The Spirit In The Writing Prophets

THE SPIRIT IN THE WRITING PROPHETS

INTRODUCTION

A. HUMOR

1. A man wanted to be a salesman, but he stuttered very badly. Then he saw an ad for a job as a Bible salesman for the Bible Society, and he decided to apply.

2. At the interview, they heard him stutter and said, "We're sorry, but there's no way you could do this job with that kind of stutter."

3. "Please", he said. "Just give me a chance." They did. A week later, the man returned. "I've sold out of Bibles. Can I have some more?"

4. The executive asked him to explain how he'd done it. "Easy", he said. "I just ask them, 'Would you like to buy a Bible, or would you like me to read it to you?'"

B. THESIS

1. Until you study it, most of us have no idea how much the Old Testament talks about the Holy Spirit, but it does voluminously!

2. Tonight we’re going to look at what the “Writing Prophets” – Isaiah through Malachi – have to say about the Holy Spirit.

3. We’re going to look at the Nature of the Spirit, His Ministry, how He animates His servants, the Promise of Latter Day outpouring, and the Danger of Grieving the Spirit.

4. The title of tonight’s message is “The Spirit in the Writing Prophets.”

I. THE NATURE OF THE SPIRIT

1. The New Testament makes the clearest revelation of the Trinity Godhead. There is one Being of God, eternally existent in 3 Persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

2. The Holy Spirit is separate from the Father & Son in that He expresses His own thoughts, emotions, and will.

3. He speaks & acts and is referred to using the personal pronoun “He.” He’s not just the power of God, for the Holy Spirit is distinguished from His own power (Acts 10:38; Rom. 15:13; 1 Cor. 2:4).

4. But the O.T. has many revelations of the Holy Spirit that are unequalled.

A. THE 7-FOLD SPIRIT

1. Isa. 11:2, “The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord.”

2. The N.T. confirms the 7-fold nature of the Spirit 4X. Rev. 4:5, “From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. In front of the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God.”

B. SPIRIT: HIS POWER & WISDOM

Isaiah 40:12-13, “Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens? Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills in a balance? 13 Who can fathom the Spirit of the Lord, or instruct the Lord as his counselor?”

C. SPIRIT OF JUSTICE/ JUDGMENT

1. Isa. 4:4, “The Lord will…cleanse the bloodstains from Jerusalem by a spirit of judgment and a spirit of fire.”

2. Isa. 28:5-6, “In that day the Lord Almighty….will be a spirit of justice to the one who sits in judgment…”

II. AWESOME MINISTRY OF THE SPIRIT

A. THE SPIRIT BRINGS THE WORD TO PASS

Isa. 34:16, “Look in the scroll of the Lord and read: None of these will be missing, not one will lack her mate. For it is his mouth that has given the order, and his Spirit will gather them together.”

B. SPIRIT TEACHES US WHAT’S BEST, WAY TO GO

Isa. 48:16-17, “Come near me and listen…I have not spoken in secret….And now the Sovereign Lord has sent me, endowed with his Spirit. 17 This is what the Lord says— your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.”

C. THE SPIRIT SPEAKS TO US

1. Ezek. 3:24, “Then the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet. He spoke to me and said: “Go, shut yourself inside your house.”

2. Ezek. 11:5, “Then the Spirit of the Lord came on me, and he told me to say: “This is what the Lord says…”

3. Zech. 7:12, “They…would not listen to the law or to the words that the Lord Almighty had sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. So the Lord Almighty was very angry.”

D. HE ABIDES WITH US FOREVER

1. Isa. 59:21 “As for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the Lord. “My Spirit, who is on you, will not depart from you.”

2. Hag. 2:5, “According to the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt, so my spirit remains among you: fear not.”