The Holy Spirit in the Gospels

Welcome! Today we continue our series on the Holy Spirit. Last week we looked at The Holy Spirit as revealed in the Old Testament. We learned that the primary Hebrew word for Spirit is Ruach, which can be translated as Spirit, or as wind, or as breath. We talked about how there is this mysterious picture of the Spirit of God as the Breath of God, how God (or anyone) cannot speak without breath, how the content of speech is words, and how the Word is one of the names for Jesus (see John 1). So you see this wondrous interconnection between the God the Father, the Holy Spirit, and the Son. In the New Testament, the Greek word for Spirit is pneuma, and it also can be translated as wind or breath. Even in English, we have some words based on this word. Pneumatic means of or relating to or using air; a pneumatic drill is a power drill powered by compressed air. And you all know what pneumonia is, an infection involving the lungs.

We looked at many verses last week in the Old Testament that made reference to the Spirit. When the Spirit was on someone it was obvious to those around them. The most common results of the Spirit being on someone was that they would prophecy, that is, they would accurately predict the future, and often this was fully interwoven with praising God for who He is. When Joseph told of the coming famine, even Pharaoh, someone of totally different culture who worshipped false gods, understood that the Spirit of an overriding, all-powerful God had to be at work.

The Holy Spirit in the Old Testament

Welcome! Today we begin a new series entitled “The Holy Spirit.” To me, the Holy Spirit is kind of like a friend we have who is somewhat mysterious, who doesn’t volunteer a lot of information about himself. Imagine a friend who always points you to another, really great friend, but who just doesn’t draw attention to himself. He prefers to work behind the scenes. But just who is he? What is he really like? In this series I hope that we will learn more about the Holy Spirit, who He is, what He does, and how we can benefit the most from Him, but I am afraid He is going to remain somewhat mysterious, because this is how God chooses to reveal Him to us. We will shine the light on Him, but how do you shine the light on wind? How do you shine the light on a breath? There is much about the Holy Spirit that will remain beyond our senses and beyond our full understanding.

Today we are going to focus on the Holy Spirit as revealed in the Old Testament. We are going to go through a lot of verses today, a lot even for me, so that we can get the big picture, the bird’s eye view, of the Holy Spirit throughout the Old Testament. Also called the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit is mentioned almost from the very beginning; in fact, He is mentioned in the second verse of the Bible.

Reflections: Psalm 16

Psalm 16

Welcome! Today we are going to spend time remembering the Lord with the bread and the cup, and we will also have a sharing time where we can as a group talk about lessons the Lord has taught us in 2009 as well as what we look forward to in 2010. I thought we could begin this process this morning by spending a little time looking at Psalm 16. At the front of the Psalm, its says that this is a “miktam” of David. “Miktam” is an interesting word – it can be translated as “secret,” in which case this is the “secret of David.” Another meaning is “gold” and all gold symbolizes, something that doesn’t decay, or lose value, and is highly valuable – like a treasure, so we have the “treasure of David.” So what is this secret? What is this treasure?

Keep me safe, O God, for in You I take refuge. I said to the Lord, "You are my Lord; apart from You I have no good thing." As for the saints who are in the land, they are the glorious ones in whom is all my delight. – Psalm 16:1-3

More Than a Baby

(Not Just a Baby)

I have just a few minutes this morning to share with you. The message title is “More than a Baby.” The story of Jesus’ birth is so familiar to us. We’ve heard the words of Luke 2, year after year. “

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world … And everyone went to his own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth … to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” And the shepherds got up, went to Bethlehem, and found the baby there.

Broken Vessels: Prophets, Part IV

Welcome! Today is our final message from the series entitled Broken Vessels. In this series we have studied the lives of a large number of Old Testament Characters, from Adam up to Elisha. Two general observations from this series: First, we have seen a lot of sin. Without fail, people called by God, people for whom God had spectacular plans, have fallen far short of what they were called for. From the absolutely catastrophic sin of Adam, to Noah getting drunk, to the deceptions and favoritism issues of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and on and on – Moses striking the rock in anger, Gideon’s weak “second half,” Saul’s complete abandoning of God, David’s infidelity and murder to cover it up, Solomon’s turning to other gods and the pleasures of this world, and then the long succession of wicked kings in the fractured nations of Israel and Judah, even the prophets failing – for example, Elijah’s meltdown – we have seen a lot of sin.

Now how should we respond? Should we say, everyone sins, so I guess my sin is not that bad? Absolutely not! Romans 1 is clear that sin happens because people choose to suppress the truth that they already know. People choose to not glorify God, and one of the reasons is that they do not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God. Romans 1 says that God responds by “giving them over” to what they desire to do. He gives them over to their foolish thinking and their shameful lusts. And then they do what just comes naturally. So is our sin “not that bad”? Quite the contrary – our sin separates us from God; it severs a tie that God has with us. And the ultimate price for sin is an eternal severance, an eternal separation from God. What, in all creation, in all imagination, could be more serious, more devastating, than this?

Jesus the Vine

Welcome! This morning in a little while we will remember the Lord with the bread and the cup, continuing a practice that Jesus Himself taught His disciples shortly before He was crucified. There are almost countless names and titles for Jesus described in the Bible. Some of these were names He gave Himself. One of these is the Vine. This morning I would like us to spend a little time reflecting on what it means for Jesus to call Himself the vine.

As we have been going through characters of the Old Testament over the past months, I thought it would be appropriate to look at the symbolism of the vine in the Old Testament. These images and scriptural references would be immediately familiar to many of the Jews at the time of Jesus.

Many scriptures refer to the nation of Israel as a vine. One example is Psalm 80, a psalm of Asaph.

Broken Vessels: Prophets, Part III

Welcome! We are coming close to the end of our series entitled Broken Vessels, where we have looked at the lives of a number of Old Testament characters and seen how, far from perfect though they were, God used them to accomplish His purposes. We are in a series-within-a-series on prophets, focusing in on a period in Israel’s history where Elijah, Elisha, and other prophets tried to get wicked kings and people who had forsaken God to return to their Creator, to the One who wanted to be their Savior and Shepherd.

Last week we focused in on the latter half of Elijah’s life, and what we saw wasn’t very pretty. Something happened to Elijah after God’s fire miraculously consumed the altar and offering that he set out in the presence of false prophets and of the people, and after it miraculously began to rain again after more than 3 years of what appears to be total drought. I have two theories about what happened to Elijah – internally, in his head and heart. These are not mutually exclusive – it is possible that both were true, and indeed, this is what I think. It is also possible that neither were true, but I share them so you can consider them.

Broken Vessels: Prophets, Part I

Welcome as we continue in our series entitled Broken Vessels, where we have considered the good, the bad, and the ugly in the lives of people God used, willingly or unwillingly, to serve His purposes in the history of Israel. And the history of Israel is really the history of everyone, as it was through this line that Jesus, the savior of all nations, came into the world.

The titles of the messages for the last several weeks has been Kings, and we have started to progress through the history of the kings the divided kingdoms of Israel and Judah. In Judah, there have been some good kings and some bad kings, but in Israel it has been all bad. Last week we talked about Asa, king of Judah, one of the relatively good kings, although he did not finish well, refusing to seek the Lord in sickness. Today we are going to look at Ahab, an especially rotten king in the line of rotten kings of Israel, and as our title says, we are going to look more deeply at the lives of prophets who lived during these kings. Today we are going to focus on the prophet Elijah. Let’s pick up the story with the introduction of King Ahab in I Kings 16.

Broken Vessels: Kings, Part II

Welcome! Today we continue our series called Broken Vessels, in which we have explored major characters from the Old Testament. The last time, which was two weeks ago, I gave you a handout on the kings of ancient Israel and Judah. We spent our time looking at the first kings of the divided kingdoms, Jeroboam and Rehoboam. Prior to these kings, Israel was a united kingdom under David and then Solomon.

When Solomon died, Rehoboam his son became king. Rehoboam was a weak leader, and the people were not unconditionally in support of him. Two weeks ago we learned how the people of Israel outside Judah demanded that Rehoboam treat them with a light hand. Rehoboam, rejecting the wise counsel of Solomon’s advisors, and instead consulted his own young foolish friends who said he should tell the people that he would be even harsher than his father, much harsher. Foolish Rehoboam took this advice, and the result was that Israel (except for Judah and the tribe of Benjamin) rejected him as king. Jeroboam, a man who was called by God by the prophet Ahijah much like how David was anointed during Saul’s reign, stepped into the power vacuum and became king of Israel, beginning the centuries-long division between Israel and Judah.

Broken Vessels: Kings, Part I

Welcome! Today we continue our series called Broken Vessels, in which we have been learning by example how God uses people, fallible, broken people, to fulfill His good purposes. I want to start with a picture – the picture above. What is wrong with this picture? Take your time looking at it. We will come back to it.

Now, I want to talk about an incident late in Solomon’s life that sets the stage for the next 400 years or so. Fred has taught on Solomon the last few weeks, and we saw how Solomon, when he became old, allowed some of his many wives to turn his heart away from the Lord and towards the false gods that his wives followed, including Ashtoreth, Molech, and Chemosh. He actually built altars on high places and sacrificed offerings to these false gods. This brings us to I Kings 11:9