Tuesday, September 8, 2026

AWAY TILL FRIDAY

EZEKIEL FOR TOMORROW CHAPT. 9 - 18

Ezekiel For Tomorrow!

Chapters 9 to 18

FOR WHY WILL YOU DIE, O HOUSE OF ISRAEL? Part 4 by Keith Hunt Over and over again in the pages of the Prophets of old, God has stated WHY He must punish the whole peoples of the House of Israel and the House of Judah, with a punishment like no other in all recorded history - Jeremiah called it "Jacob's trouble" (chap.30:7). Daniel talked about the same time of trouble, like no other before or after. And it was at this time that the people of God would be delivered (Dan.12). Dozens of passages teach that the peoples of the 13 tribes of Israel are in a captivity to their enemies at the time of the end. Jesus comes again, and one thing He immediately does is bring forth the remnant of Israelite people out from the lands they have been scattered in, to restore them to the land of Promise - the land of Palestine. The punishment was needed to bring them to deep and true REPENTANCE. One passage in the writings of Jeremiah gives the clear reason why the Eternal will have to lower the rod of correction upon the Jewish people, and the people of the British Commonwealth, USA, and nations of Northwest Europe. "For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have only done evil before me from their youth: for the children of Israel have only provoked me to anger with the work of their hands, says the Enteral....Because of the evil of the children of Israel and of the children of Judah, which they have done to provoke me to anger, they, their kings, their princes, their priests, and their prophets, and the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And they have turned unto me their BACK, and not their face: though I TAUGHT THEM, RISING UP EARLY AND TEACHING THEM( yes, God has always had His faithful true ministers proclaiming His truths to the nations of Israel, especially in the last days - Keith Hunt), YET THEY HAVE NOT HARKENED TO RECEIVE INSTRUCTION...." (Jeremiah 32:30-33). We have come to chapter 9 in the book of Ezekiel, and the Lord is now ready to start to act upon what He has promised, punishment and death, if the nations of Israel will not turn to Him in repentance. But the Lord is merciful to those that are after His own heart. Remember when the Almighty with two angels came to destroy Sodom and Gomorah(Gen.18) and Abraham asked Him about the innocent? The Eternal would have mercy for the innocent. You will remember Lot and some of his family were spared death. This situation to befall Israel is not quite the same, for they will be punished regardless of how many righteous are within. But we now see in Ezekiel nine, that the Lord is still looking out for the righteous who dwell in the nations of Israel. These righteous "sigh and cry for all the ABOMINATIONS" being committed (verse 4). Please keep in mind that "the city" (Jerusalem) and all that is to take place in her, is a TYPE of all to come upon the whole 13 tribes of Israel and Judah. This we have seen in previous studies. These righteous have a mark set upon them. They are marked as God's people. The indications are that they will be protected from the death when it starts, as those under the blood were protected from death when God brought Israel out of Egypt under Moses (Ex.12). This would seem to be the logical conclusion from the context of chapter nine. It could be that the righteous are noted, God has them in His book of life, and that they will be a part of the first resurrection, those who will rise to meet Christ in the air, the clouds, and so ever be with Him. The righteous marked here are so marked at the beginning, or just before the start of the announcement to slay the young and the old. They are spared from death as Jacob's trouble begins. These marked here are not to be confused with the 144 thousand of Revelation 7. Those in Rev.7 are brought to conversion just before the great day of the wrath of God, after the heavenly signs and killing of true saints during the great tribulation(see the 5th and 6th seals of Rev.6 with Mat.24). Revelation 7 is a later time frame from this prophecy of Ezekiel 9. We certainly do have very plain words about the death to come for a great many of the inhabitants of the nations of Israel, immediately after the marking of those who cry and sigh for the abominations being committed. "...Go you after him through the city, and SMITE: let not your eye spare, neither have you pity: Slay utterly old and young, both maids and little children, and women....and BEGIN at my SANCTUARY....and they went forth and slew in the city. And it came to pass, while they were slaying them, and I was left, that I fell upon my face and cried, and said, Ah Lord God! will you destroy ALL THE RESIDUE OF ISRAEL in your pouring out of your fury upon Jerusalem? Then said He unto me, The iniquity of the HOUSE OF ISRAEL and JUDAH is EXCEEDING GREAT, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of perverseness....And as for me also, mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have PITY, BUT I WILL RECOMPENSE THEIR WAY UPON THEIR HEAD...." Ezekiel is again lifted up by the Spirit and brought to the Temple in Jerusalem, chapter 10:1. God here speaks to the princes of Israel. To the men who give you advice and leadership. You receive BAD and self-deceptive advice O nations and people of Israel. They tell you to plan for the next century, way down the road, for they tell you no evil will befall the might Western nations. You increase in crime overall (USA has declined in crime recently, during the 90's, but Britain has greatly increased, especially in violent crime. By the time God is going to punish, crime will be out of sight in the nations of Israel). The Eternal says you have feared the sword of war, and indeed the sword will come upon you. God will deliver you over to your enemies and so execute judgment upon you. You shall fall by the weapons of war, and when it happens the Almighty says you will finally KNOW that He is the Eternal. He will so bring you to humble repentance, for He says you have not walked after His statutes, and His judgments, but have done the manner of the heathen around you. After all this has taken place, yet the Lord will not cast you away. He will see your repentance. He will hear your cries for mercy, and He will forgive, and love you. He will answer you. Oh, how wonderful and longsuffering is the Eternal. The day is coming when you will be given a new heart and a new life. Will you listen people of Israel and Judah to the good that your God will yet perform towards you. "....Although I have cast them far off among the heathen, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet will I be to them as a little sanctuary in the countries where they shall come....I will even gather you from the people, and assemble you out of the countries where you have been scattered, and I will GIVE YOU THE LAND OF ISRAEL. And they shall come hither, and they shall take away....all the abominations...And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them an heart of flesh: That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they SHALL BE MY PEOPLE AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD...." (Ezek.11:16-21). The Eternal had Ezekiel act out a literal removal of himself and his "stuff" of captivity in chapter 12, to teach the lesson to Israel that they would indeed be removed. Again the emphasis is placed on Israel that they are a REBELLIOUS household of people, with eyes to see but will not see, with ears to hear but will not hear. God says He will leave A FEW IN NUMBER who shall escape the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, to declare all the abominations that they will then fully recognize, among the nations where they shall come (verse16). There will be among you people and leaders who will laugh at this warning, they will say the day of destruction for such great and powerful nations as the British Commonwealth and the USA is many many years away. But the Eternal says He is the Almighty, and it WILL NOT BE PROLONGED, for He will say the word and it shall come to pass (verse 25-28). Listen O nations of Israel, you have famous religious preachers and prophets in your lands. But they teach and prophesy "out of their own hearts." They talk out of their own spirit, and God says they have SEEN NOTHING! (chapter 13:1-3). They come to you in the name of the Lord, but the Lord says He has NOT SENT THEM! They have lulled you to sleep with a false grace and false hope. They have built up a false wall that looks strong and right but there is no true cement to hold the bricks, and the Eternal will blow with His stormy wind upon it, until it and its builders are smashed (verses 6-16). Ah, the Lord also speaks to the women that now lead in your nations in various influential positions of power and leadership - spiritually(many are now ordained ministers of religion) and physically(positions of power and influence in governments from local to federal). Because in the main they have strengthened the hands of the wicked and have not led the people to turn from their evil ways, God will in the coming punishment return to them their reward of sin and evil, and will deliver the people from their clutches of corruption (verses 17-23). We see in chapter 14 and verses one to eleven, a very interesting principle of teaching. If the attitude of the bulk of the people is that they do not really want truth or righteousness, that they have closed their hearts and minds to hungering after righteousness, if they have turned their minds over to being deceived, and put whatever idols before their minds(i.e. comfort, wealth, biblical laziness, overlooking sins, corruptions, lies, making the "church" into a social club) and still come in an outward form to the religious leaders to supposedly ask about the things of God, then we learn one BIG principle of truth here. Under those circumstances, with that attitude prevailing, GOD WILL DECEIVE THE VERY RELIGIOUS LEADERS THE PEOPLE COME TO SEEK AFTER FOR GOD'S WAY. This shows that the grass roots PEOPLE of the churches are just as MUCH RESPONSIBLE FOR DECEPTION AND WILL BE PUNISHED AS MUCH AS THOSE THAT DECEIVE! The whole NT shows that religious deceivers WOULD COME, some would be FROM WITHIN THE VERY CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST(i.e. Acts 20). The whole NT declares every Christian is personally responsible for searching the Scriptures, proving all things, loving the truth, and trying the spirits to see they are from God. This must always be the case throughout any Christian's life. Never going to sleep on this job. If they do, then they are in the above attitude of mind, and what goes around will come around, deception leads to deception. Those that are deceivable will be deceived by those who are deceptive. AND GOD SAYS BOTH ARE JUST AS RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR DECEPTION - THEY SHALL BOTH BEAR THE PUNISHMENT OF THEIR INIQUITY. YES, THE ETERNAL PULLS NO PUNCHES, HE CALLS THIS MIND-SET - INIQUITY (verse 10). We notice also here that the Lord will GIVE YOU YOUR DESIRE. The one who WANTS to deceive, will be granted his wish, God will allow him to do so. The one who has turned from seeking truth and righteousness will also be led by God (for God will not step in and prevent it) into the deception of the deceiver (verse 9). Yet, the ultimate free will to deceive or be deceived, is still the responsibility of each individual. And they will personally bear their punishment. The Lord goes on to show HOW PERSONAL this really is, in verses 12 to 23. When God does bring the promised destruction upon your nations, only those who will see, acknowledge, and who will be practicing righteousness will be spared from death. No one will be able to deliver anyone else, no one will be able to save anyone who is not in the righteous mind-set. Some will already be in a state of righteousness as we have seen in chapter 9. Some will come to deep repentance as all these four evils come upon the lands of Israel (the sword, the famine, the beats, the pestilence, verse 21). A REMNANT will be spared. The first part of chapter 16 tells us in an analogy, how the Almighty found and chose you peoples of Israel. You mighty nations of Britain, USA, and Northwest Europe, were not always powerful and great. Your beginnings as a people goes back a very long way, and the Eternal says you were like a helpless un-cared-for baby cast away in the field to die. God rescued you, washed, clothed, and fed you, until you increased and became great in the world. The Lord goes on to tell you how He was the one who built you up, made you into a fine lady, even a beauty queen dressed in the best clothes and jewelry and ointments available. He says you then became "exceeding beautiful, and you did prosper into a kingdom" (verse 13). Your fame throughout the world for your beauty and wealth and perfectness was known by all (verse 14). BUT, the Eternal goes on to say, starting in verse 15, that all this fame, fortune, wealth, beauty, greatness, was your downfall, were the things that led you to play the HARLOT! You have let your material wealth lead you to commit idolatry - you are a people engrossed in pleasures and materialism, with the rich ever getting richer and the poor ever getting poorer (verses 16-19). In turning your back on your God, in rejecting His ways, in casting Him out of your schools and places of business, in turning to the ways that seem right for man but which end in death, you are destroying your children. You are raising a generation that does not know, has never opened the pages of the Bible, have never read one single word within its pages. You have broken homes, children with one parent, or no parents, or children with two mothers and no father, or two father and no mother, as you accept the life style of the homosexuals and grant them family status. You have children being raised on crime and violence as they watch all your violent TV shows. You have children being raised on your "sick-cons" during prime time hours, which portray sexual immorality, fornication, adultery, homosexuality, as the normal thing, and that which is clean and straight and moral as something to be laughed at. You have not solved the "ghetto" problem, and with it today the problem of hard drug use by an ever younger population of your children. You have an increase of children killing children. The violence among teenage girls is shooting off the charts. There is an epidemic is teen cigarette smoking. Surely you are, with your children, sacrificing them to be devoured (verse 20). And the Lord asks you if you think this is a small matter. You are reaping what you are sowing. Through the prophet Amos God speaks to you: "Hear the word of the Lord, you children of Israel: for the Lord has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is NO TRUTH, NOR MERCY, NOR KNOWLEDGE OF GOD in the land. By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and BLOOD TOUCHES BLOOD....My people are DESTROYED for LACK of KNOWLEDGE: because you have REJECTED knowledge, I will also reject you....seeing you have FORGOTTEN THE LAW OF YOUR GOD, I WILL ALSO FORGET YOUR CHILDREN....(Amos 4:1-6). The Eternal in this age, does not force anyone to learn and to love His knowledge contained in His word. He does not at this time force anyone to love and obey His laws, commandments, statutes, and judgements. You people of Israel, in the main, have chosen to REJECT the word and laws of the Almighty God, and as He allows you this freedom, and as you then produce a generation of children who do not know Him, who do not seek Him, who do not want him in their lives, He then, not forcing them to do differently, in human terms says to you, "I will forget your children." God will keep hands off and allow you and your children to reap the results of doing your own thing. So today we have an epidemic of children bashing and killing children, children killing themselves, children and youths on an ever increasing drug binge, more and more children running away from home and living on the streets, and as Isaiah wrote, "And my people shall be oppressed, every one by another, and every one by his neighbor: the CHILD shall behave himself proudly against the ancient...As for my people, CHILDREN are their oppressors...they which LEAD you cause you to err, and destroy the way of your paths" (Isa.3:5,12). Among all this whoredom, you have your "religion" - your "churches" on every street corner. You have a form of religion, an outward show of religion. You, the USA still print on your dollar bills, "In God We Trust." You claim you are Christian nations, yet as a prostitute you have sex with those who come to you (verses 24-26) like the Egyptians. You have gone to the Assyrian - the German nation - and the rising mighty power of Europe, and played the harlot with them, but still you could not be satisfied (verse 28). Then the Eternal says, you have not acted as a prostitute as a prostitute acts and works. You have not taken gifts from your lovers, but you have been like an adulterous wife, you have given gifts to your lovers and you hire them to love you. In this you are truly unlike any whore of prostitution. You defeated Germany and Europe in the Second great World War of 1939 to 1945, and then immediately started to re-build her and re-store her to former glory and power. You have made your enemies into your lovers, and you have given them presents for loving you. Those very lovers will come against you to execute God's judgement upon you. Your lovers will form A COMPANY of nations to fight and destroy you. Listen to what your God tells you will come to pass(if you will not repent): "Wherefore, O harlot, hear the word of the Lord: thus says the Eternal God; Because your filthiness was poured out, and your nakedness discovered through your whoredoms with your lovers, and with all the idols of your abominations, and by THE BLOOD OF YOUR CHILDREN, which you did give unto them; Behold, therefore I will gather all your LOVERS, with whom you have taken pleasure, and all THEM THAT YOU HAVE LOVED, WITH all them that you HAVE HATED; I will even GATHER THEM ABOUT AGAINST YOU, and will discover your nakedness unto them, that they may see all your nakedness. And I will judge you as a woman that breaks wedlock and shed blood are judged; and I will GIVE YOU BLOOD IN FURY AND JEALOUSY. And I will also give you into their hand....they shall strip you of your clothes, and shall take your fair jewels, and leave you naked and bear. They shall also bring up a COMPANY against you, and they shall stone you with stones, and thrust you through with their swords.....and execute JUDGMENT upon you....and I will cause you to cease from playing the harlot...." (verses 35-41). In Ezekiel chapter 18 the Eternal shows that those who sin and practice evil shall personally bear their punishment. Everyone will have to personally give account for their own actions. The son will not be punished because his father did wrong. The Mother will not be punished because her daughter did evil. The soul that sins shall die, for his or her sins (verse 20). Once more the Lord cries out to you the people of the House of Israel. He cries out for your people to REPENT! He shows you that His way is JUST and EQUAL. He does not want to have to bring all these prophecies upon your lands and your people. They do not have to come to pass. Will you not listen to what your God proclaims to you? "But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he has committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he SHALL NOT DIE. All his transgressions that he has committed, shall not be mentioned unto him: in his righteousness that he has done he SHALL LIVE. HAVE I ANY PLEASURE AT ALL THAT THE WICKED SHOULD DIE? SAYS THE LORD GOD: AND NOT THAT HE SHOULD RETURN FROM HIS WAYS, AND LIVE? ....When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, and dies in them; for his iniquity that he has done shall he die. Again, when the wicked man turns away from his wickedness that he has committed, and does that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive. Because he CONSIDERS, and TURNS AWAY from all his transgressions that he has committed, he shall surely LIVE, he shall not die. Yet says the house of Israel, The way of the Lord is not equal. O house of Israel, are not my ways equal? are not your ways un-equal? Therefore I will JUDGE you, O house of Israel, EVERY ONE ACCORDING TO HIS WAYS, says the Lord God, REPENT and TURN yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin. Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby you have transgressed; and MAKE YOU A NEW HEART AND A NEW SPIRIT: FOR WHY WILL YOU DIE O HOUSE OF ISRAEL? For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dies, says the Eternal God: WHEREFORE TURN YOURSELVES, AND LIVE YOU" (Ezekiel 18:21-32). May there be some of you out there in the lands of Israel who will not only listen to the words coming from your merciful Everliving God, but may there be some of you who will act upon those words. It is never too late to REPENT, TURN around, depart from wickedness and do that which is righteousness, and to accept Jesus Christ as your personal Savior. .................................................

To be continued

DETAILS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

Holy Spirit - Trinity?

Is the Holy Spirit a seperate person from the Father and the Son?

DOES THE HOLY SPIRIT HAVE ARMS, A HEAD, EYES, EARS, MOUTH AND OTHER BODILY PARTS? by Keith Hunt The main proof given to demonstrate that the Holy Spirit is a PERSON (much like Christ) is that the words 'he' and 'him' are used in the New Testament when referring to (i.e. John 16:7- 15). Is this proof? Let's not assume, but investigate. The Greek word used for 'he' and 'him' is "owtos" (autos). Here is what STRONG'S EXHAUSTIVE CONCORDANCE OF THE BIBLE has to say on this Greek word: ".....from the particle au [perh. akin to the base of 109 through the idea of a baffling wind] [backward]; the reflex pron. self, used ..... of the third person; and .....of the other persons her, it [self] one, the other, [mine] own, said .....same [him, my, thy] self, ...... that......them ......at, by, in, into, of, on, with, they ...... things..... this......" Notice that this Greek word can be, and is, rendered 'IT' in dozens of verses (see the Appendix p.1270 in Strong's Concordance of the Bible) The Holy Spirit is referred to as 'it' in Acts 2: 2-3, 16, 17. Now notice Act 12:10. Peter is being released from jail by God's angel, they pass the second ward and come to the iron gate which opened of "HIS own accord." A gate made of iron (certainly not a living person) is referred to as "his." The Greek word used in this verse is "howtoo" [aautou] akin to "owtos" (see Strong's Con.). Translating "he" or "him" for the Holy Spirit is purely a human grammar tool (we shall discuss in detail later). "It" could be just as correct, if not using a grammar tool. The PROOF that the Holy Spirit is NOT a personal being is found in Mat. 1:20. If the Holy Spirit is a living bodily being, then Christ talked and prayed to the WRONG FATHER! The HOLY SPIRIT is: Power (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:8; 8:17-19). Guidance (Mat.4:1; 10:20; Luke 12:12; Acts 10:19-20). Miracle Worker (Mat.12:28; Acts 2:4; 19:6). Revealer (Luke 2:25-27; John 14:26; 16:13-14). Eternal Life (John 4:14,63; 7:38-39; Rom.8:11). Truth (John 14:16-17; 15:26; 16:13). Comforter (John 14:26; 15:26; Acts 19:31). Reprover (John 16:7-11). Holiness (Rom.1:4). Love of God (Rom.5:5; 15:30). Sonship (Rom.8:15). **Intercessor** (Rom.8:26-27). Gift Giver (1 Cor.12:4-11). **The Lord** (2 Cor.3:6-8, 17; Gal.4:6) The Holy Spirit is INTERCESSOR !! So is Christ !!(see Heb. 7: 22-25). Can there be TWO intercessors? Was the Holy Spirit made into flesh to dwell among us? Was the Holy Spirit tempted as we are? Did the Holy Spirit have to overcome sin and die for us? Did the Holy Spirit become our high priest? Was it not Christ? (see Heb. 4:14-16). There is only ONE mediator between man and God - Christ ! (I Tim. 2:5) The Holy Spirit is CHRIST (The Lord). If the Holy Spirit is a third bodily being, separate from Christ and the Father, how can he be the Lord or Christ at the same time? (see 2 Cor. 3:6-8, 17). THE HOLY SPIRIT IS THE INVISIBLE POWER ESSENCE THAT COMES FROM GOD THE FATHER AND THE SON - CHRIST. IT CAN BE LIKENED TO ELECTRICITY, FLOWING FROM THE GENERATOR (GOD THE FATHER) TO THE LIGHT BULB (CHRIST) AND OUT INTO ALL WHO COME WITHIN ITS LIGHT. THE HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD CAN BE IN EVERYONE AT THE SAME TIME...... (see Act 2:2-4, 33; 4:31; 5:32; 8:15-19; 11:15). If the Holy Spirit is a third literal being, how can he be EVERYWHERE at the SAME time? If the Holy Spirit is a person and is IN us (Rom. 8:11), then he (this third person) is then in us, and NOT Christ. But it is Christ IN US that is the HOPE of glory (Col. 1:27). It is Christ's MIND that must be in us (Phil.2:5), not some other mind of another individual. The disciples asked Christ to shew them the FATHER. The Israelites knew from their history and the Old Testament that there was a Father (John 14:7-9); but you try to find where they asked to be shown this other supposedly THIRD individual. Why, Christ even had to tell them about the Spirit He would send them! (see John 16:15-26). If this third person of the Godhead had always been around and was an established doctrine of the Old Testament, those disciples would have known all about him. The truth is that there is no such doctrine of God in the Old Testament text: the Jews did not believe in a TRINITY. The doctrine of "the trinity" is a PAGAN IDEA, derived from Babylon under the worship of father, mother and child Nimrod, Semiramis and Tammuz. (see "The Two Babylons" by Hislop). The disciples that Paul encountered at Ephesus in Act 19: 1, had not only NOT been taught any "trinity doctrine" but had not even had it mentioned to them that there was even a Holy Spirit, let alone that it was a third person to believe in. But they had been told about Christ (v.4). John the Baptist did not preach any "trinity" doctrine to them. The "trinity doctrine" was not adopted into the professing Christian church until 325 A.D. at the Council of Nicene, and that after many years of confused debates; as we shall can see from Church History and the Catholic Encyclopedia. TRINITY IN THE BIBLE? Those who teach the doctrine of the trinity say that it is taught in the Bible. They say that such verses as Matt. 28:19 teach the idea that the Godhead is made up of three separate literal beings. Let's prove all things (I Thes. 5:21), let us not assume anything. Matt. 28:19 does not use the word trinity. In fact, nowhere in the Bible is it used. We can show from dozens of scriptures that God the Father is a literal being. He has a body, eyes, face, feet, etc. Christ in His glorified form today has a body, face, feet. He is a literal being (Rev. l:13-18; 21:3: 22:3,4). BUT, you try to find the scripture that talks about the face, hands, eyes, legs, feet of the Holy Spirit. If he is a bodily person then surely somewhere in all those verses in the Bible you'll be able to find ONE verse that shows the Holy Spirit has a face or legs or hands. See if you can find it. Matt. 28:19 and other similar verses DO NOT prove the Holy Spirit has a body, head, chest or any other parts. This verse, or ones like it, do not even prove that Christ or the Father have bodies. You must prove THAT from other scriptures. GRIEVE NOT THE HOLY SPIRIT? There are many verses in which "Grieve not the Holy Spirit" is used, such as in Eph. 4:30, where people say it must mean a person because it can be grieved. The Holy Spirit teaches (John. 14:26), reproves (John. 16:8), can be lied to (Act 5:3), and can be tempted (Act 5:9). Yes, all that is true? If only people would put scripture with scripture they could come to the truth. Now, compare I Tim. 4:1 and Rom 8:26, 27, WITH I Tim 2:5 and II Cor 3:6,17. Christ is that spirit? The power essence of the Holy Spirit emanates from Christ and the Father. COMMUNION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT? The verse in 2 Cor. 13:14 is used to say we may have communion with him. I presume by this that these people mean we may talk to him. But Christ Himself said no such thing. He taught His followers to pray to the FATHER (Luke 11:2). Christ never once prayed to or had communion with the Holy Spirit - and He set us an example to follow Him (I Pet 2:21). Notice! This verse in 2 Cor. 13 says "communion OF the holy spirit" - not WITH the Holy Spirit; and there is a vast difference between the two. So what DOES this verse mean? The Greek word used here for 'communion' is koinonia, which is from koinonos and means: partnership, a sharer, associate, partaker (see Strong's Con. of the Bible). Paul is saying to all Christians to let the partnership (all God's children have the Holy Spirit in them, Rom. 8:9-11, being partakers of God's Spirit) be (remain) with all of us. This verse has nothing to do with praying to, or trying to talk or communicate with the Holy Spirit. The "Interlinear Greek - English New Testament" by Berry, translates this as: " ....and the fellowship of the holy spirit [be] with all of you. Amen." The writers of the Amplified Bible put it this way: "The grace (favor and spiritual blessing) of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the PRESENCE and FELLOWSHIP (the communion and sharing together, and participation) IN the holy spirit be with you all. Amen - So be it." THE HOLY SPIRIT TALKS? In Matt 3:16, 17 we read, ".....the spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon Him. And lo, a voice from heaven saying, this is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased." Some say that it was the Spirit - the third person of the Godhead that actually spoke, proving the Spirit is a literal being. Let us assume that view is correct. Do you see what it would mean? The Holy Spirit would then be the literal FATHER of Christ (see also ch. 1:20), and all through His ministry He then talked and prayed to the WRONG Father! Read verse 17 again. It says, "A voice," not "THE voice of the spirit" or "THE voice of the Father." It was "A voice from heaven" that spoke. To say it was the voice of the Holy Spirit is just an assumption by men; this verse cannot prove such a claim. You try to find the verse that says the Holy Spirit has a mouth or literally talks. Was it the Father speaking these words? No! Not even the Father, because Christ Himself said, ".....You have neither heard His voice at ANY time, nor seen His shape" (John 5:37). There is not one verse in the entire Bible that shows God the Father has ever spoken or showed Himself to mankind. Someone will say, but this voice spoke in the first-person tense. It must have been the Father or Spirit. Not necessarily! In John 12:28 we read: "Father, glorify your name (Christ talking to the Father). Then came there A voice from heaven (notice, A voice, not THE voice of God) saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again." This voice spoke in the first-person tense. Now, did the people say, "That was God speaking" or "That was the voice of the Holy Spirit"? No! Read verse 29. "The people, therefore, that stood by and heard it said that it thundered. Others said, an angel spoke to him." It is possible to speak on behalf of someone else and speak in the first-person tense. Someone representing a higher authority can speak on behalf of that authority in the first-person tense. In passing, notice in Matt. 3:16 the shape of the spirit of God was like a dove. The shape of a dove is a long, long way from being the shape of a man. THREE THAT BEAR RECORD? I John. 5:7 is a favourite text that is often quoted by Trinitarians. It reads, "For there are three that bear record in heaven - the Father, the word, and the holy spirit: and these three are one." That's it, shout the Trinitarians, we got it. Proof that the Godhead is three persons. The Amplified Bible renders verses 6-8 like this: "This is he who came by (with) water and blood (his baptism and his death), Jesus Christ, the Messiah; not by (in) the water only but by (in) the water and the blood.And it is the (holy) spirit who bears witness, because the (holy) spirit is the truth. So there are three witnesses in heaven - the Father, the Word and the Holy Spirit, and these three are One; and there are three witnesses on the earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree (are in unison; their testimony coincides)." Part of these verses is put in ITALICS in the Amplified Bible. What do italics mean? Let the compilers of the Amplified Bible tell you. Under "explanation of arbitrary punctuation" at the beginning of their translation, we read: Italics point out certain familiar passages now recognized as not adequately supported by the original manuscripts. Verse 7 of the King James version was not in the original Greek manuscripts. It was ADDED later to deliberately give proof to the pagan Trinity idea of God, that cannot be found anywhere in the Bible. Commenting on this verse, The Interpreter's Bible says: "This verse in the KJV is to be rejected (with RSV). It appears in no ancient Greek manuscript, nor is it cited by any Greek father; of all the versions, only the Latin contained it, and even this in none of its most ancient sources. The most earliest of the Vulg. do not have it. As Dodd (Johannine Epistles p.127n) remind us 'it is first quoted as a part of I John by Priscillian, the Spanish heretic, who died in 385, and it gradually made its way into manuscripts of the Latin Vulgate until it was accepted as part of the authorized Latin text.' ...... The mention in the true text (vs.8) of the three witnesses which agree naturally led to an interpretation along trinitarian lines, and this occasioned the present transcriptions which appear in various forms in manuscripts and quotations from the fifth century on." A deliberate insertion into the original, to try to substantiate the trinity doctrine that had become accepted by the Catholic church in 325 AD. THE APOSTLES REJECT THE TRINITY! If the "trinity of God" has always been and if the Old Testament church was taught it and believed it - if it was a New Testament doctrine and truth - if the apostles believed and taught it - if they knew that God was composed of three equal and united beings, bodily beings, then they surely didn't respect the third one. Look at the way Paul introduced his epistles: "To all that be in Rome ..... grace to you and peace FROM God our father, and the Lord Jesus Christ" (Rom. 1:7). Paul does not even MENTION the supposed THIRD PERSON of the Godhead. In fact, Paul never once in the introductions of ANY of his letters uses the trinity idea of God. Notice how James introduces his letter: "James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ....." He forgot to mention the third individual of whom he was a servant. Peter, in his epistles, acknowledges God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, but did not acknowledge the third person. John talks about Christ and God, that they are literal beings; but never as much as once did he mention the Holy Spirit is a bodily person. His salutation in his second letter is void of any other beings except God the Father and Christ. Jude's salutation is from God the Father and Jesus Christ. The third person was again left out. Surely, John in Revelation, could have found room to mention this person that was left out by all others. John mentions Christ, the Father, and the seven spirits before His throne (Rev. 1:4-5), but does not even acknowledge the one who is doing so much work today - the third person of the trinity. Why all this lack of acknowledging the trinity? Why? Because the apostles and New Testament church DID NOT TEACH IT! The Trinity doctrine is PAGAN. It is another one of Satan's deceptions to deceive the whole world about why God created man. It is a doctrine that came by way of Satan's greatest false church. This is what history has to say (see "The Two Babylons" by Hislop). The history of Babylon, Egypt, Rome and other nations demonstrates that the doctrine of a TRINITY was a very important part of PAGAN worship. The history of Christianity shows clearly that the professing popular church for many years was in confusion and there was argument concerning it. As the church compromised more and more with the pagan religions round about to win converts and favour, so it looked for ways to MIX what the heathen believed with the Christianity it taught. The heathen believed in a NIMROD GOD, a SECOND GOD - Semiramis (mother wife to Nimrod) and a THIRD GOD - Tammuz, son of Nimrod and Semiramis. It was just a matter of time before the church claimed it, too, had a trinity. The pagan's Nimrod became God the Father. Semiramis, the queen of heaven, became the Holy Spirit. And Tammuz, the boy child god, became Christ. And so another pagan, false Satanic idea was added to a so-called Christianity. Just another one of Satan's false doctrines added officially to his instrument of deception in 325 A.D. God says this instrument of Satan has deceived the whole world. The whole world has been made drunk by her false ways and teachings. She is called in Rev. 17, Mystery, Babylon the Great. So drunk have people become by this church's teachings that FEW Christians really understand WHY God made mankind. You need to study my article called A CHRISTIAN'S DESTINY. HERE ARE MORE STUDIES ON THE HOLY SPIRIT: THE HOLY SPIRIT WORKS, SO IS IT A PERSON? Those who teach the Holy Spirit is a PERSON, separate from the Father and Son, say this is shown to be so because the Spirit WORKS, does things. Indeed the Holy Spirit works according to its will (1 Cor.12:11) . The Spirit raised Christ from the dead (Acts 2:24; 1 Pet.3:18; Heb. 13:20; Rom.1:4). The Spirit was used in creation (Gen.1:2, 26, 27 with Job 33:4). But does stating that something WORKS automatically mean that it is a PERSON ? If it does then WISDOM is also a person, for in Proverbs 8:12, 15, 16 and 9:1-3, we read: "I WISDOM.......By me kings reign.......By me princes rule, and nobles, even all the judges of the earth.......Wisdom has built her house.......She has killed her beasts, she has mingled her wine, she has also furnished her table. She has sent forth her maidens......." Nobody really believes wisdom is a person, separate from the Lord, even if it is given human like qualities. The Holy Spirit, like wisdom, does indeed perform "works" - but teaching that it is a PERSON BECAUSE OF THIS is as fragile as believing that wisdom from the Lord is a person because it "works" also. WHAT THE NEW CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA ADMITS "The OT (Old Testament) clearly does not envisage God's spirit as a person, neither in the strictly philosophical sense, nor in the Semitic sense. God's spirit is simply God's Power. If it is sometimes represented as being distinct from God, it is because the breath of Yahweh acts exteriorly (Isa. 48:16; 63:11; 32:15).......Very rarely do the OT writers attribute to God's spirit emotions or intellectual activity (Isa. 63:10; Wis.1:3-7). When such expressions are used, THEY ARE MERE FIGURES OF SPEECH that are explained by the fact that the RUAH was regarded also as the seat of intellectual acts and feeling (Gen. 41:8). Neither is there found in the OT or in rabbinical literature the notion that God's spirit is an intermediary being between God and the world. This activity is proper to the angels, although to them is ascribed some of the activity that elsewhere is ascribed to the spirit of God" (New Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 13, p. 574, emphasis theirs). THIS ENCYCLOPEDIA FURTHER STATES: ".......the NT (New Testament) concepts of the Spirit of God are largely a continuation of those of the OT.......The majority of NT texts reveal God s spirit as something, not someone; this is especially seen in the parallelism between the spirit and the power of God. When a quasi-personal activity is ascribed to God s spirit, e.g., speaking, hindering, desiring, dwelling (Acts 8:29; 16:7; Rom.8:9), one is NOT JUSTIFIED IN CONCLUDING immediately that in these passages God s spirit is regarded as a Person; the same expressions are used in regard to rhetorically personified things or abstract ideas (see Rom.6:6; 7:17). Thus the context of the phrase 'blasphemy against the spirit' (Mat.12:31; cf. Mat.12:28; Luke 11:20)shows that reference is being made to the power of God" (Vol.13, page 575). THE HOLY SPIRIT HAS PERSONALITY, IS IT A PERSON? We are told by those who teach that the Holy Spirit of God is a PERSON with a body and shape as of a man (although they have yet to find one single verse in the Bible that talks about the mouth, ears, head, hands, feet etc. of this so called third person of the Godhead) that the proof for such a belief is in the fact that the Holy Spirit is given a personality by the New Testament. One writer has listed many scriptures to show the personality of the Spirit. We should indeed be willing to read them as they are a part of the inspired word of God. "As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them " (Acts 13:2). "Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near and join yourself to this chariot" (Acts 8:29). "While Peter thought on the vision, the Spirit said unto him, Behold three men seek you....." (Acts 10: 19). ".......and were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia. After they were come to Mysia, they determined to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit suffered them not" (Acts 16:6,7). This man continues to list other verses that he says show the personality of the Spirit and so make him a PERSON. He testifies of Christ and glorifies Him (John 15:26; 16:14). He has power of His own (Rom.15:13). He searches all things (Rom.11:33,34, with 1 Cor.2:10,11). He works according to His will (1 Cor.12:11). He dwells with real Christians (John 14:17). He spoke in and by the prophets (Acts 1:16; 1 Peter 1:11,12: 2 Peter 1:21). He strives with sinners (Gen.6:3). He reproves and guides (John 16:8,13). He comforts (Acts 9:31) and helps our infirmities (Rom.8:26). He teaches (John 14:26; 1 Cor.12:3). He sanctifies (Rom.15:16; 1 Cor.6:11). Some of the favourite scriptures used by those who teach the Holy Spirit must be a person because human like qualities are given it are these: "And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God......" (Eph.4:30). Ahhh, see the Spirit can be grieved, so it must be a PERSON, many will insist. "You stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you do always resist the Holy Spirit, as your fathers did so do you " (Acts 7:51).. "Then Peter said unto her, How is it that you have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord....... " (Acts 5:9). The Spirit can be resisted and tempted and so, claim our Trinitarians, he must be a PERSON! DOES GIVING HUMAN LIKE QUALITIES TO SOMETHING AUTOMATICALLY PROVE THAT THAT SOMETHING IS A PERSON ? Stop and think now. Have you ever called your CAR, your BOAT, your AIRPLANE by the word "she" ? Have you ever given your boat a NAME of a person and ever said something like this about it: "You have to be very careful when starting Molly, she is fussy about not having too much gas." Now, neither you or any of your friends actually believe or teach that your boat Molly is a human woman - a PERSON ! It has been customary for mankind to give PERSONAL QUALITIES to inanimate objects for centuries. Even God Himself inspired Moses (who wrote the first five books of the Bible) to record that He (God) uses this type of language. This is found in the account of Cain killing Abel. "And Cain talked with Abel his brother.......when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and slew him. And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel your brother? And he said, I do not know....... And He (God) said, What have you done? The VOICE of your brother s BLOOD CRIES unto me from the ground" (Gen.4:8-10). Notice how God Himself said Abel's BLOOD (an inanimate object) cried out with a voice to Him from the ground ! The Lord used PERSONAL QUALITIES for Abel's blood. But does anyone believe that Abel's blood was a separate PERSON with arms, hands, legs, head and body APART from Abel ? I think not ! In the time of David this common terminology of attributing human qualities to things that were not persons was still in use, as we see from Psalm 98: 8, "Let the FLOODS clap their hands : Let the HILLS be joyful together." Do floods of water have HANDS? Can hills be JOYFUL as humans can be joyful? Of course not! Now see how Solomon was inspired by God to talk about WISDOM. "Wisdom CRIES outside. SHE (wisdom is a woman?) utters her VOICE in the streets.......Because I have called, and you refused, I have STRETCHED OUT MY HAND, and no man regarded" (Prov.1:20,24). Here we see verses about wisdom having as it were BODILY PARTS and said to be a WOMAN. That's more like a PERSON to me than any of the scriptures that are used try and prove the Holy Spirit is a person. If only those Trinitarians could find such verses about the Spirit then maybe I'd take their teaching a little more serious. We are told more about this person, this woman called wisdom, "Does not wisdom CRY? and UNDERSTANDING put forth her VOICE?" Now we have another person, another woman, 'understanding' must be a person because she has a voice, "She stands in the top of the high places...." she must have legs then. ".......Hear.......the opening of my LIPS shall be right things. For my MOUTH shall speak truth....... I wisdom dwell with prudence......." We have a house full of gals here, wisdom, understanding, and now prudence. "The Lord possessed me in the beginning of His way....... When He prepared the heavens I was there......Then I was by Him.....and I was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him......." (Prov.8:1,2,6,12,22,27,30). It would seem that the Lord not only had the woman 'wisdom' with Him in heaven, but a few other women as well - 'understanding' and 'prudence.' Maybe the practice of Polygamy on earth was borrowed from heaven. Well as Paul said, I speak as a fool so some may come to the truth. Of course wisdom and the other two women are not REAL PERSONS, but qualities and attributes that come from the Lord (see Prov.2:6). YET THE LORD GIVES WISDOM THE PERSONALITY OF A WOMAN. GIVING SOMETHING A PERSONALITY DOES NOT AUTOMATICALLY MAKE IT A PERSON ! This use in language, of applying personality to inanimate things, was not confined just to the Old Testament period. We see the great apostle Paul using this idiom and figure of speech, in the book of Romans, when explaining what sin did to him after a full knowledge of the commandments came to his attention: "But SIN, finding opportunity in the commandment (to express itself) got a hold on me and aroused and stimulated all kinds of forbidden desires.......For SIN, seizing the opportunity and getting a hold on me (by taking its incentive) from the commandment, beguiled and entrapped and cheated me, and using it (as a weapon) killed me" (Rom.7:8,11 Amplified Bible, emphasis mine). Here, Paul gives personality to SIN - talks about sin as if it was a PERSON. He says sin got a hold of him, took the commandments of God as a weapon in its hands and using this weapon as a knife or sword, killed Paul. Now no one believes that SIN is a PERSON, yet Paul speaks of sin as if it was indeed a person! Giving inanimate things qualities of personality is known commonly as PERSONIFICATION. Take a few minutes and look that word up in your dictionary. I can show you verses in the Bible that plainly reveal God the Father and God the Son have a body, head, face, arms, hands, feet, etc. THEY are PERSONS. Unless you can show the same for the Holy Spirit, I submit you have no basis in fact for believing that the Spirit of God is a person. GIVING PERSONALITY TO THE HOLY SPIRIT ONLY PROVES THE USE OF PERSONIFICATION IN THE BIBLE. NOTHING MORE AND NOTHING LESS! THE HOLY SPIRIT, IS IT A MAN OR A WOMAN? For centuries now (from about the 4th century.A. D.) nearly all Christendom has accepted and taught that the Holy Spirit is a PERSON, a masculine person, that is a MALE. The basic proof for this teaching has been, as one man says, "Language has no meaning if the Spirit is not a Person, seeing that Jesus repeatedly employed the masculine pronoun when speaking of him. Thirteen times over, in John 16 for example, He refers to the Spirit as HE, HIM, HIMSELF" (Dr. Herbert Lockyer, ALL THE DOCTRINES OF THE BIBLE, page 76). It is true, that in the Greek NT the masculine pronoun is used. But did Jesus actually say these words in Greek? It was probably in the common tongue of the people that Jesus spoke to His disciples and the multitudes, and that tongue was ARAMAIC not Greek. I bring this to the attention of the reader for a very important reason. There has risen in recent years a group of Christians who claim that the Holy Spirit is FEMALE, a WOMAN! They too use the basic language GENDER as a proof of their belief. And their proof is not without some validity if language gender is the criteria to use to support the teaching that the Spirit is a PERSON. In the Hebrew OT the word for Spirit is nearly always in the feminine gender, these individuals correctly point out to us. They also tell us, as does the Eastern Catholic Church (see the Holy Bible by Lamsa) that the NT was originally written in ARAMAIC and later translated into Greek (their arguments are really founded on very thin ice) and so again the word for Spirit would be in the feminine gender. The Greek itself is very interesting, for though the word Comforter is masculine gender in John 16, the word Spirit throughout the NT is in the neuter gender. Now, if we use language gender to try to prove our point that the Holy Spirit is a PERSON,it would truly leave us in a quandary and contradiction. Is the Spirit a WOMAN, a MAN or NEUTER? The truth is, the writers of the Bible never intended us to use language gender to prove whether the Holy Spirit was a man or a woman. A lesson in Greek grammar will explain: In the Greek language, like some others (Spanish, Italian, French, etc.) every noun has what is called gender; that is, it is either masculine, feminine or neuter. Grammatically, all pronouns in Greek must agree in gender with the word they refer to, or in other words, with the term that the pronoun replaces. The Greek word PARAKLETOS (comforter) has masculine gender, hence the translators use of the personal pronoun "he." For the pronouns EKEINOS and AUTOS "it" would have been a far better rendering into the English language, as in John 1:32 and 6:63; Romans 8:16. Let us further explain from the gender of the Spanish language. EL VASO is the Spanish for "the glass." The article "EL" and the "O" ending of the word VASO give the word "glass" a MASCULINE gender. But by no means could a glass be considered a MALE PERSON in the human sense. LA MESA in Spanish means "the table." It is feminine in gender. Yet it would be silly to consider a table as a FEMALE PERSON. The gender of a word has nothing whatever to do with whether the thing designated is REALLY masculine or feminine in the human sense. Gender in language is nothing more than a convenient grammatical tool. Personal note: I had been attending a Church school and Sunday school from the age of six, I also had been faithfully reading my Bible from that early age. No one had ever taught me that the Holy Spirit was to be thought of as a literal personal bodily being, as the Father and Christ are. From the age of 7 until I was 19, I only thought of the Spirit of the Father and Christ as a part of their very NATURE, something that radiated out from their glorified bodies. It was not until I was 19 and attending a Baptist church that I encountered the teaching of the Trinity doctrine, and was told that the Holy Spirit was a personal being just like the Father and Son were personal beings. Then later I discovered that others teach the Godhead is ONE being manifested in THREE forms. And still later, found that some teach God is three in ONE but with no form or body...just a something who is a nothing. I laughed at all such ideas of men. ....................................... Written in 1985

BASICS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

All about the basics on the Holy Spirit

ALL ABOUT THE HOLY SPIRIT The gospel's mystery and power are revealed in Christ - through the Spirit. by Calvin Burrell What should you know about the Holy Spirit? What would you like to learn? Let's admit here and now that there is something puzzling - something mysterious - about God's Spirit. Like Nicodemus, we easily believe earthly truths - the physical and natural kind - but struggle to understand and believe heavenly things - spiritual and supernatural truth (John 3:12). Like God the Father (who is both holy and Spirit), the Holy Spirit is not comprehended by science or sensory experience. Rather, the Spirit is understood through the revealed Word and experienced by faith - inwardly, not outwardly. This suggests an intuitive, emotive, even romantic element (subjective is a better word for this) about the Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:9-14). Experience God? Many Christians have been blest by the writings of Henry Blackaby on the topic of "experiencing God." A good case can be made that the Holy Spirit is the only divine being we've ever experienced. We've never seen, heard, or touched God the Father at any time. He is transcendent deity in heaven, far beyond our finding out (John 1:18; 5:37; 1 John 4:12). Nor has anyone seen, heard, or touched Christ the Son, except those first disciples who witnessed His glory and humanity up close (John 20:27-31; 2 Peter 1:16; 1 John 1:1-3). Though we've never encountered the Father or Son except by faith, we have God's Spirit residing within, just as Christ promised. Transcending our five physical senses, this Reality enters our experience through our human spirit. Only by the Holy Spirit do we now experience the Father and the Son (John 14:1623; Romans 8:16). This claim to a sixth, spiritual sense that engages divinity can sound audacious to those without faith. Some "believers" make this claim in duplicity, still pursuing their own carnal opinions and actions. But neither unbelief nor hypocrisy can negate our Lord's assurance that the Father and Son now indwell the faithful by the Holy Spirit, also called the Helper (Comforter, KJV). They are with us and in us, because He is. Roots and wings More experienced in natural human kingdoms than in God's supernatural one, we struggle to grasp life's invisible, spiritual realities. Let us never deny them. If the Holy Spirit appeals more to the left half of our brains, it is no less real for this fact. This fact, however, does suggest certain cautions for our study and experience. Because spirit, like wind, partakes of this subjective, emotive, airy quality, it is vital that the Holy Spirit be anchored in the objective soil of God's Word. And so it is. The inspired writings of Scripture - God's revelation of Himself culminating in Jesus Christ - provide a down-to-earth, practical, rational, external, and empirical frame of reference for our faith and for all our subjective experiences in Christ. Conversely, the God-man, Word-become-flesh Jesus the Christ admits of the need for wings to go beyond the objective limits of His earthy body. And He has them - in the Holy Spirit. The limit of the human Christ is that He was anchored to one place on earth for His service and witness. The Spirit of Christ has no such limit (John 16:7). The Spirit's soaring is tethered only by the Word's anchor. John recalls Jesus' saying that, while the Spirit - not the flesh - gives life, it is the words He spoke that are truly spirit and life. Later, the same apostle writes of the anointing of the Spirit, or "Holy One," and links it closely with the truth received. The words of Scripture are, in turn, confirmed and animated by the divine Spirit within (John 6:63; 1 John 2:20-27). Mystery and power We see the tendency to claim Holy Spirit sanction for any belief or phenomenon that strikes one's fancy, no matter how slim its biblical support. For example, one person claimed that God had healed his car when he anointed it with a can of STP. Others, in the Spirit's name, practice ministries that range from the showman to the bizarre. While power and mystery may be related to spiritual work, must we uncritically accept all such belief and practice as from God, lest we quench or grieve the Holy Spirit? No. The Bible counsels us to test all things, to try the spirits, to search the Scriptures whether these things are so (Acts 17:11; 1 Thessalonians 5:21; 2 Timothy 2:15; 1 John 4:1a). A closer look at relevant texts shows that God's mystery of eternal redemption, addressed often by Paul, is not primarily about the Spirit but about Jesus. The Spirit confirms and clarifies for believers the divine mystery that was once hidden but is now revealed in Christ. Similarly, the Spirit is neither the mighty power of God nor the main sign of our faith. The gospel of Christ is the power of God unto salvation. Trusting Jesus and loving His people are the signs we are saved. Expounding on the Spirit may not demonstrate the wisdom of God, but Christ himself is God's highest wisdom (Romans 1:16; 16:25; 1 Corinthians 1:22-24; 2:7-14; Ephesians 1:9, 10; Colossians 1:27; 2:2, 3; 4:3). Putting the puzzle together The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God - the divine entity, reality, and personal presence who completes the chain of Deity, doublelinking earth with heaven. Just as Christ the Son came to reveal God the Father, so did the Holy Spirit come to speak of Jesus and remind us of all Christ said and did. Just as the Son made the Father known in human terms - bodily and locally - so the Spirit makes the Son known in heavenly terms - spiritually and universally. And just as the Father was one with, and fully present in, the Son, so the Holy Spirit came to provide the presence of the Son, not to replace the absent Son (Colossians 2:9; John 15:26b; 16:13-15). The divine chain is now complete: from God the spiritual Father in heaven to Christ the fleshly Son on earth and back again through the Holy Spirit - eternally blessed God. The Spirit's Roles Sanctifier. As the work of Jesus Christ in His death and resurrection is central to justification, so the work of the Holy Spirit in the believer is essential in sanctification (Romans 8 and 12, Galatians 5, Ephesians 4, Colossians 3). Fruit-bearer. Every disciple is called to bear much fruit, making beautiful people for Jesus. Starting with love, these qualities reflect the full character of Christ (John 15:1-16; Galatians 5:2223; Ephesians 4:1-3, 32; 5:9; Colossians 3:12-15; 2 Peter 1:2-8). Gift-giver. Every Christian is given one or more spiritual gifts for effective service to God's kingdom. These gifts range from the less conspicuous, like mercy and giving, to the more dramatic, like miracles and tongues (Acts 1:8; Romans 12:6-8; 1 Corinthians 12; Ephesians 4:7-16). Missionary. The Holy Spirit energizes the work of the gospel - Christ's cross, empty tomb, and return. The Spirit is the divine agent to convict, call, and convert sinners to a saving faith in Jesus, thus growing the church (John 6:44, 63; 15:26; 16:8-11; Matthew 16:17; 1 Corinthians 12:3). Teacher. The Holy Spirit opens people to Scripture's truth, guiding them into its fullness by teaching spiritual things that could never be known by natural means (Luke 12:12; John 14:17, 26; 15:26; 16:13; 1 Corinthians 2:13; 1 John 2:27; 4:6). Helper-Comforter. The Holy Spirit comes alongside Christians, often through other believers, to supply just what their spirits, minds, and hearts need for the present circumstance (John 14:16; 2 Corinthians 1:4; Acts 9:31b). The Spirit's Names, Titles The Bible refers to the Spirit (Greek, Pneuma) in many ways, including Helper (Comforter, AV; Greek, Paraclete); Holy One; Holy Spirit (Holy Ghost, AV); and Spirit of Christ, Spirit of faith, Spirit of glory, Spirit of His Son, Spirit of holiness, Spirit of life, Spirit of our God, Spirit of adoption, Spirit of the living God, Spirit of the Lord, Spirit of truth, Spirit of wisdom and revelation. Key Spirit Texts In John's Gospel, especially the Upper Room Discourse, Jesus promises the Paraclete (Comforter; Helper) and symbolically breathes the Spirit over His disciples (7:37-39; 14:16-21, 25, 26; 15:26; 16:7-16; 20:22). In the Acts of the Apostles, the Spirit is at work in the world and within the disciples, bringing remarkable expansion to the early church, along with the ability to endure suffering for Christ's sake (see especially chapters 2,4 8,9, and 19). In Romans 8, Paul teaches the Spirit's rote in Christ's gospel: the way of life (vv.4,5); source of regeneration-revival (vv. 1013); identifier-confirmer of God's people (vv.14-16); foretaste of future glory (v.23); helper with our weaknesses, intercessor in our prayers (vv.26,27). In 1 Corinthians 12, 13, and 14 Paul reflects on spiritual gifts (see also Romans 12:6-8 and Ephesians 4:7-16) and corrects their excesses. - Calvin Burrell Bible Advocate - May/June 2012 - a publication of the Church of God, Seventh Day - Denver, CO USA. .......... NOTE: What has been given is the overall truth about the Holy Spirit. To address the teaching that the Holy Spirit is some THIRD individual PERSON ***separate*** from the Father and the Son, as some of the "trinity" doctrines teach, is dealt with in another study called "Holy Spirit - Trinity?" further down in this section of this website - Keith Hunt

JESUS THE GREAT I AM

JESUS: THE GREAT I AM

WHO DO YOU SAY THAT I AM?

Jesus' question rings down through history, confronting each of us. As we reflect on who Jesus is, we should go to the source and see what He said about Himself. In John's Gospel, Jesus describes Himself at every turn with statements beginning with the powerful words "I am." With these words Jesus reveals His origin and destiny, His role, and His identity in relation to the Father.

So who does Jesus say He is?

Origin and destiny

"I came forth from the Father and have come into the world; I am leaving the world again and going to the Father" (16:28). In these few words Jesus sums up what He repeatedly stated about His origin and destination (cf. 6:51; 7:28-33; 8:16). This reality set Jesus apart from His audience, for He told them, "You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world" (8:23).

This difference created an impassible gulf between Jesus and the rest of humanity: "For a little while longer I am with you, then I go to Him who sent Me. You will seek Me, and will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come" (7:33,34). This gulf was created by their refusing to believe that Jesus was who He professed to be: "I go away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin; where I am going, you cannot come" (8:21). Thankfully, Jesus didn't leave His audience without hope. To be sure, those who did not believe would die in their sins. But in 8:24 He opens the door. Those who believe in Him can follow Him!

As Jesus would later teach His followers, those who serve and follow Him will be where He is (12:26), even though they cannot follow Him there immediately (13:33). Rather, Jesus would return one day and be reunited with His followers, thus providing a way for them to join Him (14:3, 4). This coming reunion will allow His followers to see the glory given to the Son from before the foundation of the world as a result of the Father's love (1 7:24).

We can understand, then, why Jesus' followers were anxious to know the way to follow Him (14:5). Jesus' response sums up all that He says about His role: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me" (14:6).

Role

To grasp the fullness of Jesus' words in John 14:6, we need to look at the various ways He revealed Himself as the exclusive path to the Father, the embodiment of truth, and life itself.

Bread of Life. In John 6 Jesus multiplied bread and walked on water. With Passover nearing, the crowds no doubt saw a link to the manna and the Red Sea miracle. But Jesus was not content to be seen simply as a prophet and miracle worker, like Moses. Rather, He proclaimed, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst" (v.35). Unlike the manna that left the Israelites hungry, Jesus was the true living bread of heaven who brought eternal life. Such a claim demonstrated that the Jesus event, not the exodus from Egypt, was now the redemptive act of God par excellence.

Light of the World. Jesus identified Himself as the "Light of the world" (8:12; 9:5). By healing a man born blind and invoking the ire of the religious elite, Jesus redefined darkness and light. Those who believed in and worshipped Him had true vision, no matter how shrouded in darkness they had been. Conversely, those who hid their sin in pride and rejected Jesus were truly blind, no matter how holy they appeared to be (1:9-13).

Good Shepherd, Door of the Sheep. In John 10 Jesus called Himself the true shepherd over God's people. Alluding often to the unfaithful shepherds of Ezekiel 34, He demonstrated that, unlike false shepherds past and present, He was the supremely good and faithful shepherd. In a dizzying array of metaphors, Jesus claimed to enter by the door, serve as door for the sheep, and save and safeguard them by laying down His life and taking it up again. He left His audience with a stark choice: Either He was who He said He was, or He was a lunatic!

Resurrection and Life. In chapter 11 Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead and proclaimed, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die" (11:25, 26). In restoring physical life to Lazarus, Jesus demonstrated His power and authority to give eternal life to His followers, a claim that would receive final proof at His own resurrection from the dead. Jesus is the life-giver because Jesus is resurrection and life itself.

True Vine. Jesus announced, "I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser" (15:1). The grapevine was a powerful symbol for Jewish people. They believed they were God's vine, often forgetting that many Old Testament references to their being a vine describe their wild and wicked ways! In Jesus' effort to show how He was the fulfillment of all things, He asserted that He was the True Vine. As such, He provided the connection point between God and humanity. By abiding in Him, people find the only source of life, power, good fruit, holiness, and love. Those who don't abide in Him can expect only fiery judgment.

Identity in relationship to the Father

Jesus' words about His origin, destiny, and role often left people asking, "Who does He think He is?" The answer to this question is one that John sought to answer in the opening words of his Gospel: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (1:1). This mind-bending sentence conveys the mystery of Jesus, the one who is at once God incarnate and yet relates to God in a way that is somehow like a Father and Son.

Jesus frequently referred to God as His Father but also made the incredible assertion that He was one with Him (10:30). The monotheistic Jews understood that Jesus was professing to be the one true God (vv. 31-33), an accusation He did not deny. If there was any doubt about Jesus making this claim, He put it to rest when He said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am" (8:58). Here Christ declared His pre-incarnate existence and took upon Himself the name "I Am." The "I am" phrase Jesus used (Greek, ego eimi) was the same used by Yahweh to share His name with Moses (Exodus 3:14) and claim to be the only creator and redeemer of Israel (Isaiah 43:10, 11; 44:8, 24; 45:5,6, 18, 21-23; 46:5, 9).

Those who could not accept that Jesus was the incarnate I AM conspired against and killed Him. But Jesus rose from the dead, and those who did not believe in Him fell under eternal condemnation (John 3:18,19). Those who did believe, beginning with Thomas after the Resurrection, proclaimed that Jesus was "My

Lord and my God!" (20:28). This is precisely what Jesus predicted — that the world would know that He was I AM (8:28) after His death. Those who refused to believe would die in their sins (v. 24).

By God's grace, the Church of God has come to embrace Jesus for who He claimed to be. We affirm that He is the one who was with God and was God but became flesh, dwelling among us in the person of Jesus Christ (1:1,14). We receive Jesus' blessing by proclaiming that Jesus is our Lord and God (20:29). We embrace Him as our True Vine, our Resurrection and Life, the Light of our World, our Living Bread. He is our way, our truth, and our life — the Great I AM! !

Israel Steinmetz serves as Director of Academic Affairs for Life-Spring School of Theology. Scripture quotations are from the New American Standard Bible.

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(FOR ABOUT 150 YEARS THE CHURCH OF GOD, SEVENTH DAY, DENVER, DID NOT TEACH WHAT THEY ARE NOW TEACHING. THEY CAME TO SEE THE ERROR THEY WERE IN. WELL GOOD FOR THEM ON THIS POINT - Keith Hunt)

GOD: HOW MUCH LIKE JESUS?

Occasionally two men, twenty-five years apart in age, look like twins — even talk and act like twins. They're really father and son.

That's how it was with Jesus and God. To the Colossians, Paul wrote, "He [Jesus] is the image of the invisible God ..."(1:15). An image would be a likeness, a resemblance. Hebrews 1:3 is more explicit: Jesus "is the express image of His [God's] person...." That leans heavily toward everything about Jesus.

He is the image of the invisible God. Colossians 2:9 says, "For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily." That sounds like everything about Him was like the Father. John testified, "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14). Jesus prayed, "And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was" (17:5). Father and Son shared not only the same "appearance" ("express image") but also the same glory!

What could be noted wherein they were different? Hebrews 2:17,18 suggests that Jesus was made flesh so that He could identify with what we mortals experience. As our high priest, He ever lives to make intercession to the Father for us. Yet Jesus himself explained that though we ask in His name, He doesn't need to convey our prayers to the Father because "the Father Himself loves [us]" (John 16:26, 27). And Matthew 6:32 states, "Your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things." No one need tell the Father; He's omniscient — knows all. So it's reasonable to conclude God and Jesus are alike even in the matter of understanding feelings and experiences of humans.

Jesus said one day, "He who has seen Me has seen the Father ..." (14:9). From other texts we learn that only Jesus has seen the Father in visible form — with His eyes. But seen can also mean with the mind — "to perceive, know" (see Acts 8:23). Which did Jesus mean by seen in John 14:9? It really doesn't matter. That God and Jesus are like twins is the issue.

—Max Morrow

Owosso, Ml

(I'VE SAID IT ELSEWHERE BUT I'LL SAY IT AGAIN. GOD THE FATHER AND JESUS - GOD THE SON. HAVE THE SAME LAST NAME - GOD! THEY ARE ALIKE IN EVERY WAY, THEY SHARE EVERYTHING. BUT IN AUTHORITY GOD THE FATHER IS SUPREME IN THE WHOLE UNIVERSE. JESUS SITS AT HIS RIGHT HAND, NOT ON TOP OF HIM, OR INSIDE HIM, OR ABOVE HIM, BUT ON HIS RIGHT HAND - MANY VERSES SO STATE, THE BOOK OF REVELATION MAKES IT ABUNDANTLY CLEAR IT IS SO. PAUL MADE IT VERY CLEAR IN 1 CORINTHIANS 11: 3. GOD THE FATHER HAS MADE IT CLEAR IN HIS WORD HOW YOU ARE TO KNOW AND UNDERSTAND THE "GODHEAD" - Keith Hunt)

CHRIST'S PREEXISTENCE

Several scriptures lake us directly to our premise, that the Son of God existed before being born in Bethlehem.

Colossians 1:15-17, for example, tells us that Jesus created all things and is before all things: "For by Htm [Jesus] all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities — all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together" (NASB).

By saying He created everything, the Bible affirms that Jesus necessarily existed before what He created. That's the front door approach, and the question is answered. Now we'll come in the back door. The roundabout route will teach us other things about Jesus.

It is recorded in Matthew 28:18 that Jesus said, "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth" (KJV). By saying all power "is given," Jesus revealed a relationship already current between Him and His Father. That it was not a new relationship is demonstrated by His creative work.

Who gave "all power" to Jesus? Nobody but God, His Father, can give such power to anyone. Such awesome power is illustrated in John 10:17, 18: "Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father" (KJV).

Since God the Father is invisible (Colossians 1:15) and no man has ever seen Him (John 1:18; I John 4:12), we need to understand who the God of Israel was who was seen on Mount Sinai. "Then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and they saw the God of Israel; and under His feet there appeared to be a pavement of sapphire, as clear as the sky itself" (Exodus 24:9,10, NASB). How can this be?

The answer appears in recognizing that Jesus really was before Abraham, as He said to the Jews: "Before Abraham was, I am" (John 8:58, KJV). The Bible gives an illustration of this fact in Genesis 18:1ff:

Now the Lord appeared to him [Abraham] by the oaks of Mamre, while he was sitting at the tent door in the heat of the day. When he lifted up his eyes and looked, behold, three men were standing opposite him; and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them . . . (NASB).

Here the Lord "appeared to" Abraham. That means Abraham saw and talked with the Lord, a Hebrew word used only in reference to Christ or His Father, i.e., to Israel's God.

Just as Abraham encountered the pre-incarnate Christ by the oaks of Mamre, so did Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel "see" and eat with Him on Mount Sinai. Though His Father is invisible, the preexistent Son often appeared in human or angelic form.

— Roy Marrs

Lodi, CA

From the "BIBLE ADVOCATE" - March-April 2014 - a publication of the Church of God, Seventh Day, Denver, CO. USA

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THIS IS A RELATIVELY SHORT STUDY PER SE. UNDER THIS SECTION ON MY WEBSITE, YOU WILL FIND A LOT MORE STUDIES PROVING WHO JESUS WAS, AND ALL ABOUT GOD, IN DETAIL AND DEPTH. THE GODHEAD WANTS YOU TO KNOW ABOUT THEM IN THE BASICS, WHAT THE HUMAN MIND CAN GRASPE AT THIS TIME IN THE HUMAN FLESH.

AND THE REASON AS TO WHY THEY CREATED MANKIND - WOW, THAT IS REVEALED ALSO; IT WILL BLOW YOU AWAY!

STUDY [NOT JUST READ] MY STUDY CALLED "A CHRISTIAN'S DESTINY" AND UNDERSTAND WHY YOU ARE HERE.

Keith Hunt