The Holy Spirit Part 2 of 8 Kathryn Kuhlman The Holy Spirit in The Old Testament

We're in a study regarding the personality of the Holy Spirit. And I want you to follow me very closely with the Word of God. Every statement that I make, I will back up with God's Word. Therefore, I'll wait just a second until you get it. out your Bible. And remember again that the Holy Spirit is a person with a definite personality who has always been in existence. That's one thing that's so difficult for folk to understand. I don't know why it is. But we have proof that the Holy Spirit has always existed. Turn, if you will, Pete, to the 9th chapter of Hebrews, the 14th verse. How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit... Who is the eternal Spirit? The Holy Spirit? Here we have Jesus. How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit... Through the Holy Spirit, offered himself without spot to God. Purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God. As the Holy Spirit, the third person of Godhead, has existed from all of eternity, it stands to reason that if we would pursue the same course of speaking and writing about him and thinking about him and preaching, and interpreting the word regarding him as we do about the person and the work of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, then much of the mystery and misunderstanding as to his person and work would very quickly disappear. We have never been taught regarding this third person of the Trinity. So many people feel that suddenly there appears in our midst a new person. A new personality. And how often recently I have heard folk in discussing the Holy Spirit talk about this wonderful new person. This new movement that is upon us. But he is not a new person. This is not a new personality. We have never been taught regarding the third person of the Trinity. If you will, please, turn to the 26th chapter of Job. I want you to see the work of the Holy Spirit when it comes to creation. And we read in Job the 26th chapter, the 13th verse, by His Spirit. And always when the Bible speaks of His Spirit. or the Spirit. It always refers to the Holy Spirit. By His Spirit, He hath garnished the heavens. In other words, by His Spirit, by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit made the heavens beautiful with stars and suns. The work of the Trinity in creation has been described thus. God the Father created the matter. God the Son molded it into shape as seen in the heavens and the earth and every visible object. And God the Holy Spirit breathed into all creation life. He gave creation life. And here we see... All three persons at work in creation. Read it. It's there. The 13th verse of the 26th chapter of Job. By His Spirit, He has garnished the heavens. By the Holy Spirit, He made the heavens beautiful with stars and suns. Mm -hmm. God... The Father created the matter. For it's God the Father who is the great creator. God the Son molded it into shape. And the Holy Spirit breathed into creation life. For the Holy Spirit is the part that raised Jesus from the dead. The Holy Spirit is... resurrection life. He is the power of the Trinity. There we see all three persons at work in creation. You cannot, it is impossible to leave one of these persons out in speaking of the creation, in speaking of the creation of man. For remember the word said, let us. God is speaking. When he was about to create man, he said, let us. To whom was he speaking? To Jesus Christ, his son. To the Holy Spirit. Let us make man in our... image and after our likeness. Now go back again, if you will, please, for just a minute to Genesis, the second chapter, the seventh verse. And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul. And here we see the threefold work of God. The Father made the dust of the ground. The Son, like a mighty sculptor, molds the clay into a statue, formed the dust in the shape of a man, and the Holy Spirit breathed into its nostrils the breath of life. And there you have the three persons at work in the creation of man. And the earth was without form, and void, and darkness was upon the face of the earth. And the Spirit of God. Again, we have the Holy Spirit. For I just told you, every time the Word of God speaks of the Spirit of God, it always refers to the Holy Spirit. No, the Holy Spirit is not... A new personality that has suddenly come upon the scene. And the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, moved upon the face of the waters. And here again, we have the work of the Holy Spirit in the restoration of the earth. And this reveals to us that the work of the Holy Spirit in creation was to impart and restore life. Let's turn to the Old Testament and see what we find regarding the work of the Holy Spirit in lives of individuals. For very often I find men and women who feel that the Holy Spirit only came upon individuals to the 120 at the day of Pentecost? No. If you study the Word of God very closely, if you study the work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of individuals in the Old Testament, you'll find that even before the experience in the upper room on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit had... come upon men and women. Now there are a number of passages of Scripture that may be cited to show that there were men who were indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God and who had this special privilege given to them by God. Now the first reference we find to this indwelling of the Holy Spirit is in the 41st chapter of Genesis. The 38th verse. And here we have a word from a heathen king. Pharaoh of Egypt spoke concerning one of God's chosen ones, Joseph. And what Pharaoh said about Joseph was one of the greatest compliments that a man can know. Joseph was never paid a higher... compliment then he was paid by a hidden king and this is what pharaoh of egypt said about joseph can we find such a one as this man is a man in whom the spirit of god is He sensed something different. He knew what it was in Joseph. It was something that's supernatural. It was something that set him completely apart from all other men. He recognized the presence of the Holy Spirit in the life of Joseph. And I still contend that even the unbeliever could... They will recognize the Holy Spirit in the life of a man or a woman who is filled with the Spirit. I do not believe that Pharaoh understood what he was saying, for he was very ignorant of the Trinity. I believe he was very ignorant regarding the Holy Spirit, ignorant of the third person. But Pharaoh recognized that there was something manifested in God's servant. that was not observed in other men. It was something that Pharaoh had never seen before, even though he'd been surrounded by multitudes of priests in his own religion. Mm -hmm. There was something different. Oh, my friend, there's that same... difference today in the life of an individual who has been filled with the Spirit of God. You can be born again. You can be a Christian. And yet, if a person has been filled with the Holy Spirit, there is still something about it that is by even the unregenerated man. Now, let's go a little further. In Exodus, the 28th chapter, we find a reference to men who were given the gift of the Holy Spirit in order to enable them to work as skilled craftsmen in erecting and building the tabernacle in the wilderness. This is something that to me is very thrilling. In the third verse of the 28th chapter of Exodus, we read these words. And thou shalt speak unto all that are wise -hearted, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they may make Aaron's garments to consecrate him, that he may minister unto me in the priest's office. The same Holy Spirit that we know. Mm -hmm. Thou shalt speak unto all that are wise -hearted, whom I have filled with the Spirit of wisdom. Go a little further. In the 31st chapter of Exodus, concerning the workmen who would erect the tabernacle, I quote from the Word of God, I have... Build him with the Spirit of God in wisdom and in understanding and in knowledge and in all manner of workmanship to devise cunning works to work in gold and in silver and in brass and in cutting of stones to set them and in carving of timber to work in all manner of workmanship. You understand? The tabernacle was to be erected according to a divine plan. God held the blueprint to this wonderful tabernacle that was to be erected according to his plan, a divine plan. There were to be no imperfection in its design. There was to be no imperfection. in the craftsmanship with which it was built. And God gave the Holy Spirit as a gift to these craftsmen so that the work that they accomplished with their hands should be a perfect work in order that there should be a perfect temple in which God could dwell. And to have a perfect temple with perfect craftsmanship, perfect work, using imperfect men, he filled them with the Holy Spirit, that he would have a perfect work of art, a perfect temple in which God could dwell. And God said, I have filled him with the Spirit of God. Oh, no, beloved. The Holy Spirit is not a new personality. Many of the Old Testament saints were filled with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit came upon them. Go a little further, if you will, please. The 11th chapter of Numbers, and here we find Moses. Associated with him were 70 men who were set apart to become counselors and advisors and assistants in the responsibility of supervising Israel. And I'll tell you, that was a terrific responsibility. That was a tremendous responsibility. Here was Moses, having been called of God for a very definite work. But, along with this great responsibility, there were associated with him 70 men. And they were advisors. They were assistants. They too had the responsibility of helping to supervise Israel. And God said, I will come down and talk with thee there, and I will take of the spirit which is upon thee, and will put it upon them, and they shall bear the burden of the people with thee. that thou beareth not thyself alone. If you want to have a board of deacons in your church who are under the direct guidance and authority of the Holy Spirit, they must... all be spirit -filled men. Because if they are all spirit -filled, then they will have the mind of the same spirit, the one spirit. And it's just like that. That's the reason, you see, it is impossible when it comes to an organization. I'm not talking about this great organism, the body of Christ. I'm talking about a religious organization. The reason we have so much dissension and there's so much backbiting and let's just face it, if you're looking for a perfect church to join, you'll never find it. I don't care whether it's Methodist or Baptist or Nazarene or... Assembly of God or Foursquare. I don't care whether it's Catholic or Protestant. If you're waiting to find a perfect church, I'm talking about an organized church, not the great organism. I'm not talking about his church. Because, my friend, this organization is made up of human beings. And you cannot find human beings who are perfect. If they are to have one mind, they must have the mind of Christ. And you can only get the mind of Christ when men and women are filled with the Holy Spirit. Then and then alone will they work. together in perfect unity if they continue to be led of the Spirit. God saw the importance of that. That's the reason not only was Moses filled with the Holy Spirit, but when these 70 men who were set apart to become counselors and advisors and assistants in the responsibility of supervising Israel, also filled the Seventh -day with the Holy Spirit so they could work in perfect oneness in the Spirit and have the same mind. That's something. Now, as far as I can determine, the Scripture has not previously said that Moses was indwelt and empowered and made wise by the Spirit of God, yet God said in this passage that he would take... the Spirit that was given to Moses and would give it to the 70 also. And thus we would see that since the Spirit was taken from Moses and given to the 70, Moses himself ministered by the gift of the Holy Spirit that was given to him. And in the same chapter, notice something else. The Lord came down in the cloud and spake unto him and took of the spirit that was upon him, and gave it unto the seventy elders. God singled out not one man, as he had done with Joseph, but seventy men, and gave them this gift. And as far as we can tell, there was just these seventy men among all the multitudes of the children of Israel, besides Moses. and besides Aaron, who possessed this particular gift of the Holy Spirit to empower them for this work of leadership. And I still contend that we need spirit -filled men and women in the places of leadership today. God bless you.