Good evening. Good morning. Good afternoon. Hope you all are doing well. Hope that life is finding you with a smile. I want to go ahead and jump into this topic. We don't really talk a whole lot about the third person of the Trinity, and of course probably because we call them third person of the Trinity. Truth be told, when we say Trinity, it's the concept that we come up with to try to explain how God exists.  We believe the same thing about the Son, Jesus, who comes in the flesh to die, to pay a ransom, a debt that we have owed by ourselves that we cannot pay, but then we start giving numbers and then the problem is that when we give them the number of the second person of the Trinity or the third person of the Trinity, sometimes it kind of diminishes who he is. The Holy Spirit is fully God. He's God complete. He's God alone. And we're going to see this. As a matter of fact, what I did not do, I just realized this, y'all give me a second. What I did not do was I did not put the notes here so that I can see where I'm going to. Otherwise, I'll just be pushing buttons and we'll have no idea where I'm going. So give me one quick second so I can put in something behind us that you guys can't see and then make it so that you guys can see it. One, two, three, four. I apologize. One, two, three, four. I've got scriptures all over the place. However, I did not take the time to rearrange. As a matter of fact, just recently before I came on, the screen went off and I had it linked to my laptop and I could not see this screen. I could only see what was on my laptop. And so yeah, I need tech support here, badly. Let's see, 70. So let's see, Joshua. What I want to do while I'm, see if I can talk while I'm while I'm fixing this is I want to cover the aspects of the Holy Spirit that sometimes we really don't bring up. And sometimes when we speak about the Holy Spirit, sometimes what we end up doing is kind of commingling some of the, some of the understanding of the Holy Spirit together. What I mean by that is we can take a term and think that one particular term means the same as something else. And sometimes that's not necessarily the case. Sometimes this word doesn't mean that word, or sometimes this word means another word or two other words. I'm going to show you what I mean by a second. Two, three, four. I'm making this large enough so that you guys can see. And it must be five o'clock because the cat is outside the door. Meow. This is what he does. He wants to, he wants to come on board every time I show up. So anyway, okay, so that being stated. So the question is what does the Holy Spirit do? And we should know what the Holy Spirit does since he is in us. He lives in us. He guides us. And so we want to know all the things that he does. Now this won't be as exhaustive a coverage of the Holy Spirit. Really want to focus on him in the Old Testament. We obviously have a decent understanding of what he does in the New Testament. But I'm going to cover the New Testament as well because the Bible says that he doesn't change. God doesn't change. What that does not mean is that he does everything the exact same way, or with me. God that also means Jesus, that also means the Holy Spirit, he does not change. But that does not mean that he does everything the exact same way every time. How he delivers Israel or how he takes them through, he doesn't do it the same way in and out throughout their entire existence. And so him changing, well we know that didn't happen. But because we're ever changing and because we're always ever disobedient so forth, well then he's going to, he's going to do what he's supposed to do as it regards us, are you with me? For example, sometimes we'll say that or it looks like that in the Scriptures where God has changed his mind and he has not changed his mind. If God is going to punish someone and he's wanting an action on the people's part to change and he says he's going to punish them, but then they change their action, well then God's response is going to be different. He hasn't changed. The situation has changed. Therefore there's no need for him to punish for a sin that they didn't do. Are you with me? And so I just want to have that for clarification sakes. And so we want to cover some things about the Holy Spirit. Again this won't be completely exhaustive. We will go through the Holy Spirit even more and get examples as we go through the Bible. So because you're going to see him showing up. As a matter of fact, we need to understand the Holy Spirit is the one with whom we have the most experience with.   More than we have with the Son. As a matter of fact, you and I have never met him physically, face to face. We've never had an actual personal encounter except by the Spirit. Are you with me? And so the Bible says that John baptized with water, but he says that many days hence from now that Jesus will be the one that's going to baptize us where? Into the Holy Spirit. And so our walk is it should be thorough, a thorough knowledge and familiarity with the Holy Spirit. Obviously he's still Jesus. He's still God. We still understand that when we have this relationship that we have it is because of Jesus, our relationship with Jesus. And so we pray to our Father. We say based on according to what Jesus has done and then what we have in us, who we have in us is his Spirit. Are you with me? And so that's always that's always the most known person in of the Trinity that we see throughout the Bible from beginning to end and always in the middle. So let's cover a few things that the Holy Spirit does. One, he brings about or reveals the expectations, the presence and the workings of God from beginning to end. He brings about or reveals the expectations, the presence and the workings of God. Now you're going to hear this term throughout the Bible and there's some nuances to it. It's kind of flexible. This term or this statement that dwells in or upon or comes upon or filled with. You're going to see this terminology in the Scripture. We need to figure out what does that mean. He dwells in or upon us. Now what he does that he does it for the purpose of his own will being carried out. In other words, we need to recognize that the Holy Spirit is God. Matter of fact, let's look at him in Genesis one and let's see that one. He was there in Genesis one chapter one verse one. He says in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth and the earth was formless and void and the darkness was over the surface of the deep and the spirit of God. So there we see him was moving over the surface of the water. So clearly we can see that he was active and present but in the very beginning. And it's not as though the Holy Spirit takes marching orders. It's not that the Holy Spirit is sitting there waiting for God or waiting for Jesus because some folks kind of think, well what do you think? Are they three different people and one gives orders to the next? No. No. As a matter of fact, let's go to Isaiah 40 13. He's speaking of the Holy Spirit says he I mean who has directed the Holy Spirit or the spirit of the Lord? Who has directed the spirit of the Lord? Or as his counselor has informed him? No one has informed him. The Holy Spirit doesn't sit and huddle up. What do you want? What do you guys want me to do? That's not how the Holy Spirit works. He is God. God all by he is God. So when you see God the Father, that's God. When you see God the Son, that's God. When you see God the Holy Spirit, that's God. He has he takes marching orders from no one as he says who can counsel him. And so he is preeminent. He is who he is with or without us. And so there's a point to his existence in our lives right with me. And so in the Old Testament it was you would see and we're going to do this that you would see that there was this dwelling or even feeling or coming upon people. You would see him kind of even temporarily. Thank you. Thank you Tina for the super chat. I appreciate that. You would see him this temporary temporarily coming upon. It will find out that it appears that the spirit of God could come upon people but also leave people, which is something different than what we see in the New Testament. We see even David makes a prayer. He says, don't take your spirit from me. Does that mean that the Holy Spirit can be taken from someone? Well remember Saul. Saul who has the spirit come upon him, but then the spirit leaves him. Samson has the spirit come upon him, but then leaves him. Then he comes back again. So we see the spirit coming upon people in the Old Testament. There just wasn't this permanent indwelling. However, and I'm using this word intentionally because don't we oftentimes say that the difference between the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament versus the New Testament is that the Holy Spirit in the New Testament after the cross dwells in us versus the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament dwells upon us, outside of us comes upon us. Well, that isn't technically true. Sometimes we say it that way just kind of for clarification purposes, kind of get an understanding of how he's working in us. But the truth of the matter is that it's true that the Holy Spirit would be even before the cross would be said to have dwelt in man, to be in man. You think about it, we are natural physical creatures. And so the Holy Spirit coming upon us, what does that mean? Does it mean that he's on top of our heads? Does it mean that he's on our shoulders? Is that he's on the outside of us? Just kind of just no. And so the understanding of the Holy Spirit, even from the Jewish side of things is when we say upon, it does also connote the being in. Are you with me? And he's moving, doing things in us. And we're going to also find out that he doesn't just come upon just Christians, just Jews, just his people, just his followers. You're going to see him come upon more than just the people who are following him. You'll see him come upon people to get them to follow him. You'll see him coming upon people to understand him. You'll see him coming upon people to be used for the express purpose of doing God's will. So when we say upon or out upon or on account of or on top of, that sometimes also means, and matter of fact in this case, is to be understood it's not resting on, but it's really resting in. But when we say upon, that also connote that it's a the ability for the Holy Spirit to leave. Are you with me? So we'll see where the Holy Spirit does a couple of things. One of the things that he does is that he restrains. Let's go to Genesis. You know what? Let's put it right here. Some of these I'm going to just, because I've got a lot of notes, a lot of scriptures, and I did not put them all in. So let me go and type some of these as I go. We see him restraining. God is upset with the world.  In Genesis 6.3 he says, The Lord said, My spirit shall not strive. And this word deem means to remain, to abide, to stay with, will not strive with man forever. So as we can see the Holy Spirit is going to leave the presence of man. There's an eschatological importance to that. We won't get into it about this. Matter of fact, you know what? I will cover this. In Second Thessalonians, I just made a word up. In Second Thessalonians chapter 2. Let me put that on the screen as well because I want you guys to see this as well. In Second Thessalonians chapter 2. Let's put a New Testament passage. Let's put a New Testament tab up. We'll see the Bible speaking of this restrainer possibly leaving. Paul is speaking to them because they're worried that they missed Jesus. Now I believe that there is this rapture of the church of the believers and there's no need for us to go through the tribulation. A whole other story, but they're worried about missing something. So Paul writes them back in Second Thessalonians chapter 2 and refers to them that this is not going to, it hadn't happened yet and it won't happen until such things happen. He says, let no one in any way deceive you for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called God or object of worship so that he takes his seat in the temple of God displaying himself as being God.  The reason why I pulled that particular passage up is that there is something that is restraining this destruction. There is something that's restraining, that's holding back this destruction, this problem, this tribulation in this case. The same thing that we see there in the Old Testament in Genesis 6, we see that it's God's spirit. His spirit will not be with them any longer so he is going to remove his spirit and then what's going to happen as a result of that. Here comes trouble, here comes problem. That is the world's going to be destroyed except for save eight, that is Noah, his wife and his three boys and their wives are with and so the Holy Spirit also restrains. As a matter of fact, I want to pull a couple of other passages up as well. I think this would be helpful. Let's go to, do I have him up? No I don't, so let's put up Job. Hold on, I'm sorry let me just rename this so I don't confuse myself in the New Testament. Okay, let's put up, let's do it again. I hit copy and did not copy it. Copy this passage and then paste it over here Corey, it'll be a lot easier. Okay, Job 3218, look what he says, for I am full of words, the spirit within me constrains me or restrains me and so we see here in Job, Job is, obviously we know what's going on with Job, we know the issues that he's dealing with and so the Bible tells us, Job tells us that the spirit, not his spirit, but the spirit also restrains him and so there is this restraining work of the Holy Spirit. I want to point out something that, that is also interesting. As a matter of fact, there's a lot in this particular passage in Genesis 20. Where do I want to start? Let's start, let's start in 20 verse one. Now Abram journeyed from toward the land of the gap and settled between Kadesh and Sher. Then he served journey in Garar, Abraham said to Sarah, his wife, she is my sister, so Abimelech king of Garar sent and took Sarah and God came to Abimelech in a dream of the night and said to him, behold, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken for she is married. Now interestingly enough, here comes God speaking to Abimelech. Now, how does he do so? We obviously know that he's not Abimelech. Someone says I'm sounding like a Calvinist. Well, I've been called that, but I don't always sound like a Calvinist though, do I? But Abimelech is being spoken to by who God, how? Through the spirit. So we see the Holy Spirit speaking to Abimelech and we're going to see the Holy Spirit even restraining Abimelech.   Well, not here. Abimelech is not dead, that kind of dead. But Abimelech, you're in trouble and I want you to see how God is restraining Abimelech. We don't see it in the very beginning because it doesn't say, but we do see clearly that God has come to Abimelech. So the Holy Spirit has, which is another thing we're going to talk about, how the Holy Spirit reveals God or reveals His plans. And so the Holy Spirit comes to Abimelech, speaks to him. Because by the way, guys, sometimes, do y'all think this is true? Sometimes we put rules and regulations on the Holy Spirit that He hadn't done. We put rules and regulations on God that God hadn't done. You'll hear people from time to time say, don't put God in a box and we don't. We can't say what God will or will not do. What we can say is what God says Himself, what He will or will not do. Are you with me? So if God limits Himself, not that He can, not that there's anything He cannot do, but He says, I'm not going to do something, then you know what we can bank on? He's not going to do that thing that He says He's not going to do. So He has, He can limit Himself or He can leave the door open. What we do sometimes is we say, what God is going to do though He hadn't said so. Or I think, and it's fine to say what I think, it's just that we want to use some scriptures. And so here, we see the Holy Spirit speaking to a person who is not one of His. Abimelech is clearly not one of His. But God has power and might over everything and everyone, including Abimelech as a matter of fact. Let me just say this for the folks in the back. He even has power over the devil himself. The devil doesn't do anything without God's consent, without God's approval and without God's purpose in using him. What the devil is doing, he's doing for the benefit of God to get glory. God will get glory in two ways, either in spite of you or through you. Let me say it again. God will get glory either in spite of you or through you. You would pray that you would get, that you would get glory. He would get glory through you instead of in spite of you. So let's go back and finish reading what He's saying. He's saying Abraham his wife, I'm sorry, he said, but God came to Abimelech in a dream and she said, and he said, behold, you are dead men because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is married. Now Abimelech had not come near her and he said, Lord, will you slay a nation even though blameless? Now, notice verse four. He says Abimelech had not come near her. Now, he takes this woman as his wife to be one of his wives. Don't know how good Sarah looked. Sarah must have been an awesome-looking woman to be this old and you got a king ready to take that, makes you wonder, but he's not a godly king. So why hadn't he laid with her? What's happened? We're going to see that the Holy Spirit has restrained Abimelech. How do I know the Holy Spirit has restrained Abimelech? Even a person who is not godly? Let's go down a little further too. Let's go to verse 10. Verse 10, he says, and Abimelech said to Abraham, what have you encountered that you have done this thing?  Yeah, I didn't see anything like her and I just knew y'all was going to take her. Now, two things. One, here is God speaking and working through somebody who is not his, a godless man, Abimelech. Abraham has the Spirit has come upon Abraham, but Abraham has concocted this lie. Abraham is fearful. Is there any sort of way that we can kind of maybe think that maybe the Spirit of God is not moving in him all the time? Is that possible? Is it possible that the Holy Spirit who spoke to him, who moved him initially, isn't always working in him? In other words, does he have the ability to reject, to move, to do his own thing, even if, or even with, or in spite of, or irrespective of the Holy Spirit? Well, sure, we're going to find that out in just a little bit, but going back to Abimelech, let's see how we know that God has restrained Abimelech. Verse 15, Abimelech said, Behold, my land is before you. Settle where you please. To Sarah, he said, Behold, I have given you, given your brother a thousand pieces of silver. Behold, it is in your vindication before all who are with you and before all the many. You are cleared. Now look, here it is. Here's where we see Abimelech was kind of hindered by God, by the Spirit. Look what he says.  Why? For the Lord had closed fast all the wounds of the household of Abimelech because of Sarah. Y'all see that? So here we've got, he takes Sarah. By the way, this is also what the interesting part is. This is, this happens to be when, or in between, when God tells Abraham, Bob, this is a whole other sermon in and of itself, when God tells Abraham that your wife, who was old, could get pregnant and will get pregnant, but Abraham laughed, but here we've got Abimelech, who he can get women pregnant, his wife and his conchie binds and maids and so forth. Nobody's getting pregnant. Why? Because God shuts them down and over here with Sarah, he opens them up. He opens her womb and then closes their wounds. Who does that? The Holy Spirit can restrain whomever, be you godly or ungodly. So here is a clear example of the Holy Spirit restraining. That's one of the things that he does. The Holy Spirit also empowers. Let me go ahead and highlight this one. I've got a strong suspicion I might end up going through all of these passages. I don't want to because it's a lot. It is a lot. Here, you know what? I don't have to. It's already, it's already typed up, so I don't have to put it up. Here we have an example of the Holy Spirit empowering. Acts 31, let's start in verse one. Now the Lord spoke to Moses saying, See, I have called by name Bezalel, the son of Yuri, the son of her, of the tribe of Judah. I have filled him with the Spirit of God in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all kinds of craftsmanship to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver, and in bronze, and in the cuttings of stone. He says, And behold, I myself have appointed with him Ohilab, the son of Aheshamak, of the tribe of Dan, and in the hearts of all who are skillful, I will put skill that they may make all that I have commanded you, the ten of meaning, So what does God do? The Holy Spirit can empower you. Now these people weren't necessarily living godly, but I've been powering all of these men. I'm putting my Holy Spirit in them to cause them to do the skillful work that I'm calling for the ten of meanings for the Ark and so forth. So maybe we don't have enough people who can do or have the kind of ability to do what God wants or requires. It doesn't matter.  So what is God doing? He's providing. He is giving them through His Holy Spirit in them to do the work. Now the Bible could have just as easily said that will come upon them and we'll see passages where the Bible says that the Holy Spirit comes upon someone, also comes in someone, and the whole point goes back to those people be they his people or non-believers, animals, whomever to fulfill his purpose. That's what God is after. God is after him getting glory. He is glorified just by being God. If he destroys the world right now, he's glorified. If he duplicates this world, he's glorified. If he gives us all a thousand years to live, he's glorified. If he says it's all to help heaven or hell, he is glorified. He is God. He is full of glory not because we esteem that to him. We should. We should glorify him as often as we can, but even if we don't, he's glorified. Are you with me? And so here we've got an example of him, the Holy Spirit, empowering people.  God will reveal what he's doing through his spirit. Think about Joseph. He's one of the first people that we see the Holy Spirit working in someone and revealing something special. In other words, these are like a spiritual gift. We see these giving. We'll talk about the giftings later because it's not just the New Testament where God has given gifts through the Spirit. We call them spiritual gift or spiritual things, but it's specifically speaking of everyone later on. But here we've got in the Old Testament, God will give someone specifically for a task. Everybody doesn't get these giftings. As a matter of fact, because everyone doesn't get the Holy Spirit coming upon them or in them. We'll even, again, because we'll see times where the Holy Spirit will be upon someone temporarily. Again, revealing something like he did with Joseph, like he did again with a Himalek, like he did with Balaam. Matter of fact, like he did with Balaam, the man and the donkey. We see the donkey, the Spirit coming upon the donkey. We see the Spirit also revealing himself to Balaam. Are you with me? Also, let's go to this passage here. I want to pull this up as well. The number is 24. I think it's 24. Yeah, number is 24, too. And Balaam lifted up his eyes and saw Israel camping by, camping tribe by tribe, and the Spirit of God came upon him. He took up his discourse and said, the oracle of Balaam, the Son of Beor. So now I won't go through all of this, but here we see the example of the Spirit of the Lord coming upon Balaam. How godly and how consistently godly was Balaam? Well, he wasn't most consistently. He wasn't most godly, but here I won't go through the whole story with him, but here we see the Holy Spirit coming upon him or even in him and giving him insight, revealing for him. There's something else that the Holy Spirit does. I'll come back to this last thing because it can be kind of the more controversial thing, especially of late. But the Holy Spirit also cleanses. He purifies. That part, I think every believer pretty much has that understanding that he purifies. He is the one who sets us aside. He is the one who pushes us aside. The next thing that he does is I'm trying to remember the order because I have to number five. There's like the fourth thing. The fifth thing that he does is he gives greater evidence of himself, such as these spiritual gifts that we see in the New Testament. We also see them in the Old Testament. Think about Samson. Samson has the Spirit come upon him and that gives witness to who? To God. We see over and over again throughout the Old Testament, through prophets or through just God showing out through the Spirit. We see those things giving a testimony to God. Now the question is how come every time that we see God show out, so to speak, that the people who are being shown out before the Lord, the enemies of the Lord, they don't change. They don't come running to God. Some do. Some do. We do have the testimony of some people who were not Jews, who then became part of the camp, part of the nation. One of the clearest examples of someone who is not Jewish by birth, but takes part in the blessings of Israel is Caleb. Caleb is an Edomite. We have a problem with the Edomites if we're Jews, because that's one of the nations that, oh by the way, that God destroyed. And so here we see Caleb and his family, they trust in the Lord. Why?  I think I want to. I think I want that. We see that with Rahab, the harlot. We see her because we know of what you guys have done now. The same thing that she testifies of God's exploits, what Israel has done, the people in her land, her people, they know about it as well, but they don't repent. They don't come after God. Well, why is that? Well, we don't know for sure that might be, that might be because of the next thing that we're going to talk about in just a little bit, but Isaiah 32, 18. Let me just put it right here. Isaiah 32. You know what? Let me put it here. I'm sorry. I want to read this passage because what he says he's going to do is he is going to in the future pour out his spirit on the land because what I want you to see is how God is getting ready to transition with the world, his ministry through the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament before the cross and after the cross. And it's interesting that it's almost like the Jews aren't paying attention. Well, we know they're not paying attention. He can show his mighty hand and they still don't pay attention. So obviously, when he shows these miracles, these workings, they don't pay attention. Well, then when he turns around and shows or gives his word, they're not paying attention either. In Isaiah 32, 18 he says, then my people, now he's speaking, as a matter of fact, let's go a little further. Let's go back up a little bit. Let's start in 13. For the land of my people in which Thorns and Briars shall come up, yea, for all the joyful house and for all the jubilant cities, because the place for the palace, I'm sorry, has been abandoned, the populated city forsaken. Heal and watch tower have become caves forever, a delight for wild dunks, a passion for flots, until the spirit, look what he says, until the spirit is poured out upon us from on high. Look what he says, and the wilderness becomes a fertile field and the fertile field is considered a forest, as a forest. Then justice will dwell in the wilderness and righteousness will abide in the fertile field. And the work of righteousness will be peace and the service of righteousness, quietness and confidence forever. But what he says, then my people will live in peaceful habitation and secure dwellings in undisturbed resting place. So he's saying that I am going to pour my spirit out on the people and the land. Now Isaiah obviously is prophesying for the future. So God is going to pour his spirit not just upon the people, but on the land. Now obviously we know he's not pouring his spirit out on everybody. He's not going to pour his spirit out on everybody. Well, why is that? Well, because everyone is not going to be his people. As a matter of fact, let's pull up a couple other passages. Let's go to Isaiah 59, 14, because I want it to be clear what he says. What he says is going to do 59. I'm sorry 59 21 wrong passage. As for me, this is my covenant with him says the Lord, my spirit, which is upon you and my words, which I put in your mouth shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your offspring, nor from the mouth of your offspring's offspring says the Lord for from now and forever. So he's prophesying, Isaiah says that now this same spirit will be upon not just you, but on them and their offspring and their offspring. So he's telling us in the future this is going to happen. This is him saying I am going to pour my spirit upon the people and upon the land. In Isaiah 44 3, he says again, for I will pour out water on the thirsty land and streams on the dry ground. I will pour out my spirit on your offspring and my blessings on your descendants. So here we have God in the Old Testament speaking of what he is going to do with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is going to be poured out because in the past we see the Holy Spirit on certain people and the people that he's poured out upon are to complete a particular task. They are to do something, whether they be his people, followers of God, or not, whether it be again a donkey, whether it be Nebuchadnezzar, whether it be Saul, who we see the spirit come upon, but then that same spirit leaves. And so it's possible for us to understand that the Holy Spirit can come upon somebody, be in someone for the moment, and then leave, or you are with me. I want to make sure you all are kind of hanging tight with what I'm saying. So we're going to see something that seems to be a little funny though. Matter of fact, if we were to go to, let's type this in, if we were to go to, where is it? Let's go to the New Testament for a second. And let's go to Luke. I want to show you something that kind of looks out of place, but it looks out of place if we think the Holy Spirit is only doing this and not that. Luke 1, verse 40. He says, and in the house of Zechariah and Green Elizabeth, this is this opposite of the time when Jesus is about to be born, but also when John is about to be born. And so he says, when Elizabeth heard Mary's green, this is her coming in, the baby leaped in her womb, that is, in Elizabeth's womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. We see that Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. We know that John was full of the Holy Spirit and Zacharized his father.  So a person can be filled with or full of the Holy Spirit even prior to the cross or more specifically prior to Pentecost. Are you with me? Because obviously Pentecost hadn't happened. Obviously, according to what Joel says is going to happen, that the Holy Spirit has not been poured out upon all of mankind just yet. Now, so it should be, I want you ought to get this point that these terms being filled, being full, come upon, in, on, they're all synonymous. Are you with me? So Joshua, the Spirit came upon in one passage. Joshua had the Spirit in Deuteronomy, I think 27, the Spirit will be in him. It's the same thing. Now, in or upon never should be taken as being permanent in the Old Testament. Why do we make that transition though from the Old Testament to the New Testament? It's clear that we see that in the Old Testament the Spirit can be upon or in someone and then leave. Matter of fact, even not only just the Holy Spirit, even bad spirits can come upon somebody or in someone, I saw. Saul has had the Holy Spirit in him and he's had a bad spirit in him. And so it's a little bit different than verses. Now, I want to pull up a passage. Let's see, don't want to do it this way. No, no, I won't use that just yet. I've got another set of passages. I'll just stick with these. There's a passage that I want to, we're all thoroughly familiar with and I think sometimes we might misunderstand it. I know certain groups, particularly a lot of Pentecostals might misunderstand this passage, Ephesians 5 verse 18. He says, and do not get drunk with wine for that is just patient, but be filled with the Holy Spirit. Now, he tells us what's going to happen after we're filled with the Holy Spirit, but he says be filled with the Holy Spirit. This is a command. This is an imperative. Even in the Greek, we see this is an imperative. So the question, how do you command someone to do something? How do you command, are we being commanded to make the Holy Spirit fill us? How does that work? Can we be commanded to make the Holy Spirit fill us? How was that even possible? We see in the Old Testament, a person would be filled with the Holy Spirit. As a matter of fact, the passages that we just looked at in Luke, the verb is passive. They were filled. They didn't fill themselves. They weren't commanded to be. Matter of fact, even this statement, this command to be filled, we don't see that command of non-believers. We don't see that command of heathens, of atheists. We don't see that. That command is specifically for the believers, the children of God. How could it be that the Holy Spirit is being commanded on our part?  Well, let's go back to the passages again. Be filled. There it is. And this word be filled. If you look guys down at the bottom left hand corner, you'll see it's a present middle imperative. It is a middle imperative. So in other words, it's the middle voice. The middle voice in this case is, it's almost as though it's passive. It's being done to us for the benefit of the Spirit of God himself. So in other words, the Holy Spirit is going to fill us. But it seems to connote that sometimes you can be filled, sometimes you're not filled. How was that possible? How was it possible to be filled this moment and the next minute? Not. That's not to be taken away from being baptized in the Holy Spirit. The Bible is clear. Paul says in Romans 12 that all of us who are believers have been baptized. We have been dipped. The identifying marker of every believer is the Holy Spirit.  If you don't have the Holy Spirit, you are not a believer. And so he says be filled. What in the world does that mean? How can I be filled? Okay, I'm baptized, but is it mean that I may not necessarily be filled? Well, obviously it's possible. It has to be possible because he's telling us to be filled. And obviously it's the Holy Spirit is going to be doing it. And so there's something that we either can or cannot do to hinder this or to help it along. And I'm saying it, I mean the process. To hinder the process of being filled or to help it along. There's something that happens on our part that will cause us or allow us to be filled. Because if it was out of our control, he would never give the imperative. It's a command on our part to be filled. He's not saying you will be filled. It's not a future active indication. No, he's not saying that, and Tina, sin could do that, but there's something akin to it as well. But before I get to what can kind of hinder the spirit of us being filled, because I promise you this, she's right, that if you are involved in sin, if you're contemplating sin, being full of the Holy Spirit is going to be kind of difficult. It's going to be kind of difficult for you to be lusting after him or her and then at the same time being filled. Well, matter of fact, let's just deal with it now. That's why James says, humble yourselves, come closer to God. If you draw near to him, he will draw near to you. Resist the devil. He will flee, then draw near to God. He'll draw near to you. Are you with me? And so the closer you get to him, getting close to God and sinning, the two can't happen. It's like dry water. It's oxymoronic. You do not come closer to God and still be in sin. You do not stay in sin and allow yourself to be filled. What if you have a stronghold? Well, so what do you do with a stronghold? The same thing you do with a stronghold is what you do with a weakhold. I'm throwing out a new word. The same thing applies. Whatever it is, every weight and sin that so easily besets you, whatever it is, a stronghold, just a nagging sin, something that pops up every now and then, reoccurring the exact same solution. Get closer to him. You'll hear me say this over and over again. Our issue as Christians is the same issue that non-Christians have as it relates to God, proximity. The closer you get to him, the further away everything else is. The closer you get to this good, godly God, the further away you are from the other things. I told you guys how I used to cuss with the best of them. I just stopped. I didn't take a class on it. I didn't even intentionally try to stop cussing. It was a time in my life where I was seeking God and getting close to him. I got close enough to him to where that was gone. You'll hear people talk about how they became a believer and then it's almost like overnight that certain things just dropped off. Well, that's one of those things that dropped off.  It has. I hadn't come out of my mouth because also on the other side though, even just in a practical sense, you don't have to cuss. Well, why do you have to cuss? To give legitimacy to words that you don't even believe yourself? Well, give me the blank, the blank guitar so I can play it. It's like you don't have to do those kind of things. That's just a little side note. People take you better. Take you more serious if you don't cuss.  I think no girl has ever saw a man and said, you know what, this guy can cuss with the best one. I think I want to marry him. I want to have his child.  Oh, look at her. She swears like a sailor. I think I want to marry her. I want her to, I want her to, I want to bear 12 kids with this cussing lady. That doesn't happen. Cussing doesn't do anything for you.  Let's be honest. Tell the truth. Let me double because it doesn't take who can cuss everybody, the smartest and the dumbest, who can not cuss the smart people. That's all. So it doesn't reveal our best side and we should want to put our best foot forward as Paul says, whether I eat or drink, whatever I do, I'll do it all to the glory of God. Can't cuss to the glory of God. Can I? Side note. But God is one enough to be field. What can help that along? God has put this in place because I'm going to go back and say maybe I have probably added and there are, there's a lot of conversation out about this topic. I don't know if I started it. I didn't start it, obviously, but if I've kind of reignited and I mean a lot of different channels and a lot of different YouTubers and people are talking about this issue, this other issue that the Holy Spirit does, which is to regenerate us to do something with our hearts. Now we've talked about this before about how the Holy Spirit has stated. Matter of fact, I want to stick close side. I don't want to be confusing because someone says, Corey, I hear what you're saying, but I'm a bit confused as to how this all works. Well, some of those things come from some preconceived notions that we may have about one being field. Now in the New Testament, we see a shift. We see a shift in the New Testament that indicates where the Holy Spirit will no longer be upon you, but will be in you. As a matter of fact, let's go to a passage. Let's let's let me go ahead and put this up, this other set of passages, and move this down. And I want to read this passage from John. Is it John? Where is it? Yeah, John 14. He says, if you abide in me, I'm sorry, if you love me, you will keep my commandments. I will ask the Father, He will give you another helper. Obviously, who is that? That clearly is the Holy Spirit. Then he says, that he may be with you forever. Well, what's the implication here? Well, because there were times where the Holy Spirit will be in you or with you, but not permanently, not completely. There's no rule at the time. There's no statement. There's no understanding by the people that the Holy Spirit will come upon you and be with you forever unless God specifically stated that the Spirit will be in him forever. That's different. But we understand that the Holy Spirit can be in you this moment and then out of you the next. And obviously that's the same thing that's happening with these with these disciples. And so we have the Holy Spirit says that He will be with you. He's been with you all this time, but now He will be in you. That is the Spirit of Truth, verse 17, whom the world cannot receive because it the world does not see him or know him. But you know him because he abides with you and he will be in you. So, yeah, the Holy Spirit is not Muhammad. Muslims have tried to say that that is Muhammad. No, no, Muhammad is not going to be in us forever. So anyway, the Holy Spirit is going to be in you. Well, remember the passage that we read earlier, the prophecies of him pouring out his Spirit on the land and on his people. And so the Holy Spirit is going to reside in man permanently for the first time. Again, he's been in man before. He's been upon, on, in, they've been filled full of, but it could be passing. It can be temporary. Same thing with the souls of the world. Same thing with the Nebuchadnezzar of the world. Same thing with the Joshua's of the world. Well, his was forever. The same thing with all these other people. As a matter of fact, as a matter of fact, look at this. I want to pull this passage up as well. Here are some people who are grumbling, complaining, but God says, you know, I'm going to use them. And let me tell you what I'm going to do. I'm going to go ahead and use these people who I probably shouldn't and put my spirit in them because I want to see a task fulfilled. Look what he says in numbers 11, 7, 16, the Lord therefore said to Moses, gather for me 70 men from the elders of Israel whom you know to be the elders of the people and their offices and bring them to the tent of meeting and let them take their stand with you.  So what is he doing? He's taking the Holy Spirit, that the same Holy Spirit that Moses has upon him and he's going to put that same Holy Spirit upon them. Why? To help with the task because these people are, you know, let's be honest, these people are wearing Moses out. These people are bothering Moses to no end. These people are getting on Moses, as we say, Moses' last nerve and then I had some of you guys say it on Moses' last nerve, but it's not just those, it's also the folks that God wants to use. Verse 13 of chapter 16 of 1 Samuel, he's speaking to Samuel says arise and anoint him, that is David. He says, then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers and the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward and Samuel arose and went to Ramah. So now David has been anointed and the spirit came upon him. Why? Well, not because David is great, not because David is awesome. No, not because David is adorable. No, David had hair so he couldn't be that adorable. If he was bald that'd be different. That'd be different, but David had hair. So that's not the case because God is trying to do something. God is trying to fulfill his purpose. What is God ultimately after being glorified, but even glorified through and by and with us? How are we and why are we going to glorify him? Well, because he's going to save us. Yeah, because he's going to save us. So therefore he is going to get glory even through our praise, through our actions. That is going to come in the person of Jesus. How is this part of God's purpose? Well, going back again, remember all of these things should fit together. He stated before what he is going to do, that he is going to have or start a kingdom.  I'll make you a great nation.  So he's giving some elements. He's giving people because it's going to be a great nation. You can't be a great nation with just one person. So he's going to have some children, but he only has one child at well too, but he's not counting he's not counting East. I mean he's not counting Ishmael. So he's going to have one child who there's got to be some more coming after that. So there's going to be some people. He's telling them the land that they're going to go to and then there's going to be a kingdom. We'll find more about this kingdom as we get to 1st and 2nd Samuel with David, which is why he makes his prophecy, the statement through the Spirit that the scepter shall not depart from Judah. Well how do they know that? Well by the Spirit. What scepter? What kingdom? Well we'll find out further through progressive revelation through the scriptures that we're speaking about Jesus coming through the lineage of David, but David's not the king. Saul is the king. Problem is Saul is a Benjamin. Well God wasn't after that, but he now he did come up on Saul and even said that he will use Saul mightily as well, but his plan was always through David. By the way there's a statement that we that we've misconstrued where the Bible says that he has chosen David after his own heart. That does not mean that David had a heart like God or that his heart was like God's heart. That's not what that means. The statement means that he's a person that God chooses from his heart. Not that was like his heart. The word is from the likeness of his heart. It's I'm choosing somebody from my own heart. I'm choosing. Not someone who has the same heart as mine and so something. This is where I still believe that it is helpful when preachers or pastors know the language is because that would help. That would eliminate that quickly when you look at the passage that the Hebrew okay it's clear that it's not saying that David's heart was like God's heart. No, he's speaking somebody his own choosing. And then what does God do? God then puts his spirit upon David. It wasn't the other way around that his spirit was upon David and then God chose him. No, God gives him his spirit to be upon him. Problem though, and this goes back to the other issue about being full or being filled with the spirit. David was worried. David was worried about the Holy Spirit leaving him. Why was David worried about the Holy Spirit leaving him? Well, for good reason. He's seen the Holy Spirit come upon people in the past and lead specifically so. Now, I don't know how the Holy Spirit in David's life have been flowed if there were times where he was more full of the spirit or not. The Bible just doesn't say but we do have him praying do not take your spirit away which lets us know it is possible and or he's verified he's clearly in it and we've already seen examples of the spirit leaving other people. So how is it though that people can in the New Testament be told to be filled but that statement could not be made in the Old Testament. This goes back to the passage that we need to understand or this this teaching that we need to understand. And so let me try. I want to be as clear as possible on this particular passage. Matter of fact, let's see. Do I have these scriptures up? No. So I'll tell you what I'm going to give me a half of. Let's put it over here. Let's put it over here first. Let's put those passages over here. I want to put up the passages that I need you guys to see. These are the passages that are going to help us to understand this other word that there is just this confusion of. And so we're going to say what it is, why, and when. Let's start in Deuteronomy. Yeah, Mona, she was filled. She was filled. Obviously Moses was. Zacharias, her husband, obviously. So we don't think about that because sometimes we kind of pigeonhole and say what God is going to do, how he's not going to do certain things and so forth. And so here's the passage. The very first time that we hear of this issue and we've been talking about it and we've been talking about this issue for the last two years. And I want us to be to be clear because we've covered what the Holy Spirit has done or what he does. The Holy Spirit one restrains. We've seen how the Holy Spirit there holds back one God's wrath and judgment, but it also holds back people from doing certain things. We see that with Job saying the Holy Spirit in me, the spirit in me has restrained me. Abimelech, how it restrained him physically. He couldn't, he couldn't do anything of a physical nature with the ladies, with his wife, with Sarah nor could anyone else in his household do anything. So the Holy Spirit can now just spiritually, but also if he wants to can physically restrain. Thank you, Adam Brown. I appreciate the super chat. Thank you so much, sir. We have seen that the Holy Spirit empowers, we showed the example, there's many other examples we could of the Holy Spirit empowering men to do certain skill work like preparing the 10 of meetings, the arc and so forth. When God tells Moses to do these things, he's not saying expecting for God, I mean for Moses to go and do it by himself because could you imagine there's not enough time in the day for Moses to nail and hammer and saw and so forth and then lead the people. So he will empower people to do certain tasks. We see it with the donkey. Three, he reveals. One of the things, and we didn't say much about it though, but one of the things that we notice though that the Holy Spirit will come upon them, we see it with the children of Israel. We see it with these elders. We see, we even see it with Saul when he was chosen. The Holy Spirit reveals and what do they do? They start prophesying. Now it doesn't say if they are giving a praise to God that kind of prophesying, saying exactly what God has said, the word, that God is awesome, what he's going, or if it's a foretelling prophecy, what God is going to do, we don't know. They're the two different types of prophecies we don't know, but all of prophecy is a revelation of God and so the very fact that they're doing it, they're getting something revealed to God, I mean from God by the Spirit. So the Holy Spirit restrains, he empowers, he reveals. This is all in the Old Testament as well as the New Testament. Four, he cleanses, excuse me, he purifies, he cleanses and he purifies. Five, he gives evidence when the Holy Spirit shows up. This is what I wish that every person that's claiming to have some sort of miracle working happening, that they're throwing 12 demons out back to back, that they're doing all this. Well, when the Holy Spirit does something, he gives greater evidence for what God is doing and there's never any doubt. Now people can, they won't doubt what has happened, the miracle or the amazing sign, they don't doubt that has happened, they may still choose to not follow God. Well, okay, that's fine, but we don't see in the Scriptures where the Holy Spirit shows up, doesn't work and then people say that didn't happen. Do I think, at least I said, do I think the people that built the pyramids were filled with the Holy Spirit? No, no, I don't, I don't have any reason to believe that because whether you're filled with the Holy Spirit or not doesn't necessarily mean that you can't do something, that you can't build. The people that built the Tower of Babel, they clearly weren't, they clearly were ungodly and going against God and they were having success in what they were building and so it's possible that they have like these the seven great wonders of the world. I don't have any reason to believe that any of them have the Holy Spirit. As a matter of fact, if you compare those seven great wonders of the world, compare them with some of the wonders that we have now, like the Burj Khalifa that 2,000 foot or 2,000, yeah 2,600 foot building in Dubai, that's a pretty awesome building. I would never get in because I would just, no, I'm not going to get in that building sway. It would be my luck.  I'm not getting in that building. I'll go as high as the old Sears Tower, what is the Willis Tower now or the Empire State Building, I'll go as high as that. If you want me to go higher, I'll be in an airplane. Other than that, if I got to go higher than that, I'll be raptured. I'm not getting that building. But we've got some awesome structures. We've got underground tunnels that go for miles and miles and miles. We've got planes. An airplane is greater than any of those modern, those great structures from the past. Could you imagine those folks would have seen an airplane?  But wisdom has increased on the land and so God made us to be able to think and farm our brains to adapt and to grow and to see certain things. I wouldn't say that. I wouldn't say that.  Everybody knows it. And I mean in terms of signs and wonders and so forth. And so He will give evidence of Himself and we see it now through all of the believers having these spiritual giftings. In the Old Testament, a random number of people will have these spiritual blessings. Are you with me? Yeah, I know there's people that say that they couldn't have been built by human beings, but there are people that say that there are people out there that are saying that we've got a Nephilim captured, 10 to 25 foot tall people. Yeah, so people will say a lot of different things. What's the old saying? A pair of lips will tell you anything. But the last thing that He does, He does this in the Old Testament and the New Testament, all these other things, the first five He does in the old and the new. This last one, I only see it in the new. I only see this thing that He's going to do, or that we can talk about in the new, and that is this issue of regeneration. And I know it seems like we're kind of on this lately, but truth be told, if you guys go back and watch the other videos from last year or the year before, been talking about this for a while. It has become more of a topic, and I've seen a few other people on YouTube. As a matter of fact, there was someone who was going to have a discussion about this. Two or three YouTubers are going to talk about it. I've seen some other people that also have a discussion about this as well regarding what I was saying. And so let me see if I can be even more clear. And I had a discussion with another friend of mine and I think this guy is starting to come around also.   If your outcasts are at the ends of the earth, from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there he will bring you back.  We've covered this before. This is the children of Israel being disobedient even before they get in the land. God has told them that he's going to take them out of the land, but then here's the point I want to focus on. He says more of the Lord God will circumcise. He will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, so that you may live. Now, what is the commandment that Jesus gives?  Now notice what he says. He says that he will circumcise your heart so that you may live. So there's a chronology to it. Heart being circumcised, then you live. And Paul covers this as well so that in doing so we come to him, place our faith in him, and then we're made alive after coming to him. Now, he precipitates all of that stuff. This circumcision of the heart, this is God's work. In the Old Testament, the spirit coming upon someone, moving someone. This is God's work. God starts it, but again, we see in the Old Testament where God can start it and man can, I ain't doing it. God can come upon someone or come in someone, be in someone and the person still eventually leaves God. How do I know? Again, ask Saul. The Lord literally came upon him and he said, he's going to do mighty things and then he still left God. Are you with me? The issue that's there in the Old Testament that's not in the New Testament is not the power of the spirit. It's the problem with the heart. Not the power of the spirit, but the problem of the heart. And so the problem of the heart needs to be dealt with. It's not dealt with in the Old Testament, but God has said he's going to do it in the New Testament. Matter of fact, how he's going to do it. He's also going to pour his spirit out on everybody, not all the people on the planet, but upon all nations, upon all different mankind, all different flesh, all different ethnos, all different nationalities, all different types of people, including Israel. Are you with me? By the way, if you ever read, let's go there real quick. If you ever read Hosea, Hosea is an interesting book, but more specifically, if you get to chapter two, when you get to chapter two, he makes a statement.   I'm paraphrasing. Then he makes a switch. This is all in chapter two. Then he makes a switch and he's going to start blessing them, bring them into a land and provide for them. But then he makes another statement that is not about Israel. He goes in chapter two, verse 23 of Hosea. He says, I will sow for her, that is, Israel, this is what he's going to do for Israel. I will sow for her for myself in the land. I will sow her for myself in the land. I will also have compassion on her who had not or obtained compassion. Look what he says. And I will say to those who are not my people, you are my people. And what do they say? He says, they will say you are my God. So now, now he is interested. He spends all this time on Israel and then throw kinds of for two sentences. I'm also going to choose some other people who are not my people and they will say that I am their God. God has always had a plan for us. Let me answer this question because I think I may forget to answer this. I think it's worthwhile because I currently says, how do you square that if saved always saved if God was with Saul and then Saul leaves God? Well, the Holy Spirit coming upon someone doesn't necessarily mean that you're saved in the Old Testament. Again, the Holy Spirit will come and empower someone whether they are his people or not to complete his task. The Holy Spirit can harden someone's heart for the purpose of God getting glory. Who do we know that happened to? Never, not Nebuchadnezzar, Pharaoh. The Holy Spirit comes upon, upon Nebuchadnezzar and he's out in the field grazing. The Holy Spirit comes upon Saul and he's just being, he's being used to bring the people together, but then he's going to introduce David. David's going to show up on the scene. Are you with me? So the Holy Spirit being used doesn't necessarily, especially in the Old Testament, mean that that is a person being saved. The Holy Spirit goes where he wants to and does where he wants to. We read the passage earlier that he has no counselor. No one tells him where to go. Let's put it back on. I don't have it back on the screen. I took it off, but he says, and I say that I don't, I don't have a counselor. No one tells him where to go. He is God all by himself as well. He was there in the very beginning creating.  Everyone that has land to walk on, everyone that has water to breathe owes that to the Holy Spirit. Are you with me? So here we see though that he says that these people are going to have to have their heart circumcised. And what's going to happen? They after having their heart circumcised, they are going to become alive after that. It's not the circumcision that makes their heart alive. It's what they do with it after that. We know this is going to be our profession of faith. Are you with me? Again, because some folks don't say, well, wait a second. Isn't that God doing something different for salvation? No, because faith is what's required for salvation. Faith in the law and what God is doing through the law, earned you a ticket to heaven. Faith in the cross, what God is doing on the cross. Faith in the garden, or I should say after the garden, faith in the garden, faith in the garden would have kept them in the garden, but it didn't. They didn't have the kind of faith. Faith after the garden in bringing these offerings to God meant that Abel was treated as righteous. Faith before the law, during the flood, is how Noah is counted as righteous because of his faith in God. Thank you, Abraham. Faith with Enoch, faith with Abraham. These are people before the law, so faith in what God is doing. The problem is faith did not always remain. Their faithfulness was never always before these people was sometimes here today, gone tomorrow. You could believe today and not believe tomorrow. And so the the issue was their hearts needed to have something done to them. And so we see that we see God saying that he's going to do it. And I want to build this point up because I want you guys to see this. Let's see what's the next passage. Oh, we see him say the same thing about what he's going to do with his spirit in Jeremiah. Jeremiah 31, 31, he says, the holidays are coming, declares the Lord that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant I made with their fathers in the land of the day. I took them out by the hand and brought them to the land of Egypt, my covenant which they broke, although I was a husband of them. Now let's drop down. He says in 33, but this is the covenant that I will make with them. God is making this covenant, not us making the covenant with him or Israel. Israel is not making a covenant with God, but God is making a covenant with them. And he's always and he's always intended to do so. This is part of the Abrahamic covenant. So he's always intended to fix this issue. My wife asked a question. He says, because we have this, we had a good long conversation about the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit would, how do we put this? Let's see. Matter of fact, let me hold off on that. I'm going to come back to this conversation I had with her because I don't want to lose this train of thought. I want to make sure that you guys are seeing what he's going to do. So pause that. I shouldn't even brought that up. Let's go back to this.  The issue with mankind is that mankind is just, you think about it. How bad are we? How bad are we?  How bad? Well, that's just how wretched we are. The issue is that there are often men who would still say they believe, but then would leave. Well, you're believing. Don't look like believing to me. It may be fleeting. It may be for the moment. And so what God has promised in Deuteronomy 30 is that he is going to circumcise the heart. 31 verse 33 of Jeremiah. He says, but this is the cover that I will make with him, the house with the house of Israel. After those days, it clears the Lord. I will put my law within them and on their heart. I will write it and I will be their guide and they shall be my people. So he's going to put his law on their heart. He's going to write on their heart, reminiscing what he said in Deuteronomy 30, that he's going to circumcise their heart. If we go to, let's say, let's say Jeremiah 32. Let's go to Jeremiah 32. He also says I will give them, continue his thought, I will give them one heart and one way that they may fear me always for their own good and for the good of their own children. Look what he says, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn from them to do them good, and I will put the fear of me in their hearts so that they will not turn away from me. So I want you all to kind of get the picture because I want to show you three things about regeneration. I want to show you what it is. I want to show you why and I want to show you when. Okay. I've actually covered all three of them, but I'll make them even a little clearer in just a second. Let's go to Ezekiel 1119. Let's type that in. Ezekiel 1119, he says, and I will give them one heart and put a new spirit within them, and I will take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh. Nobody says that they may walk in my statutes and keep my ordinance to do them, then they will be my people and I shall be their God. But as for those whose hearts go after the detestable things in the abomination, I will bring their conduct down to their heads, declares the Lord. So he's speaking of people whose hearts are going to take them away from him towards sin. He'll deal with them, but the others, he's going to give them heart. He's going to be the one giving people this new heart, but clearly he's not giving everybody a new heart because there are some people who aren't getting this new heart that are going to go after the detestable things. But why is he giving them a new heart? Again, we're covering the what it is, the why it is, and when. What is it? Him putting his spirit in their hearts, giving them a brand new heart. What we had not seen even when the spirit came upon people like Saul's of the world, or even David for that matter. The spirit will come upon them and move them, but do you know what the spirit did not do or what God did not? He did not give them a heart of flesh. He did not change their heart. He will though. Other people were for it because think about it. Yes, we see people like David, people like Joshua, people like Moses, people like Abraham, who the spirit of the Lord will come upon and lead them. But clearly when we look at the children of Israel, that wasn't the case for most of them. They didn't have the spirit of the Lord come upon them and leading them also like he did with Moses, like he did with Joshua, like he did with Jeremiah, like he did with Gideon. We don't see that, which means they did have the ability to kind of move their own little way. Oftentimes what do they do? They left. Benjamin and James, I agree. They're going to tell you don't do all caps, but before they tell you that, I agree. You are absolutely right. The Holy Spirit does seal you. Now, that being the case. And so reading the passage, we can see what, matter of fact, as we're reading, we've already read your mind, we can see what we've seen why and we've seen when. Because what does he say in verse 20, that after he's circumcised their heart and gives them a heart of flesh, he says, why that they may walk in my statue to keep my ordinance to do them? Because they don't do that. That they may walk.  So again, it is possible for people to go after their hearts. But God is going to do something to other people's hearts. We don't know who, we don't know why he's going to. I don't know why God is going to do a work in this person's heart and not that person's heart. I don't know. The Bible isn't clear. He didn't tell us. So because of that, I don't have to come out and say or defend God doing that. I'm never going to defend or have to defend or give or making excuse as to why God does what he wants to according to his good purpose. That's the answer. He does what he does according to his own good purpose. Are you with me? That's the answer. Well, why why does God choose some and not others? Well, he answered according to his own good purpose, whatever, whatever he has designed or desired to do. Now, you do have the opportunity to go after your own heart's desire. You do have that ability. You can do what you want to do. There's a consequence. All of us are going to do so. If left alone, we would go after our own heart's desire and then find ourselves in hell. Why? Because we're not good. Our hearts, the Bible says that all we like sheep, we go astray. Our hearts are definitely wicked. And so this moment, yeah, you know what? I like what you're doing. God, I'm with you. The next moment, squirrel, I'm over on something else. That's how it works. And so what is he going to do? Absent him being, putting his spirit upon us and moving us. And so for all these different wonderful things that we see him doing in the Old Testament, what he's going to do now is he is going to circumcise our hearts and put our hearts. And when that happens, the one thing that will never happen, unlike it did in the Old Testament is we will not have anyone departing. Now, does anyone think that the Holy Spirit being in you, if it's just in you, on you, does anyone believe that that has precluded people from walking away from God in the Old Testament? You have to say no, because we see it happening with Saul. Clear example. We see others who the Spirit will come upon and then then leaving. But what we don't see is someone whose heart has been circumcised or been born again or regenerated. We don't see that happening and then then leaving. Why? Because that's the express purpose of regeneration, having a new heart. Are you with me? So now, when he makes a statement, be filled, he's telling people who have had a regenerated heart to be filled. He's never told, he's not telling the unregenerate to be filled. He won't tell them that. He'll tell us who are regenerated, our hearts been regenerated, to be filled. And then another passage also like it, we cover this often. Ezekiel 36. Let's go to that passage, 36, 25. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my, listen to this, I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statues and you will be careful to observe my ordinances. So question, why are hearts going to be regenerated? As you're answering that, let's put another a few more passages up. Let's go to, uh-oh, this is me trying to copy and paste when I could just quickly, just even more quickly and just type it in. Isaiah 59, 21.  So this is him saying what he is going to do. Now here's my question. Do I want, do I want to cover this question? What is regeneration? Second question, why is regeneration? Third question, when is regeneration? Well, the what is he just said, he said it here, he said it in Ezekiel, he said it in Jeremiah, he said in Deuteronomy. His regenerative heart, the what it is, is him putting a new heart in us, bringing our heart alive, so to speak, taking the heart of stone out, putting the heart of flesh in, literally putting his spirit in our heart. That's different than coming upon us. That's different than being filled. Are you with me? Coming upon you or being filled is different than being regenerated. Two different things. If that were, if they were the same, then Paul would have said instead of in Ephesians 5, 18, he would have said instead of being filled, he would have said be regenerated. Two different things. Regeneration is the heart. Coming upon being filled is kind of the spirit us yielding to him and then the spirit working. The problem is we have the ability to kind of pull back. Matter of fact, let's be honest, even with a regenerate heart, we can still kind of quench the Holy Spirit's suppressments, so to speak, not totally because our heart didn't want that. There are times because Paul says there's these these two laws fighting within me, the spirit and then my flesh, both of them are worn. And since God gave me a new heart, if only God would have given me a new flesh, that's the problem. I still like what I like before, in some cases. A person who was struggling with certain things, got a regenerated heart, the spirit is in him, and from time to time might still have struggles, might still fight some things. Paul fought with his own pride and boasted. Peter, you can see his issues with his own ego and his even his own emotions. That happens. But what kept them going and then God not having to do a new work over and over and over again or new sacrifice was their heart was regenerated. Are you with me? And so what does it mean to be regenerated? That is God literally putting his heart, I mean his spirit in hearts. So that's the what regeneration is. Two, why?  And as he says in Jeremiah, to never leave. Why would he want us to never? Why would that be the case? Because what was the case in the past? We would leave. People would move away. And then the wind, he says after Israel has been brought back into the land, not immediately after, but afterwards. And then after that, it's not just going to be with Israel because even Hosea says that he's not just going to do it with just Israel, but he's also going to do it with us, who are not Israel, us who are not his people, he will make a people. He will call us his people and we will call him God. Are you with me? That's it. That's it. Regeneration to be made alive. So the regeneration part, what happens after regeneration? And this is why I kind of, I agree with that you're just a grace where you regenerate it. And then what do you do? You make a positive profession of faith and you never leave it, which is why we can be part of the believing ones. Are you with me? I want to cover a passage. I think this passage needs to be brought out as well. This is John 644. I said before that a person could come to Christ, could choose Christ, could come to God, could choose God. But I said they couldn't do it consistently. They could make a one-time or two-time, I don't know, profession of faith, but not serious about it. It starts the day and then ends. But there's a passage out here, Cory, that says no one can come to me unless the Father draws him. So, Cory, see what you're saying? They can come, but Jesus said they cannot come. Well, clearly, Cory, because you're not that smart. Jesus is God. He says they cannot come. You said they can't. And I say, yeah, I've read that passage. I agree with what Jesus said. But then how do you say, Cory, that they can come or they can choose, even if it's just temporarily, even if it's just for the moment? How could they do that temporarily when Jesus says they cannot come? And I said, how about we look at the passage? This is why I think it's good to look at the Greek. I remember I told you before that Romans Bible says that there are none that seek after him. And then we look at the passage. The passage is that there are none that are seeking. It's a present active participle or have been seeking. I think it's the heiress active participle. There's none that have been there. There's nobody that's in a continual state of seeking. Nobody that's in a continual state of seeking. Because we go back and look at the Old Testament, there are people that sought him. And in fact, it literally says that they sought him. They will seek me. But then he goes on to say that there are none that are seeking. Well, because to seek and seeking are two different things. I worked out yesterday, but I'm always working out. No, that's two different things. Two different things. One has to do with tense. One has to do with aspect. One is for this moment. One is continual or with me. Same thing here. The same thing is here in John 644. This is why I'll never I had a discussion with this was an actual Greek scholar. And we're going over this passage. This was when I was probably more leaning in that direction than I am now. And he showed me something with the passage. He says, yes, but if you're going to read it in the Greek, let's read in the Greek. So here's what he said. He says in John 644, he says, no one can come to me unless the father who sent him who sent him draws him. That looks that's perfectly explanatory. You cannot do that. What did you say it? Unless he draw unless the father who sent me draws. The issue is coming to him. Let's go back and look at this word. Ude tunetai el fain. True nobody is able. And then here's the word to come. This word to come is what's in the heiress active. And here's a word that we haven't said a lot. The infinitive. This is the heiress active infinitive. And guess what this is? Guess what tense this is? This is a continuous tense. So no one is able to, you all know what an infinitive is. It's like to do this, to ride, to walk, to this. And it's in the continuous. So no one is able to be coming. No one is able to come in. Are you with me? It's bad English, but it's good Greek. So I'm trying to make better sense of this. No one is able to be in the sense of coming unless someone says I disagree. What do you disagree with? Which is fine. It's okay to disagree with me. Which part do you disagree with? He says no one is able to come or to come in, be coming. That's, let's put it back on the screen. This el fain is an infinitive. And the tense of it is active. It's a continual. So no one is able to be coming. Same thing. People can believe, but without the spirit, you can't be believing. You can come, but without the spirit, you can't be coming. You can seek, but without the spirit, you can't be seeking. Are you with me? Am I making any sense? It's the present active part of it. It's the continual act, the state of coming or believing or following. It's that that determines or identifies us as a true believer. The person who says they believe, they believe exactly what I believe. Yes, Jesus died on the cross. Yes, I needed him to die on the cross for my sins. Yes, I could not pay the debt for myself. I agree. I believe and that person finds himself in hell. Why? Because his heart, what made or changed or regenerated to where he would keep doing so. The reason for the regeneration is to keep you doing these things. That was Israel's, that was the world's problem. Anybody can do something for a day, for a minute. How many of you all, listen, this is what month? This is March, beginning of March. How many of you have already left your New Year's Day resolution? January 1st, you know what? I'm going to start working out. I'm going to start eating better. I'm going to get my finances in order. I'm going to stop lying. I'm going to stop cussing. I'm going to stop lusting. It lasted for how long? Now, don't tell us on the chat, but tell the truth, shame the devil. Anybody can do that. Even demons can do that. We could all do that, but it's the continual part that we don't have it in us. We ain't got it in us to keep doing it, and that's where he comes in. That's where God comes in, Emil says. Okay, keep my commandments and live. Did Israel keep his commandments? No, he did not. As a matter of fact, when we read, when we read Hosea, when we read, matter of fact, Hosea, I think Lamentations, I think it's another one. Do y'all know that it seems like God, and I'll cover this in another video, but it seems like God has said, you know what? I'm not even in your Sabbaths. Keep your Sabbaths if you want to. I ain't with you. But wait a minute, God, you set that apart for us and you. Yeah, but y'all have to file them. You've profaned them. He says it's in Hosea, in chapter two, as a matter of fact. So yeah, he's told them you're absolutely right. He tells them to keep my commandments, keep them, and they don't. They just don't. Why don't they? Because have you ever met the guy who just can't help himself? He can't help lying. He can't help. Today, we've got the clap-back universe. I've got a family member who she just has to clap back, just to clap back. Am I worried to hurt? You just can't be quiet, huh?  You can't help yourself. Now she can. I'm using the figures of speech that you just can't. But you don't have the ability to be quiet, do you? Some of these kids nowadays, you don't have the ability to shut up, do you? Your lips haven't spent five seconds together. They're always apart. You don't have the right. Now we can do it for the moment. It's God through his spirit in the Old Testament working in us. And then he goes one step further now where you know what? I'm going to put my heart in you. Why? My wife asks the question. I said I'll get back to my wife and ask the question. Why? What's God trying to show? God is trying to show with him all things are possible. With us, it's going to fall apart. With him, all things can come to be. Without him, nothing going to work out. You're going to mess it up.  With the spirit moving us, if the spirit is involved, success. No spirit, no success. Are you with me? Old and new. In the Old Testament, he did it by coming upon people, moving people. He also did it with the visible move of God. He did it with the prophet speaking. He did it with signs and wonders. Now, not just with the signs and wonders or visible move of God, now what we see is, what we experience is our hearts have been regenerated. Guaranteed success. Guaranteed success. And that's the difference. And so that is what the Holy Spirit has done in the Old Testament. But there's just one thing that he's doing now when he says, people say, see, I do a new thing. Well, he's speaking about what he's going to do through the new covenant. I won't get into that, but that's what he said he's going to do. And that necessarily entails what he's doing with the spirit, but it's not just with the Jews only. It's also with the Gentiles. And so now he's pouring out his spirit on all flesh. Now what he's doing is not just with Israel, but with the Gentiles as well. And so now everybody can be partakers of the spirit and live in God, live according to him, follow his commandments. If you love me, you will keep my commandments. Well, you know why you love him. You will love him. Why? Because he loves you first.  Why? Because he chose you, then you'll choose him. He put his spirit in you, and then you'll walk in him. That's the way this works. Amen.


Do we have to repent to be saved? That's an interesting question, isn't it? You may have heard a lot of mixed messages about this. Some people will say that repentance is not required for salvation. Some people say that it is required for salvation. How do they come to this conclusion? John's Gospel never mentions repentance and talks about eternal life extensively. Many times throughout this Gospel account, Jesus tells people to believe on him for everlasting life without telling them to repent. On the other hand, people counteract this claim for three reasons. Repentance is mentioned multiple times in the other Gospel accounts. John also wrote the book of Revelation, which does also mention repentance multiple times. And John's Gospel never mentions the word gospel outside of the title, even though this is the good news of salvation. So we need to consider then, do these arguments or counterarguments carry any weight? Are they valid points in determining whether repentance is or isn't required for salvation? Well, there is something very crucial that we do need to consider. John's Gospel is the only Gospel account that's written specifically for the purpose that by reading it, you would have everlasting life. It says in John 2031, but these are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that's believing you might have life through his name. If John's Gospel was written specifically for the purpose of you believing and getting eternal life, and it doesn't contain all of the instructions or steps you need to complete to get everlasting life, then it does not fulfill the purpose for which it was written. The other Gospel accounts were not written with the same intention, and the book of Revelation certainly was not written to tell you to have everlasting life. Nevertheless, although the other Gospels were not deliberately written with the intention that you would have everlasting life by reading them, they do talk about the subject extensively, particularly about the Kingdom of God, which is synonymous with eternal life, so we can't just dismiss them either. So let's look at some examples. In Mark 1.15, it says that the Kingdom of God is at hand, repent ye and believe the Gospel. This is clearly a Gospel verse and clearly a verse about the Kingdom of God. Entering the Kingdom is synonymous with entering into everlasting life. In Matthew 21, 31 to 32, this verse indicates that the publicans and harlots, a type of sinners, entered the Kingdom of God, which is synonymous with getting saved onto eternal life or everlasting life. But the chief priest Jesus was speaking to didn't because they didn't repent. So we have a conundrum. The one book in the Bible that's written to tell us how to have everlasting life doesn't tell us to repent, and these other Gospel accounts, as we talk about everlasting life, tell us to repent. We don't want to accuse John of writing a Gospel account that was insufficient for the purpose for which he wrote it. On the other hand, we don't want to accuse Matthew and Mark and Luke of writing false Gospel instructions in their letters. So what do we do with this conundrum? Remember in my previous video on repentance, we saw what the core word repentance means to do an about turn from one direction in the other direction, in other words, a change of course, a change of action or a change of mind. It may include sorrow and remorse and guilt, but not always. The context tells us what is being repented of, from or towards. So in Mark 1.15, Repent ye and believe the Gospel, this can be interpreted as change your mind ye and believe the Gospel. Matthew 21 can be interpreted as saying the publicans and harlots believed him and when you had seen it did not change your mind afterward that you might believe him. So in conclusion based on those two verses we say yes, you do have to repent to be saved. That is to change your mind about not believing the Gospel or not believing in Christ and start believing the Gospel of Christ. If repentance is defined in this way changing what you believe then it is a moot point that John's Gospel doesn't mention repentance because it's already implied in the multitude of verses in John's Gospel that tell you to believe for everlasting life. Now let's compare Mark 1.15 and these two things together. Mark tells us to turn towards one thing. John however gives us two options either we believe or we believe not. Mark just tells us to do the one thing, believe. So you can see that by comparing the two we can see what repentance is in Mark 1.15. Repent of not believing in him towards believing in him or we can illustrate this visually as well. He who believes not is condemned already so repent and believe the Gospel i.e. change towards being he who believes and is not condemned. The mistake that the vast majority of Christians make is that they redefine repentance as meaning exclusively or always to turn away from sin. Now in previous videos I've dealt with the problem of that assumption and prove why that's incorrect. I will do future videos to explain some of the go-to verses that Christians use but to keep this video on topic the answer is simply this. If we define repentance for salvation as turning from unbelief or belief and trust in the wrong thing then yes, we have to repent for salvation. If we redefine repentance as turning from sin to clean up our lives and start living right then no, we do not have to repent for salvation because that would be mixing our works of obedience with the blood of Christ for salvation. As explained in the previous video repentance needs context to understand what is being repented to of or from. Sometimes repentance does mean turning from sin but not all verses about repenting are about the repentance that we must do for salvation on to everlasting life. As I mentioned in the previous video repentance is simply the noun of the verb to repent. So just like the Bible says walk in the spirit. Okay, you don't start thinking I need to put one leg in front of the other because he says walk. Those words in the spirit shape how we use that verb. So likewise repentance is shaped by whatever the surrounding context is telling you to repent of. This is no nonsense Christianity reminding you that nowhere in the Bible does it say repent of your sins to be saved.


Hello, hello everyone. My name is Laura. This is my channel Laura's Little Library and welcome to today's video Which are my AAPI recommendations? It's the month of May is known as Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month And so in order to celebrate that I've come up with a list of some Books that I think would be great to read during this month and at the very end I will give a couple books that are on my TBR that have just come out that I hope to read during this month Let's get started then, shall we? The first book that I would like to recommend is Strike the Zither by Joan He This is the first book in a duology and it kind of plays with Chinese mythology as well as war strategy And it has a really badass main character. So we follow our main character who is a war strategist and she is trying to help this lord or this lady Kind of rise up in the ranks of the world. And so there's a lot of like undercover doing this Meeting with this person, coeing head-to-head with other war strategists and everything like that And then there's a huge twist at the end. So if you are into mythology, then this would be a great book for you Continuing on the theme of mythology. I would also like to recommend Daughter of the Moon Goddess This is again the first book in a duology. The second book is the heart of the Sun Warrior I have read both books and they were really good So these are written by Sun Lenten and they are based off of Chinese mythology You are following the Daughter of the Moon Goddess as her mother is imprisoned on the moon And her father is who knows where? Is he dead? Is he alive? Nobody really knows. So she leaves the moon to try and free her mother and try and figure out what has happened To her family. This was such a beautiful and lyrically written book and it just it was amazing. So again Now for a fantasy book that is inspired by Asian culture I just read and absolutely adored a magic steeped in poison Another first book in a duology. This is by Judy I Lin and I read the first book And I cannot wait to start the second book This book is amazing because of the magic system and the world building the way that Tea is how you perform magic tea itself isn't magic, but you can't do it without the tea either It's just a beautiful story and our main character is entering in a competition to be the next tea person for the emperor as A plague is kind of going through a poison really is going through the kingdom and her younger sister is also Affected by this. So she's also trying to find a way to save her younger sister. Oh again Amazing cultural aspects and the character relationships and dynamics in this one were just so Interesting and it kept me on the edge of my seat All I wanted to do is read this book and drink tea and that's pretty much all I did now for my last Fantasy-based recommendations. I'm gonna have to go with Babel by RF Kwong Of course, I would recommend this for a PI our main character is a man from China who was taken from China actually as a young boy and brought to England in order to study at Oxford at Babel at Oxford, which is the Fantastical element here to study translation. This is my favorite book of all time and Really anything by RF Kwong is probably really good to read but if you like historical fiction or magic through translation and silver complex magic system This you need to pick this up. It may look chalky, but you will fly through it Now let's move on to some contemporary books. The first one. I'm gonna just quickly recommend, you know I've talked about it a lot on this channel Tokyo Ever After by Niko Jean. First book in a duology It is about a Japanese-American main character She was born and raised in the States but then finds out her father is actually the crown prince of Japan So she decides to go to Japan meet her family and kind of see a glimpse of what her life would have been like How she actually grown up in Japan as the daughter of the crown prince So if you like the prince's diaries, but you need like an Asian version of it Like a crazy rich Asians version This should be your go-to for the month of May. I would also very much recommend the love boat Right now in duology, but there's actually another book coming out love boat forever. I am so excited I adored both of these books and It's it they seem like a perfect fit for a API heritage month because you are following main characters in a group of friends who have Chinese or Taiwanese Heritage their parents or their grandparents or someone and so they go on this love boat Program where they go to Taipei and they learn to speak Mandarin they learn about their culture They learn like the fan dance and they get to explore and see where their families are from So I think it's perfect for this month in this one The first one you are following a dancer who she just wants to dance and her parents are not very supportive So they make her go on this program and the second one you are following a woman Who is trying to get into the STEM fields? She's trying to make it as an Asian American woman in STEM and the difficulties that she Faces and then she ends up going back to Taiwan for a reunion and And it's amazing and it's but these are by Abigail Heng when and I don't know too much about what love boat forever is about All I know is that there's a cover and I cannot wait Now this next one is a book that just came out and I read it so quickly. It is hilarious and it's written by one of my Coming-up favorite authors question mark that is Jesse Qsutanto and her book Vera Wong's unsolicited advice for murderers. So again anything really written by Jesse Qsutanto In my experience has been amazing. I haven't read all of her backlist I read the dial-a for auntie's duology that I cannot wait to read new girl, which is her dark academia Anyway, I digress This follows Vera Wong who is this Chinese old lady who owns a tea house in Chinatown in San Francisco, I believe one day She finds a dead body on the floor of her tea house and she takes it upon herself to investigate because the cops are inadequate and So it's a hilarious but also a heartwarming heart-salt Book of Asian-American characters who come together over this murder Whether for better or for worse and oh my goodness It was so funny. Now if you like baking or food contemporaries This would be a good one for you and it is a taste of love and this is by Jennifer Yen so this follows a girl whose Parents run this Asian themed bakery. I believe they are Chinese all of their baking is inspired by Chinese flavors and Chinese recipes And it's just amazing to read about and her mom Hosts this baking competition every year However, this year it's going to be a little different because this year her mom is on a mission To find her a boyfriend This is a fun YA Contemporary romance now this next book is actually one of my many Current reads and it is called Sway with me and this is by Sayid and Masood and this features South Asian Main characters in the United States So we've got our main male character who is very much a shut-in doesn't know anything about being a teenager just studies and lives with his grandfather and a very low-key Intellectually driven household and then you have our female main character who is the spice of life She is a dancer and she gets into trouble and so they end up striking some sort of deal of She is going to help him and he is going to help her through dancing There we go. So far. I'm enjoying it I am not quite halfway through but so far this seems to be a pretty cute YA contemporary All right I've got two other books on my TV are that are coming out in the month of May or have recently come out that I cannot wait to Read one of them is actually my book club pick It is called throwback and it is by Maureen Gu So this actually follows a Korean American who kind of gets thrown back in In time, I don't know if she goes to Korea or if she's still in the States But she kind of has to help her mom win prom queen So I'm very excited to read this one. I think it'll be a great one for our book club The other book on my tv r is fake dates and mooncakes by share lee This is a queer asian-american romance. I am so excited. I honestly don't really know much more about it other than that, I mean mooncakes makes me think of the lunar festival and So it's celebratory. It's gay and it's coming out in the mid of May So that is another one that I am putting on my dbr and hopefully recommending as well Those are all my recommendations if you like them give it a thumbs up comment down below what you will be reading this month I always love to hear from you also feel free to hit the subscribe button and make sure you hit the bell I've gone down to posting one video a week hopefully As I will be having a lot of things happening So i'm going to do my best to have one video going up a week So make sure you hit the bell to be notified when those go up I also have bookish social media linked down below that you can follow me there and get more Updates on what i'm reading and what i'm thinking about them But that is everything so until I see you all in the next video. I wish you happy reading