When you need the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit will be there.

Steve Brown:
When you need the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit will be there. Let’s talk, on Key Life.

Matthew Porter:
Welcome to Key Life. I’m Matthew, executive producer for the program, and our host is author and seminary professor Steve Brown. The church has suffered under do more, try harder religion for too long, and Key Life is here to proclaim that Jesus sets the captives free.

Steve Brown:
Thank you Matthew. If you’re just joining us, we’re studying the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. And we’re looking in this particular section on the power of the Holy Spirit. And if you were listening yesterday, I said that there is enough of the Holy Spirit. You’ll find that in Ephesians 1:18 through 19, and Paul says.

The immeasurable greatness of his power toward those of us who believe.

How much is immeasurable greatness? It’s immeasurable, dummy! It means that there’s so much that there will always be enough. Spurgeon used to talk about the bigness of God. By the way, sometimes we make God really little and try to put him in a box. And you should know a truth that is very important, and it is this.

Little gods do little things.

And so, Paul says, don’t limit God. Don’t limit His power toward you. Don’t limit the greatness of the Holy Spirit in your life. It’s beyond measure. In other words, there may not be enough money, there may not be enough food, there may not be enough gasoline, but when you talk about the Holy Spirit, there’s always enough. Charles Spurgeon, maybe my favorite preacher of all preachers, used to talk about the bigness of God, and he would say to his congregation, We’re like a fish swimming in the Thames, worried about water. And he said that’s silly, and then he spoke to the fish.

Little fish, little fish

Spurgeon said

don’t worry, there’s plenty of water for you.

And I would say.

Christian, don’t worry. There’s a lot of power from the Holy Spirit for you.

Let me show you something else. Secondly, not only is there enough, there is enough power from the Holy Spirit when you need it and know that you need it. Listen to II Corinthians 12:9.

My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.

As you know, Brennan Manning is one of my heroes. The last book he wrote, it was called All Is Grace was horrible. I’m sorry, but it wasn’t a, it was a book that was confusing and I didn’t know the people he talked about. But, you ought to buy it. If for no other reason because of the introduction, I may have read this to you before, but it’s really important. This is A Word Before in his book, All Is Grace.

All Is Grace was written in a certain frame of mind. And that of a ragamuffin, therefore this book is by the one who thought he’d be further along by now, but he’s not. It is by the inmate who promised parole board he’d be good, but wasn’t. It is by the dim eyed who showed the path to others, but kept losing his way. It is by the wet brained who believed a little wine was good for the stomach, then a lot was great for the stomach. It’s by the liar, the tramp, the thief, otherwise known as the priest, the speaker, and the author. It’s by the disciple whose cheese fell off his cracker so many times that he said, to heck with cheese. It is to the young at heart and the old of bone who are led these days in ways they’d rather not go. This book is also for the gentle ones who’ve lived among wolves. It’s for those who’ve broken free of the collar to romp in the fields of love. It is for those who mourn. Who’ve been mourning most of their lives, yet they hang on and shall be comforted. It’s for those who’ve dreamed of entertaining angels, but instead found friends of great price. It is for the younger and older particles who’ve come to their senses again and again and again. It is for those who strain at impious little things because they’ve been swallowed by mercy itself. This book is for myself and for those who have been around the block enough times that we dare to whisper the ragamuffins rumor. It’s all grace.

I love that. Even if I didn’t like the book, that statement itself was worth the price of the book. And what he’s saying, in essence, is that the Holy Spirit is available to every believer. And not only is the Holy Spirit available to every believer, it’s available to every sinful believer, every fearful believer, every believer who is a prodigal and is straight away from the home place, it’s, it’s for, it’s for those of us who are quite human and wonder if God cares at all. Listen to me, all you’ve got to do is ask and be sensitive because the power of the Holy Spirit is available when you need it. And especially when you know you need it. So ask, and you’ll be surprised. The Holy Spirit is enough. You think about that. Amen.

Matthew Porter:
Don’t try to limit God because there’s always enough Holy Spirit for us. Thank you Steve, for that reminder. More to come tomorrow. Do hope you will join us for that. Well, I don’t have to tell you that being smart comes from hard work, it doesn’t just happen by osmosis. That said, just to be on the safe side, I do kind of like to hang out with smart people. I mean, who knows? Maybe some smartness will rub off on me. Well, one of those smart people is Dr. Hugh Ross. We recently spoke with him on Steve Brown Etc. Take a listen to part of that conversation, then I’ll be back to tell you about a special free offer.

Steve Brown:
Define inerrancy.

Hugh Ross: I think the International Council of Biblical Inerrancy did a masterful job. I mean, it’s 300 theologians from all over the world that spent a decade studying the doctrine of Biblical inerrancy. And they wound up writing some wonderful statements of affirmations and denials. And then they also accompanied that with 2,000 pages of commentary. It’s all archived. It’s at the Dallas Theological Seminary website. And this was back in the 70s and 80s. What has happened recently is a number of conservative Christian theologians have said, we can no longer abide by the definition set up by the International Council of Biblical Inerrancy. And so, they’ve redefined Biblical inerrancy, but it’s a very different definition than what the 300 theologians came up with some 40 to 50 years ago.

Steve Brown:
What’s the change? What happened?

Hugh Ross: Well, what happened is they said when the Holy Spirit is speaking through the Scriptures, that is inerrant, but that the Holy Spirit partners with the human authors and tolerates the errors that they have made. And they’re saying that it’s recent scientific discoveries that now compel this redefinition of Biblical inerrancy. And it particularly applies to the early chapters of Genesis and the Book of Romans. Those are the two books that we see theologians saying, you know, because of advances in science, we can no longer hold that these texts are literal and historical. And we don’t think Paul really understood what was going on in the Book of Genesis or the origin of human beings. And even the doctrine of original sin as now being said, hey, because of advances in anthropology and genetics, we have to redefine what Paul is saying about the origin of sin.

Steve Brown:
You know, that’s where I started. I went to a graduate school of theology just this side of wacko at Boston University. So, I would have said what they are now saying at the beginning of my faith walk. I would have simply said, but of course, you know, we can add to the Canon, we can subtract from it, it makes mistakes, they’re obvious mistakes, on and on and on. And then something happened to me, and it happened to you too, in a different way. And I want, I don’t know, you can’t tell the long part of the story, but kind of give us a brief of what happened to you when you opened the Bible.

Hugh Ross: Well, I opened the Bible, I said, I’m going to put it in the best possible interpretive light. And, if I find a provable error or contradiction, that would be evidence for me. This is a book that’s written by humans, not inspired by the one that created the universe. Because of my scientific background, I recognize that everything I see in nature is consistent, harmonious, there’s no contradictions or incongruities. I expect that if God is speaking to us through a book, it’s going to have the same characteristics. I spent two years going through the Bible an hour or two a day, looking for a provable error, a contradiction. Couldn’t come up with any. And the more I studied the Bible, the more I realized the entirety of it is indeed true. Not just respect to history and doctrine, but science and geography. It’s true on every subject that it addresses.

Matthew Porter:
See, you and I are already just a little smarter for hearing that clip. So, make the next smart move and get that entire conversation on CD for free 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 CD. To mail your request, go to keylife.org/contact to find our mailing addresses. Again, just ask for the free CD featuring Dr. Hugh Ross. And finally, if you value the work of Key Life, would you join us in that work through your financial support? You can charge a gift on your credit card or include a gift in your envelope. Or you can now give safely and securely through text. Pick up your phone and text Key Life to 28950 that’s Key Life, one word or two, doesn’t matter. Just text that to 28950 then follow the instructions. Key Life is a member of ECFA in the States and CCCC in Canada. And Key Life is a listener supported production of Key Life Network.