What the Bible Says About the Holy Spirit #2
Categories: Sermon Outlines, Topical Sermon Outlines Tags: Sermons on the Holy SpiritINTRODUCTION:
A. The doctrine of the Holy Spirit is set forth more fully in the New Testament than in the Old Testament.
1. Yet, there is prominence given to the Holy Spirit in the pages of the Old Testament.
2. Twenty-three of the Old Testament books contain direct reference to the Holy Spirit.
3. We realize, of course, that every book of the Old Testament was penned with the Holy Spirit’s divine supervision.
4. Some scholars has said that the Holy Spirit is mentioned eighty-eight times in the Old Testament
B. In this lesson we will notice:
1. The Creating, Beautifying Spirit
2. The Pleading, Striving Spirit
3. The Empowering Spirit
4. The Revealing, Inspiring Spirit
DISCUSSION:
A. THE CREATING, BEAUTIFYING SPIRIT
1. Genesis 1:2
a. In some way the Holy Spirit fashioned this formless waste into the multiplicity of contrasts that follow in the text.
b. The Holy Spirit bound together those elements that were homogeneous, and separated the heterogeneous and so prepared the way for the dividing of the light from the darkness that followed.
c. The mode of this occurrence we do not know, but the fact of the operation is clearly revealed.
2. The entire Godhead created man.
a. Genesis 1:26 … “us”
b. Job 33:4
3. The Holy Spirit is the great beautifier
a. Job 26:13
b. “Garnished” comes from the Hebrew word shiphrah and means beauty, fair or splendor.
c. As our eyes scan the heavenly constellations we witness the beautifying work of the Holy Spirit.
4. Minus question or quibble the Holy Spirit sustains a close link with the material creation.
B. THE PLEADING, STRIVING SPIRIT
1. In Genesis 6 we find the Almighty grieved over the almost universal sweep of sin and rebellion in the world at that time.
2. Genesis 6:3
a. How did the Holy Spirit “strive” with sinful man?
b. We are told that Noah was a preacher of righteousness … 2 Peter 2:4-5
c. By the preaching of faithful Noah the Spirit pleaded with the antediluvian world to do right and escape the destruction that was coming upon a corrupt and wicked world.
d. The Holy Spirit still influences people today by the read or proclaimed word of God.
3. Every preaching prophet of the Old Testaments pleaded with God’s people to do justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with God (Micah 6:8).
a. Each prophet who did such was pleading, striving and interceding on behalf of the Holy Spirit
b. He still pleads and strives today with us through the word of God.
C. THE EMPOWERING SPIRIT
1. The seventy appointed aides to Moses received a portion of the Holy Spirit that rested upon Moses which empowered them to perform their assigned tasks … Numbers 11:16-17, 24-25
2. Leadership in the tabernacle construction was empowered by the Holy Spirit … Exodus 30:30-31
3. Judges and kings were empowered by the Holy Spirit to do their appointed or assigned work.
a. Concerning Othniel the Bible says, “the Spirit of Jehovah came upon him” (Jud. 3:10).
b. For his coming battle with a greatly outnumbered army, one hundred thirty-five thousand to three hundred, “the Spirit of Jehovah came upon Gideon” (Jud. 6:34).
c. The “Spirit of Jehovah came upon Jephthah” (Jud. 11:29)
d. Far more than once we read of Jehovah’s Spirit coming in mighty fashion upon Samson (Jud. 13:25; 14:6, 19). Minus such help he would not have been a one-man army against the Philistines.
e. The Spirit of Jehovah came upon Saul and later David (1 Sam. 10:10; 16:13).
f. When formerly Spirit-blessed man turned from righteousness to rebellion, the Spirit departed as with King Saul (1 Sam. 16:14).
D. THE REVEALING, INSPIRING SPIRIT
1. The entire Bible has been given to us by the Inspiration of the Holy Spirit
a. 2 Peter 1:21
b. This gets the entire group from Moses to Malachi and is inclusive of the New Testament scribes as well.
2. David laid claim to Holy Spirit inspiration
a. 2 Samuel 23:2
b. Peter fully accepted David’s inspiration by saying … Acts 1:15-16
3. Through Isaiah the Spirit of the Lord prophesied of the Messiah and His mighty mission to earth … Isaiah 61:1-3
a. There are more than 300 prophecies given by the Holy Spirit to Old Testament scribes relative to the coming of Christ
b. It was prophesied that Christ would be:
1) From the seed of woman (Gen. 3:15)
2) Of the seed of Abraham (Gen. 12:3)
3) The great Shiloh and to Him would be the gathering of the people (Gen. 49:10)
4) A Star rising out of Jacob (Num. 24:17)
5) A prophet like unto Moses (Deut. 18:15ff)
6) The anointed of God worthy of praise and worship (Psa. 2)
7) The Suffering Servant (Isa. 53)
3. The Holy Spirit inspired every of these crystal clear prophecies relative to the Messiah. In the New Testament, God’s only begotten Son fulfilled each one of them minutely, marvelously, and majestically.
4. As we read the Old Testament we are sitting at the feet of the Holy Spirit
a. Romans 15:4
b. 1 Corinthians 10:11
CONCLUSION:
A. As we ponder the thoughts of this sermon we should realize:
1. Our total knowledge of the Holy Spirit comes from what is said about Him and His mission in both testaments.
2. Nobody can reverence the Bible who fails to reverence the Holy Spirit who revealed God’s mind to us
3. All the pleading and striving the Holy Spirit does in both testaments is by the marvelous means of God’s inspired word.
4. Jesus is the Incomparable Christ as set forth by the Holy Spirit in Old Testament prophecy and in New Testament fulfillment
B. Invitation