Opening Video Illustration: God’s not dead - trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXbXu5jHrzY (use HD) trailer
Introduction to today’s message from video: Is the Holy Spirit dead – is God dead – not involved or out of reach for the average Christian today? No He is not – He is alive and desiring to blow into our lives – we just have to open up our souls and feel Him.
Fan illustration: Turn on ceiling fans and pick up powerful fan and hold up to blow on the congregation! How many here can feel the breeze or the wind from our fans – next question – can you see the wind? Answer – No – does that make the wind not real?
Many think God and the Holy Spirit are not real because they are not physically seen. But I beg to differ with them. The Holy Spirit is compared to the wind in Scripture, even called breath, but even though we cannot see the wind – we can feel it, we can see what it moves, we can even see it destroy as in the case of a tornado. How many have felt that the wind is real? How many have experienced God and the Holy Spirit?
But some scientists who believe in the wind do not believe in God or the Holy Spirit. Just because you don’t physically see something does not make it real – like the wind we can feel it, we can even hear the wind. My premise today is "As goes the wind so goes the Holy Spirit and God."
We cannot see God physically at the moment but we can feel Him – they are real – we can feel and see the things God is touching – we can hear His voice – we can hear the testimonies – we can see Him moving things in our life. Would you agree?
So today I want to reiterate God is not Dead and neither is the Holy Spirit!
We have been exploring soul care and the role of the Holy Spirit in the OT to see how the Holy Spirit work. We started with Moses – then Saul - then David – note all three men acknowledged that God was alive and involved in the affairs of the people of Israel. They spoke of God being actively involved in leading His people through the exodus, through battles and through their leadership. Then as time passes by we find Israel and her Kings going through the ups and downs with God and leading the Kingdom. Some follow God, others deny God and follow idols, and some even declare that God is dead. To them He is not alive or active in the life of empires, families, kingdoms or even in the life of an individual. Today we find the same kind of debate raging on campuses, universities all across our nation, we see the debate on TV and talk shows. We see the debate on News networks and between many people today. The battle is over the question “Does God exist?”
We find that even in the church there are those who declare that the Holy Spirit is dead – not needed or active in the life of the church today. Not willing to lead and guide and do supernatural miracles through the gifts of the Holy Spirit. So is the Holy Spirit dead – Is He alive or not – Is He real or myth? Once again I have desired to show you through Scripture that He is alive and active – we just have to open up our spiritual eyes and ears and see and hear Him!
Today we will enter into exploring two Old Testament encounters between a nation, a king, a person and the Holy Spirit. We must ask the same question many wrestle with today – Is God alive? – Is He active in the life and or death of a nation, of leaders, of ordinary people and in times of crisis?
We also have to wonder - Why do kings (leaders) take over a nation who once believed in God and then walk away from Him? We may even ask - "Why do leaders take over a nation which declared the majesty and intervention of God and then throw him our as needless and even dangerous?" One word crosses my mind deception and disconnectedness.
I have been praying that through this series on the Holy Spirit and soul care that these messages would challenge you to see the important role of the Holy Spirit in your life. I pray you have realized, youyou've had a revelation from the Lord on the necessity of being filled and re-filled with His precious Holy Spirit.
It is His Holy Spirit given to us by Jesus which leads us to truth, empowers us to be witnesses for the Kingdom of Heaven. Its His Holy Spirit that breaks the disease of deception to God. I pray that as John Wesley prayed that you would receive this second blessing from Heaven. I pray that you today would feel the presence of the Holy Spirit and experience God today in a new and refreshing way!
Series: Soul Care and the Holy Spirit
Thesis: The Holy Spirit is active in the care of our souls if we let Him. He wants to comfort us, lead us, guide us, direct us, teach us and empower us. He wants us to be “Christ like” and to “Do the work of the Kingdom” in the here and now.
Key Verses:
John 14:15-18:
15 “If you love me, you will obey what I command. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.
Jesus promised not to abandon us so He sent us the Holy Spirit – who cares for our soul and spirits.
Introduction to series:
The Holy Spirit played an active role in the Old Testament in the care and empowering of peoples souls. We need to look at these people’s lives to see what the Holy Spirit did for them. What His role was in their lives. How He impacted them and even corrected them. How he empowered them for certain tasks. How He directed and guided. We need to learn from how they managed or yielded to the Holy Spirit so we do it right. We need to learn what to do and what not to do as the Holy Spirit empowers us.
Summary Sermon 1: Moses and the Holy Spirit
Two weeks ago we looked at Moses and the elders and saw how God helped them deal with the crisis of complaining and grumbling from the crowds of people (About 2 million people). We saw how the Holy Spirit cared for the soul of Moses when He was overwhelmed by the complaining and hostile crowds toward God. God empowered others to carry Moses load so that the people could be directed and corrected properly. We see how the Holy Spirit empowered these elders for their leadership task and we see how they were given the Holy Spirit – the same spirit on Moses was given to 70 others so they too could help lead. The sign of their Holy Spirit empowerment was that they prophesied – in other words they declared the wonders of God, the majesty of God to a bunch of people who were complaining about God.
Lesson to learn from Moses: From our Old Testament story God intervened to help Moses’ overwhelmed soul by spreading the influence and power of the Holy Spirit onto others. We also learned of Moses great prayer to Joshua” “Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the LORD’s people were prophets and that the LORD would put his Spirit on them!” That prayer came to pass in Acts 2 and we benefit from this generous act of Jesus – He sent us the Holy Spirit so we would not feel orphaned.
The other important point to remember is that the Holy Spirit does not just comes on us like He did in the Old Testament time but He will live inside of us and fill us with His presence and goodness – and with that comes power to change the world.
Sermon 2: Saul and the Holy Spirit
Thesis: Saul’s life is a tragic illustration of someone who grieved the Holy Spirit repeatedly and eventually God totally withdrew His precious Holy Spirit. After the loss of the Holy Spirit Saul becomes a depressed, jealous, fearful individual who loses it all.
Lesson from Saul: He had it all and then lost it all because of His disobedience to the word of the Lord. We learn what not to do from Saul’s tragic life and death and see how serious it is to grieve the Holy Spirit through acts of sin and rebellion to God.
Sermon 3: David and the Holy Spirit
Thesis: The Holy Spirit takes nobodies and makes them into somebodies and He did this with David. It’s easy to see from David’s early life that he was a man after God’s own heart, he loved the Lord. He was also very diligent in seeking the Lord’s direction in everything he did except one night! This sin with Bathsheba set David on a skid into adultery and murder. But in the end he repented of His sin from within his heart and was forgiven. Thus he earned the tile “A Man after God’s Own Heart!”
T.S. – Today let’s explore two stories of the Holy Spirit – a person – a king – and a nation and see how God speaks.
Sermon 4: Azariah and Jahaziel and the Holy Spirit
Thesis: The Spirit of the Lord the Holy Spirit came on both these OT men and spoke through them on behalf of God giving instructions on what to do and how to get the victory in their crisis or situation as a nation. They are both recognized as Prophets in the OT by Hebrew scholars.
Prophet: Definition - A person regarded as an inspired teacher or proclaimer of the will of God.
What is a Prophet?
Many people today think of a prophet as any person who sees the future. While the gift of prophecy certainly includes the ability to see the future, a prophet is far more than just a person with that ability.
A prophet is basically a spokesman for God, a person chosen by God to speak to people on God's behalf and convey a message or teaching. Prophets were role models of holiness, scholarship and closeness to God. They set the standards for the entire community.
The Hebrew word for a prophet, navi (Nun-Beit-Yod-Alef) comes from the term niv sefatayim meaning "fruit of the lips," which emphasizes the prophet's role as a speaker.
The Talmud teaches that there were hundreds of thousands of prophets: twice as many as the number of people who left Egypt, which was 600,000. But most of the prophets conveyed messages that were intended solely for their own generation and were not reported in scripture. Scripture identifies only 55 prophets of Israel.
A prophet is not necessarily a man. Scripture records the stories of seven female prophets, listed below (on website), and the Talmud reports that Sarah's prophetic ability was superior to Abraham's…
The greatest of the prophets was Moses. It is said that Moses saw all that all of the other prophets combined saw, and more.
The above taken word for word from http://www.jewfaq.org/prophet.htm
T.S. – Let’s explore the story of these two not well known prophets. Let’s see what happened when the Holy Spirit came on them and what the Holy Spirit did through them to change the direction of a nation and influence a king.
I. Azariah and the Holy Spirit (2 Chronicles 15:1-15)
Scripture Text: 2 Chronicles 15:1-9:
1The Spirit of God came upon Azariah son of Oded. 2He went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The LORD is with you when you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you. 3For a long time Israel was without the true God, without a priest to teach and without the law. 4But in their distress they turned to the LORD, the God of Israel, and sought him, and he was found by them. 5In those days it was not safe to travel about, for all the inhabitants of the lands were in great turmoil. 6One nation was being crushed by another and one city by another, because God was troubling them with every kind of distress. 7But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.”
8When Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Azariah son of Oded the prophet, he took courage. He removed the detestable idols from the whole land of Judah and Benjamin and from the towns he had captured in the hills of Ephraim. He repaired the altar of the LORD that was in front of the portico of the LORD’S temple. 9Then he assembled all Judah and Benjamin and the people from Ephraim, Manasseh and Simeon who had settled among them, for large numbers had come over to him from Israel when they saw that the LORD his God was with him.10They assembled at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa’s reign. 11At that time they sacrificed to the LORD seven hundred head of cattle and seven thousand sheep and goats from the plunder they had brought back. 12They entered into a covenant to seek the LORD, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and soul.
13All who would not seek the LORD, the God of Israel, were to be put to death, whether small or great, man or woman. 14They took an oath to the LORD with loud acclamation, with shouting and with trumpets and horns. 15All Judah rejoiced about the oath because they had sworn it wholeheartedly. They sought God eagerly, and he was found by them. So the LORD gave them rest on every side.
a. There is not a lot said or written about our man Azariah. I searched Bible software, internet, Bible Encyclopedias, Bible Dictionaries – this is what I found about our obscure prophet from Scripture:
a. Our prophet, was the son of Oded.
b. He had the Holy Spirit come on him and in turn he had a divine message for King Asa (910-869 B.C.)
i. Note: being a prophet in those days was dangerous – say the wrong thing and off with your head.
ii. Speak not the words of the Lord and you are in big trouble with God.
1. You are also labeled a false prophet!
c. His message is recorded in verses 1-7 of our passage.
i. He gave the message to King Asa by the Spirit of God – the Holy Spirit.
1. Very important point.
2. In those days many prophets just told the Kings what they wanted to hear but not Azariah.
a. This was happening a lot at this time in the divided kingdom of Israel with King Ahab. See 2 Chronicles 18.
ii. The King and the people of the tribes of Judah and Bejamin (Southern Kingdom of Israel after split) are reminded by the Spirit of God:
1. “The Lord is with you – WHEN – you are with Him” (vs. 2).
a. Condition for the Holy Spirit and God’s intervention on your behalf as a nation or individual is God is with you – if you are with God.
b. Are you with Him today in your life?
i. Is He number 1 in your life?
ii. Does he have the proper place He deserves in your life and in your soul?
iii. Is He with you? Beside you? In you?
c. Is He your Savior?
i. In the era of the nation of Israel Kings came and went some did good in the eyes of the Lord because they honored Him and served Him. While others rejected Him – followed their own paths and ways. Some leaders started or even allowed the worship of many Gods within their nation. This grieved the Holy Spirit of God and as the result He would depart and let them be destroyed by the evil they embraced.
d. The prophet continues “If you seek him, he will be found by you”
i. Promise of the Lord – Seek Him and you will find Him!
ii. Are you seeking Him today – desiring more of Him in this godless world we live in?
e. The prophet warns King Asa and the nation – “If you forsake him, He will forsake you!”
i. Warning from the Holy Spirit through this Prophet to the King and the nation – it is very clearly stated here and you will find similar warnings all through the Bible.
ii. But I am not sure many in our country or churches believe this today!
2. The prophet reminds the King and the people of the times their history and what happened when they did not worship - follow the true God! They met with disaster and it caused them personal and national chaos.
a. They had no priest – no one to intercede for them and teach them the truth – and they had no Law – No Word of God! So anything went and it went bad and caused calamity and chaos.
i. He reminds them of their godless evil ways which caused such heartache and sorrow and how it ripped their nation apart, their families apart, their social order apart. But when everything starting collapsing they finally cried out to God in repentance again.
1. But only after a lot of hurt pain and suffering.
ii. He reminds them of how unsafe it was.
iii. He reminds them of all the turmoil.
iv. He reminds them of the wars and the fighting.
v. He reminds them how they were crushing one another.
vi. They were troubled because of their disobedience to God and they were in distress.
1. Sound framiliar?
iii. The Prophet brings them good news by telling them to be strong – they are following the right path. They are to be courageous and they are to restore proper worship in Judah (2 Chron. 15:1-8).
1. If they do this then they will be rewarded with peace and prosperity.
iv. It’s important to note at this point and be reminded of what our prophet’s name means - His name Azariah means: “he who hears the Lord!”
1. Do you hear the voice of the Lord directing you today – to recommit to Him – to get rid of the things that are drawing you into distress and away from God.
2. Do you have a concern for the current direction of this nation?
3. Do you see that the path we are going down is leading to distress, disaster and chaos?
v. This message encouraged “King Asa” to do the right thing:
1. He cleaned up the nation up by getting rid of the detestable idols.
2. He repaired the altar so that people could worship the true God again and offer Him proper sacrifices.
3. They offered up sacrifices to God as a nation – re-committing to Him and His ways.
4. They entered into a new covenant with each other and God to seek after the Lord with all their heart and soul.
5. They drew a line in the sand with everyone – in or out – death or life?
a. Seems harsh but the battle was over life or death as a nation and for thousands of others.
6. King Asa even removed his grandmother Maacah as queen because of her worship of the Asherah pole and not the worship of God.
a. See verse 16
7. They took an oath to God and they did it wholeheartedly and they found God – the result was peace and rest for their nation.
a. It said Asa was fully committed to the Lord verse 17 even thought he could have done more – which would come back to bite him later in his life 35 years later to be exact.
b. Result of this Word of the Lord through Azariah and the Holy Spirit was revival in the nation of Judah.
i. Spiritual peace, spiritual rest and national peace and rest with prosperity and protection by the Spirit of the Lord accompanied this act of repentance and commitment.
T.S. – We see how the Holy Spirit came on Azariah and his words encouraged and caused revival. His Spirit filled words for the nation of Judah and King Asa’s reign brought life not death. Let’s look at our next Spirit filled moment in Scripture from the nation of Judah and Asa’s son Jehoshaphat who took over as king after his father’s death and see what the Holy Spirit said to him in a moment of crisis.
II. Jahaziel and the Holy Spirit (2 Chronicles 20:1-30)
2 Chronicles 20:1-30:
1After this, the Moabites and Ammonites with some of the Meunites came to make war on Jehoshaphat. 2Some men came and told Jehoshaphat, “A vast army is coming against you from Edom, from the other side of the Sea. It is already in Hazazon Tamar” (that is, En Gedi). 3Alarmed, Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the LORD, and he proclaimed a fast for all Judah. 4The people of Judah came together to seek help from the LORD; indeed, they came from every town in Judah to seek him. 5Then Jehoshaphat stood up in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem at the temple of the LORD in the front of the new courtyard 6and said: “O LORD, God of our fathers, are you not the God who is in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. Power and might are in your hand, and no one can withstand you. 7O our God, did you not drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend? 8They have lived in it and have built in it a sanctuary for your Name, saying, 9‘If calamity comes upon us, whether the sword of judgment, or plague or famine, we will stand in your presence before this temple that bears your Name and will cry out to you in our distress, and you will hear us and save us.’ 10“But now here are men from Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir, whose territory you would not allow Israel to invade when they came from Egypt; so they turned away from them and did not destroy them. 11See how they are repaying us by coming to drive us out of the possession you gave us as an inheritance. 12O our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you.”
13All the men of Judah, with their wives and children and little ones, stood there before the LORD.
14Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jahaziel son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite and descendant of Asaph, as he stood in the assembly. 5He said: “Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! This is what the LORD says to you: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s. 16Tomorrow march down against them. They will be climbing up by the Pass of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the gorge in the Desert of Jeruel. 17You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the LORD will give you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the LORD will be with you.’”
18Jehoshaphat bowed with his face to the ground, and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem fell down in worship before the LORD. 19Then some Levites from the Kohathites and Korahites stood up and praised the LORD, the God of Israel, with very loud voice. 20Early in the morning they left for the Desert of Tekoa. As they set out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Listen to me, Judah and people of Jerusalem! Have faith in the LORD your God and you will be upheld; have faith in his prophets and you will be successful.”
21After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the LORD and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying: “Give thanks to the LORD, for his love endures forever.” 22As they began to sing and praise, the LORD set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated. 23The men of Ammon and Moab rose up against the men from Mount Seir to destroy and annihilate them. After they finished slaughtering the men from Seir, they helped to destroy one another. 24When the men of Judah came to the place that overlooks the desert and looked toward the vast army, they saw only dead bodies lying on the ground; no one had escaped.
25So Jehoshaphat and his men went to carry off their plunder, and they found among them a great amount of equipment and clothing and also articles of value—more than they could take away. There was so much plunder that it took three days to collect it. 26On the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Beracah, where they praised the LORD. This is why it is called the Valley of Beracah to this day. 27Then, led by Jehoshaphat, all the men of Judah and Jerusalem returned joyfully to Jerusalem, for the LORD had given them cause to rejoice over their enemies. 28They entered Jerusalem and went to the temple of the LORD with harps and lutes and trumpets. 29The fear of God came upon all the kingdoms of the countries when they heard how the LORD had fought against the enemies of Israel. 30And the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was at peace, for his God had given him rest on every side.
a. Jahaziel “Chaziel” was a person in the crowd who had gathered at the request of the King Jehoshaphat to pray and fast and request that the Lord come and help them as invaders were coming to destroy them.
a. He was standing in the crowd praying, crying out to God, fasting, standing alongside royalty, warriors, priests, Levites (his fellow workers), leaders, farmers, elders, judges and a king who had gotten the bad news of the large army coming to destroy them.
b. Jahaziel has the Spirit of the Lord come on him and he gets a detailed – personal word from the Lord about their serious situation. He unashamedly speaks it out to the King, the leaders, the warriors, the generals, the holy men and they listen to the words that flow through his lips to their ears from the Spirit of the Lord.
b. Jahaziel was thought to have been a Levite – but spoke here as a Prophet of God.
a. Levites were a member of the Hebrew tribe of Levi, especially of that part of it that provided assistants to the priests in the worship in the Jewish temple.
b. This name is, however, generally used as the title of that portion of the tribe which was set apart for the subordinate offices of the sanctuary service (1 Kings 8:4; Ezra 2:70), as assistants to the priests.
c. Holman Bible Dictionary shares what the work of the Levite was: Their work made it possible for the people to come to the tabernacle and offer sacrifices for the atonement of sins. The Levites assisted the priests in their responsibilities (Num. 3:5-9; 16:9) by preparing grain offerings and the show bread, by purifying all the holy instruments used in the Temple, by singing praises to the Lord at the time of the morning and evening offerings, by assisting the priests with burnt offerings on Sabbaths and feast days, and by being in charge of the Temple precinct and the chambers of the priests (1 Chron. 6:31-48; 23:1-13, 24-32; 25:1-6; 2 Chron. 29:12-19). Because of their work, the holiness of the Temple was maintained; and the glory of the Lord dwelt among Israel. During David’s reign, the Levites were integrated into the administration of the government, including the keeping of the gates, judges, craftsmen, musicians, and overseers of the royal treasury (1 Chron. 9:22-28; 23-26) In Jehoshaphat’s time the Levites were involved with teaching the people the word of God (2 Chron. 17:7-9).
c. Jahaziel’s word from the Lord encourages the king, the people and directs the people on how to win the upcoming war with a larger and more powerful army than there’s.
d. Jahaziel or Chaziel the Levite was a prophet in the Hebrew Scriptures. His name means "Beheld by God".
e. His message from the Holy Spirit highlights these words of encouragement:
a. Do not be afraid of this vast army because the battle is not yours but God’s.
b. The Holy Spirit then instructs the King and his army were to find them the next day.
c. He reiterates that they will not have to fight this battle but they are to take up positions and watch and behold the deliverance of the Lord.
d. They are once again told not to be afraid or discouraged.
e. They are to go out in faith and trust in the Lord who will be with them.
f. The next morning, Jehoshaphat led his people out, calling them to have faith in Jehovah, and leading them in praise. They saw their enemies turn on each other, kill each other and leave them a great plunder of wealth. They returned to Jerusalem in joy. After that, the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was at peace, for his God had given him rest on every side.
Conclusion:
What do we need to know from this message?
• We need to understand that the Holy Spirit wants to be involved in the life of a nation and the Lord is willing to help a nation, or a person who asks for His help in times of crisis and decay.
Why do we need to know this?
• We need to know that God and the Holy Spirit are not dead but very much alive and they want to be intimately involved in your life and nation. They have the power too and the willingness too fight for you, deliver and empower you to have victory in your crisis and battles of life.
What do we need to do from this message?
• The Holy Spirit directed by the Lord is willing and able to speak prophetically through people within the nation to lead a nation or person to peace and prosperity.
• We have to be willing to allow the Holy Spirit to speak through us to encourage others, build others up and be directed by the Lord to peace and safety.
• But we have to listen to the directions and instructions of the Holy Spirit to find deliverance, safety, peace and prosperity.
• We need to listen to God’s Word – spoken through the Holy Spirit – primarily the Bible.
Why do we need to do this?
• We need to go to the Lord in crisis or when our nation is in moral and spiritual decay. We need to assemble the people to pray and fast for God’s divine intervention so we can see deliverance and freedom from those who are trying to destroy us.
• When we do God will show up and speak to his people and bring the encouraging words “The battle is mine not yours – take up your positions and behold my power to deliver you and bless you as you go and follow me with you whole heart and soul.”
• Could you imagine a million people gathering in our country to ask for the Help and direction of the Holy Spirit? Could you imagine what could happen to us personally and to our nation?
• If we do this I believe we can see a revival come to our nation and to our personal lives.
Close with this video before altar call (5 minutes)
God’s Not Dead theme song by the Newsboys
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_OTz-lpDjw
