Pentecost: One Mind, One Place, One Accord

Everything about the Holy Scripture is divine.  It is the infallible Word of God.  We call it the Holy Bible.  It is God’s revelation of Himself, and it is truth by which we live.  It is a perfect roadmap to His eternal city and the New Heaven and New Earth.  It is the only infallible book in all of literature.  Jesus Christ calls the third member of the Godhead “the Spirit of Truth.”  The Holy Spirit perfectly guided each writer.  After each book was finished, He watched over the Words to both defend and fulfill them.  They cannot fail.  We have a sure foundation.
    This booklet is the starting point to show the work and ministry of the Holy Spirit in all sixty-six books.  It is far from being exhaustive, but will help each reader get a view of what the Holy Spirit means to the Bible.  The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the Father and of the Son; so, the Divine God is represented in everything the Spirit does.  They are one; yet, are revealed in three persons.

THE FIRST COVENANT

•    GENESIS:  The Holy Spirit is God’s Omnipresence, His going forth to fill His Universe with life and light.  This first picture of the Holy Spirit is of His Omnipresence.  In the Beginning, “…the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.  And God said, Let there be light: and there was light” (Genesis 1:2-3).

The Holy Spirit is also seen prophetically in Genesis as He goes to fetch a Bride for Isaac.  Isaac is a foreshadow of the church in the New Testament and the Spirit is foreshadowed by Abraham’s trusted emissary that finds the Bride and brings her home to Isaac (Genesis 24).

·    EXODUS:  The Holy Spirit is His Shekinah presence in the tabernacle of the wilderness.  This presence was so awesome that no man could stand in His glory and revelation.

·    LEVITICUS:  He is the anointing of the prophetic Christ, foreshadowed in the future cross and in the blood sacrifices of the Lamb of God.  Every sacrifice in the tabernacle worship was the Spirit’s voice and a type of the future Messiah.

·    NUMBERS:  The Spirit was manifested as a protecting cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.  It’s beautiful to see how this cloud or pillar of fire moved to lead as God directed.  They were literally led and protected by the Holy Spirit.

·    DEUTERONOMY:  The Spirit spoke the laws and commandments of God to His Israelites and then acted to enforce them and even judge God’s children when they disobeyed.

·    JOSHUA:  The Holy Spirit was the mighty Restrainer that stopped the enemies of God’s people, be they men or spirits.  Those servants that obeyed God and trusted Him had naught to fear.  He is God the Holy Spirit — the omnipotent — and, in addition, the angels move in His wake.

·    JUDGES:  The call of God’s judges and leaders is always an office of the Holy Spirit.  He calls, anoints with wisdom and authority, and sets them in their calling.  He also watches over them, and protects, defends, and judges those He calls.  His oversight makes them profoundly accountable.  Disobedience is judged without partiality.  His chastising is awesome.

·    RUTH:  Protecting and caring for the Messianic lineage, the seed of woman, is an Old Testament office performed by the Holy Spirit and not one break in lineage could be allowed.  Gentile women were actually converted and brought into the stream as those of the chosen were found unfit.

·    I SAMUEL:  The mighty anointing of the Holy Spirit is clearly evident in manifesting the great difference His presence means to the anointed person.  The Spirit is revealing the weakness of men — even God-called men — unless they trust and obey.  His calling demands the Holy Spirit’s empowerment.

·    II SAMUEL:  The Spirit of God guarantees the success of God’s obedient children, even while His children must give account for any acts of disobedience.  The Holy Spirit watches over the Words of God in our lives to fulfill them – both good and bad.  Because of God’s omnipresent Spirit, not one part of the Bible can fail.  David is a perfect example.

·    I KINGS:  Prophets of God are especially chosen by the Spirit and must act and speak only for the Spirit.  The Holy Spirit will hold every prophet accountable.  He will quickly judge the man or woman that does despite to an obedient prophet.

·    II KINGS:  All powers are ordained by God and for God.  The Spirit of God is the source of all authority, even secular authority, and all men are commanded to obey those He sets in authority.  Being independent of God’s authority is grievous and destructive.

·    I CHRONICLES:  He is the Spirit of God’s covenants and watches over the covenant people to bless or judge them according to their treatment of the covenants.  Covenants always require two parties; the Holy Spirit is the first party and His saints are the second party.  Every covenant of all human history — past, present, and future — is guaranteed to perfection by the Spirit of God’s covenants.

·    II CHRONICLES:  The Holy Spirit is indeed the Spirit of truth, but deeper, He is the Spirit of Revelation for the wisdom that is derived from truth.  In this Book of Scripture, the Spirit is visible giving wisdom that was the means of spiritual and national success.  Every believer has the joy and responsibility to seek the wisdom that is ours by the Spirit of God.

·    EZRA:  The entire business of God’s Kingdom is the business of the Spirit.  In this book, we see the Spirit guiding Ezra and others in the return to Jerusalem from Babylon and the rebuilding of the temple.  They are led by the Spirit in reinstituting temple worship to Jehovah God.  What a lesson showing men depending on the Spirit to teach them His purposes and the single method of worship.

·    NEHEMIAH:  Everything concerning the lives of God’s people is under the direction of God’s Spirit.  The Spirit is clearly evident in this book as the Father’s right hand of power and authority.  The Father never leaves the City of Heavenly Jerusalem absent of His presence, neither does He need to.  His Spirit is His going forth to lead and guide His own.

·    ESTHER:  The Spirit of God has prepared Esther for her role to preserve His chosen people.  Her disposition of submission and gentleness — even her beauty — serves to make her strong and influential before the King.  God prepared her for this hour.  She was willing to be sacrificed to save the people she loved.

·    JOB:  The Spirit of Holiness and conviction of sin is clearly manifest in this book.  That same office is evident in all of Scripture but excels in Job.  Every temple or physical body of His saints was preordained to Godliness but never forced.  Every believer must serve God and yield to separation from the world because they surrender to do so.  The Spirit will convict until the conscience is rendered hard as stone from refusal.

·    PSALMS:  Music is the creation of God for His own praise and worship.  Every song is a type of worship of something or someone.  The Spirit is the creator, but He is also the anointer of worship.  The Spirit of God fills this Book of Psalms with the language of praise and joy.

·    PROVERBS:  For the New Testament believer, the gift of the “Words of Wisdom” is available to one and all.  It is one of the greatest, most important of the nine gifts of the Spirit.  The same great wisdom was seen in certain saints in the First Testament and is written for all of us in the “Proverbs.”  The Holy Ghost is the Spirit of Wisdom, and only careless souls will dare to be neglectful.

·    ECCLESIASTES:  God’s Spirit upon a preacher is the heartbeat of the Kingdom.  God has chosen by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.  In this book a King is also a preacher.  The Spirit never ceases to search for a preacher or preachers to anoint and use to speak for Him.  A preacher’s voice is not His own, neither is His life.  Without the anointing, a preacher is a sad spectacle.

·    SONG OF SOLOMON:  The Bride of Christ is a Biblically chosen Queen from both the Old & New Testament saints.  She is set apart, uncompromising and clothed only in His righteousness.  Her beauty is not of the flesh, neither is it self-righteous.  This great book reveals the Spirit working and beautifying this Queen of God’s future eternal city.

·    ISAIAH:  The primary work of the Holy Spirit in all of Scripture is to present the Messiah and Redeemer.  Isaiah — called by some scholars the Fifth Gospel — is the highlight of the Spirit’s revelation of the Son of God.  From his descent out of the Godhead to the Father’s Hand of His death as a sacrifice for sin, Isaiah eloquently portrays our Lord in prophetic terms.  Only the eternal Spirit could have spoken by this prophet so majestically.

·    JEREMIAH:  Only the Holy Spirit could have produced such divine tears as fell from Jeremiah’s eyes.  The Spirit needed and always needs human eyes to weep for the salvation of men.  He found in Jeremiah a man that fulfilled all the culture of tears and the spiritual results when men are a source of compassion.  The groaning of the Spirit cannot be manifest until a soul is yielded to Him in brokenness.

·    LAMENTATIONS:  A true prophet is never a grandiose personality seeking human favors.  He is a broken soul that weeps and laments the backslidings of man.  This book lays bare the soul that the Spirit of God has consumed.  It is an extension of the major book of Jeremiah and shows the depth of Holy Ghost brokenness.  The power in tears that the Spirit produces is central to spiritual success.

·    EZEKIEL:  The Holy Ghost used Ezekiel to establish His voice from Babylon.  During the seventy years of bondage, the Divine Spirit echoes His will from the heart of a heathen city until Nebuchadnezzar the King himself was converted.  No one proves the power of an anointed prophet more than Ezekiel.  The Spirit rendered this great man an undying voice.  Babylon became a center of God’s revelation for decades to come.

·    DANIEL:  The Spirit is the voice of the future.  By the inspiration of the Spirit, Daniel spelled out the prophetic future.  The Holy Spirit shows that the Father sets up all secular and spiritual leaders.  Nothing escapes His perfect declaration or foresight.  God’s Spirit is His voice in the world and His voice is always in perfect harmony with the Word of God.  The Word is the Spirit’s sword.

·    HOSEA:  Hosea is a picture of the Holy Spirit wooing a backslidden nation.  The Spirit led the prophet, Hosea, to marry a harlot to show the depth of love that He had for His people.  By the Holy Spirit, He revealed that God would forgive, even more than once to show His unfailing love for Israel.  The depth of the Spirit’s conviction of sin is also clearly manifest.

·    JOEL:  As the Holy Spirit filled Isaiah with the prophecy of the coming Redeemer, so Joel is filled with the Spirit speaking of His coming to give power to the message of redemption.  To speak of a harvest without the Spirit is impossible.  The Holy Spirit never exalts Himself, but He does exalt the powers of an outpouring that He would manifest in revival and salvation.  The kingdom cannot be manifest but by the Spirit.  That’s the Father’s plan.

·    AMOS:  The Spirit always draws a contrast between the false prophets and the true prophets.  No one hates the voices of true men of God like the false prophets.  Yet, the Spirit Himself will sustain the person or prophet that is careful to keep himself true and speak only and exactly what God has said.  The Spirit will elevate truth out of the Holy Bible that the man of God is careful to speak.

·    OBADIAH:  In Obadiah the Holy Spirit is revealed as the protector of God’s people from the enemy.  To be an enemy of the Lord’s children is a dangerous matter.  The Spirit will set a mark upon such people and will fight against them when the proper moment comes.  The Holy Spirit is indeed a barrier between the just and the unjust.

·    JONAH:  When the Spirit chooses a man for the Father and Christ, there is no repentance for failure to obey.  The Spirit will pursue such a person to the ends of the earth.  By the Spirit, the Father becomes responsible to bless that man’s obedience.  The man himself becomes accountable for his disobedience.  To put your hand to the plow and look back renders you unworthy of His calling.  Returning to obedience is the only acceptable solution.

·    MICAH:  The Holy Spirit is responsible for detailing the coming of the Son of God to redeem the human family.  Every aspect of His life was spelled out in prophetic language.  The Spirit of God knows the future exactly as we know the past.  The birthplace of Jesus Christ, as well as the 2000 years of Christ’s casting away of Israel, was given to Micah to reveal.  He was careful to show the future hope that Christ’s family could expect.  Israel — as a nation — would live again.

·    NAHUM:  Nahum blends his strong message of the destructive of Nineveh with a prophecy of the very last days when the Lord would come again to the earth.  His picture of traveling in chariots propelled by fire is a perfect look at modern day travel.  Ninevah was destroyed in 614 BC; automobiles were first on display in 1769 AD.  The Holy Spirit revealed the timeless truth of God’s revelation that six thousand years is as six days with Him.  Time is almost over.  The Spirit is wisdom to every ear that will listen.

·    HABAKKUK:  The cry of the Spirit in Habakkuk is so similar to the cry of Godly people today.  Big religion seems to triumph, while the faith of the righteous is severely tried.  We look on as self-proclaimed prophets live a high life, while missionaries in third-world countries barely exist.  In the country of Haiti we visited churches covered with old sheets of tin that were full of holes, and we worshipped with people that had no Bible of their own.  Believe me, God sees the day of justice as promised.  God certainly made that plain to Habakkuk.

·    ZEPHANIAH:  The Spirit is careful to show that God’s anger is kindled against the wicked and He will judge them.  The same Spirit is marking the remnant of the Lord and He will remember them forever.  While we may not see the end of the wicked in our life, there is no question of God’s perfect finish in righteous judgment.  Zephaniah saw the rise of Nebuchadnezzar and his reign of golden splendor.  His reign would end, and Jerusalem would be blessed in God’s perfect timing.  Judgment and blessing would occur side by side.

·    HAGGAI:  The Spirit shows that His desire is to be personable with the Lord’s people.  He also shows the importance and necessity of the House of God.  The people were soundly rebuked for building and living in their sealed houses, while the Lord’s House was laid waste.  The Holy Spirit shows us the importance of a place of corporate worship, where He can reveal Himself.  From the wilderness tabernacle to the upper room, the Spirit has been manifest to bless His people.

·    ZECHARIAH:  Zechariah reveals the Spirit as the arm of God.  He is convinced and convincing that all spiritual ministry is the work of the Spirit, without which all is lost.  He stated, “…Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts” (Zechariah 4:6b).   The prophecy covers the kingdom from Zechariah’s day until the final day of Christ’s earthly Millennium.  There can be no doubt of the outcome because the Holy Spirit will finish what He began long ago.  The future is certain.

·    MALACHI:  The Spirit used Malachi to marry the two covenants of the Lord.  In chapters one and two, Israel is the subject and His love for them and His rebuke for their failures.  But, then He speaks of John the Baptist and Christ the Lord.  The Lord’s coming would remove all excuses for Israel’s disobedience, because the new covenant would transform man’s hard hearts.  Malachi carries us right through the Second Covenant to the end of all human efforts in government and the kingdom of God appearing.  ”But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall” (Malachi 4:2).  Nothing of our future is in doubt.

THE SECOND COVENANT

    The picture of the Spirit in the First Covenant (Old Testament) is absolutely breathtaking.  Yet, to the reader of that covenant that knew nothing of the Second Covenant it is all but a shadow.  Any thought of a Trinity was unknown.  The Messiah they dreamed about was like a king with powers to establish the long yearned for master kingdom.  The sacrifice for sin that was declared in Isaiah was utterly missed or seen as some type of compassion or symbol.  The Messianic message was beautiful poetry.  The Holy Spirit is truly the Heart and Spirit of the Father and Son in this First Covenant, revealing the hard worn pathway to the supernatural appearance of the God-Man.  Not an ounce of God’s pre-ordained plan all the way to the Hill outside of Jerusalem was bypassed.  The plan was perfect and the Spirit’s great task was to watch over every word spoken and enacted in human events.  The new covenant was concealed in the First Covenant but was certain to be revealed in every detail in the days of the Second Covenant.

·    MATTHEW:  Matthew was certainly chosen by the Spirit to begin the New Covenant.  God’s Holy Spirit was careful to lay the groundwork out of the First Covenant so there would be no break in God’s Revelation.  The Spirit proves by Scripture that Jesus Christ was the long-awaited King.  All the key names from Abraham, God’s man of faith, to David, Solomon, and others were named.  The Spirit wanted all to know that salvation was of the Jews.  Through Matthew, the Spirit makes the righteousness of Christ’s life and teaching the bedrock of the sacrifice.  He had to be born right, baptized right, Holy Ghost anointed right, preach and minister right, and perfect all the way to death, die right so that every written prophecy was fulfilled right.  There can be no doubt that He was the Redeemer and God’s hope for perfect redemption.  The Spirit has spoken.

·    MARK:  By the Spirit, Mark wrote his gospel for those that did not see or hear Him personally.  The life and ministry of Christ was supernatural by the anointing of the Holy Spirit.  His miracles were not the work of His divinity but the work of His Spirit.  The fact that He suffered the devil not to identify Him shows His dependency on the Spirit.  That also reveals the true trinity of God as united in Jesus Christ.  The Spirit ends the Book of Mark with the promise that His miracles would never end for His church.

·    LUKE:  Saint Luke is an eloquent presentation of our Lord’s Gospel.  The Holy Spirit especially reveals His use of each writer’s individual style and personality.  At the same time the Spirit used exact words dictated verbally so that every word counts.  The Holy Spirit was careful to inspire the perfect truth, not just thoughts, that the writers worded themselves.  Nothing shows us the person of the Holy Spirit in a clearer grasp than His beautiful ministry of truth.  The Spirit is a person just exactly as the Father and Son are persons.  He never suggested what the Bible writers were to say; He stated it verbally and perfectly.  He is the Spirit of Truth.

·    JOHN:  The Book of John is a masterpiece of truth presenting the divinity of Jesus Christ.  Some words and phrases were used that had to originate with God, not man.  The Holy Spirit poured these truths to and through John like a river.  Consider Saint John 1:1-5,14, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  The same was in the beginning with God.  All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.  In him was life; and the life was the light of men.  And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.”  “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”  This book is so full of divine truth that the revelations of Christ’s person fill every word and sentence.  Reading this book is fellowship with the Holy Ghost manifesting Jesus Christ.

·    ACTS:  From Acts to Jude, the Spirit fulfills the office of the Holy Ghost.   This title represents Him as the “Vicar” of Christ.  No man can know Christ unless the Spirit draws Him and teaches Him.  Our Spirit is dead in sin until it is regenerated in the New Birth.  Deep in the recesses of our heart, life springs forth and the Holy Ghost gives new life.  Then, He sanctifies and teaches that new life the glories of Jesus Christ.  His will is to mature and be filled with His anointing.  The Holy Ghost continued in Acts the very things Jesus Christ began in His ministry.  The Book of Acts is the only book in the Bible that does not have an ending.

·    ROMANS:  The Book of Romans is the perfect presentation of the gospel message and its power to transform.  Christ’s Vicar, the Holy Ghost, directed Apostle Paul to set forth the one and only transforming message.  The Spirit left no doubt that this life in Christ is a powerful life, where sin is put to death and righteousness reigns in victory.  Cheap, careless living is totally rejected in Romans.  The Holy Ghost makes plain His mighty power to give joy and triumph to the Saints.

·    I CORINTHIANS:  The culture of I Corinthians is a Holy Ghost-filled life.  Apostle Paul was given the message of Spirit-filled living and the dynamic power available to Christ’s church.  There is only one Biblical picture of the New Testament church.  To even consider the church without the anointing of the Holy Ghost is unthinkable.  The great doctrines that the Holy Ghost gave this apostle were not to create a theological system but to empower the church to build the Kingdom.  A church without the gifts of the Holy Ghost is inexcusable.

·    II CORINTHIANS:  The beautiful theme that the Spirit inspired for this book is “The Words of Reconciliation.”  Angels are special, but their task is not to preach the Gospel.  We — His Saints — have received the charge of reconciling men to God.  The Holy Ghost charges us to be His Ambassadors.  “And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation” (II Corinthians 5:18-19).  We can be successful only if His Holy Ghost anoints us.

·    GALATIANS:  Almost immediately, those that had their own agenda attacked the young church.  By the Holy Ghost, this book is given to correct the Judaizers that wanted to impose the legalistic laws that had crippled Judaism.  The glorious Gospel was sufficient to transform men to Holiness of life.  Rigid rules that had no Biblical substance were to be rejected.  Since the beginning, this unbiblical crowd has attacked the church world.  Unbiblical laws or truths stretched to unbiblical levels always create bondage to those that are brought under these legalists.  The Bible sets forth the pure life, there is freedom in truth.

·    EPHESIANS:  The Holy Ghost gives us a breathtaking picture of the church of Jesus Christ in this great book.  His church is called to sit in Heavenly places with Him.  The Spirit calls us His chosen; we are predestined to be adopted into His family or body.  He plainly states that we are no longer strangers but fellow citizens together.  Holiness out of sin and unity in Him is His theme.  He warns us in closing that there are numerous enemies, but we are protected if we put on His armor.

·    PHILIPPIANS:  This book takes us into the life of absolute abandonment to Jesus Christ.  Our Lord is shown by the Holy Ghost to be our example and we are advised to share His nature and His suffering.  The Christian life is not presented as some “happy go lucky” walk in a rose garden, but warfare of the brave disciple.  He advised us to count fleshly gain as loss.

·    COLOSSIANS:  This great little book gives us a fresh look as the preeminence of Jesus Christ.  Human ideas and philosophies have been many in every generation but they pale in the light of Christ.  The Spirit is warning us that human wisdom never adds to Scripture but always distracts.  Our steadfastness in Christ is required and will produce a great and Godly life.  In all our experience we are to pursue sanctification or separation from the world’s unclean system.  The Spirit then finishes with our Hope of His coming and reminds us to “Rejoice always.”

·    I THESSALONIANS:  The Spirit had inspired many writers to remind the believers of His returning in the last days.  Even in the First Covenant, His Second Coming was often named in conjunction with His First Coming.  Now, the Spirit anoints the Apostle Paul to show the glory and resurrection that would occur.  He makes a careful explanation showing the difference between the living and the dead and how they would be caught up together.  This is the first time in Scripture that the dead saints are seen together with the living that are Raptured.  This was a marvelous revelation that became a theme to preach in the first century of the church.

·    II THESSALONIANS:  The Spirit uses the second chapter of Thessalonians to show the Antichrist that would appear and to warn the saints to maintain faithfulness in the Word.  He spoke of the great company of unfaithful believers that would be left on earth.  They were identified as those that “loved not the truth that they might be saved” (II Thessalonians 2:10b).

·    I TIMOTHY:  The Holy Spirit from Genesis to eternity is the Restrainer of evil.  The church was under attack almost as soon as it was born.  False teachers and false apostles are the business of evil spirits and the Spirit has always led the church to be His guard against them.  False doctrines are not to be tolerated and false teachers are to be forbidden and removed.  Clear authority was established in the church and all men were taught to be under authority.  God’s church is to be taught the great truths and preserved from her enemies.

·    II TIMOTHY:  In the Second Covenant, II Timothy is similar to Judges in the First Covenant.  In this book the Spirit speaks to His anointed apostles, pastors, or prophets.  It’s beautiful to see the Spirit instructing His chosen to “stir up the gift of God which is in you/us” (II Timothy 1:6).  He describes our calling as a “Holy calling” and is careful that we know that He will keep us against all our enemies.  He warns us to “watch thou in all things, endure affection, do the work of an evangelist.”

·    TITUS:  Every pastor needs elders that care for the flock of God with him.  They are not ordained to be dominant men but servants to the church body in spiritual matters.  Titus is directed by the Holy Ghost to ordain men to serve with him.  The Spirit established a high standard for these men.  His words were sharp and clear,  “If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly.  For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre; But a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate” (Titus 1:6-8).  Sound doctrine was a special theme in this anointed book.

·    PHILEMON:  The beauty of brotherhood in Christ Jesus is manifest in this small book.  The Spirit would inspire us to know the fellowship of saints without regard to worldly wealth or poverty.  The appeal is for a slave that had run away from his master.  The slave had been born again and Paul, by the Spirit, is appealing for peace.  Paul desired to keep him with himself as a prisoner in his own hired house, but refused because of Onesimus’ duty to repay his debt.

·    HEBREWS:  Reading the Book of Hebrews is like walking into the Holy of Holies.  The presence of the Holy Ghost literally saturates this book.  Of course, that is true with the whole Bible, but Hebrews is especially within this veil.  The Spirit exalts the Son of God and opens up the reader’s heart to faith in Him that makes the Christian life a victory that the Lord intended.  We live by faith, but that faith is in a triumphant and exalted Christ.  By the Holy Ghost, the Lord is welcoming us to experience the great victories of the church.  There is no excuse for failure.

·    JAMES:  The Book of James is a balancing book.  The Holy Ghost has filled the Scripture with the call to a Bible-centered life and this book presents a beautiful picture.  The theme is “…that faith without works is dead” (James 2:20b).  Those that claim a viable faith without a separated life will find no comfort.  It is impossible to be transformed by the New Birth and not live a transformed life.  To continue in sin is unacceptable in the Christian faith.  The Spirit gives wonderful teaching on being “Doers of the Word.”

·    I PETER:  God’s omniscient Holy Ghost knows each believer, their thoughts, and their walk of obedience.  The Christian life is not for the fainthearted but for the overcomer with his hands on the plow.  The Spirit instructs us to live in the Word even after many years of service.  By Peter’s hands, He said, “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby” (I Peter 2:2).  There is no age when the search of the Scripture becomes obsolete.  He warns the careless, “Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed” (I Peter 2:7-8).  We are in a race and the finish line is well worth the struggle.

·    II PETER:  This second letter of Peter appears to be the finishing of I Peter’s discourse.  God’s Spirit never allowed the promises of the future to become extinct in His Holy Bible.  Hope of the glorious future is a Biblical theme along with the whole of His Revelation.  This book calls the present life and future prophecies, “great and precious promises.”  Warning of false teachers is reiterated as we near the end of the Bible.  The Spirit warns us of exactly what we are seeing today.  New and strange prophecies are spreading over the church.  This book confirms their false basis when He said, “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.  For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (II Peter 1:20-21).  The Bible is a finished Revelation.

·    I JOHN:  The book of I John is strong language for those that apostatize the Holy Bible.  The Spirit of God and Christ is firm to warn against a sinning religion.  Yet, the voice of God does not forget that repentance is available to the believer as well as the unbeliever.  Sin cannot be tolerated, but forgiveness cannot be forgotten.  The Spirit shows us how important this book is by invoking the unity of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.  When the Spirit speaks, He speaks for the blessed Godhead in God’s full revelation.

·    II JOHN:  God’s Spirit tells us plainly to love one another.  Christianity is never more beautiful than when you see the purity of Biblical love.  Division is always the work of God’s and the true church’s enemies.

·    III JOHN:  Loving without the sacrifice of labour is false.  We love in deed not just in truth.  The Spirit calls on the Family of God to bear one another’s burdens.

·    JUDE:  This book deals specifically with the false spirit and false teachers that had invaded the church.  After using strong language that condemned this crowd, the Spirit helped the saint know the strong course they must take to protect themselves.  Studying the Bible, worshipping in God’s House, and enjoying the preaching of the Word were emphasized.  Then, Jude said that you must protect yourself against the spirit of error.  “These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit.  But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life” (Jude 19-21).

·    REVELATION:  What a finish!  The Holy Ghost literally compacts the whole of the Bible — every doctrine — into the Divine pages of the Book of Revelation.  This book is a drama, while the preceding sixty-five books are lessons.  Everything taught in the sixty-five books are displayed to be witnessed in picture form in Revelation.  The Holy Ghost was visible in Genesis one, spreading life and light to God’s sinless universe.  In Revelation He finishes all of God’s revelations and the Spirit, again, spreads God’s and Christ’s life and light to the New Heaven and New Earth.