Authority, the Spirit, and the Word I. Introduction A. Christianity is a revealed religion 1. 1 Corinthians 2:1-15, Ephesians 3:1-7 2. For us to understand specific aspects regarding God and His purposes, He has needed to reveal them to us; we may know of His existence, power, and divine nature in the creation (Romans 1:18-20), yet anything beyond this has required specific revelation B. The whole premise of Christianity demands the investment of authority into its message 1. Romans 1:16: the Gospel, the Good News of Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, ascension, lordship, and imminent return, as the power of God unto salvation 2. Granted, this message has its power because it is real and true and took place in our reality (1 Corinthians 15:1-20) 3. Hebrews 1:1-3, 2 Peter 1:21: God spoke to the fathers through the prophets; the prophets spoke from God as moved by the Holy Spirit 4. Throughout the Scriptures there is the expectation to “hear the word of YHWH,” and to consider that word authoritative C. John 1:18, 1 Corinthians 15:1-10: No man has seen God at any time; no one has seen Jesus in the resurrection since Paul did 1. Thus, Christians believe that God has all power and authority, and has given this authority to His Son Jesus the Christ, not based on the physically present authority like the police or political figures (Romans 13:1-7) 2. Instead, Christians believe the testimony of the Apostles and their associates about Jesus as the Spirit gave them utterance; Christians believe that the Word of YHWH came to the prophets and they spoke and wrote by the authority of God D. Thus, as Christians, we do well to explore what we can know about authority as it relates to the Spirit and the Word 1. What authority is given to the Holy Spirit? How does it relate to the Word? 2. What, or Who, is the Word, and what does that have to do with the authority of the Word? 3. How does the authority of the Spirit and the Word relate to Christians today? II. The Authority of the Holy Spirit A. The Holy Spirit is a Person, not an abstract entity or force; He is God, reckoned as YHWH, and thus from before the beginning and ever will be (Genesis 1:1-2, Hosea 11:1/Matthew 2:15, Jeremiah 31:33-34/Hebrews 10:15-17, John 14:16-17, 2 Peter 1:21) B. If it can be possible to speak in this way, the Holy Spirit is most often seen in a “subservient” position relative to the Father: the Spirit is sent at the Father’s initiative, speaks the message of the Father; no direct appeal made to the Spirit of YHWH in Scripture, but always to the Father in the name of the Son (John 14:16-17, 26, 15:26-27, 16:7-15) C. The Spirit is the means by which God communicates with people, maintains a presence among His people 1. Hebrews 1:1-3, 2 Peter 1:21; cf. “thus says YHWH” throughout the Hebrew Bible 2. 1 Corinthians 3:16-17, 6:19-20, Ephesians 1:13-15, 2:20-22, 1 Peter 2:3-9: Christians sealed in the Holy Spirit, have received the Spirit as a “down payment”; Christians, individually and collectively, as temple of God, a dwelling place for His Spirit 3. Ephesians 3:14-21: not just a source of revelation, but also strength, and sent by the Father (cf. Romans 8:9-11) 4. 2 Thessalonians 2:13, 1 Peter 1:1-2: sanctifying role of the Spirit likely in the equipping of saints in knowledge and strength to pursue His fruit D. The Spirit does have His own prerogative, prays for saints according to God’s will (Romans 8:26-27) E. While Jesus speaks of sending the Spirit when He ascends in John 14:26, 15:26-27, 16:7-15, in His life the Evangelists speak of Him as conceived by the Spirit, led by the Spirit, empowered in the Spirit, even driven by the Spirit (Matthew 1:18 20, Mark 1:12, Luke 4:1, 14) 1. Jesus Himself spoke as casting out demons by the Spirit of God (Matthew 12:31) 2. This easily leads to theological conundrums: why would Jesus, as the Incarnate Son, need to be in the Spirit, or even be driven by the Spirit? What of His own power? 3. Perhaps in part because He had not yet been glorified and given all authority; still in a position of humility (Philippians 2:5-11) 4. Also perhaps on account of a consistent pattern in Scripture F. The Conundrum of Revelation 2:1-3:21 1. Revelation 2:1-3:21 features letters to the seven churches of Asia Minor 2. Each letter begins with a description of its Author, and the descriptions are specifically and uniquely of Jesus the Christ, the Son of God (Revelation 2:1, 8, 12, 18, 3:1, 7, 14) 3. Such is appropriate: John has seen a vision of Jesus, and Jesus is the Head of His body, which is the church, and thus in authority over the churches (Ephesians 1:20-23, Revelation 1:9-20) 4. And yet each letter also makes the appeal for the hearer to hear what the Spirit says to the churches (Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 29, 3:6, 13, 22) 5. And so we have the conundrum of these messages: who is making them, Jesus or the Spirit? 6. To explore this question, we must explore the nature of the Word in greater depth III. The Word of God A. Hebrews 1:1-3: God spoke through the prophets, in Jesus: that which He spoke is His Word 1. 2 Peter 1:21: the prophets spoke as God gave them utterance, moved by the Holy Spirit 2. John 12:38: Jesus fulfilled the word spoken by Isaiah in Isaiah 53:1; that word not Isaiah’s by his own invention, but moved by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:21) 3. Hebrews 2:2: word spoken through angels as the Law; the Hebrews author takes it to the next level in comparison with the word heard through Jesus, confirmed by eyewitness testimony 4. To this end the “Word of God” in the New Testament primarily a reference to the substance of the Gospel message (e.g. Colossians 1:25ff, 1 Thessalonians 2:13) 5. Paul identifies the “sword of the Spirit” as the “Word of God” in Ephesians 6:17, and thus we tend to understand Hebrews 4:12 in a similar way B. God speaks through His prophets and in Jesus, and the Spirit is the means by which that message gets communicated through the prophets and in Jesus; such explains the conundrum of Revelation 2:1-3:21, for even when Jesus is speaking, the message is conveyed through the Spirit C. And so the authority of the Word cannot be disassociated from the Spirit, for it is the Spirit who communicates the Word D. Nevertheless, what is the Word? 1. We have easily associated it with the message of the prophets and in Jesus as it has been recorded for us in Scripture, and for good reason 2. And yet John 1:1-5, 14: the Word was with God, is God, and became flesh and dwelt among us! 3. That Word is not the Spirit; that Word became Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God! E. John 1:1-5, 14, is not a one-off, either 1. John 6:26-59: Jesus spoke of Himself as the bread of life, that all need to eat His body and drink His blood if they would have eternal life; appeals to the Lord’s Supper insufficient, for such would still beg the question how it gives life; behind it all sits Deuteronomy 8:3: man does not live by bread alone, but by every Word proceeding from the mouth of God 2. Jesus, thus, as the Word of God; all must “consume” Him to have life! 3. But how would people live by every word which proceeds from the mouth of God? 4. Psalm 33:6-9: God as having created all things by speaking (cf. Genesis 1:1-2:3, 2 Peter 3:5) 5. And what would God have spoken? His Word, and thus John 1:3! 6. Hebrews 1:3: the creation continues to be sustained by the word of His power 7. Lo and behold, John 1:4: in Jesus is life: in the Word is life, and in this way people live by the Word of God! F. So the Word of God is not identified with the Spirit, even though the Spirit makes it known; the Word of God is identified as the Son who would become flesh as Jesus of Nazareth and dwell among us, and reigns as Lord to this day! G. Associating Jesus as the Word with the Word of God from beginning to end of Scripture provides a very different perspective on the whole matter, and the limitations of so many of the arguments made regarding the nature of revelation! H. God speaks His Word, which communicates His will and purpose; in that Word is life; for humanity that Word is communicated through the Spirit; the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and therefore it should not surprise us when the Hebrews author says that God has now spoken to us in His Son, and how everything about the faith involves being in Christ, since Christ, as the Word, is life and truth (Ephesians 2:10, 15, Hebrews 1:1) I. Powerful indeed! IV. The Spirit, the Word, and Christians A. Any discussion of the Spirit, the Word, and authority eventually must come to the situation of the modern Christian 1. Many in the world of “Christendom” to receive some kind of additional revelation or enhanced knowledge through some kind of inspiration: to sit in an authoritative place and make authoritative pronouncements, as modern day apostles or prophets, etc. 2. The difficulty with such claims is Jude 1:3: the faith was delivered once for all the saints 3. God spoke to our fathers through the prophets and now in Jesus His Son; the Apostles and their associates were inspired as eyewitnesses to make known what they had seen in Jesus, and no one since has seen Jesus in the flesh, and thus could sit in a position to make such declarations (Acts 1:21-22, Hebrews 1:1-3, 2:3-4) 4. And so 1 Corinthians 13:8-10: speaking in tongues, prophecy, knowledge of Christ in part at that moment; speaking in tongues, prophecy, and new knowledge would cease when the revelation would be made complete B. Thus, we have no reason to expect the Spirit to make anything new known regarding what God has done in Christ; what God has made known in the Scriptures is sufficient to equip the man of God for every good work (2 Timothy 3:15-17) C. At the same time, much is said about the power in the Word 1. Romans 1:16: the Gospel is God’s power unto salvation 2. Hebrews 4:12: the Word of God as living and active D. Is the power of the Word in ink and pages? By no means! 1. How does one come to know the Word? Through hearing (Romans 10:17) 2. Much is made in Scripture of hearing and speaking the Word 3. The Bible never expects a person to “study” it through silent reading 4. It is often explained by linguistic demands: Hebrew and Koine Greek could not be read silently, as we read; it would have to be spoken aloud to make any sense of the characters on the page 5. While this is true, the authors of Scripture make much more of it than just a function of the language 6. We do well to consider the basic definitions of the terms under discussion: the Spirit is pneuma, Hebrew ruach: breath, spirit; Word is logos, that which is spoken, word, matter, affair, etc. 7. Thus, God breathes out (pneuma/ruach) what He speaks, His Word (logos), and it happens, and stands fast (cf. Psalm 33:6-9) E. 2 Timothy 3:16-17: All Scripture is God-breathed...; God breathed it out, we are to breathe it in, and from it we get life (Deuteronomy 8:3, John 6:26-59) 1. We cannot separate God from His Word any more than we can separate Him from what He created: He sustains the creation by the word of His power, in Christ (Hebrews 1:3) 2. In the Word of God is life; we are sustained in that life; we must therefore “breathe in” the Word of God which God breathed out to us F. And yet, also, as we speak the Word of God, we speak the words of God which God has empowered through His Spirit in Jesus 1. Any time you have heard a person speak out the word of God as it came through a prophet or in Jesus, you have heard the words of God pronounced 2. Thus 1 Timothy 4:13: God is speaking through the person who speaks out the words He has spoken! 3. This has nothing to do with anything involving the person speaking: in God’s Word there is power, and any time those words are spoken, the power is present G. And, by extension, whenever Christ is preached, a message consistent with what God has made known in Jesus, the power of that message comes from God’s Spirit through the Word in Christ 1. Perhaps this is why Paul could rejoice when Christ was preached, whether in pretense or in truth: the powerful Word of God was being proclaimed (Philippians 1:15-18) 2. Acts 19:13-17: the sons of Sceva attempt to wield the name of “Jesus whom Paul preaches” to overcome a demon; the demon recognized the authority in Jesus as preached by Paul, but could overpower the sons of Sceva in their unbelief 3. There is spiritual power in the Word proclaimed, which is why preaching remains important and always will remain important; everyone reading on their own will not sufficiently accomplish God’s purposes in His Word (2 Timothy 4:1-4) 4. If a message is preached in the will of God, consistent with all He has made known in Christ, God empowers that message in the Word through the Spirit to give spiritual life: this is not direct inspiration of a person, for it has nothing to do with the person giving the message, but is all about the power in the message itself 5. Unfortunately, we humans sadly sometimes are not content to remain in the Word, but distort the message with additions from the world, culture, etc.; in these there is no life, and those aspects of the message cannot give life 6. Yet this should not distract us from the life that is ever present in the proclaimed Word of God: it has great power in its working, and is effective for its purpose, and will not return to God empty! H. Thus we have no confidence to believe that God is directly speaking through anyone as He did through the prophets and the Apostles and their associates in Jesus, but God continues to speak through what He already has spoken in the prophets and in Jesus, and His Word as spoken in His Spirit still gives life I. The Word of God is still the sword of the Spirit and is still living and active: when we hear the Word of God breathed out, we breathe in life in God; when we speak out God’s message in faithful interpretation and application, we proclaim life in God, and those who hear and obey draw in life from it! V. Conclusion A. We have thus considered authority, the Spirit, and the Word B. The power of the Enlightenment is pernicious in its working, seeking to separate out God from His Word as it did God from His creation C. We have seen that the Holy Spirit, as part of God, was empowered to communicate the message of God through the prophets and in Jesus D. We have seen that the Word of God is God and became flesh as Jesus of Nazareth; the Word is the means by which God has made all things, and man lives by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God E. Thus in the Word, having been empowered by God in His Spirit, is life; whenever we breathe in God’s Word, we breathe in life; whenever we speak out God’s Word in word and deed, we communicate the life in God in Christ F. May we heed the Word of God in Jesus and find eternal life in Him! G. Invitation Scripture, Meditation, and Application 1: For no prophecy ever came by the will of man: but men spake from God, being moved by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:21). The Holy Spirit is God; God empowered Him to make known His purposes and what He has accomplished through and in His Word. When the prophets spoke the Word of God, the Spirit moved them to speak it. The Spirit is the means by which God’s Word gets communicated to mankind. May we prove thankful to be able to receive the Word of God through the Spirit! 2: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (John 1:1). When we think of the Word of God, the Bible and its pages come to mind. Yet in its pages, the Word of God is identified as God who became flesh and dwelt among us as Jesus of Nazareth. God spoke, and things were created; what God spoke is His Word, and through the Word all things were made. May we heed Jesus, the Word of God, and His message which the Spirit gave utterance to His Apostles to proclaim! 3: And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by everything that proceedeth out of the mouth of YHWH doth man live (Deuteronomy 8:3). In John 6:25-59 Jesus spoke of Himself as the bread of life, and expected all who would have eternal life to eat His body and drink His blood. His Jewish audience revolted against a fleshly distortion of this teaching and never discerned its powerful truth. We must “consume” Jesus because He is the incarnation of the Word of God, and eternal life can only be found in the Word of God. May we live by every word which proceeds from the mouth of God! 4: For the word of God is living, and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and quick to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart (Hebrews 4:12). God empowers His Word with life through His Spirit. The Gospel is God’s power to salvation. The Gospel has power because it reflects t he truth of what God accomplished in Jesus of Nazareth. But the Gospel also has power because it is the Word of God, the same Word by which all things were made and continue to be sustained. Whenever we speak the Word of God in Scripture and in the proclamation of Jesus, we breathe out the Word of God, and it gives life. Whenever we hear the Word of God in Scripture and proclaimed in faithful interpretation and application, we breathe in the Word of God and live thereby. This is not by our own power; it actually has nothing to do with us as people. It has everything to do with the power with which God has empowered His Word. May we breathe in and out the Word of God, and share in life in God in Christ!