PMCBC

Luke 14:15-35

IV. The Jews: False Security (14:15-24)

• When Jesus mentioned “the resurrection of the just,” one of the guests became excited and said, “Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God.”
• The Jewish people pictured their future kingdom as a great feast with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the prophets as the honored guests.
• This anonymous guest was confident that he would one day be at the “kingdom feast” with them!
• Jesus responded by telling him a parable that revealed the sad consequences of false confidence.
• In Jesus’ day when you invited guests to a dinner, you told them the day but not the exact hour of the meal.
• A host had to know how many guests were coming so he could butcher the right number of animals and prepare sufficient food.
• Just before the feast was to begin, the host sent his servants to each of the guests to tell them the banquet was ready and they should come.
• In other words, each of the guests in this parable had already agreed to attend the banquet.
• The host expected them to be there.
• But instead of eagerly coming to the feast, all of the guests insulted the host by refusing to attend, and they all gave very feeble excuses to defend their change in plans.
• The first guest begged off because he had to “go and see” a piece of real estate he had purchased.
• In the East, the purchasing of property is often a long and complicated process, and the man would have had many opportunities to examine the land he was buying.
• Anybody who purchases land that he has never examined is certainly taking a chance.
• Since most banquets were held in the evening, the man had little daylight left even for a cursory investigation.
• The second man had also made a purchase-ten oxen that he was anxious to prove.
• Again, who would purchase that many animals without first testing them.
• Not many customers in our modern world would buy a used car that they had not taken out for a “test drive.”
• Furthermore, how could this man really put these oxen to the test when it was so late in the day!
• His statement “I go to prove them!” suggests that he was already on his way to the farm when the servant came with a final call to the dinner.
• The third guest really had no excuse at all.
• Since they involved so much elaborate preparation, Jewish weddings were never surprises, so this man knew well in advance that he was taking a wife.
• That being the case, he should not have agreed to attend the feast in the first place.
• Since only Jewish men were invited to banquets, the host did not expect the wife to come anyway.
• Having a new wife could have kept the man from the battlefield, but not from the festive board.
• Of course, these were only excuses.
• It was Billy Sunday who defined an excuse as “the skin of a reason stuffed with a lie.”
• These three guests actually expected to get another invitation in the future, but that invitation never came.
• Having prepared a great dinner for many guests, the host did not want all that food to go to waste, so he sent his servant out to gather a crowd and bring them to the banquet hall.
• What kind of men would be found in the streets and lanes of the city or in the highways and hedges?
• The outcasts, the loiterers, the homeless, the undesirables, the kind of people that Jesus came to save.
• There might even be some Gentiles in the crowd!
• These men may have had only one reason for refusing the kind of invitation: they were unprepared to attend such a fine dinner.
• So, the servant constrained them to accept.
• They had no excuses.
• The poor could not afford to buy oxen; the blind could not go to examine real estate; and the poor, maimed, lame, and blind were usually not given in marriage.
• This crowd would be hungry and lonely and only too happy to accept an invitation to a free banquet.
• Not only did the host get other people to take the places assigned to the invited guests, but he also shut the door so that the excuse-makers could not change their minds and come in.
• In fact, the host was angry.
• We rarely think of God expressing judicial anger against those who reject His gracious invitations.
• Isaiah 55:6 says, “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near.”
• Again, Proverbs 1:24-33, gives a clear warning to all those who reject an invitation from the Lord.
• This parable had a special message for the proud Jewish people who were so sure they would “eat bread in the kingdom of God.”
• Within a few short years, the gospel would be rejected by the official religious leaders, and the message would to out to the Samaritans and then to the Gentiles.
• But the message of this parable applies to all lost sinners today.
• God still says, “All things are now ready. Come.”
• Nothing more need be done for the salvation of your soul, for Jesus Christ finished the work of redemption when He died for you on the cross and arose from the dead.
• The feast has been spread, the invitation is free, and you are invited to come.
• People today make the same mistake that the people in the parable made: they delay in responding to the invitation because they settle for second best.
• There is certainly nothing wrong with owning a farm, examining purchases, or spending an evening with your wife.
• But if these good things keep you from enjoying the best things, then they become bad things.
• The excuse-makers were actually successful people in the eyes of their friends, but they were failures in the eyes of Jesus Christ.
• The Christian life is a feast, not a funeral, and all are invited to come.
• Each of us as believers must herald the message.
• “Come, for all things are now ready.
• God wants to see His house filled, yet there is still room!

V. The Multitudes: False Expectancy (14:25-35)

• When Jesus left the Pharisee’s house, great crowds followed Him, but He was not impressed by their enthusiasm.
• He knew that most of those in the crowd were not the least bit interested in spiritual things.
• Some wanted only to see miracles, others heard that He fed the hungry, and a few hoped He would overthrow Rome and establish David’s promised kingdom.
• They were expecting the wrong things.
• Jesus turned to the multitude and preached a sermon that deliberately thinned out the ranks.
• He made it clear that, when it comes to personal discipleship, he is more interested in quality and quantity.
• In the matter of saving lost souls, He wants His house to be filled, but in the matter of personal discipleship, He wants only those who are willing to pay the price.
• A “disciple” is a learner, one who attaches himself or herself to a teacher in order to learn a trade or a subject.
• Perhaps our nearest modern equivalent is “apprentice,” one who learns by watching and by doing.
• The word disciple was the most common name for the followers of Jesus Christ and is used 264 times in the Gospels and the book of Acts.
• Jesus seems to make a distinction between salvation and discipleship.
• Salvation is open to all who will come by faith, while discipleship is for believers willing to pay a price.
• Salvation means coming to the cross and trusting Jesus Christ, while discipleship means carrying the cross and following Jesus Christ.
• Jesus wants as many sinners saved as possible, but He cautions us not to take discipleship lightly, and in the three parables He gave, He made it clear that there is a price to pay.

Conclusion

• If we tell Jesus that we want to take up our cross and follow Him as His disciples, then He wants us to know exactly what we are getting into.
• He wants no false expectations, no illusions, no bargains.
• He wants to use us as stones for building His church, soldiers for battling His enemies, and salt for bettering His world, and He is looking for quality.

Will you be His disciple?

Luke 14:1-14

Introduction

• Sabbath day hospitality was an important part of Jewish life, so it was not unusual for Jesus to be invited to a home for a meal after the weekly synagogue service.
• Sometimes the host invited Him sincerely because he wanted to learn more of God’s truth.
• But many times Jesus was asked to dine only so His enemies could watch Him and find something to criticize and condemn.
• That was the case on the occasion described in Luke 14 when a leader of the Pharisees invited Jesus to dinner.
• Jesus was fully aware of what was in men’s hearts, so He was never caught off guard.
• In fact, instead of hosts or guests judging Jesus, it was Jesus who passed judgment on them when they least expected it.
• Indeed, in this respect, He was a dangerous person to sit with at a meal or to follow on the road!
• In Luke 14, we see Jesus dealing with five different kinds of people and exposing what was false in their lives and their thinking.

1. The Pharisees: False Piety (14:1-6)

• Instead of bringing them to repentance, Jesus’ severe denunciation of the Pharisees and scribes in Luke 11:39-52 only provoked them to retaliation, and they plotted against Him.
• The Pharisee who invited Jesus to his home for dinner also invited a man afflicted with dropsy.
• This is a painful disease in which, because of kidney trouble, a heart ailment, or liver damage, the tissues fill with water.
• How heartless of the Pharisees to “use” this man as a tool to accomplish their wicked plan, but if we do not love the Lord, neither will we love our neighbor.
• Their heartless treatment of the man was far worse than our Lord’s “lawless” behavior on the Sabbath.
• This afflicted man would not have been invited to such an important dinner were it not that the Pharisees wanted to use him as “bait” to catch Jesus.
• They knew that Jesus could not be in the presence of human suffering very long without doing something about it.
• If He ignored the afflicted man, then He was without compassion, but if He healed him, then He was openly violating the Sabbath and they could accuse Him.
• They put the dropsied man right in front of the Master so He could not avoid him, and then they waited for the trap to spring.
• Keep in mind that Jesus had already “violated” their Sabbath traditions on at least seven different occasions.
• On the Sabbath day, He had cast out a demon (Luke 4:31-37), healed a fever (Luke 4:38-39), allowed His disciples to pluck grain (Luke 6:1-5), healed a lame man (John 5:1-9), healed a man with a paralyzed hand (Luke 6:6-10), delivered a crippled woman who was afflicted by a demon (Luke 13:10-17), and healed a man born blind (John 9).
• Why our Lord’s enemies thought that one more bit of evidence was necessary, we don’t know, but we do know that their whole scheme backfired.
• When Jesus asked what their convictions were about the Sabbath day, He used on them the weapon they had forged for Him.
• To begin with, they couldn’t heal anyone on any day and everybody knew it.
• But even more, if the Pharisees said that nobody should be healed on the Sabbath, the people would consider them heartless, if they gave permission for healing, their associates would consider them lawless.
• The dilemma was now theirs, not the Lord’s, and they needed a way to escape.
• As they did on more than one occasion, the scribes and Pharisees evaded the issue by saying nothing.
• Jesus healed the man and let him go, knowing that the Pharisee’s house was not the safest place for him.
• Instead of providing evidence against Jesus, the man provided evidence against the Pharisees, for he was “exhibit A” of the healing power of the Lord Jesus Christ.
• The Lord knew too much about this legalistic crowd to let them escape.
• He knew that on the Sabbath day they would deliver their farm animals from danger, so why not permit Him to deliver a man who was mad in the likeness of God?
• Seemingly, they were suggesting that animals were more important than people.
• Jesus exposed the false piety of the Pharisees and the scribes.
• They claimed to be defending God’s Sabbath laws, when in reality they were denying God by the way they abused people and accused the Savior.
• There is a big difference between protecting God’s truth and promoting man’s traditions.

2. The Guests: False Popularity (14:7-11)

• Experts in management tell us that most people wear an invisible sign that reads, “Please make me feel important”; if we heed that sign, we can succeed in human relations.
• On the other hand, if we say or do things that make others feel insignificant, we will fail.
• Then people will respond by becoming angry and resentful, because everybody wants to be noticed and made to feel important.
• In Jesus’ day, as today, there were “status symbols” that helped people enhance and protect their high standing in society.
• If you were invited to the “right homes” and if you were seated in the “right places,” then people would know how important you really were.
• The emphasis was on reputation, not character.
• It was more important to sit in the right places than to live the right kind of life.
• In New Testament times, the closes you sat to the host, the higher you stood on the social ladder and the more attention (and invitations) you would receive from others.
• Naturally, many people rushed to the “head table” when the doors were opened because they wanted to be important.
• This kind of attitude betrays a false view of success.
• “Try not to become a man of success,” said Albert Einstein, “but try to become a man of value.”
• While there may be some exceptions, it is usually true that valuable people are eventually recognized and appropriately honored.
• Success that comes only from self-promotion is temporary, and you may be embarrassed as you are asked to move down (Proverbs 25:6-7).
• When Jesus advised the guests to take the lowest places, He was not giving them a “gimmick” that guaranteed promotion.
• The false humility that takes the lowest place is just as hateful to God as the pride that takes the highest place.
• God is not impressed by our status in society or in the church.
• He is not influenced by what people say or think about us, because He sees the thoughts and motives of the heart (1 Samuel 16:7).
• God still humbles the proud and exalts the humble (James 4:6).
• British essayist Francis Bacon compared fame to a river that easily carried “things light and swollen” but that drowned “things weighty and solid.”
• It is interesting to scan old editions of encyclopedias and see how many “famous people” are “forgotten people” today.
• Humility is a fundamental grace in the Christian life, and yet it is elusive; if you know you have it, you have lost it!
• It has well been said that humility is not thinking meanly of ourselves; it is simply not thinking of ourselves at all.
• Jesus is the greatest example of humility, and we would do well to ask the Holy Spirit to enable us to imitate Him (Philippians 2:1-16).

3. The Host: False Hospitality (14:12-14)

• Jesus knew that the host had invited his guests for two reasons: (1) to pay them back because they had invited him to past feasts, or (2) to put them under his debt so that they would invite him to future feasts.
• Such hospitality was not an expression of love and grace, but rather  evidence of pride and selfishness.
• He was “buying” recognition.
• Jesus does not prohibit us from entertaining family and friends, but He warns us against entertaining only family and friends exclusively and habitually.
• That kind of “fellowship” quickly degenerates into a “mutual admiration society” in which each one tries to outdo the others and no one dares to break the cycle.
• Sad to say, too much church social life fits this description.
• Our motive for sharing must be the praise of God and not the applause of man, the eternal reward in heaven and not the temporary recognition on earth.
• A pastor friend of mine used to remind me, “You can’t get your reward twice!”
• And he was right.
• On the day of judgment, many who today are first in the eyes of men will be last in God’s eyes, and many who are last in the eyes of men will be first in the eyes of God (Luke 13:30).
• In our Lord’s time, it was not considered proper to ask poor people and handicapped people to public banquets.
• But Jesus commanded us to put these needy people at the top of our guest list because they cannot pay us back.
• If our hearts are right, God will see to it that we are properly rewarded, though getting a reward must not be the motive for our generosity.
• When we serve others from unselfish hearts, we are laying up treasures in heaven.

Conclusion

Amen!

Our modern world is very competitive, and it is easy for God’s people to become more concerned about profit and loss than they are about sacrifice and service.

“What will I get out of it” may easily become life’s most important question.

We must strive to maintain the unselfish attitude that Jesus had and share what we have with others.

Luke 13:22-30

Introduction

• The scribes often discussed the question of how many people would be saved, and somebody asked Jesus to give His thoughts on the issue.
• As with the question about Pilate, Jesus immediately made the matter personal.
• “The question is not how many will be saved, but whether or not you will be saved! Get that settled first, and then we can discuss what you can do to help get others saved.”
• “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to” (John 13:24).
• Why?
• The parable tells us why, and it focuses primarily on the Jewish people of that day.
• However, it has a personal application to all of us today.

1. A Great Feast
2. Jesus pictured the kingdom as a great feast, with the patriarchs and prophets as honored guests.
3. But many of the people who were invited waited too long to respond, and, when they arrived at the banquet hall, it was too late and the door was shut.
4. But why did they wait so long?
5. The parable suggests several reasons.
6. To begin with, salvation is not easy; the sinner must enter a narrow gate and walk a narrow way.
7. The world’s crowd is on the easy way, the way that leads to destruction, and it is much easier to walk with them.
8. Another reason for their delay was their false sense of security.
9. Jesus had been among them; they had even eaten with Him and enjoyed His fellowship, yet they never trusted Him.
10. God gave the nation many privileges and opportunities, but they wasted them.
11. God is long suffering; however, there comes a time when even God shuts the door.
12. Pride also played a big part; they would not humble themselves before God.
13. In their own eyes, they were first, but in God’s eyes, they were last—and the Gentiles would come and take their place.
14. Imagine the “unclean Gentile dogs” sitting at the feast with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, while the unbelieving Jews were outside!
15. These people were lost because they depended on their ancient religion to save them, but Jesus saw them as “workers of iniquity” not doers of righteousness.
16. It takes more than reverence for tradition to get into God’s kingdom!
17. But the major reason was given by Jesus Himself; “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing” (John 13:34).
18. Their minds had been instructed by the Word, and their hearts had been stirred by His mighty works, but their wills were stubborn and would not submit to Him.
19. This is the deadly consequence of delay.
20. The longer sinners wait, the harder their hearts become.
21. “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts” (Hebrews 4:7).
22. The Spanish composer Manuel de Falla was notorious for not answering his mail. When he heard that a friend had died, the composer said, “What a pity! He died before I answered his letter, which he sent five years ago!”
23. When sinners fail to answer God’s invitation to His feast, they are the ones who die.
24. The are “thrust out” of the joys of the kingdom and are punished with “weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Luke 13:28).
25. It is a picture of people who are overwhelmed with regret because they see how foolish they were to delay, but, alas, it is too late.
26. One of the agonies of hell will be the remembrance of opportunities wasted.

Conclusion

If people today would put as much effort into things spiritual as they do things athletic, they would be much better off!

What is the answer?

“Make every effort (strive) to enter through the narrow door” (Luke 13:24).

The word strive comes from the sports arena and describes an athlete giving his best to win the contest.

Our English word agonize comes from this word.

John 14:15-16

II. Second Paraclete Saying

• There is kind of “bridge” at the end of the first Paraclete Saying.
• Most scholars do not include it in the Saying because it does not fit the same literary form.
• But it does lead into the rest of the chapter and into the second Saying: Jesus said, “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you” (John 14:18).
• Jesus would not leave them like little children bereft of their parents.
• Also, He explicitly identified Himself with the coming Paraclete.
• Jesus would go away, but the Spirit would come to them.
• Jesus would to away in His physical body, but He would come as Spirit-Paraclete to be even closer.
• He would indwell them.
• Then Jesus gave the second Paraclete saying: “If you me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever” (John 14:15-16).
• Another great truth jumps right off the page and into our hearts.
• The incarnation of the Son of God as the man Jesus revealed the nature of God as He had never been revealed before.
• But, at the same time, this embodiment of the Divine Being in the life of Jesus was subject to some severe limitations.
• Jesus was limited by history.
• He could not explain some things to the disciples because they would not understand them until after His death and resurrection.
• Some things could not happen until Jesus was “taken up” and the Spirit came to live in the disciples.
• Shocking as it may have seemed, the “going away” of Jesus would open up truth and understanding which had never been possible before because the Paraclete could teach them what the earthly Jesus was not able to teach them yet.
• Jesus could not unfold the fullest meaning of the cross, resurrection, ascension, and Pentocostal outpouring of the Spirit until after they had happened!
• The Paraclete who was coming would be able to teach them the meaning of these things, which were yet to come.
• A marvelous progression of spiritual truth takes place in the sequence of these Paraclete Sayings.
• In the first Jesus said that He would ask the Father and the Father would give them another Paraclete.
• Next, in an important theological progression, Jesus said, “Whom the Father will send in my name.”
• For understanding the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, this is profoundly important.
• The Holy Spirit could come only as the Father wanted Him to come, through the life and ministry of Jesus.
• Enter the word person.
• When God gave His name to Moses at the burning bush, He was giving Himself in personal relationship to Moses.
• When David said, “He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake,” he was telling about a very personal relationship with the heavenly Shepherd.
• When we are baptized “into the name” of Jesus, we are declaring publicly a very intimate and personal relationship by which we have come into Christ and He has come into us.
• Thus, the Father will send the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, through the very person and life of Jesus.
• There is no other way to receive the Spirit.
• There is no such thing as having Jesus Christ and not having the Holy Spirit.
• To separate them would be to split God apart!
• Even as Jesus and the Father are one, so Jesus and the spirit are one.
• When the Father sends the Holy Spirit in Jesus’ name, the Spirit comes through the very personality of Jesus!
• This Saying closes with the most powerful promise we have about the historicity and reliability of the words of Jesus, recorded in the Gospels.
• Jesus said, “The (Paraclete) will bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”
• We have the promise of Jesus that the same Holy Spirit who empowered His words and deeds would bring back to their memory “all that he said to them.”
• Could there be any greater assurance?
• Could faith ask for anything more that the same Holy Spirit who indwelt Jesus would indwell His followers and make His word come alive again in them?
• Yes, faith can have one more great assurance.
• That same Holy Spirit can indwell us today to bring the words of Jesus across the centuries into vibrant power in our lives.
• Amen!

III. Third Paraclete Saying

• At the end of John 15, while Jesus and the eleven disciples were still at the table, we hear the encouraging words of the third Paraclete Saying: “When the Advocate come, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me. And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning” (John 15:26-27).
• Now the procession of the Spirit is complete.
• In the first Saying Jesus said: “I will ask the Father and He will give you another Paraclete.”
• In the second Saying, we learned that the Father would send the Spirit in Jesus’ name.
• In the third Saying, Jesus completed the cycle with these words: “Whom I shall send to you from the Father.”
• Then Jesus added: “Who proceeds from the Father.”
• Now we can understand that Jesus had to return to the presence of the Father, after the cross and resurrection, before he could “send the Spirit of truth” upon the disciples.
• Let us look at an analogy to describe what is going on here: “If I hold up three fingers, side by side, and let them stand for the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, you are in danger of visualizing three separate gods. Turn them so your fingers are in line. Then you can visualize One God, even though you remember there are three persons. Now look at the closest finger. It represents the Holy Spirit. This is the point where the being of God touches us. But it is only through the Spirit that we can come to the middle one, Jesus. We are brought to Jesus by the Spirit. When we are brought to Jesus by the Spirit, we then have access through Jesus to the Father.  There is no other way.
• If we reverse how we look at the three fingers, we see that the Father sent the Son.
• Then, in response to the prayer and ministry of Jesus, the Father sent the Spirit through the Son to dwell in the lives of the believers.
• The fullness of the Godhead confronts us in the Father, as well as in the Son, and in the Spirit as well.
• You cannot have One without the Other!
• There is no such thing as a “born-again” believer in Christ who does not have the Spirit.
• One can be born again only by the regenerating activity of the Holy Spirit; one can be in Christ only by the Holy Spirit who brough one to Christ.
• Any spirit that does not magnify Jesus is not the Spirit of God.
• The Holy Spirit will confess Jesus, magnify Jesus, bear witness to Jesus.
• Only the Spirit which exalts Jesus, which draws us to Jesus, is the Spirit of God!
• In verse 27, we find these words, “And you also must testify.”
• In other words, to “bear witness” to what the Spirit of God has done for you.
• Difficulty in “bearing witness” is a result of having no relationship out of which to bear this witness.
• We cannot share what we don’t have!
• Witnessing is the outward expression of a very intimate and meaningful relationship.

IV. Fourth Paraclete Saying

• The fourth and fifth Paraclete Sayings in John’s Gospel come right together in 16:7-11 and 16:13-14.
• There is only a short, one-verse “bridge” between them, verse 12.
• Saying four is the longest of the Paraclete Sayings, but it has a single dominant theme: “But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because people do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned” (John 16:7-11).
• To the bewildered and frightened band of disciples, Jesus gave this surprising word: “It is for your good that I am going away.”
• Unbelievable!
• How could this be?
• They were devasted by the heavy dread that had been hanging over them for days.
• Something was about to happen to Jesus.
• The religious leaders had been plotting His death for some time; now they may have suspected Judas plotting with them.
• How could it be better for Jesus to be taken away?
• Jesus began this Saying with a very direct introductory line: “But very truly I tell you.”
• Remembering that “truth” in John’s Gospel usually means “eternal reality,” we can understand that Jesus was putting them in touch with the reality that cannot be shaken, no matter what happens.
• At that very moment they needed the reality that would not fail them.
• Then Jesus gave them two decisive reasons it was better for them that He was going away.
• First, the Paraclete could not come until Jesus went away.
• During the days of the ministry of Jesus, the redemptive ministry of the Holy Spirit was concentrated in Jesus.
• The limitations upon the human Jesus were obvious.
• He could not be with his followers in Galilee and in Judea at the same time.
• The Spirit would be free to work with the disciples, and us, without limitations of time and space.
• He could be anywhere, anytime believers gathered in Jesus’ name.
• Second, Jesus had to “go away” back to the Father before He could “send the Paraclete” to them.
• Jesus had to complete His mission and return to the Father before the Holy Spirit could come to empower the disciples to continue the mission of Jesus in the world.
• The disciples were not able to understand this.
• Every true disciple of Jesus knows that this powerful activity of the Holy Spirit is the only way that the redemptive purpose of God can be carried out in this world.
• It is not by our power, or might, but by God’s Spirit that the broken, sinful, and dying people of this world can be made whole.
• The other part of the Saying is directed toward assuring the disciples that when the Paraclete came, he could do something that could never be done without Him and had never been done before.
• The Paraclete would convince, or convict, the world of three things.
• First, He would convict the world of sin.
• This is the sin of unbelief.
• The root of all our spiritual problems is the unwillingness to believe and trust utterly in the Lord!
• Only the Holy Spirit can convict people of this sin of not believing in Jesus.
• And only this sin of persistent unbelief is the absolutely fatal and irreversible pathway to eternal ruin.
• Second, He would convict the world of righteousness.
• Jesus said, “Because I go to the Father, and you will see me no more.”
• As long as Jesus was with them, in the flash, the disciples and the world could look to Jesus as their “standard of righteousness.”
• He was the model and example for their lives.
• But when Jesus went away to the Father, they would have to depend upon the Spirit to bring to their remembrance what Jesus did and said.
• Finally, the Paraclete would convict the world of judgment “because the ruler of this world is judged.”
• By the convicting power of the Spirit, the world can see that reality is not found where most people think it is in power, or wealth, or pleasure, or sensual gratification.
• All these things have been judged and found wanting in the cross of Christ.
• Only by the convicting work of the Holy Spirit can people see that, in fact, that evil one has already been judged and condemned.
• His doom is sure.
• To Christ belongs the ultimate victory!

V. Fifth Paraclete Saying

We have this available to us today!

After the “bridge” of John 16:12, we come to the last Paraclete Saying.

“But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you” (John 16:13-15).

We, as believers, need to realize that our journey is a long and tedious one.

The straight and narrow way lead to life; we do not make the journey in one great leap!

Jesus always used one of His favorite saying, “The Spirit of truth.”

It shows that Jesus wanted His disciples both then and now to think of the Spirit as the most powerful reality in their lives.

The Spirit would be the truth that guides them, the power to sustain them, and the reality which would undergird their lives in this world and for all eternity.

Jesus was leaving them, but even greater things could happen in their lives when the Spirit comes.

In the absence of Jesus in the flesh, the Spirit of truth was there to guide them into all the truth.

INTRODUCTION:

A review: Remember how we discussed the use of the word “up”. That brief list would
include:virtually every verb in the dictionary, some of which I reported were:

 LOOK UP
 STAND UP.
 SIT UP.
 LISTEN UP
 GIVE UP.
 LIVE IT UP.
 HOOK UP
 MAKE UP
 WAKE UP
 MESS UP
 JUMP UP
 HANDS UP
 HOLD UP and HELD UP
 Or Like Bugs Bunny used to say, “WHAT’S UP. . .DOC?.
 Or Like Gabby Hayes would say, “GITTY UP.”

Up and to the Right are always positives—yes, even in analytic geometry and calculus In
fact all numbers to the right and up are positive; hence the right are always UPRIGHT ken to
RIGHTEOUS which we know from reading some 400+ biblical verses. Thumbs up!! “Right”
versus “Left”——-Now we know what “Righteous” involves and not “Lefteous”. A young thief
named Dysmas hung on a cross to the right of our Lord’s cross and because of his
confession of crime and begging a promise. . .well, we all know of the promise Jesus offered
when we read Luke 23:40-43. “This day you will be with Me in paradise.”

And in Acts 7:56, St. Stephen before he was stoned by “Saul” ‘s mob reported his
vision:
“Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man, (Jesus Christ) standing at
the right hand of “God.”

And in Matthew 25:31 in judging the nations, Jesus will separate the sheep from the goats by
placing the sheep on His right and the goats on his left. Those on His right are blessed where
those on His left are condemned to “eternal punishment.”

i. CONFESSION:

You may recall Proverbs 23:7 where it says, “As a man thinketh, so is he.” We are to shun
thoughts that are just-not-right. (Job 35:2 cautions that such wrongful thoughts give way to
pride and egotism suggesting a belief that one’s righteousness compares to God.) That is a
sin of one’s mind worthy of prayerful confession and God will forgive. Righteous thinking is advised. We must think nice and without malice or anger. Take a look at Matthew 10:32-33
where Jesus once said, “Everyone therefore who shall confess Me before men, I will also
confess him before My Father who is in heaven.” He goes further to say, “But whoever shall
deny Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.”

Confession must be an acknowledgement that is CLEAR, CONSISE, and COMPLETE.

ii. A PROMISE:

To be with our Lord and Savior in Paradise. The best to truly behold Him and trust in His
Smile when He says, “Well done My good and faithful servant.” (Matthew 25:23) And in
2Corinthians 5:10, we will be “recompensed” for deeds done whether good or bad. If
forgiven for the “bad”, with sin and error laid aside, a crown appropriate to good service is
awarded. As at the Judgement Seat of Christ, 2 Corinthians 5:10.

After your resurrection to be like Him, there you will receive an everlasting. . . .

iii. A PLEDGE:

Based on your works you will be rewarded with a crown, be it a Crown

 Of Incorruption (1 Corinthians 9:25) Victor’s Crown
 Of Life (Revelations 2:10) Martyr’s Crown
 Of Glory (1 Peter 5:4) Elder’s Crown
 Of Righteousness (2 Timothy 4:8) Fellowship’s Crown
 Of Rejoicing (1 Thessalonians 2:19) Soul Winner’s Crown
(A crown no one may take away. Revelations 3:11)

Rewarded with a new name etched in stone (Revelations 2:17)

Rewarded with a white robe (Revelations 3:5)

IV. A REVELATION:

We will see Him as He looks upon you – Body / Soul / Spirit
We will see a new earth and a new Jerusalem.
We will see the 24 Elders and the angels of God—no ghosts, witches, or warlocks.
We will see both the Chosen and the Elect.
We will see our “mansion” that He designed and built for us.
We will see the Tree of Life
We will sing a New Song — No wrong notes.

V. A BLESSING:

No more tears,
No more fears nor worries,
No more illnesses nor injuries,
No more boredom,
No more failures.
No more labor.
No more death to see.
See also Matthew 5:3-11 for Jesus’ teaching that has the goal of a rewarding joy for the flock

So. Don’t worry; be happy. Luke 6:23 assures that “. . .great is your reward in Heaven.”

And the most wonderful blessing of all is to see our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ and like a
child see Him smile.

All positives and expressions of a commitment to the JOY for our minds, our
souls, and even a healthy, resurrected body and our love for our Lord.

Nehemiah 8:10 “. . .for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

Esther 9:22 “. . .turned for them from sorrow into joy. . .a holiday of giving food
to one another and gifts to the poor.” The Feast of Purim, two weeks before
Passover.

Isaiah 51:11 “They will have gladness and joy (for) sorrow and sighing will flee
away.”

Psalms 33:1 “Sing for joy in the Lord, O you righteous ones. .”

Psalms 37:4-5 “Delight yourself in the Lord; And He will give you the desires
of your heart. Trust also in Him and He will do it.” In verse 7, “Rest in the Lord
and wait patiently for Him.”

Psalms 51:10-12 “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast
spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Thy Presence and do not take Thy
Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Thy salvation and sustain me
with a willing spirit.

Psalms 66:1-2 “Shout with joy to God, all the earth. Sing the Glory of His
Name. Make His praise glorious.

Psalms 84:2 “My soul longed and even yearned for the courts of the Lord (and)
my heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God.”—–a memorable reflection
of Deuteronomy 6:5—“And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart
and with all your soul and with all your might.

Philippians 2:2 “. . .make my joy complete by being of the same mind,
maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose”— the Will of
our loving Holy Father and doing a good work.

Matthew 5:16, the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus commanded us to
“Let our light so shine before mankind that they may see your good works. Thus
to glorify God.” And also in

Suffice it to say: Good Work is that which effects a righteous personality in
the believer and is a self-evident witness of the Spirit.

Romans 8:28 is where God causes all things to work for the good for those who
love Him.

And that is a heart filled with Spirit-fed “RIGHTEOUSNESS”. Habakkuk 2:4, The
righteous will live and work by faith.”

Do we have that? Yes, we do and prayerfully we work to improve our faith daily
and bear good fruit much better than that dead fig tree described in Mark 11:20-
22 where Jesus declared that we’re to bear good fruit by having Faith in God.
And those fruits Jesus hinted at in Matthew 7:20 are found in Galatian 5:22,
fruits of the Spirit-filled work:
 Love
 Joy
 Peace
 Patience
 Kindness
 Goodness
 Faithfulness
 Gentleness and
 Self-control.

Take a close look at Matthew 7:21 where Jesus instructed that we are to do the
Will of God and that which pleases Him based on Faith.

Faith—A confident belief in the truth, value, or trustworthiness of a person or
idea founded on a love filled with hope.

The inspired Word of God has “faith” mentioned only once inf the Old Testament
and 243 times in the New Testament.

Hebrews 11:1 says, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of
things not seen.”

And it has been said that without hope, one’s faith is as groundless as the dust.

FAITH SEES THE INVISIBLE; BELIEVES THE INCREDIBLE; AND RECEIVES THE IMPOSSIBLE.

Closing Prayer.

A commitment and resolve to do a Good Work because of our Love for the
Almighty.

Invitation:

To petition membership in this church family confirming prior completion of
salvation confession.

To confess before the church one’s acceptance of Jesus Christ as Lord
and Savior, asking for obedience in the rite of baptism.

To confess a rededication of faith in the Lord and His Will. 3. To
offer a personal pledge of obedience to a Call of the Holy Spirit.

John 14:16-17

Introduction

• The clearest teaching in all the Bible about the relationship of Jesus to the Father and the Holy Spirit is found in the Paraclete sayings in the Gospel of John.
• There are five of them in John 14-16, and they have a beautiful literary form which suggests to many Bible scholars that they may actually by hymns which were sung by the early church.
• They use the word parakletos (one called alongside) for the Holy Spirit.
• Because they were all given by Jesus in the upper room, at the time of the Last Supper, early Christians may have sung them in connection with the observance of the Lord’s Supper.
• The most surprising thing about these Paraclete sayings is that they seem to take the place of the bread and the cup in John’s account of the Last Supper.
• John described everything else about that last evening with Jesus and the disciples, the night before the cross.
• He mentioned the supper, the washing of the disciple’s feet, and the warning about the betrayer.
• John recalled the departure of Judas and made the suggestive comment that when the betrayer went out of the upper room, “it was night.”
• Not only was it pitch dark in the streets of Jerusalem, it was darkest “night” in the soul of Judas!
• Although John had many words that echo the Lord’s Supper in the beautiful account of the feeding of the five thousand in Galilee, he had no sayings about the bread and the cup at the Last Supper.
• He certainly implied that Jesus gave them the bread and the cup, just as the other evangelists said in their accounts, but John emphasized the presence of the Paraclete, first as Jesus, and then as indwelling Spirit.
• Interestingly, this is exactly what the bread and the cup meant: the signs of the powerful presence of the Lord with whom they were communing in the Lord’s Supper.
• So, what is the meaning of parakletos?
• Bible translators go in all directions when they come to the word parakletos.
• It probably would have been better if they had simply translated the Greek word straight into its English equivalent, Paraclete.
• You can find different translations of the word, such as: Comforter, Counselor, Helper, Teacher, Guide, Companion, and Advocate.
• These words are all paraphrases, which do not truly convey its true meaning.
• The preparation para means “side by side” or “alongside.”
• Kletos is a noun which comes from the verb kaleo, “to call.”
• It means, “One who is called.”
• Put them together and you have the beautifully simple meaning “One called alongside.”
• When Jesus promised that the Paraclete will come “alongside” us, He meant that this One called alongside us will be available `to help us with our deepest need.
• If we are grieving, He will be our Comforter.
• Any Christian who has ever turned in simple faith to the Lord in the hour of grief knows the presence of the Blessed Comforter.
• If we are stumbling and trying to find our way, the Paraclete will be our Guide.
• When we are trying to understand a passage of Scripture, the same Holy Spirit who inspired it will come to be our Teacher and unfold its meaning to us.
• This is the glory of the wonderful Paraclete.
• He will come alongside us to help us in the way we need Him most.

The Paraclete lives in us!

First Paraclete Saying

The first of these Paraclete Sayings is found in John 14:16-17; Jesus said, “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—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 in you.”

Surely, no more beautiful words were ever written!

In simple and powerful language, Jesus told His disciples that the One who had been dwelling with them for about three years, the “Spirit of truth,” or Paraclete, would come to dwell in them.

The coming One was, in some way, identical with Jesus; He was also, in some way, different from Jesus.

Jesus said, “I will ask the Father.”

The Holy Spirit could not come in the way God wanted Him to come until Jesus asked for Him!

Jesus had to prepare the way, call disciples to be the “temples” of the Spirit, and then ask the Father to send Him.

There were no shortcuts; Jesus had to come into human history, reveal the love of the Father, call disciples to respond to that love, offer His own life for the, and then call upon the Father to send the Paraclete before He could actually come into their lives.

People cannot “get” the Spirit, manipulate the Spirit, or “work up” the Spirit.

He is pure gift.

He comes only by the gracious love of the Father in answer to the prayer of the obedient Son.

He comes only upon the basis of the redemptive ministry of Jesus.

The Father will give the Spirit.

He cannot be deserved, bought, earned, or merited by all the good work in the history of the world.

He cannot be invoked or bestowed by any religious huckster.

He comes only by the sovereign grace of a loving Father in response to the prayer of Jesus.

The next words in the first Paraclete Saying are supremely important: Jesus said, “The Father will give you another advocate.”

This tells us that the disciples already had one Paraclete, namely Jesus, who was living alongside them, to help them with their deepest needs.

But the word for another tells us something very important about the other Paraclete who would be with them when Jesus went away.

The Greek word that is used here, Allon, is a Paraclete “who is of the same kind of being” as Jesus: that is, Divine Being!

Jesus could not remain with them, in the flesh, much longer.

He was about to complete His earthly mission with His death and resurrection and return to the Father.

He could not abide with them “forever.”

But the coming Paraclete, the Spirit of truth, could abide with them permanently.

The promise we have is that the Holy Spirit can be with us anywhere, anytime, anyplace.

What a glorious promise!

For the first time, Jesus spelled out the name of the coming Paraclete as Spirit.

The same Spirit who hovered over the great deep in creation, who brought the Word of God to the prophets, who begot Jesus in the virgin’s womb, anointed Jesus at His baptism, and by whom He cast out demons, is the Paraclete who was coming to be with the disciples in answer to the prayer of Jesus.

But this time Jesus called Him the Spirit of truth.

This Greek word that is used here means something that is “real, enduring, or genuine,” as contrasted with something which is transient or artificial.

The Spirit of truth will never fail, when all else passes away.

He will endure forever and forever.

Only those lives that are in touch with the Spirit of truth are in touch with the God who will never fade away!

The word used for “accept” or “receive” in this verse literally means “to take, grasp, or seize.”

Metaphorically, it can mean to grasp with the mind or understand.

It could have a very literal meaning here, because, in a few hours men were going to seize and bind Jesus; but they could never capture and bind the Holy Spirit.

It also means that “the world,” those outside the circle of believers, cannot “see” or “know” the Spirit.

Nonbelievers had no personal relationship to the Spirit as the disciples did in their relationship to Jesus.

The final words of this verse are “he lives with you and will be in you.”

This is holy ground!

It is beyond our minds to grasp the full meaning of this concept.

The living Lord who broke the bars of death and came forth from the grace alive forevermore wants to live in our mortal bodies, to think through our minds, to speak through our lips, to bind up the wounded with our hands, to walk on our feet in the tragic byways of this suffering world.

How could anyone carelessly defile this body, this temple of the Holy Spirit?

It is the supreme miracle.

Mark 1:12-13

V. The Temptation of Jesus

• All of the Gospel writers emphasize that the Holy Spirit who came upon Jesus with power at His baptism never left Him throughout His entire ministry.

• Everything Jesus did was in the power of the Spirit.

• This was one of the grand marks which distinguished Jesus from all of the charismatic leaders of the Old Testament.

• Yet, it is shocking to read that immediately after Jesus’ baptism, the Spirit “sent him out into the wilderness” (Mark 1:12) to face the temptation of Satan.

• The powerful Spirit of God, who anointed Jesus for His messianic mission, was now driving Him to a confrontation with the evil one.

• Why would the Holy Spirit do such a thing?

• The answer to this question gives us a clue to the meaning of the mission of Jesus in this world.

• From Genesis, we find that the tempter was successful in tempting Adam and Eve to sin against God.

• Now the “last Adam,” as Paul called Jesus (1 Corinthians 15:45), faced the same tempter, after forty days of hunger and thirst in a barren desert.

• This was not a casual event in the narrative of the life of Jesus.

• It was absolutely crucial for His redemptive mission.

• Because the first Adam failed in his encounter with the tempter, it was imperative that the “last Adam” win the victory over the power of the evil one and start humankind on a new track.

• Our very salvation hanged in the balance!

• The Holy Spirit led Jesus to this encounter with Satan because without the victory over the Tempter Jesus could never have become the Savior of those who had fallen under Satan’s power!

VI. The Holy Spirit Will Speak Through the Disciples

• In one of the promises which Christians have claimed down through the centuries, Jesus assured His disciples that when they were dragged into the synagogues, before “the rulers and authorities,” they should not be anxious how or what to answer because “the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say” (Luke 12:12).

• In Mark’s account, the words are even more direct: “Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit” (Mark 13:11).

• This promise was fulfilled only after Pentecost.

• We must be utterly dependent upon the Holy Spirit for power as we confront an evil world!

VII. Blaspheming the Spirit

• Now we are in a position to consider the age-old question of the unpardonable sin.

• In the very passage of Scripture in which Jesus cast out demons by the Spirit of God (Matthew 12:22-32; Mark 3:20-30; Luke 11:14-23), the Pharisees committed the unforgivable sin of blaspheming the Holy Spirit.

• They knew full well that only the Holy Spirit of God could be accomplishing these miracles they saw Jesus doing.

• They considered themselves the exclusive channel of God’s working in the world.

• When they realized that the Spirit of God was bypassing them and working through an uneducated country prophet from Galilee, they decided to defy and blaspheme God Himself.

• How they hated Jesus and the Spirit of God who worked through Him!

• They were humiliated that, with all their religious knowledge and power, God had passed them by and was using this man whom they viewed with such contempt.

• It was a deliberate defiance of the power of God because the Spirit was not using the Pharisees and their religious rituals.

• Anyone who does not see the danger of using even our religious institutions in defiance of the will of God does not yet understand the nature of sin.

• Those who are very religious are in the greatest danger of committing this monstrous sin that Jesus condemned in such chilling words: “Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come” (Matthew 12:31-32).

• Only by the Spirit of God can we recognize and believe in Jesus as the Son of God.

• If we reject and blaspheme the Holy Spirit, shutting Him out and driving Him away, no avenue remains by which God may bring us to salvation.

• This is why the sin against the Holy Spirit is unforgivable.

• He is the only One who can draw us to the Son and to the Father.

• If we reject the Spirit, the door of forgiveness is forever closed!

VIII. Born of the Spirit

• In the famous conversation with Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, Jesus said: “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit” (John 3:5).

• Some interpreters have argued that “born of water” must mean John’s baptism since that is the only one mentioned to this point in John’s Gospel and the only baptism Nicodemus could possibly know about.

• Others argue that “born of water” must mean Christian baptism, although it had not yet been given or commanded; some interpret this to be the means by which they were“born” into the kingdom of God.

• Still others argue that the phrase ‘born of water” refers to the physical birth since the fetus is surrounded by the fluid-filled placenta, which breaks during the birth process.

• Each of these interpretations is pointing toward a significant Christian truth; but every one of them misses an important point that John was making all through the Gospel.

• As we have seen, the Spirit was not given until the resurrected Lord breathed the Holy Spirit into the disciples, generating a new life in them and “sending them forth” into the world, as the Father had sent Jesus.

• With this new life, those who have Jesus as Lord and Savior are empowered by the Spirit to do things that defy human logic.

• We are empowered to be a light shining in the darkness, etc!

IX. Summary

• As we should expect, everything we have learned about the Holy Spirit in the entire biblical history has come to brilliant focus and fulfillment in the Gospels’ record of Jesus.

• Even as Jesus revealed the Father more fully than any prophet, priest, or king had done, so Jesus revealed the Holy Spirit more completely than he had ever been made known before.

• We should bring together the main truths Jesus taught us about the Spirit because everything else in the Bible must be understood in the light of these truths.

• Jesus was begotten by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the virgin Mary.

• The Holy Spirit inspired Elizabeth to pronounce a blessing upon the virgin Mary and upon the holy Child she was to bear.

• The Holy Spirit prepared Simeon to recognize and proclaim the Christ Child when he was born; the Spirit led Simeon up to the Temple at exactly the right moment to see the Baby and inspired him to pronounce a marvelous blessing upon the Child.

• John the Baptist was filled with the Spirit “even from his mother’s womb” and was enabled to recognize Jesus as the Messiah by seeing the Spirit “descend as a dove from heaven” and remain upon Jesus.

• Even Zechariah, the father of John, was empowered by the Spirit to prophesy God’s visitation and redemption of His people.

• The Spirit came upon Jesus at His baptism to anoint Him with power for His messianic mission.

• The Spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness to face the tempter.

• Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would give the disciples the words to say when they were dragged before rulers and authorities.

• Jesus cast out demons by the Spirit of God and warned the Pharisees that they would never be forgiven if they blasphemed the Spirit by attributing His power to Beelzebul, the prince of demons.

• Jesus taught His disciples to pray for gift of the Holy Spirit.

• The resurrected Lord breathed the Holy Spirit into His disciples in order to send them forth on mission as the Father had sent Jesus into the world on mission.

• Finally, Jesus declared that no one could enter the kingdom of God until that one was born again, or born from above, by the power of the Spirit!

• Amen!

Luke 1:26-38

Introduction

• Upon this broad foundation of Old Testament teaching concerning the Spirit of God, the Gospel writers set forth the climactic revelation of the Spirit in the person and ministry of Jesus.

• From the Christian perspective, Jesus is the supreme revelation of God in human history.

• This includes the supreme revelation of God as Spirit in the life of Jesus.

• To this teaching about the Holy Spirit in the life and ministry of Jesus, we now turn to…

I. The Birth of Jesus

• The accounts of the birth of Jesus in the Gospels fittingly emphasize the activity of God in the totality of His Being as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

• The Son of God, and the Son of God only, “was made flesh” through Mary.

• The Bible makes that abundantly clear.

• There is never any confusion on this point.

• For this reason, it is most unfortunate that the phrase “mother of God” came to be applied to Mary in the early centuries of church debate about the person of Jesus.

• In that debate, the phrase “mother of God” simply meant that Jesus was already the divine Son of God when he was begotten in the womb of Mary, therefore, she gave birth to a baby who was the Son of God in human flesh when He was born.

• He did not become the Son of God later by adoption, as some heretical theologians argued, either at His baptism or His resurrection.

• That Jesus was divine from the very moment of conception is clearly taught in the Gospels.

• Because the word God usually signifies the Father-Creator, the phrase “mother of God” sounds as if Mary is the source of Deity.

• To the naïve mind, it may suggest that God came into Being through Mary.

• God’s Son came into human flesh through Mary, but His Being is eternal.

• Otherwise, He could not be God.

• Luke spelled this out in clear and beautiful language: “in the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary” (Luke 1:26-27).

• When Gabriel told Mary that she would conceive in her womb “and bear a son” and should “call his name Jesus,” Gabriel said explicitly that this child would “be called the Son of the Most High” (Luke 1:31-32).

• In astonishment Mary asked how this could happen and received the answer that has been orthodox Christian theology for twenty centuries: “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:35).

• It would be difficult to imagine how this great doctrine of the incarnation of the Son of God could be expressed in more simple language.

• No suggestion is found here of sexual cohabitation between divine and human beings, as in Greek mythology.

• The “Most High” is certainly the Father-Creator.

• The “power of the Most High” is the Holy Spirit, revealed throughout the Bible as the invisible but powerful presence of God.

• The Child to be born would be called the Son of God.

• This is a fundamental view of the Trinitarian activity of God, long before Christian theologians had ever formulated a doctrine of the Holy Trinity in the fourth and fifth centuries.

• Matthew supported this statement about the activity of the Holy Spirit at the conception of Jesus in his independent account: “This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came bout: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 1:18).

• By saying “before they came together,” Matthew excluded the possibility that Joseph could be the biological father of Jesus.

• In the phrase “through the Holy Spirit,” Matthew used the Greek preposition that means “out of.”

• The Holy Spirit was the source of Mary’s “child,” not Joseph.

• This is the biblical answer to the haunting question of the beautiful Christman, “What Child Is This?”

• When the angel appeared to Joseph in a dream, urging him not to be afraid to take Mary as his wife, even more explicit language was used: “for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 1:20).

• Here the biological event of conception is attributed to the activity of the Holy Spirit.

• This is the real meaning of the doctrine of the virgin birth.

• It has nothing to do with the theory of the “perpetual virginity of Mary,” which developed later in church history.

• On the contrary, Matthew made clear that Mary and Joseph had four sons, who are named, and a plural number of daughters, who are not named.

• In this event of the incarnation of the Son of God, the Divine Power bypassed the procreative process that He had ordained in the creation.

• He begot Jesus directly, thereby making a new beginning in the human race.

• This is why Jesus can be called a “new Adam.”

• God began the human race again in Jesus.

II. Mary’s Visit to Elizabeth

• Immediately after the announcement to Mary that she would bear the Son of God, she “went with haste” to visit her relative, Elizabeth, who was about to become the mother of John the Baptist.

• Although Elizabeth’s conception was certainly a miracle, considering her extreme age and that of her husband, there was never any suggestion that John the Baptist was conceived by the Holy Spirit.

• In fact, the words of Scripture make it abundantly clear that Zechariah was the father, even as Elizabeth was the mother, in the announcement of the angel: “Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John” (Luke 1:13).

• But something is said about the activity of the Holy Spirit in the life of Elizabeth.

• She was inspired to give a beautiful blessing to the young virgin who would become the mother of our Lord: “When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear!’” (Luke 1:41-42).

• The significance of this experience for Mary, and for the later Christian community which treasured these words, was that the Holy Spirit, through Elizabeth, confirmed Gabriel’s promise to Mary.

• Mary was not left to wonder if something were wrong with her mind, or if she were having hallucinations.

• After all, her experience was without parallel in all of human history.

• How could she be sure?

• The same Holy Spirit who overshadowed Mary bore witness through Elizabeth that, indeed, Mary was to be the mother of the Lord.

• How much Mary needed this reassurance!

• And the Holy Spirit was going to bear further witness to the holy Child of Mary.

III. The Witness of Simeon

• It may be very significant that there is no reference to the Holy Spirit in the beautiful account of the actual birth of Jesus.

• There were many heavenly visitors, to be sure; they brought the glorious good news of the birth of the Savior.

• But the birth of the Babe was painfully earthy, with no room in the inn and only the crude surroundings of a stable to shelter that blessed event.

• Perhaps that is the Bible’s way of reminding us how utterly and fully human was this Baby who was, and is, at the same time, the eternal Son of God.

• But the Holy Spirit came to center stage with the presentation of Baby Jesus in the Temple.

• A powerful and public witness was borne to Jesus as the promised Messiah by the activity of the Holy Spirit in a devout old man named Simeon.

• No doubt many mothers in Israel had hoped that they might bear a son who would be the Messiah.

• And, as often happens, many parents and relatives expressed exaggerated hopes for a newborn child or grandchild.

• They always have.

• But the Scripture makes three exceptional statements about the Holy Spirit preparing Simeon to recognize and bless Baby Jesus: “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” (Luke 2:25).

• This first statement about the Spirit being upon Simeon alerts us to the fact that, although there might have been many righteous and devout people in Israel, the special power of the Holy Spirit was upon Simeon in such a way that his words and actions were from God Himself.

• Then a second thing was said about the activity of the Spirit in the life of Simeon: “It has been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah” (Luke 2:26).

• Now we can be sure that the “consolation of Israel,” for which Simeon was looking in the first reference, really meant that the was looking for the Lord’s Anointed, the promised Messiah, to deliver His people.

• We have the added word that the Holy Spirit had assured Simeon that he would see the Messiah before he died.

• Not only did the Spirit confirm this marvelous event to Elizabeth when she met Mary, but the same Holy Spirit had prepared the heart of Simeon beforehand to recognize this divine Child when he came.

• In fact, all three tenses of the activity of the Holy Spirit are revealed in these birth narratives: in the past, Simeon had been prepared to expect the Messiah before he died; in the present, the Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary and the Messiah was conceived in her; then after that conception, Elizabeth, filled with the Spirit, bore witness that Mary was, indeed, to be the mother of the Messiah.

• With all the people coming and going in the Temple, it would have been very unlikely that old Simeon would have happened to encounter just this couple and just this Baby among the thousands.

• This brings us to the third and final statement about the Spirit in the life of Simeon: “Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: ‘Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all nations: a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel’” (Luke 2:27-30).

• With the Spirit upon his life, and with the Spirit revealing to him beforehand that he would see the Messiah, the Holy Spirit still had to lead the old man to the right place, at the right time, to meet the child Jesus.

• The Wise Men were led by a star to the Christ child.

• But Simeon was led by the Holy Spirit to the Christ child.

• And so, it is with us.

• None of us can find our way to Jesus until the Holy Spirit leads us!

IV. The Witness of John the Baptist

• The angel has said to Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, that his child would “be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born” (Luke 1:15) and would go before the Lord “in the spirit and power of Elijah” (Luke 1:17).

• Like many of the Old Testament leaders and prophets, John would be filled with the Spirit to carry out his appointed mission, preparing the way for the Messiah.

• It was never said or suggested that John was conceived by the Holy Spirit.

• Only Jesus was conceived by the Spirit.

• But, like many other divinely chosen leaders, John was filled with the Spirit to enable him to do something that in human strength, he could never accomplish.

• When John was born and Zechariah’s speech was restored, the happy father “was filed with the Holy Spirit and prophesied: ‘Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them’” (Luke 1:67-68).

• When John preached in the Jordan Valley, he proclaimed the Coming One “more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie” (Mark 1:7).

• Then John made another significant contrast: “I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit” (Mark 1:8).

• This clearly identified Jesus as the Messiah because He was the One who was anointed with the Spirit; He was the only one who could baptize with the Holy Spirit.

• If there were any doubt that this promise pointed toward Pentecost, the parallel passages in Matthew 3:11 and Luke 3:16remove it: “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.”

• The tongues of flame that accompanied the rushing mighty wind at Pentecost (Acts 2:2-4)were the explicit fulfillment of this promise of the baptism with the Holy Spirit and fire.

• Finally, this witness of John the Baptist is powerfully confirmed in the Gospel of John: “Then John gave this testimony: ‘I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me: The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit. I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One” (John 1:32-34).

• John recognized Jesus as the Messiah by the Spirit of God descending upon Him and remaining.

• Throughout the Old Testament revelation, the Spirit came and went, only temporarily abiding upon a judge like Samson, or a prophet like Ezekiel.

• But, upon Jesus, the Spirit came to abide.

• This marked Jesus as the Anointed One, the promised Messiah.

• The One who was anointed with the Spirit who anointed Jesus for His messianic mission would baptize His followers for their mission in the world.

Psalm 31:5

Introduction

• The last division of the Old Testament canon was originally the Psalms, the hymn book of Israel.

• The Wisdom Literature, the historical Books of Chronicles, and the prophecy of Daniel were added before the rabbis closed the canon, near the end of the first century AD.

• Because the Psalms are concentrated on worship and personal devotion, a whole new dimension of the activity of God’s Spirit is disclosed: the role of the Spirit in the personal life and worship of the believer.

• The other writings echo the same themes we have found in the earlier portions of the Old Testament.

I. The Holy Spirit in the Psalms

• Even in the dire extremity of suffering, the faithful worshiper cries out, “Into your hands I commit my spirit” (Psalm 31:5).

• The is Scripture from the Psalms that spoke so deeply to the need of the dying Jesus that it was His last word from the cross.

• Earlier He had cried out in the words of Psalm 22:1, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

• The most persistent use of the word spirit in the Psalms designates the inner life of the worshiper.

• The spirit is that aspect of human personality that is most closely related to God.

• God blesses the one “in whose spirit is no deceit” (Psalm 32:2) and “saves the crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18).

• The truly acceptable sacrifice to God is “a broken spirit” (Psalm 51:17).

• While crying out to God in the day of trouble, the psalmist meditated and his “spirit faints” (Psalm 77:3).

• But “when my spirit grows faint within me, it is you who watch over my way!” (Psalm 142:3).

• The fainting spirit, also seen in Psalm 143:4 and 7, was lifted up by looking to God: “May your good Spirit lead me on level ground” (Psalm 142:10).

• For the psalmist, the Spirit was not simple a doctrine; He was the intimate presence of God, without which the psalmist could not live a single day!

• In one of the classic passages in all of Scripture, David confessed his terrible sin and cried out: “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10).

• As we saw in Ezekiel, complete cleansing from sin requires a new heart and a new spirit, and only God can give it.

• It is a miracle of God’s grace, and it is our deepest need.

• The next line, “Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me” (Psalm 51:11), reminds us that the awful consequence of sin is separation from God.

• The intimate relationship for which God made us is broken by sin.

• We can even see this in human relationships.

• When we sin against people and hurt them, the relationships are marred or broken.

• Only a genuine forgiveness can open the possibility of a renewed relationship.

• In the great creation Psalm (104), the sustaining power of God’s Spirit, revealed in the opening chapters of Genesis, is celebrated in some of the most beautiful words in the Bible.

• In a majestic panorama of the heavens and the earth, the psalmist sand of all the living things in God’s creation: “When you hide your face, they are terrified; when you take away their breath, they die and return to the dust” (Psalm 104:29).

• What a poignant reminder that everything in this marvelous universe depends upon God at every moment!

• And God’s creative work is not finished: “When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the ground” (Psalm 104:30).

• This renewing of the creation makes possible the later New Testament vision of a “new heaven and a new earth”: which God will bring at the end of time.

• The last great emphasis of the psalmist was upon the omnipresence of the Spirit, literally filling the whole universe.

• Nowhere can one escape His presence:

o “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast” (Psalm 139:7-10).

• The pervasiveness of God’s Spirit is overwhelming.

• It might be troubling to the sinner who is trying to hide something from God because there is no way to escape Him.

• But, to the psalmist, it was the most powerful message of comfort and assurance.

• No matter what came, in life or in death, God would be with him.

• In the first verse of this beautiful passage, the two lines of Hebrew poetry parallel “thy Spirit” and “thy presence.”

• It provides one of the simplest and clearest definitions of God’s Spirit in all of Scripture.

• God’s Spirit is, quite simply and profoundly, God’s presence.

• There is no better way to think of the Spirit of God than to remember that the Spirit is God’s presence with us, in joy or sorrow, in victory or defeat, in life or in death.

II. The Spirit in Job

• Because the Book of Job is dominated by the struggle of that suffering man to understand what was happening to him and why God seemed to be sending such punishment upon him, the word spirit is used primarily for Job’s spirit.

• He was looking inward and agonizing over his own condition.

• But through this devastating suffering, Job’s faith persevered.

• He was confident of the Spirit and power of God, even in his deepest despair.

• These references to the Holy Spirit enrich the biblical teaching on this doctrine.

• Those who “plow evil” perish by the “breath of God” and by “the blast of his anger” (Job 4:8-9).

• The same divine power which brought the creation into being can come in judgment to destroy it.

• Eliphaz continued his discourse on the justice of God by describing “a spirit” which glided past his face, causing the hair on his flesh to stand up, and, out of the terrifying silence, asking the disturbing question: “Can a mortal be more righteous than God?” (vv.15-17).

• This visionary spirit does not seem to have been the Holy Spirit, but one of the spirits who serves God.

• It adds to the general biblical teaching that there are ministering spirits who serve God, sometimes identified as angels, but, at other times, simply called “spirits” or “ministering spirits.”

• The Creator Spirit is seen again in Job: “By his breath the skies became fair” (Job 26:13).

• Job’s own breath is sustained by God’s Spirit:“As long as I have life within me, the breath of God in my nostrils, my lips will not say anything wicked, and my tongue will not utter lies” (Job 27:3-4).

• Even the “spirit in a man” which gives him understanding is called “the breath of the Almighty” (Job 32:8).

• This implies more than physical breath or mental acumen.

• The “breath of God” gives us understanding that we could never attain in our human resources alone.

• Job found great reassurance, through all his sufferings, in the conviction expressed by Elihu: “The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life” (Job 33:4).

• If God “should take back his spirit to himself, and gather to himself his breath, all flesh would perish together, and man would return to dust” (Job 34:14-15).

• This perception of the Spirit of God permeating our physical lives gives a sacredness to human life and physical relationships, which we often ignore.

• We cannot divide our lives, neatly into the physical and the spiritual, denigrating the physical and exalting the spirit.

• Even the physical is permeated and sustained by the Spirit of God.

• The Book of Job continues some of the main teachings about the Spirit, but it emphasizes the power of God’s Spirit to preserve his servant through devastating suffering.

III. The Spirit in Proverbs

• Another of the Wisdom books, along with Job and the Psalms, is Proverbs.

• Like all the Wisdom Literature, it gives guidance for daily living in accord with the law of God.

• This was the meaning of wisdom in the Old Testament: practical instructions for living one’s life in obedience to God.

• It had little to do with the abstract knowledge; it was concerned with the urgent question of living in right relationship to God and neighbor.

• This means that most references to the spirit in Proverbs are concerned with the human spirit of the faithful person.

• We are given a range of descriptions of the human spirit that runs the gamut of human emotions: the faithful spirit, the hasty spirit, the broken spirit, the haughty spirit, the humble spirit, the wounded spirit.

• God “weighs the spirit,” even though man may be “pure in his own eyes” (Proverbs 16:2).

• The remaining references to the Spirit in the last division of the Old Testament canon of Scripture echo the themes we have already seen.

• The Spirit of God came upon Azariah (2 Chronicles 15:1) or upon Zechariah (2 Chronicles 24:20) to accomplish His purpose through them.

• Surprisingly, God stirred up pagan kings to do His bidding (Pul, king of Assyria in 1 Chronicles 5:26; 2 Chronicles 36:22.

• God did not put His Spirit on them; rather, He stirred up their spirits.

• This makes them responsible for their spirit, and yet it provides a way for the prophetic writer to see the hand of God in the judgment which fell upon sinful Israel through the articles of their enemies.

• God can use the spirit that is obedient to Him; He can also work through or in spite of the spirit that rejects Him.

IV. Analysis and Summary

• In the last division of the Old Testament, the Psalms give us the most insight into the nature and activity of God’s Spirit.

• Only God can create a clean heart and put a new spirit in the sinner.

• Without the convicting, renewing power of the Spirit, there is no redemption and no hope for the guilty one.

• The whole of creation is permeated by God’s Spirit, making even the physical world the sphere of God’s presence and God’s grace.

• God is concerned about the physical needs, as well as the spiritual needs, of mankind.

• His spiritual activity in the old creatin is the ground and assurance of the coming “new creation.”

• Nowhere in the whole universe, in life or in death, can we get away from God’s presence, the Holy Spirit.

• This is the basis of the biblical teaching that even beyond death everyone must face God in the judgment.

• There is no escaping His omnipresent Spirit.

• But this same truth brings the glad assurance of eternal fellowship with God for those who have opened their lives to the regenerating power of His Spirit.

• Although many people seem to think that the Holy Spirit only appeared on the earthly scene at Pentecost, we have seen that there is a rich and diverse background of the activity of the Spirit throughout the Old Testament.

• It is now possible to understand in a fuller way how the New Testament teaching about the Holy Spirit builds upon that foundation.

Joshua 5:1

Introduction

• The second major division of the Hebrew canon of Scripture, our Old Testament, is called simply, the Prophets.

• This is exactly what Jesus called it when He named the three divisions of Scripture in a resurrection appearance to the disciples: “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms” (Luke 24:44).

• This second division of the canon was further divided into the Former Prophets and the Latter Prophets.

• The Former Prophets consists of the books we usually call the Historical Books, through 2 Kings.

• The Latter Prophets consists of the great writing prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, together with the minor, or shorter, prophets through Malachi.

• Because these shorter writings are usually grouped in a single scroll about the length of the single scrolls of Isaiah or Ezekiel, they are simply called the Scroll of the Twelve.

• The way in which this division of the canon of Scripture developed gives us a wonderful opportunity to follow the growth of the teaching about the Holy Spirit.

• We can see how the activity of the Holy Spirit was understood in the history of Judah and Israel, and we can compare that with the unique emphases in the writing prophets.

I. The Holy Spirit in the Historical Books

• The one reference to “Spirit” in the Book of Joshua is to the human spirit of the kings of the Amorites and the Canaanites who “heard that the Lord had dried up the waters of the Jordan for the people of Israel until they had crossed over, their heart melted, and there was no longer any courage (spirit) in them to face the Israelites” (Joshua 5:1).

• Their confidence or “spirit” was understandably broken when they saw the power of Israel’s God.

• But the “Spirit of the Lord” is a veritable refrain throughout the following book, the Book of Judges.

• In fact, the entire book is a story of the Spirit of God raising up one leader after another to deliver His people from invading armies.

• We would call them charismatic leaders today because they were called and filled by the Spirit of God to accomplish miracles that they could never have done in their own strength.

II. The Cycle of Sin and Deliverance

• Judges follows the pattern laid out in chapter3:7, “The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord; they forgot the Lord their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs.”

• Their sin was followed by God’s judgment: “The anger of the Lord burned against Israel so that he sold them into the hands of Cushan-Rishathaim king of Aram Naharaim, to whom the Israelites were subject for eight years” (Judges 3:8).

• Then would come their cry for the deliverance: “But when they cried out to the Lord, he raised up for them a deliverer, Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, who saved them” (Judges 3:9).

• In the case of Othniel, and many of the succeeding judges, it is simply said that “The Spirit of the Lord came on him, so that he became Israel’s judge and went to war” (Judges 3:10).

• The Spirit of God was the active power that was ruling and delivering Israel, even though He used many human instruments: “Then the Spirit of the Lord came on Gideon” (Judges 6:34).

• “Then the Spirit of the Lord came on Jephthah” (Judges 11:29); and the entire life of Samson is told with the repeated refrain, “And the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him” (Judges 13:25);or “The Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him so that he tore a young goat” (Judges 14:6); even when Samson’s wife betrayed his riddle to the Philistines and he was boiling with anger, “the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him. He went down to Ashkelon, struck down thirty of their men” (Judges 14:19). 

• The sad story of Samson’s abuse of his God-given strength brought him, bound and blinded, to the prison in Gaza, deserted by the Spirit of the Lord.

• Even his last prayer for the return of the strength to bring down the idol temple of Dagon and let him die with the Philistines is a solemn reminder that God’s judgment falls upon those who fail to acknowledge their dependence upon His spiritual power and who fail to use it according to His will.

III. An Evil Spirit from the Lord

• One of the most surprising statements to appear at the point in the biblical record is the “God stirred up animosity between Abimelehand the citizens of Shechem so that they acted treacherously against Abimeleh(Judges 9:23).

• This spirit is not called the Holy Spirit, and in the context, it is clear that God allowed the bitterness and hatred between wicked man to result in the ultimate accomplishment of God’s purpose.

• But, from this point on, the Scriptures often say that God sent an evil spirit upon Saul or a lying spirit upon one of the false prophets, and it raises a moral question for us.

• Two things should be said in reference to this question.

• First, biblical writers attributed everything directly to God, without making any distinction between what He permitted and when He initiated.

• Since God was the ultimate power behind everything, they did not shrink from affirming that anything that happened was in the will of God by permission or by direction, for good or for evil.

• This is why we read that God moved David to number the people of Israel against God’s own explicit commandment because God’s anger was kindled against Israel and He was going to bring the consequences of this deed in judgment upon their heads. 

• In 1 Chronicles 21:1, the writer said, “Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel.”

• To place the direct blame upon Satan may have been very important for the theology of the writer, but he knew very well that Satan could do nothing without God’s permission.

• Even if Satan and the evil spirit were responsible for their own evil actions, the biblical writers believed that God set sever limits for their action and that they could never seize control from the hands of God.

• Ultimately, the power of God ruled over everything, including both good and evil spirits.

• In the second place, the sending of an “evil spirit” is a way of describing God’s moral law of sin and retribution.

• The evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem was a consequence of their wicked deeds, showing God’s inevitable judgment upon sin.

• He has built His moral law into the very fabric of the universe, and it is as dependable as the law of gravity.

• The “evil spirit” was the consequence of the violation of God’s moral law; it came from God because, by His holy nature, sin is always condemned.

• From this biblical teaching we understand that not all spirits in the world are good.

• Some spiritual powers oppose God.

• This is the background for the later warning that we must test the spirits, whether they be of God (1 John 4:1).

IV. The Spirit Upon Saul and David

• The Books of Samuel carry out the theme of Judges.

• The Spirit of God came upon a person in order that he might lead God’s people.

• This is what happened when Samuel the prophet anointed Saul and told him that he would rule over Israel (1 Samuel 10:1ff).

• The Spirit came mightily upon Saul, and he joined the band of prophets and prophesied with them (vv.6,10).

• As long as Saul obeyed God, His Spirit was upon Saul.

• Because of Saul’s disobedience, the Lord rejected him: The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as kings over Israel?” (1 Samuel 16:1).

• The Lord sent Samuel to find the shepherd boy David and anoint him to be king over Israel: “So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David” (1 Samuel 16:13).

• As the laying on of hands was a sign of the bestowal of the Spirit, so the anointing with oil became a special sign of the coming of God’s Spirit.

• A remarkable thing happens in the very next verse: “Now the Spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him” (1 Samuel 16:14).

• It seems that in the very act of coming upon the young David, the Spirit was departing from Saul.

• The power of the Spirit to rule over Israel was taken from Saul and given to David.

• The choosing of David meant the rejection of Saul.

• But an even more surprising thing is said: when the Spirit of the Lord was taken away, an evil spirit from the Lord was sent to torment Saul.

• If a person is abandoned by the Spirit of God, he seems to be in danger of being taken over by an evil spirit; he will not be left empty.

• This “evil spirit” seems to have been a kind of moodiness or depression that swept over Saul.

• He knew he had failed God and forfeited his great promise as a leader of his people.

• This was the working out of God’s judgment, as we saw in the Book of Judges.

• When David played his harp for Saul, Saul’s spirits would be lifted, and the evil spirit would depart from him.

• But Saul was only dealing with his symptoms.

• He refused the permanent cure for the fundamental disobedience which had brought about God’s rejection of him and the taking away of God’s Spirit.

V. The Contagious Spirit

• The rest of the days of Saul were tormented by this spirit of jealousy of David.

• He threw a spear at David when the evil spirit rushed upon him, or he sent messengers to capture or kill him.

• One of the most pathetic accounts in the Bible is Saul’s futile effort to snatch David from under the protection of the Spirit.

• When Saul sent messengers to take David, “they saw a group of prophets prophesying, with Samuel standing there as their leader, the Spirit of God came on Saul’s men, and they also prophesied” (1 Samuel 19:20).

• Outraged that his messengers had been “taken in” by the Spirit, Saul sent messengers a second and third time, and they also fell under the spell of the Spirit and joined the band of the prophets.

• Saul must have been livid!

• In desperation, he went to do the job himself.

• Saul also fell under the power of the Spirit, prophesying, stripping off his clothes, and lying naked all day and night.

• How he must have hated the taunt with which he had to live the rest of his life: “Is Saul also among the prophets?” (1 Samuel 19:24).

• This episode portrays the Spirit of God as a kind of field of energy, like a massive electromagnet.

• When one enters the “field,” that person is in danger of being captured by it.

• This description of the Spirit of God as a powerful and invisible force is consistent with biblical teaching from the very beginning.

• Sometimes He can even have a compulsive effect, seizing someone before one knows it.

• The developing doctrine of the Spirit moves toward a more personal emphasis and takes on the characteristics revealed by Jesus in the New Testament.

• But it never loses completely this dimension of an awesome and even dangerous power, which is never to be taken lightly.

• Even in the New Testament, lying to the Holy Spirit could result in instantaneous death, as described in Acts 5:3ff.

VI. Inspiring the Word

• In the “last words of David,” an oracle given in 2 Samuel 23, we have an explicit reference to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in the life of the prophet or biblical writer: “The Spirit of the Lord spoke through me; his word was on my tongue” (2 Samuel 23:2).

• David was not speaking, but the Spirit spoke by him.

• “His word was on my tongue” reminds us that the word of God was often spoken before it was written, and the Spirit of God was just as active in the oral word as in the written Word.

• What is said here in such a simple and direct way becomes a great theme in Scripture and in Christian doctrine; the inspiration of the Word of God.

• “The God of Israel spoke” (v.3) is the clue to the whole doctrine of inspiration.

• It means that even though God used David, He did not violate human personality.

• God still spoke His word through David.

• This is the fundamental element in our whole understanding of inspiration.

• God used human beings, empowered by His Spirit, to bring His Word directly to us.

• When we truly hear this Word, we are not listening to men by to God!

VII. The Spirit in the Writing Prophets

• Isaiah and Ezekiel were the great prophets of the Spirit.

• The other prophetic books have only limited references to the Spirit.

• Isaiah and Ezekiel do mor to advance our understanding of the Holy Spirit than any other Old Testament writings.

• The New Testament teachings would be impossible to understand without them, and our Christian doctrine of the Holy Spirit is enriched by the contribution of these prophetic writings.

• A new and important role of the Spirit is proclaimed in Isaiah; the anointing of the Messian.

• The Hebrew word for Messiah means “anointed,” and the context makes clear that the Messiah was to be anointed with the Spirit of God.

• The first great passage on this anointing is found in Isaiah 11:1-3: “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse: from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. 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—and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.” 

• This beautiful passage tells us that the Anointed of the Lord will come out of the line of Jesse, the father of David, and enumerates the special gifts of the Spirit which will enable Him to fulfill His messianic mission.

• A related passage in Isaiah 61:1-2enumerates the things which the Anointed One will do on His mission: “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn.”

• Jesus read this passage in the synagogue in Nazareth, as a kind of inauguration of His mission, stopping at exactly this point in the text and infuriating His hometown hearers by His message.

• Evidently Jesus saw in this text from Isaiah the program of His ministry, and He fulfilled it to the letter.

• This close relationship between the Spirit and the ministry of the Messian prepared the way for the later teaching about Father, Son, and Spirit.

• Other themes concerning the Spirit are evident in Isaiah, but I think that you get the point.

• There are twenty-five references to the Spirit in the prophecy of Ezekiel.

• Most of these simply describe the Spirit taking up the prophet and moving him where God wanted him to go: “As he spoke, the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet, and I heard him speaking to me” (Ezekiel 2:2).

• On another occasion, the Spirit lifted him up between heaven and earth and brought him “in visions of God to Jerusalem” (Ezekiel 8:3).

• The Spirit was Ezekiel’s regular method of mobility, and he sometimes said explicitly that it is in a vision.

• The message of Ezekiel is summarized in this ringing promise of the Lord, “I will no longer hide my face from the, for I will pour out my Spirit on the people of Israel, declared the Sovereign Lord” (Ezekiel 39:29).

• Ezekiel was the prophet of the new covenant, the new heart, and the new spirit in God’s people by the power of the Spirit of the Lord.

VIII. Analysis and Summary

• In this section, the Spirit of the Prophets, our understanding of the person and activity of the Spirit of God has been advanced along several lines.

• In the ongoing history of Israel, the prophets saw the Spirit of God not only raising up leaders to guide His people but also coming in judgment upon their sin and rebellion.

• The clue to the whole meaning and purpose of their history is that God is the energizing power.

• Behind all their victories and failures, their blessings and their punishment, was the powerful Spirit of God, working to accomplish His ultimate purpose of the redemption of His people.

• The writing prophets sharpened this understanding of the Spirit.

• With the promise of the coming Messiah, anointed with the Spirit of the Lord, the redemptive purpose of God came to a new focus.

• The Messiah would bring a new day, when the Spirit would be poured out upon both men and women, slave and free, young and old.

• The Servant of the Lord, anointed with the Spirit, would give His life as a ransom for many.

• In the new day of redemption, God would put a new heart and a new spirit in them.

• The same Holy Spirit who was active in the original creation would bring about a new creation, fulfilling the purpose of God.

• Each of these elements is included in a complete formulation in of the doctrine of the Holy Spirit.

Genesis 1:1-2

Introduction

• “In the beginning God…” (Genesis 1:1).

• This is exactly how far back we have to go when we begin our study of the Holy Spirit.

• He was at the beginning of creation and before.

• Just as God was before anything was created, so the Spirit was in the being of God from all eternity.

• The second verse of the Bible records the very first reference to the Spirit: “the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters” (Genesis 1:2).

• The Hebrew word used here means “hovering or brooding” like a bird over its nest.

• Something was about to come forth out of “the deep” by the mighty power of God’s Spirit, which was “hovering” over it.

• This first reference to the birdlike brooding of the Spirit may support the biblical imagery of the Holy Spirit as a dove.

• Until this day the doves hover on the wing over the Jordan Valley, hardly moving their position for hours.

• We can easily see the appropriateness of the Holy Spirit coming down upon Jesus like a dove at His baptism in the Jordan River.

• The word Spirit in Hebrew means “wind” as well as “spirit.”

• This does not mean that God’s Spirit is literally wind because wind is air in motion, a part of God’s created world.

• God’s Spirit is the Creator who made the wind—and all other created things.

• But it does mean that the common word for “wind” was a good word to describe or name the invisible but powerful activity of God.

• Like the wind, God’s Spirit is powerful and invisible.

• We cannot see the Spirit any more than we can see the wind, but we can see or experience the effects of the Spirit, as we experience the effects of the wind.

I. The Universal Spirit

• No theme permeates the Bible more completely than the power and presence of the Holy Spirit of God.

• Just as we encounter a direct reference to the Holy Spirit in the second verse of the Bible, so we have the Spirit in the closing verses of the Bible: “The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’” (Revelation 22:17).

• In dealing with the topic of the Holy Spirit, we are not simply considering one separate theological doctrine.

• We are considering the omnipresent God Himself.

• We are searching for the Reality and Person of the Living God, in whom we live and move and have our being.

• Our attitude must be of humble worship and praise, for we can never comprehend or understand Him fully with our limited minds.

• What we can do is learn more about the Person and activity of the Holy Spirit as revealed in the Scriptures, especially in the life and ministry of Jesus.

• In this way we can learn more about surrendering our lives to the Holy Spirit in order that He may live and work through us.

• We dare not relegate the doctrine of the Spirit to a single article in a creed or confession of faith.

• The Spirit permeates every aspect of our life of faith, and no Christian doctrine is complete without Him.

• He is the Breath which gives life to every Christian doctrine, from the convicting power which brings us to salvation to the resurrection of the spiritual body and the life everlasting.

• We will find it impossible to treat thoroughly any Christian doctrine without examining the role of the Holy Spirit in that particular aspect of the Christian life.

• A full analysis of the Person and ministry of the Holy Spirit will, in a similar way, touch on every aspect of the Christian life.

• The Spirit is truly universal.

• He is present everywhere, in all of human history, and throughout all eternity.

II. The Creator Spirit

• When the Bible describes the creation of human beings, an even more intimate word is used for God’s activity than is used with other parts of creation: “Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being” (Genesis 2:7).

• The word for breath is neshamah, a closely related synonym to wind or spirit.

• We have a picture of God bending down over the still form of the body that He had shaped out of the dust of the earth and, in a kind of mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, actually breathing His own life into him.

• This specific activity of God breathing into the nostrils of man is not said of any other creature.

• It is true that breathing animals are sometimes described in the Bible as living beings, using the exactly the same language that is used of human beings.

• But it is never said that God breathed into their nostrils the breath of life, nor is it ever said that they are made “in the image of God.”

• This special relationship to God is reserved for human beings alone, and it means that human beings will be held responsible for the way they relate to God in obedience or rebellion.

• In a general way, then, the Spirit of God is active throughout the entire created world, animate and inanimate.

• But, in a very special way, God’s breath or Spirit brings man into being and puts human beings in a relationship to God that no other creature has.

• God’s Spirit empowers a human being to live but does not control him like a puppet.

• Men and women are free to use this precious gift of life to love God and their neighbor.

• When the Russian cosmonauts, in one of their early space flights, radioed back to earth that they had not found any God out there, the very breath with which they mocked Him was given to them by the Creator God.

• How awesome is the responsibility we have to use this God-given breath in a way that will honor Him and bless the lives of others.

III. The Sustaining Spirit

• In a closely related idea, the Bible also teaches us that the same Holy Spirit who brings us into being sustains our lives at every moment.

• The same Creator God who gives us life and breath can take it away, and we die.

• In Genesis 6:3 we read, “Then the Lord said, ‘My Spirit will not contend with humans forever, for they are mortal; their days will be a hundred and twenty years.’”

• There are two interpretations of this verse.

• One, it can be interpreted to mean that God will not keep on “striving” with man to convict him of sin and bring him to salvation.

• There would be a time when the stubborn sinner would “cross the line” and God would give him up to destruction.

• Another interpretation reminds us that our days on the earth are limited.

• Man does not live by his own strength.

• He is frail flesh, and he lives only as long as God’s creative Spirit sustains him.

• This sobering truth could transform the life of mankind if only it could sink into the center of human consciousness.

• Even Christians seem to think that by certain laws of nature, created by God, they have been given life and, barring accident, they are likely to have a number of years in which to live out their choices and make their decisions.

• But this word from the Lord is a solemn reminder that we cannot take a single day for granted.

• Each day is a gift from God.

• Each breathing moment of life is sustained by the Spirit of a loving God.

• How can we ever afford to be careless about the way we use this precious gift?

IV. The Human Spirit

• Because the Spirit of God is the invisible power that brings human beings into existence and sustains them, the same Hebrew word used for spirit is often used in the Pentateuch for the invisible human spirit which interacts with the divine Spirit in every human life.

• The Bible does not confuse the two because the human spirit has a mind and will of its own.

• Without the divine Spirit there would not be a human spirit to make any choices at all, but the divine Spirit does not make the choices for the human spirit.

• Human beings can grieve the Holy Spirit of God, using the divine gift of life to disobey the God who gave them life.

• In Genesis 41:8, we read that when Pharaoh awoke from his disturbing dream, “his spirit was troubled.”

• Here “spirit” is used to define that aspect of human nature which most directly relates us to God.

• The activity of God’s Spirit brought the troubling dream to Pharaoh, but Pharaoh’s spirit responded to God’s Spirit.

• This interaction of divine Spirit and human spirit is not just at the physical level of sustaining life.

• It is also at the level of human will and decision.

• It is the most intimate expression of the “image of God” in us, the capacity to interact responsibly with the living God.

• In short, the human spirit is that aspect of human nature with which we relate most directly to God.

V. Spirit as Human Vitality

• In the thrilling account of Joseph and his brothers in Egypt, their grieving father, Jacob, could hardly believe them when he learned that Joseph was still alive: “But when they told him everything Joseph had said to them, and when he saw the carts Joseph had sent to carry him back, the spirit of their father Jacob revived” (Genesis 45:27).

• Here the term “spirit” simply means human vitality, including emotion, feeling, and attitude.

• Even so it is further evidence that human vitality is ultimately dependent upon the sustaining power of God’s Spirit.

• There would not be any human vitality apart from the power of God.

• When God sent Moses to the people of Israel in slavery in Egypt with the promise of deliverance from their suffering, “they did not listen to him because of their discouragement and harsh labor” (Exodus 6:9).

• The human spirit depends upon hope; when hope is gone, the spirit is crushed or broken.

• In a world threatened with nuclear destruction, with pain and suffering headlining the news every day, we are reminded that the survival of the human spirit depends upon the promise of God!

• Pity those who have no hope.

VI. Spirit as Personal Attitude

• Sometimes the word spirit simply means the attitude which a person expresses in life relationships.

• A suspicious husband had a “spirit of jealousy” come upon him (Numbers 5:14).

• God “hardened the spirit” of Silion the king of Heshbon who refused to let the wandering Israelites pass through his land (Deuteronomy 2:30).

• In these cases, the persons were clearly responsible for their attitudes, and God held them accountable.

• Consistently, throughout the Bible, spirit is the area of our responsible interaction with God.

• God commended his servant, Caleb, “because he has a different spirit and had followed me fully” (Numbers 14:24).

• Instead of the attitude of distrust and disobedience which had characterized so many of the Israelites, Caleb had shown a “different spirit” of faithful obedience and trust.

• It was all the more remarkable because it ran counter to the attitude of his fellow Israelites all around him.

• Again, we see great emphasis placed on the freedom and responsibility of the human spirit.

VII. The Redemer Spirit

• We have seen that the Creator Spirit of God brings the human spirit into being and interacts with it at every level of life.

• The other primary activity of God’s Spirit in the Pentateuch is the effort to deliver His people from sin and slavery and to bring them into fellowship with Himself.

• When Moses was commanded to gather seventy elders to share the burden of leading the people out of slavery into the Promised Land, God said, “I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take some of the power of the Spirit that is on you and put it on them. They will share the burden of the people with you so that you will not have to carry it alone” (Numbers 11:17).

• The spirit of Moses was not put upon the elders.

• It was the Spirit of God, which had already been placed upon Moses to empower him to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt and into the wilderness of Sinai where they formed the covenant with God.

• The redeeming activity of the Spirit is closely related to His creative activity.

• In fact, it is like the other side of the same coin.

• By creation, the Spirit brought us to be living beings; by His redemptive activity, the Spirit brings us to the fulfillment of His purpose in our lives.

• Creation and redemption are so close together that Paul could even speak of redemption as a “new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

• The Great Creator becomes our Great Redeemer, fulfilling in the new creation His original purpose in the old creation.

VIII. The Spirit of Prophecy

• Continuing God’s redemptive activity, some of the Spirit that was upon Moses was put upon the seventy elders “and when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied” (Numbers 11:25).

• When Joshua worried that this might diminish the leadership of Moses, he received a sharp rebuke, “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!” (Numbers 11:29).

• Even a reluctant prophet, Balaam, was moved to utter an oracle of blessing upon Israel when “the Spirit of God came upon him” (Numbers 24:2).

• Since the prophetic word was used to carry out God’s purpose of redemption, the “spirit of prophecy” should be seen as another aspect of the redeeming activity of the Spirit of God.

IX. The Succession of the Spirit

• One further activity of the Spirit is seen in the Pentateuch—the passing of the Spirit from a divinely called leader to his successor.

• The Lord commanded Moses to “take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit of leadership, and lay your hand on him” (Numbers 27:18).

• Moses obeyed the Lord and “took Joshua and had him stand before Eleazar the priest and the whole assembly. Then he laid his hands on him and commissioned him, as the Lord instructed through Moses” (Numbers 27:22-23).

• This laying on of hands was the beginning of a long biblical tradition that extends all the way through the New Testament to the present time, as persons are set apart for particular ministries by the “laying on of hands.”

• In this first instance, the context makes clear that two very important things are accomplished by this act: The individual is given a very powerful personal confirmation that God has put His Spirit upon him to enable him to accomplish the task to which has been called; the ceremony of laying on of hands is witnessed by the congregation as a sign and confirmation of God’s choice of His servant to minister in their midst.

• The Spirit was not actually conferred by this physical act.

• The Spirit was already in Joshua, the son of Nun (Numbers 27:18).

• God had already selected him.

• God was not dependent upon a human ritual to convey His Spirit to His chosen servant.

• The ritual of the laying on of hands was a sign to the individual and to the congregation that God had already placed His Spirit upon the chosen leader and that the leader would carry out his mission not in his own strength but in the power of God.

Analysis and Summary

• There is no way to exaggerate the importance of these first books of the Bible in laying a foundation for the doctrine of the Holy Spirit.

• Everything else that is said in the Bible about the Spirit, all that is taught in our Christian doctrines, and all that is experienced in our Christian life rests upon this foundation.

• It should certainly assist our continuing study if we can pull together these basic teachings about the Sprit in an orderly way.

• First and foremost is the absolute identification of the Spirit with God Himself.

• God is Spirit, and Spirit becomes the primary word for the invisible and powerful activity of God in the world.

• The Bible emphasizes the holiness or otherness of God, what theologians call His transcendence.

• The counterbalancing emphasis upon the nearness and presence of God in the world in our lives is what theologians call God’s immanence, His abiding in us and with us.

• This is the role of the Holy Spirit, the indwelling presence and power of God.

• The Spirit is not simply one aspect of God’s being or nature.

• The Spirit is God Himself, powerful and present in His creation and in our lives.

• The second important truth that is unfolded in the opening pages of God’s Word is that the Spirit of God is active in two primary ways: in creation and in redemption.

• In creation the Spirit is active in bringing everything into existence and sustaining all things at every moment.

• In a very special way, the Spirit or breath of God brings man and woman into existence and holds them accountable for the way they respond to the activity of God in their lives.

• This is the essential meaning of the “image of God” in us, our capacity and responsibility to relate to the Spirit of God as He works with our human spirits to accomplish His purpose in us.

• The second primary way in which the Spirit of God works in human life and history is for our redemption, the bringing of men and women into a vital, personal relationship to God.

• This can be seen in the calling of special leaders (like Moses) to guide us in this journey with God or in the sending of the word of prophecy to instruct us along the way.

• Because this redemptive process continues as long as history unfolds, God has demonstrated His power to call new leaders in each generation and put His Spirit upon them.

• The rest of the Bible is the story of how this creating and redeeming activity of God’s Spirit continued with His people, from the wilderness to the Promised Land, in the times of the kingdom and the warnings of the prophets, in victory and in Exile, culminating in the ministry of Jesus and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the church.

• For believers the Spirit is the clue to the whole Bible, the key that unlocks the meaning of human history.

• Amen!

John 4:24

Introduction

• “God is spirit.”

• This statement of Jesus in John 4:24 means that everything we say about God must be related in some way to spirit.

• It means invisible rather than visible.

• It means that we cannot relate to God as matter that we can touch or see or measure.

• The scientific principles that govern all our experience and education in today’s world cannot be applied to God.

• But this fact has opened the door to a jungle of confusion and strange cults regarding the Spirit of God.

• If we cannot depend upon science and human reason to provide our understanding of the Spirit, what can we depend upon?

• The Christian answer is clear and unmistakable: We must follow the teaching of Jesus as revealed in Holy Scripture.

• Just as Jesus revealed to us the Father, so He also revealed to us the Holy Spirit.

• Any spirit which does not magnify and exalt Jesus is not the Spirit of God.

I. Spirit in the Old Testament

• Because all of our understanding of the Holy Spirit goes back to the biblical witness, we must look first at the activity of the Spirit in the Old Testament.

• Some Christians have assumed that the Holy Spirit began on the Day of Pentecost, when the early church was empowered by the Spirit to proclaim the gospel of Christ.

• But what happened at Pentecost can be compared to what happened at Bethlehem.

• Jesus did not become the Son of God by being born of Mary in Bethlehem.

• The Son was with the Father from all eternity.

• Otherwise, He could not be the divine Son of God.

• He became flesh and blood through His birth to Mary.

• The eternal Son of God became the man Jesus through Mary.

• In a parallel way, the Holy Spirit came to indwell the body of the church through the outpouring at Pentecost.

• Like the Son, the Spirit had been with the Father from all eternity.

• As Genesis 1:2 says, “and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

• But this eternal Spirit of God found a dwelling place in the body of Christ, the church.

• Pentecost was to the Spirit what Bethlehem was to the Son—the place of incarnation or embodiment of the Son and the Spirit for their ministry in the world.

• The primary role of the Spirit in the Old Testament was in creation.

• He was present in the creative activity of God in Genesis 1, and Psalm 104 shows that the Spirit keeps the created order alive and functioning.

• In this role the Spirit does not have a particular dwelling place but rather permeates the whole of creation at all times.

• This is very different from the New Testament where the Holy Spirit dwells specifically in Jesus in His redemptive ministry, empowering His miracles and His words, and then indwells the church, which continues the ministry of Christ in the world.

• There is also a redemptive role of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament.

• He brought the powerful word of God through the prophets, and He moved through the wind to roll the waters back and deliver God’s people from death.

• But in these activities in the Old Testament, the Spirit was coming and going.

• He did not have a permanent dwelling place.

• This is a significant difference in the role of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament and the New Testament.

• Tracing the activity of the Holy Spirit through the Torah, or Pentateuch, the first five books of the Hebrew canon of Scripture is an exciting journey.

• The Spirit who was active in creation became the powerful presence of God leading His people out of slavery, in the Exodus, and guiding them to the Promised Land.

• The Spirit was active in forming and preserving the covenant of God with His people.

• In the second division of the Hebrew canon of Scripture, we have the activity of the Spirit of God in the prophets.

• He inspired and empowered the word of God through the prophets to the people.

• The work of the Holy Spirit in the prophetic canon of Scripture was primarily redemptive activity, bringing the saving word of God to the people and convicting them of their sin.

• But, in the background, we still see the creative activity of God’s Spirit in the whole universe and to all the peoples of the earth.

• The twofold work of the Spirit came to focus on both creation and redemption.

• In the Psalms and Writing, the third and final division of the Hebrew Bible, the creative role of the Spirit in sustaining the whole universe is still very prominent.

• But a new dimension of His activity came to the fore, that was His personal work in the heart and mind of the worshiper.

• In the Psalms, in particular, the Holy Spirit was the powerful presence of God in the life of the individual worshiper.

• This emphasis upon the personal ministry of the Spirit anticipated and prepared the way for the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Christian believer.

• The fundamental difference is that in the New Testament the Holy Spirit had the redemptive ministry of Jesus as the basis for His convicting and regenerating work in the life of the Christian believer.

• Because of the atoning work of Jesus, the Holy Spirit in the New Testament was able to regenerate the life of the believer and empower him to share with others the new life in Christ.

II. Spirit in the New Testament

• Unlike the Old Testament, where the Spirit of God came and went, the Spirit came upon Jesus and stayed.

• Jesus was begotten by the Holy Spirit through the virgin Mary.

• He was anointed with the Spirit at His baptism; by the Spirit of God Jesus cast out demons; Jesus gave up His Spirit as He died on the cross and was raised up from the dead by the Holy Spirit.

• The anointing of Jeus by the Spirit at His baptism for His messianic mission is exactly what the name Christ means: the Anointed One!

• The fullness of the Godhead, Father, Son, and Spirit, was embodied in Jesus.

III. Jesus and the Holy Spirit

• Careful study of all of the Gospels is necessary to see how the Holy Spirit lived and worked through the life of Jesus.

• This study will focus especially upon Jesus’ conception and birth, and then it will trace His development “in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man” (Luke 2:52).

• The critical role of the Spirit in anointing Jesus at His baptism for His messianic ministry will lead us to a careful study of the activity of the Holy Spirit in the teaching and the miracles of Jesus.

• Just as we learn about God the Father from the intimate relationship of Jesus to His Father in His prayer life, so we come to understand the power of the Holy Spirit in the miracles Jesus performed.

IV. The Paraclete

• By far the most important Scriptures for understanding the relationship of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit will be the five Paraclete hymns, or sayings, in John’s Gospel.

• These beautiful verses, probably sung in the early church, spell out the relationship of Jesus to the Spirit-Paraclete and the relationship of the Spirit to the Father and the Son.

• We learn more about the personality and the ministry of the Holy Spirit from these words than from any others in the Bible.

• We will see that the Son bears witness to the Father and that the Spirit bears witness to the Son.

• This sequence and relationship are crucial for understanding the activity of the Holy Spirit in our lives today.

V. The Holy Spirit in the Church 

• When Jesus returned to the right hand of the Father, the Holy Spirit was poured out upon Jesus’ band of followers in order that they might continue His ministry in the world.

• The Book of Acts records this thrilling story.

• For this reason, Acts is sometimes called the “gospel of the Holy Spirit.”

• Even as the Gospels record the redemptive ministry of Jesus, empowered by the Holy Spirit, so Acts continues the story of that redemptive ministry in the church, empowered by the same Holy Spirit.

• We are continuing in that same ministry in the church today, and we are completely dependent upon the power of the Holy Spirit to accomplish our mission in the world.

• If Jesus needed to pray and depend upon the empowering of the Spirit in His ministry, how much more must we rely upon the Holy Spirit to empower us?

VI. The Holy Spirit in the Life of the Christian

• Even as the Holy Spirit fills the church for its ministry in the world, the individual Christian must be filled with the Spirit for a victorious life in the world.

• The very word filling is often used to describe the way in which the Spirit comes into the life of the believer to empower that life for service.

• Sometimes the phrase “baptism of the Holy Spirit” is used to describe the coming of the Spirit into the life of the believer.

• We need to discover exactly what this means in the New Testament and how it is related to the “filling” of the Spirit.”

• Some of the deepest misunderstandings in the church today come about because of confusion over the “baptism of the Spirit,” the “filling of the Holy Spirit,” and the “gifts of the Spirit.”

• The writings of Paul, in particular, emphasize the gifts of the Holy Spirit to the church and in the lives of the individual members.

• While these spiritual gifts undoubtedly bring joy and fulfillment to the individual believer, Paul stressed their role in building up and strengthening the church.

• They are not private gifts in which the Christian may glory; rather, they are God’s gift to the church, for His glory.

• Much of the confusion and conflict in the church today over the gifts of the Spirit would be corrected if this primary emphasis of Paul were remembered. 

• They are corporate gifts, given for the edification and blessing of the whole church, not for private enjoyment.

• The Spirit is the “earnest and seal” of our final redemption at the coming of the Lord and the resurrection of the body.

• The presence of the Spirit in the life of the Christian is already a foretaste of the life to come; at the same time, this gives the seal and assurance the believer needs until faith becomes sight.

• This is another great emphasis of the apostle Paul, and it has brought strength and blessing to the suffering Christians down through the centuries.

• By the eyes of the Spirit, they have already been able to see the end of the journey.

• Christians know that the suffering of this present time is not even to be compared to the glory that shall be revealed when Jesus comes.

VII. The Spirit of Christ

• Some misunderstanding of the Holy Spirit has come about through the effort to distinguish between the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ, making two different spirits in the being of God.

• The unity of God is the absolutely fundamental doctrine of the being of God, and all such efforts to separate God into different beings, even spiritual beings, would result in the destruction of the most precious doctrine of all: “Hear O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one” (Deuteronomy 6:4).

• This unity makes impossible some of the doctrines proclaimed today which sharply separate Christ from the Spirit.

• For instance, in 2 Corinthians 3:17, we find, “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”

• Some teach that one may have Christ, or be saved by Christ, but not have the Holy Spirit until later, or not at all.

• The Scriptures simply do not allow the splitting of the being of God in this fashion.

• The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all involved in the work of regeneration and redemption because all are one.

• There is no activity of any of the persons of the Trinity which is in isolation from the others.

• Otherwise, the unity of God would be destroyed.

VIII. The Regenerating Spirit

• Just as the Spirit of God was active in the creation of the world, so He is active in the new creation, the regeneration of the individual believer.

• Every born-again believer knows that it takes a miracle of God to transform life and make a new creature.

• No amount of human effort can accomplish this, and no adequate explanation can leave out the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit.

• For this reason, any proper understanding of the doctrine of the Holy Spirit compels us to acknowledge the reality of miracle.

• Only a power above and beyond us can account for the creation of the whole universe, and only such a supernatural power can sustain the whole creation at any moment.

• In a parallel way, only the superhuman power of the Holy Spirit can recreate the human life and make it over again in the renewed image of God.

• Some people fail to see the miraculous nature of the new birth and concentrate instead on miracles of physical healing or material blessing.

• These miracles may be more visible to those who are only spectators, but the genuine believer knows that there is no greater miracle than the new birth.

IX. The Empowering Spirit

• Just as Jesus was begotten by the Holy Spirit and then later was anointed by the Holy Spirit for His mission as Messiah, so those believers who are born again by the Holy Spirit must be continually filled and empowered by the Spirit for their lives of service in the world.

• The baptism of the Holy Spirit is always closely connected with the beginning of the Christian journey, with regeneration and water baptism.

• It is a once-for-all experience, never repeated in the life of the believer.

• On the other hand, the “filling” of the Holy Spirit or the anointing of the Spirit may be often repeated and may even enable the Christian to perform a particular task for the Lord.

• There has been so much conflict over the doctrines of the baptism of the Spirit, over the claims of the second blessing of “work of grace,’ and over the gift of tongues as a sign of this spiritual baptism that some have turned away entirely from any serious study of the ministry of the Holy Spirit in their Christian lives.

• That reaction is tragic.

• The conflict calls for more careful study of the biblical teachings and more experience of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

• The best way to clear up the confusion is through an intensive study that will lead us to a deeper experience of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

Nehemiah 8:10

Esther 9:22

Isaiah 51:11

Psalm 33:1

Psalm 37:4-5

Psalm 51:10-12

Psalm 66:1-2

Psalm 84:2

1 Thessalonians 5:23

Philippians 2:2

Matthew 5:16

Romans 8:28

Mark 11:20-22

Matthew 7:21

Hebrews 11:1

Matthew 7:20

Galatians 5:22

First Sunday: A Child Will Be Born to Us ​(Isaiah 9:2-6)

Monday: The Creator of Man—Genesis 1:26-31

Tuesday: The Fall of Man—Genesis 3:1-24

Wednesday: Promise of Redemption—Genesis 3:15

Thursday: A Prophet Will Come—Deuteronomy 18:15-19

Friday: A Virgin with Child—Isaiah 7:10-14

Saturday: A Righteous Judge—Isaiah 11:1-5

Second Sunday: The Birth of Christ​​(Matthew 1:18-25)

Monday: A Savior and Deliverer—Isaiah 19:19-25

Tuesday: The Sovereign Lord Comes—Isaiah 40:9-11

Wednesday: Behold My Chosen One—Isaiah 42:1-4

Thursday: A Servant Brings Salvation—Isaiah 49:1-7

Friday: A Man of Sorrows—Isaiah 53:1-12

Saturday: God’s Spirit Is Upon Him—Isaiah 61:1-3

Third Sunday: The Shepherds and the Angels​​(Luke 2:8-20)

Monday: A Righteous Branch—Jeremiah 23:5-6

Tuesday: A Ruler Over Israel—Micah 5:2

Wednesday: Your King Is Coming—Zechariah 9:9-10

Thursday: The Messenger Is Sent—Malachi 3:1

Friday: The Birth of John Is Foretold—Luke 1:1-25

Saturday: The Announcement to Mary—Luke 1:26-38

Fourth Sunday: The Visit of the Magi​​(Matthew 2:1-12)

Monday: Elizabeth and Mary—Luke 1:39-56

Tuesday: The Birth of Jesus—Luke 2:1-20

Wednesday: Presentation in the Temple—Luke 2:21-38

Thursday: The Pre-Eminent Christ—Colossians 1:15-23

Friday: Worthy Is the Lamb—Revelation 5:1-14

Saturday: The New Heaven and New Earth—Revelation 21:1-7

Christmas Eve: Celebrating the Visit of Christ​​Luke 1:67-69

Meditation Questions:

(1) How do you feel knowing that Christ is looking intensely at His world, His Church, and His people?

(2) What do you think about when you consider the Second Coming of Jesus?

Matthew 2:1-12

Introduction

• As we learn how the wise men worship the Lord 2000 years ago, they reveal certain characteristics of worship that should also be true in our own worship today.

• Their worship was intentional.

• These men came to Jerusalem for the sole purpose of worship.

• Worship was why they left their homeland.

• Worship was why they brought their treasure.

• Worship was why they journeyed.

• Worship was at the heart of everything we see them do in this passage.

• “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?…for we have come to worship him.”

• We should always come to His house with worship as our goal.

• We should approach Him in prayer with worship on our hearts.

• We should open His Word seeking Him in a spirit of worship.

• Worship should not be something that “just happens.”

• It should be something we set our hearts on.

• It should be something we seek.

• We ought not sing just because the congregation is singing!

• We ought not bow in prayer just because it is time to pray.

• We ought not open our Bibles just because it is time for the sermon.

• We should determine in our hearts that every song, every prayer, every sermon, every deed, every day, and every breath will be an act of worship designed to glorify our Heavenly Father.

• Jesus said, “Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks” (John 4:23).

• I do not know what the Lord has done for you, but I know what He has done for me!

• I know about the day He saved me.

• I know about the times He has moved my mountains.

• I know about His grace, His mercy and His glory.

• I know these things, and the least I can do is worship Him for them!

• Hebrews 13:15 says, “Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name.”

• The Bible calls upon us to “shout” unto Him in praise; to “clap” our hands to call attention to Him.

• Psalm 47:1 says, “Clap your hands, all younations; shout to God with cries of joy.”

• Psalm 98:4 says, “Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music.”

• When these Magi came to worship, they did not worship on the cheap.

• Their worship cost them something.

• The wise men gave to Jesus in three important ways.

• They gave of their TIME, their TREASURE, and their TRUST.

I. They Gave Their Time

• We are told that the wise men came “from the east.”

• We are not told exactly where they came from, but nearly all scholars are in agreement that it was most likely that they came from Mesopotamia.

• If that is true, then these men traveled several hundred miles to get from their homes to worship Jesus.

• It would have been a tedious journey that would have taken several months to complete.

• It would have required great expense and much time away from home and family.

• It would have been a journey fraught with danger and trouble.

• Yet, they made the trip and paid the price because they deemed Jesus worthy of worship.

• Worship will still cost you time today!

• Most of us can be at church in less than 30 minutes.

• It is not a long journey for us to come this way.

• Real worship is an investment in time every day you live.

• It takes time to pray and seek the Lord’s face.

• It takes time to deal with sin in your life.

• It takes time to prepare the heart for worship.

• You can’t live out in the world all week and walk into church ready to meet Him in worship.

• There must be some time spent preparing the soul.

• There must be time spent in repentance of sin; in feeding the soul on the Word of God; and in private worship.

• When you see people who truly worship in public, you are seeing people who have already spent time worshiping in private.

• Romans 12:1 says, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.”

II. They Gave Their Treasure

• These men came before the Lord and they gave gifts to Him.

• They gave Him “gold, frankincense and myrrh.”

• The gold presents Jesus as our Potentate.

• The frankincense presents Jesus as our Priest.

• The myrrh presents Jesus as our Propitiation.

• All three were costly gifts that did not come cheap, yet they gave them to Jesus, who was just a small child, and they gave them to Him with no strings attached!

• They walked into that house and they “opened their treasures” and “they presented unto Him gifts.”

• They carried those gifts hundreds of miles, and they willingly gave them away because they wanted to honor Him in worship.

• That should speak to us today!

• We ought to look at our giving as worship.

• If you can’t give your tithes and offerings to Him with gladness, you would be better off keeping them for yourself.

• 2 Corinthians 9:7 says, “Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

• If you can’t give to Him with no strings attached, you really haven’t given Him anything.

• It is a privilege to give to the Lord!

• The only reason we should give is because He has first given to me!

• Everything we have is the gift of the Lord!

• Listen to the words of James 1:16-17, “Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”

• Let’s determine in our hearts that we will not be cheap in our giving to the Lord.

• He has always been extravagant in His giving to us.

• We ought to be just as extravagant in our giving to Him!

• You will never beat God in giving!

• Jesus said, “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you” (Luke 6:38).

• In Matthew 6:20-21, we find these words of Jesus, “But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

III. They Gave Their Trust

• While these men gave financially, the greatest treasure they gave to God that day was their trust.

• These men were no ordinary men.

• Our text calls these men “wise men.”

• Some versions translate it, “magi.”

• The Magi were men skilled in philosophy, medicine, religion, and natural science.

• We have been taught that there were three of them and they came alone.

• We probably made this assumption because there were three gifts but the Bible does not say that there were only three men.

• All the evidence seems to suggest that these men represented a priestly class that held significant power in the area around ancient Babylon.

• More likely, there was a large group and they were probably accompanied by guards to protest the treasure on the journey.

• These wise, educated, sophisticated men laid aside all pretense and pride and they gave their adoration and worship to the Lord Jesus Christ.

• They “bowed down” before a little boy and they honored Him as their King!

• Then God warned the Magi in a dream that they were in danger from King Herod, and they were to return to their homeland by a different route.

• They heeded the message of the Lord and went a different way.

• God has promised us in His Word that if we would just put our trust in Him, He will lead and guide us until we reach that Heavenly home.

• Our duty, therefore, is to listen for His voice and then respond in obedience when He reveals His will unto us.

• There are many who run to and fro looking for the answers to life’s questions.

• But God has already given us His perfect revelation and our job is to read it and follow it to the letter.

• Wise men still today listen for a Word from the Lord!

• When “returned to their country by another route,” this showed us that those who put their trust in Jesus are always changed.

• 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come. The old has gone, the new is here!”

• That is the power of His grace; that is the power of His salvation.

• If you place your trust in Jesus today, He will save your soul, change your direction and you will be a new creation.

• Everything will change because of Christ!

• Amen!

Luke 2:8-20

Introduction

• Many of us have had more Christmases than we care to remember!

• Some of us dread this season of the year because of the superficial spirit brought on by the build up of publicity to enter into the spirit of the festive season.

• The business world, it has to be said, with an eye on the cash till, seizes upon the idea of goodwill and generosity to encourage us to give presents and to celebrate with rich living.

• Let us be reminded of a famous quote, “There are three stages in a person’s life. First, he believes in Santa Claus. Second, he doesn’t believe in Santa Claus. Third, he is Santa Claus.

• In a business magazine I read, there was an article about a company, imaginary I hope, that was planning its Christmas sales campaign. The board of directors was puzzled how they could beat their competitors, then suddenly the chairman had an idea. “We’ll have a crib,” he said, getting very excited. “We’ll have the most expensive manger in the world. We’re about to put Christmas back into Christmas!” From then on there was no stopping them. They decided on a slogan lifted from the New Testament, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” That chairman told his sales staff, “We’ll have to emphasize the variety of gifts available. See to it that the Oriental Kings are handing a proper assortment of presents to the Holy Infant.” And he went through the great catalogue of the goods they sold. The sales staff arranged their goods in a great pyramid, topped with a stable with the animals, and Mary and Joseph and baby Jesus giving their blessing to all the merchandise. When the chairman saw it, he was delighted as he thought of all the money they would make. And then he began to scowl. He called his manager, “What’s that thing on top?” “It’s the manger, sir.” “We don’t sell mangers, do we?” “Well, throw it out!” he shouted. Only a parable, but all too close to the truth of what passes for Christmas.

• Celebrate Christmas by all means, says the world, but don’t bother too much whether Christ figures very much in it.

• It doesn’t say so in so many words, but that’s what happens in practice.

• Christmas with the most important element missing—Christ Himself!

• Have you ever eaten a delicious-looking pie only to be disappointed in the end?

• That is what Christmas is without Christ!

• Absolutely empty of meaning!

• If we are to celebrate Christmas properly, we need to set aside for a moment the traditions and rituals that for so many hide its true significance.

• We must return to first principles—to the Christmas story itself.

• It’s here that we will discover the real meaning of Christmas.

• Luke tells us of:

I. The Word of the Angel

• God’s moment had arrived.

• The sure word of prophecy unfolded over the centuries by the Hebrew prophets had to be fulfilled—and it was.

• The angel announced to the terrified shepherds, “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord” (Luke 2:11).

• He was born in Bethlehem because he was of David’s royal line.

• And yet in David’s city, the heir of the House of David found no room, even in the inn.

• So, the baby was born in a place where cattle were kept.

• The angel gave the shepherds a clue as to the type of building to look for.

• He said the Christ child would be found in a manger—a humble feeding trough pressed into service as our Lord’s cradle.

• How wonderful that our Savior should begin His earthly life in this way.

• The birth of a baby in a stable was unusual, but no doubt it had happened before and will happen again among the extremely poor and underprivileged.

• There are millions even today who are living in refugee camps and in shantytowns surrounding the world’s big cities.

• The wonder in the situation arises when we consider who the baby was.

• This was the Lord of Glory!

• This wasn’t the beginning of His life.

• He had lived from all eternity in heaven.

• His hands made the universe.

• All glory was His by virtue of who He was as the Second Person of the Trinity.

• We must remember this if we want to understand how great was his condescension.

• Centuries ago, King Henry VIII on occasionwould leave his royal court and disguise himself as a lowly peasant and go about his people to find out for himself the real state of England.

• Yet, in doing so, he never for a moment ceased to be the all-powerful king whose word was law.

• So, it was with Christ.

• Although temporarily reduced to poverty, he was still a King!

• The Word of the Angel links Christ’s birth with His lordship, “born to you…Christ the Lord.”

• Although His glory was partly veiled by human flesh, He never ceased to be the Son of God.

• He veiled His power, and became a helpless infant, unable to walk, to think, to speak, being absolutely dependent on His earthly parents.

• He veiled His knowledge and learned as all children do.

• He laid aside His sovereignty, His majesty.

• What condescension!

• God considered our needs and the worth of our relationship of Him to be sufficient cause to go through the trauma of changing places.

• Listen to the words of 2 Corinthians 8:9, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.”

• It was for our sake, that He might be our Savior.

• The angel was justified in saying to the shepherds, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people” (Luke 2:10).

• This was the best news that the world had ever received!

• The shepherds may have been startled by the drama and awe-stricken by the spectacle before them, but they had no need to be afraid.

• The Gospel is always good news to the humble in heart as were the shepherds.

• It’s only the proud and arrogant who refuse to accept the Word of God, who need to fear the wrath of God!

II. The Worship of the Heavenly Host

• Luke tells us that hardly had the angel finished speaking, God’s herald was joined by a crowd of heaven’s host.

• Picture the scene: the night sky suddenly lit by an army of heaven.

• What a sight!

• And what a song!

• “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests” (Luke 2:14).

• Here we have a declaration of what the coming of Christ means to both God and mankind.

• God in heaven would be glorified, as He would be revealed as a God of love.

• Before the coming of Jesus, men’s knowledge of God was imperfect.

• God had spoken through the prophets as his intermediaries but the writer of the letter to the Hebrews states that “he spoke to us by His Son” (Hebrews 1:2).

• Jesus could tell His disciples, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9).

• And then there is the effect upon Earth of His coming.

• The angel’s song went on, “and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests” (Luke 2:14b).

• So, why isn’t there peace on Earth?

• It’s because this peace comes only to those in whom He is well pleased.

• It’s faith in Christ as our Savior and Lord that is the key.

• That’s the only condition that God makes in offering His peace on Earth.

• It’s an offer that is still open but, sadly, the apostle Paul writes, “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Corinthians 4:4).

• The worship of the angelic choir was especially appropriate to the occasion.

• Jesus had come to the world without pomp and circumstance.

• There were no fanfares of trumpets.

• No crowds waiting for news outside the palace gates for a bulletin.

• On the contrary, His birth went by quite unnoticed by the general public.

• There was a local tradition for musicians to gather at the home when a child was born to welcome the infant with simple music.

• This pleasant welcome wouldn’t have happened for the birth of Jesus, as Mary and Joseph were only travelers.

• But what a lovely thought that the heavenly choir took the place of the missing earthly singers.

• Strangely enough, it’s the worship of human lips that gives our Lord the greatest pleasure.

• Let us not fail in this duty!

• The nativity story began with the Word of the Angel and led to the Worship of the Heavenly Host.

• It was followed by the:

III. Witness of the Shepherds

• It’s quite in keeping with God’s way of doing things that the first public announcement of the birth of Jesus should come to the shepherds.

• God often chooses those who are lowly esteemed by worldly standards to be a means of blessing.

• The great and the good of that time despised the shepherds.

• Their daily occupation in the fields left them unable to keep the detail of the ceremonial law and so the religious classes looked down on them as very common people.

• But God by-passed these pharisees, giving the shepherds the honor of being first to hear of the Messiah’s coming.

• The shepherds lost no time in making their way to Bethlehem.

• It must have been the most unforgettable moment of their lives.

• It was something that they couldn’t keep to themselves.

• At the end of Luke’s story, there is a significant phrase, “The shepherds returned” (Luke 2:20).

• Where did they return?

• To their work, to be sure, as the faithful shepherds they had been before.

• But there was an added element to their lives.

• They “returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen” (Luke 2:20).

• They had seen the Messiah!

• They were eyewitnesses of the coming of the Lord and they couldn’t keep it to themselves.

• We are told that the shepherds “spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child” (Luke 2:17).

• If we are Christians, we have come into a living relationship with Jesus and it’s our duty to share the good news to a world still in darkness.

• The Christmas story began with the Word of the Angel, which enlarged into the Worship of the Heavenly Host, then focused on the Witness of the Shepherds.

• It ends with:

IV. The Wonder of Mary

• What happened on that night of nights made a profound impression on the young mother.

• Luke makes that comment “And all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart” (Luke 2:18,19).

• And well she may.

• The Christmas story is the most wonderful story ever told.

• Because of this, we have heard it repeated over and over again.

• But here is a danger.

• It is possible that in the familiarity our sense of wonder is dulled.

• The stupendous fact is that we have the wonder of the universe.

• Charles Wesley’s hymn tells us that in the Incarnation we see, “Our God contracted to a span, incomprehensibly made man!”

• The philosopher Pascal wrote, “Say what you will, there is something in the Christian religion that is astonishing.”

• This is what we are celebrating this Christmas time.

• Let’s be like Mary and recall that sense of wonder, the uniqueness of the Nativity.

Conclusion

• When you come to think of it, it is really incredible that the baby lying in the manger was God Himself—God in human form, the God who made the universe.

• Dorothy Sayers expressed it this way: “What happened at Bethlehem as nothing less than the personal interruption of God into human history.”

• Or, to put it in Bible language, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us” (John 1:14).

• God and man were united in the one person of our Lord Jesus Christ.

• The babe in the manger isn’t only Mary’s child, He’s God’s Son.

• Bethlehem is the meeting point of Heaven and Earth, of eternity and time, of deity and humanity.

• Make this Christmas indeed one to remember!

Luke 1:5-25

INTRODUCTION

• Do you ever get tired of the repetition that happens at Christmas?

• Does it ever seem to you to be the “same old’, same old’”?

• Does it seem to you that we always do the same things every year… the same traditions…the same songs…the same long waits in line…the same wrapping paper and bows that were saved from the year before…the same fattening snacks and cookies?

• It was a few days before Christmas on the Oregon coast. Two men whose families lived next door opted to go sailing while their wives went Christmas shopping. An unexpected storm surprised the weekend sailors. Before long, the sea became angry, and the two had a difficult time keeping the sailboat under control. While heading toward the harbor, the craft hit a sandbar and grounded. Both men jumped overboard into the icy water and began to push and shove in an attempt to get the sailboat into deeper water. Knee-deep in mud and repeatedly bounced against the hull by the unfriendly waves, the one said enthusiastically to the other, “Sure beats Christmas shopping, doesn’t it?”

• For some, Christmas is a time of disappointment.

• There are many that have a real difficult time this time of the year.

• And it is more than an issue of repetition.

• It becomes a time of pain and heaviness.

• Using Luke chapter one, let’s examine five stages in the story of Zechariah that describe how he went from disappointment to merriment.

I. The first stage is the SETTING (vv.5-7)

• Zechariah and Elizabeth knew disappointment.

• Both knew the pain of infertility.

• Here was a couple that was well beyond the normal years of child bearing.

• For years, they heard all of the advice that couples trying to conceive heard.

• The text reveals the fact that both Zechariah were upright in God’s eyes.

• You see, the infertility is not the end of the story.

• For God delights in working through people who listen and seek to follow Him.

• This leads to…

II. The second stage is the SELECTION (vv.8-10)

• Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense.

• And when the time for the burning of the incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside.

• Zechariah was one of about 20,000 priests of Israel.

• He served at the temple at Jerusalem for two one-week periods each year.

• Now…when it came to offering the incense at the daily sacrifice, a priest could only do this once in his lifetime.

• It was an honored ministry, for the priest stood in the Holy Place alone.

• As the worshippers prayed outside, the priest offered the incense inside, symbolically offering the prayers of the people to God.

• This was a task of prestige because there were some that would never have the opportunity to enjoy this privilege.

• On this day, it finally happens to Zechariah.

• The lot has finally fallen on him.

• But it is a whole lot more than coincidence.

• This brings us to…

III. The third stage is the SCOOP (vv.11-17)

• It is at this point that Zechariah’s life takes on new meaning.

• God was preparing a surprise for Zechariah and Elizabeth.

• The timing of the surprise was God’s timing.

• Can you imagine this scene for Zechariah?

• He gets all the proper priestly garb on.

• He works to remember all the steps he must follow.

• He is probably a bit nervous.

• And being a faithful man, he was very much humbled by the whole process.

• Just as he is in the routine, there is an angel who must have startled the daylights out of him, for the angel says, “Don’t be afraid!”

• You know why he says that?

• He says it because Zechariah was really scared.

• This is not what he expected to face when he entered.

• And then, the angel gives the gracious part of this message, “Your prayer has been heard.”

• There is going to be child after all!

• Yes, it had looked hopeless, but this is the very thing that God specializes in.

• Zechariah and Elizabeth would have a son.

• And he was to name him John.

• John was the shorter form of the Hebrew name, Jochanan.

• Jochanan means, “God is gracious.”

• It was a name full of meaning, for God was not only being gracious to Zechariah and Elizabeth, God was being gracious to all the people of the world.

• For this son, John, was going to be a prophet in the spirit and power of Elijah.

• He was going to prepare the way for the Messiah.

• For Zechariah, this was the dawn of a new day.

• For 400 years God had been silent, and on this day, he is the first to hear from God.

• But now comes…

IV. The fourth stage is the SKEPTICISM (v.18)

• Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.”

• This is probably not the smartest thing that Zechariah has ever said.

• He is experiencing the supernatural, but he is stuck in the natural.

• Zechariah is really saying, “You can’t really be serious.”

• We would be thinking, “I really know biology and this makes no sense to me what so ever.”

• Remember this…Zechariah has been faithful.

• And faithful people sometimes make mistakes!

• But for Zechariah, there is more learning that must be done.

• For God teaches us that He often wants us to believe in order to see.

• Which leads us to…

V. The fifth stage is the SENTENCE (vv.19-25)

• Zechariah hears the sentence for his unbelief.

• He will be silent until this day happens.

• Meanwhile, the people are waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the temple.

• When he came out, he could not speak to them.

• They realized he had seen a vision in the temple, for he kept making signs to them but remained unable to speak.

• When his time of service was completed, he returned home.

• After this, his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion.

• “The Lord has done this for me,” she said.

• “In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people.”

• Even though Zechariah is silent, there is a sparkle in his eyes because the Lord has been gracious to both of them.

APPLICATION

• God desires to touch us.

• God wants to make an appointment with you about your disappointment.

• Whatever your heartache, God knows you and cares for you.

• God breathes hope into the stale air of impossible solutions.

• Let God touch you today…realize that God calls you for something very special; He calls you to meet Him.

• Let God touch you today…the Master’s hand wants to touch you because you are a soul of worth and the change is worth the cost.

• Let God touch you today…so that you can leave in speechless wonder and find contentment in knowing that the Lord is near.