Holy Spirit Notes

August 25   The Activity of the Holy Spirit in the Messiah Jesus: Incarnation, Hypostatic Union, Kenosis   His Birth Mary was told that her son would be conceived "from the Holy Spirit." "Before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit." (Matt.1:18) An angel appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit."  (Matt. 1:20) Mary was told by Gabriel, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.  So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God." (Luke 1:35) The Holy Spirit was active in the creation of a "new humanity" in the conception of Jesus.  He was unrelated to Adam's sin nature but a descendent of Adam's humanity.  Jesus had no father from Adam's line, but did have a mother from Adam.  This gave him humanity but no human sin nature.  He was born holy as a creation direct from God as a second Adam. The Person of Christ Isaiah prophesied the coming of the Messiah as the God/Man: "For to us a child is born (this refers to the humanity of the Messiah, he was conceived and born and so had a beginning as all humans do), to us a son is given (this refers to the deity of the Messiah, he was given for he is eternal). Isaiah 9:6     The Council at Chalcedon in 451 AD formulated a statement to explain this for orthodox Christianity.  It says: "Therefore, following the holy fathers, we all with one accord teach men to acknowledge one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, at once complete in Godhead and complete in manhood, truly God and truly man, consisting also of a reasonable soul and body; of one substance with the Father as regards His Godhead, and at the same time of one substance with us as regards His manhood; like us in all respects apart from sin; as regards His Godhead, begotten of the Father before the ages, but yet as regards His manhood begotten, for us men and for our salvation, of Mary the virgin, the God bearer; one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, Only-Begotten, recognized in two natures, without confusion, without change, without division, without union, but rather the characteristics of each nature being preserved and coming together to form one Person and subsistence, not as parted or separated into two Persons, but one and the same Son and only begotten God the Word, Lord Jesus Christ; even as the prophets from earliest times spoke of Him, and our Lord Jesus Christ Himself taught us, and the creed of the fathers has been handed down to us."   Charles Ryrie in "Basic Theology" summarizes this portion of the Creed of Chalcedon as: "More concisely one may describe the person of Christ incarnate as being full Deity and perfect humanity united with out mixture, change, division, or separation in one person forever.  The key components of the description include 'full Deity' (no diminution of any attribute of Deity), 'perfect humanity' ('perfect' rather than 'full' in order to emphasize His sinlessness), 'one Person' (not two), and 'forever' (for He continues to have a body, though resurrected, Acts 1:11; Rev. 5:6)" This union of the nature of God with the nature of man in one person is called the hypostatic union (or, the one person union).  Jesus is the unique being in the universe.  So you have Deity and perfect humanity living unmixed in one person. The nature of God and the nature of man belong to Jesus.  The attributes of these two natures can not be mixed or else the nature of God would take on human attributes or the nature of man would take on divine attributes.  Meaning if the human nature had divine attributes the human nature would no longer be human. So these two natures exist unmixed in one person.  Jesus could and can speak, act, or think from the perfect human nature or from the nature of deity.  Or, both natures could be involved, yet unmixed, in his speech, actions or thinking.   Some false doctrine concerning the incarnation of Christ: Docetism     150 AD         Christ only appeared to be a man Ebionism     100's AD       Christ was the natural son of Joseph and Mary but was united with the eternal Christ at his baptism Arianism      325 AD         Believed that Jesus, the second member of the trinity was produced by the eternal God in eternity past. Apollinarianism  380 AD Taught that Jesus had a human body and a human soul but had the divine Logos instead of a human spirit. Nestorianism 400's AD    The two natures were separate forming two people in one body. Eutychianism 400's         In response to Nestorianism said there was only one nature. The divine nature was part divine but not full nor was the human nature full. Result: one mixed nature Kenosis: Self-Emptying of Christ "Kenosis" is the verb in Phil.2:7: "Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, Did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, But made himself nothing, (Literal: "but himself emptied") taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled himself and became obedient to death. . ." (Philippians 2:5-8) The Linguistic Key says this about the word "ekenwsen" (the aorist active indicative of "kenow", or "kenosis"): "to empty, to make empty, to make of no effect.  The word does not mean He emptied Himself of His deity, but rather He emptied Himself of the display of His deity for personal gain.  The word is a graphic expression of the completeness of His self-renunciation and His refusal to use what He had to His own advantage."   The concept is he left his position but not his nature.  He became a servant, but he maintained his full attributes of deity. As God, he served man. He left glory to go to the cross. He did not leave the nature of deity. Philippians 2:6 makes it clear he maintained full deity: "being in very nature God." Christ continued as God on the earth. Compare "very nature God" to "taking the very nature of a servant." These are the same phrases used to describe His divine nature and his human nature. If he was not God on earth, then he was not a servant on earth either. The "kenosis", or self-emptying, refers to His taking or accepting "the very nature of a servant."  Even in the form of a servant He maintained his deity. The glory was veiled due to his nature as a servant, but it was with Him. His deity was with Him, available to Him and used by Him while on the earth in the form of a servant. "Made in human likeness" means two things: 1) He was really man. 2) He was different from men. "The self-emptying permitted the addition of humanity and did not involve in any way the subtraction of Deity or canceling the use of the attributes of Deity.  There was a change of form but not of content of the Divine Being.  He did not give up Deity or the use of those attributes; He added humanity.  And this in order to be able to die."   Points: 1) Christ's Deity was veiled, but only in the sense that people naturally saw his humanity with their eyes.  His Deity was always operational because it was always there and available. a. Matt 17:1-8, The transfiguration. b. John 1:14, "The word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.  We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father full of grace and truth." c. John 17:5, "Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began." d. Luke 4:34, "Ha!  What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth?  Have you come to destroy us?  I know who you are - the Holy One of God." e. Luke 4:41, "Demons came out of many people, shouting, 'You are the Son of God!'  But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew he was the Christ."   2) Occasionally Jesus voluntarily choose not to use his divine attributes, but often choose to use his divine attributes.  Sometimes he acted out of His new human nature and other times out of His divine nature. a. John 1:48, " 'I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.'  Then Nathanael declared, 'Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.'  Jesus said, 'You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree.  You shall see greater things than that. . . you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.'" (the angels even appear when Jesus was born.) b. John 2:24, "But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men.  He did not need man's testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man." c. John 16:30, "Now we can see that you know all things and that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions.  This makes us believe that you came from God." d. John 13:3, "Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God." 3) Jesus did miracles in the power of the Spirit, but sometimes in His own power. a. John 11:25, 40, 41, 43, "I am the resurrection and the life. . . Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God? . . Father, I thank you that you have heard me. . .Lazarus, come out!" b. John 5:25, "I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live.  For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself.  And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man." c. John 18:6, "When Jesus said, 'I am he,' they drew back and fell to the ground." Kenosis in Philippians 2 is not a discussion concerning how much of Christ's divine attributes were laid aside or tell us that these divine attributes were restricted.  Philippians 2 is telling us that the second member of the trinity humbled himself and added to himself the "very nature of a servant", which means he became a man.  By becoming a man he did not become less God or have to conceal his deity. By becoming a man he could think, speak and act as a man, but By being God he could continue to think, speak and act as God. Philippians 2 tells us Jesus became a man in order to die as a man for the sins of man. Reference Book:  "Basic Theology" by Charles Ryrie August 18   Holy Spirit Between Old Testament and New Testament   Old Testament Prophecies of the New Covenant 1.  The Holy Spirit will be poured out upon all flesh.  “And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.  Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.  Even on my servants both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days.” Joel 2:28-29) 2.  The Holy Spirit will be poured out on Israel   “For I will pour water on the thirsty  land, and streams on the dry ground;  I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants.  They will spring up like grass in a meadow, like poplar trees by flowing streams.”  Isaiah 44:3;   “I will no longer hide my face from them, for I will pour out my Spirit on the house of Israel, declares the Sovereign Lord.”  Ezekiel 39:29 “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you;  I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.  And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.”  Ezekiel 36:26, 27 “From the west, men will fear the name of the Lord, and from the rising of the sun, they will revere his glory.  For he will come like a pent-up flood that the breath of the Lord drives along.  ‘The Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who repent of their sins,’ declares the Lord.  ‘As for me, this is my covenant with them,’ says the Lord. ‘My Spirit, who is on you, and my words that I have put in your mouth will not depart from your mouth, or from the mouths of your children, or from the mouths of their descendants from this time on and forever,’ says the Lord.”  Isaiah 59:19-21 3.  The Spirit then will remain forever   (Isaiah 59:21, above, “My Spirit. . . forever.”) 4.  The Spirit will live in the heart of man to renew it and sanctify it. “Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them.  I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land.  Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.”  Ezekiel 37:13-14 (Ezekiel 36:26,27, Above) “ ‘This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,’ declares the Lord.  ‘I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts.  I will be their God, and they will be my people.  No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,’ declares the Lord.”  Jer. 31:33 5.  The Spirit will rest upon the Messiah who is the Mediator of this New Covenant.  “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots  a branch will bear fruit.  The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him – the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.”   Isaiah 11:1-2;   “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put ,y Spirit on him and he will bring justice to the nations.  He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets.  A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.  In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; he will not falter or be discouraged. Thill he establishes justice on earth.  In his law the islands will put their hope.”   Isaiah 42:1-4; “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.  He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release for the prisoners.  To proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion – to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.”  Isaiah 61:1)   The Old Testament spoke of: 1)       Messiah who would be anointed with the Holy Spirit and do a work among the people. 2)      A people who would respond to the Messiah and receive this same Holy Spirit.  They all would:                                                                                                                                    a)  be given a new nature                                                                                                                      b)  supernaturally manifest the Holy Spirit that was in them                                                                 c)  live obedient lives of holiness.   Closing of the Old Testament   Zechariah, 520 BC, the second to last book of the OT, says that all God’s works are by his Holy Spirit and not by the efforts of man.  “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel:  ‘Not by might, not by power, but by my Spirit.,’ says the Lord.” (Zech.4:6)   Zechariah’s prophecy gives a comprhensive view of the future history of the Jewish people from 520 BC through the coming of the Messiah until the establishing of the Kingdom of God on the earth.  (The church age was still a hidden mystery at this time.)   Malachi, (430) a contemporary of Nehemiah, lived at a time when Israel had returned from captivity, resettled their land, rebuilt the temple and where once again functioning from Jerusalem under an operating priesthood.  He is appealing to the Jews to return to the Lord in:                 a)      proper ritual obedience to the Law of Moses b)      a righteous attitude toward God.  If they did not return to God, he would not return to them.(3:7) The closing comments of his book are:                                                                          a)      Remember the Law of Moses (4:4) b)      “I will send you the prophet Elijah. . .” (4:5) Elijah was to be the next man to be anointed with the Holy Spirit to bring a message to the people from God.  This man was John the Baptist. Matt. 11:14, “If you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come.” Matt. 17:12, “To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things.  I tell you,Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished.” Luke 1:15-17, “He will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth.  Many of the people of Israel will he bring back to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous – to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”   The Concept of the Holy Spirit Between the OT and NT Judaism at this time developed the concept that the spirit of prphecy had ceased within Israel with the last of the biblical prophets.   First Maccabees 4:45, 46, “They therefore pulled down the altar, and stored away the stones in a suitable place on the temple hill, until there should arise a prophet to give a decision about them.” First Maccabees 14:41, “The Jews and their priests confirmed Siomon as their leader and high priest in perpetuity until a true prophet should appear.” Psalm 74:9, “We cannot see any sign for us, we have no propohet now; no one among us knows how long this is to last.”   The people of this time lived in a state of continual hopeful expectation of the arrival of a prophet.  Many men and groups stepped up in hopes of fulfilling this position.    “But a Pharisee named Gamaliel a teacher of the law, who was honored by all the people, stood up in the Sanhedrin and ordered that the men be put outside for a little while.  Then he addressed them: ‘Men of Israel, consider carefully what you intend to do to these men.  Some time ago Theudas appeared, claiming to be somebody, and about four hundred men rallied to him.  He was killed, all his followers were dispersed, and it all came to nothing.  After him, Judas the Galilean appeared in the days of the census and led a band of people in revolt.  He too was killed, and all his followers were scattered.”        Acts 5:35-37   A religious sect of Judiasm known as the Qumran community understood Isaiah’s promise of the coming of “Elijah” as a reference to themselves.  “A voice of one calling: ‘In the desert prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.”  (Isaiah 40:1)  They moved into the wilderness of Judea near the Dead Sea to fulfill their work of preparing the way for the Lord.  They were one of the popular sects of Jesus day along with the Sadducees and the Pharisees.  They do not appear in the scriptures as clearly because they were in the wilderness preparing the way for the Lord. The Dead Sea Scrolls come from their communities.   In Qumran literature “the spirit of prophecy” begins to be identified as “God’s Holy Spirit.”   The title “Holy Spirit” appears in Judaism in IV Ezra (14:22)and in the Ascension of Isaiah (5:14).  In these writings and in the writings of the Rabbis the Holy Spirit is a reference to “God’s spirit of prophecy.”   The people of this time did not look for the Holy Spirit nor anticipate his work because it was their assumption that the spirit was the spirit of God in a prophet.  Indeed, the prophets had ceased, but the Spirit continued his work.  This was not identified in their theology since they could only understand the Spirit of God as he appeared in a prophet. In a sense, they believed the Spirit’s power and disappeared along with the office of the prophet.    They believed this spirit, or the Holy Spirit, would appear again in the new age to a purified Israel along with the Messiah who also had this spirit.[i] [i] Evangelical Dictionary of Theology   The Prophets Had Ceased, but The Spirit Had Continued The biblical teaching on this time period would say that Judaism was waiting for Elijah to come and restore the office of the prophet and introduce the Messiah.   Also, the biblical teaching would include a continuation of the work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers.  Remember, the Holy Spirit is the communicator.  His ministry of communicating to people has always been a functioning office.  The Spirit’s use of people as judges, kings, prophets, craftsman has been in a divine season and at random to the human view.   Consider these people of this time period who lived in the Old Testament time and between Malachi and John the Baptist (Elijah):   Simeon in Luke 2:25-35   Anna, the prophetess, in Luke 2:36-38   Also, consider the spiritual utterances of Elizabeth, Mary, and Zechariah:   Elizabeth – Luke 1:41, “When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.  In a loud voice she exclaimed: . . .”   Mary – Luke 1:46, “And Mary said: . . .   Zechariah – Luke 1:67, “His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied: . . .”   Jesus Reveals the Holy Spirit When Jesus began to teach he taught the idea that the Holy Spirit was a personality.  He showed that the Holy Spirit was God and that the Holy Spirit would work in the church and in all believer’s lives. John 15:26 John 16:7 August 11   Holy Spirit in the Men of Israel   Points of Doctrine concerning Holy Spirit in Men in the Old Testament: 1)  The Spirit was not given to all people.             a)  Individual’s received the Spirit at some level to do the work he assigned to them.                          It is never said that all of Israel received the Holy Spirit.              b)  The Spirit of God came on those he choose for special ministries:                         i)  Bezaleel, Exodus 31:3                         ii)  Othniel, Gideon, Jephthah, Judges 3:10; 6:34; 11:29                         iii) David, 1 Samuel 16:13                         iv) Prophets, 1 Peter 1:10-11 2)  The Spirit was temporarily given, and could be withdrawn.             a)  Samson                         i)  Judges 13:25, the Spirit of God came and stayed until it  departed                          “The  Spirit of the Lord began to stir him while he was in                            Mahaneh Dan.”                         ii)  Judges 16:20, the Spirit of God withdrew from Samson:  “He did                               not know that the Lord had left him.”             b)  Saul                         i)  1 Samuel 10:10, “When they arrived at Gibeah, a procession                        of  prophets met him; the Spirit of God came upon                       him in  power, and he joined in their prophesying.”                         ii)  1 Samuel 16:14, “Now the Spirit of the Lord had                       departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord                       tormented him.”             c)  Ezekiel                         i)  The Spirit entered Ezekiel in Ezekiel 2:2, “As he spoke, the Spirit                                     came into me and raised me to my feet, and I heard                                     him speaking to me.”                         ii)  The Spirit enters Ezekiel again in Ezekiel 3:24, “Then the Spirit                              came into me and raised me to my feet.  He spoke to                              me and said: ‘Go, shut yourself inside your house. . .’ ”           d)  David pleads with God not to withdraw His Holy Spirit after he had sin                          with Bathsheba and killed Uriah in Psalms 51:11, “Do not cast me from            your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.”   This kind of prayer is never found in the New Testament, in fact John 14:12-17 says this:             “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I             have been doing.  He will do even greater things than these, because I             am going to the Father. (NOTE:  This is a reference to Jesus being glorified                which John says will occur before the Spirit is given in John 7:39)  And I will             do whatever you ask in my name, (NOTE: We are told in Luke 11:13 to ask                the Father to give the Holy Spirit) so that the Son may bring glory to             the Father. (Note: The Spirit brings glory to Jesus in John 16:14) You may             ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.  If you love me, you             will obey what I command.  And I