OBaD: Where is the Spirit?

  • Jeremy Erb
  • Aug 17, 2008
  • Series: OBaD: On Being a Disciple

GOD DOESN'T DO ANYTHING EXCEPT THROUGH HIS SPIRIT

Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts. Zechariah 4:6 (ESV)

CREATION: In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Genesis 1:1-2 (ESV)

INCARNATION: Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Matthew 1:18 (ESV)

BAPTISM OF CHRIST: Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?" But Jesus answered him, "Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he consented. And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased." Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Matthew 3:13-4:1 (ESV)

PENTECOST: When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Acts 2:1-4 (ESV)

But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: "Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. 16 But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: " ‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. Acts 2:14-18 (ESV)

The point of Joel 2 as well as Peter's quotation of it in Acts 2 is that there will be a difference in the last days (i.e., the days since Pentecost). Namely, Moses would have his wish come true. The Lord did "put his Spirit on" all his people, and they all became prophets. The same has been true of all born-again (from above) Christians since that day until now. We have all received the Holy Spirit into our lives by whom we have been cleansed (i.e., baptism of the Holy Spirit, 1 Cor 12:13a) and of whom we drink as he wells up within us (1 Cor 12:13b). All believers are called to be prophets and, therefore, proclaimers of the gospel.

On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.' " Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. John 7:37-39 (ESV)

FEAST OF TABERNACLES: (or Booths, Ingathering, Heb. Sukkoth), along with Passover and the Festival of Weeks, one of three major pilgrimage festivals of Judaism. Celebrated for eight days (from the 15th of Tishri [late September or early October]), it was Israel's joyous, thanksgiving, autumnal harvest festival for the ingathering from the threshing floor and the winepress (Exod. 23:16; 34:22; Deut. 16:13-15). Its main distinctive ritual is the requirement to ‘dwell in booths' in commemoration of God's protection of Israel during the wilderness wanderings (Lev. 23:39-43; Neh. 8:13-18). The preeminent annual festival, called ‘the feast of God' (Lev. 23:39; Judg. 21:19) or ‘the feast' (1 Kings 8:2, 65; 12:32; Isa. 30:29; Ezek. 45:23, 25; Neh. 8:14; 2 Chron. 5:3, 7-8; John 7:10; cf. John 7:2), it was the occasion of the dedication of Solomon's Temple (1 Kings 8), the public reading of the Torah (every seven years, Deut. 31:10-11), and the future ingathering of all nations to Jerusalem to worship God (Zech. 14:16). Sacrifices were offered on the 7 days, beginning with thirteen bullocks and other animals on the 1st day and diminishing by one bullock each day until on the 7th seven bullocks were offered. On the 8th day there was a solemn assembly when one bullock, one ram and seven lambs were offered (Nu. 29:36). This is the last day, ‘that great day of the feast', probably alluded to in Jn. 7:37.
They were spoken by Jesus Christ, when he was at the feast of tabernacles. Our Lord attended on the temple-service in general, and the festivals of the Jewish church in particular. The festival at which he was now present, was that of the feast of tabernacles, which the Jews observed according to God's appointment in commemoration of their living in tents. AT THE LAST DAY OF THIS FEAST, IT WAS CUSTOMARY FOR MANY PIOUS PEOPLE TO FETCH WATER FROM A CERTAIN PLACE, AND BRING IT ON THEIR HEADS, SINGING THIS ANTHEM OUT OF ISAIAH, "AND WITH JOY SHALL THEY DRAW WATER OUT OF THE WELLS OF SALVATION." Our Lord observing this, and it being his constant practice to spiritualize everything he met with, cries out, "If any man thirst, let him come unto me, (rather than unto that well) and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath spoken, (where it is said, God will make water to spring out of a dry rock, and such-like) out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water." And that we might know what our Savior meant by this living water, the Evangelist immediately adds, "But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive."

I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God. Ezekiel 36:25-28 (ESV)

INDWELLING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT: WHY?

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. YOU, HOWEVER, ARE NOT IN THE FLESH BUT IN THE SPIRIT, IF IN FACT THE SPIRIT OF GOD DWELLS IN YOU. ANYONE WHO DOES NOT HAVE THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST DOES NOT BELONG TO HIM. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, "Abba! Father!" The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs-heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. Romans 8:1-17 (ESV)

Deity indwelling men! That, I say, is Christianity, and no man has experienced rightly the power of Christian belief until he has known this for himself as a living reality. Everything else is preliminary to this. Incarnation, atonement, justification, regeneration; what are these but acts of God preparatory to the work of invading and the act of indwelling the redeemed human soul? Man who moved out of the heart of God by sin now moves back into the heart of God by redemption. God who moved out of the heart of man because of sin now enters again His ancient dwelling to drive out His enemies and once more make the place of His feet glorious.

 

[1]Achtemeier, P. J., Harper & Row, P., & Society of Biblical Literature. (1985). Harper's Bible dictionary. Includes index. (1st ed.) (1014). San Francisco: Harper & Row.

[1]Wood, D. R. W., Wood, D. R. W., & Marshall, I. H. (1996, c1982, c1962). New Bible Dictionary. Includes index. (electronic ed. of 3rd ed.) (1148). Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press.

[1] http://www.reformed.org/documents/index.html?mainframe=/documents/Whitefield/WITF_038.html

[1]Tozer, A. W., & Eggert, R. (1998). The Tozer Topical Reader (1:265). Camp Hill, PA.: WingSpread.