The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit Lesson 20 start

We are in the person, work of the Holy Spirit class. We have, what is this, lesson 20? Is that what it is? Lesson 20. And this will be starting in Writeout's book in chapter four. And I can never get to the actual page references. When you say page 45 through 51, Mike, I have no clue where that is.

So I basically find one of the, Sentences or something that you have and I find it within the in my my PDF So if you do have is that the book Mike that is the page? If you if you look at the handout on the top It'll say page 45 to 51 and that's the old PDF. Oh, that's the PDF one and then 107 to 111 is the is the paper bound book that everybody got Okay I don't know if I have that one. I mean, I have one that didn't reference the other one. Maybe I just had the one that you sent me, Mike, so it may not have that on my sheet. All right, so hopefully you know where you're at in the book and whatever PDF file you have.

So why does Rideout want the reader to have a distinct concept of what the church is? So Rideout begins this chapter with the thought that we as believers are much more focused on the work of the Holy Spirit within ourselves versus how the Holy Spirit works within the church.

You think he's correct on that? Is that a good assumption? I'm not self-centered. Is yours on? Yeah. Phil makes the astute comment that we're all self-centered. So I don't know what he's talking about. He gets a merit badge for that. Yeah. Does everybody agree with that? Is that our tendency? Sure. I think so.

I remember when we were in the faith class and it was broken out into the essence of faith, which was Hebrews 11.1, the unity of faith or the principle of faith, but everybody wanted to jump immediately to personal faith. That was, forget about it all, let's get into personal faith. It was always, in all that we're trying to steer the questions, it always tried to come back to personal faith. And so I think it's the same way with the Holy Spirit. I think our tendency is to see what is the working of the Holy Spirit in my life, which is good.

But there is a whole other category that Right Out approaches on this, which is how the Holy Spirit works within the church. so uh... redhead states this way with respect to the work of the holy spirit in the church vagueness here will mean vagueness and uncertainty all through i'll give this the scripture references exclusively from one brief epistle that to the effusions that's showing how the spirit of god has brought these truths together uh... would be began by uh... at least i want to go through what is the relationship between christ in the church world a lot more into this but it's before we get into a lot of the verses what is the relationship between christ in the church stunned silence he's got a lot of his body church is the bride And his body, the bride, the body. What else? He's the head of it. He's the head. And I kind of wonder about that. Do you think about that at all?

I mean, the understanding, but then do you understand what that means when we gather together? Does that change anything when we gather together? Your thoughts about that? The reason I say that is maybe Mike and Donna, you're out in California and meeting with people. It's just a bond that we have. We've talked about this many times.

When you go to a group or somebody, away from this fellowship, and you go and you – I do this in work. When I meet somebody, it's just different. You suddenly realize, I think they're a believer. And you just notice something different about them. And there's suddenly a bond between you and that person, even if you just met them, that they're a believer. And I think that's the thing about the, well, there we go.

It's live and in person. JD just came in. All right. so i think that the camera and sing sing sir uh... this is still a rare i don't know if i can there in the back so doesn't it concern his glory chris glory That's what occupies his heart and mind. Churches. But I want to get to the relationship between the church and Christ. Yeah, His glory, and we know His intrinsic qualities or principles. But it's this relationship between the church and Christ. And it's an incredible one.

And I wonder how much we really think about that. As I started to go through this, I thought, yeah, the church and Christ. But do we really think about that a lot? And again, this is kind of from the beginning where I said, are we selfish in that we always look at how the Holy Spirit's working with us? But do we look at how it works within the body? and what that means.

And I think, well, it's nice to have the fellowship back, you know, the personal one. I think we still have it virtually, but in person, it's just, you have a relationship with people who are in Christ that's different than somebody who is not in Christ. Not that you can't have friends that are non-believers, but it's just a different bond and a different relationship that you have with Christians. and i and i think that's the the the key is and uh... you know what this relationship is with the church in christ that we have an incredible relationship as a group as a body with christ and that's the linking factor between all of us and that the uh... when is that going to end and i think it's going to end when we're out of here no, it's never going to end see, there's good and bad about that You're stuck with me for eternity. Now that may turn all of you off, but it's an eternal relationship. And that's amazing when you think about it. But when we shirk these shells and all the flesh is gone, it'll be a perfect relationship, unimpeded by flesh. And we'll have a relationship that, you know, it'll be incredible.

We have it now, but it'll be even better when we're shirking these fleshly bodies. But, so I just want to get through it, you know, the church in Christ and how the relationship is. And we'll look at some verses here. We'll look at Ephesians 1, 22 and 23. And he has put all things in subjection under his feet, and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all." So what does it say here? What is the church? It's his body. It's his body. We're his body. Do we understand that? Do you understand we're his body? What does that mean? Yeah. You know, we read through these things and you know, my mind goes crazy. You know, it's like, what does that mean?

We're his body. You know, I just had a thought which is rare. I I wasn't going to make that comment. I left that to you. that that a human being walking around on the planet has a soul and a spirit and he has a body to express himself to as all of us are his body on the earth for the purpose of expressing him. That's what I wanted to get at.

Do we realize that? We are his expression. Do you feel that way? Not that I want to get out of feelings, but do you understand that? That we are the expression of Christ to the world. And that's where I think the body concept is. I mean, we are his body. We are the expression to the world of who Christ is. That's incredible. That is. I think I've said this. I think it's a Bruce Carroll song.

I'd rather see a sermon than hear one any day is one of his songs. And I think that I'd rather see the living word in us is his body than hear a sermon that tells me about it. I think it's much more important for us to express Christ through our life than to hear about it and try and, you know, I don't know, copy, mimic, whatever.

It's how we live it out, because that's the body expression of Christ. That's how people see Christ a lot of times is through us. It's just like I said, when I see somebody who's just different, I think the world sees us as different. And that's to draw people to you to express Christ. And so that's the body. We are to express Christ to the world. So I think it's an important concept between the church and the body, or the church and Christ, and what that means.

So we can further this by 1 Corinthians 12, 12 and 13. for even as the body is one and yet has many members and all the members of the body through through though they are many are one body so also is christ for by one spirit we're all baptizing the one body whether jews or greeks where the slaves are free we're all made to drink of one spirit so again one body and what's the linking in there too what is the uh... the one link in their it that links us all together besides being a body? What is the factor in here? Maybe it's hard to express. Four by one spirit, and we're to drink of one spirit. The linking is the Holy Spirit within us.

That's again, the body is one spirit too. And that's when we get into the, you know, even to the unity of faith and that unity of the spirit. that we all have one spirit and that's christ christ life christ spirit within us that's the unifying body concept when he says what if we're even as the body is one and yet as many many members all are members of one body and that we get into the concept there's hands there's feet there's arms there's legs there's all sorts of different body parts but it's all part of one body So we're all different in how we are living out Christ. But it all is linked by the Holy Spirit and Christ's life. And as we'll get into, Christ is the head of the body.

So we can get into that in Colossians 1, 18 and 19. He is also head of the body, the church. And he is the beginning, the firstborn of the dead, so that he himself will come to have first place in everything. For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in him." So here we have, he's the head of the body, and here's the direct link, the church. The church is the body, he is the head. So the guiding of all of us is Christ, and that is manifested through the Holy Spirit indwelling each and every one of us. Every believer has the Holy Spirit indwelling. So again, this body concept, Christ is the head, we are the body.

Do we understand that? That's pretty amazing. That's amazing. Again, from the first thing, we are the manifestation. The body is the manifestation of the life of that entity. So we're the body. We're the ones that express that. But the head is Christ. Would you say that that whole concept is a positional truth? Yes. Absolutely, there's no change in that. The manifestation of that is conditional, but the position is the same.

Well, I got to thinking about the verses we went through last Sunday on 2 Corinthians 3.18, that there's this conformity process going on from a conditional standpoint to the image of Christ. Well, that makes a lot of sense in terms of the position because if i'm going to be a member of the body to manifest christ i think there has to be a conformity takes place before that happens what do you think i guess i'm trying to think of this that that man manifestation doesn't have to come until we're fully conformed to the image right so so we're we're manifesting this even a year uh... uh... obeyed in christ can manifest christ You know, I think as we get more spiritually mature, I think maybe that manifestation is more, possibly. But I think anybody who is in Christ can manifest Christ. Yeah. Yeah, Courtney, can you say that manifestation begins at salvation? I believe so. That's what I'm saying.

I don't think it has to wait until you're a youth in Christ. I think any time you have the indwelling of the Spirit, you can manifest. And that happens instantaneously at the time you manifest. Become a believer maturity begins then too. Yes. It's just like starting a baby when a baby is born That begins the process process of growth, but they manifest the body at that point a person so Yeah So yeah, I guess Mike the only thing I would qualify is that you yes as you conform.

I think there's more manifestation maybe but I think you from day one instant one you could manifest Christ and Yeah. Because you can't you can't manifest someone's life that you don't have. Right. So, we we we have the resurrected glorified life life of Christ in us. We're members of his body.

Uh and and II was just thinking that uh you know, the day that you're saved, you're not the most spiritual you'll ever be. You're probably the least, right? So, this process goes on because you have a opposing that fights against that manifestation of the body of the lord Jesus Christ. He doesn't want any anything to do with Christ and certainly he doesn't want to show him correct.

So, you know, like I said, it's like growing up set apart process is to teach. It's interesting how much the lord has determined that we are It's painful sometimes, but it's great that you are, because then you understand, as you go along, how important it is, all of these positional truths that the Lord tells us about, shows us, it's just not theory.

It's reality that's being worked out in our hearts, in our lives, you know? Yeah, and I think, was it this morning's Hungry Heart, or something about, I don't know if this was the one about, you know, Was it the trials and how this kind of starts the growth process? I can't remember exactly how it was, but I think that was kind of the gist of it this morning. I can't remember.

So we'll go on here, also in Colossians 1.24 we have the explicit scripture that links the two.

Now I rejoice in my suffering for your sake and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of his body which is the church. So no question, the church is his body, his manifestation of himself. So there's no question about the link between church and Christ as the, we're his body, he's the head. Right out states it this way, here we have the beginning marked, for the body could not exist without a head, and Christ was made the head of the church when he was glorified. So again, right now Christ is the head of the body, head of us. And the spirit is what links us all together, that life. And we manifest Christ through the Holy Spirit. Everybody good with that? Or any questions, thoughts? All right. Question two.

On the last paragraph of page 47, which is one of the, which, I'm really struggling reading today. On the last paragraph of page 47, what is one of the mysteries of the church? So, I'll read Ephesians 3, 4 through 9. and give a little insight on that.

So by referring to this, when you read, you can understand my insight, this Paul, my insight into the mystery of Christ, which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets in the spirit. to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel of which I was made a minister. According to the gift of God's grace, which was given to me according to the working of his power, to me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ and bring to light what is the administration of The mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things so So what do we learn from these verses about the mystery of the church? We'll get into that in a future question about the Jews and church and Gentiles and all that so I Guess the question was this new to the people of this age or did everybody understand it? Did they understand that this was coming all this the scripture all the up until this point did they understand it? Now that's the mystery. And even though all of the Old Testament points to Christ, it didn't point to this mystery, which was we would become fellow heirs with the Jews.

In what? In Christ's body. And so this was the mystery. And so in verses 4 and 5, I was referring to this. When you read, you can understand my, Paul, insight into the mystery of Christ, which is other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as has now been revealed to the Holy Spirit and apostles and prophets in there. So basically, this was totally new, totally radical. And I try and put my perspective on of being a Jew at that time.

How would you receive this message? I was thinking it's kind of like, and this is a strange analogy, but it's kind of like when someone comes and tells you that there was this appearance of Joseph Smith and there's all this new opportunity to fall into in terms of spirituality and service and so forth. You're like, well, you know, do God reveal himself again? I mean, is this really?

But the thing is, unlike Jehovah's Witness or Mormonism or whatnot, you have this clearly outlined in the scripture in the Old Testament. So it wasn't as though the information wasn't there for them, but it had to surprise them. It had to really confuse them for a while, for sure. Totally. Could you guys hear that? Yeah. OK. Yeah, that is just mind-blowing to them. Yeah.

I mean, we'll get into the differences between Jews, Gentiles, and the church, which we'll explore that, but this is like, you know, you had a club that specifically excluded you, JD, from this club. You cannot. And for thousands of years, you and your family couldn't come into this club. And suddenly today, eh, come on in.

Come on in, you know? new price yeah you suddenly got an invitation and it's like the ten thousand people are in the club going say what? say what? so it was it was mind-blowing this mystery and and so Rideout puts it this way here we are expressly told what the apostle had received was a mystery a secret of the heart of God particularly we're to understand that it had never been revealed in other ages in old testament times the profits here spoken of are not as a as a and the rest but the new testament profits where you notice they are mentioned after not before the apostles besides the connection shows the same thing so again what is the wonder a secret the god of reserve till this time gentiles would be part of the body, part of this one body with Christ.

And again, that comes in verse six. To be specific, so Paul doesn't mince any words here, because I'm sure he's going, I think they're going to parse this and make sure, you're not really saying this, are you? To be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. So this mystery is not any ambiguity about it.

He's telling them they are now fellow heirs, which again, just the thought of a Jew at this time, You gotta be kidding me. Think about, you know, in Samaria, if a Jew traveled from north to south, what, did they go through Samaria? Why not? They didn't want to be associated, because they're Gentiles and half-breeds, you know? It was kind of Jew and Gentiles married together, and they were that, ew, we're not going through there. We don't associate with it. That's why so much in the Samaritan Woman at the Well and all that kind of stuff was like, huh? We don't do that.

That was how much you'd go completely around some area to go from north to south. and and that's how much they they they didn't associate with them or it will get a little bit into that a little bit later one of the questions or that states a additionally that the gentiles should that the gentiles should be fellow areas of the same body or and partakers of his promise by the gospel this is the mystery old testament prophets had for foretold the time when the gentiles should receive blessings at the hand of israel and it's uh... from now design should go forth a lot of work the word of the lord from jerusalem And so there's some scripture that points to it, but not specific. I mean, it wasn't, as Paul's saying here specifically, the Gentiles would be fellow heirs. But Old Testament prophets say not a word as to what we have here. A joint body, fellow heirs, Jews and Gentiles, absolutely united and identified and marked out for heavenly, not an earthly existence. So again, this is a complete mystery to the people at that time. Go ahead. I have a question. I don't think we want to confuse the fact that the Jews were not aware of the body of Christ either. And although the Messiah was prophesied to save Israel, Israel didn't know about the church either. they didn't know it was coming.

And if you read Acts 2, where on Pentecost, where Peter gives a sermon, he really is talking about kingdom and the Jewish kingdom. And so when you get to Acts 4 and you see him at Cornelius' house and the spirit of God comes down, just like he did at Pentecost, it surprises him that God intended to save How do I say this? To save the Gentiles, but I don't think that until Paul came on the scene, that there was a real understanding about the body of Christ. I mean, there was a, there was a, they talked about the kingdom, the new covenant, all of these things and salvation through Jesus Christ, who was the Messiah.

But I don't think the body was really expanded upon in terms of understanding until Paul shows up. And so co-heirs with the nation of Israel, well, yes and no. I mean, co-heirs in the sense that salvation is offered. But I don't think any of the Jews, including all of the Jewish apostles other than Paul, understood about the body. That's what I think maybe one of you great biblical scholars, you know, wouldn't it Where's that relationship, you know, with Cornelius versus with the eunuch from the Queens? And he meets him on the road and explains this. Well, how far? But there was one that wasn't Who was it? Was it Peter Tran? He ended up at a different location, met, and... No, it wasn't Peter. It was one of the other apostles. Yeah, but that was another one where it was a non-Jew, wasn't it? Because it was...

Maybe I'm mixing myself up. No, I think you're all right there. Yeah, I think it was the eunuch. And then he came and explained it. And then maybe it was translated down to the coast or whatever it was. I can't remember. And the eunuch said, well, now that I believe this, can I get baptized? And he said, sure. Yeah. So they got off of their camel or whatever they were riding, and they were baptized.

But my point is that the mystery of the church, the body of Christ, was really something that I don't think Peter, James, and John understood until Paul came along. Yeah, well, that's what I'm saying. I don't know if one of these are, because I, you know, and then Cornelius, and then it was like, hey, we can eat all these things? Are we good with this?

You know, there were some unravelings going on there, and I just don't know, you know, between Paul and when that time frame, but they were starting to unravel this. The mystery was starting to be unraveled. I don't think they understood it 100% until Paul comes on and really explains it and says, hey, He'll be the missionary to the Gentiles. All I'm saying is, I think there were some inklings that were going on.

It was like, hey, what is this? How did this happen? I think that starts the ball unraveling, I guess, from the Jewish perspective. one of the issues is that uh... here that is the setting aside for the for the time of israel any introduction of an entirely new thing let this be clearly grasp or the church will not be seen right again this is the beginning of a of the setting aside of of israel now it's christ in the body that is what's what is the the principal uh... idea or or concept right now israel come back in the after after the uh... tribulation and and we'll get in that a little bit while here on the next one will get into a right now who are the jews gentiles in the church so we'll get into this who when did the jewish nation start when you first start hearing israel the nation itself abraham what's that Abraham. Yeah. We have two. We have Abraham and Jacob. Well, Jacob was Israel. His 12 sons formed the 12 tribes.

Yeah. Right. So it's really like you're drinking the Jack again there. That really looks bad. Yeah, I think, yeah. It's a big one. I'm sorry. Every time you do that, the way it looks like, you're having fun in California, I tell you. It's a whole different world out there.

Anyway, so was Abraham circumcised? Yes. OK. So does it start there or his 12 and Jacob? The nation, the promises were made to Abraham that he would make, that God was going to make them a great nation. Right. The implementation of the promises didn't really come about until Jacob. Jacob was named Israel. That's when Israel began, but yeah, Mike is right. Abraham got the promises. Yeah, I kind of got, and kind of researching this a little bit more, was yeah, it's really Abraham's offspring that is the nation. He was given the promise, which we'll look at in Genesis 12, 1 and 2. Now the Lord said to Abram, go forth from your country and from your relatives and from your father's house to the land which i will show you and i'll make you a great nation and i'll bless you and make your name great and so shall be and and so you shall be a blessing really it starts i think that his offspring jacob and and that's the first time you see israel so that's really when the jew jewish nation started so that's the beginning of it so So I have a couple questions.

Was Israel distinct from other inhabitants of the world? Yes. Yes, they were. Yes. Why? You all quickly say yes, but do you? Mainly because of their laws. Their laws were totally different from the rest of the world. Laws? In regards to people, its chosen people. I think, I think, yeah, say it again Cheryl. They were God's chosen people. He was going to work through the Jews now. That's what I was trying to get at. They were the chosen. They were chosen. And they were now to be really the ones who are The ones that interact and carry and bring forth all the revelation from God and all the different things, they were the chosen people. So they were distinct from the rest of the world. And I think it's unique to see, even now, I always think just from an empirical standpoint, they're different. And Israel is different.

I always look at back in the 65 War and things like that, they were outnumbered 20 to 1. and they kicked them. They have, this little nation has survived. How have they done that? Unless they're chosen of God. I did, from a purely, think about it, you know, we look at Ukraine now, and they can be wiped out in a minute, you know, and everybody else. But this little country of Israel seems to survive. Great odds, great outnumbering, but they survive.

Well, they're back in the land, but they're there in unbelief, but they're there. This is the setting aside until the covenant, which is after the tribulation, and they're promised a land. And we'll get to that. Basically, all of their promises are where? Earthly. Earthly. They're bilateral, right? So they're between themselves and God. Yeah. If you then ask. Unless they believe, then they become a part of the church. Yeah.

But the fact that the idea of being chosen stems from God's promises to them and making a covenant with them. So the Abrahamic covenant set them apart as being chosen because they had that covenant with God. Right, that was the first and then the second covenant is what we'll look at too. That we had a covenant that you will be a chosen people, you will be a blessed nation, you will be.

And that's what I think, just from kind of my, Just be like, so the empirical, how did Israel survive all this? How does the remnant go from throughout history to this point? In World War II, there was an attempt to annihilate them all. Let me give you another fact. Why is Israel the only nation that hasn't interbred with other nations? Yeah. And they haven't. Yeah. I mean, there is a remnant that is a Jewish thread.

And again, kind of the chosen, if you're a non-believer, just from that, how does Israel survive this? I just remember in the war, I think it was the 65 war, was that the one? Basically, I think it was 65, when they were outnumbered 20 to 1, and they just slaughtered everybody. And it's like, How did that happen? They've continually survived throughout this, and the remnant remains. I just think that's got to be God's hand. They're a chosen people, and for the ultimate second covenant, the next covenant.

So from Rideout, Rideout says, Judaism has existed from the establishment of the nation and giving of the law. The very constitution of the nation was based upon a complete separation from the Gentiles. The Passover, the national feast celebrating redemption, was exclusive. No stranger shall eat of it. The possession of the land, the inheritance promises necessitated the destruction of nations occupying it. The whole after history of the nation is largely a record of their failure to maintain this absolute separation. Any league was absolutely forbidden by the law. All the ordinances emphasize this isolation.

So, by default, who are the Gentiles? Okay, everybody else, doesn't care what nation, ethnic, whatever, everybody else besides the Jews, you are classified as a Gentile. So, and again, I kind of touched on this, how did the Jews and Gentiles function together up until this point? Poorly. No touchy. No, no. Again, go around some area. You don't go into their house. You don't eat with them. You don't do anything. You don't associate with them. They are a pariah. You don't get near them.

What's interesting about that is that after the flood, there were three families, six people on the earth, and from them, humanity spread out again and god wanted to manifest to the world who he was and the world in general couldn't uh couldn't uh meet his expectations. So, he starts with his own people and they had a they had a job and their job was to manifest god to the rest of the world and instead of doing system, their legal system, and separated themselves. It's like you and I as Christians are separated. We're set apart by God for his purposes. It's the same way with the nation of Israel, only they didn't see it that way. They saw it as, well, we're better than you.

You know? Yeah. They had a distinct which, to some degree, you know, I was trying to put on my hat if I was there. You've been the ones who've handled all of the communication between gods for 2,000, 3,000 years. Right. I can see a little uppity-ness there. You know, you're the ones who are now the ones who bring forth that message. You are the ones who God works through. I mean, I gotta put a little bit on, you know, if I was there, how would I react? Probably the same way, you know?

But they had abject failure all the time. And God punished them, but God drove through them, kept them a chosen people. So, but. Again, their association with us, the Gentiles, anybody who is non-Jewish, was completely distinct. You did not associate with them. Rite Out has it this way. The Gentiles were the uncircumcised. To associate with them was defilement, the bitterest humiliation to Israel, a subjection to a foreign power.

Their lasting shame was the Babylonian captivity and subsequent Gentile domination. and their brightest hopes were centered about the overthrow of the gentile breaking his yoke in the establishment of the nation in its former glory as in the days of solomon so again i think that kind of brings it out is their uh... their hatred of the of the gentiles Shoot, yeah, I guess we're close.

Maybe I should, we'll get to the church next time. I see it's almost 9.49. So we'll get to who the church is, which talks about us. So we'll get to that next week and we can close here. Heavenly Father, we thank you again just for the revelation that we, as formerly Gentiles, we're now part heirs and fully vested heirs of yours.

We are your body, which is the manifestation of you to the world. And we thank you for that and what that means. You are the head of our body. which is your body, which is composed of all of us. And we thank you for that. That is a mystery that was reeled a couple thousand years ago, and what it means today, that we are your body. to manifest you to a world that many times doesn't recognize you. So we just thank you for that unique position that you put us in, and it is a position.

And we thank you again for the ability to do that is through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. So we thank you for that knowledge that we have the strength and power through the Holy Spirit to manifest your son, the Lord Jesus. So Father, we give you thanks for this time, and we look forward to the next meeting, and just speak clearly your word, and just prepare our hearts to receive it. We thank you for all these things. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.