Introduction to The Godhead: The Spirit of God Before Messiah Arrived | Steve Benson

Open your Bibles if you would to the

book of Job

this morning.

Continue in our

in our series uh

major doctrines of the Bible. We're

still with the Holy Spirit

looking at the person and the work of

the Holy Spirit.

He is a real person. We've been looking

at verses that

uh clearly tell us those things.

And all the apostles were monotheistic.

They were Jewish. So they got up a lot

of mornings and

repeated the prayer and the verse in

Deuteronomy about God being one God.

Paul said that over and over in the New

Testament. Peter did as well. All the

apostles affirmed that there was one

God, but

manifest himself in three persons. The

Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

So this morning we're going to take a

deep dive into the Old Testament

uh to see

what the Old Testament has to say about

the spirit of God.

He's here uh in in he's not in every

book in the Old Testament, but he's in a

lot of them.

And we're going to get introduced to

that this morning. And you know, God, he

works.

Um, you know, there's nothing impossible

for God. God is a great God. He he can

work over the world. He can work in the

world.

Uh, he doesn't work through the world.

He's not the author of sin,

but as well, he can do things um out

there. He's over the world. He's in

control of things

and he uh he can help his people

as well. And his people are the nation

of Israel

and the church.

In the Old Testament, we see him using

the nation of Israel

over and over again as

uh the spirit of God. He was in

creation. We're going to see some of

that here in a second when we get back

to Genesis. But in the meantime, turn to

o open up your Bibles to Job chapter 26

Job 26 · chapter mention

and verse 13. We have several verses

here in Job that are similar to this

that say by his spirit he has garnished

the heavens and the hands has formed the

crooked serpents. So here we see the the

one of the oldest books in the Bible,

the book of Job, uh, right out of the

gate here gives us an indication that

God is spirit

and he made the heavens. And we're going

to see that in Genesis here in a second.

Back to Job 32.

Job 32 and verse 8.

We have a similar verse here. We can see

right away that Job knew God as a

spirit.

And he says so here he says there is a

spirit in man and the in the inspiration

of the Almighty gives him utterance. So

Job knew there was a difference between

you know we call God a person but he's a

person

not in a sense that we are. He's the

Bible says um God says I'm not a man.

Don't think I'm a man that I'm like you.

We make a big mistake there. But at the

same time we can think of God as a

person with personality

uh who he is and what he has done. And

here Job says he you know the spirit of

man is one thing. Paul says that in

Corinthians we saw that where he talked

about the spirit of man you know is the

emnity of God. can't know God. But

nevertheless, you know, we're made in

God's image. And here Job says that he

inspires men. That God does. Now, look

over in chapter 33.

In verse four, we have another verse

very similar to this. The spirit of God

has made me and the breath of the

Almighty has given me life. It's almost

like Job's read the creation account,

right?

So here in the two oldest books of the

Bible, we find uh uh references to God,

God as the spirit.

And turn over to Psalm 104.

Some of the Psalms are like this. They

go back to the beginning and tell us

that God is a spirit.

In Psalm 104

and verse 30,

he says, "Thou sendest forth thy spirit

and they are created and thou renewest

the face of the earth." It's almost like

the psalmist has read Genesis chapter 1

Genesis 1 · chapter mention

that we're about to. So, you know, God

clearly uh is active in his creation. So

when we see the spirit of God and we

think about the spirit of God, this is

one of the very first areas he appears

in the word of God is in is in the

Psalms

uh and in in in Job and showing us about

creation. Now let's go back to Genesis.

Genesis chapter 1

Genesis 1 · chapter mention

and you know the understanding and the

you know the fact that God is a spirit

you know the Bible starts out that way

here in Genesis and we we see in Matthew

as well don't we're not going to turn to

that one just yet but there's one in

Matthew

Uh the book of Matthew starts out with

the spirit of God. So both the Old

Testament and the New Testament start

out with the spirit of God.

Um and they end with the spirit of God

as well. And what Jesus said in the book

of Revelation, the spirit says come and

the bride says come. So the spirit of

God is uh throughout his word here. So

we uh we want to get to know this

spirit.

And again

he ordered the work of God here in

Genesis chapter 1.

Genesis 1 · chapter mention

Um in verse two he says the earth why

don't I read verse one.

In the beginning God created the heaven

and the earth

and the earth was without form and void

in darkness

was upon the face of the deep.

And the spirit of God moved upon the

face of the waters. And you know this

word here moved is the Hebrew word for

brood. It's what you know what a mother

does uh to her babies. She broods over

them um and takes care of them. And here

the spirit in in the beginning brooded

over uh creation out there. And

um you know there there's a lot of water

involved, isn't there

in creation?

For whatever reason, God wanted a lot of

water on this planet. This planet is

more water than anything.

Uh but at the same time, we see here

that, you know, the uh God made order

out of, you know, this uh the creation

that he brought forth here. And the

spirit moved brooded as it says upon the

waters. And God was there in the

beginning like the psalms say like Job

says God was there in the beginning. Now

look over in chapter 2

and we there's a lot of references here

um to this but

and the spirit of God gave us life.

you know, he formed life and he gave us

a life. There's,

you know, everyone has a has one life.

The Bible says, hopefully you get saved

and you find the Lord and you figure out

the meaning of life and the

understanding of life and you don't

waste your life.

But this is a gift from God to us to to

be able to, you know, enjoy his

creation. Enjoy being a dad, enjoy being

a husband, enjoy being a family. You

know, the the great things that God has

given us are great privileges

and opportunities that he wants us to to

uh to take advantage of and to be a part

of. And it's, you know, when we let sin

get in the way, we get sidetracked from

that.

But here, God gives uh gives us life.

And the Lord God formed man of the dust

of the ground and breathed into his

nostrils and the breath of life, and man

became a living soul. So yeah,

Adam must have looked like the

gingerbread man laying there.

How many have you have made something on

the beach out of sand? And it's just a

you make a form of something, but you

you and I can make a form. We certainly

can't breathe life into it.

So here the spirit of God gives us our

very breath

and we become a living soul. Men have it

backwards when they think they're a

body. Yes, we have a body, but something

greater than our body is our soul.

And our soul was the very breath of God

from the spirit of God. He gave us life.

And those are important things for us to

know about God is he's the one that can

give life

uh to dead people. And that would be us,

you know, and we're going to talk about

some of those things here in a minute.

But God is the source of life. God is

the source of eternal life.

and uh and not just physical life. So uh

and then God said back in chapter one

as we think about the trinity and the

revelation of the trinity, the Bible

wastes no time in proclaiming that God

is an us.

And here he says in verse 126,

God said, "Let us make man in our image

and our likeness."

Those are important things. You know,

when we

we get to where we're going to talk

about, you know, the reason that we

exist, why why do we exist? Well, we

exist to know God and to bring glory to

God. That's why we exist. That's uh what

Solomon said

in his book, but he wasn't the only one

that said it. Here, God says it. I want

you to be I want to make you in my

image. I'm going to make you in my

likeness, and I'm going to give you

dominion over over creation. So,

creation is not going to have dominion

over us. We're going to have dominion

over creation. That's something that God

has given us. Over the cattle, I had a

couple stakes this week. I had to

confess.

But God put us over these animals

uh to subdue them, to butcher them, to

eat them.

You know, it's just so basic.

But God here in the beginning made us in

his likeness, in his image. And God is

wise. And you know, God is all these

things. and and you know he he in him is

the the fear of the Lord is the

beginning of wisdom. So as we understand

our purpose in life, you know, it goes

way back here to the early parts of

Genesis, the early parts of Job for us

to to understand

who we are and where we came from. So

here we see the trinity. Let us make man

in our image. And you know God is a

triune God. Father, Son, and Spirit. And

and you know, just it's no accident that

we're a Trinity as well. We have a soul.

We see here we have a body like Adam

have. And and we have a spirit. And that

spirit, it's similar to our personality.

You know, no two people are alike. You

know, even an identical twins,

you know, they have different

fingerprints. you know, they may have a

lot of things in common, but they have,

you know, their own unique set of

fingerprints. And, you know, you're you

and I'm me and and but that's the way

God made us in his image to know him.

And verse 27 says, "So God created man

in his own image, and in the image of

God created he him, male and female

created he them." And you know what a

what an assault that has been under in

our world.

But there are only two genders, male and

female. And we're created in the image

of God. And God bless them. That's

important for us to see. God wants to

bless us. He wants us to be uh you know

like him and to know him.

So you know we

we see here in the early part of Genesis

these things.

So you know there there should have been

no doubt among the Jews about you know

they've got the book of Genesis and here

God says in and the spirit of God says

and God says let us make man in our

image and and God says us when he refers

to himself.

So these are are things that the Jews,

you know, they would have known these

things and the apostles as well. So they

would naturally begin to think about God

being a trinity. And then boom, in the

book of Matthew, we have all three of

them there in Jesus ministry on the

earth. And all three of them show up

more than once. Some of those, you know,

we have looked at.

So you know, God is a personal God. He's

He's one God. You know, we we believe

that God is one. That's what James says.

If you believe God is one, you do well.

But we should have a greater faith than

the demons on this one. And to know

that, you know, God is who he says he is

as he reveals to us himself in his word.

And we see early on in the Bible, in the

book of Genesis here, you know, God is a

great giver. You know, he's not he's not

selfish. He's not stingy by any means.

He's very generous and gracious God, you

know, in what he's given us to enjoy.

Even the wicked, you know, who who will

never name God's name other than to

curse him he make and they owe their

existence to him whether they ever come

around to that or not. But someday they

will.

And we cannot enjoy our calling as a

human being until we understand these

basic things that the spirit of God

breathed into Adam and Adam became a

living soul. And you know the word of

God uses this word spirit and there are

there are other words in the Hebrew.

There's breath

uh where we saw back here where God

breathed in and the spirit literally uh

made Adam become a living soul, eternal

soul. So human beings are eternal.

You know we uh we're going to suffer an

eternal death without the work of

Christ.

But with the work of Christ, we're going

to have an eternal life together with

God.

So the the Old Testament says the spirit

of God, like we saw, turn back to

chapter one

of Genesis.

And look at this phrase here in the

middle of verse two. He says, "And the

spirit of God," that word, you know,

that it's the spirit of God, it's two

words. It's like the son of God, you

know, that's two words. He's God and

he's a son. Here it says God is a

spirit. So, it's two words. God is

spirit and God is God,

you know, and believe it because that's

what this book

has to say. You know, God does not, you

know, that wasn't the test. I joke about

this one. This wasn't the test for the

apostles. Jesus said, you know, he got

them all together in the upper room. He

said, "Okay, if you guys can explain to

me the trinity, I'm going to let you get

into the ministry." That's not what he

said.

It's hard to explain the trinity. We

must go to the word of God. He But the

the test is love your neighbor and wash

your neighbor's feet. That's the test.

And and so as we believe God here in

verse three, God said, "Let there be

light

and there was light. God saw the light

and it was good." And God divided the

light from the darkness.

And God called the light day

and the darkness he called night and the

evening and the morning were the first

day. So, God the spirit uh is here early

on in the book of Genesis as well as

what uh Job told us about God the Spirit

as well. He's he has a distinct

personality in each one of his the God

of the God members of the Godhead.

God the Father is distinct. God the Son

is distinct and God the Spirit is very

distinct especially uh here in the Old

Testament.

And you know the Bible says things like

the you know the spirit is like a dove.

There's some things the Bible says that

the spirit is like you know we'll look

at some of those when we get to that.

But when the Bible says that the spirit

is like a dove, it doesn't mean he's,

you know, he's a bird by any means. It

just means like a dove is harmless, you

know, and and and you know, doves hurt

no one,

you know, they're always there to help.

Well, so it is with the Holy Spirit.

He's like the dove, harmless mother

taking care of her babies.

And that's what the book of Genesis says

as we begin where we see God is a

spirit.

And the Holy Spirit in the Old

Testament, he he does not indwell

um Christians or indwell

uh Jews as it were then, but as well

there's plenty in the Old Testament to

tell us about the Messiah. So turn to

Isaiah 11.

So there are there are two parallels in

the Old Testament. Um we see God the

spirit using the people and the nation

of Israel as well. We see the prophets

predicting that someday the Messiah was

going to come and the Messiah

uh was going to be

um

the spirit of God was going to be

resting upon him.

So, not only does the Old Testament

predict the Messiah,

it also tells us here that the spirit is

going to rest upon him.

And one of the best is here in Isaiah

and verse one.

You know, even though you know Jesus is

completely and holy God

in every way,

yet

the Holy Spirit came to him

and and was upon him and helped him.

Not that he needed it, we need it. So we

can see in his humanity and our humanity

the love of God and the care of God to

do that like a mother bruts her her

children.

And here we see in this section

and there shall come forth a rod of the

stem of Jesse and a branch shall grow

out of his roots. You guys know who that

is. This that's the Messiah. That's God

the Son. Well, here comes God the

Spirit. And the spirit of the Lord will

rest upon him. The spirit of wisdom and

understanding,

the spirit of counsel and might, the

knowledge and after the fear of the

Lord.

You say, "Well, how did Jesus know all

he knew?" There's your answer.

the spirit of God came to help him know

and and you know when he got here and we

have the account of this in the New

Testament. We could go there and look at

this in the Gospels and we will in a

future message but we're in the Old

Testament now and here God says I'm

going to send my son and I'm going to

send my spirit this triune God. Try and

try and understand this without knowing

God's trinity.

Now, that would be very difficult, but

it's easy knowing that that there's one

God yet distinct persons

uh in heaven. Now, look at Isaiah 42.

Isaiah

42.

Turning my pages kind of slow this

morning.

And here we have another prophecy.

about

the Messiah.

And here again, behold my servant,

that's Christ, that's the Messiah,

whom I uphold. My elect and my my soul

delightth.

Who's speaking?

Well, that's God the Father.

God the Father is going to send forth

God the Son and and the Spirit is going

to rest upon him. So try and understand

that without knowing there is a trinity,

a triune God, father, son, and holy

spirit. And here it is

centuries before it ever happened.

He will not cry nor lift up nor cause

his voice to be heard in the street. A

bruised reed shall he not break, and a

smoking flax will he not quench till he

brings forth justice

in truth. And here's the tenderness

and the compassion

and the graciousness

of Christ.

That's what John says. He came in He

came in truth. He came in grace and

truth. That'd be a good message, grace

and truth.

But that's what Jesus did. He came in

grace and truth. Not only did he say,

"Thou shalt not." He said, "I love you

and I'm going to help you. I'm going to

die for your sins."

So, he did this and he's opened our eyes

to our sin. That's what verse uh seven

says over there. To open the blind eyes

to bring out the prisoners, those who

are in darkness to the prison house.

Well, that's me.

So, this is what God is going to do.

and his son Jesus Christ who is also

going to have the Holy Spirit resting

upon him. He shall not fail. Verse four,

and uh nor be discouraged till he has

set justice in the earth and the coast

shall wait for his law. Now, we as well,

that's not going on now. We're in the

church, but we know that when when in

the messianic age,

this is the way it's going to be coast

to coast. Everyone's going to know the

Lord.

And that's another time and another

place and another message. But remember

what Jesus did in in in Luke chapter 4.

Luke 4 · chapter mention

You guys are familiar with it. I'm going

to stay in the Old Testament for now and

just remind us of that one. He got up in

the synagogue, remember? And he read in

the in book of Isaiah, and he read what

we just read. And when he got down there

to that part where the church age and

the kingdom age, he stopped.

And they said, "No one ever spoke like

him."

And this is the one. This is the servant

of the Lord. This is Christ here in the

Old Testament. Turn to Isaiah 61.

So these are two great things that we

see in the Holy Spirit going through the

Old Testament is that constantly we see

the spirit and the Messiah together. And

then constantly we see the spirit of God

with his people Israel.

And um

here in Isaiah 61

and verse one, the spirit of of the Lord

God is upon me.

Because the Lord has anointed me to

preach the good tidings to the meek. He

has sent me to bind the brokenhearted,

to proclaim liberty to the captives, the

opening of the prison to those who are

bound. And here it is to proclaim the

acceptable year of the Lord and the day

of vengeance of our God to all you that

comfort and mourn to appoint unto those

who mourn in Zion to give them beauty

for ashes the oil of joy for mourning.

So there's a you know there's a picture

of the Holy Spirit is that you know this

oil speaks of joy. So that's another

thing the Holy Spirit does. When we have

the spirit of God, we have the joy of

God.

So when we have we have to mourn

and we never get out of that school, do

we? Mourning. As long as we're on this

earth,

we have times of mourning.

People pass away

and and uh they go on without us. And

we're here mourning.

and the garment of praise, the spirit of

heaviness that they might be called the

tree of righteousness, the planting of

the Lord that he might be glorified. So

someday, you know, we're all going to be

together and the Lord's going to be

glorified

uh for all the great things that he has

done for us.

Now, we have don't forget the one in

Joel. Go to uh Joel 2.

Joel chapter 2.

Joel 2 · chapter mention

I'm on my way.

Joel chapter 2. Now, this one,

Joel 2 · chapter mention

you know, I would turn we when you study

this, well, you're going to go to the

book of Acts, the day of Pentecost, but

we'll save that for later. Now, we're

just looking at, you know, this

centuries before

it actually happened.

And here in chapter 2 and verse 28 of

Joel,

this the promise of the spirit.

And and when you think of the Holy

Spirit, God the Spirit,

think of him like we do our salvation.

Did we earn our salvation? Did we work

for our salvation? That's blasphemy.

We were graciously given this gift of

eternal life through Christ our Lord who

died for

and and that be true.

How dare we say anything less than that

to God for giving to us the Holy Spirit.

It's not something we merit, not

something we earn, not something we even

ask for.

And that can be explained to those who

did ask.

But God is more ready to give than we

are to receive. So the Holy Spirit

brings about our regeneration

in the New Testament.

So he's a gift

and he's a you know he's and he's a

promise like like salvation is a

promise.

The Holy Spirit is a promise. And here

is this great promise. And it shall come

to pass afterwards.

I

They say you'll ask for it. You have to

earn it. Only the best, you know, fill

in the blank. We're all wrong.

I will pour out my spirit upon all

flesh. And your sons and your daughters

shall prophesy. Old men shall dream

dreams. Young men will see visions and

also upon the servants upon the

handmmaids in those days I pour out my

spirit

the gift of the Holy Spirit here it's

like the gift of salvation

it's you know it's absolutely free

and it comes upon all those who receive

his son and are regenerated

to each individual.

You know, that's this is the amazing

thing. And like I said, uh we'll talk

about this in the New Testament message

about the Holy Spirit.

But here in the Old Testament, God says,

"I'm going to pour him out

uh upon all flesh."

And the day will come when God will do

that. For now, the only the believers

get the spirit now.

And uh we have plenty of verses on that.

But here's the new birth in the Old

Testament.

You know, God's saying, "I'm going to

I'm going here's what I'm going to do.

I'm going to renew you.

I'm going to I'm going to make sure

you're born again. I'm going to make

sure you're a new creation. I'm going to

make sure old things pass away. And

behold, all things become new." And the

gifts and the calling of God are without

repentance. That's what Romans says. So

God doesn't take his spirit back when we

sin. Aren't you glad of that? I wouldn't

have had the spirit very long.

It's like taking a baby and saying

walking up to the parents door and

saying, "Here's your baby." And you know

the first mistake he's out the door.

Well, you wouldn't have a baby very

long, would you? But God took these

things into consideration.

That's what sinners need. We need mercy.

We need grace. And God pours it out on

us through his spirit.

Um and the new birth. That's what he

Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3. That's

what he couldn't understand.

Oh, you're a man from God. You're doing

miracles. And Jesus said, "Except a man

be born again

cannot see the kingdom of God."

Now, can the Holy Spirit be taken away

in the New Testament? No. I just quoted

enough verses to rest put that to rest.

But in the Old Testament, yeah,

you know, there were times that God took

the Holy Spirit away. Um, and he doesn't

do that now.

And we have a lot of verses on that. But

we have some Old Testament examples.

Now, we we looked at the Messiah and

what the Messiah was going to do and

bring. Now, let's look at some

individual Jews that God used, brought

his spirit upon. Go to the book of

Judges.

Judges 3 · chapter mention

Chapter 3.

We got a few here that are close

together. Judges chapter 3

Judges 3 · chapter mention

and verse 10.

So God, the Holy Spirit came upon people

here.

And you know the the the New Testament

is clear

that

you know the spirit is going to indwell

us

and not just come up on us or come

alongside us or come over us or even to

some extent David said take not your

holy spirit from me. So he had he had

the Holy Spirit

and here we see in chapter 3 and verse

10 the spirit of the Lord came upon him

and he judged Israel and they went out

to war. So,

you know, we see the nation drifting

from God. And as the nation drifts, God

God comes in as a spirit and helps his

people here. Uh, and I'm sorry, it's in

has to do with with war and judging

Israel, but God, he protected his people

through his spirit.

That was something that he did. Jesus

supernaturally

did these things. Now look over in

chapter 6,

Judges

in chapter 6 and verse 34. You're

familiar with this one.

This is our old friend Gideon.

Judges chapter 6 and verse 34. It says a

Judges 6 · chapter mention

similar thing here about Gideon.

And the spirit of the Lord came upon

Gideon and he blew the trumpet.

And you know, again, another example of

God the Holy Spirit

coming upon the Jews here. It's been,

you know, a couple of the leaders. And

there's another one here in Judges. Turn

over to chapter 11.

Judges chap 11

and verse 29.

The spirit of the Lord came upon

Jeepaniah

and he passed over

uh these areas here. So again we can see

God

using these men giving the spirit to

these men as a guide as you know as an

instructor and it just boil down to the

wisdom of God. You know the fear of the

Lord is the beginning of wisdom. So

those who fear the Lord can count on him

for wisdom.

And here these men were given that. And

of course, we've got one of my

favorites, Samson

in chapter 13

and verse 25. Judges chapter 13 verse

Judges 13:25

25.

And the spirit of the Lord began to move

him at the times of the camp of Dan

between Zora and Echelo.

And Samson went down to Tim. He saw a

woman and the daughters of the

Philistines and you know what happened?

So here we see God even you know the

Holy Spirit the spirit of God using

Samson

uh even though his life didn't add up to

what it should. Look here in verse six.

And the spirit of the Lord came mightily

upon him and tore him as he would have

tore a kid. And he had nothing in his

hand. And he told not his father or his

mother what he had done.

So supernatural strength

for Samson.

And here in verse

19, the spirit of the Lord came upon him

and he went down. So again, the spirit

of the Lord on Samson, the spirit of the

Lord on Gideon, you know, God sent the

spirit of the Lord upon these Jews, some

of these Jews for these and this

particular

um reason.

And there's one there in verse 14,

the Philistines shouted against him, and

the spirit of the Lord came mighty upon

him.

So again, Samson an example of just

supernatural strength

um and understanding to do something,

fulfill something, protect Israel. You

know, these things God, the Holy Spirit

did uh in the Old Testament. Turn over

to Exodus chapter 28.

Exodus 28 · chapter mention

It reminds me of the verse in Ephesians

where we say, you know, he he's done

abundantly above all that we could think

or ask.

And and that's what these uh verses

remind me of that, you know, these men

were in a situation and God helped them

out by sending his spirit

to them to help them.

And here in Exodus 28

verse three

says here and thou shalt speak unto that

that are wisehearted

whom I have filled with my spirit

of wisdom that they may make Aaron's

garment and consecrate him that he may

minister unto me in the priest's office.

So, we see God doing, you know,

something here that sort of sums up, you

know, why God did what he did with these

other men, you know, and and we have

similar things like this throughout the

Old Testament. Look in verse 31.

There's another one here. Exodus 31

and verse three.

I have filled him with the spirit of God

in wisdom, understanding, knowledge, and

in all manner of workmanship

to design skillful works to work in

gold, silver, bronze, cutting of stone.

It's amazing, isn't it? You know, these

guys,

many of them didn't go to college. Many

of them didn't graduate from high

school, but you know, that was way back

then,

but they did know more than their

teachers because they served God. They

were in the word of God. They they had a

relationship with God. And God, he

treats us like his children.

It's amazing. Turn over to chapter 35.

Exodus

35

and verse 31.

And we have a similar thing here.

35:31.

and he has filled him with the spirit of

God in wisdom, understanding, knowledge,

and all manner of workmanship. And it

says the same thing there about him as

about David. You know, God God equipped

these men to serve him. U and he and he

sent his spirit to do these things. Turn

to 1 Chronicles 28.

1 Chronicles 28.

And this is David here. you know, David,

and if we got time, we're going to look

at that Psalm where David said, "Well,

we don't have time." But David said, you

know, for God not to take his Holy

Spirit from him.

And you know, David as well was a man

that God gifted

with the Holy Spirit. And here we see

leadership and other things. Then David

gave to Solomon his son the patterns of

the porch of the temple and of the

houses and of its treasuries the upper

chambers its inner parlors and the place

of the mercy seat where we see where God

where these things came from. You know

God put it on the mind of David. He put

it on the head and the heart of David.

the pattern of all these things

in the temple and the spirit of the

courts of the house of the Lord and all

the chambers round about in the

treasuries of the house of God and the

treasuries of the dedicated thing. So

here we can see David uh had the Holy

Spirit indeed. Turn back to numbers

11.

Numbers 11

Numbers 11:17

verse 17.

Numbers 11 and verse 17.

And again remember this the you know the

two the two things that we were saying

that are constant is the promise of the

spirit upon the Messiah. In the

meantime, God's spirit coming to the

nation of Israel

and to the leadership

to help them to serve God and to know

God and to be comforted by God.

And here we see verse 16.

And the Lord said to Moses, "Gather unto

me 70 men and the elders of Israel, whom

you know to be the elders of the people,

and officers over them, and bring them

to the tabernacle of the congregation,

that they may stand there with thee. And

I will come down, and I will talk with

thee, and I will take the spirit which

is upon thee, and I will put it upon

them, and they will bear the burden of

the people, and you shall not do it

alone." So you see here the the

compassion

of God, the care of God. And you know,

God's like Moses, there's no way you can

handle this. You need help, you know,

and get the best men. And then once you

get the best men, you all get together

and I'm going to put my spirit upon them

that they might that they might serve

me. And then he says in verse 18,

sanctify yourself. You know, so God's

concerned about our, you know, our being

dirty and getting dirty and we do that

when we go through this world. But

that's why we confess our sins. That's

why God has, you know, given us the

blood of Christ to take away all of our

sin. And and sin, you know, it holds us

back from serving God. We want to be, as

second Timothy says, we want to be a

clean vessel

unto God to be used.

And no wonder here he says it with Moses

before the cross, before Calvary. Moses,

sanctify yourself. Get your men

together. You know, the best ones you

have, and I'm going to come down and put

my spirit upon them. Look over in

Numbers 27.

Numbers

27

and verse 18.

Numbers 27:18. And the Lord said to

Numbers 27:18

Moses, "Take thee Joshua the son of Nun,

a man in whom is the spirit,

and li lay thine hands upon him."

So here again we see the Holy Spirit, we

see consecration, we see the setting

apart of people to serve uh God and to

get to know God in the Old Testament uh

before the cross. Now

you know to to know God that's that's

the greatest thing isn't it?

What's our greatest thing? What Jesus

tell his disciples,

Lord, the spirits are subject to it. Or,

Lord, you gave me a wonderful life. I've

got I got a wonderful house. I got a

nice car. I got a great wife. I got a

kids. You know, like, thank you, Lord.

Thank you, Lord. Well, the greatest

thing is that we know God. What Jeremiah

said. God said,

greatest thing is you know me. And

that's still the greatest thing

is for us to know God.

And God has helped us to know him. And

in Nehemiah

Nehemiah 9 · chapter mention

chapter 9,

I'm a long ways off. I'm on my way.

Nehemiah

chapter nine.

And you know to have the wisdom of God

is the greatest thing.

You know the greatest thing is that we

have God and when we get God then we get

his word.

That's the greatest thing and that's

what he gave us the spirit for.

Gave us a spirit in the Old Testament to

know him. He's he's given us a spirit in

the New Testament to know him. We'll

look at that at another time.

But here in Nehemiah chapter 9 verse 20,

Nehemiah 9:20

thou gavest also thy good spirit to

instruct them. See, God gives. We don't

ask, you know, we don't bargain. We

don't merit.

Having the spirit's like having

salvation. It's a gift

for God to instruct us to help us and uh

you know so we might have food

to eat.

Now look at verse 30.

Yet many years did thou forbear them and

testified against them by thy spirit and

by thy prophets. So you see God's

longsuffering. He wants us to know him

uh in a greater way. And here's a good

example that you know those who refuse

God, you're refusing a lie.

Verse 30, he says that that I would that

they would listen

and that you gave it to them and to the

hand of your people in your land. So

that's why God sent the spirit. That's

why God sent his leaders

uh and and these great men that uh knew

God to others that they might know God

in a great way.

Let's close in a word of prayer.

Father, we thank you for your word.

Holy Spirit, we thank you for your word.

We see in the beginning you were there

brooding over the creation,

breathing life into Adam, making us in

the image of God,

making us a a soul.

Thank you for these things. And then on

top of that, now we can know God in a

greater way through his word.

And we thank you for your word. Thank

you for the Holy Spirit that instructs

us and shows us these great things,

these deep things of God, as Paul puts

it in Corinthians.

We thank you for these deep things.

Help us to grow in grace and the

knowledge of you.

And indeed, we have a triune God,

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We can't

understand this book any other way. And

yet, you're one God.

So, we thank you. You're greater than

us. And we worship you and we praise you

for this great work of redemption you've

done on our behalf in Jesus name. Amen.

>> Hi, Steve.

>> Morning Martha.

You know what's been going on?

>> The 25th.

>> That's next week.

>> Yeah. Next week.

>> Lord, as we go from this place,

loving you more,

trusting you more.

May the power of your love and the light

of your word shine to a sin darkened

world as we go from this