Overview.
As we have been working through our series we have seen: Our Spiritual Worldview will determine what we experience spiritually and will determine how we understand spiritual events. For example: If I see spiritual events through a pagan spiritual world view I will interpret spiritual events produced by the Holy Spirit as the acts of spiritual force as we saw Simon did, two weeks ago…An art to learn, to manipulate, to accomplish my will. I believe the Pagan Spiritual Worldview is dominant today, even by many who fill church pews, but if I see spiritual events through a biblical worldview, I will understand Holy Spirit is a person – not a force, or some kind of spiritual power, we can manipulate.
We also saw last week that the Holy Spirit is God, part of the Godhead
Father, Son, Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is part of the inseparable God,
yet distinctly a person/personality. A paradox – we have difficulty understanding.
We saw the Trinity works together to fully accomplish God’s will. Trinity in action
Father – initiates.
Son - accomplishes Father’s will.
Holy Spirit – brings to fruition.
The Holy Spirit is our connecting point . Through the Holy Spirit the Inaccessible God is Accessible. Our priority then is, knowing and understanding the Holy Spirit. The funny thing is – the Holy Spirit is the part of the Trinity we know the least, when really, we should know him the closest. So let’s find our more about the Holy Spirit…
Myth: The Holy Spirit is active only in the New Testament. The Holy Spirit has always been active.
We read in
Acts 2:1 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.
Acts 2:2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.
Acts 2:3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.
Acts 2:4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
And we are told by commentators – this is the age of the Spirit and they are right, but that doesn’t mean the Holy Spirit wasn’t at work since the beginning. There is a major difference in Holy Spirit working in OT times and today, and it is this: Since Pentecost the Holy Spirit is with every believer, before Pentecost the Holy Spirit was with selected believers. Today – all believers. Before Pentecost - selected believers.
We will see an example of this today from our Numbers passage. The Holy Spirit was working since the beginning….Let’s take a look at our passage from Genesis.
The Holy Spirit and Creation.
Verse 2.
2 Now the earth was formless and empty,
darkness was over the surface of the deep,
and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
NIV – hovering.
KJV - And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
ASV – the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
NRSV - while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.
Each translation attempts to capture what is happening here. In the Hebrew - literally, HMT – and rooch elohim j…wr MyIhølTa, fluttered over the water. Here again we have the trinity in action. Here the Holy Spirit is….present, waiting.
Maybe you have experienced a time where you felt the powerful presence of the Holy Spirit.
Story – Onoint With Oil.
We had a wonderful man, Jerry who had discovered another tumor behind his eye. So we called the elder together and lay hands on him and prayed, we onionted him with oil and prayed some more. Several people afterwards came up to me and asked: What was that? I responded - We prayed for Jerry, what do you think? No, no, something else, there was something in the room, there was a powerful presence.
Yes I responded, that was the presence of the Holy Spirit, you’ve never experienced that? No.
That’s scary. They were elders, what’s up with that?
In a sense that is what is happening here. There is a powerful presence of the Holy Spirit and something big is about to happen - light. God speaks his will and His Word creates. Jesus, remember, is the Word.
Trinity in action.
Father – initiates.
Son accomplishes.
Holy Spirit – brings to fruition.
Here from day one, in the creation of the world – the Holy Spirit is active. Of course the Holy Spirit has always existed – he’s part of the trinity.
Universal Presence of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is present all around us, but that does not mean the Spirit of God is in everything, nor is the he active everywhere, or with everyone, this is not Pantheism where God is in everything, the universe and its effects are God. No – there is God and then there is God’s creation. A tree does not have God in it, but the presence of God is all around us. This we need to understand: There is a difference between the universal presence of the Holy Spirit and a life empowered by the Holy Spirit.
Remember:
Father – throne.
Jesus – by his right side in power.
Holy Spirit – sent to earth .
The Holy Spirit Empowers. The Holy Spirit empowers not only at creation, He empowers the lives of his people.
Let us turn to our passage in numbers, chapter 11. I have always thought this the biblical book with the most boring title: Numbers. Zzzzz.
The Holy Spirit comes to empower. Universal presence does not mean empowerment. We see the purpose of the Holy Spirit moving upon people in this instance: They will help you carry the burden of the people so that you (Moses) will not have to carry it alone. The power of the Holy Spirit isn’t simply to be there - He has a purpose.
Example of the 70 elders.
Not everyone had the Holy Spirit before Pentecost, now Moses – already has the Holy Spirit. God tells Moses to get the 70 and Moses wasn’t too detailed – he had 68.
25 Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke with him, and he took of the Spirit that was on him and put the Spirit on the seventy elders.
When the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied, but they did not do so again. The Spirit from Moses Meaning – the Holy Spirit. They Prophase – exhibiting a phenomena that the Holy Spirit is actually with them a reaction to the powerful presence of the Holy Spirit. Then they stop….the power is not the prophecy, nor the purpose. The power will be when they are guided to help rule the people. What about the two who didn’t get the message? Eldad and Medad (I love those names). The Holy Spirit is not, is not bound by geography. We can pray for someone across the world or pray for someone on the phone, or pray for someone in the future…God is not bound by time. Eldad and Medad – God chose and acted, even out of place.
The Holy Spirit comes upon the 70 for a purpose…We who are believers have the Holy Spirit – for a purpose. If God gave the 70 his Spirit to help Moses lead. What does he have in mind for us?
Moses proclaims: I wish that all the LORD’s people were prophets
and that the LORD would put his Spirit on them!” and he has…
God has placed his Spirit upon us all, us all who have given our life over to Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit has been active since before the beginning of time. He is our connecting point with the inaccessible God.
