“Jesus’ Promise of the Holy Ghost – Part IV”

     The last time we were looking at the words of Jesus in John 14:17, saying that “He’ [the Holy Ghost] ‘dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.” We can clearly see that this was the final declaration of the significant way the God the Holy Spirit's presence is displayed to us in our lives. Not only is it a matter of His eternal presence, which displays itself in true spiritual wisdom. But more to us is the reality that the Spirit of the Living God has His personal residence in our lives as true and believing children of God, who are living as disciples of Christ.

Lets look at two great realities that flow from this wonderful truth:

First, that the Spirit dwells within the Child of God, not because of any good works that they have done, but only because Christ has died for them, and the Holy Ghost has given them eternal life in the new birth, [or by being born again]. Jesus set up a contrast for us to see the work of the Spirit in the Old and New Testaments. The contrast is between “dwells with you” and “will be in you.” The promise isn’t that the Holy Ghost will come in some general way to aid us, but that He would dwell specifically in a real and significant manner in the lives of the Child of God who believes and obeys Him. This is the very same truth that Paul reveals in Romans 8 in relation to our understanding of the Holy Spirit.

Notice how clearly he described the indwelling of the Spirit in verses 9-11:

“But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you.”

The Holy Spirit has come to us as the ultimate evidence that we are born again, that we ARE children of God, and that we have received eternal life by and through the resurrected Christ. To know Christ…IS…to enjoy the indwelling of the Spirit!

The filling of the Spirit is a very different thing from the indwelling of the Spirit; but it does flow from it. In Eph. 5:18 we read, “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit.” This filling of the Spirit speaks of His control and influence in our lives. Even as the influence of alcohol has control over people for evil, so the Spirit’s presence has influence and control over us as believers for good when we surrender our will to His will. This surrendering of our will does not make us His children, but shows that we are His obedient children. If the Spirit were not indwelling us, there would be no need for His continually filling us with His controlling power. In addition, although the indwelling of the Spirit is a permanent and filling presence, it must be maintained moment-by-moment in our lives as the disciples of Christ Jesus, and as we are still connected by the reality of the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

So what’s the implication? Listen to the Apostle Paul in 1 Cor 6:19-20, he says, “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.” The presence of the Holy Spirit ought to result in clearly seen holiness in our daily walk, because we are now His temple, where He abides continually…even forever. It is not just the empowering we need to glorify God; but it is our motivation as well. The Holy Spirit lives within us. His presence is evidence of the price Christ paid to redeem us from the consequence of sin and secure us for all eternity. We are not our own! We have been bought with a price! Now we have the Spirit of God indwelling us!
If we are to enjoy the blessings of the joy of the promise that Christ gave us concerning the Holy Ghost we must willingly surrender to the Spirit control over our lives for Him and He will do His work in us, for even as we “can do nothing” without Christ, we can do nothing without the Holy Ghost!” (See John 15:5). The work that He does in our lives is a work we could never do for ourselves. The divine enablement comes by the will of the Father, to the honor of the Son, by the immediate and direct empowering of the Spirit. It’s work that we can prayerfully ask of Him to daily, hourly, and even minute-by-minute have His wonderful way in our lives.

Jesus told His disciples in Acts 1:8 that they would “receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” This I believe has direct attachment to the coming of the Spirit to the empowerment of God’s children as they believe and obey His commandments. As they deign themselves and follow Him in discipleship, entering into the visible Church Kingdom of God.

With this thought in mind, let us take out a little bit of time and look at this:

To start with, what is power? The word power used by Jesus in Acts 1:8 is the Greek word dunamis. It is defined variously as “strength, power, or ability.” This refers specifically it to an “inherent power, power residing in a thing by virtue of its nature, or which a person or thing exerts and puts forth.” This spiritual power does not come from the believer. Notice that it is the inherent dwelling of the Holy Spirit, who resides within the believing child of God. However, how does this power manifest itself in our lives? We can see at least three ways that the Holy Spirit expresses His power in the lives of the redeemed.

First, the power of the Holy Ghost that brings about the new birth. Second, as the true followers and disciples of Christ, the power for life of the Spirit causes us to live our lives in a profoundly different way from that of the hopeless world that surrounds us. Paul writes again in Romans 15:13, “Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.” The power of the Holy Spirit provides for us the things that human effort and human religion and human righteousness could never achieve. He is there to empower our life and walk with a glorious sense of joy, peace, and hope that can carry us through the trials and hardships that are the inevitable by-products of life in a corrupt and fallen world.

The way of the world is a mad pursuit of mere happiness; i.e. “if it feels good, do it.” However, by the power of the Spirit we can have real and lasting joy and peace. While the world is filled with empty despair and a bleak future, we have a bright hope.

Why? Because the power of the Holy Spirit equips us for life in a way that the world cannot grasp. The power of the Holy Ghost as our “Comforter” enables us to experience the things that the world cannot secure, but which things belong to us by Jesus’ promise of the Spirit. This is the abundant life Jesus spoke of in John 10:10, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” This life is full, rich, deep, and lasting. This life is lived by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Secondly, we have a personal power of outreach. We are often condemned by others of the religious world for not believing, nor supporting missionary endeavors to save lost souls for God, but we do believe in a personal power of the Holy Ghost that we are able to each out with REAL and TRUE EVANGELISM! This is true because we understand that the scriptures do not support such worldly endeavors as missions. Notice the words of Paul in 1 Corinthians 2:4, “And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.” And in 1 Thessalonians 1:5, “For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake.”

We will pause here until the next time, when we will try to continue with the thought of the Spirits work in evangelism. May God bless you and keep you.

Elder Thomas McDonald

Notes on Matthew

Chapter 1, Part 1, Preface

Sometimes the question is asked, "Why are there four gospels?" The answer is that God has given us four different pictures of Christ. Now all four pictures are in perfect harmony. The 4th Chapter of the book of Revelations speaks to us about four beasts. These four beasts were described thusly: Rev. 4:7 "And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle." In the sign language used in the book of Revelation and found throughout the bible, the lion is often used as a figure of a king. Similarly, the calf or ox is used as a figure of a beast of burden or laborer. The third beast represents a man and the fourth beast is a figure of the spiritual. There are four pictures of Christ that answer to the four beasts in Revelation Chapter 4. Matthew gives us a picture of Christ as a King in his Kingdom. The book of Mark gives us a picture of Christ in his labors. The book of Luke gives us a picture of the man Christ Jesus. The book of John gives us a picture of Christ in his deity.

There are more references to Christ as a king in the book of Matthew and more references to the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Heaven in the book of Matthew than there are in the other three gospels combined. It is with this understanding that the gospel of Matthew gives us a view of Christ the king in his kingdom that we study the book of Matthew.

Chapter 1 Part 1

Matt. 1:1 "The book of the generation of Jesus Christ…"

While there are numerous genealogies presented in the scriptures, only twice do we read about "the book of the generation…" In addition to Matt. 1:1 we read in Gen. 5:1, "This is the book of the generations of Adam." This invites us to compare Adam with Christ. Genesis chapter 5 is the obituary column of the bible. Everyone in that genealogy, with the exception of Enoch, is concluded with the statement "and he died." The emphasis in the book of the generations of Adam is on death. When Adam transgressed in the Garden of Eden he brought sin into the world, and death by sin and according to Romans chapter 5 verse 12 death passed upon all men. In contrast, the book of the generation of Jesus Christ speaks to us of life.

According to Rom. 5:14 Adam is the figure of Christ: "Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come." There are numerous similarities and contrasts between Adam and Christ of which we list seven:

1. Adam was in a Garden when he transgressed the law of God and brought the curse of the law of sin and death upon all mankind. Christ was buried in a garden after he became sin for us and redeemed his elect from the curse of the law and arose the third day in a garden victorious over death.
2. Adam went into a deep sleep and had a rib taken from him from which his bride was made. Christ went into the deep sleep of death and had his rib pierced in order to redeem his bride to him.
3. Adam represented all mankind when he ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil bringing the curse of the law upon all mankind. Christ represented all the elect when he suffered and died on the cross to redeem his people from their sins.
4. Adam had all the trees of the garden in which he could freely eat but one and yet transgressed by eating of that one tree. Jesus when tempted of Satan had fasted for forty days and nights and refused to break the commandment of God in order to satisfy his hunger.
5. Adam was made in the likeness of God. Jesus was made in the likeness of man.
6. Adam willfully sinned to be with his bride. Jesus refused to sin, but became sin for his bride in order to have her with him.
7. By the one disobedience of Adam, many were made sinners. By the obedience of one (Christ) many were made righteous.

Chapter 1 Part 2

Matt. 1:1 "The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham."

The reference to Jesus Christ being the son of David, the son of Abraham calls our attention to the fulfilled promises God made to Abraham and David. It calls our attention to the fact that Jesus Christ was promised to be the seed of Abraham and the seed of David. He was also the fulfillment of the promise made to David that of his sons would God raise up a King that would sit on an everlasting throne in an everlasting kingdom.

First, God made several promises to Abraham concerning his seed:

1. Gen. 12:1 "Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee: 2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed." This promise was further expounded unto us in Acts 3:25 "Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed."
2. Gen. 13:14 "And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: 15 For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever. 16 And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered."
3. 16 "And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: 17 That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; 18 And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice."

Abraham's seed is identified for us in Gal. 3:16 "Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ." Thus the promises concerning the seed of Abraham were promises made concerning Jesus Christ!

We make the following observations concerning the promises made to Abraham and his seed:

1. The seed of Abraham was promised to be multiplied as the dust of the earth, as the sand upon the seashore and as the stars of heaven. One thing all three of these (dust, sand, stars) have in common is that they are numberless. You cannot put a number on them. Likewise, Rev. 7:9 speaks of the seed of Abraham (Jesus Christ): "After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; 10 And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb."
2. All families of the earth, all kindreds of the earth, and all nations of the earth are said to be blessed in Abraham's seed (Jesus Christ).
3. Abraham's seed (Jesus Christ) was to possess the gate of his enemies. To possess the gate of one's enemies means to have the victory over those enemies. Jesus Christ gained the victory over sin, death, hell, Satan, and the grave and he gave that victory to us.

The promises made to Abraham and his seed were also confirmed in Isaac and in Jacob as the following verses show:

1. Gen. 26:1 "And there was a famine in the land, beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines unto Gerar. 2 And the LORD appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of: 3 Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father; 4 And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed."
2. Gen. 28:10 "And Jacob went out from Beersheba, and went toward Haran. 11 And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep. 12 And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. 13 And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed; 14 And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed."

God also promised to David and alluded to in Abraham of a coming King that would sit upon an everlasting throne:

1. God promised to David in 2 Sam. 7:12: "And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever. 14 I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men: 15 But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee. 16 And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever." That God had reference to Christ and not to Solomon as the seed in which he would establish this everlasting kingdom is brought out to us in Acts 2:29 "Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. 30 Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne." Solomon sat on the throne as King of Israel while David was yet alive. David was dead and buried as according to the promise that God made to him when Christ, the Son of David, sat upon the everlasting throne of David in the Kingdom of God.
2. The promise of a king was also alluded to in the promises made to Abraham:
Gen. 17:6 "And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee." Gen. 17:16 "And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her."
3. The promise of Christ, the king was to come through the tribe of Judah according to the following: Gen. 49:9 "Judah is a lion's whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up? 10 The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be. 11 Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass's colt unto the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes."

Chapter 1 Part 3  The Roadblock

Matt. 1:11 "And Josias begat Jechonias and his brethren, about the time they were carried away to Babylon:"

Beginning with David and down to Jechonias the genealogy follows the line of the Kings. It is to this kingly line that Jesus Christ was promised to come and reign on the throne of David in an everlasting kingdom. From Jechonias down to Joseph there was no king sitting on the throne of David, even though this was the kingly line. There is a reason why no one from Jechonias unto Joseph sat upon the throne of Israel. It was because of a curse that God had placed upon the seed of Jechonias: Jere. 22:28 "Is this man Coniah a despised broken idol? is he a vessel wherein is no pleasure? wherefore are they cast out, he and his seed, and are cast into a land which they know not? 29 O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD. 30 Thus saith the LORD, Write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah."

In the Old Testament, Jeconiah's name was sometime called Coniah. God placed a curse upon the seed of Jeconias. None of his seed could ever sit upon the throne of David and rule in Judah. Joseph, the husband of Mary was of the seed of Coniah. None of Joseph's seed could sit and rule upon the throne of David because of the curse placed upon the seed of Jeconias.

Let us summarize the things promised of God concerning the one who was to reign on the everlasting throne of David in an everlasting kingdom. First, he was to be the seed of David. Second, he was to be the son of David and have right to the throne of David. Third, the throne of David descended through Solomon. Fourth, he was not to be the seed of Coniah or Jeconiah. This raises and interesting question, how could Christ be the seed of David and a son according to the Kingly line through Solomon and not be a seed of Jeconiah? How could this roadblock be overcome? The answer comes through another promise of God.

God promised concerning the serpent and the woman in the Garden of Eden after the transgression: Gen. 3:15 "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." This promise involved the woman's seed bruising the head of the serpent's seed. Throughout the scriptures we read of different men's seed. Only in the Garden do we read of a woman's seed. The scriptural use of the word seed is to imply the germ that comes from the man to fertilize the woman's egg. To have a woman's seed is to say that the man's seed is absent. Of course, this points to the virgin birth. That Christ would be conceived in the womb of a virgin is prophesied in Is. 7:14 "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel."

We might ask ourselves, "How does the virgin birth overcome the roadblock requiring that Christ be of the seed of David and be the son of David through the kingly line of Solomon and yet not be of the seed of Jeconiah?" To answer this question we need to look at the genealogy given to us in the third chapter of the book of Luke.

According to Matthew Chapter 1, we read that Jacob begat Joseph. In Luke Chapter 3, we read that Joseph is the son of Heli. Now Joseph can not have two biological fathers. It is apparent that Jacob is the biological father of Joseph. The genealogy in Luke chapter 3 also differs from the one in Matthew chapter 1 in that David begat Solomon in Matthew chapter 1 and Nathan is the son of David in Luke chapter 3. Of course David had several sons including both Solomon and Nathan. Solomon is the son of the kingly line, whereas Nathan is not of the kingly line. Being of the lineage of Nathan does not qualify one to sit upon the throne of David.

Joseph is the son of Heli because he is the husband of Mary. Heli is the biological father of Mary. Joseph is Heli's son-in-law. The term son-in-law simply means that he is a legal son because of his marriage to Mary.

Now let us see if we can answer the question of how that Christ could be the seed of David and the son of David through the kingly line through Solomon and yet not the seed of Jeconiah. Christ is the seed of Mary through the virgin birth who conceived of the Holy Ghost. Mary is the seed of David through Nathan. Thus, Christ is the seed of David. Second, Luke chapter 3 tells us that Christ, "being as was supposed the son of Joseph." Now Jesus Christ was not the biological seed of Joseph, but he was legally the son of Joseph because Joseph was the husband of Mary. Thus, Christ was legally the son of David through the lineage of Solomon. Christ was not the seed of Jeconiah, however, as he was not the seed of Joseph. Therefore, Christ fulfilled all the requirements to be the promised Son of David who would sit upon the throne of David in an everlasting Kingdom. He alone could fulfill those requirements as he was born of the virgin.

Chapter 1 Part 4  The Women

In the genealogy listed in Matthew chapter 1 there are four women that are mentioned either by name or by reference. Obviously, there is significance to these particular women being mentioned as there is a mother to all that are begotten in the chapter.

These four women are:

1. Thamar: "And Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar"
2. Rachab: "And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab"
3. Ruth: "And Booz begat Obed of Ruth"
4. The wife of Urias: "And David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias"

Thamar was Judah's daughter in law and had been married first to Judah's oldest son and then to the middle son. After Judah's two oldest sons had done wickedly in the eyes of God and God had slain them, Thamar had been promised to the youngest of Judah's sons. However, when Judah had failed to keep his promise, Thamar disguised herself as a harlot and went out to meet Judah. They agreed to have sexual relations for a price that Judah was to pay and for which he gave Thamar a token. Thamar conceived and had twins which were Phares and Zara.

Rachab was a harlot of Jericho who had hidden the spies of Israel who had come to search out the land prior to Israel invading Jericho. In order to save her own life and that of her family she entered into a covenant with the spies. Later Rachab married Salmon and begat Booz.

Ruth was a Moabitess and was married to one of the sons of Naomi. When her husband died and Naomi's husband died, she journeyed with Naomi to the land of Israel and ultimately married Booz and beget Obed.

During the time of war David had spied a beautiful woman bathing and sent for her. This woman was the wife of Uriah the Hittite. David committed adultery with her and she conceived with child. To cover up his sin David had Uriah the Hittite killed in battle and then married Bathsheba his wife.

All of the above illustrate the wickedness in man and the wickedness of the genealogy presented here. First, Thamar acted as a harlot and committed incest with her father-in-law. Second, Rachab was a harlot and was of the people that God told the children of Israel they were not to take for wives. Third, Ruth was a Moabite, though she was a godly woman, yet no seed of the Moabites were to come unto the congregation until the tenth generation. Fourth, David committed both the sin of adultery and of murder in the matter of Urijah and his wife. This also illustrates the mercy of God in forgiving the sins of his people. Also, this illustrates that the stream leading up to the conception of Christ was a polluted stream, yet God through the virgin birth was able to bring forth a child who was holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners.

Matthew Continues