Episode 115 - The Holy Spirit - Part 4

[00:00:07] Speaker A: Hello, everybody, and welcome to the unveiling. My name is Mark, and along with my partner Ajay, we'll be pulling back the curtain on the one true gospel. We are so glad you joined us today. So let's dive right in. All right? All right, all right. Hello, everybody. Welcome back to. To the unveiling. It's so exciting for me and Ajay to be here diving again, deeply into what has turned out to be, for us both, I believe, a very meaningful conversation on the Holy Spirit, one that's been filled with revelation. I know for me personally, just the very act of looking deeply into who the Spirit is has affected my knowledge and. And relationship with him and just a heightened sense of awareness I have that Christ is in me, that the Spirit is Christ in me. What do you think, Ajay? [00:01:06] Speaker B: Yeah, same thing. Mark, first of all, good to see you again. It's always good to come and talk about our Lord Jesus Christ. You know, we always talk about him and him crucified, and we never stop being excited about our Lord Jesus Christ and His work for us. Yeah, yeah, Mark, for me as well. You know, like I said, you know, as we look into each of the. I think what we are doing is we are studying the person of the Holy Spirit and what are the different attributes of his character and what we actually receive from the Holy Spirit and by the Holy Spirit. And it is an amazing study. And I think, you know, I can easily see, you know, right now it seems like we are only touching the surface at some point, you know, I think, you know, we can go even more deeper into each of these attributes of the Holy Spirit of our Lord Jesus Christ. [00:02:04] Speaker A: And when you say we, you're not just referring to you and me. Hopefully, our listeners are themselves just realizing that we're scratching the surface and they're going to do the same thing as far as meditating on who he is and digging deep in Scripture. What do they say? They say, don't. What is it? Don't give a man a fish. Teach a man to fish, and he'll have food for a lifetime. So as we tend to be, I sometimes think, Ajay, you and I are like test pilots in the gospel. Sometimes we crash and burn, but a lot of times we break the speed of sound, too, by the goodness of God and the revelation, revelation of who he is through Scripture, which is always our number one focus. And what's the word? Number one criteria that we base truth on is the revealed word of God. And especially the Apostle Paul, who was given the Gospel directly by Christ himself. So on that note, Ajay, let us dive in. I'll let you get us started and take it away. [00:03:16] Speaker B: Yeah, Mark, thank you. So the first again, you know, we are looking at the different attributes or the different. Yeah, I think attributes is probably a good word to use of the Holy Spirit. So we have looked at several of them and today we are continuing that and we are going to first look at the Spirit of wisdom and revelations. Ephesians 1:17. The Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of wisdom and revelation. And I know, Mark, this is your favorite passage I'm going to read. And then, you know, we can dive into that. So Paul in Ephesians chapter one, after talking about the who we are in Christ and the purpose of Christ, you know, he has from the beginning chosen us to adoption as children by the good pleasure of his will. And then he goes on to say in him we have obtained an inheritance and we are predestinated to sonship according to the good pleasure of his will. And then after all that, you know, he says, okay, after we have been, we have trusted in Christ in 13 in whom ye also trusted. After that you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also after ye believed, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. And then he goes on to say, okay, you have become the children of God and you have a rich inheritance. And now immediately he goes on to pray this prayer for them in verse 15. Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and the love unto all the saints, cease not to give thanks for you making mention of you in my prayers. That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him, the eyes of your understanding, being enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of his calling and what are the riches or the glory of his inheritance in the saints and what is the exceeding greatness of his power to usward, who believe according to the working of his mighty power which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places. Yeah, Mark, I'm going to stop here. I know this is one of your favorite passages, so I'll let you go first and then, you know, I'll add my comments. [00:05:42] Speaker A: Thank you. Don't mind if I do. Ajay. So you know. So was that the KJV or the new King James Version? [00:05:50] Speaker B: I read kjv. Okay. [00:05:53] Speaker A: Just to kind of preface my Remarks coming up. You know, throughout the ages and even up to this very day, believers debate about which is the best translation of the Bible. In fact, Ajay and I, and kind of a jabbing, kind of sense of fun, playfully debate. I'm an NIV guy. I like it a lot because it's very much in modern day English. And Ajay likes the King James Version because it's considered a more literal version than, than the niv. However, when I did a little research on this, I found out that even though, yes, the King James Version is a more literal version than the niv, the NIV is also considered a literal version across all the different translations. But I also found out that what's considered the most literal version is the nasb, the new. What is that? New American Standard Bible. [00:06:55] Speaker B: Yep. Yeah. [00:06:57] Speaker A: So the point I'm making on this is it doesn't have to be an either or thing. It doesn't have to be a debate. There's great value in checking different translations. Not because they say something different, but sometimes they come from a slightly different angle that can give you an insight that maybe wasn't quite as apparent from another translation. I'll give you a. I'll give you an example. So some of my favorite writers are the English writers From the mid 20th century, people like C.S. lewis and A.W. tozer. And what I like about them is even though they're using the same words, they sometimes put them in different order. And just that way of speaking and putting the same words in a different order can shed a whole new light on it. I'll give you a little example from Star wars. Like Yoda, he always talks kind of like backwards. We might say, hey, I'm not afraid of the Sith. He would say, afraid of the Sith. I am not. It's. He's saying the same thing, but it's giving a slightly different twist. So all that to say, I think the fact that we're living in an age now when we have all these different translations, that instead of it being divisive, let's use that as a synergy to make the most out of the different angles that the Bible's been translated into. What do you think? You okay with that, Ajay, what I just said? [00:08:28] Speaker B: Yeah, of course, Mark. Yeah. Also, you know, the. If you really want to know what it says, we need to go to the original language and do a study. But, you know, many of us, you know, are not Greek scholars. So second best option we have is look at all the translations. Right. You don't have to limit yourselves to one translation. In fact, you know, I. When I'm doing deep study, I check all the translations to get the best understanding. [00:08:56] Speaker A: Well, my Bible app's got a nice function on it where you can look up a scripture and it says, show Scripture in all English translations. And I'll hit a button. I think it brings up like 28 different translations and 99% they say the same thing. 99.9, probably it's just a different way of saying it. So that's a long way to say. I encourage our listeners to make use of the different translations because they can give you an insight. So, that being said, Ajay, I'd like to read just a little bit of what you just read, but in the niv. So Paul says in this prayer, I want to preface it by saying this. I brought it up before. If you do a study of all the writings of the Apostle Paul and also the writings about his life in the books of Acts, every time he prays for believers or a church, his prayers are very similar. He almost always prays for God to give us the Spirit, that we might know him better. And I love that. It's my personal favorite name for this spirit, the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, because that's my desire, is to know God better, to know the Spirit better, to know Christ better, the Gospel better. And that's obviously on Paul's heart as of utmost importance because of how many times he prays that. And I just want to remind us that Paul was given the Gospel directly by Christ, which means that God himself, of primary importance to him is that we know him better, not just the Apostle Paul. The reason Paul feels that way is because he was given that gospel by Christ, which is the heart of God, that we would know him better. And so he's given us the Spirit of wisdom and revelation. So the NIV says, I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people and his incomparably great power for us who believe that power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms. I'm gonna stop there now and read the nsab, which gives you a slight different angle. It says while making mention of you in my prayers. And I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so that you will know what is the hope of his calling, what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the boundless greatness of his power towards us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength and of his might which he brought about in Christ when He raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places. What I love about that translation is NIV says the incomparably great power. NASB says the boundless greatness of his power, the greatness of the power that is available to us has no bounds in Christ. The power of God is at work in our lives. It's available to us. It's there for the taking. And he's given us the Spirit. We're talking about the spirit of revelation so that we might understand that power, so that we can lay hold of it. [00:12:57] Speaker B: Amen. Amen. Yeah, in fact, you know, one thing that there are a few things here, Mark, I think, you know, we can just spend some time here before going to the next one is the spirit of wisdom and knowledge. I think in NIV it said that you may know him better. And in KJV it says spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. So that's very important to know and understand. You know, the Bible has a bias. You know, we are not talking about wisdom and revelation in all other kinds of things, right? Yeah, you know, I have wisdom to go and solve this secret or solve this murder mystery or, you know, yeah, you know, I have the knowledge to go earn money. You know, all those things even world has, right? You know, if you want to become good at earning money, you know, you can go to a school, right? You know, get a degree in finance. Of course, you know, the Lord is also helping us, and he's also helping us in the things of this world. But the primary reason he gave us the spirit of wisdom and revelation is in the knowledge of him, right? To know Him. So without the Spirit of God, that means without the Spirit of God giving us this wisdom and revelation, we really cannot know God. That's why, you know, people go to theological seminaries and they do all kinds of studies on the Bible, but they study Bible as some kind of a historical book, you know, doing all kinds of analysis, but they really don't get the Gospel. They don't really come to the knowledge of God and our Lord Jesus Christ by studying the Scriptures. So only when the Holy Spirit, only when we have the revelation of the Holy Spirit, then we come to the knowledge of God. And here it says knowledge of God. But you know, you cannot know God without knowing Christ. So in order to know God, you have to know Christ. So what it is basically saying is you have to come to the knowledge of Christ and the Gospel and his death, burial and resurrection for us. And here specifically, it's talking about that we may know what we have in Christ, right? The riches of the glory of his inheritance and the power of resurrection. The exceeding greatness of his power towards us who believe, you know, the power that is at work in us is the same power that raised Jesus from the dead. And we saw that last time, right? The resurrection of Lord Jesus Christ is by the Holy Spirit. So he's pointing back to himself, right? You know, because we have the Holy Spirit in us, because he is life. The law of the Spirit of life is at work in us. So basically because of the Spirit, we have the power of resurrection. He is the power of resurrection in us. [00:15:51] Speaker A: Yeah, I love that. And not that Paul is listing them in order of importance, but if you look at it, he's praying for us, for the Spirit. We already know we have the Spirit. He's praying for the Spirit to enlighten our hearts and to give us wisdom and the revelation. First of all, to know God better. Second of all, to know the hope to which he's called us. That hope is the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, which right there lets us know we are his holy people. He's made us holy. And then finally he prays that the Spirit would let us know the incomparably great power we have. And that that power, or the boundless power he said in the NASB is the exact same power that the Spirit used to raise Christ from the dead. The Spirit that's in us is the same Spirit that had the power to raise Christ from the dead. And he has the power and the desire to bring resurrection into our life in all things. [00:16:58] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. In fact, Mark, you know, like when we study the gospel carefully, right, the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ is not for Himself. It was for us. So the benefits of his death were for us. Right. So throughout the Old Testament. The Old Testament is a promise about the gospel, about the Lord Jesus Christ, and about his finished work. But the Bible Says, you know, the promise of God is the Holy Spirit. So based on the redemptive work of Lord Jesus Christ, right? You know, he finished our sins and he paid for our sins in full. You know, that is the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. And because of that redemption, Lord Jesus Christ raised him by the Holy Spirit. And when we believe, you know, our spirits are made alive like we talked last time. And how were we made alive? We were quickened by spirit. You know, when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, when we believed in the gospel, when we received the forgiveness of sins, then the Holy Spirit came us and quickened us. You know, that is called the being born again, right? You know, he makes us born again by the Spirit. Unless you are born of the Spirit, you cannot see the kingdom of God. So when he quickened us, he quickened us with the power of resurrection, the same power he exercised to raise Jesus up. It's the same power in us, but that power itself is the Holy Spirit. When he came to live in us, we were born again. You know, we were made alive, we were quickened. And the same Spirit that is in Christ is in us. And we are joined to Christ by the same Spirit. What that means is the power of resurrection is already in us. We only need to know and understand and believe that. [00:18:48] Speaker A: Yeah, that's great, Ajay. And you know, this scripture in Ephesians we just read, it really reminds me and works in perfect concert with with what Paul wrote in First Corinthians 2. 9 when he said, however, as it is written, what no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, what no human mind has conceived, the things God has prepared for those who love him, these are the things God has revealed to us by His Spirit. And there's that word right there, revealed, which is the verb from revelation, the spirit of revelation. And you pointed out something a few weeks ago, Ajay, that I thought was very important. And that's that when it says what no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, what no human mind has conceived, that this is the gospel, this is Christ, that the Spirit is revealing. It's not some hidden, secret knowledge like you said, so that I can make more money or know something about somebody, it's specifically the spirit of wisdom and revelation is given to know Christ, to know the Gospel, to know the power we had. And I love the way he says, these are the things God has revealed to us by His Spirit, the Spirit of wisdom and revelation. And then if you go a little further, he says that what we have received is not the Spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. God wants us to understand what he has freely given us. He wants us to know him better. And that's the reason he gave us His Spirit. And, you know, when I ask myself, why does God want me to understand the gospel, I always say, not so that I can be smarter, not so that I can be a theologian. He wants me to understand these things. Things so that I can lay a hold of them, so that I can grasp them and bring them into my life and into the very core of who I am. [00:20:58] Speaker B: Amen. Amen. Yeah. And Mark, I also wanted to quickly point out that, you know, the Spirit that God gave us for this understanding. He gives us the Spirit without measure. You know, you just said, you know, the exceeding greatness or the boundless greatness of the power, right? You know, that boundless power comes to us by the boundless spirit. John 3:34 says, for he whom God has sent speaks the word of God. For God does not give the Spirit by measure. Or in other words, the God does not give his Spirit by. There are no limits to this Spirit that God gives us. Like it's a boundless Spirit without measure. Without measure. Yeah. And in fact, the Lord says, you know, in Luke and Matthew the same passage, right? Ask and it shall be given. You know, like you being evil, if you give good gifts to your children, how much more your Heavenly Father will give good things? I think in Matthew it says good things. But if you go and check in Luke again, it's the same thing. If you, being evil, give good gifts to your children, how much more your Father will give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him. So our Father is eager to give us the Spirit and eager to give us without limits. [00:22:29] Speaker A: So, Ajay, the scripture you just read reminds me of another scripture that's been on my mind, that came into my mind through our study for this series. And that's when Jesus in John, I think it's 14 or 15, but it's him telling his disciples that the Spirit would be given to them, that he's going to give them a counselor, another counselor to help them. And he says that the Spirit's job is. This is Jesus talking, to take of what is mine and declare it to you. I love that. That's one of. I think the main truths that's come out of this series is that the Spirit's main job is to reveal Christ, to help us know God better, to take what is of Christ and give it to us, declare it to us as a powerful thing. And that's my prayer for you and me, Ajay. That the Spirit would declare to us the things of Christ that we may faithfully declare that here on the podcast. [00:23:36] Speaker B: Amen. Amen. You want to go to the next one? [00:23:39] Speaker A: Yeah, let's move ahead. [00:23:41] Speaker B: Yeah. So the next One is Romans 8, 9, 14, and 1 Corinthians 3, 16. The Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of God. Let me pull that up. Romans 8, 9. So I'm reading from new King James Version. 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, he is none of his. So the Holy Spirit in this verse is called the Spirit of Christ, and he is called the Spirit of God. So as we know that God revealed himself in three persons, the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. He is eternally in three persons. So the third Person of God, right, the third Person of the Trinity is the Holy Spirit. He is the Spirit of God. And the privilege we have is that God himself, God's Spirit himself, comes to dwell in us, you know, when we are born again and when we are saved and we receive the forgiveness of sins. And when God gives the Spirit, he is not giving some other spirit, right. You know, some kind of spirit he created. It could be a good spirit, right? Or it could be a spirit of an angel, or it could be some kind of a spirit that he gives us, but He Himself, the Spirit of God, is God Himself. He comes to dwell in us. What a privilege that is. [00:25:10] Speaker A: It is. [00:25:11] Speaker B: It is. [00:25:11] Speaker A: And when I think back of the time before I knew Christ, I mean, I didn't become a Christian until I was in my mid-20s, which is pretty late. But when I think of how God sent His Spirit into my life in ways mundane and ways miraculous as well, to open my eyes and draw me to Christ, it's just amazing that the God of the universe would intervene and intercede by His Spirit in the lives of human beings to draw them to Christ. And in fact, that's the very reason he comes, is to draw people to Christ. [00:25:55] Speaker B: Yeah. So I'm also going to. I'm pulling up one other scripture. It's 1 Corinthians 3, 16. And you know, when first or when Corinthians, you know, they were unbelievers and I mean, like, they were non Jews, right. You know, they were pagans, and they were following pagan gods. And then when they were saved, right? You know, they were saved. And even after salvation in the church, they were doing immoral things. And Paul did not tell them, hey, you know, if you do all these things, you know, you're going to go to hell. God is going to punish you. He didn't say that. He said 1 Corinthians 3:16. Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? So the spirit of God himself dwells in us, and that's why we are the temple of God. You know, the God himself dwells in us. So, you know, we discussed about this at the beginning of this series, you know, many times, you know, when you ask people, hey, you know, why are you a Christian? You know, what makes you different? And many a time, I think I would guess, I don't know how many of them will say this, but they might point to all the works, right? You know, hey, you know, I used to be this, I used to be that. I used to be this. I did all kinds of things. And now, you know, I used to be a bad husband, you know, now I am a loving husband. And, you know, now I don't drink, I don't smoke, I don't cheat. So it's all about, you know, what, they have changed. But the point is, you know, that's not the point. The point is, once you're born again, the spirit of God dwells in you. That is the differentiator. You could take the most moral unbeliever. There are people like that, you know, there are people that are monks and they have left everything. They have left this world, and they went to the mountains to keep from all kinds of temptations. And a guy on the mountain, you know, his thoughts might be still, he's struggling, but he is literally doing nothing with the humans. So there is not even a possibility of doing all kinds of things right. You know, going and sinning and committing adultery and looking at women, at lust, you know, with lust. He is already on the mountains. But even that guy is still dead. He doesn't have the spirit of God. But we, as children of God, we have the spirit of God. You know, that is the differentiator between an unbeliever and a believer. [00:28:22] Speaker A: You know, that kind of thinking, Ajay, in my opinion, is the greatest enemy of the gospel. And the Apostle Paul said that it's the stumbling stone. It is the stumbling stone that righteousness is by works, when it's not, it's by faith, which comes from the Spirit and then gives us the spirit. So like, it's like this is such an important conversation because everywhere you turn it's about what you do and what you don't do. Not just in the Christian religion, but in Hinduism and in Islam and even in atheists and secular people, they have their own set of rules and you have to stay within the orthodoxy of their rules. Otherwise you will be looked upon, down upon and judged. And that's what living by the law does instead of the spirit. It causes us to judge one another. [00:29:21] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah, Mark, you know, in fact, this do religion, right, I've been thinking like, yeah, you know, when you're young Christian and you're zealous for you have that zeal and enthusiasm right here, you know, you do all kinds of things. And then of course, you know, serving God and doing ministry, you know, all are good things. You know, we should be doing more of that, right. Not less. But you can't base your relationship or your salvation or your eternal security on what you do. And I've been thinking, right, you know, as we are growing old and more and more you grow old, you know, if you still base your relationship and your hope on doing it's going to be now think of what will happen and at some point, you know, you can't even do anything. What will you do at that point of time if you base your relationship, God and your eternal hope on your doing? And that's why, you know, I believe and I've seen many people who are old and who are approaching the end of their life, you know, they're so scared. You know, I've seen people, you know, they are still reaching out to people for forgiveness, you know, making peace with people, all those things are good, but they are not going to do anything when it comes to your righteousness or salvation or forgiveness. So the older you become, the more you realize that, hey man, it has to be all by grace, you know, I am. Otherwise, you know, I'm kind of, you know, I have no hope. You know, because in fact, you know, as you grow more and more older, you realize how bad your flesh is. You know, you might stop all kinds of outward things, but inside, you know, you still know. You know, there's nothing good in you, in your flesh. So you have to base everything on the finished work of Christ. Otherwise I don't think you will, you will have the joy or any kind of peace, you know, before you leave this world. [00:31:14] Speaker A: Yeah, that's a great illustration there, Ajay. When I think about it, we've talked a lot recently about the law and about the teachings of Christ and how and about Christ's interaction with the rich young ruler. These were all meant to bring us to the end of ourselves. And when you think about it, as people get older and older, they're literally coming to the end of themselves, where they realize, there's nothing I can do when we're young and strong, that seems so far away. I can do it. I can clean up my own life. I can do the right things and stay away from the wrong things. But the law was given to make us conscious of sin. Not just conscious of it, but for us to realize just how ugly and bad it is. And Jesus teachings were given to make us conscious of sin, to take us to the end. End of ourselves. And just because we get old doesn't necessarily mean that we have wisdom to realize that, hey, I am coming to the end of myself. Literally, there's nothing I can do to save myself. I need a Savior. And I think that demonstrates in a literal way what's always true, even when we're younger, that we need to come to the end of ourselves and realize that we are helpless without Christ. [00:32:41] Speaker B: Amen. Amen. So, moving forward, the next name of the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ. We just read that Romans 8. 9. But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now, if any man does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. Yeah, so this is so important, Mark, we just talked about it, right? The differentiation between a child of God and an unbeliever is not the works. Yeah, of course, you know, your life will change, but that's not the point. The point is, if any man does not have the spirit of Christ, he is none of us. So unless you are the Spirit of Christ, you are not a believer. You know, in fact, it kind of amazes me a little bit. You know, if you go to many churches, you know, they identify themselves as, I'm a follower of Christ. You know, I'm a follower of Christ, and I made a decision for Christ. But they don't really teach or mention so much that, you know, I have the Spirit of Christ. You know, I am a believer and I'm a child of God because I have the Spirit of Christ. And if you don't have the Spirit of Christ, you're none of his. And again, you know, like the Holy Spirit is also called the Spirit of Christ. So what that means is the same Spirit that is in Christ Jesus is also in us. You know, think of that. The Spirit that raised Lord Jesus Christ. Now when we are talking about raising Lord Jesus Christ, we are not talking about God, Jesus Christ, right? You know, he is eternal God. He is always God. But the one, the Christ that died for us is the man Jesus Christ. And the one that was buried and that was lying in the tomb is human body of our Lord Jesus Christ. And that human body came to life when the Holy Spirit quickened him by the resurrection life. So the same Spirit that is in Christ in heaven is the same Spirit that is in us in you and me. [00:34:50] Speaker A: You know, Ajay, I know that we have. I know for sure that we have quite a few pastors and preachers that listen to our, listen to our podcast, because I've been told that by some of their family members and in various ways. But I just want to encourage pastors out there. One thing that has stood out from this conversation and this deep dive into who the Spirit is and who Scripture tells us he is is that the Spirit's desire is for us to know Christ better, to take of what is Christ and declare it to us. And if a pastor and preacher are going to preach the gospel to their congregation and they want to do it with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, as the Apostle Paul told us, is the way it's meant to be preached in first Corinthians 2, then your focus has got to be the same as that of the Spirit. If you're trying to teach people strategies on how to overcome this sin or that sin, or how to be a good dad, be a good worker in the marketplace, be a generous giver, all those things, they're fine, okay? But that's not what preachers are called to preach. They're called to preach with a demonstration of the Spirit's power. And what is the Spirit constantly trying to do? Reveal Christ to us, reveal the gospel, reveal the hope to which we've been called, reveal the riches of his glorious inheritance, reveal the incomparably great power for us. Who believes. That's got to be the focus of a pastor, in my opinion, if you're going to preach in the Spirit, if you're going to have a demonstration of the Spirit's power, Paul said that that demonstration of power is in the message and the preaching of Jesus Christ and him crucified, because that's the main job of the Holy Spirit. [00:36:49] Speaker B: Amen. Amen. In fact, Mark, you know, this is not one and done right, you know, every time, you know, sometimes People might think these guys are always talking about Jesus and him crucified, you know, how long, right? But the thing is, this is not one and done. We need to be reminded of who we are and we need to grow in the knowledge and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ every day. So this is just like our physical food. You know, we eat the same food every day. That's what sustains our body. And for us, you know, the word of God, the gospel is spiritual food and I would say the food for our soul as well. So this is something we have to constantly, constantly we need to feed from it. You know, this is our spiritual food and the food is Christ himself. Right. You know, John, Lord said in John chapter six, you know, he that eats and drinks of me has eternal life. You know, and Bible also says with joy we draw waters out of the wells of salvation. So there is no limit. You know, there is no end to knowing Christ and him crucified. You know, we do that all the time and every day. And that's what we do. And that we will do till the end of our lives. It's not going to end anytime soon. [00:38:11] Speaker A: You know what, Jay? That's a great point. And the day that we stop preaching Christ and him crucified and focusing with a laser focus on him is the day we look around and see all people on earth with a full knowledge of Christ, of the Gospel. But you can't even find that in churches, much less in the world. So like you said, it's like studying the ocean. Are we going to one day say, hey, I know everything about the ocean? Well, how much more of a limitless ocean is the gospel? Is Christ is the creator of the universe? We're not going to run out of new revelation. The Spirit is going to continue to reveal Christ to us in new ways and in. We're all different individuals too, and our lives are constantly changing and we're told the word of God is living and acting. So it's just a lifelong pursuit really. We're pursuing Christ himself. If someone thinks that that's going to get boring, well, that's like saying skydiving is going to get boring or you know, fill in the blank. It's never going to get boring because it's the most powerful, life changing, revolutionary, exciting. Oh, I hate to even use the word subject or topic, but there's nothing else in all of creation that compares to the cross and the resurrection. And we're going to spend the rest of our lives. It even says that in Old Testament times that prophets and even angels long to look into these things. They were so mind blowing. So we'll just keep at it, Ajay, if that's okay with you. [00:40:01] Speaker B: Amen. Amen. And also, Mark, you know, this is also not just about pure knowledge, knowing, studying, of course we do all that. But you know, it's a family, right? You know, we came into the family of God. What we are doing is we are fellowshipping with the Father and the Son, even in our physical life, right? You know, after everything, after all it is said and done, we come back home, we spend time with our family and we spend time with our kids and with our Father and with our loved ones, wife and husband. It's not so much about. Yeah, yeah, I know all about you now. We are boring. It's a fellowship, right? Yeah. [00:40:41] Speaker A: And when you think about it, meditating on scripture or just meditating on Christ or talking to him or all these things we're doing are that relationship. They are communing with Him. They're enjoying our union with him and desiring to know him even better so that we may commune with him even closer, so that we may experience him even more as we walk the earth. [00:41:08] Speaker B: Amen. Amen. So before we go to the next one, I just wanted to point out one more thing. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ. So what that means is that, you know, sometimes, like we said before, yeah, you know, I know Jesus Christ, you know, he is loving, you know, he is my good shepherd, he died for me. But Holy Spirit, you know, he's somebody else. You know, it's something else. You know, we tend to get a little scared of Holy Spirit. You know, at least the way I have seen. And people experience, you know, experienced even in some of these services in the churches, right. You know, it's all about, yeah, Holy Spirit. Power is coming on you. You're slain by the Spirit and you're falling down. You know, it creates a sense of a little bit of fearful environment. But if you look at this, you know, Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ. The nature, the character, the personality, everything, whatever is Christ, the Holy Spirit is. There is no difference. You know, just like we know the Father through Christ and his finished work, we also know the Holy Spirit through Christ and his finished work. In fact, Holy Spirit came, like you said, to take what is of Christ and give it to us, reveal it to us. So Holy spirit is absolutely 100%. He is like our Lord Jesus Christ. He is no different. [00:42:32] Speaker A: That's a great point, Ajay. And I want to finish up this aspect of the Spirit with a scripture that I alluded to earlier in this conversation. But about five or six months ago, we were doing a podcast and this realization was pivotal. It hit me and it drew me into a Just as the conversation we're having on the Holy Spirit over the last few weeks has revealed him more to me and brought me a new closeness with him, this scripture did the same for me with Christ. And that's in John 14:16. This is Jesus talking to his disciples right before he's about to go to the cross. He's telling him, hey, after I'm gone, he says, I will ask the Father and He will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever. The Spirit of truth. That's a cool thing that just jumped out on me there, that the Spirit of Truth is going to be with us forever. Even when this life ends and we're standing in the presence of God, the Spirit of Truth is going to be with us. And it says, the world cannot accept him because it neither sees him, nor knows nor knows Him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be with you. And then listen to what Jesus says as he's teaching them about the Spirit, he sends. All of a sudden he switches and says, I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, meaning Himself in the flesh on earth. But you will see me meaning the Spirit, because I live. You also will live. On that day, you will can't talk. On that day, you will realize that I am in the Father and you are in Me and I am in you. So I love how Jesus is talking to them and he switches between persons of the Trinity. He's telling them about the Spirit coming to them. Then all of a sudden he says, hey, don't worry. I'm not going to leave you as orphans. I'm coming to you. The Spirit is Christ himself. And that is so mind blowing and revolutionary to realize Christ Himself. On the day we put our faith in him, he came to dwell in us. The Spirit came. That is Christ. And if you've got the Spirit in Christ, then you have the Father too. They are in us, so intimately woven into who we are as a whole. [00:45:04] Speaker B: Amen. Amen. In fact, Mark, you said something really powerful. The Spirit is Christ himself, right? You know, the Spirit is Christ himself or Christ in us. He is the Holy Spirit. So the Holy Spirit will not do anything that Christ would not do. And in fact, Lord Jesus said, you know you will do these things, and greater things than these you will do. Because I go to my Father, right? What he's really saying is that, okay, you know, you as humans, you will do more than what I did as Christ on this earth. Sometimes we might think that, oh, yeah, I'll do a lot of other things. But what he's saying is, like, when I come to you back again, right, by the Spirit, you will do greater things in me. So those greater things that Lord was alluding to is also Christ doing. Christ himself doing those greater things, not necessarily us, because now he came inside us by the Spirit. [00:46:07] Speaker A: Yeah. And I've heard a pastor say before, when Christ walked the earth, he was one finite person in a finite location. Now he's given his Spirit around the world to all his people. So just think of how much he's doing now across the world because he came to us by His Spirit. [00:46:27] Speaker B: Amen. Amen. So, yeah, Mark, I think if you don't mind, you know, maybe we'll have to extend one more. If you don't mind. [00:46:37] Speaker A: I think. So. Let me finish up with one scripture then. Okay, Just to kind of summarize. And the thing that I hope has jumped out to our listeners, that's jumped out to us is that the Spirit, his main job is to reveal Christ to us and in us. And he says in First John 3, 3, the apostle John says, see what great love the Father has lavished on us that we should be called children of God. And let's remember that that's another name of the Spirit was the Spirit of our adoption as sons and daughters. And he's saying right here, what great love God has lavished on us that we should be called to children of God. And that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. And here's what I love. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. So as the Spirit of Christ, as he endeavors to do his main job and calling, which is to reveal Christ to us and in us and declare to us of what is Christ. We see him more and more in this world, too. In this life, we're getting greater revelation of Christ, and it says that when that happens, we shall be more and more like him because we will see him as he is. So when I put two and two together, it tells me the more I can know and see Christ in this earthly life, the more I'm going to become like him. And we're told over and over again that it's the Spirit's job to transform us into the image of Christ in the here and now. We've already been in the heavenly realms, that's already a done deal. But even in the here and now, he's transforming us by just showing us more and more of Jesus Christ. [00:48:45] Speaker B: Amen. Amen. I just want to say one thing to add on to what you just said. You know, our true self is in Christ, right? Our true self is not in Adam anymore. So in order to know us, we need to look at Christ. You know, the more we see Christ, the more we realize our true selves. Because by the Holy Spirit, we are already made like Jesus. But since we didn't receive the new body set right, you know, when we see Jesus, at that time, we'll have a body that is just like our Lord Jesus Christ. In the Spirit, we are already like him. As Christ is, so are we in this world. But even outwardly, in the body also, we will become exactly like our Lord Jesus Christ. And that happens when we get in the Day of Resurrection, when we get our new bodies. [00:49:35] Speaker A: That's a great exclamation point you put on that Ajay. And with that, we're going to sign off. Everybody. We pray you have a blessed week. We pray that the Spirit of Christ himself will continue to reveal Christ to you and continue to declare to you of what is his. All right, we'll see you again next week, everybody. Take care. We hope you were encouraged by today's discussion. If so, please subscribe and share with your family and friends. The unveiling podcast is available on most major podcast apps. Thanks for listening and we will see you again the next time. All my days, Lord, I will delight in you the days of my life. You, I will delight you, I will [00:50:35] Speaker B: night [00:50:39] Speaker A: you I delight.