The Spirit: "The Gift" vs "the gifts" (Part 2) | Ep. 125

Embark on a profound exploration of faith as we journey through the impactful teachings of "A Walk Through Acts" and delve into the heart of the Gospel message and our response. Witness how the Holy Spirit's transformative power can redefine personal and familial ties, challenging believers to embrace truth with unwavering conviction. This episode shines a light on the complexities facing those who tread the path of faith—navigating the internal struggles that arise when the Gospel's radical demands intersect with long-held traditions and relationships.

Have you ever grappled with understanding the role of the Holy Spirit in your spiritual journey? We unravel the intricate distinctions between the gift of the Holy Ghost and the diverse array of spiritual gifts bestowed upon believers. Through scriptural insight, we illuminate the essential nature of 'dorea', the indispensable gift of the Holy Spirit pivotal to our salvation, and how it contrasts with 'charisma'  gifts of the Spirit to edify the body through its own members. 

This episode culminates with a challenge—urging you to share your faith with courage and love. Reflecting on personal experiences of witnessing to friends and family, we underscore the urgency of sharing the gospel with others. The discourse directs us to a deeper understanding of the ministry of the Holy Spirit from the New Covenant promises to the transformative indwelling grace that causes us to live out God's statutes, keep His judgments, and most importantly, do them!

Transcript

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 0:03

The vision received was that of blood cells traveling throughout the body, supplying the much needed oxygen and other nutrients to the differing members of the body to fulfill their purpose. Once the blood cells are spent, they must return back to the heart to be refilled before being sent out again and fulfill their purpose. It's time to hear the conclusion of the matter the gift versus the gifts. So his challenge was to read acts. Now, specifically, I had already studied and walked through acts. I did a teaching on it because I was doing a Bible study in my home at the time and I titled it a walk through acts because it was my way. It was how the Lord dealt with me and solidified in me what is truly the gospel message that the apostles preached, what is the gospel of the kingdom? And then, how does one respond biblically Not in today's day, I'm talking about biblically how does one respond to that gospel? At least, that's what I thought the challenge was going to be. So I told him to go to my website and read a walk through acts. Now, if you've been listening to this podcast for any period of time, you will know that I gave that teaching, or at least an audio version of that teaching and it's been released as a podcast. A walk through acts is also found on our website at our fathersheartorg, so it can be read or you can listen to it.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 1:52

And I said read a walk through acts and then let's come back and talk, because in a walk through acts I take you through the witnesses that are found in the scriptures as to what is the gospel, how does one respond to it. And it also answers the question how did first century Christians know that someone received the gift of the Holy Ghost? So, as I said, that's what I thought the challenge was, but I did not realize that the challenge for him was going to be something else. Probably, I maybe had an inkling I mean, I knew as it was happening, but I didn't realize beforehand. When I said that challenge to him, the challenge became well, in my perspective, in my opinion, his wife and his family, and I probably should have known, because I've seen this happen before One of the most difficult things, I think. I guess, based on my experience, maybe I'm not as wise as I'd like to think that I am in ministering the gospel, the scriptures has something about he who wins a soul is wise, but you live and you learn, and so that's what I'm sharing here.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 3:27

I've seen, when we minister the gospel to someone that believes that they're already in the faith, it is the hardest, most difficult ministry. Sometimes I think it's easier to minister to the world sometimes I'm not going to say all the time, but sometimes but it is very, very challenging to minister to someone who believes that they're already in the faith, because they believe that they're already in the faith and they don't have to do anything. But it's happened over and over again, many different times, many different testimonies. I can share that when we minister to gospel to someone, on the surface, they receive it, they hear it and they agree, but then they start thinking about family members, relatives. What about my mom? What about my dad? What about my grandparents? What about this person, that person and I keep repeating the same thing Today is the day of salvation for you. We're not talking about relatives in the past that have already gone on. We're talking about today and you.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 4:53

So the challenge is not only the word or grappling with the word and wrestling with the word. Sometimes we're wrestling with the word, but sometimes we're not. We actually see it, receive it, but then we start wrestling with the effects of adhering to the word, because it not only applies to you personally, it applies to your family, it applies to your loved ones, in which the word applies to them as well. I mean, it's enough of a burden to bear when the decision only affects you and a lot of times, if it's a single person and it's not really affecting anyone maybe it's affecting their parents or something it may be hard, it may be difficult, but they hold on to it, they receive it. But when it's their wife or their husband or their children, then it becomes very difficult because the decisions that they make in regards to receiving the word or accepting the word or rejecting the word, will have ripple-like consequences, not only on you but on those that are close to you, with whom you love. And I've seen potential brothers and sisters cave to their family, to their loved ones, to traditions, to beliefs, rather than ad here, to the word of God, rather than to embrace the word of truth and trust him to shine his light upon their family, members and relatives as well.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 6:37

Now, the reason why I shared all of the previous scriptures, because it was in response to the answer, that boldness in sharing the gospel was the sign that someone had received the gift of the Holy Ghost. So, without letting go of the question, I wanted to show him where to go in the scriptures to find the answer to that question, because he didn't have a biblical response to answer the question. But as we got back to talking again after he read a walk through Acts, the question or the argument shifted. He changed the argument, he changed the question and it began to be well, the gift of the Holy Ghost and the gifts of the Spirit are the same, and not everyone who receives, not everyone receives all the gifts, as it says in 1 Corinthians 12. And so then, since the argument changed, now we had to deal with a new issue, because the argument now is all of those gifts that we see in 1 Corinthians 12, and many people just harp on the nine gifts of the Spirit, the word of knowledge, the word of wisdom, prophecy, interpretation of tongues, tongues, miracles, faith all those nine gifts are like the gift of the Holy Ghost. So they lump them all together. And because 1 Corinthians 12 well not everybody prophesies or not, everybody does this or not everybody moves in this gift, they rationalize and argue that will not everybody has to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost as we see in the scriptures, because their issue then began to be well, I've never spoken in tongues, so that became a back-and-forth between him and I, and I remember being with him on a Zoom conversation. We were talking about this and he would look to his side as if he was talking to someone or as if someone was talking to him, and then I started to perceive and understand his struggle and his battle, because his wife was seemed to be very successful and high up there and serving the Lord and being a part of, I think, a ministry that provides Bibles in different locations of the world or something like that, and she did a lot of presentations. Basically, both of them had never experienced the baptism of the Holy Ghost as described in the Bible, and that became the issue and it was hard to address that anymore because now it became personal. So recently in the fellowship that I find myself in, we had small groups in our home and we were discussing the gifts of the Spirit and talking about the differing gifts of the Spirit. But one of the points that the teaching made was the following, and it's something I want to share with you. I want to share it straight from what was shared in our small group, because the point that they made was so wow. I wish I would have known this point that they made so that I could share it with my friend, but this situation that I'm describing to you with my friend happened many years before this teaching that we received last year. But basically I'm going to present it to you.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 10:58

To some people, the gifts of the Spirit seem mystical. However, for the new Testament believer, it's just a way of life. To see God in operation in our lives is a great testimony of God working in and through his people to strengthen his body and bring others into the kingdom. The gifts of the Spirit that we read about in 1 Corinthians 12 are not the same as the gift of the Holy Spirit that we read about in the book of Acts. Now, that's what I agree with, but it was hard to try to explain why, and this, I thought, did a fantastic job of doing that. So listen, the gifts of the Spirit from 1 Corinthians 12 are not a must for salvation. However, the gift of the Holy Spirit is a must for the believer to be saved, for the Holy Spirit is the saving agent in every man's life.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 11:58

In Romans 8, 9 through 11, the Lord speak to us, the church, that if we do not have the Spirit we do not belong to him. So when we read in Acts 2:38 that the response to the gospel is repentance, baptism in Jesus' name, to wash away, to remit away our sins and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, this is the gospel and this is how we respond to it. Now, the word gift of the Holy Spirit is not to be confused with the gifts of the Spirit. Those are both different experiences that a believer receives and walks in and in his faith walk the gift of the Holy Spirit that we find in Acts 2:38, in Acts 10.45, in these two specific passages speaking of the gift of the Holy Spirit, the word for gift in the Greek is dōrea, dōrea, that means a gift.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 12:58

It comes from the word doron, which means a present, specifically a sacrifice, a gift, an offering. And the same word dōrea is used in John chapter 4, which I was sharing with my friend. John chapter 4 was the Samaritan woman that Jesus was ministering to, about the living water, the gift of God. But unfortunately, I had not looked in depth into the Greek word for gift in John chapter 4 and connected it to the gifts of the Spirit in 1st Corinthians 12. I had not done that. I wish I did, but God forgive me. But now I know this. So listen on, because in John chapter 4, when Jesus spoke to the woman from Samaria at the well, he tells her if you knew the gift of God, meaning the dōrea, with the root meaning of sacrifice, you would ask for living water. So this has to do with our salvation. And then when he speaks about it again in John chapter 7, the living water, saying that a man thirst, must come to him and drink. Remember that one those that believe on him as the scripture state, would have rivers of living water flow from their inner man. The living water spoken of was actually what the Spirit of God that would be received by those after he would be glorified. So, oh, okay. So this gift of God is a gift. It's tied to sacrifice, it's tied to gift and offering, and it's used not only in Acts 2:38. It's also used in Acts 10:45, which was the testimony of Cornelius. It's also used in John chapter 4 and John chapter 7. Those are all the same Greek word dōrea.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 14:41

Now let's look at the gifts of the Spirit in 1 Corinthians 12 through 14. The word for gift in the Greek there is not dōrea, it is charisma. That's a different meaning, charisma and dōrea. So charisma means a divine gratuity, a deliverance from danger or passion, especially a spiritual endowment. Subjectively it's like a religious qualification or objectively miraculous faculty or free gift. So when the Bible speaks of salvation, God uses dōrea to talk about the gift, because this has to do with a sacrifice. However, when the Bible speaks of favor, God uses the word charisma because that word deals with you ministering or serving the Lord Jesus in a gift that he has given you for the equipping of the saints, to bless the saints, to encourage the saints.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 15:47

It's a completely different use of the English word gift, but you wouldn't know that if you didn't look a little bit deeper as to the English translation of the Greek word. First word is dōrea, the second word is charisma. So now, having said that and realizing, oh wow, those are different Greek words with different meanings, that's something that I could have shared with him. Unfortunately I did not because I didn't have that knowledge at the time. But it doesn't change the essential need to have this question answered how does one know that they receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, or how does someone know that they've been baptized in the Spirit, or filled with the Spirit, or having received the promise of the Father or the blessing of Abraham? All of those different synonymous Hebrew idioms used, all meaning the same thing how does one know that they receive the gift of the Holy Ghost? So my question, then, is an answer to that question, because I believe I know the answer to the question. I'm going to share that with you now.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 16:58

But in order for me to answer the question, I had to ask myself well, golly, how do you figure out how the first- century Christians knew that someone received the gift of the Holy Ghost? I can't ask Joel Osteen, I can't ask TD Jakes, I can't ask Shambach. I can't ask any Word of Faith ministers, I can't ask Billy Graham. I can't ask anyone in the 21st century or the 20th century or the 19th century. I can't ask people in our day and age. Why? Because none of them walked with Jesus. If I am trying to answer how a first-century Christian knew that someone had received the gift of the Holy Ghost, I need confer with a first-century Christian. That, to me, is plain as day. It's as plain as the sun is on a cloudless day in the middle of the day at noontime. That's how clear I think that answer should be that we need to go to someone that was there. So that's what I did.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 18:28

If you look at Acts, chapter 10, verses 44 through 46, I believe that particular scripture has the answer and it's explicit. I've taught in times past in, our fellowship, and in different podcasts and teachings that there is a major difference between us generating doctrines out of implied statements rather than explicit statements. We have a tendency to do the implied because we want to prove a point, we want to take something out of context to set a pretext for something else that was not intended. We're all guilty of that. We do that all the time. We need to be aware of that and we need to humble ourselves and recognize that sometimes we get a little ahead of God to try to justify our beliefs, our traditions, our paradigms, instead of allowing the Lord to teach us, moving aside our paradigms and seeing what he's saying.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 19:42

When Acts, chapter 10, I go to first- century Christians and I look at their record. Luke wrote Acts and it says that Luke intensively sought after witnesses so that he could bear a record that he could present to Theophilus to explain to him what happened in the first century and all of the acts that were going on. That's why we have the book of Acts. It says in Acts, chapter 10, verse 44 through 46, Peter. To give you context, Peter was ministering to the Gentile Cornelius, his family, his servants, his friends, his neighbors, and he was sent by the Lord to show him what he must do. As Peter enters into the house, he is traveling with companions that also happen to be Jews. It seems that they were also obviously Christian, born again, because they were ministering with Peter, he was doing the main ministry and they were traveling with him.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 20:59

They went into the house of Cornelius and while Peter was sharing about Jesus because Cornelius didn't, he was praying to God. You can read this all in Acts, chapter 10. I'm just trying to give you context. But he was giving alms. He was giving to the poor, he was a just man, he was seeking after the Lord but again, like I shared earlier, he needed to be shown the more perfect way. Peter came and showed him the more perfect way. While Peter was talking about Jesus and identifying who Jesus was and what Jesus did and how God's mighty Hand was on Him as the Anointed one.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 21:41

While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word and those of the circumcision who believed were astonished. Let me translate that for you. Those who traveled with Peter that were Jews okay, they were Jews. Remember, they went into a Gentile house, which is forbidden. They were probably wondering Peter, what are you doing going into this man's house? He's a Gentile. You know we're not supposed to do this. What are you doing? So, anyways, while Peter is preaching about Jesus, the Holy Spirit falls on the whole family Cornelius, his wife, children, and, if there were children, his servants and neighbors. Whoever was there fell in the whole house.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 22:28

Now here's the key point to answer the question. As many as came with Peter of the circumcision were astonished because they saw that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also, for they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. That, to me, is point blank the answer to the question that I gave to my friend. How does a first century Christian know that someone received the gift of the Holy Spirit? And it uses the word because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also, for they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. And that, to me, is the answer. That's how they knew. And if you look at that w"for" for it's assigning a reason why did they know that the gift of the Holy Ghost was poured out on the Gentiles? For this reason, they heard them speak with tongues. That's a biblical answer. That's not an opinion, that's not an interpretation. That's literally reading the explicit statements of Scripture and coming to the logical conclusion that they knew meaning.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 24:14

The first century Christians knew that someone had received the gift of the Holy Ghost because they spoke in tongues. That's not a surprise. If you take a walk through Acts, you'd see and realize that that was the sign or the witness from the very moment that the Lord poured out His Spirit on the day of Pentecost. That was the sign they were speaking in tongues. It happened in Acts, chapter 8, to the Samaritans. Granted, I will say it did not say explicitly that spoke in tongues. It said they received the gift of the Holy Ghost. Didn't say what happened, but Simon the Sorcerer was astonished and wanted to buy the power of laying on hands on others for them to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, because he saw something miraculous happen. I think the Scripture state or infe r, an illusion, I'll go with it infers that they spoke in tongues. Because what would he have seen, based upon prior examples in Scripture, that would give him the envy in his heart to want to buy this power that Peter and John seemed to have when they ministered to the Samaritans and they received the gift of the Holy Ghost? It says they received the Holy Ghost. It just didn't say that they spoke in tongues.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 25:57

Now we have a third moment or example. This is prominent because this is the Gentiles. It's not the Jews, it's not the half Jews which were Samaritans, it's now the Gentiles. You have to understand that the Jews in the first century were getting their world turned upside down by this new covenant that was unheard of, unfaithful of that the Spirit of God would go to the Gentiles. That was like, oh, this is ours, he's ours kind of idea. They didn't understand that or maybe they didn't have a full understanding and revelation that Jesus died for the sins of the whole world, not just the Jews. Jesus was going to pour out his Spirit upon all flesh, not just Jewish flesh. But the Lord has a way to change paradigms and to shake the foundations of beliefs to the core so that he can construct his kingdom perspective. There's were struck to the core.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 27:20

Then there's the fourth example in Acts, chapter 19, which I've already mentioned in the previous teaching that I was sharing with my friend. In Acts, chapter 19, Paul was speaking to apparent disciples. They didn't know nothing about the Holy Spirit. They had only been baptized into John. Next thing you know, Paul is laying hands on them, praying on them. They received the gift of the Holy Ghost and it says they spoke in tongues.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 27:46

The witnesses, as far as I'm concerned, self-evident as to how does one know that they received the gift of the Holy Ghost. This is incredibly important because so many my friend and many, many others out there believe that they receive the gift of the Holy Ghost when they simply believed. But that's not what a first- century Christian believed. They knew someone received the gift of the Holy Ghost when they heard them speak with tongues. Not because they believed, because even the Samaritans if you go back to that example in Acts, chapter 8, they had believed what Philip was preaching. He was preaching the gospel of the kingdom, he was preaching about Jesus. They believed they were baptized, but they had yet to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, which is why Peter and John were sent to them so that they can finish the work. They prayed and they laid hands on them, and that's when they received the gift of the Holy Ghost. But it was testified before they came that they believed in the gospel but the Spirit had not yet fallen on them.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 29:18

So no, you cannot confess today, by your own interpretation, that you receive the Spirit when you believe, because the Scriptures don't even state that. This is important. This is incredibly important because the Spirit of God is doing a work in us and if He's not in us, then He's not doing the work. It says in 1 Corinthians He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, who has also sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. That's 2 Corinthians 1, chapter 1, 21 through 22. The Holy Spirit is a seal, it is a guarantee. But that Spirit is in our hearts to do a work. It isn't because of what you heard by us, it's because you allowed the Spirit of God to transform you from within. This is the ministry of the Spirit in us. But if we are falsely believing that we have received the Spirit. When we haven't, then the Spirit of God is not transforming us from within.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 31:14

It says in 2 Corinthians, chapter 3, you are our epistle, written in our hearts, known and read by all men. Clearly, you are a letter or an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone like Moses did in the Old Testament. On tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart. Man cannot write on the heart of another man. Only the Spirit of the living God can write on the heart of man the laws and the statutes that God wants you to walk in. And not only that. He is the one.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 32:08

The Spirit of God, if you remember from Jeremiah in the Scriptures that I read last, and then Ezekiel, is that he pours out His Spirit in us to cause us to walk in His ways, to guard His statutes, to keep His judgments and do them. That can only be done by the Spirit of God. But how is it being done when people are believing that they've received the Spirit when they have not? There's no work being done. They're deceived. There's a ministry of the Spirit. There is a work that he is doing in everyone who is called His son or His daughter, specifically those that are led of the Spirit of God. Those are the sons of God. Those that are led of the Spirit are not under the law. There is a work to be done that can only be done by the Spirit of God. That's Romans 8.14. That's Galatians 5.18.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 33:16

It says in 2 Corinthians as I continue on in this evolving teaching that Paul is giving in 2 Corinthians, in 2 Corinthians 3, verses 5-8,. It says Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the New Covenant, not of the letter, but what? But of the Spirit. The letter kills but the Spirit gives life. But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious, talking about Moses and the tablets of the Ten Commandments, that was glorious. But he says it was so glorious that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance. And that glory passed away. He wore a veil and eventually that wore off. But how much more will the ministry of the Spirit be? How much more glorious will it be.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 34:30

There's a work of the Spirit that's got to be done in our hearts and only the Spirit of God can do it. But it won't be done if we're believing that we have the Spirit of God when we don't. We are transformed by the Spirit of God from one level of glory to a greater level of glory. In 2 Corinthians 3 18, Paul says but we all, with an unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. It is the Spirit at work in us. It's not the gifts of the Spirit that is for ministry outwards. We are trying to minister and equip and encourage and help and build up others. But there is a work of the Spirit in us that can only be done by the Spirit in our hearts to change us from one glory to a higher level of glory in him.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 35:42

So in 2 Corinthians 4 16, Paul says Therefore, we do not lose heart, even though our outward man is perishing, meaning even though we're getting old and it looks like it everybody sees it. I'm nearly a half a century, but it says yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. The inward man, our spirit, our heart by the Spirit of the Lord is being renewed day by day. He furthermore says in 2 Corinthians 5, oh, man, it's just awesome when you get into the Word and God starts opening up your eyes and see things that you didn't see before. But he says in 2 Corinthians 5, verses 1-5, Paul says we know that if our earthly house you know this tent is destroyed, you know this body, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal, in the heavens.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 36:45

For in this we groan earnestly, desiring to be clothed with our habitation, which is from heaven. There's an earthly house that is going to be destroyed, in other words, it's going to die, it's going to return to the dust. But we have a building from God, it's eternal and it's in the heavens, and we are earnestly groaning and desiring to be clothed with that habitation, if, indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. For we who are in this tent meaning us right now living, are in this tabernacle, in this body. We're groaning, we're burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, we don't want to be naked, we don't want to be ashamed. No, we want to be further clothed. In other words, we want to go from glory to glory, greater glory. We want this mortality, this body that is going to die, to be swallowed up by life.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 37:39

Now, he who has prepared us for this very thing is who. God, who also has given us the Spirit as a what? Guarantee, which was that first scripture that I started with in 2 Corinthians 1, 21, and 22. God, who also sealed us and given us the Spirit in our heart as a guarantee. This is why it's so important that we receive the correct Spirit, not a counterfeit Spirit, not a lying Spirit, a deceiving Spirit that causes us to be believing in a lie and deceiving us from the reality of being baptized in the Spirit. This is why, in 2 Corinthians 11, paul says hey, he who comes preaching another Jesus whom we have not preached. If you receive a different Spirit which you have not received, or a different Gospel which you have not accepted, you put up with it. He's fed up with it as much as I'm fed up with it when I hear people talking about stuff and they have no scripture for it. They begin to believe a lie and it's heartbreaking, but I'm sympathetic to it because I know that I didn't always know what I know now.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 39:10

It took me time, it took me study, it took me humility, it took me being humbled, thinking I knew it all because I went to Christian schools all my life. And what are you talking about? I've been reading all of this stuff all my life. They've been having me memorize these verses all my life. I said this in my testimony. But we don't have intimate relationships with words on a page, not the intimate relationships with a book. We have relationships with other people. We have relationships with a divine being, God, and unfortunately, there is the possibility that we could receive another Jesus that Paul never preached. We could receive another Spirit that Paul never wanted us to receive, or we could receive another Gospel that Paul never preached.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 40:16

I say again there is a work of the Spirit that can only be completed by the Spirit. Paul spoke of this to the Galatians. He called them hey, you foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you, was crucified? Listen, this is the only thing I want to learn from you. He asked them. Listen to the question did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? You see he's saying right there that the work of the Spirit can only be completed by the Spirit. You can't give the reigns to the Spirit in the beginning and then go off on your own and finish it yourself. You don't have that authority, you don't have the power to do that.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 41:22

Then he says in the next, or actually 11 verses later, paul says that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Jesus said you must believe on me, as the Scriptures have said, and out of your belly, in other words out of your heart, shall flow the rivers of living water. That's the Spirit of God. I continue reading all of these Scriptures to continue giving you evidence that this is solely a ministry of the Spirit. Paul says to the Ephesians, in chapter 1, verses 13 and 14, in him you also trusted when, 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, who is the guarantee of our inheritance. Until when? Until when? Until when the redemption of the precious possession to the praise of his glory?

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 42:37

Now some people read that and they keep saying but see, see, see, right there, right there. That's when you believed, you, when you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, when you believed or when you trusted after you heard the word of truth. But you see, the biblical record, the testimony of the first century Christians, does not justify that belief that you receive when you believe. I already gave you that example. In Acts, chapter 8, the Samaritans believe. They believe the gospel. They were baptized in Jesus' name, but they had not received the gift of the Holy Ghost. It had not yet fallen upon them. It says so.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 43:23

That's the wrong interpretation. You're taking it out of context. That's what I'm saying. We take certain scriptures out of context to justify our own preconceived ideas and notions, and we cannot do that. We are becoming lost and we are deceiving others, and so the blind leads the blind and they both fall into the ditch. No more.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 43:54

This is why Paul warned us to not quench the spirit. Let the fire of his spirit have his way in us, tear down false ideas, tear down traditions that fly against the knowledge and the face of our Lord Jesus Christ. They're anti-Christ, they're in substitution to Christ. Don't douse the flame of the Holy Spirit, who's leading you and guiding you into all truth, with water. Don't quench the fire of His Holy Spirit. He says that in 1 Thessalonians 519,. Do not quench the spirit.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 44:43

And Paul describes the ministry of the Spirit in this way in Titus 3.5. He says not by the works of righteousness which we have done. Again, you cannot finish and complete the job of the Spirit in your own works of righteousness, it says. But according to His mercy, he saved us through the washing of regeneration. And what Renewing of what the Holy Spirit? This is the patience of the saints. It says in Revelation.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 45:19

Here are those who keep the commandments of God. This is in verse 12 and 13 of chapter 14. And the faith of Jesus? Then 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.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 45:44

Remember I started with the rest, the refreshing from Isaiah. I started that all the way back in the beginning, from Isaiah to Hebrews to acts, this refreshing coming from the presence of the Lord, my presence will go with you. I will give you rest. This is the refreshing, this is the rest which may cause the weary to rest. This is the receiving of the Spirit of God, where you stop walking in your own righteousness and you rest, and you will be led of the Spirit of God in all that you say, in all that you do, the works that follow them. That's described in Revelation 14, when it says they rest from their labors and their works follow them. They rest from their own works of righteousness, and the righteous works of the saints is following the lead of the Holy Spirit in obedience. Those are the works that follow them. They're not relying on themselves anymore. They're not relying on their own works or trusting in their own works. They're not relying on their own bright ideas. They recognize they need to be led by the Spirit. They need to be led by the Word who is living, who is active, actively at work, steering our lives in a manner that is pleasing to Him, not necessarily our flesh.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 47:31

So I want to reread again Ezekiel 36 to remind you of the work of the Spirit in verse 26 to 28. Talking about the New Covenant, building up off of what was prophesied through Jeremiah, who names or uses the phrase the New Covenant. I will establish a covenant with them, he says. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you will keep my judgments and do them. These are the works that will follow us, and when we allow Him to do these things in our lives, in our heart, then we will dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers. You shall be my people and I will be your God.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 48:43

So I close with my friend. I minister to him most of this, but the only thing that I did not minister to him because I had no knowledge at the time was the difference between the gift of God, dorea, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit, charisma. I don't know if that would have changed his idea or his thoughts, but my friend held on to his beliefs and unfortunately, sadly shortly afterward he did pass on. What happened to him has happened for thousands of years. It's not a new situation. I share this with you all because I want to encourage you when you have a moment, a time, an opportunity to minister the truth to your loved ones, your friends, don't hesitate.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 50:06

I don't regret trying to talk with my friend about salvation, about things that I believe are necessary.

j - Jesus M. Ruiz: 50:22

I know I did not do it in any type of condemning manner. We still loved each other, we still respected one another, I still prayed for him and he still prayed for me, and when we love one another, we're going to put at risk our relationships so that the light of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ can be seen. We're not responsible for the decisions that others make. We are responsible for ministering the truth to them, even if it means losing friendship, even if it means not being able to walk with them and that's happened many times in my life with different people. But those who love the Lord keep His commandments. Those who love the Lord will tell the truth in love. But they will tell the truth. Don't be fearful, don't be ashamed of the gospel. It's not your responsibility if they receive it or not, but it is your responsibility to sow the seed. Hopefully this message and the content therein will help you be better equipped to do the same in the future. God bless, thank you.