Friday, August 18th | The Holy Spirit

Welcome back, everyone. Today is Friday, August the 18th. I'm Ryan Hill.

John Galantis. You're listening to Clearview Today with Dr. Abbadon Shah, the daily show that engages mind and heart for the gospel of Jesus Christ. You can visit us online at ClearviewTodayShow.com, or if you have any questions for Dr. Shah or suggestions for new topics, send us a text at 252-582-5028, or you can email us at contact at ClearviewTodayShow.com.

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We're going to leave a link in the description of this podcast so you can do just that. The verse of the day today comes from John 10, verse 11. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep.

I wasn't clear, or I don't think I knew just how extensively that shepherd imagery was all throughout the Old Testament. The shepherd king. We talk about Jesus being our king, and he's this royal king, our victorious king.

All that is true. He's the conquering king, all that stuff. But he's also a shepherd king, which sets him apart from every other king who's ever lived. Every king who has ever been on this earth, I would say really anybody in power on earth, has always had that... I'm talking about a position of high power, like a president or a prime minister or a king or this royal authority, has at some point acted selfishly, and has acted in their own self-interest, and has put the needs of his people second to the... Even the best king who ever lived has at some point done something like that, where he's put himself or his family or his court above the people. The shepherd king doesn't do that.

That's why it says he leaves the 99 to go after that one, because he knows that they're safe, but that one is still out there somewhere, and he will risk his life for his people. The shepherd king, Jesus laid down his life for his sheep. I love that shepherd imagery.

We like to use the rationality. In the New Testament, when Jesus is born, God appeared to the shepherds first, because he appeared to the lowest of the low. Yes, there's merit to that, but God has been prioritizing shepherds for a long time, way back into the Old Testament, because there's something special about that relationship between a shepherd and his flock. There's something quintessentially indicative of the gospel in that relationship between a shepherd and his flock, in that servitude, in that care, in that love and compassion. We see that, ultimately, in Christ, the good shepherd.

That's right. We got a message today, got an email. Someone emailed us after yesterday's... The best way to email it.

The best way to email us. I guess someone heard yesterday's world-class hissy, the tantrum from yesterday. This was Patrick C. Patrick, guess what? I waited a full 24 hours before I even checked it. How did that make you feel? Before I even responded. I bet it made you feel pretty low. I saw it, Patrick.

Thank you for emailing in. I'm just joking. If you could wake up magically, knowing how to play one musical instrument, what would it be? Piano. Same. That's what I was going to say, too. Easy answer for me.

This is 100% true. Any piano player, or any musician will tell you, if you can play piano, you can play anything. It is the fundamental instrument. It is the building block of music. If you can play piano with all of the key... Everything is mathematically laid out right in front of you. If you can master the piano, there's no instrument you can't learn. If it wasn't piano for you, what would it be?

What would be second choice? Probably banjo. Really? Yeah.

I think. Banjo is not the same as guitar. It's still got six strings. I think a banjo might have five strings.

I can't remember. They're laid out differently. You can't finger it. I have played banjos that are fingered like a guitar. Those are fun. I think probably a banjo.

Nice. What about you if it wasn't piano? I think probably the cello. I've always liked the cello. I like the way it sounds.

I like the richness of it. I love when there's a string quartet and the cello takes those low bass notes. I just really like a cello. I think just the versatility of piano. A bass guitar, you're not getting above a certain tone or a certain frequency. Same with a lute or a flute or whatever. A piano has everything that you need.

It's completely versatile. It's found in almost all orchestra instruments. It's just the king.

It's just the king. I wish I'd stuck with it. In college, I took piano classes and failed it. You certainly know guitar. You know trumpet, right? Trombone. Trombone. Yeah.

Completely different clef. That's the thing. When I go to read piano, when I go to read sheet music, I can read the left hand just like I'm reading a kindergartener's book.

But the top, what plays on the right hand. It's like, I don't know how to do that. Yeah. I can do it, but it's like a kindergartener reading a war and peace. I've got to sound it out. I've got to be like, okay, let's E. Okay, wait, let me go.

That's a space. Alright. It's really embarrassing to try to read.

That's me sight reading for vocal stuff. I'm like, uh, dink. Okay, alright. Hold on.

Give me like 45 seconds. I'm going to get the next note. Dink.

Yeah. Piano would be my answer. But then if it wasn't piano, I was actually, if not, what did I say?

What was the other one I said? Banjo. Banjo.

If not banjo, I'd say harmonica. But you play harmonica, don't you? No, I'm not mastered. Oh, I see. I can't really.

Like just wake up and be a master. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I would love to just be like one of the world-class like harmonicas savants.

It's a, it's a small, simple instrument, but there's a lot to it. Yeah. Yeah. It's a lot of muscle memory. Very cool.

Love that. I'd really like to know what, what instrument do you play? And if you don't consider yourself an expert, what instrument would you want to play? Want to wake up and be an expert in texting and let us know two five two five eight two five zero two eight or you can visit us online at cleaviewtodayshow.com. We're going to jump into our show in just a second.

So we'll be right back. Hey there, listeners. I'm Jon Galantis.

And I'm Ellie Galantis. And we just want to take a quick second and talk to you about Dr. Shah's and Nicole's book, 30 Days to a New Beginning, daily devotions to help you move forward. You know, this is actually the second book in the 30 days series. And the whole point of this devotional is to help us get unstuck from the ruts of life. And when it comes to running the race of life, it matters how you start. But a bad start doesn't ultimately determine how you finish the race. You can have a good finish even with a bad start. And that's where this book comes in. No matter who you are or where you are in life, you're going to get stuck.

Instead of going out and buying some gadget or some planner like I know I've done several times. I know that's right. 30 days encourages you to find your fresh start in God's word. Life doesn't have a reset button, but our God is a God who does new things.

His mercies are new every day, which means every day is a new chance for you to start over. You can grab 30 Days to a New Beginning on Amazon.com. We're going to leave a link in the description box below. And if you already have the book, let us know what you think about it.

That's right. Send us a text 252-582-5028. Share what God has done in your life through this devotional. Hey, maybe we'll even read your story on the air. Ellie, you ready to get back to the show?

Let's do it. Welcome back to Clear View Today with Dr. Abbadon Shah, the daily show that engages mind and heart for the gospel of Jesus Christ. You can visit us online at ClearViewTodayShow.com, or if you have any questions or suggestions for new topics, send us a text at 252-582-5028.

That's right. And if today's your first time ever joining us here on the Clear View Today Show, we want to welcome you, let you know exactly who's talking to you today. Dr. Abbadon Shah is a PhD in New Testament textual criticism, professor at Carolina University, author, full-time pastor, and the host of today's show. You can find all of his work at his website.

That's AbbadonShah.com. And Dr. Shah, something people don't really know about you is that you are a musical person. I didn't know that.

I am. Well, I knew that, but I didn't know that when I met you 10 years ago. I think there went like a month, maybe like three or four months of knowing each other. And then the reason I remember finding out was that we went and bought like a cajon. You remember the little cajon, like the little box drum?

Yeah, I love this story. So you walked in and you were like, oh, what's this? And I was like, oh, it's like a cajon. It's like a drum box.

The drummer will sit on it and it's like for acoustic sets. He was like, oh, let me try it. And he sat on it. I was like, okay. I was like, oh my, oh my goodness. He was like, oh, this is, this is kind of fun.

Yeah. He was like, this is, this is kind of fun. I was like, oh my. And then I remember one time you walked over to the piano, you were sitting down and you were like, oh yeah. Like, I was like, oh geez, where's, do you want to play on the worship team? No, I'm not that good.

It was pretty good. I was, I was pretty surprised, but someone wrote in and they asked if you could wake up tomorrow morning and be a master of one instrument. Banjo.

What would you pick? I said banjo as well. Yeah.

Banjo, really? I would love to. Oh man, that's awesome.

Yeah. I would love to. Like, like just pick it up and start, you know.

It's fine. Picking and grinning. It's such a fun instrument and they have those banjos that are like strung like the guitars, but to learn an actual banjo, like I would, I would also pick it up. You've never heard a banjo and remained at the same level of in a bad mood.

No, no. It has always improved your mood. I'm not going to say it makes you like perfectly happy, but your mood has always improved when you play the banjo.

I defy you to tell me anything different. There's just like a spirit of happiness that comes upon you when you hear the banjo. Well, see, I used to play the banjo, but this is not the banjo like, like this, but it's, it's, it has a name. It's called Bulbul Tarang. And, and it's, you strum it like this and it has keys, almost like typewriter keys. And you press it down and it does that. I want to, I want to type it in to look at it.

How do you spell it? B-U-L-T-A-R-A-N-G. B-U-L-T-A-R-A-N-G. B-U-L-T-A-R-A-N-G. Oh, I see. I see. Yeah. So, we'll put a picture of it for the... Oh yeah. You did show me that.

You showed me a, you showed me pictures. Oh yeah. Yeah. Okay. I played that before. Growing up, I played that some, and I don't know if I can play it now, but, but I could, yeah, play and it's beautiful, but it doesn't have the same twang like the Southern Appalachian twang or somewhere from, I don't know where, Scotland or Ireland or whatever, where these people come from, who bring this kind of music in, but it has its own, but it's similar. Yeah. I thought that would be kind of fun for people to know you because people don't really see you in that musical light.

Every now and then I've seen it. It's very impressive. One of my favorite comedians, Steve Martin. I mean, he's a master of the banjo.

That's right. He is. He's a master banjo player. I remember the first time I saw him play in like a TV segment or something, I was like, I had no idea that I was hiding in there.

It's always fun when you find that hidden talent that someone has. That's awesome. We're continuing our discussion today. We began it yesterday talking about, you know, this series where we're talking about the churches in Revelation, specifically the Holy Spirit in the book of Revelation. And you know, we learned yesterday that the Holy Spirit is often misunderstood or even neglected in people's minds, but he is a person within the Trinity.

Not three separate gods, but one God expressed in three separate persons. Well, I think what you just said has a lot of truth to it because it would have been easy for us to end after, okay, Laodicea, that's the seventh church. Now the series is done. But you found that pattern and you know that that pattern is there where Jesus says that, let him who has an ear hear what the Spirit says. Let's not do the thing that we know that we do, which is neglect the Spirit. Let's, not tack it on at the end, but let's spend some time in it.

Yeah, absolutely. We began our series by focusing on the examiner. The medical examiner is Jesus, who's telling these churches or warning these churches to change or else, but then he ends every letter not saying, listen to me, which of course we know we're listening to him, but listen also to him, the Spirit. And last week we, or yesterday, I should say, we kind of focused on the, how do we hear the voice of the Spirit? We learned that when we receive Jesus as our savior, as our King, the voice goes from external to internal. Every person in this world, since the beginning of time, hears the voice externally and the voice says, come to Jesus. Before the cross, the voice was saying, come to the one who is coming, who will die for your sins, who will crush Satan under his feet or the serpent.

Yeah. Since the cross, the voice says it is finished. Come to him and you'll be saved. The voice is external, but the moment you receive Jesus as your savior, the voice now becomes internal. An internal voice of the Spirit is different.

It's not come to him and be saved. The voice says, are you more like Jesus? Are you becoming more like Jesus?

Does the world see you as Jesus? And so here's a verse Ephesians 1 13 in him, you also trusted after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation in whom also having believed you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. So when does the sealing of the Holy Spirit of promise happen? When you believe in the gospel, when you believe in the finished work of Jesus on the cross. Verse 14, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchase possession to the praise of his glory. So he is now internally working in us until the day of redemption. He has us sealed and the work in us is the work to make us more like Christ.

It's not just telling us don't sin or be encouraged. Everything is to work Christ into us. That's right.

That's right. Of course, Christ is in us, but because we have lived in the world and we have the old fleshly nature, we, we, we are still hounded by the Prince of the power of the air that we tend to revert back to the old nature, the old nature of selfishness, the old nature of pride, the old nature of guilt and shame and lust and envy and you name it, bitterness, unfaithfulness, doubting. That's the old nature. The Holy Spirit tries to bring us into conformity with the nature of Jesus Christ and not just any Jesus, not just some Jesus, this ideal God man somewhere.

No, the Jesus of the Bible. And I love that verse you just read in verse 14 where it says the Holy Spirit's our guarantee of our inheritance. Because I think there's a lot of us and I've, I've been guilty of this too, where I'm just hoping that all this is real, that I really hope with all my heart, there's some days where I've got that guarantee, but then there's some days where I'm like, I really hope this is for real.

I really hope that when I die, that God is there and that I'm actually going to spend eternity with him in heaven. But the Holy Spirit being the guarantee of our inheritance, it's, it's very human of us, I think, to have that guarantee, but still want to, like you said, live in that doubt, live in that old nature. That's right.

Yeah. So the question is, how do we hear the voice of the Spirit? I already kind of began that answer with the, with the question when do we begin hearing the voice?

The voice goes from external to internal, but how do we hear the voice? Do we hear the voice of the Spirit like John heard him? Do we hear the voice of the Spirit like the other men of old? Well, John says in Revelation 1 10, that I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day and I heard behind me a loud voice as of a trumpet. Revelation 4 2, immediately I was in the Spirit and behold, a throne set in heaven and one sat on the throne. Revelation 17 3, so he carried me away in the Spirit and into the wilderness.

And then Revelation 21 10, and he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem descending out of heaven from God. So what does that mean to be in the Spirit? Does that mean that we go into a trance? Does that mean that we sort of lose control of ourselves and just kind of, you know, eyes rolled back into our head and just kind of, you know, we're listening to God?

No, I don't think that's what it is. The answer to that is actually in the Old Testament because that phrase in the Spirit is very reminiscent of Ezekiel's phrase of the Spirit lifting Ezekiel up, the Spirit lifting him up, carrying him up, bringing him here and there. We find that in Ezekiel 3 12, then the Spirit lifted me up and I heard behind me a great thunderous voice. Does that sound familiar? That's what John says.

John just said that. Verse 14, this is Ezekiel 3 14, so the Spirit lifted me up and took me away. Doesn't that sound like the revelation 17 three and revelation 21 10? I'm noticing the transitional pattern between all of them, between John and Ezekiel is that everywhere that Ezekiel goes or everywhere John goes, he's not traveling there. It's a spirit took me, right? It's very transitional and he's attributing that to God or to the Holy Spirit. Ezekiel 37 one, the hand of the Lord came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit and set me down in the midst of the valley.

It was full of bones. I want to make a statement here and I hope people will take it correctly and I hope they will take it appropriately, which is this. Many times there have been great, great godly people throughout history who have avoided the book of Revelation. They don't want to touch it. And these are people I admire. I have read their works. Not all of them. They're prolific.

They're very powerful in their understanding of God. But when it comes to the book of Revelation, they don't want to touch it because it's like, um, I know it's in the Bible. I know it's in the Canon. It's just, I don't know. Yeah. I don't know. They don't want to confront all that metaphysical stuff.

So it seems, yeah. But to me, if you really study this book, it is going hand in hand with the Old Testament. It is not as obscure. It's not as crazy. It's not as some ecstatic, uh, uh, oracle of some crazy man on some deserted island or some sun be bathed or sun, you know, basking beach or something.

No, no, no. This, this is very much in line with the Old Testament. I love that. The kind of language you've used even on the episodes here in the show where John is writing Revelation and the spirit is leading him in what to write, but he has those scrolls of the Old Testament open next to him, like Isaiah and Hosea and Ezekiel, all those old Testament scrolls, those prophets. And he's writing much in line and using the same terminology with those Old Testament writers.

Yeah. So as I'm answering the question, how do we hear the voice of the spirit? I'm also wanting to explain how John heard it. And John heard it the same way Ezekiel heard it because John is quoting from Ezekiel. Do you think we set that expectation up for ourselves that, okay, we, so if I'm in the spirit, I'm going to know it immediately.

He's going to take me away to the high mountain top and I'm going to see the same bit. Do you think we set those expectations for ourselves sometimes? Well, Peter helps us with that when he says no prophecies of private interpretation, but holy men of God spoke as spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. And I think in some ways that passage applies to John's revelation and Ezekiel's prophecy. It's not a private interpretation means you cannot take this and go, Oh, I'm going to apply this to my life.

I'm going to, I see how exact. No, they received the word of God, the truth of God. I can also hear from the Holy Spirit, but it's not in the same manner. The only way it works is when the Holy Spirit takes the word of God and makes it real in my life, applicable in my life, if you will. That's when I say, Oh, I'm hearing from the Holy Spirit. Now let me explain why I spend that much time talking about that because sometimes there are people who will say, Oh, the Holy Spirit is leading me to quit my job. The Holy Spirit is leading me to hook up with this person. And I think we are meant for each other, for life. Oh, the Holy Spirit is leading me to start this ministry or just to embark on this journey. And then a month later, six months later, a year later, it's all fallen apart. And now the next statement is, I really thought that was the Holy Spirit, right? Yeah. And it's because I think we don't have that expectation of how the Holy Spirit speaks to us. Because I know when I have, and you guys know that about me, when I want something, it's all I can think about.

You know what I mean? I have that desire so strong. I'm going to do anything and everything I can to justify why it's the right thing to do. And so the easiest way to do that...

Anything you ever want to justify from the Bible, you can. Right. The easiest way...

If you try hard enough, you can. The easiest way to do it is to say the Holy... Because how are you going to argue with me? Right. I mean, I can't invalidate your experience with the Holy Spirit. Yeah. God is calling me to leave my wife and join and be with this woman because I feel like that's where God is...

Wait, what? Have you read the Bible? Have you seen what God says about the wife of... What are you talking about? I love how you said once that the Holy Spirit, when the Holy Spirit does speak to you, it's always going to bring you in line with God's word. Yep. With the nature and the image of Jesus Christ. And that's what's happening here. John is lining up with Ezekiel.

And then in the same way, we need to line ourselves with the word of God. Yeah. And I think a lot of people can get disappointed with that because it's almost like they want that prophetic, like psychedelic experience of standing on the four corners of the earth with the Holy Spirit. Let me give it a little bit even worse than that. I was going to say better than that. Worse than that.

It's more of anything impulsive and just boom. That's gotta be... I gotta go. I gotta do that.

We know somebody like that. I had to, at that moment, man, boom. I'm gone.

Just gone. Yeah. You can't pin your intrusive thoughts on the Holy Spirit. That's right. Yeah.

Don't do that. Impulsive behavior, radical behavior, sudden shifts, as if... Could it be that the devil is causing that rumbling in your tumbling? Yeah. The rumbling in your tumbling.

Totally in my tumbling. Not only does he not even get the blame, you turn around and pin the blame on the Holy Spirit. Right. And I mean, maybe it doesn't apply there, but Jesus said it very clearly. He said, any sin against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but any sin against the Holy Spirit, any blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.

I'm not saying that applies completely in your situation of attributing to the Holy Spirit, your own evil desires, but I don't know. But be careful. Be careful. I wouldn't flirt with that. Yeah. Like if Jesus said it, I mean, he's got some weight to it. Yeah.

Maybe the Holy Spirit is looking very sternly at you and saying, don't you send that my way. Yeah. Don't pin that on me, dude. No. That's not... Yeah. Don't forget.

We said this before, but don't forget the Holy Spirit is a hundred percent God. Yeah. Yeah.

Like he's not... He's the third... Disembodied, ambiguous force. Yeah. Like the third person of the Godhead. He's not like the forgotten stepchild in the corner.

He's a hundred percent God. Absolutely. Yeah. Absolutely. In fact, to the point that the second person had to say, you better listen to him.

Yeah. So we've examined this a little bit. Like what is the Holy Spirit not telling us? Or what are these things that would not be attributed to the Holy Spirit?

What are things that the Holy Spirit does say to us? Right. So in some ways I'm answering each question, but I'm also answering the next question.

Right? So in some ways we already answered that. What does the Holy Spirit say? Well, we already answered that the Holy Spirit brings you in line with the Word of God.

John and Ezekiel or Peter and Paul and Moses and David, they're on a different plane. But we cannot be on that plane, but the only way we can also hear the Holy Spirit is when he brings us in conformity to the nature and the image of Jesus Christ as found in the Holy Spirit. But now what does the Holy Spirit say? Let's continue that discussion because the book of Revelation tells us, I'm not going everywhere. I'm just sticking to the book of Revelation. It says in Revelation 19, 10, that the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

Let me clarify first. That statement has been a topic of debate for a long time and still we don't have the final word on it, but the more I study it, I believe it means this. The Spirit, when the Spirit gives the prophecy, when the Holy Spirit gives the prophecy, the subject will always be Jesus. That's, yeah.

I love that. Doesn't mean that he'll always just say Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. No, he's going to tell you about what's what's coming up. He's going to tell you about the things that are happening and what things to be prepared for. But in the end, it will always draw you closer to Jesus Christ. It's not just going to be about things to come. It's going to be about the person who is coming. Right.

His nature is not to draw attention to himself, but to Jesus. Right. Or to the things that are going to happen. It's not about the chronology of prophecy. It's about the Christ of prophecy.

Right. And twice in the book of Revelation, we find the expression, the Spirit says, Revelation 14, 13, that I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, right, blessed are the dead who die in the Lord. From now on, yes, says the Spirit that they may rest from their labors and their works follow them. So it's a word of encouragement for those who died in the Lord.

That's right. Revelation 22, 17 and the Spirit and the bride say come and let him who hears say come and let him who thirst come, whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely. So Holy Spirit is also, when he speaks to us, what does he say? Of course he convicts us of sin. Jesus said when he comes into the world, he'll convict the world of sin and righteousness and the judgment to come. But specifically in the believer's life, he's making us more like Jesus, but then also he encourages us to follow Jesus. He encourages us to drink of the water of life, not the water of death. That's right.

That's right. And it's sad because we a lot of times keep ourselves from hearing the Spirit. Like we do all these things and we want to hear from him and we do that thing where we pray and say, Holy Spirit speak to me. And we expect to hear that voice just say it loudly and clearly.

But there's so much sin and so many bad habits and hang ups that we have in our lives that we've almost blinded ourselves. Like you were talking about a couple of days ago, that knocking that we almost can't hear it anymore. Yeah. You know what I mean? Yeah.

Yeah. And so what does the Holy Spirit say? He says, be like Christ. Let me help you become like Christ. Let me give you the power and the grace you need to be Christ-like. And he encourages us. He doesn't discourage us. He doesn't say, well, good luck. You know, the way you are, you're never going to get to be like Christ. To the contrary, he says, yes, you can.

Let me help you. So those are some of the things that the Holy Spirit does for us. And I mean, I can go on and on talking about from the book of Revelation, how he's the water of life, how he is the I self.

All those things are positive, not negative. That's right. That's right.

Yeah. So important for us, such a great reminder of who the Holy Spirit is and the importance in our lives. If you guys have questions about the Holy Spirit or things that we talked about in the episode today, send us a text to 252-582-5028, or you can visit us online at cleareadetodayshow.com You can partner with us financially on that same website. Click that donate button at the bottom of the page and let us know it's coming from our Clear View Today show family. We love you guys. We'll see you next time on Clear View Today.