The Holy Spirit in the OT

Theme Song   270

RR 776

Come Holy Spirit.  269

Pastor Laurie DeWitt
given by Earl Gwinn

The Power of the Holy Spirit Awaits Our Demand and Reception.

	Just prior to his leaving his disciples for the heavenly
courts, Jesus encouraged them with the promise of the Holy
Spirit. This promise belongs as much to us as it did to them,
and yet how rarely it is presented before the people, and its
reception spoken of in the church. In consequence of this
silence upon this most important theme, what promise do we know
less about by its practical fulfillment than this rich promise
of the gift of the Holy Spirit, whereby efficiency is to be
given to all our spiritual labor? The promise of the Holy Spirit
is casually brought into our discourses, is incidentally touched
upon, and that is all. Prophecies have been dwelt upon,
doctrines have been expounded, but that which is essential to
the church in order that they may grow in spiritual strength and
efficiency, in order that the preaching may carry conviction
with it. and souls be converted to God, has been largely left
out of ministerial effort. This subject has been set aside, as
if some time in the future would be given to its consideration.
Other blessings and privileges have been presented before the
people until a desire has been awakened in the church for the
attainment of the blessing promised of God; but the impression
concerning the Holy Spirit has been that this gift is not for
the church now, but that at some time in the future it would be
necessary for the church to receive it. This promised blessing,
if claimed by faith, would bring all other blessings in its
train, and it is to be given liberally to the people of God.
Through the cunning devices of the enemy the minds of God's
people seem to be incapable of comprehending and appropriating
the promises of God. They seem to think that only the scantiest
showers of grace are to fall upon the thirsty soul. The people
of God have accustomed themselves to think that they must rely
upon their own efforts, that little help is to be received from
heaven; and the result is that they have little light to
communicate to other souls who are dying in error and darkness.
The church has long been contented with little of the blessing
of God; they have not felt the need of reaching up to the
exalted privileges purchased for them at infinite cost. Their
spiritual strength has been feeble, their experience of a
dwarfed and crippled character, and they are disqualified for
the work the Lord would have them to do. They are not able to
present the great and glorious truths of God's holy word that
would convict and convert souls through the agency of the Holy
Spirit. The power of God awaits their demand and reception. A
harvest of joy will be reaped by those who sow the holy seeds of
truth. "He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed,
shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves
with him."  Special Testimony to Our Ministers. No. 2 -PR- 03
-PG- 23 


	Wow! Does that passage do something for you? It does for me. 

	From the very first verses in the Bible, the Holy Spirit has
been active in the world. Genesis 1:2 The earth was without
form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And
the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

	From the very beginning of time, The Godhead chose to let the
Holy Spirit be the constructive, creative, power on this planet.
When we are told that God said Let US make man in our image, the
Spirit of God was there.

	Turn a little further into Genesis and you find the story of
the world turning its back on God. There you find that the
Spirit of God becomes dangerous by withdrawing itself from the
world.

	Gen 6:3 "And the LORD said, "My Spirit shall not strive with
man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one
hundred and twenty years.""

	Here we find a principle that I believe we need to drill into
our understanding. The Spirit of God is dangerous to us, not in
what He can do to us by coming into our lives, but in what
happens when He moves out of our lives. That is the real danger.

	David realized this in that Psalm that poured out of his heart
after repenting from the evil done to Uriah and Bathsheba. He
cried out to God: Psa 51:11 "Do not cast me away from Your
presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me."

	I want to point out something here. In one of our Sabbath
school lessons not too long back we studied about how Hebrew
poetry often uses parallel lines of thought to make a point. As
we look at this passage carefully, we find an interesting
connection.

	I believe that we are being told here that taking away the
Spirit of God from a person is the same as casting that person
out of the presence of God. If that is true, then the converse
is true also. If we receive the Holy Spirit, then we are
standing in the presence of God. Had you ever thought of that
before?

	But you may ask, "Pastor, why all this talk of the Holy Spirit
anyway?"

	Let me respond in the words of Jehovah

	Isa 30:1 ""Woe to the rebellious children," says the LORD, "Who
take counsel, but not of Me, And who devise plans, but not of My
Spirit, That they may add sin to sin;"

	That is the negative way of saying it. If we make plans for our
lives, and for the church that are not influenced by the Spirit
of God, we are adding sin to sin. We are rebellious children. As
in Isaiah, we are like sheep, each wondering hither and yon, not
knowing where we are going, but determined to get there.  To me
that is why it is so important so diligently seek after the
Spirit's guidance when we meet together to take care of church
business.  

	Zec 4:6 "So he answered and said to me: "This is the word of
the LORD to Zerubbabel: 'Not by might nor by power, but by My
Spirit,' Says the LORD of hosts."

	This verse states the situation in a more positive manner.
Jehovah says in effect, "There is nothing that you can do
through your own power in spiritual things that is of any
effectiveness."

	Now the question that we need to ask ourselves is this: Do we
ever try to do God's will with our own power?  Do we try to take
on the problems of the church using our own strength?  Are we
guilty of that?

	We often think of spiritual things when we think of the
Spirit's power, but that is not all. Exo 31:3 ""And I have
filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding,
in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship,".......

	Exo 35:21 "Then everyone came whose heart was stirred, and
everyone whose spirit was willing, and they brought the Lord's
offering for the work of the tabernacle of meeting, for all its
service, and for the holy garments."......

	Exo 35:30 "And Moses said to the children of Israel, "See, the
LORD has called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur,
of the tribe of Judah;" 31 ""and He has filled him with the
Spirit of God, in wisdom and understanding, in knowledge and all
manner of workmanship,".......

	Hag 1:14 "So the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the
son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua
the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the
remnant of the people; and they came and worked on the house of
the LORD of hosts, their God,"

	Have you ever thought of the Spirit of God helping you build a
house, or bake a loaf of bread, or sew a shirt or dress, or work
on a car? Is that too far fetched?  Yet in both of these
instances the Holy Spirit was involved in giving those involved
the power to build a church, if you will, for the glory and
honor of the Jehovah.

	Having said that, let's go on to state something more obvious?
If the Spirit of God can help us with things like that, how does
He feel about helping with the spiritual tasks that we are
given. By the way, have you been given spiritual tasks?

	Lets review a few parts of the statement we started with.

"What promise do we know less about by its practical fulfillment
than this rich promise of the gift of the Holy Spirit?"

	Have we experienced the Holy Spirit working in a powerful way
in our church? Let's be honest.  Do we as a church earnestly
seek the God's will through the Holy Spirit in the decisions
that we make?  Do we see great changes in the lives and
attitudes of our members?  Do we have people earnestly seeking
to meet with us because of the power that they see in our lives?
 

	Have we discovered that the power of the Spirit is essential
for the church to be effective?  And have we discovered by
practical application how that power can be made effective in
our church?  

	Do we believe that "This promised blessing, if claimed by
faith, would bring all other blessings in its train, and it is
to be given liberally to the people of God."?

	Do we as a church need any blessings, or are we saying to
ourselves, 'We are rich, have become wealthy, and have need of
nothing'; 

	Have we, The people of God "accustomed ourselves to think that
we must rely upon our own efforts, that little help is to be
received from heaven." and do we find that "the result is that
they have little light to communicate to other souls who are
dying in error and darkness."

	Maybe I need to ask, "Do we really care?"

	Do we see a weak and feeble church, or do we see one moving out
in the power and boldness of the Spirit?

	Do we want changes?

	Then we need to believe that The power of God awaits their
demand and reception.

	And what is that power?

	Let me go on to read some more from the article that I began
with

	The world have received the idea from the attitude of the
church, that God's people are indeed a joyless people, that the
service of Christ is unattractive, that the blessing of God is
bestowed at severe cost to the receivers. By dwelling upon our
trials, and making much of difficulties, we misrepresent God and
Jesus Christ, whom he has sent; for the path to heaven is made
unattractive by the gloom that gathers about the soul of the
believer, and many turn in disappointment from the service of
Christ. But are those who thus present Christ, believers?--No,
for believers rely upon the divine promise, and the Holy Spirit
is a comforter as well as a reprover.

	The Christian must build all the foundation if he would build a
strong symmetrical character, if he would be well balanced in
his religious experience. It is in this way that the (Christian)
will be prepared to meet the demands of truth and righteousness,
as they are represented in the Bible; for he will be sustained
and energized by the Holy Spirit of God. He who is a true
Christian combines great tenderness of feeling with great
firmness of purpose, with unswerving fidelity to God; he will in
no case become the betrayer of sacred trusts. He who is endowed
with the Holy Spirit has great capacities of heart and
intellect, with strength of will and purpose that is
unconquerable.  Special Testimony to Our Ministers. -- No. 2
p.23.	

	.....It is only as we behold Jesus that we desire to become
like him. It is only as we view his righteousness that we hunger
and thirst to possess it. It is only as we ask in earnest
prayer, in humility and simplicity, as a little child asks an
earthly parent for some good thing, that God will grant unto us
our heart's desire. Such prayer is heard and answered. The Lord
is more willing to give the Holy Spirit to them that earnestly
desire it, than are earthly parents to give good gifts to their
children. Christ has promised the Holy Spirit to guide us unto
all truth and righteousness and holiness. The Holy Spirit is not
given by measure (is given without measure!) to those who
earnestly seek for it, who by faith stand upon the promises of
God. They plead the pledged word of God, saying, "Thou hast said
it. I take thee at thy word."  The Signs of the Times  12-25-93 

	Is it your desire to be unconquerable in Jesus Christ? Do you
want to be unswervingly faithful to God's cause? Down deep in
your heart is there a deep desire to have and reflect the joy of
knowing a Savior that really cares?

	The Holy Spirit is waiting. Jesus is waiting, the Father is
waiting. And what are they waiting for?

	They are waiting for you to ask, in the name of Jesus.  

	Right now, while it is on your minds, I would like for you to
just bow your head where you are, and send up a prayer to the
Father for the gift of His Spirit.