September 30, 2018
Personal Heart of God
The Holy Spirit:
Old Testament vs New Testament
1. Who Is the Holy Spirit?
The Holy Spirit is often mislabel or misunderstand:
- We treat the Holy Spirit like an “it” not a “He”
- We think that Following the Holy Spirit can be a dangerous thing.
So who IS the Holy Spirit? Plain and Simple: He’s God
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The Holy Spirit is God’s way of connecting with us on such a personal and deep level at any and every moment of our lives.
2. How Did the Holy Spirit Work in the Old Testament?
Genesis 1:2
Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
Job 33:4
The spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
Psalm 104:30
When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the earth.
Haggai 2:4-5
And my Spirit remains among you. Do not fear’
Ezekiel 2:1-3
He said to me, “Son of man, stand up on your feet and I will speak to you.” As he spoke, the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet, and I heard him speaking to me.
The Holy Spirit shows himself all over the Old Testament.
Exodus 3:1-6
Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. 3 So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”
4 When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!”
And Moses said, “Here I am.”
5 “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” 6 Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.
So the Holy Spirit specifically came to Moses at a time of God's choosing, and spoke to him in a crazy way about a huge calling on his life. In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit comes when He wants to do what He wants with whoever He wants to use.
He shows up selectively and temporarily, when He wants to… It was not universal, and it was not permanent.
3. How Did the Holy Spirit Work in the New Testament,
and how does He work Today?
Within the Gospels, He shows up very similarly to the Old Testament: selectively and temporarily,
and generally it is surrounding something that Jesus is doing. But in the Gospels, it also gives us some foreshadowing to show how the Holy spirit is going to show up after Jesus.
Matthew 3:11
11 “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, (Jesus) whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
John 14:15-20
15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 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 be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.
There is a big change in the language used to talk about the Holy Spirit between the Old Testament and the New Testament.
Haggai 2:4-5
And my Spirit remains among you. Do not fear’
John 14:17
But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you
In the Old Testament he was with His people, and after Jesus dies for our sins, He is in His people.
Romans 8:9
9 You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.
God is so in love with you who are, that despite all of your faults, He sent Jesus to pay the price for your sins. He then went a step further by choosing to not just be available to you but to have his presence dwell IN you!
Spiritual Gifts
Simple explanation of Spiritual Gifts:
- God wants to work in and through our lives.
- We freak out whenever things hit us that we don’t understand.
- In order to keep us calm,
He gave us a list ahead of time
of some of the things He likes to do in and through us.
- Those are called Spiritual Gifts.
Ephesians 4:1-16
Equipping Gifts
Apostleship, Prophesy, Evangelism, Pastoring, and Teaching.
1 Corinthians 12:1-11
Manifest Gifts
Wisdom, Knowledge, Faith, Healing, Miraculous Powers, Prophesy, Distinguishing of Spirits (Discernment), Speaking in Tongues, and Interpretation of Tongues.
Romans 12:4
Motivational Gifts
Prophesy, Serving, Teaching, Encouragement, Giving, Leadership, and Mercy.
Here’s my challenge to you: Don’t put God in a box! He wants to work in all of us, in a personal way and ultimately that is what all of these things are: God using us to build ourselves towards Jesus, and using us to encourage his church and bring others to a saving knowledge of who Jesus is!
1 Corinthians 14:1a
Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit
Communication Card
- I will start treating the Holy Spirit like a He not an it.
- I will study who God is through the Holy Spirit and what that means for me.
- I will spend time asking God to show himself to me in a new way this week.
