Is the Holy Spirit Really the Third Person in a Trinity? Part 2

We're brethren in a letter from an inmate in prison here in Oklahoma prompted this series of sermons regarding the proper understanding or identity of the Holy Spirit as revealed in Scripture.

The last time I spoke two weeks ago, we talked about that subject. There is much that can be said about the topic, so today we'll continue with that particular sermon. Now, our visit, I feel, went very well with the prisoners there. There were five prisoners that were in attendance.

God answered, I believe, the opening prayer as I asked for His direction and His guidance that God would give us understanding on the matters that we would be discussing. And I also asked for humility for all of us in a mutual respect for one another. And I believe God answered that prayer.

Potentially, it could have gotten a little ugly. I don't think it ever got ugly at all.

Maybe a little intense a few times, but not ugly. And I was happy with the conclusion of the matter.

They want us to continue going down to the prison. They really do appreciate our beliefs and our faithfulness in doing God's work and coming down to visit them and taking the effort to drive all the way down for them. No, I'm not naive enough to think that they necessarily believed everything that we told them. In fact, I would be surprised if they don't still cling at least some of them to their understanding on the matter. Now, certainly God is the judge.

And as I told them, I really don't think this is a salvation issue as long as we're sincere in what we believe on this topic. In other words, God's not going to cast us into the lake of fire if we don't fully understand some of these issues regarding the nature of God.

Now, eventually we'll have to repent when we find out we were wrong on certain ideas and things, and we'll have to be willing to do that and embrace the truth. But God is a merciful, loving God, and if we approach Him with true convictions and we strive to obey Him and please Him, then God is very merciful to forgive us, and God's the one that opens understanding also.

God has to convict us and give us understanding in these issues.

So, I believe we were respectful of one another. The basic leader of that group, I could tell he was really working hard to contain himself at times. He is very knowledgeable with the Bible. He's had a lot of time to study the Bible. He's been in prison for a number of years, and I think he's probably used his time pretty well in studying the Scriptures and in even learning Hebrew and Greek to some degree. In fact, he wrote some Hebrew on the back of my sermon notes that I had taken with me. I don't know Hebrew, and I admitted that I don't know Hebrew. I also said I don't believe we need to know Hebrew in order to understand the truth. God opens our minds to the truth and understanding, and it's not necessary to know Hebrew and Greek. I didn't say this, but oftentimes those who have a little bit of knowledge on Hebrew and Greek are actually more dangerous than some of us who don't know much and admit that and know that we don't know much.

But anyway, I was overall pleased with our visit. I'd like to go back again, and I believe iron does sharpen iron, and I think that was the case while we were there, because again, the man is well-read. He knows the Bible. He was quoting a lot of Scriptures and things, and it was a good experience overall, I believe. So we discussed the issues for probably about three hours.

So we had quite a bit of time, but again, it's a large topic, and we didn't cover everything at all. In fact, there were a lot of things that later I thought, oh, I should have said this, and should have said that, and should have said something else. But, you know, I think overall, it went well. Now, I'm going to give you a brief summary of what we talked about last time. Very briefly, you can go back to your notes and consider the verses and Scriptures that we covered last time. But we started in the beginning, and again, we're going to talk about, is the Holy Spirit really a third person in the Trinity? And by the way, they claim that they don't believe in the Trinity. But I had a hard time understanding what they do believe in. Then, for me personally, it was difficult to grasp exactly what they were saying, because they said they don't believe in the Trinity. But they do believe in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit as beings, three persons in the Godhead. And so, I still need to understand that better. I don't know if Mr. Kegel understood that better than I did, but since I've been thinking, I think I kind of know what they're saying. They're saying that God is one, but they're in three, not even three beings, I guess. I guess three beings, but they don't want to admit that it's three, or something like that. I mean, it's kind of hard to wrap your mind about exactly what they were saying, because I think they understand some of the pagan origins of the Trinity.

It's hard to deny that. If you study into the various countries and cultures of the world and the many deities that were in groups of three, and some of the thought that came through in the Catholic Church and back at the time of Constantine and Plato and Aristotle and the influence that various ones had in this coming up with this idea of the Trinity, it's hard to deny all of that. So I think they did grasp some of that, some of the history, some of the influence that that pagan thought had on this particular doctrine. So anyway, we went into Genesis. We talked about the Spirit of God being there as the creative force that actually the one who became Christ was actually the one that the Father used to create all things. And we went to a number of scriptures to point that out. Remember, they said, Eloim, again, that's a plural noun, talking about God being more than one.

Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And in the Garden of Eden, God said, we see, I forget exactly, I didn't actually go to this scripture, we might go back there to Genesis chapter 3. And in verse 22 of chapter 3, Genesis 3 verse 22, then the Lord God said, Behold, the man has become like one of us, like one of us. In other words, there's more than one, but he's become like one of us. Now, we're the same. God the Father and the word of the spokesman, the Logos, part of the same God family, let us, or behold, the man has become like one of us, to know good and evil. Now, lest he put his hand and take also the tree of life and eat and live forever, therefore the Lord God sent him out of the Garden of Eden. So again, there were two beings in the God family in the very beginning. And I believe that we went to a number of scriptures that certainly pointed that out. Two beings present, the Holy Spirit was not the Creator, but it was the creative force or power that was used to create. In Ephesians and Colossians, we showed that it was Jesus Christ who did the creating, the Father directing the creation as well. It's important to understand that as well. In Hebrews, we talked about how the Father and Son, there is a Father and a Son. That's two beings. I don't know how you can come up with one with a Father and a Son. You know, I have a Son, there's two of us. He's over in Philippines.

You know, he's not here with me, distinct individuals, Father and Son. And it was through Christ that the Father made the world. Hebrews chapter 1, 1 through 5 says that Jesus was begotten by his Father, begotten by the Father. The Father was the Father. The Holy Spirit wasn't the Father. Although the Holy Spirit was used, the power of the force in conceiving Jesus the Christ in Mary's womb. So again, it was the power of the force of God.

So the Holy Spirit is not the Father. Of course, the Father is the Father. It is the Holy Spirit of God. God is Spirit. We went to John 4, where it says God is Spirit or God is a Spirit, as some of the translations use, God is a Spirit Being. And of course, Jesus Christ, once he was changed to Spirit, was a Spirit Being. He is a Spirit Being today at the right hand of God. Jesus Christ is Spirit. We went to John and talked about how Christ was the Word, the low ghost, the spokesman, through whom the Father created all things by the divine power of God, the Holy Spirit.

In Psalm 33, we talked about how the heavens were made and all the hosts of them by the breath of his mouth. When God spoke, it existed. 1 Corinthians 8 verse 6, I think, is a key scripture where we talked about, yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things and we for him, and one Lord, Jesus Christ. One God, the Father, okay, that's one entity, and one Lord, Jesus Christ. That's 1 Corinthians 8 verse 6, one Lord, Jesus Christ. One and one still equals two. It equaled two back then. There were two beings, one God, the Father, one Lord, Jesus Christ, and yet we know from the Scriptures that Jesus is God. So when it says there is one God, the Father, it's speaking about God the Father, but there's also God the Son, a second being.

In fact, we went to Matthew 1, well, we went to Matthew 1.20 where it talks about how Christ was conceived of the Holy Spirit. Again, the Holy Spirit is the divine power of God, including the power to beget or to conceive. The Father was indeed the Father. In Hebrews chapter 1, verses 8 and 9, but the Son says, Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. This is the Son speaking to the Father in Hebrews chapter 1, 8 and 9. Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness, you've hated lawlessness. Therefore, God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness.

So the Father said this to the Son, but to the Son He says, Your throne, O God.

God the Father is saying that Jesus is indeed God.

Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.

God rules. The Father and the Son rule.

They're on thrones. Christ is at the right hand of the Father.

They rule together. Now, the Father is supreme in authority, and it's always been that way. You read the Scriptures throughout Genesis to Revelation.

The Son said, The Father is greater than I.

All right, now let's go turn to some other verses. Those are basically what we covered last time. Let's go to Matthew 11, verse 27. We'll see that Christ came to reveal His Father.

Matthew 11. Matthew 11, verse 27.

And actually, Christ is praying to the Father.

In verse 25, He said, We are babes in Christ, in large part. Now, some of us have been around a long time. We're somewhat more mature, but we're still, in some respects, babes.

So, the Son is praying to the Father.

This is what Jesus is saying in His Prayer.

Now, we won't go to John 6, 44, but there it says, So, they work together to, in a sense, reveal each other.

We know the Father because of the Son, and we know the Son because of the Father, as they work in us, through the power of the Holy Spirit, which convicts us and guides us and enlightens us and directs us.

Now, Jesus, again, He prayed to His Heavenly Father time and time again.

He was with the Father from the very beginning.

Notice John 17. John 17, verse 5. Now, these are powerful scriptures that really do substantiate what we believe. And again, do you have faith in your faith?

Do you have faith in what you believe?

What you've been taught? What God has inspired and shown you regarding the truth?

Okay, we will be tested in these things before Christ returns, in who knows how many different ways.

So it is important that we are students of the Bible and that we understand the Bible and that we are convicted of God's truth, and that we have faith in what God has inspired us to understand and believe.

And if we see that we're wrong in something, then we have to have the humility to admit that.

So we have to be diligent students of the Bible, and we have to pray and ask God for understanding and wisdom, and that God would convict us of the truth.

And notice John 17, verse 5. And we read this at Passover time each year.

John 17, verse 5, And now, O Father, glorify me, this is Jesus the Christ, shortly before He was taken to be crucified, and now, O Father, glorify me together with Yourself, one being, speaking to another being, and, Father, glorify me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.

Okay, the Word became flesh, one being. The Word, there weren't two beings there.

There were, there was one being. The Word, the Word became flesh.

Now, I, you know, I don't know that we can fully understand how that happens, but that's what the Scripture reveals, that the Word became flesh.

And now, the Word, the Word who became flesh in Jesus Christ, of course, conceived of the Holy Spirit, having the Holy Spirit from birth, and now, O Father, glorify me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.

And John 1, 1, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

So, again, the Bible indicates there were two beings in the very beginning, and there remains two beings in the family of God.

Presently, but God has plans for others to join that family, to be born into the family of God.

John 20, verse 17.

John chapter 20, verse 17.

Jesus said to her, Do not cling to me.

This was Mary Magdalene, after Christ had risen.

And he had risen from the dead.

And Jesus said to her, Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to my Father, but go to my brethren. And I say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father.

Okay, we all have one Father.

The one who is revealed in the Scriptures as our Father, the one that Jesus prayed to.

I am ascending to my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God.

Again, two beings.

Jesus wasn't praying to himself.

He was praying to a separate being.

John 17, verse 22.

John 17, verse 22.

And the glory which you gave me, you and me, two beings.

And the glory which you gave me, I have given them, all of them, all of the ones that Christ was working with, the disciples of Christ.

And the glory which you gave me, I have given them, that they may be one just as we are one. Christ was working with his disciples through the power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was not yet dwelling in his disciples. The Holy Spirit had not yet come. It came on the day of Pentecost.

But it hadn't yet come, but the Spirit was working in the hearts and minds of the disciples.

So he says, And the glory which you gave me, I have given them, that they may be one just as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that you have sent me. You know, God is so much for unity.

God wants us to learn unity.

You know, again, that's why it's so important as a church congregation that we learn to be unified and that we seek to be unified, not divided, not seeking to divide, but seeking to be unified.

It's very, very important that we learn this. If we are to become a church without spot or wrinkle, I believe this is perhaps the most important thing that we need to learn, that we are brothers and sisters in Christ, and there's no need for us to be spread out in various organizations because we can't accept one another, we can't repent of our sins, we can't put our faith in God and trust that God can work in all of us.

You know, I would love to see all of us come back together, unified and united, and not spread around the globe and countless groups.

I believe it's an important lesson. I hope that we here today will stick together, you know, that we will learn this lesson that God wants us to learn to be unified. If we truly love each other, why would we seek to be divided from each other?

You know, if we really love each other, then we forgive a multitude of sins.

If we have love, one for another.

It isn't that we condone sin or bad behavior, but we are repentant.

All of us, repenting of what it is that we have done that divides.

You know, so let's strive to learn this lesson of unity that the Father and the Son set for us this example that they set for us.

All right, now back to John 17 again. John 22, verse 22, The glory which you gave me, I have given them, that they may be one just as we are one.

Jesus was subordinate to the Father's will. He said, nevertheless, not my will, but your will be done.

He was willing to do what the Father's will was in his life.

Even as a fleshly human being, he was willing to submit to the Father, knowing the Father truly does know best and that this was the plan that was agreed upon that he would do. And so he gave himself, was crucified for us.

I am them, you and me, verse 23, that they may be made perfect in one and that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them as you have loved me. And that is why God is one. Father, I desire that they also whom you gave me may be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory which you have given me.

For you loved me before the foundation of the world.

I was there with you, you loved me, I loved you.

That unity, that oneness, that love, that's why God is one.

Because of the unity that they have. Two beings, completely unified.

Just as a husband and wife are to strive to become united and unified.

Working together, learning to respect each other, learning to forgive each other, learning to love each other.

The two shall become one.

That's what this is talking about.

O righteous Father, the world has not known you, but I have known you, and these have known that you sent me.

And I have declared to them your name, and will declare it, that the love with which you loved me may be in them, and I in them, that the love with which you loved me may be in them. God is love, and I in them. Christ is love. God is love. Christ is love.

And that's because they're composed of Holy Spirit.

And again, the Holy Spirit, what are the fruits of God's Spirit?

The first one is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control. These are the fruits of God's Holy Spirit.

That's the Holy Spirit dwelling in God, dwelling in Christ.

And ultimately, dwelling in us, so that we may become one, all a part of God's glorious family.

That is awesome to understand that and to realize that God is granting us His Spirit, that we might become like Him.

Is that not your goal, to become just like God?

That's been my goal since I was 18 years old, to become just like God.

I fall far short of that goal. I'm not yet there by a long stretch, but it remains my goal.

I want to become like God. I want to be born into the family of God.

I want to completely stop sinning.

I want to become God in that sense.

Is there anything wrong? Is there something wrong with wanting to be like your Father?

Not if you honor and respect your Father.

There's nothing wrong with wanting to be born into the God family. That's not blasphemous.

That's a beautiful thing.

To become like your perfect Father in heaven.

God doesn't sin.

When we're changed into Spirit, we will be born into the God family and we will no longer sin.

We will become like God. Now, we're never going to be God in the fullest sense.

Because we haven't lived forever, there were two beings that have lived for all eternity.

We are created beings.

Jesus is not a created being.

Jesus had a pre-existence with the Father.

We are created beings.

But in every other sense, we will have the power of God.

God wants to share that with us by His Spirit.

To me, what a loving gesture from the Father to want us to be like Him.

To me, that's just awesome.

So again, two shall become one.

When you study the Greek word that's used for one and the Hebrew word that's used for one, you can see that one can apply to more than one being.

You can go to the Trinity booklet. I'll probably cover this in another sermon later on, because it is a very important part of all this.

It goes into a whole chapter on how God is one.

It goes through the Greek word and the Hebrew word and how we can become one with God.

So again, if you haven't read the booklet on the Trinity, now would be a good time to pick it up and read it. It's a great book.

All right, let's go to some other verses here. Let's notice that Jesus also has a Spirit.

Very plainly in the Scriptures that Jesus has a Spirit.

The same Spirit that the Father has, the Holy Spirit.

They are both composed of Spirit. They are Spirit beings.

The Holy Spirit is their power. It's their divine essence.

Galatians 4, verse 6.

Let's see that. Galatians 4, verse 6.

Galatians 4, verse 6.

And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son. Now, this is Paul speaking to the church at Galatia.

And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son.

God the Father has sent forth the Spirit of His Son.

Into your hearts. Notice the language.

God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts.

Crying out, Abba, Father.

Crying out, Father. It's a term of endearment.

Daddy or Father.

Abba, Father.

Daddy, Father. You know, that close relationship.

Therefore, you are no longer a slave, but you are a son.

And if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

Again, working together in unity as one.

The Father and Christ.

An ultimate, wonderful plan of salvation.

For mankind to become born into the family of God. No longer man, no longer flesh.

But of the God kind.

The Spirit of His Son.

Now, I suppose some might argue that there are not three persons or beings, but four in the Godhead.

Have you ever thought of that? Why could not someone make an argument for four beings?

You've got God the Father, you've got God the Son.

Then you've got God the Holy Spirit, and then you've got Christ the Holy Spirit.

Because, you know, if you take that literally and you read everything that's here, I mean, someone could come up... That's a harebrained idea. But, nevertheless, it's no more harebrained than the Trinity.

Nobody called that quadwinity?

No, I don't know what they would call four.

Quintinians... Let's see...

Trinitarians, Benitarians, Quaternion-terians.

I don't know.

Anyway, let's read a little bit further here.

Again, they might make this conclusion that there's actually four beings.

Now, here we see that both the Father and Christ have the Holy Spirit, the Spirit essence. They are graciously willing to share the Holy Spirit with their children.

Look at Romans 8, verse 9. Romans 8, verse 9.

Romans 8, verse 9.

But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you.

Now, if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ...

See, that's why I say they could come up with this idea that there's four.

You've got God the Father, you've got God the Son, you've got the Spirit of God.

And you've got the Spirit of Christ.

Four.

But that's not the case. The Holy Spirit is what the Father and the Son have in common.

They're composed of Holy Spirit.

It's not different spirits.

It's the same spirit.

One spirit. Isn't that what the Scripture says too? One spirit?

Exactly. One spirit. Now, if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not his.

And if Christ is in you, Christ living in you by the power of the Holy Spirit, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness, because we're striving to put sin out of our life and become righteous as God is righteous, not trying to earn our salvation by our own righteousness, but striving to have the righteousness of God.

But if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the Spirit of him—now, speaking of the Spirit of the Father here— if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead, Jesus was raised by the Father, the one that he prayed to, the one that he looked to. He was raised by the Father.

He didn't raise himself. He was raised by the Father.

But if the Spirit of him, of God, the Father, who raised Jesus from the dead, dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit. That's not a third being or a fourth being.

The Holy Spirit is not a being. The Holy Spirit is the divine power of God. And that's how the Scripture, time and time again, shows that the Spirit is indeed the power of God. And we'll go to quite a few Scriptures here in a moment to again point that out.

The Spirit that dwells in you, God dwells in you, Christ dwells in you, they dwell in you through the power of the Holy Spirit.

That's what the Scriptures show. That's what the Scriptures reveal. All right, let's bear that out as we go to some more Scriptures here. Isaiah 11, verse 2.

Now, this is going to talk about the Spirit of God, the Spirit of the Eternal resting upon Christ Let's go to Isaiah. This is a prophecy. This is a prophecy of the Messiah.

Well, let's read verse 1. There shall come forth a rod, notice rod is capitalized, from the stem of Jesse.

Jesse was David's father.

From the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.

The Spirit of the Eternal, and again, branches capitalized, is talking about Christ.

And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him.

The Spirit of God shall rest upon him.

The Spirit of the Father shall rest upon him.

The Spirit of wisdom and understanding.

The Spirit of counsel and might.

Again, not two different spirits, but one and the same Spirit. The Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit.

The Spirit of Christ.

This Spirit shall rest upon him.

The Spirit of wisdom. See, it's a spirit, a force, a divine power. The Spirit of wisdom and understanding. It's not another being, but it's the very creative power of God. The Spirit of wisdom and understanding. The Spirit of counsel and might.

The Spirit of knowledge, and of the fear of the Eternal.

His delight is in the fear of the Lord. Christ's delight, the Messiah.

His delight will be in the fear of God.

He always respected God with the proper... That's what it's talking about, the proper respect for God, the proper fear of God in that sense.

The love for God that he would have, the respect for God that he would always be willing to humble himself and do the Father's will in unity and in oneness.

His delight is in the fear of the Lord, and he shall not judge by the sight of his eyes, nor decide by the hearing of his ears, but with righteousness.

With the righteousness of the Father, with the righteousness of the Word, the spokesman, the logos.

He shall judge the poor and decide with equity for the meek of the earth. He shall strike the earth with the rot of his mouth. Christ is coming back to strike the earth with the rot of his mouth and with the breath of his lips. And he shall slay the wicked, and righteousness shall be the belt of his loins, and faithfulness the belt of his waist.

And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the young goat, and the calf, and the young lion, and the fatling together. And a little child shall lead them in God's kingdom.

Now, you've been taught that for years. You go to the feast every year. You hear these scriptures.

God has revealed his plan to us. We need to cling to understanding and truth, and never allow ourselves to be deceived. Because there are deceivers in this world who would like to take away the truth that God has shown you. So you have to have faith and belief in what God has shown you.

Acts 1. Now, notice this. To me, this is a very plain scripture that shows that the Holy Spirit is the power of God.

Acts 1.8.

Acts 1.8.

Now, this is just before Christ ascends to the Father, and he promises that the Holy Spirit will be sent. Acts 1.8. Verse 8. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. Now, is that another being? That somehow this other being is going to come upon you?

To me, that doesn't make good sense. That it's a being.

Notice what it says here.

You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.

The Spirit not of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

That's what you will receive on the day of Pentecost. You will receive power from above through the divine presence and Spirit of God.

You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem. And in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth, and to the end of the age, as we continue to do God's will in striving to reach people with the truth of God.

That is our commission, Matthew 28.

Go, therefore, and baptize disciples in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

I mean, we believe in the Holy Spirit as the divine power of God.

We believe what the Bible reveals regarding the Holy Spirit.

And it is consistent throughout the Bible when you have that understanding and you can read it with that understanding.

So the Holy Spirit will come upon you, will dwell in you, will motivate you, will inspire you. You'll have to stir up the Spirit within you.

If you're not careful, you can quench the Spirit.

If you don't humble yourself before God, and if you're not faithful in seeking God, then you can quench God's Spirit that's within you.

It can remain dormant, not active, not stirred up.

That's dangerous because God can take the Spirit away from you. If we don't stir up the Spirit within us.

Acts 10, verse 38. Acts 10, verse 38.

Acts 10, verse 38. Well, let's go back a few verses here. Let's go back to verse 34.

Then Peter opened his mouth and said, In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality, but in every nation whoever fears him and works righteousness, the righteousness of God, not our own righteousness, but the righteousness of God.

In every nation whoever fears him and works righteousness is accepted by him.

The Word which God sent to the children of Israel preaching peace through Jesus Christ, He is the Lord of all. That Word you know, which was proclaimed throughout Judea and began from Galilee after the baptism which God preached. That was again what they were told to do.

That Word which was proclaimed throughout Judea and began from Galilee after the baptism which John preached, John the Baptist. How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. It's not a third being. It's the power of God. Christ was anointed with the Holy Spirit, conceived of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit dwelling in Christ, His entire life. Anointed with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing. That's how Christ could do so much.

It was the power of the Holy Spirit in Him. And He looked to the Father as a human being, calling upon the Father and the Spirit of God and the power of God and the Spirit that was in Him. That same Spirit which enabled Him to heal everyone who came to Him. All who came to Christ were healed. Christ had complete power. Christ was all-powerful. He spoke and it happened.

Christ had that power.

For God, and all who were oppressed, He went about doing good and healing. All who were oppressed by the devil. The devil is the God of this world. The God who works in the sons of iniquity, who deceives the whole world. For God was with Him. God was with Christ through the power of God's Spirit, dwelling in Christ. And we are witnesses of all things which He did, both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they killed by hanging on a tree. And Him, God the Father, raised up on the third day and so forth. You know, God the Father raised up Christ by the power of His Spirit. 2 Corinthians chapter 1. 2 Corinthians chapter 1. Let's go there.

2 Corinthians chapter 1. 2 Corinthians chapter 1. Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God. God the Father establishes us in Christ. God dwells in us. Christ dwells in us through the power of the Spirit. 2 Corinthians chapter 2. Verse 22. Who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts, not some other being, but the power of God in our hearts. God enlightens us through the power of His Spirit that works in our hearts and in our minds, motivating us, guiding us, and directing us. So just as God anointed Christ with the power of the Holy Spirit, He will anoint you with the power of His Spirit, giving you His Spirit when you repent of your sins, when you accept Christ as your Savior, you are anointed with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit comes upon you. The Holy Spirit dwells in you. The Holy Spirit gives you power to overcome, power to do the right thing. Of course, you're still flesh, and there's a battle that goes on.

Sometimes we lose that battle. But thankfully, we have a mighty and holy and a mighty high priest, Jesus Christ the righteous, that we can go to and seek forgiveness because He died for you.

And by His shed blood, our sins are covered. It's a wonderful understanding and truth that we all have. Who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.

It is a guarantee. Anyone who has the Spirit of God dwelling in them, upon their death, is guaranteed they will raise in spirit. They will become spirit beings born into the family of God. They will become like God, born into His family. It's a guarantee.

We can count on it. We can know that. Anyone who's alive at the return of Christ, the Spirit is a guarantee that you will be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet, you shall be changed into spirit. You'll no longer be subject to this flesh.

No more be subject to pain and sorrow and suffering. No more pain, no more crying, no more tears as we're changed into powerful spirit beings. This is the truth of God revealed in your Bible. 2 Timothy 1, verse 7, and I've mentioned this a number of times, but let's go to it. Let's read it together. 2 Timothy 1. 2 Timothy 1.

2 Timothy 1.

Verse 7. Well, let's read verse 6 with it, because there are scriptures everywhere that just jump out at you that support what I've been saying in this sermon and the last sermon. Look at verse 6. Therefore, I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. This is Paul speaking to Timothy. Timothy was a young minister.

Paul had ordained Timothy. I remind you to stir up the gift of God. The gift of God is the Holy Spirit which is in you through the laying on of my hands, a true minister of God. Now, that subject came up in our visit at Jim Hamilton Correctional Facility because I didn't realize this, but the leader of the group had been baptizing people. In fact, I guess he had baptized everyone else that was there, the other four men that were there. I think he baptized all of them.

So, you know, we discussed to some degree his entrance into the ministry, although we didn't go into it in a lot of detail, but I said, listen, you were not ordained of a true minister of God. The man who ordained you was a Sunday keeper.

He did not believe the truth of God. This is the fundamental truth. The Sabbath is one of the commandments of God. God grants his Spirit to those who obey him. This is fundamental. Now, I said, if you have God's Spirit dwelling in you, you are indeed an exception to the rule because that isn't what the Scriptures reveal. I said, I believe God's Spirit is working with you. I mean, I see evidence of that. God's Spirit is working with you, you're understanding things, you're believing certain things. But I said, you know, I'm not the judge of whether God's Spirit is in you or not. You know, God is that judge. I said, I can't be your judge. God is the judge. I just know that you are indeed an exception if this is the case because that's not what the Scripture reveals. That's not what the Scripture shows. And I know he didn't like that very well. But I said, you know, I believe God's Spirit is working with you, undoubtedly.

So I think that eventually this man will have to come to grips if he ever becomes a part of the true Church of God. Now, again, God is the judge of this. Again, I'm not saying the judge. This is my own, it's my own take on all this. He's going to have to deal with whether or not he's willing to come under authority. Will he come under authority or won't he? Or will he lean to his own understanding and what will become of him in the days ahead? You know, we saw another man that did similar things in the prison system a few years back, who was a leader, who knew a lot, who studied a lot. And as far as I know, well, I don't know what's happened to him. He's dropped off the face of the earth, as far as I know, in terms of having an impact with the truth of God and the Word of God. You know, I just don't really know what's become of him. But, you know, I hope God will work with this man and God will convict him of the truth and then he'll humble himself and be able to come under authority. So, 2 Timothy 1.7, for God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. That is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a spirit of not of fear, not of the wrong type of fear it's talking about now, because before it showed that the Spirit of God does fear, in a sense, the Father. You know, those scriptures that we talked about in Isaiah, I think it was Isaiah where it talked about fear. Let's go back there, just to make sure I'm correct on that. Isaiah 11. Oh, here we go. Isaiah 11, I think in verse 2. Isaiah 11. Yeah, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. Okay, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. Now, this is a different type of fear that we're talking about here, and you have to read the scriptures in context, and God has to give us understanding to sort all these things out. It talks about the spirit of knowledge, the spirit of counsel, the spirit of wisdom, the spirit of the fear of the Lord, of proper honor and respect toward God. Now, in 2 Timothy, where it uses, God has not given us a spirit of fear, it's speaking of a human type of fear. The scripture says in Matthew 10, I believe it is, that we're not to fear those who can kill our bodies, but we are to fear God, who can cast us in the lake of fire. So, we're not supposed to have a fear of mankind, a fear of what people can do to us. Instead, we should always do the right thing, no matter what people are going to do to us. If we refuse to keep the Sabbath and we lose our jobs, then that's the way it goes. I'm not going to fear man, and I'm not going to compromise with God's truth, because I fear man. Instead, I'm going to have a proper fear of God, and I'm going to do the right thing and choose not to work on the Sabbath. So, God has not given us a spirit of fear, of fearing mankind, but He has given us a spirit of power and of love and of a sound mind.

That's the spirit of God that works in us. He gives us power. It stirs up love within us, and it gives us a sound mind. It's an awesome gift, the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 2 talks about the gift of the Spirit here. Acts 2, verse 38, "...Repent and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sin, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." The Holy Spirit is a gift that's poured out upon us, that dwells within us. It is a wonderful gift.

So, we have to repent of our sins, and we have to accept Christ as our Savior. We have to be baptized. We have to come under authority and allow a true minister of God to lay hands upon us for the receiving of the Holy Spirit. That is the biblical formula when it comes to true repentance and accepting God as your Father and accepting Christ as your Messiah, your Savior.

Now, let's notice Ephesians chapter 1. Ephesians chapter 1, verses 13 and 14.

Ephesians chapter 1, verses 13 and 14, verse 14, in whom you also trusted. It says in verse 12 that we who first trusted in Christ shall be to the praise of His glory. In Him you also trusted after you heard the Word of Truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also having believed you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. That was a promise that Christ gave, that the Holy Spirit would come, that the Holy Spirit would be poured out upon them on the day of Pentecost, and upon their repentance and their acceptance of Christ as their Savior, then God would grant them the gift of the Holy Spirit and would seal them with the Holy Spirit of promise. Verse 14 says, who? Really, that's not a good translation, because the Holy Spirit time and time again is shown not to be a person, but to be the power and divine essence of God. Now, there's a section in this booklet that also goes through the why sometimes the Bible talks about the Holy Spirit in terms of He.

There are times when the Bible talks about the Holy Spirit as It, where it's correctly translated.

But, for example, in French, I think the word book in French is masculine. It's considered masculine, but we wouldn't say, hand me that book or give He to me. We wouldn't talk about it as a He.

We would say it's an It. Can you hand It to me? Can you hand me that book? Can you hand it to me?

We wouldn't say, can you hand He to me? We would use It. And in the same sense, this is the way it should be translated into English. This book goes into a little bit more detail in explaining exactly how that is. It's neutral. It's not a masculine. It's a neutral, and it should be used with should have It. Like a book is neutral. It's not a He or a She. It's an It.

And the Holy Spirit is the power of God. It's the essence of God. It's not a being.

All right, now, okay, who is it says who is or which should be better translation would be which is the guarantee of our inheritance and another reason why it's this way is because there were this is this was translated in the King James was around 1600 1611 by then a thousand years of Trinitarian doctrine had been foisted upon the people so these pre-conceived ideas of the Holy Spirit as being a person and a being has crept into the Bible in certain ways and it's easy to find out where that's the case and God helps us to understand that but the fact of the matter is it was preconceived ideas about the Holy Spirit being a third person in a Trinity and that's why sometimes it's translated wrongly incorrectly okay now until who is which is the guarantee of our inheritance see we are in we are guaranteed an inheritance we will inherit all things we will inherit the universe in a sense because we will become born into God's family and we will be over all things under Christ of course and under the Father always under the Father and under Jesus Christ always willing to be subject to the Father and the Son who have listed have who have lived forever and have given us life now we will be unified together we won't rise up against God or against Christ we will be totally unified with God and with Christ and that's why God has put this whole process into being that we might be born into the family of God that we might develop divine righteous character the righteousness of God that we might learn to humble ourselves and seek God's will and be willing to do his will in our lives so the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession we are the ones who have been purchased by the blood of Christ Christ paid for you he bought you you have been purchased your life is no longer your own you need to surrender your life you need to surrender your life to God and to Christ and walk in the Spirit the Holy Spirit which is the guarantee of this inheritance when we will we will be redeemed by our Redeemer by Jesus Christ the redemption of the purchased possession to the praise of his glory God is glorified God is full of glory we sang a song about God Twyla Paris that song that we sang a while ago we will glorify him well we will best glorify him when we are changed in the spirit when we become just like him then we will truly glorify him so now there is a very powerful argument from silence in the Bible sometimes using a a an argument from silence is not that strong or that powerful but this is a very powerful argument from silence that needs to be used in this case and understanding the truth about the Holy Spirit and that has to do with the way Paul speaks of the of God the Father and Jesus Christ time and time and time again in the scriptures leaving out mention of the Holy Spirit and he does so time and again we're not going to turn to all the verses but let me read some of them to you Paul's example and it's on page 57 in the booklet on the Trinity when Paul greets the various churches he mentions that God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ and he leaves out he's silent about the Holy Spirit if the Holy Spirit were indeed an equal third being in a Trinity he would undoubtedly mention him he doesn't Romans 1 verse 7 grace to you in peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ no mention of the Holy Spirit first Corinthians 1 verse 3 you can go through almost every single one of Paul's epistles and he has the same greeting grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ second Corinthians 1 verse 2 the exact same thing grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ Galatians 1 3 Ephesians 1 2 Philippians 1 2 Colossians 1 2 first first Thessalonians 1 verse 1 second Thessalonians 1 verses 1 and 2 first Timothy 1 and 2 or I'm sorry chapter 1 verse 2 second Timothy 1 verse 2 Titus 1 verse 4 Philemon verse 3 time and time again grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ two separate beings in the God family not the holy no mention of the Holy Spirit as a being as an equal being the Holy Spirit is not a person the Holy Spirit is not a being the Holy Spirit is the divine essence and power of God now there's only one verse where I think there's one time in second Corinthians chapter 13 why don't we go there second Corinthians chapter 13 there is one time second Corinthians chapter 13 second Corinthians chapter 13 let's go to verse verse 14 second Corinthians chapter 13 verse 14 oh I'm in first Corinthians second Corinthians chapter 13 verse 14 all right here we go that's the last verse in in in Corinthians second Corinthians the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion or the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all now we do commune with the Holy Spirit I mean the Holy Spirit stirs us up to do the right thing we do have a fellowship of the Holy Spirit the Holy Spirit is an awesome power I mean I felt the Holy Spirit working in me dwelling in me you felt the same thing the Holy Spirit prompts you to do certain things the Holy Spirit convicts you that you may be doing something wrong or that you're contemplating doing something wrong and sometimes you listen to the Holy Spirit's promptings as the Holy Spirit is stirring you up and you do the right thing and sometimes you don't you know sometimes you ignore the promptings of the Holy Spirit and you lean to your own understanding or you lean to your own fleshly yearnings and you sin against God so here it says it is not a greeting all those other ones other places were greetings where they were greeting the various churches this is an ending here the grace of the Lord the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all now we do not deny that that the Holy Spirit is a wonderful force and power we have we believe in the Spirit of God we have faith in God's Spirit we trust that what the Bible says about the Spirit is true and we have fellowship with the Spirit of God but it doesn't this one scripture here does not negate all of the times that Paul would have dishonored the Holy Spirit by leaving him out time and time again Paul would not do that if the Holy Spirit were indeed an equal third person or being it would be gross neglect on Paul's part not to include him now from this booklet from the booklet on the trinity regarding this particular verse the point Paul makes here is that God's Spirit is the unifying agent that brings us together in godly righteous fellowship the unifying agent the power of God the unifying agent of God that brings us together in godly righteous fellowship not only with one another but with the Father and the Son yet here too God's Spirit is not spoken of as a person it doesn't say that God's Spirit is a person here notice that Paul writes that our fellowship is of the Holy Spirit not with the Holy Spirit as 1st John chapter 1 verse 3 tells us truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ here it leaves out again the Holy Spirit in 1st John 1 verse 3 the Holy Spirit is not mentioned so you can't use this one verse to negate all of the other verses that clearly show that Paul understood that God the Father was a unique distinct being in the God family and that Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior who is also God as the scriptures clearly show who had a pre-existence before becoming born of Mary clearly Jesus Christ was a second being in the God family but there is no mention of a third being the Holy Spirit is continually left out and is just left out in so many places in the Bible if you get the next time you read through the entire Bible read through it in mind thinking about the identity of the Holy Spirit how does the Bible reveal the Holy Spirit does it reveal the Holy Spirit as a person a third being in the God family or does it clearly show that the Spirit is the divine power of God it is the the very agent that God uses to to work and to create and to accomplish that's what you'll see when you read the Bible from cover to cover now there's much more that could be said there's there's many other things that we could talk about this little book that talks about seven scriptures that debunk that debunk the trinity as a single being and there are a number of verses that are given in here again if you haven't read the booklet i strongly recommend you get the booklet and you read it you know i have really enjoyed going through these last two sermons about the Holy Spirit and about this the identity of the Holy Spirit it's been very encouraging to me to see this truth over and over again throughout the Bible God has convicted us of truth so we should be willing to stand up for the truth you know i told him that i there at our visit that that uh that i you know i did believe what Mr.

Armstrong taught regarding the Holy Spirit now they said if we believed what Mr. Armstrong taught they wouldn't be back i said i did i did believe what he taught regarding the Holy Spirit you know and what he taught regarding the trinity and the fact that the Holy Spirit is not a third being or a being period whether you want to say it's a third being or whatever you want to say um and also the fact that that i do believe that we will be born into the God family and that we will become like God and that we will become like Christ and if that means that we will be considered God i have no problem with that i have no problem with that i want to be a part of God's family i mean that's an awesome truth that uh God is revealed to us so brethren i hope this has been helpful i i may give a third installment on this covering some other aspects that we haven't covered already i may move on to other ground i did want to mention that i am going to be gone for two weeks so you can contact Mr.

Kegel, Mr. Hopper, Mr. Clement, if you need anointing of course they're always here to help you in that regard or if you need counseling we've got other people uh Mr. Mann is the deacon so is Mr. Smith we have others to help you out if you have physical things that you need help with and they can also counsel you in spiritual ways as well uh Mark Smith and Jim Mann have been around a long time they can help you in many many ways uh of course we have many wonderful servants here so you won't miss me uh i'll be gone for two weeks i have an opportunity to go overseas and my wife staying behind she graciously encouraged me to do this trip when i was at the feast in ports of the artha uh was reacquainted with a friend of mine from college we weren't real close friends but we were we were friends we certainly knew each other respected each other well he invited me to go on a trip to eastern europe so tomorrow night i'm tomorrow afternoon around five i'm flying to budapest in hungary and i'm going to spend about four or five days there he's lecturing over there he's a scientist who lectures at the university of budapest while he's lecturing i'm going to be sightseeing in budapest his company's paying the fare for the motel so saving a little money that way but then this trip has grown into much greater things we're going to go to vienna to austria take a train to vienna we're going to stay there stay there a few days taking a concert of course the land of motzart you know can't you know can't miss out on that opportunity we're going to go see the hapsburg jewels the crown jewels of the hapsburg dynasty i'm going with john carlick who's been there a number of times he's taken jim tuck with him also dares mcneally i think went with him another time so this is a real opportunity for me that i didn't want to pass up on after austria we're going to go somewhere where john carlick's never been we're going to go to poland and we're going to see ashwits and i'm sure that's going to be very very sobering i plan to take pictures and share some of this with you i'm going to have to settle down and figure out a way someone needs to instruct me better on how to use pictures and powerpoint and all that stuff and because i've got all these pictures of jerusalem that you've never seen and israel and this time i want to stay on top of it and try to do something soon after i get back maybe a you know some some working into a sermon somehow or another after we go to crack owl we're going to crack we're going to crack owl in toland we'll take a train there then instead of coming home we're flying to rome and we're going to go to rome he's been to the vatican a number of times the last time i was in italy and i've only been there once i was not able to see the sistine chapel because it was closed i went there for the feast a long time ago and it was closed so it was very disappointing not to see the sistine chapel so we're going to go see that we're going to see the coliseum and other things which i've seen some of that before but we're going to see that we're going to go down to pompe and we're going to see the culture that that was preserved at that time i hear that's very interesting so i'll be able to share some of that with you we're going to go back to rome and then we're going to go to malan on the sabbath the second sabbath that will be there the first sabbath we'll just have to keep together because there's no other churches close by at all so we'll observe the sabbath but we'll do it together then the third sabbath or the second sabbath will be going to malan for services and mr anastasi asked me to speak there i'm actually just going to give a sermonette there but it takes twice as long because it's going to have to be translated into italian so i've got to get a sermonette together which i haven't given in a long time but anyway it'll be a very then then we go back to rome i think for one day on sunday we will go back to rome that sabbath evening we'll go back to rome we'll spend one day again in rome and then fly back the next day so basically gone for two weeks my wife will be around uh we'll be in contact by email you can probably you can try to send me an email and i don't have any problem with that at all i don't know how much i'm going to be checking emails i'll be on the move a lot and i don't know how good everything's going to work over there so anyway i i wanted you to be aware of that and uh it's a wonderful opportunity and i would ask for your prayers that i make it back safely that i don't get sick while i'm gone that john doesn't get sick that everything goes well and smoothly so again i appreciate all of you and we'll miss you but i'm going anyway