1:14,18
30 John 15:26; Gal. 4:6
HC:
In keeping with this truth and Word of God we believe in one God, who is one
single essence, in whom there are three persons, really, truly, and eternally
distinct according to their incommunicable properties-- namely, Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit. The Father is the cause, origin, and source of all things, visible
as well as invisible. The Holy Spirit is the eternal power and might, proceeding
from the Father and the Son. Nevertheless, these persons, thus distinct, are
neither divided nor fused or mixed together. For the Father did not take on
flesh, nor did the Spirit, but only the Son. The Father was never without his
Son, nor without his Holy Spirit, since all these are equal from eternity, in
one and the same essence. There is neither a first nor a last, for all three are
one in truth and power, in goodness and mercy.
The Holy
Spirit in the Old Testament:
The fact that the Spirit's
work in the Old Testament is closely identified with the Word of YHWH spoken by
the prophets (this was affirmed by the early church in
2 Peter 1:21 );
Could the
Holy Spirit be taken away? Ps 51, 1 Sam 11:6, 1 Sam 16:4
What are some references to
God’s Spirit in the OT?
- "In the
beginning
God Created The Heavens And The Earth. Now the earth was formless and
empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and The Spirit of God was
hovering over the waters." (Genesis 1:1-2)
- "So
Pharaoh [see also
The Ancient Egyptians] asked them, "Can we find anyone like this man, one
in whom is The Spirit of God?" Then Pharaoh said to
Joseph, "Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one so
discerning and wise as you." (Genesis 41:38-39)
- "The
Lord said to
Moses, "Bring Me seventy of Israel's elders who are known to you as
leaders and officials among the people. Have them come to The Tent Of Meeting,
that they may stand there with you. I will come down and speak with you there,
and I will take of The Spirit that is on you and put The Spirit on them. They
will help you carry the burden of the people so you will not have to carry it
alone." (Numbers 11:16-17)
- "So The
Lord said to Moses, "Take Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom is The Spirit, and
lay your hand on him." (Numbers 27:18) (see
The Fall Of Jericho)
- "The
woman gave birth to a boy and named him Samson. He grew and The Lord blessed
him, and The Spirit of The Lord began to stir him..." (Judges 13:24-25)
- "The
Spirit of The Lord will come upon you [Saul] in power, and you will prophesy
with them; and you will be changed into a different person." (1 Samuel 10:6)
- "So
Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers,
and from that day on The Spirit of The Lord came upon
David in power." (1 Samuel 16:13)
- "The
Spirit of God has made me; the breath of The Almighty gives me life." (Job
33:4)
- "When
you send Your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the earth."
(Psalm 104:30)
The Holy Spirit in the New
Testament:
"He
was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit." (1 Peter 3:8)
"I will ask
the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you
forever; the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not
behold Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you, and will be
in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you." (John 14:16-18)
The Holy Spirit :
When a
person becomes born again by believing and receiving Jesus Christ (John 1:12-13;
John 3:3-21),
God resides
in that person through the Holy Spirit (1Cor. 3:16).
The Holy
Spirit has intellect (1Cor. 2:11), emotion (Rom. 15:30), and will (1Cor. 12:11).
The Holy
Spirit is that He bears "witness" of Jesus Christ (John 15:26, 16:14).
He tells
people's hearts about the truth of Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit also acts as a
Christian's teacher (1Cor. 2:9-14).
"When He,
the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will
not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He
will disclose to you what is to come." (John 16:13)
Baptism
with the Holy Spirit
-
Matthew 3:11:
"...He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit..."
-
Mark 1:8:
"...He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit..."
-
Luke 3:16:
"He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit..."
-
Luke 24:49: "...stay here in the
city until you have been clothed with power from on high." (see
fulfillment in
Acts 2).
-
John 1:33:
"...the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit."
-
Acts 1:4-5: "...the Promise of the
Father..."; "...you will be baptized with the
Holy Sprit..."
-
Acts 2:1-4:
"All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other
languages..."
-
Acts 2:14-18: "...I will pour out
my Spirit..." (quoting Joel 2:28 and 29).
-
Acts 4:31:
"...they were all filled with the Holy Spirit..."
-
Acts 8:14-17: ...prayed for them
that they might receive the Holy Spirit..."; "...as yet the Spirit had
not yet come upon any of them..."; "...they received the Holy
Spirit..."; "...the Spirit was given through the laying on of the
apostles' hands...".
-
Acts 9:17:
"...Jesus...has sent me...that you may...be filled with the Holy Spirit."
-
Acts 10:44-48: "The Holy Spirit
fell upon all who heard the word..."; "...the gift of the Holy Spirit
had been poured out..."; "...people who have
received the Holy Spirit..."
-
Acts 11:15-16: "...the Holy Spirit
fell upon them..."; "...you will be baptized with
the Holy Spirit..."
-
Acts 19:1-6: "Did you receive the
Holy Spirit...?"; "...the Holy Spirit came upon
them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied..."
Unseen
Works of the Spirit:
What are
some “unseen” works of the Spirit
Paul, what
I want to do I don’t do and what I don’t want to do I do……
Sanctification
The Holy
Spirit was given to live inside those who believe in Jesus, in order to produce
God's character in the life of a believer. In a way that we cannot do on our
own, the Holy Spirit will build into our lives love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Gal. 5:22-23).
Rather than
trying to be loving, patient, kind, God asks us to rely on Him to produce these
qualities in our lives. Thus Christians are told to walk in the Spirit (Gal.
5:25) and be filled with the Spirit (Eph. 5:18). And the Holy Spirit empowers
Christians to perform ministerial duties that promote spiritual growth among
Christians (Rom. 12; 1Cor. 12; Eph. 4).
The Holy
Spirit also performs a function for non-Christians as well. He convicts people's
hearts of God's truth concerning how sinful we are -- needing God's forgiveness;
how righteous Jesus is -- He died in our place, for our sins; and God's eventual
judgment of the world and those who do not know Him (John 16:8-11). The Holy
Spirit tugs on our hearts and minds, asking us to repent and turn to God for
forgiveness and a new life.
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