46.s. “Wilderness” – 10.y. “You gave your good Spirit to instruct them”

 

Num 11:17  And I will come down and talk with you there. And I will take some of the Spirit that is on you and put it on them, and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, so that you may not bear it yourself alone.

 2 Kings 2:9    When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask what I shall do for you, before I am taken from you.” And Elisha said, “Please let there be a double portion of your spirit on me.”

 Nehemiah 9:20   You gave your good Spirit to instruct them and did not withhold your manna from their mouth and gave them water for their thirst.

 Isaiah 44:3   For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants.

 Isaiah 59:20-21    “And a Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who turn from transgression,” declares the LORD.  “And as for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the LORD: “My Spirit that is upon you, and my words that I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, or out of the mouth of your offspring, or out of the mouth of your children’s offspring,” says the LORD, “from this time forth and forevermore.”

 John 7:39    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.

 Romans 8:9     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.

 1 Corinthians 2:12    Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.

 Jude 1:19   It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit.

And I will take of the spirit which is upon thee; the spirit of government, and the spirit of prophecy, the gifts of the spirit qualifying for these things, of which Moses had a large measure. and will put it upon them; that is, gifts of the same kind with his; not that his gifts were diminished, or that properly speaking anything was taken from Moses and given to the seventy elders; but from the same fountain and fulness of the spirit Moses partook of, they were furnished with like gifts and qualifications, he having not at all the less for what was communicated to them. (Gill)

Will put it upon them, i.e. I will give the same Spirit to them which I have given to thee. But as the Spirit was not conveyed to them from or through Moses, but immediately from God, so the Spirit or its gifts were not by this means impaired in Moses. (Poole)

By “taking the spirit of Moses, and putting it upon them,” is not to be understood that the qualities of the great leader were to be in any degree impaired but that the elders would be endowed with a portion of the same gifts. (Brown)

The elders must have the same heart, the same vision, and same Spirit that was on Moses. If not, there would be no agreement among the leadership of the nation and disaster could come to Israel. (Guzik)

There is but one Holy Spirit of God. God gives the Holy Spirit to all who believe and in this gift of the Holy Spirit we are given gifts (attributes) of the Holy Spirit that will edify , teach, guide, inform, cultivate, improve, encourage, instruct, and uplift believers. Not everyone is give the same gift(s). It is not up to us to pick the gift we wish we had or hoped for but rather to trust and rely on God’s sovereignty and perfect plans and purposes. 

Why then is their division, grumbling, and unrest in bodies of believers? Is it because the Holy Spirit of God has lead them into these acts? No, it is because there is an overwhelming neglect of God’s Word in the lives of the believers that quenches the Holy Spirit in their lives.  How is the Holy Spirit to grow and deepen your understanding of the things of God when there is no desire for the Word of God in your heart and mind?

26.p.

Galatians 4:12  Brothers, I entreat you, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. You did me no wrong. You know it was because of a bodily ailment that I preached the gospel to you at first, and though my condition was a trial to you, you did not scorn or despise me, but received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus. What then has become of your blessedness? For I testify to you that, if possible, you would have gouged out your eyes and given them to me. Have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth? They make much of you, but for no good purpose. They want to shut you out, that you may make much of them. It is always good to be made much of for a good purpose, and not only when I am present with you, my little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you! I wish I could be present with you now and change my tone, for I am perplexed about you.

Romans 8:9  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.

Romans 8:29  For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

I heard a song the other day which had the line; “Spirit fall on us”.  Is this a proper statement for a Christian to say?  When the eyes to your heart, mind, and soul are opened to the gospel of Jesus Christ, and by faith you believe, trust, and rely on Him alone you are saved, born again, a new creation, and the Holy Spirit makes residence in you. When does the Holy Spirit leave you? It does not ever leave.  You can close the ears to your heart, mind, and soul.  You can disregard what the Holy Spirit is encouraging you do to.  You can deny what the Holy Spirit is telling you to do.  You can say no to what the Holy Spirit is telling you to do. You can neglect the Holy Spirit living in you.  Yes, you can reject those quiet and not-so-quiet whispers to your heart from the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit of God dwells in each and every person who is born again.  

Paul wanted to see the likeness of Christ being formed in these believers in Galatia.  How does this happen?  How is the likeness of Christ being formed in us? We must want to and be willing to be led by the Holy Spirit. David gave a great example of this; “How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!”, “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!.  When we desire and seek to hear and do what the Holy Spirit is leading us to do, we will continually be more and more resembling the likeness of Christ.  A light the shine in the darkness and beacon of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The fruits of the Holy Spirit.   What keeps us from experiencing these fruits?  Love of self, love of worldly, and love of the flesh more than things of God and wanting to be led by the Holy Spirit.  Our hearts, minds, and souls, are not seeking or desiring to hear or listen to the leading.  

Think about how you are being fed.  What is feeding your soul? What are you spending your time on? What consumes your time and thoughts? If we say, “I am going to spend more time in God’s Word” this is good but could very well be lacking in desire to be led.  Our hearts, minds, and souls must hunger and thirst for leading and the sole purpose of this desire is out of sincere love for Jesus Christ and want to honor and glorify Him.  Anything short of this will not find the heart, mind, or soul listening or willing to be led.

17.r. “Because you are his sons”

Galatians 4:6   Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

 Jeremiah 3:19   “‘I said, How I would set you among my sons, and give you a pleasant land, a heritage most beautiful of all nations. And I thought you would call me, My Father, and would not turn from following me.

 Romans 8:9     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.

 Jeremiah 32:38-41    And they shall be my people, and I will be their God.  I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their own good and the good of their children after them.  I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me.  I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and all my soul

When we groaned under a sense of sin, and were shut up by it as in a prison, we feared that the law would punish us for our iniquity, and our life was made bitter with fear. Moreover, we strove in our own blind self-sufficient manner to keep that law, and this brought us into yet another bondage, which became harder and harder as failure succeeded to failure: we sinned and stumbled more and more to our soul’s confusion. But now that faith has come we see the law fulfilled in Christ, and ourselves justified and accepted in him: this changes the slave into a child, and duty into choice. Now we delight in the law, and by the power of the Spirit we walk in holiness to the glory of God. Thus it is that by believing in Christ Jesus we escape from Moses, the taskmaster, and come to Jesus, the Saviour; we cease to regard God as an angry Judge and view him as our loving Father. The system of merit and command, and punishment and fear, has given way to the rule of grace, gratitude, and love, and this new principle of government is one of the grand privileges of the children of God

Now, faith is the mark of sonship in all who have it, whoever they may be, for “you are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus Gal. 3:26). If you are believing in Jesus, whether you are Jew or Gentile, bond or free, you are a son of God. If you have only believed in Christ of late, and have but for the past few weeks been able to rest in his great salvation, yet, beloved, now are you a child of God. It is not an after privilege, granted to assurance or growth in grace; it is an early blessing, and belongs to him who has the smallest degree of faith, and is no more than a babe in grace. If a man be a believer in Jesus Christ his name is in the register-book of the great family above, “for you are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.” But if you have no faith, no matter what zeal, no matter what works, no matter what knowledge, no matter what pretensions to holiness you may possess, you are nothing, and your religion is vain. Without faith in Christ you are as sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal, for without faith it is impossible to please God. Faith then, wherever it is found, is the infallible token of a child of God, and its absence is fatal to the claim. (Spurgeon)