The Holy Spirit In The Gospels

THE HOLY SPIRIT IN

THE GOSPELS

INTRODUCTION

A. HUMOR

1. Bill Gates died and went to heaven where Peter gave him a nice house with a pool.

2. One day, he bumped into another man and saw that the other guy had a lot nicer things than he had.

3. So Gates asked him, "Were you a minister or something?" "No, I was the captain of the Titanic."

4. Gates was very upset to hear this. He marched off to see Peter. "Hey, how come the captain of a boat that sank on its maiden voyage gets all of that stuff, and I, the inventor of Windows operating system, only get my house & pool?"

5. "Well," said Peter. "We use Windows up here, and the Titanic only crashed once."

B. THESIS

1. Tonight we’re on our 5th installment on a series on the Holy Spirit. Tonight we’re moving from the Old Testament to the New Testament.

2. We’re covering the ministry of the Spirit during the earthly life of the Lord Jesus.

3. The title of tonight’s message is “The Holy Spirit in the Gospels.”

I. EVENTS NEAR CHRIST’S BIRTH

A. FETUS FILLED WITH SPIRIT

1. “He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born” Lk. 1:15. “When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit” Lk. 1:41.

2. John the Baptist was the first person ever said to be filled with the Spirit before he was even born. Others, such as Samson (Judges 13:4-7) and Samuel (1 Sam. 1:11) were Nazirites from birth.

3. Jeremiah (1:5) had personal knowledge of God, but only about John the Baptist does it say an unborn baby was filled with the Spirit.

4. Both these verses highlight that life begins at conception and that an unborn baby is a not a “blob of tissue,” but a viable human being in God’s sight.

5. God obviously believes in the sanctity of Life!

B. A GENETIC PATTERN ORIGINATING IN SPIRIT

1. Matt. 1:18, “Mary…was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.” Matt. 1:20, “Joseph…do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.” Also Luke 1:35.

2. Unheard of in human history, a woman still a virgin, who’d never been with a man, would have the Holy Spirit place in one of her eggs the genes of God, supplying the male side of the genetic pattern. (David’s line was supplied through Mary.)

3. The genes implanted weren’t just the genes of a male, but were the genes of God Himself. “The Word became flesh” John 1:14; “God was manifest in the flesh” 1 Tim. 3:16. “Bethlehem… out of you shall he come… whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting” Mic. 5:2. See Isa. 7:14; 9:6.

4. This combination allowed Christ, as part of humankind, to take their place; and as God, to bear their sins. He had to be God and man in one Person to accomplish our redemption.

C. THE SPIRIT & MESSIANIC EXPECTATION

1. “Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus….“You may now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your Salvation” Luke 2:25-30.

2. Simeon represents the ideal Israel, waiting for the promise of the Messiah to be revealed. The Holy Spirit personally revealed and guided Simeon (not unlike the Wise Men) to find the ultimate fulfillment in Jesus Christ. The Promise was fulfilled.

II. THE SPIRIT ON JESUS CHRIST

A. JESUS -- THE BAPTIZER IN SPIRIT

1. “John [the Baptist] answered them all, ‘I baptize you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come….He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire’” Luke 3:16 (Mt. 3:11; Mk. 1:8).

2. “For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives [*him] the Spirit without limit,” John 3:34, NIV. [*context implies & KJV has].

3. Jesus later told the disciples that they MUST have this experience of the Baptism in the Holy Spirit! He commanded them not to go into all the world as witnesses until they were “endued with power from on high” Lk. 24:49.

4. We’ll see next week that this experience revolutionized the early church and gave it its power. We still must have this if we would participate in the Great Commission!