Many, many years ago
a masked lawman and his faithful Indian companion would ride into town
each week on our television screens and bring wisdom, peace and justice,
and then ride out of town again crying, “Hi-o Silver away!” There
was always someone standing nearby who would ask, “Who was that
masked man.” And the grand reply was, “That was the
Lone Ranger!”
In
the Bible, when wisdom, peace, and power are needed, it is the Holy Spirit
who comes and enables men and women, and boys and girls, to find the
answers they need for living! Too often, however, after the Holy
Spirit has done His work, there are many who are still asking the question, “Who
is the Holy Spirit?” Just like they asked on the day of Pentecost!
Acts 2:1-4
1 When the day of Pentecost had come,
they were all together in one place.
2 And suddenly there came from heaven
a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house
where they were sitting.
3 And there appeared to them tongues as of fire
distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them.
4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit
and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them
utterance.
6 the crowd came together, and were
bewildered
12 saying to one another, "What does
this mean?"
Now
I know you know who the Holy Spirit is, but the person sitting
next to you may not know, so please allow me to introduce you to the
One who came with a mighty puff of wind, tongues of flaming fire, and
languages which sounded so very strange! The Holy Spirit is
first introduced to us in Genesis as He gives assistance to God the Father
in creation!
Gen 1:1-2
1 In the beginning God created the heavens
and the earth.
2 The earth was formless and void, and
darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was
moving over the surface of the waters.
26 Then God said, "Let Us make man in
Our image, according to Our likeness;
It
isn’t such a great mystery that the Holy Spirit has been involved
in our Father’s plans from the beginning until now! He
was the scientist of Creation! He is the source of geology, trigonometry,
biology, and physics! And when the Father had a conference
with Himself, He said, “Let us make man in our image!” The
writer of Proverbs declared, Proverbs 3:19 “The LORD by wisdom
founded the earth.”
Who
wouldn’t want the Everlasting Scientist who has the ability to
create the world to be active in their daily life? Who wouldn’t
want the wisdom of the One who moved across the face of the waters and
brought forth land, and trees, and stars, and the sun, and grass, and
animals, and even a human being! We still need wisdom today! We
need the wisdom of the Holy Spirit!
The
wisdom of the Holy Spirit is seen in creation, and His wisdom is also
seen in the skill of capable craftsmen. God led Israel out
of Egypt under the leadership of Moses and when Moses was instructed
to build the Tabernacle, there were skilled workmen prepared by the
Holy Spirit to do the work!
Ex 28:3
3 "You shall speak to all the skillful
persons whom I have endowed with the spirit of wisdom, that they make
Aaron's garments to consecrate him, that he may minister as priest
to Me.
Ex 31:2-5
2 "See I have called …Bezalel
(and Oholiab)
3 "I have filled them with the Spirit
of God in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all kinds
of craftsmanship,
4 to make artistic designs for work
in gold, in silver, and in bronze,
5 and in the cutting of stones for settings,
and in the carving of wood, that they may work in all kinds of craftsmanship.
The
Holy Spirit’s work seems to be in taking care of the details! He’s
not only a scientist, but He is an architectural engineer! When
the Father was asking for assistance in Creation, it was the Holy Spirit’s
wisdom that He called upon. When the Father wanted to have a Tabernacle
built so men could learn to worship God, He gave wisdom by the Holy Spirit
to those who were craftsmen! Some were anointed to sew and some
were anointed to make furniture with artistic designs in wood, stone,
gold, silver, and bronze.
Who
was that masked man? It was the Holy Spirit! The Church
seems to only allow Him a little recognition on special days, or in special
ways, but Someone with such creative ability needs to be released to
do His work every day of the week!
Do
you need wisdom about how to do your housework? Do you need
wisdom about how to do your finances? Do you need help on the
job in finding answers to questions that no one else has found? Do
you have questions about your health? Ask the One who has wisdom
to teach a skilled craftsman how to do his work better! Ask the
One who had the wisdom to make continents in the middle of the ocean! Ask
a professional! The Holy Spirit!
The
Holy Spirit is more than a manifestation of tongues, or prophecy, or
being slain in the Spirit!
The Holy Spirit is about wisdom and the power of God for living our daily life! We
need the presence of the Holy Spirit if we are to accomplish the work which
God has given us to do in life! We belong to God …so let’s
let Him provide us wisdom on how we should do the task of living and of working! He
wants to give us wisdom!
The
Holy Spirit is a Scientist, and Engineer, and when Moses needed help
in Leadership, he asked God for help. Listen to God’s answer:
Num 11:16
16 The LORD therefore said to Moses, "Gather
for Me seventy men from the elders of Israel,
17 "Then …I will take of the Spirit who is
upon you, and will put Him upon them; and they shall bear the burden
of the people with you, so that you will not bear it all alone.
25 Then the LORD came down in
the cloud and …took of the Spirit who was upon Moses and placed
Him upon the seventy elders. And when the Spirit rested upon them,
they prophesied. But they did not do it again.
29 (Moses said,) “I would that
all the LORD'S people were prophets, that the LORD would put His Spirit
upon them!"
Do
you think the job Moses had was easy? God called Him to rescue
a group of slaves from the iron fists of Pharaoh. He led those
untrained slaves into becoming a nation of leaders, warriors, merchants,
farmers, shepherds, and priest! Moses was their prophet, priest,
and king and he needed all the wisdom God could provide for him, but he
needed help!
What’s
so difficult about leadership? Why did Moses need help? If
you read the Word you will discover the people who followed Moses were constantly
complaining! We don’t like our food! We want
meat! We want water! We don’t like this manna we
are eating! We want some onions and garlic! We want some
melons! We want to go back to Egypt! There are too many
snakes in the desert! Complain, complain, complain! So
Moses complained to God!
Num 11:11-15
11 So Moses said to the LORD, "Why have
You been so hard on Your servant? And why have You laid the burden
of all this people on me?
12 "Was it I who conceived all this
people?
14 " I alone am not able to carry all
this people, because it is too burdensome for me.
15 " So if You are going to deal thus
with me, please kill me at once, if I have found favor in Your sight."
I doubt
that God was pleased with Moses’attitude, but He did help him by taking
a portion of the Holy Spirit’s anointing which was upon Moses and placing
it upon seventy men who were leaders in the nation of Israel. It was
the Holy Spirit of God who came upon these men and gave them leadership
ability which they had not had before!
The
initial evidence of the anointing was in the prophesying,
although that gift did not continue in them. The proof of
their anointing was in their leadership. They were
now capable of removing some of the pressure from Moses as he led the
nation.
Leadership
involves seeing future events before they happen, planning, making strategies
which work, involving others in your plans, making wise decisions, and
yes, at times, bringing a word of correction to those who need it. Not
everyone understands why leaders do the things they do. Sometimes
there isn’t an answer which can be given publicly as to why decisions
are made. Leadership is a big task and all leaders need the wisdom
of the Holy Spirit in leading.
The
Elders and I have asked ten people in our congregation to assist us in
our leadership. We call it a Focus Group. It’s a group
of believers who are being called upon to have the anointing of the Holy
Spirit for wisdom as we work together to see the future, make plans,
and then enable the Elders and I to implement those plans. We
need the wisdom of the Holy Spirit!
My
prayer is our whole congregation will open our hearts to the Holy Spirit. He
understands how the details of life fit together. He can enable you
with skills beyond your ability. He can give you insight that
you haven’t had! He can create leadership in you when
you don’t have all the answers to life.
Let’s
unmask the Holy Spirit and experience His real power daily in our lives!
10:30
a.m.
Sunday evening
Emmanuel Church is a non-denominational charismatic fellowship
in Mountain Home, Arkansas. The church was begun in 1974 by
Pastor Charles Stanford and Pastor Jerrel Venable came as Senior
Pastor in 1992.
6:00
p.m.
Wednesday Bible Study 7:00
p.m.
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