Episode Transcript
Jesus said in Matthew 28:19, Go therefore and teach all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Welcome to Go Teach all nations, bringing you Christ's teachings through Australian and international speakers. and hear us today. And here is today's presenter, Pastor Barend Nieuwstraten.
Heavenly Father, we thank you that we have the agency of the Holy Spirit whom is employed by you for our salvation. And Lord, we seek his presence that we may understand and grasp and then know who to trust. In Jesus name we pray.
Amen. Who do we trust makes us really what we are? I think that that is fair to say, isn't it? The impact can be enormous. Who do we hold hands with? Do we really have the right side? Do we really have the right understanding? I like the story.
I'm not sure whether I've ever told you this story about the man, Kirk Douglas. Now you all know who he is, don't you? Come on, say yes. I'm not the only one that's that old.
He was born on 9th December 1916. That's a long time ago. He was born different name.
Ishur Danielovich, which is a Yiddish, which really a Hebrew name his parents came from. No, not Ukraine, Belarus. That's where they came from.
Oh, I have a good memory when it comes to these things. Marvellous story. His dad was an alcoholic.
It was a rough upbringing and he was born actually in New York in a part of portion that was called Amsterdam, you know, you understand that New York used to be called New Amsterdam. The Dutch were there first, you know. Anyway, already in the 1950s he was very famous.
He has an incredible career. He died actually on the 9th of February 2020 at the ripe old age of 103. That's amazing, isn't it? That's amazing.
On the Johnny Carson late Night show some years prior to him passing away, he told the story of picking up a sailor. And this was years and decades ago and it probably was not so long after the Korean War. He picked up this young guy and the guy looked at his side and he looked Douglas up and down and he started to realise who picked him up and who was his benefactor and giving him the lift.
And he said this question to. He put this question to Kirk Douglas, do you know who you are? You're Kirk Douglass. He said, yes, I know, but it's interesting that the question that he put to Kirk Douglas stayed with him.
Who do you think you are for that matter? And do you know who you are? There is A simple division, but it's very succinctly to the point. The Apostle Paul says this. Who we are is what we are.
And in Romans 6:16 he says, you either are slaves of sin or slaves of God. There's only two possibilities and we don't want to be any longer a slave to sin. So he says, do you not know that? To whom you present yourself? And you know the text, but let's read it.
Slaves to whom you present yourself. Slaves to obey. You are that one.
Slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death or obedience leading to righteousness. Now you're familiar with the text. When we talk about righteousness, there are two aspects to that.
There's imparted and imputed. Imparted is what is inside you, what he has given you, put in you the abilities that he has granted you. The other one is imputed.
We've all sinned and fallen short and yes, we are forgiven. But in the Judgement perfection only will do. And there's an imputation which we call the righteousness of Christ that gets us through the judgement.
This is our hope, this is our certainty, this is what we believe. But what is important is that we realise what he has done for us and how we can be set free. Because the world can't set you free, ever.
In fact, religion doesn't set you free. If you look at Orthodoxy, Judaism, they strive to obey the 613 laws of God that they know and have on their books and believe that salvation must be in that. Muslims live by the five pillars of Islam, Buddhists follow the Four Noble Truths and the whole Noble Eightfold Path.
And there is a lot of positive thinking, but it doesn't set you free, it just doesn't. Hindus practise, as said a great children, they attempt to progress through the multiple reincarnations, of course, to what they understand is their concept of salvation or Nirvana or moxa. The only way, the only way.
Jesus said it himself, I am the way, the truth and the life. But how do I get to that, really get to that? Not just believe it to be true, but to live it, to make it my experience. That is what we want.
That is what we absolutely need. We need the agency of the Holy Spirit. And if you look at our fundamental beliefs, and it's number five on our book, we realise that the Holy Spirit is a person and very importantly as well, of course, that he is God.
Anti Trinitarianism has flared up from time to time and I'm sure that they've walked in here as well, and if you are one of them, I really bid you to listen. Don't have arrogance that you got it right. It's the word of God that teaches us.
And I can only accept the word of God. But I strongly, strongly advise anybody who denies the personhood of the Holy Spirit to take notice this morning. It's a sad thing when that is entertained.
God, the eternal Spirit was active with the Father and the Son in creation, notice in incarnation. And I'll give you the texts and redemption. And there's so many texts in the Bible of this.
He inspired the Bible writers, the writers of Scriptures. He filled Christ's life with power. He draws and convicts human beings and those who respond.
He renews and transforms into the image of God sent by the Father and the Son to be always with his children. It is a beautiful belief and it happens to be true. It's wonderful.
It's wonderful. He extends spiritual gifts to the church. Without that, we would be nowhere.
Empowers it to bear witness to Christ, which we couldn't do without him. And in harmony with the Scriptures, leads it, the church, into all truth. We talked about this morning partial truth.
As attractive as it is, it is the all truth. That is where we need to go. So the Godhead is often defined by this particular statement, is called the Shema Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.
And certain denominations look at this and say, well, there you are, the Lord is one. There's only one person of the Godhead. But the text is saying something absolutely opposite as a misunderstanding, the lack of the Hebrew appreciation.
If you and I know you don't need read Hebrew, but. And I'm very rusty, but I'm still getting by from the right, from the right to the left. Shema Yisrael, hear Israel, Yahwah Eloheinu, the Lord our God, Yeva Echat.
The. The verb to be is not here, it's implied because it doesn't exist in the Hebrew. That little word in yellow on the left hand side, echad means one.
But it is a meaning of a plurality that has a unique oneness. Do you understand? Let me give you an example. I'm married and I am.
Then we are a couple. We are one couple. If we have children, then we are a family.
One family. And there should be a oneness. But it makes multiple components, doesn't it? A father, a mother and a child would constitute the family.
If we look at the Godhead and there's a lot that we don't understand and don't know. And they'll have to wait till we reach the other side. But one thing we know for certain, that there is a oneness amongst the three.
And that is what this text is really saying, that the Lord is one. That is the primary embed of this statement. In the Hebrew, the word Elohim, which is very interesting, which is a title.
God is a title. And so we have the word Elohim, which is a plural beyond the dual. If Elohim could be a plural of two, it's Elohim.
There's no such word in the Bible. Elohim is a masculine plural beyond the dual. Makes you think.
And I know that many commentators say that it's got nothing to do with the Trinity. I'm not of that school. And I believe it to be very, very different.
It certainly indicates that. Genesis 1, verse 26 in the creation story. Let us multiple, isn't? It doesn't say that there are three, but there is a multiple identity here.
Let us make man in our image according to our likeness. It's not speaking. God is not speaking to angels.
They were not part of the creation. This is God who is speaking. Let us our image, our likeness.
The man in the account after the fall has now become one like us, knowing good and evil, not knowing good from evil, but knowing both. Come, let us go down. That's at the tower of Babel.
And then confuse the languages. You remember that very good multiple. The Holy Spirit is a person in chapters 14 and 16.
14, 15, 16. Jesus. The gospel of John.
Jesus refers a number of times to the Holy Spirit as he or him. In the patriarchal society. It is the masculine denomination.
Now, of course, you got to understand that masculine or feminine does not apply to God. The Goddess is not confined by that. But Jesus referred to him.
He or Him. And the reason is why it's so remarkable that the word for spirit in Greek is nuter. You know that expression.
So you have masculine, feminine and neuter in some languages. We don't have that in English. You have that in German.
Die der Das. Remember that anybody speaks German should be a few here. Well, in the Hebrew you have masculine and feminine, but not neuter.
It should really be translated as it because it comes from the Greek and the Greek has all three. But that's not what he used. I love this one.
You can settle the whole issue on the identity of the Holy Spirit right at the very beginning. And here it is. If I go to the second verse of the creation account of Genesis 1, I find the answer to the status of the Holy Spirit.
The earth was without form and void. Without form and void. Sterile.
No life. Darkness was on the face of the deep. There was no electromagnetic spectrum of which the visible portion of is what we see as light.
If that is the case in space you have a temperature situation of -273 degrees Celsius. That's cold. No life can exist there.
So we have a frozen lump of earth and water. And now there's an introduction of two things that are necessary for or creation to proceed. And that is the presence of the Holy Spirit.
I put it to you. And it's also the fact that you need light. And so darkness was on the face of the presence Would be perhaps a better translation.
And the Spirit of God Ruach Elohim also means God the Spirit. It's just the two. The way the words are formulated.
And the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters. You could say moving on the face of the waters. Hovering is a better translation from the verb rachav here.
The way it is utilised it is in an intense verbal action and that is called the piel in Hebrew. And you have a participle form. An ongoing energy applying work of the Holy Spirit.
And then what I love about that. That is the phase of the waters. The waters can only come to the surface.
That's the connotation. It can only come to the surface if there is a defrost of the -273 degrees Celsius. I love.
I've had my time debating creation versus evolution. This is a brilliant statement in the Hebrew. If you didn't follow it.
Don't let that discourage you. See me after. I'll be happy to sit down with you.
It is an amazing statement. What is needed is a defrost. And that is what happens.
So the waters can be separated from the waters in a vertical sense. Very important. That verb.
And I just forgot to mention this. That verb that you see in the Hebrew marachevat can only be applying to an entity or a person. It cannot be a mindset.
It's a grammatical violation if you did. Are you clear with me on this one? You're still all nicely awake. That's great.
Keep it that way. Jesus said this. Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven man.
Anyone who speaks against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Do you know why you won't be forgiven if you speak against the Holy Spirit? Let's have a look before we get to this. Anyone who speaks against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him, her.
But whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him. Why is that? What does the Holy Spirit do? And maybe we should have a look at that. Why it is that if we speak against the Holy Spirit, we will not be forgiven.
Note what Jesus continues to say here, either in this age or in the age to come. There are no second chances. You've got to get it right now.
That's important. Now, if I was Satan, and then we stress I'm not who took the sermon this morning, if I was Satan, I would really do everything I possibly could to make you misunderstand the identity of the Holy Spirit more than anyone else. Because it's the Holy Spirit who really can work on your mind, who really can give you the energy, who really can give you the power.
Because he is used by both the Father and the Son, the other identities of the Trinity, to work on you. If I deny the Holy Spirit, if I deny that he is a person, if I refuse to accept him like that as the Bible presents him, I'm in trouble. It's not for me to judge a person.
It's not for us, any of us to judge another person. But it is proper that we should point out error when it is entertained. That is what our duty is.
I'll pray the Father and He will give you another helper. That he. And there you have an example of the personal pronoun masculine singular for the Spirit that he may abide with you forever.
The Spirit of truth. The other helper is the Holy Spirit. Jesus is the helper.
He goes back to heaven, he sends another helper, the Holy Spirit. That is what it teaches whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him. Again, the masculine pronoun singular.
It neither sees him nor knows Him. And there you have it again. I think from these statements it becomes very obvious that he is a person.
The Holy Spirit overshadows was involved in the incarnation. The incarnation is mind boggling that the God of the universe should invade his creation and becomes a human being. I find it amazing.
What kind of love. What kind of love. The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the highest will overshadow you.
And therefore also that Holy One who is to be born and will be called the Son of God. This is what the Holy Spirit did. It's an amazing clarification of his ability, his purpose.
The Holy Spirit's anointed. You know this text. The Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon him, upon Jesus.
And a voice Came down from heaven, which said, you are my beloved Son. In. In you.
I am well pleased. But all three of them are there. The Holy Spirit anoints the Holy Spirit, empowers the Spirit.
Was the power behind the miracles of Jesus. The Spirit was the power beyond and behind his teachings. He only taught what his father wanted him to teach.
Full submission to the Father. Born of the Spirit. Nicodemus couldn't get that.
A heaven too holy for him, For Nicodemus, no. Impossible. And that's exactly what Jesus said.
I say to you, most assuredly, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he what cannot. It's impossible to enter the kingdom of God. Water, the Spirit, the baptism, baptism of repentance.
The Spirit, the Holy Spirit. You need the Holy Spirit. You cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.
That which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. The Holy Spirit helps.
He's called a helper. The Greek word parakletos means just that. It means primarily someone being next to you.
You can always count on the presence of the Holy Spirit. You believe in him, you accept Him. You don't speak against him, you don't push him away.
Let him be part of your being wherever and whenever. That is why he's there. But the help of the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things he teaches.
And he brings to your remembrance all things that I said to you. And he did so. And we have the Gospels as evidence to that effect.
The Holy Spirit convicts, and this is one of my favourite texts. When he comes, he will convict the world of sin, of righteousness and of judgement. We talked about that this morning during the Sabbath school lesson.
You know, you can wake up in the morning and somehow your mind goes back. Particularly when you get old, like me, older like me, over 40, you start thinking back and you're aware of your shortcomings, past and present. And there's a conviction that gets hold of you.
Some stuff is obvious. There is a lot you have forgotten. And it becomes clear to you the changes are needed.
You need to, for lack of a better word, you need to improve, shape up. You need to. And that conviction can get hold of you.
And there are two sources where it can come from. It either comes from the Holy Spirit because He convicts you of sin. If you feel inadequate, if you feel sinful failure, praise God, it's the Holy Spirit who convicts you.
How do I know that it comes from the Holy Spirit and that it doesn't come from Satan? There's a difference. Satan convicts you of your imperfection. He does.
He entices you to be imperfect. He entices you to sin. And then when you do, when you do, he makes you feel guilty.
And be rest assured, he accuse you. Satan. Satan Hasatan means the accuser.
And so he makes you feel bad. Satan, in fact, in such a way that you could almost give up of ever being saved. God can save everybody else, but not you.
That's a lie. It's a blatant, cheap lie. The Holy Spirit, when He comes to you, he convicts you of sin, but he also convicts you of righteousness.
How to do it right. He will bring that to you. And he will convict you of judgement.
That means that you know you are answerable for the life that he has given you. You get the difference. One only depresses you.
The other one points a different direction and helps you. He is there to help you towards that righteousness. The Holy Spirit guides.
When he, the Spirit of truth has come, he guides you into all truth. I like that. And the truth will do what for you? Make you free.
Set you free. It is only truth that sets you free. Make believe will never, never set you free.
Speaks in the book of Acts that Paul and Silas. They're on their journey of a mission, separate to me, Barnabas and Saul, for the work that I have called them. It says here in Acts 13.
So he speaks. And that's interesting. When I go to Revelation, the second chapter, verse seven, there is this statement, he who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
And you find the same in verse 11 of that chapter 1729. You go to chapter three. Who is this being stated about every single church? There are seven churches in the book of Revelation.
The symbolic meaning of seven is from the beginning to the end. From the beginning to the end. In the Christian church it has ever been.
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Can you understand the significance? The first church is Ephesus. The second church is what? Who? Sorry? Smyrna.
Smyrna. The third one is almost right. Let's go through this.
Pergamos. What comes after pergamos? Go on. Are you mumbling? You are Pergamos.
Tya. Tyra. What comes after Tyra? Sardis.
Got that? Oops. Go back again. I want to sort this one.
What comes after Sardis? Oh, wonderful. You make me believe in you again. What comes after Philadelphia? Which means.
No, it doesn't. I always get that answer. It means the people Being judged.
They are lukewarm. What I love about Seven Days Adventist is say when you mention loud, they say, oh, that's us. I like that.
Acts chapter 16. The Holy Spirit commands. When they had gone to Phrygia and the region of Galatia.
This is Paul and Silas on the missionary journey. They were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak a word in Asia. That's Asia Minor.
And they had come to Messiah. They tried to get to Bittinia, that's the eastern part of eastern Turkey. But the Spirit did not permit them.
The Holy Spirit commanded them and directed them. The Holy Spirit fulfils Romans 8, 4. That the righteous requirement of the law may be fulfilled in us not by our strength, our capacity, our ability, but by the aid and the help of the Holy Spirit.
It's a beautiful proposition. Who do not walk after the flesh, but according to the Spirit. We have just to learn.
We must learn to walk with the Holy Spirit. Let him direct you. Don't try it the other way around.
It doesn't work. The Holy Spirit intercedes. Likewise, the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses.
For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought. But the Spirit himself will do what? This is a person. This is not a mindset.
This is a person who has groanings that cannot be uttered. Now, he who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is. Because he makes intercession for the saints.
He makes intercession for us. Wonderful. Wonderful.
According to the will of God. There's many, many, many texts. 1 Corinthians, chapter 12.
But 1 and the same Spirit works in all these things, distributing to each individually as he wills. He wills the Spirit, the Person. The Holy Spirit communes.
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen. The Holy Spirit is a companion.
And he is available to each and every one of us. He fights for the flesh, lusts against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh. And these are contrary to one.
And another says that you do not do the things that you wish. We've all known this. On the end of the day you say, did I do this again? Yes, he did.
He didn't want to. But we succumb. That's what the Spirit is for.
To keep you standing, to keep you strong, determined, straight on the narrow. This is what he is there for. The Holy Spirit grieves.
He is a person. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. The Holy Spirit dwells.
I love this statement too. I didn't like it at first, I can tell you. Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit? You know that text? Look at this text.
Who is in you? That is the Holy Spirit. Who is in you? Who is whom you have from God. That is your body.
The antecedent is your body. Your body comes from God. It's God given, God provided.
That's where the Holy Spirit needs to dwell. And you are not your own. Don't you know that we are not our own? The problem with Christianity and I know it's a big problem, is you don't own yourself.
He owns you. But you're better off when he owns it than you owning it yourself. Infinitely better.
The Holy Spirit leads for as many are as led by the Spirit of God. These are the sons of God. You know we told we are legalists first you got to give a definition of legalism.
But the ten Commandments are beautiful. They tend promises. Did you know that they 10 promises.
The law doesn't energise. The law is not a person. The law is outside of us.
The law is the standard in the judgement. It is merciless. It can't extend mercy.
It can't give you the power. The law has no forgiveness. The law gives forgives nothing and it knows no grace.
But. But the law does not help the the law does not save, but it is good, perfect. It's beautiful.
Without the law I wouldn't know Paul says what sin is. And again Satan's strategy is one of his subtlest strategies is tempting us to resist his temptation in our strength pertaining to the law. The more we resolve to do better, the less we depend on the only power that can truly make us better and that is the Holy Spirit.
Just to make sure, I get often some texts that are given in the early stages of Ellen G. White where you could defend the position that she was semi Arian. Arius is a 4th century A.D.
church Father Arius of Alexandria who did not believe that Christ was self existent but that he was begotten in the sense that he was made, created or came after the Father. Now Arianism still prevails in certain churches have it very strongly. Ellen White came from a background of Trinity, but then James White was more of the Aryan persuasion.
And it's interesting that when you study her writings that you can see the progression where she comes to a full and total and complete acceptance of the trinitarian belief that we have as it is formulated in the Fifth, fundamental belief. When someone quotes you from her earlier writings, you might like to appreciate what she quoted overwhelmingly in later writings. And there is no question about her position.
Let me give you just two statements. I can give you as many as you like, but time is limited. It is.
Although I'll be well on track. The prince of the power of evil, that is Satan, can only be held in check. Only be held in check by the power of God in the what? Third person of the Godhead, ascribing him to be God, the Holy Spirit.
The other statements I'll give you. There are three living persons in the heavenly trio in the name of these three great powers, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. And as I said, I can give you many statements where she upholds the Trinity as it exists and as it is formulated in our fundamental beliefs.
Now, another story I want to share with you that. Sorry about the cigarette. You know this guy.
How many of you would recognise him straight away? Just wanted to see Steve McQueen. It is. Yeah, he.
His mom was. Yes, he was an alcoholic. Abuse of stepfathers, poverty, really.
I think he was worth 30 million when he died, though. Interesting character. He was a rebel, always in the fight, doing his own will, his own thing.
And we remember some of the roles that he played in the various movies. Steve McQueen was looking for something beyond success of Hollywood. He was really looking for something.
He only was 50 years old when he died. Sad, isn't it? Only 50 years old. Here's a story.
He listened once to Billy Graham and Billy Graham Preached on Romans 8. 1, and I'll show you the text in a minute. And he wanted to meet with Billy Graham, but both men were extremely busy.
And this is late in his life here for Steve McQueen, he was always looking for a father figure. Couldn't find one. There was a flight instructor that he took to who was a Christian, and he started to go to the church.
He did do that with his wife. He did go. Anyway, he tried to see Billy Graham because he had heard him preach on this.
Romans 8. 1. And he said, he phoned him and he said, I wanted what you preached, but I wasn't willing to pay the price.
This is the thing. You look at the promises in the Bible, right? And you want it. This life is short, it's quick, it's over before you know it.
Sorry, but that's the way it is, folks. This is not your home. You are on a journey.
We are on a journey, but where to? Very important. But if you want to go to the one place that can give you eternal peace and happiness, purpose and meaning. You need to give up certain things, in fact.
In short, you have to make that surrender completely and totally and absolutely. And you can't do it of yourself. Tried for years, it just didn't work.
You cannot do it of yourself. You need a helper. That's what you need.
The text that so impressed Steve McQueen. There is therefore now no condemnation. He had gone to this church of his flight instructor and he invited the pastor and he said, I have one question.
Can I be forgiven? And what do I have to do? And these men, they talked. Then he was diagnosed with. It's got a nice name.
And I always keep forgetting that name. Asbestosis. When he was in the army, there was a fibrosis of the lungs and it was just metastasizing everywhere.
He died within one year. And within that time frame, he tried to get in touch with Billy Graham. And then finally that actually happened and he wanted to talk about this.
There is therefore now no condemnation by those who are in Christ, who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit. Get it? You cannot sin against the Holy Spirit. If you refuse him, you refuse Christ, you refuse the Father, you refuse salvation.
And so what was it for the law of the Spirit of life. Let's read that verse as well. In Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin, of death.
This is what he was really after. Free from the law of sin. And the wages of sin is and of death.
That is what he wanted so badly. On November 7, which was the set, the 62nd birthday of Billy Graham, he died four days before Billy Graham had visited him in hospital. And that is the dream that came true for Steve McQueen.
And the man talked particularly about this text, particularly about this. And the second part, very powerful for the law of the Spirit of life. That said, the Holy Spirit in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.
You can be forgiven. It is amazing. It is amazing.
There is a future ahead of us where we will be as if we have never sinned. It's true. It will never come to mind.
And the man prayed. And Billy Graham gave him his personal Bible. Gave him his personal Bible.
Four days later, Steve McQueen died. But he was clutching. He was holding that Bible.
I think he found it. I'd like to think so. We've got to accept the Holy Spirit fully and totally.
You know, who do we trust? Who we trust is really what we become, isn't it? And if we trust the Holy Spirit, then he makes us what we are. And what are we? We are free from the law of sin and we are free of the law of death. That's the message.
That's the only freedom that'll take you from this world into the next. And may God bless you and may we all be there. Let's bow our heads.
Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for that incredible provision that you have made for us. The gift of the spirit.
Lord, forgive us our shortcomings. Forgive us our neglect. Fill us with your spirit.
Fill us with your spirit place. Let him rule. Let him do in our lives your good pleasure.
For this I pray in Jesus name. Amen. God bless you.
This message was made available by the Waitara Seventh Day Adventist Church. For more resources like this, visit waitarachurch.org.au. It's been a pleasure bringing you this programme here on 3 ABN Australia Radio.
