 were people in the Old Testament, in other words, the Old Testament saints, were they regenerated? Just recently I covered salvation, the progression from the Old Testament to the New Testament, and one of the topics that was brought up was were the people in the Old Testament, those who had faith and thereby were considered righteous, who were then considered to be fit for heaven, who were redeemed, who were justified, those people were any of them, did they, were they regenerated? In other words, was their heart changed from above prior to the cross? Now I gave a little bit more information on that and so I'll let you go ahead and if you want to click the link later to look and see at that particular video, I'll also put it in the description. But my answer to the question is, I don't think so, but it's possible. It's possible that the Old Testament saints were regenerated, but we've got a big problem. If we're going to hold to scripture alone, or some call it if we're going to use that and hold that to be the basis for our understanding, then we should do that. We should be consistent. We should not hold others such as the hypercharismatics to that same standard and then we ourselves don't do so. So if we're going to say if it doesn't say so in the Bible, then we shouldn't say so. We should do the same thing. We should apply it also when it comes to ourselves, even if that bothers our doctrine or our favorite theological statement. So if I say that the Bible teaches that Old Testament saints were regenerated, that their hearts were born from above or circumcised, that I'm going to need a scripture that will tell us that. I don't have that. Therein lies the problem. Could be true. Problem is, we are left without a passage to say so. Now, there were a couple of passages that came up that people wanted to have some clarification on, so I wanted to go over that. Both ticker passages also to show that that's not really what they're saying. One such passage, and we'll look at the second in just a little bit, one's in the Old Testament, the other's in the New Testament. The Old Testament passage is about David in Psalm 51. David's prayer is creating me a clean heart, oh God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your Holy Spirit from me. So the question is, does that or is that an example of someone having their heart regenerated? Well, it may look like it to some, and the problem is if you look at that from whatever your theological view is, if you look at it from those lens, it could color how we look at that. Let's look at what the scripture doesn't say, and also what we know about the scripture ahead of time. He says, creating me a clean heart. Now, is that to say that David previously, prior to his adulterous relationship with Bathsheba, prior to him killing Uriah, does that mean that he did not have a clean heart before? Does that mean that his heart was not circumcised? Before we continue there, let's go back and remember what God said he is going to do. In Deuteronomy 36, he says, more of the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, so that you may live. This is after he's stating that after they have been scattered, have been punished and placed in other nations, and then when God brings them back, then he says that he will, after that he will circumcise their heart. So God has promised that he is going to do something with the heart. Whatever you think circumcising the heart means, I take it to mean that that is their heart being regenerated, that the Spirit being put in their heart, giving them a new disposition, a new heart, if you will. And we see that also in Ezekiel chapter 11. There he says, starting in verse 19, he says, And I will give them one heart and put a new Spirit within them, and I will take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in my statutes and keep my ordinance to do them, then they will be my people and I shall be their God. Here he's speaking again, and he also reiterates this in chapter 36 as well, that this is going to take place after he brings them back, after the Babylonian intrusion and they have been exiled for seven years and they come back. He's speaking that this heart transfer, this regeneration, this circumcised heart is going to happen after that takes place. Well, going back to Psalm 51, when David is making this plea, what has not happened is this exile, and so therefore this changing of the heart has not happened yet at the point that David is making this prayer. Now let's go back to the passage that says, So creating me a clean heart, is that to state that he wants to have or he's looking to have his heart regenerated? Again, clearly his heart isn't regenerated at the time or are we to take that his heart was regenerated once, now he wants it to be regenerated again? Well, that makes no biblical or doctrinal sense, so it could not be that his heart was regenerated previously. Then after his failure, his moral failings, he's asking for it's heart to be regenerated? The question is, does that happen or is that what he's meaning? No, he's just saying, give help him Lord, guide him. Now it's understood, it should be understood that the Holy Spirit was not inactive in the Old Testament. It's not to say that if we're going to say or come to the conclusion that Old Testament saints did not have their heart regenerated, that does not mean that we believe that Old Testament saints did not experience a move of the Holy Spirit, that the Holy Spirit was inactive. The Holy Spirit did come upon people. The Holy Spirit would come and empower for certain events or certain things for certain purposes, just like, for example, King Saul. The Holy Spirit came upon him and then left him. And so the reason for David making this statement is because he saw after Saul's mess-ups, after Saul's sin, that the Spirit of God left him. The Spirit of God that was kind of anointing him and protecting him, certainly wasn't guiding him as much as God would have wanted him to do because Saul was certainly not an obedient person. So we know that that much hadn't happened, but there was some sort of protection around Saul by the Holy Spirit. And so what does David pray? David prays that exact thing. He says, Do not, verse 11, cast your presence away from me. Do not take your spirit from me. Not take your spirit out of me because the Holy Spirit at this point in time has not come to end well, man. But he says, Do not take your spirit away from me. Change me on the inside. And so the question is, is David asking for something literal or is this idiomatic? In other words, is this a metaphor or figure of speech? Is he asking, Give me a new heart? Well, he's not asking to do something that he said he's going to do later. No, this is to be taken more idiomatically. Basically, Lord, I need something done to me on the inside. Guide me, help me, Lord. Make me new if you could. Now, he does not give him or regenerate his heart. That does not happen because if we say so, then he regenerates his heart and we know for a fact that once a heart is regenerated, the Holy Spirit stays. The Holy Spirit does not come regenerate the heart and then leave. And so because we know that the prophecies state that God will in the future do this regenerative work that this is not what David is asking for. It's not going to happen until God, at least in Israel's case, is not going to do so until he brings him back. And then after that, he is going to regenerate hearts. And Jesus gives us this whole understanding of this in John three to explain it a little bit more so. And we know this happens on the day of Pentecost. Now, that brings us to another passage that was brought up to say that people before the cross could also have their hearts regenerated. Now, in this case, it's people who just prior to the cross, immediately prior to the cross, have their hearts regenerated. And a specific set of people, that being the disciples. John 14 is brought up as an example. And so let's look at John 14 and see, does this also say that people could have their heart or at least these disciples had their hearts regenerated prior to the cross. In John 14, 15, Jesus says, if you love me, you will keep my commandments. By the way, that part is important because remember, he says that I will put my spirit in you and cause you to walk in my teachings. So that needs to be brought out and understood. So going back to verse 16, look what it says. He says, I will ask the Father and he will give you another helper that he may be with you forever. That is the spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because it does not see him or know him, but you know him because he abides with you and will be in you. So when someone says that this is a clear example of the fact that at least these disciples had the Holy Spirit in them. Because the question that I asked during the broadcast was this. Were the disciples, were their hearts regenerated before? Did they receive the Holy Spirit prior to Jesus's death, burial, and resurrection? If so, then that creates a problem. We'll get to that problem in a second, but let's go back to this particular passage. He says, I will ask the Father and he will give. This is a future tense. Dose is he will give in the future so he will give you another helper indicating they don't have it now. They will be given this helper. Continuing in verse 17, he says that is the spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because it does not see him. So in other words, he's saying that that it's possible to see him, but they don't see him now. Who do you think he's referring to? He's not necessarily referring to the person of the Holy Spirit, but he's speaking kind of in a triune sense. He's speaking of himself as well. When you see him, you see the Holy Spirit, you see the Father. And so when you see him or the world can't see him, look what he says. He says the world cannot see him. They don't receive him because they're not seeing him, but you know him. Well, what does he mean by you know him? Well, he's speaking of himself. Now he says you know him because he abides with you. Look about, think about, think about that. He abides with you, meaning right now he's with you. He is, this is present active. So right now he abides with you and will be in you. Now, some will take it that it's the spirit that he's speaking of that abides with you. Now, notice the difference in the words that are used. Does he abide in them right now or does he abide with them? So if we take it that that, and I don't have a problem with saying this is the Holy Spirit, not a problem whatsoever, but it's clear the Holy Spirit at this moment is not in them. The Holy Spirit is with them or he abides with them. Let's look at the wording again. It says, How to how to par which is with, hui men which is with, may nay, remaining. And so with you, he is remaining for, beside or with, to you, he remains. So the spirit at this moment was not residing in them. This helper is not residing in them, but he says he resides with you, remains with you. Now, either he's speaking of himself or he's speaking of the Holy Spirit, but then he also goes on to say that he will live in you forever. Again, notice the future tense that the Holy Spirit will, the helper will live in you. He will mean that he's not at this moment. Now, if someone is still going to take that this passage is saying that the Holy Spirit is in them at that moment, that their hearts are regenerated, we've got a couple problems. One, where they regenerated prior to Jesus making this statement when he says in John 20, as he breathed on them, he said it received the Holy Spirit. And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, receive the Holy Spirit. Most scholars and I myself am in agreement with him that this is not telling them to receive the Holy Spirit at this moment, but really telling them that they will receive the Holy Spirit. The question is, if they had received the Holy Spirit at that moment, then does it also mean that in John 14, they received it then as well. So they had their hearts regenerated. So according to this logic, their heart was regenerated in John 14. Or prior, John 14 is letting us know that their hearts had been regenerated. They have the Holy Spirit in their hearts. And then John 20, they get the Holy Spirit again. And then what do we know happens in Acts? Acts 1, Jesus says, you shall receive the Holy Spirit and in Acts 2 it happens. So they had the Holy Spirit in them prior, according to John 14. In John 20, they received the Holy Spirit again. And then in Acts 2, they get it again. They get the Holy Spirit again. That doesn't make really good sense, does it? Now, what does Jesus say in John 15? He says to them, he says to them, when the helper that is the Holy Spirit comes, again, future whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will testify about me. And you will testify also because you have been with me from the beginning. Well, that statement that you have been with me goes back to what he said in 14. But you know him because he abides with you and will be with you. That's what Jesus points in 15. He says because you have been with me from the beginning. And so it should be understood that the disciples, their hearts were not regenerated. Again, Jesus in John 3 says, this is going to happen. He's comparing that or contrasting that with Ezekiel 36, Ezekiel 11, Jeremiah, Deuteronomy. All these pastor in the Old Testament that speaks of that God will do this future tense. And then Jesus even at this moment is saying, pointing to the future, that he will. And then when does it happen? We see the Holy Spirit coming upon and dwelling in them and they get these gifts like never before on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came and resided in mankind permanently for the first time ever. So I think it should be clear that there are no scriptures that indicate that mankind had the Holy Spirit regenerating them before. Is it possible that it did happen but the scriptures aren't clear about it? That's possible. But again, if we're going to hold to this view of letting the scriptures tell us what it says, what it means, in other words, soul scripture, well then let's not just say that we are leaning on the scriptures. Let's actually lean on the scriptures. And if the scriptures are silent about it, then we should be silent as well. Amen.