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SERMON: SUMMON FORTH (Holy Spirit)
For some time now we have been talking about the Salvation Process.
We have been learning how to invoke the power of the Holy Spirit.
We have even discussed the definitive verse that describes the Salvation Process—2 Corinthians 3:18. In that verse we learned about moving from glory to glory as we become like Jesus Christ.
Never in our discussion have we specifically focused on the Key Element that makes the Salvation Process possible……the Holy Spirit.
It is the element that makes possible our becoming just like Christ.
As late as last week a couple of questions were raised about the Holy Spirit.
1) Who in the Old Testament had the indwelling of the Holy Spirit?
2) How did Jesus Christ invoke the power of the Holy Spirit?
My purpose today will be to answer these two questions as we encourage each other to …
FOLLOW CHRIST
To follow Jesus Christ, we must learn to invoke the power of the Holy Spirit like He did.
As a foundation to understanding how Christ summoned forth the Holy Spirit, we want to answer our first question…
1) Who in the Old Testament had the indwelling of the Holy Spirit?
Answer: The availability of the Holy Spirit to ALL people is a New Testament blessing dependent upon the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The key words here are “all people”. The Holy Spirit was not readily available to the people of the Old Testament. God did give it to a few. Notice this statement from our doctrine on the Holy Spirit:
It was through His Spirit that God created the earth. It was through this Spirit that David received his moral strength and by it Elijah and Elisha—men with normal physical proclivities and weaknesses—were made into powerful prophets of God. Even though these men and others had access to God's Spirit, it is also clear that they were among the relative few who in the Old Testament era were blessed with the privilege of actually having the mind and power of God work with or dwell within them.
God uses His Spirit to accomplish all His work. Whether causing prophets to prophesy, kings to reign, craftsmen to create bodies to be moved, or people to keep His laws, everything God does is through the power of His Spirit.
Let us look at some proof indicators that show this to be true:
Indicator One: Statement by Moses.
When Moses grew tired of leading the people of Israel, God told him to gather together 70 elders of the people. Let us read that in Numbers 11…
Numbers 11:16-17 16 And the LORD said unto Moses, Gather unto me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom thou knowest to be the elders of the people, and officers over them; and bring them unto the tabernacle of the congregation, that they may stand there with thee. 17 And I will come down and talk with thee there: and I will take of the spirit which is upon thee, and will put it upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with thee, that thou bear it not thyself alone.
Now drop down to verse 25 to see what happened next…
Numbers 11:25-29 25 And the LORD came down in a cloud, and spake unto him, and took of the spirit that was upon him, and gave it unto the seventy elders: and it came to pass, that, when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied, and did not cease. 26 But there remained two of the men in the camp, the name of the one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad: and the spirit rested upon them; and they were of them that were written, but went not out unto the tabernacle: and they prophesied in the camp. 27 And there ran a young man, and told Moses, and said, Eldad and Medad do prophesy in the camp. 28 And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, one of his young men, answered and said, My lord Moses, forbid them. 29 And Moses said unto him, Enviest thou for my sake? would God that all the LORD's people were prophets, and that the LORD would put his spirit upon them!
Moses wanted everyone to have the Holy Spirit.
Indicator Two: Israel expected a Messiah
Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
Isaiah 9:6-7 6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.
If the people already had access to the Holy Spirit, they would not be looking for a Messiah.
Indicator Three: Israel looked forward to an Outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
Joel 2:28-31 And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: 29 And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit. 30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. 31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.
Also read Isaiah 32:15, Isaiah 59:20-21 and Zechariah 12:10
These 3 indicators show us clearly that all people in the Old Testament times did not have access to the Holy Spirit. So now the question is: WHO DID?
Let us look at some of the few who did have God’s Holy Spirit indwelling in them.
We have already established one person and one group who were given the Holy Spirit when we discussed Moses and the 70 elders in Numbers 11. Let us read that again…
Numbers 11:16-17 16 And the LORD said unto Moses, Gather unto me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom thou knowest to be the elders of the people, and officers over them; and bring them unto the tabernacle of the congregation, that they may stand there with thee. 17 And I will come down and talk with thee there: and I will take of the spirit which is upon thee, and will put it upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with thee, that thou bear it not thyself alone.
The infamous Korah was NOT among these elders and never received the Holy Spirit.
Joseph: Genesis 41:38-39 Joseph is in prison after Potiphar wife lied about him. Pharaoh has a dream—Joseph explains his dream. 38 And Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God is? 39 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Forasmuch as God hath shewed thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou art:
Joshua: Numbers 27:15-18 15 And Moses spake unto the LORD, saying, 16 Let the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation, 17 Which may go out before them, and which may go in before them, and which may lead them out, and which may bring them in; that the congregation of the LORD be not as sheep which have no shepherd. 18 And the LORD said unto Moses, Take thee Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay thine hand upon him;
Samson: Judges 13:24-25 24 And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and the LORD blessed him. 25 And the Spirit of the LORD began to move him at times in the camp of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.
In Judges 16:20 we see him lose the Spirit.
Judges 16:20 And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the LORD was departed from him.
Saul: In 1 Samuel, chapters 9 and 10 we read about the anointing of Saul as King of Israel. In 9:17 we read,
“And when Samuel saw Saul, the Lord said unto him, Behold the man whom I spake to thee of! This dame shall reign over my people.” Now notice 1 Sam 10:6
1 Samuel 10:6 And the Spirit of the LORD will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be turned into another man.
David: 1 Samuel 16:13-14 13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah. 14 But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him.
Job: Job 1:8 And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?
Clearly indicating that He had the Holy Spirit.
Daniel:
Daniel 2:47 Nebuchadnezzar is speaking of Daniel after Daniel explains his dream. The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret.
So, we see that God makes it plain in His word just who had His Holy Spirit in those days.
Now we are going to address question 2…
2) How did Jesus Christ invoke the power of the Holy Spirit?
I am going to answer this question by looking at 3 different ways in which Jesus summons forth the Holy Spirit.
1) Gift Manifestations 2) Direct use of the Holy Spirit 3) Invoking of the Holy Spirit in and through others.
I will be presenting these 3 distinctions almost solely from the Old Testament so we can see more of the Work of the Holy Spirit in those days.
Be aware that we will see the names of both those who had an indwelling of the Holy Spirit and others in which the Holy Spirit worked for specific purposes.
1) Gift Manifestations. In 1 Corinthians 12 beginning in verse 8 we read of specific gifts of the Holy Spirit. Turn there and we will read of them.
1 Corinthians 12:8-12 8 For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; 9 To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; 10 To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues: 11 But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will. 12 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.
Take a moment to contemplate that last verse. We are the Body of Christ. Christ is the Head of that body and we are ONE with Christ. Christ invokes the Holy Spirit for that body and to that body. Since we are ONE with Him, we too can and must invoke that same Spirit.
Of the 9 Spiritual Gifts we just enumerated, Jesus invokes 7 of them in the Old Testament. Only the 2 regarding tongues are ignored. Let us look at the seven. I will give 1 example of each. Clearly there are more.
Word of Wisdom: ability to solve problems or needs.
Deuteronomy 34:9 And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hands upon him: and the children of Israel hearkened unto him, and did as the LORD commanded Moses.
You can invoke wisdom.
Word of Knowledge: ability to understand history, the future or to understand a specific situation.
In 2 Kings 5 there is the story of Naaman, a warrior from Syria who had leprosy. He heard about Elisha healing people and traveled to his house to be healed. Elisha heals him and Naaman is very grateful. He offers Elisha many gifts but Elisha refuses them and sends Naaman on his way. Now, Gehazi, a servant of Elisha runs after Naaman’s chariot and using Elisha’s name gets a bunch of those gifts. He later returns to Elisha’s house. Now Elisha had the Spirit of Knowledge. Notice..
2 Kings 5:25-27 25 But he went in, and stood before his master. And Elisha said unto him, Whence comest thou, Gehazi? And he said, Thy servant went no whither. 26 And he said unto him, Went not mine heart with thee, when the man turned again from his chariot to meet thee? Is it a time to receive money, and to receive garments, and oliveyards, and vineyards, and sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and maidservants? 27 The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee, and unto thy seed for ever. And he went out from his presence a leper as white as snow.
You can invoke the Spirit of Knowledge
Faith: This one is easy. When you get home simply read Hebrews 11, the Faith chapters and read of the gift of Faith in Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sara, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Rahab and a host of others.
You can invoke Faith. All these gifts were given by Jesus.
Healing: Again we can use Elisha when he heals Naaman of leprosy in 2 Kings 5.
In many places in the Old Testament we can see Jesus healing people directly as with Hezekiah.
We, today, have in us the power to heal.
Workings of Miracles:
Witness Moses before Pharaoh:
Exodus 4:21 21 And the LORD said unto Moses, When thou goest to return into Egypt, see that thou do all those wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in thine hand: but I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go.
We have in us the power to work miracles. Christ is our example and we are One with Him. Prophesy:
Another easy one to demonstrate. Read the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel and you will see this gift of Prophesy at work.
Maybe someday God will have some of us giving prophesy. Clearly we are uttering the prophesy of the Bible and to do that, ONE MUST HAVE THE HOLY SPIRIT.
Discerning of Spirits:
1 Samuel 28:3 Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had lamented him, and buried him in Ramah, even in his own city. And Saul had put away those that had familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land.
The identification of a person operating with a familiar spirit is not possible without this gift of the Holy Spirit. Christ invoked this gift through His servants in those Old Testament days. He can and does it with us today.
These were all Gift
Manifestations. Now I want to briefly look at Jesus Christ using the
Holy Spirit directly in His work in the Old Testament. 2) Direct use of the Holy Spirit
As Creator: Genesis 1:2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
As Striver with Man: Genesis 6:3 And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.
As a Revealer of Things: Job 32:8 But there is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding.
As a Giver of Fruitfulness: Psalm 92:13-14 13 Those that be planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God. 14 They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing;
As one who is Omnipresent: Psalm 139:7 Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
Proverbs 15:3 The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.
As a Renewer of things: Isaiah 32:15 Until the spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest.
These are just a few of the ways Jesus, as Lord summoned forth the Holy Spirit in His Work. But notice that last verse again. He is not just talking about Himself….He is talking about us.
Can we now see the importance of following our Elder Brother and invoking this extremely powerful Holy Spirit of God?
Now to the final way I have for you on how Jesus Christ invokes the power of the Holy Spirit…
3) Invoking of the Holy Spirit in and through others.
a) With Bazaleel for artistic and constructive ability Exodus 31:2-5 2 See, I have called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah: 3 And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, 4 To devise cunning works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, 5 And in cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of timber, to work in all manner of workmanship.
We can invoke the same power to do great works, both physical and Spiritual.
b) With the 70 Elders for prophetic utterance Numbers 11:25 And the LORD came down in a cloud, and spake unto him, and took of the spirit that was upon him, and gave it unto the seventy elders: and it came to pass, that, when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied, and did not cease.
We can invoke the same power for any utterance of God---truth, prophecy, encouragement and faith.
c) With Balaam for prophetic ability Numbers 24:2 And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel abiding in his tents according to their tribes; and the spirit of God came upon him. An interesting aside here and showing the depth of the power of God’s Spirit when it comes to both prophecy and God’s Word. Notice that God covers not only the spoken word but the written word:
Luke 1:70 As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began:
Matthew 5:18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
Jeremiah 36:4 Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah: and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the LORD, which he had spoken unto him, upon a roll of a book.
Jeremiah 36:18 Then Baruch answered them, He pronounced all these words unto me with his mouth, and I wrote them with ink in the book.
We have the power of God to direct our words and our writings as we do the Work of God.
d) With Samson for physical empowerment Judges 14:19 And the Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, and slew thirty men of them, and took their spoil, and gave change of garments unto them which expounded the riddle. And his anger was kindled, and he went up to his father's house.
Do we think that Jesus would not give us physical empowerment?
e) With Gideon for leadership and encouraging ability Judges 6:34 But the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet; and Abi-ezer was gathered after him.
Jesus is invoking these same qualities in us by this same Spirit.
One more example…
f) With Azariah for proclaiming the word of warning from the Lord… 2 Chronicles 15:1-2 1 And the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded: 2 And he went out to meet Asa, and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin; The LORD is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you.
Clearly Jesus, as head of this church is giving us this power today and we shout out a warning to the world.
All these things we have shared are examples of Jesus invoking the Holy Spirit of God.
Follow Him!!
Let me leave you with the words of our doctrine on the Holy Spirit.
God's Word reveals that the Holy Spirit is an "earnest"—a formal pledge or assurance—of eternal life which God has implanted within us making us sons. As long as this Spirit is living within us, we are actually sons of God and brothers of Christ. "Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His" (Romans 8:9). "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God" (Romans 8:14). Indeed, the presence of the Holy Spirit is the best criterion to define the true Christian: it is his only real ratification, for one cannot be a true Christian without it. As long as we nurture the Holy Spirit, and continue to renew it daily within us (2 Corinthians 4:16) through prayer and diligent study of God's Word, then this earnest of God's Spirit is the absolute guarantee that we will be resurrected to spiritual life at Christ's return ,
The Holy Spirit is yours for the taking…just like it was for Jesus Christ, so follow Him and do what He does…
SUMMON IT FORTH |