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What about the Holy Spirit?

What about the Holy Spirit?

MAY 22, 2023

/ Programs / Key Life / What about the Holy Spirit?

Steve Brown:
What about the Holy Spirit? Let’s talk about it, on Key Life.

Matthew Porter:
Key Life is all about God’s radical grace. Grace that has dirt under its fingernails and laugh lines on its face. If you want the Bible to be a book of rules, you may want to stop listening now, but if you’re hungry for the truth, that’ll make you free. Welcome to Key Life.

Steve Brown:
Thank you Matthew. I have a surprise for you, this week on Key Life. This is the week leading up to Pentecost Sunday. And we decided it would be a good thing to pause and talk about Pentecost. And you can’t talk about Pentecost unless you talk about the Holy Spirit. And you can’t talk about the Holy Spirit, until you look at the work of the Holy Spirit and the life of the believer. And so, I invited my beloved friend Jerry Parries, one of the voices of Key Life to sit down and to help us to understand the power of the Holy Spirit and the life of the believers. And we’re going to spend this week doing that. And if you miss any of it, you’re going to miss some really good stuff. Jerry, why don’t you lead us in prayer and then we’ll turn to this subject.

Jerry Parries: Absolutely. Our Father, we thank you and we honor you for who you are and for what you have done for us. And on this week, we are reminded that you sent us a comforter, one to help us in the time of trouble. One, to encourage us when we get discouraged, one, to dispatch healing, deliverance. He is our all in all. So Father, we thank you today that those that are listening, will be blessed and encouraged this week, by your Holy Spirit. And so, we bless you and we thank you, bless our time together. And of course, I just want to pray a special blessing over Dr. Steve Brown and Key Life, that you will continue to use them mightily, for your glory. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Steve Brown:
Okay. Since this is a Bible teaching program, let me give you just a little bit of Scripture from Acts the second chapter. And then Jerry will give us some history and some definitions, and then we’ll get down and talk about the Holy Spirit. A number of years ago, I wrote a book on the Holy Spirit called Follow the Wind. And I wrote it because there weren’t very many books then on the Holy Spirit. And I think the reason is because, and we’re going to talk about this this week. The Holy Spirit’s job description is to point to Jesus and to the Father, to the first two persons of the Trinity, and not so much to point to himself. So, but we ought to know. So, I sat down and worked on that book and learned a lot about the Holy Spirit that I didn’t know. And when we talk about Pentecost, it was of course the coming of the Holy Spirit. And in Acts the second chapter, beginning at the first verse, this is what Luke writes.

When the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues as a fire and one sat up upon each of them and they were all filled with a Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

And then if you read the rest of that text, it was kind of a great evangelistic outpouring, 3000 people. Now, if that happens in your church on Sunday, it means God was there. It means Jesus has not left the building. But the beginning of the church was here, wasn’t it?

Jerry Parries: Yeah, it was, it was a major, major shift in God’s presence here on earth. You know, he released himself out of the temple and into the hearts of men.

Steve Brown:
Oh yeah. Listen, give us kind of a, tell us what Pentecost, Pentecost didn’t start by being the time when the church was filled with the Spirit, picked up her skirts and began to run into the entire world. Talk to us a little bit about where we get the name, some of the history of it, and what it’s about.

Jerry Parries: Absolutely. Yes. Pentecost was not, that was not its original name. It was actually a festival of the week. The original name was called Shavuot. It’s the Festival of Pentecost. And it is the first fruit of the harvest and it was celebrated 50 days after Passover. Shavuot is a traditional, joyous time in the Jewish religion, where the Passover, where Moses went to the Mountain 40 days and the Ten Commandments was given on the 50th day. And so, we celebrate the Pentecost which is Shavuot on the 50th day. So, it’s 50 days after the Passover is Pentecost. And so, but it’s changed it’s name to Pentecost when it was changed into the Greek name.

Steve Brown:
Okay.

Jerry Parries: And that’s where Pentecost come from, from Shavuot in the Greek it’s now called Pentecost.

Steve Brown:
But Shavuot was kind of a party, wasn’t it?

Jerry Parries: Yes, it was. It was a major, major, major party. Where, Biblical times it kind of changed as it went on. It was Biblical times is when they all sat down and they read the Torah and they read about first fruits. They read the Book of Ruth, and it was really a spiritual moment. Some really parallel things happened in this. Let me give you an example. When, after the 50 days in the Old Testament, God gave Moses the Ten Commandments. After 50 days of Christ being risen from the grave or Passover, God gave the church the Holy Spirit and most theologians believe that the same day that the Torah or the law was given to Moses is the exact same day that the Holy Spirit was given to the church.

Steve Brown:
Oh man, that’s wow.

Jerry Parries: That’s incredible.

Steve Brown:
Now, the Holy Spirit was not On vacation before Pentecost, was he? I mean, the Holy Spirit was still operating in believers, Covenant people’s lives. But this was a different kind of thing, wasn’t it?

Jerry Parries: Oh, it was a major thing. I want to go a little bit deep here, Steve, if I can. The Holy Spirit could not be released into the life of the believer because their sins had not been forgiven. And so, when God crucified Jesus on the cross, he paid the ultimate price. He paid for the sins of the world. The veil was because remember, the Holy Spirit was behind the veil. And when Christ was crucified, the veil was ripped. And when it was ripped, the Holy Spirit came out of the temple and then when God released it on the day of Pentecost, it came into man, and it came into man because god made men holy because of the blood of Jesus Christ.

Steve Brown:
So, we’re clothed in the righteousness of Christ and because of that, we’re a fit vessel

Jerry Parries: Absolutely.

Steve Brown:
for the Holy Spirit.

Jerry Parries: Absolutely. And this was one of the things that when I was studying this, the first fruit of the festival of the week, people were to give the first grain offering. The first of their fruit. And anything over that year would be considered holy because it came from the first fruit. Check this out. When God put the 120 in the room on the day of Pentecost, it was the first fruit of his work.

Steve Brown:
Oh man.

Jerry Parries: And he released the Holy Spirit in the first fruit of them, which declared them holy. So, everything that came after them was declared holy because of the first fruit of the Holy Spirit being released in them.

Steve Brown:
And so Pentecost, this Sunday isn’t just a mark of a calendar, it’s a remembering of some mighty and amazing and unbelievable things that God did with his people and is still doing with his people.

Jerry Parries: Absolutely. One of the things in Pentecost too of the day of the feast here, they had a, don’t tell me how to spell it, it’s called Montage or something of that nature. And what it was, it was the groom would send the wife a gift, letting her know that he hasn’t forgotten about the wedding. And so, he would send her a gift and that gift would remind her and cover her to let her know and to assure her that he’s coming back to her again.

Steve Brown:
Oh my.

Jerry Parries: And so, the gift of that Holy Spirit was the bride to God’s church, and so he gave us a gift to remind us that he has not forgotten us, that he’s coming back to marry us as he promised to do.

Steve Brown:
That’s sort of like what Paul said in Ephesians that it’s the token, the beginning, the little reminder so you can, of something really, you ain’t seen nothing yet kind of thing that’s going to be happening.

Jerry Parries: Yeah. Paul also said that it is the guarantee that God will come and redeem you back to himself.

Steve Brown:
Just as the gift, given by the future husband to the future bride says, don’t worry, it’s going to be fine. We’re going to be married. And Jesus says to us, the church of Jesus Christ, and he does this with a Holy Spirit in Pentecost, and we’re going to talk about it more this week. Pentecost reminds us of that gift that Jesus has given and promised to us to make sure we know the wedding’s going to take place. You think about that. Amen.

Matthew Porter:
Thank you Steve and Jerry. That was Steve Brown and our good friend Jerry Parries teaming up to teach us about the Holy Spirit. What a timely subject as we approach Pentecost Sunday this week-end. And great news, Jerry will be with us all this week, so be sure to join us. By the way, we now have a new Laughter and Lament booklet that we would love to put into your hands, for free. It features some excerpts from Steve’s most recent book, and it explores the idea that the Bible is kind of a crazy book. It also touches on the importance of authenticity, the role of repentance, and the danger of control, something Steve refers to as the mother of all addictions. It’s deep, it’s a quick read, and it’s free. So, grab your copy right now by calling us at 1-800-KEY-LIFE that’s 1-800-539-5433. You can also e-mail [email protected] to ask for that booklet or to mail your request go to keylife.org/contact to find our mailing addresses. Just ask for your free copy of the Laughter and Lament booklet. And one last thing, would you partner in the work of Key Life through your giving? It’s easy to do. You can charge a gift on your credit card or include a gift in your envelope. Or just pick up your phone and text Key Life to 28950 that’s Key Life, one word, two words. It doesn’t matter. Just text that to 28950. And hey, listen, if you can’t give, we understand completely. But please do pray for us, would you? Key Life is a member of ECFA in the States and CCCC in Canada. And as always, we are a listener supported production of Key Life Network.

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