We're so thankful to get together
and we're going to be in the book of Judges chapter 13 tonight,
the last two verses. But I would like to read verse
one and then the last two verses because it sets the stage here
for the conditions that were in Israel at that time. And they
were not good conditions. And yet we find that the Lord
has a remnant according to the election of grace. So we're going
to have at least two people that are going to be spoken to by
the Lord, the angel of the Lord. And then we're going to have
Samson born. And he is one of the four judges that are mentioned
in the book of Hebrews, chapter 11, verse 32. Samson is mentioned
there. And when we get through with
the next three chapters, we only can say it's because of grace
that his name is mentioned there. But in chapter 13, there in verse
1, it says, And the children of Israel did evil again in the
sight of the LORD, and the LORD delivered them into the hand
of the Philistines forty years. what a statement is made there
as God shows us the commentary about what the conditions were
there in Israel. Now, as we travel through chapter
13, we find that the angel of the Lord appeared unto two people,
Manoah and his wife. And as we look at this, we find
that there was a certain promise made to Manoah and his wife,
and that's found in verse And we'll make reference to this
in a little while, but I want to read it. And there was a certain
man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah,
and his wife was Baran and Baranot. And the angel of the Lord appeared
unto the woman and said unto her, Behold now, thou art Baran
and Barasnot, that thou hast conceived and shall conceive
and bear a son. So what a statement is made here
about the promises of God, that what he promises, he will fulfill. Well, let's go down to the last
two verses of this chapter. The last two verses of this chapter,
and we will read those. And the woman bear a son and
called his name Samson. The woman bear a son and called
his name Samson. And the child grew, and the Lord
blessed him. And the Spirit of the Lord began
to move him at times in the camp of Dan between Zorah and Estheol. Well, there's three different
statements. thoughts brought out in these
two verses that I'd like to go over tonight. The first one is
promise given, promise fulfilled. The second one is being blessed
of God. And the third one is the Spirit
of God, and particularly the Spirit of God in the Old Testament. In the introduction here, we
find that the Lord had promised Manoah and his wife a child,
and here we have the fulfillment of that promise made to Manoah
and to his son, and that just lends us to the many passages
of Scripture that share with us about the promises of God
and the fulfillment of those promises. So if you would turn
with me for a few moments over to the book of Romans, chapter
4. Romans, chapter 4. In Romans
chapter four, we have these words recorded for our benefit, and
it shares with us how much confidence the church can have in the word
of God. What God said, he will perform. There will not be a lie, there
will not be a blue lie or a gray lie, but there will only be the
truth given by God. So in Romans chapter four, verse
18, We read these beautiful words about the promise that was given
to Abraham, and that promise shares with us the great benefits
that we enjoy. In the book of Romans chapter
four, verse 18, who against hope believed in hope that he might
become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken,
so shall thy seed be. And being not weak in faith,
he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about 100
years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb. He staggered
not at the promise of God. Now that's so important to hear,
that promise of God. There's no better commentary
on God than God's word. And he made a promise to Abraham,
and it says he staggered not at the promise of God through
unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God. Now there's
only one that could give that kind of faith. I hear a lot of
people say, there was my faith that caused me to be saved. Well,
our faith is so covered with sin, it is so imperfect, and
we must have perfect faith, and only that perfect faith can be
given by the Lord. So it goes on to say here, and
being fully persuaded that what he had promised, what God he
had promised, God was able also to perform. and therefore it
was imputed to him for righteousness. Now it was written, not written
for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, but for us also
to whom it shall be imputed. If we believe on him that raised
up Jesus, our Lord from the dead, who was delivered for our offenses
and was raised again for our justification. So we find in
this passage of scripture that the Lord shares with Abraham
in the Old Testament, is brought out here in the book of Romans
by the Apostle Paul as he's led by the Holy Spirit to write.
We find here that the promise that was given unto him he had
this confidence that it would be fulfilled. Being fully persuaded,
verse 21, what he had promised, what God had promised, he was
able also to perform. Now these kinds of words are
brought up a number of times in the Old as well as the New
Testament, and we've mentioned a couple of these, but we'd like
to go back and look at them again because there is so much that
is mentioned here in the Bible about God keeping his promise.
And even today, it is so important to know that what he had promised
he's able to perform And this really blesses the church. We
don't have to get involved in a lot of the theories that are
going on in our time, and I'm sure that they've been around
for a long, long time, but we don't have to worry about the
theories that we have around us about eschatology, about religion,
and all that stuff, because what God promised, he would fulfill.
All right, as we go back here, to the book of Joshua. Would
you join me in the book of Joshua? Joshua shares with us some words
about all the things that God had done. Now God had spent a
lot of time with Israel. He brought them out of Egypt.
Well, he had watched over them in Egypt. He brought them out
of Egypt. They wandered in the wilderness
a total of about 40 years. And now they've been in the promised
land. All that older generation had
died off. These died in unbelief. And the
other generation went in and through Joshua as the leader
and the Lord as the captain of the host of the Lord, they defeated
the enemies that were there in Israel. And now in Judges chapter
23, verse 14, Judges chapter 23 verse 14 we read these words
as It is recorded with regard to Joshua. He says and behold
this day. I'm going the way of all the
earth Which means he understands he's going to die Say Joshua Joshua chapter 23
verse 14 It says, here behold this day
I am going the way of all the earth and ye know in all your
hearts and in all your souls, your very innermost being, you
know that this is the truth. that God said what he said he
would perform. Now we've noticed that with Samson.
God promised a barren woman that she would bear a son, and at
the bottom of that, that's in the first part of that chapter,
and at the bottom of that chapter, she bore a son, and his name
was Samson. I go the way of all the earth
and you know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not
one thing has failed of all the good things which the Lord your
God spake concerning you. All are come to pass unto you
and not one thing hath failed thereof." So I was talking to
a man one time, and I brought this verse of Scripture up, and
he said, but you know that God didn't give them all the land.
And I said, well, according to this, I'm going to have to take
this over speculation. He did not withhold one good
thing from them. Now, if we travel over to the
book of 1 Kings chapter 8, 1 Kings chapter 8, we have Solomon on
the day that the temple was dedicated. And we've mentioned this recently,
but I want to read it over again because it's just full of the
fulfillment of the promises of God with regard to what he promised
he shall fulfill. In the book of 1 Kings chapter
8, 1st Kings chapter 8 verse 54 and it was so that when Solomon
had made an end of of praying all this prayer and supplication
unto the Lord, he arose from before the altar of the Lord
from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread up to heaven.
And he stood and blessed all the congregation of Israel with
a loud voice saying, blessed be the Lord that has given rest
unto his people Israel. according to all that he promised,
there hath not failed one word of all his good promise, which
he promised by the hand of Moses his servant." So hundreds of
years after Joshua, we have the king, King Solomon, David's son,
who had been put on the throne, that he just brought to the attention
of all the people at that day and time, all the Israelites
at that day and time, all those that were under his rule at that
day and time. that not one promise that God
had promised has ever failed. And we just continuously find
that thought throughout the scriptures. In the book of Luke chapter 21,
turn there with me if you would, as we think about the word of
God and this commentary that's brought to us as the Lord himself
mentioned with regard to his word. In the book of Luke chapter
21, we read these words, Luke chapter 21, and there in
verse 33, Luke chapter 21, verse 33, heaven and earth shall pass
away. Now that's the record. We find
other times in the scripture that that's gonna happen, it's
gonna be cleansed by fire, it's gonna pass away. It's not gonna
be throughout eternity the way it is now because it is full
of sin. Well, here it tells us, heaven
and earth shall pass away, but my word shall never, shall not
pass away. So the Lord promises here again,
what he promised he shall fulfill. And in, In 2nd Kings, I'd like
to go back again to the Old Testament. In the book of 2nd Kings, 2nd
Kings chapter 10, 2nd Kings chapter 10 and verse 10, we read this. There, the Lord has so put it
in the scripture, time and time and time again. And that's one
reason that we can truly, with great faith, with great belief,
hear the words of the Lord and say, I give unto them, the sheep,
eternal life. We're not in jeopardy every day.
We have eternal life. But notice here in 2 Kings 10,
verse 10, Now, what does that mean? Now, everything that God ever
spoke through any of his prophets in the Old Testament, his prophets, those who knew him, those who
had been regenerated and indwelled by the Holy Spirit, not one of
those prophets, not one of those apostles that had that, not one
person in the church, not one person that had ever been saved
is the word going to be less than it is said it would be.
Not one word of the Lord, which the Lord spake concerning the
house of Ahab, your house, my house, the church, whatever,
this earth, has fallen to the ground. It is not scrap word. It is straightforward. It is
put into the hearing ear and he will sustain all his people
by the promises that he has given. The woman bear a son. That's
what we find in the scriptures. We find that she was promised
a son, she bear a son. Not one word shall fail of all
the words of God. Now, in the book of Numbers,
going back to the book of Numbers, we find that the Holy Spirit
caused the man Moses to write, and he wrote by inspiration,
and in its original form, it was a perfect book, and here
we have These words in that great perfect book, the Bible, it says,
God is not a man. And we're so thankful about that. God is not a man, that he should
lie. That's an interesting commentary
on us. Sometimes it just happens that
we don't tell the truth. And sometimes we plan not to
tell the truth. But God never had to do that
because he can give the truth and stand by it and he has the
power to say it and he has the power to fulfill it. God is not
a man that he should lie, neither the son of man that he should
repent. God does not change. He does not change his mind.
He doesn't change his thoughts. He doesn't change his purpose.
He does not change at all. He hath he said, and shall he
not do it? Hath he spoken and shall he not
make it good? So these words were pinned by
Moses in the Old Testament in its original Hebrew here We have
a translation of that and what comfort it is for the church
for us to come Even here in the Old Testament and find these
blessed words about God's promise. So God promised Manoah's wife
He promised Manoah and he promised Manoah's wife that they would
have a child and the Lord blessed him and bless them with this
child. And so God watched over them. He spoke to them. He came to
them. In some of the most perilous times in Israel, it tells us
there for 40 years, the Philistines ran the place, but God provided
He brought up and he had some people appointed that he had
set aside before the foundation of the world. In the election
of grace, these people were set aside. This Manoah and his wife,
they saw God. And what a blessing that was,
they saw God. Well, as we look at this, we
find that God promised, promise given and promise fulfilled.
Now, it tells us going back to the book of Judges chapter 13.
Let's go over there again, Judges chapter 13. The next thought
that we find in that passage of scripture is this, Judges
chapter 13. And it tells us there, as we
look at the last two verses of the scripture, And it says, the
woman bear a son according to promise. She had never bore us
a child. She was incapable of bearing
a child. And now she bore a child by the
great power of Almighty God. You know, as we look into the
scriptures, we find that Samuel in many respects was like this
also. Samuel grew and the Lord was
with him. And in the book of Luke, John,
John the Baptist, the child grew and waxed strong in spirit. And
then we find the true one, that the Lord blessed this way, and
Jesus increased in wisdom and stature. So we'll notice that
here in this passage of scripture, but Samson and Samuel and John
are types and shadows of pictures, and Jesus Christ fulfilled all
of that in his own person. So as we look at this, we find
that the Lord blessed him. When we look into the scriptures,
we find that there are two types, or two thoughts about this word
blessed. You know, as we look at it, we
find that it's often man to God. Man blessed God, you know, that
word means to kneel, to bow, to act an act of adoration. It is something God gives to
his people to do towards him. He reveals unto them his greatness
and his power and his might and his salvation and his purpose
and his grace. And every one of those great
things about God causes the church to bless him, to bow before him,
to have an act of adoration. We're unable to perform any of
those things, and it is just common with God to do these things. This is his nature, to do these
things. So men bless him. Well, we're
going to find in this passage of scripture, God blessed the
man. And there are several that we'd like to look at tonight.
But before we do that, turn with me over to the book of the Psalms,
if you would. As we find, often the man blesses
God, acknowledges and acts out of
adoration, kneels before Him, maybe not on our physical knees,
but our heart is caused to bend before Him, to bow before Him,
to recognize Him and to recognize His great power, and that He's
going to do according to His will and purpose, that He performed
a purpose before the world began. Here in the Psalms, though, in
Psalm 96, Psalm 96, would you turn there with me to the Psalm
96, and we read this. Psalm 96, and there in verse
two, Psalm 96 in verse two. Sing unto the Lord, bless his
name. Now this is man blessing God,
bowing before God, acting in a state of adoration. Sing unto
the Lord, bless his name, show forth his salvation from day
to day. As we celebrate the salvation of the Lord, our knees are caused
to bow. We have great adoration for him.
and we bless his name. His name shall be called Jesus,
for he shall save his people from their sins." What adoration
is in that name, and the church adores. What is so important
about your beloved, is what the children, or the ladies of Israel,
of Jerusalem ask. He is altogether lovely. She was on both knees spiritually
to say that. All right, also here in the book
of the Psalms, Psalm 103. Would you turn with me to Psalm
103? As we look here in Psalm 103,
we find again that God speaks about his people. adoring Him,
having adoration for Him, having bowed the knee to Him. It says,
bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless
His holy name. There's only one way that we're
capable of adoring God with that kind of adoration, and that is
after we're born again. No lost man can do that. We may
go through the form, we may go through the thought, but we can't
do that. We cannot bless the Lord, O my
soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name. So this
one, is able to bow in an act of adoration from a spiritual
standpoint and thank God. Just the next psalm, if you would,
the next psalm. Would you join me with me in
the next psalm? That's Psalm 104. In Psalm 104,
verse 1, again, we have these words that share with us that
men are to bless God. men. Now, the natural man cannot
do that. We can go through the forum,
how often we hear of people, we ourselves probably were in
that same position and we thought we were blessing the Lord. adoring the
Lord, but we were not. It's impossible to do what's
required. But everything that is required
is given to us in the behalf of Jesus Christ, our Savior.
So it says here in Psalm 104, bless the Lord, oh my soul. Bless the Lord, oh my soul. Oh
Lord, my God. Thou art very great. Thou art
clothed with honor and majesty." What a statement that the church,
people in the church, people that are the church, the church
as a whole, the whole great church of saints past, present, and
future are able to say this. Thou art clothed with honor and
majesty. Thou art the king. You are the
sovereign. You're the one whose words are
performed. We are the recipients of your
blessings." And then once again, if you turn with me in the psalm,
Psalm 115. Psalm 115 and verse 18, we read this, Psalm 115, verse 18. Again, bless the Lord, O my soul. We have the privilege of kneeling,
of bowing, of coming before Him in an act of adoration from our
heart that God has given to us. That new heart can worship Him
and worship him in spirit and in truth. And here, once again,
we have this word mentioned, but we will bless the Lord from
this time forth and forevermore, praise the Lord. Well, when did
that start? Well, that starts when God gave
us the new birth, when he brought us out of the pit, when he saved
our soul by his free and sovereign grace. We are blessed. Now, we will find out as a result
of this very verse of Scripture here, that the Lord has blessed
us before the foundation of the world. We find out about it.
But all from this day forward, we really, in our spirit, will
be able to bless the Lord and to adore the Lord. Now, this
word also is used in this particular verse that we're looking at as
God to man. Now, that's amazing. When you
think about it, that God would bless anybody, that God would
bless a man. Well, that's what it says there
in the book of Judges, chapter 13. Let's just go back over there.
In the book of Judges, chapter 13, it tells us in verse 24,
Judges chapter 13, verse 24, it says, the child grew Samson was born, promise was
made, promise was fulfilled, Samson was born, the child grew,
and the Lord blessed him. Now, that's not common. That's
very uncommon. Now, it's common to the church,
but it's so uncommon to the world. They don't know what it is to
be blessed of the Lord. Now, this child grew and the
Lord blessed him. And it's so interesting as we
look into the scriptures to find that that blessing, that blessedness
that God has can be given to a man Blessed is the man. So turn with me, if you would,
back to the Psalms. Psalms are just full of verses
like this and share with us a great deal of insight with regard to
the blessings that the Lord gives us. So over here, it tells us
about, in Psalm 5 and verse 12, Psalm 5 and verse 12, it says,
for thou, Lord, wilt bless the righteous. My goodness. What a statement is made here
in the Psalms about those that God will bless. It's the righteous. Who are the righteous? Those
who have been given the righteousness of Christ. Those who have been
imputed the righteousness of Christ. Those church, those that
have been brought out of darkness to his marvelous light. Those
who have been transported, translated, brought out of the kingdom of
darkness into the kingdom of his dear son. And this group,
that no man can number, this group that Jesus Christ went
to the cross for and died for, these that he himself called
his sheep and that he's the shepherd of, he's the one that said, I
can separate the goats from the sheep, and it is through the
sheep that he offers, not offers, that's a poor word, poor choice
of words, I apologize, but he says, "'Welcome to the kingdom
prepared for you from the foundation of the world.'" So here it says,
"'For thou, Lord, wilt bless the righteous. With favor wilt
thou compass him as with a shield.'" So God has promise, this blessing. I will bless these people. I
will bless them with my presence. I will bless them with my word.
I'll bless them with my righteousness. I will bless them with my justification.
I will bless them with every spiritual blessing. They shall
have my blessing. How wonderful it is to find that
the God of heaven, the great sovereign king of the universe,
will bless people in such a capacity. Well, this thought continues
on in the scriptures. In fact, it's hard not to find
a place where the Lord doesn't do something for his people.
But if you'll turn with me as we look at the next verse here
on this subject, Psalm 29, and then we'll go on to another subject.
But here in Psalm 29, turn there with me as we think about the
Lord blessing the people. He blesses the church. He blesses
individuals that make up the church. He has blessed us from
before the foundation of the world. He has blessed us in time.
He blessed those that were to bear us into this world. Generations and generations and
generations back, He blessed us in them that He used them
to bring His sheep into the world. So here in the book of Psalm
29, last verse of that Psalm, this is recorded, the Lord will
give strength unto his people. The Lord will bless his people
with peace. What a statement is made here
about the blessing that the Lord gives. He will bless his people
with peace. with spiritual peace. We are
at peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. He has blessed
us with perfect peace. He has blessed us with a peace
that passes all understanding. And that is what he had to share
here. The Lord will give strength unto his people and that's the
only place we can get it. So when we look at the Lord blessing
somebody, he didn't do that generically, he did that on purpose for everyone
that the Father had given him from before the foundation of
the world, everyone that was ever going to be saved, those
he died for, those he had written out on the palms of his hand,
those he knew from before the foundation of the world. It's
not a mistake when he tells a whole group of people, I never knew
you. In other words, I never blessed
you. Now to the church, he has blessed
us in every capacity, since the foundation of the world, before
the foundation of the world, after the foundation of the world,
even in some of the most rugged times that history can record,
just as we do here in the book of Judges. The whole nation of
Israel had gone after other gods, and yet here are two people that
he blesses in a great capacity, and then we find his son, their
son is blessed. All right, as we notice this,
we find that the Lord is so gracious. He blessed them and fulfilled
their promise, his promise to them. And then he blessed that
young man, just like he blesses all his people, all the church.
He blessed his parents in the same capacity, and here he blesses
the church. In every age, he blesses the
church. Well, in the last thing that
we'd like to look at that's brought out in that last verse of Judges,
let's just go over there again, Judges chapter 13. In Judges
chapter 13, we have this message given to us, the last, very last
verse of the chapter, Judges chapter 13, verse 25. Judges
13, verse 25, it tells us here, "...and the Spirit of the Lord
began to move him at times in the camp of Dan between Azorah
and Esthial." The Spirit of the Lord. What a blessing. we have here that the Spirit
of the Lord is found in the Old Testament. I've had people tell
me that God saved people in the Old Testament differently than
they saved them in the New Testament, and you know what? There's not
one scripture, one scrap of scripture, that would give us that information.
In fact, it's the exact opposite. Now, some people don't even think
that the Holy Spirit was active in the Old Testament, and yet
the Scriptures are filled with verses of Scripture that share
with us that the Holy Spirit was active in the Old Testament.
Well, the second verse in our Bible, second verse of Genesis,
chapter one, verse two, second verse of the Bible. In the first
chapter, verse one, we have, in the beginning, God created
the heavens and the earth. Now the God is, I don't know
how to explain it, and I can't compare it, because it says,
to what would you compare me? But there was the Father, the
Son, and the Holy Spirit in the creation of the heavens and the
earth We notice here in verse two, and this is just a type,
a picture of what God must do in order to give us life. He
must move on us. Here it says, the earth was without
form and void and darkness was upon the face of the deep. There's
some thoughts there that I find difficult to understand. I believe
it with every fiber of my being, but I don't know all that that
is talking about. But as we look at this, we find
out what a picture it is of us in the fall, and then it tells
us the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters, and he's
the one, the spirit brooded over the face of the waters. The Spirit
of God has been blessing the church from the very beginning.
In fact, it was the Spirit of God, the Son, and God the Father,
that had purpose to bless the church before the foundation
of the world. Now, over in the book of Exodus, chapter 31, remember
when they were building the tabernacle? I've told a number of people
recently, there's no way you could build a tabernacle with
the instructions that are given in the Bible. We just can't put
it together. And probably for good reason.
There's no need for us to build a tabernacle. It is more than
difficult to figure out. Now, we can figure out, and the
Lord reveals to us what it represents, Christ, all the curtains and
hangings and sacrifices and all the labors and the washings and
everything else, picture our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
in some capacity. But we don't want to build that.
In fact, we can't. But notice here that Moses was
told that what I showed you in the mount, that's what I want
built. Well, here in the book of Exodus
chapter 31, we have as the work begins on the tabernacle, this
is what is required. We have to have this happen. And it says in Exodus 31, and
the Lord spake unto Moses saying, See, I have called by name, Bezalel,
the son of Uriah, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and
I have filled him with the Spirit of God. Now, how does he know
he has the Spirit of God? He has wisdom and an understanding. You know, God's people have wisdom
given unto them. And what is wisdom but to recognize
that Jesus Christ is the Savior of his people. No longer will
I depend upon works. No longer will I have to do things
to please God. I am saved by grace and he gives
us the wisdom to understand that salvation is of the Lord. So
he gave this man wisdom and in understanding what it is to be
blessed with understanding about the Godhead and about his great
salvation, to be given the knowledge that Jonah was given, that is,
salvation is of the Lord, and go home and thank God for it. God saves his people as he purposes,
and he does it every day that he intends to do it. It says
here, I filled 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, in the
cutting of stones, to set them, and in the carving of timber,
and to work all the manner of workmanship. And I behold, and
I have given with him Aholab, the son of Ahishamak, the tribe
of Dan, and in the hearts of all that are wise-hearted, I
have put wisdom, that they may make all that I have commanded
thee. God gave them the wisdom, the
understanding of what needed to be built, and then he gave
them the ability to do that. What does it say there? It says,
I have filled him with the Spirit of God, and he has done that
for the church. We can't get out of our own way
without what God does for us when he gives us the Holy Spirit.
In the book of 2 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, in 2 Chronicles chapter 15. Would
you turn there with me as we again look at this wonderful
subject as it's found in the Old Testament, this wonderful
subject as it's found in the Old Testament. In the book of
2 Chronicles chapter 15, 2 Chronicles chapter 15 verse one, this is
recorded here. The Spirit of God came upon Azariah,
the son of Obed. The Holy Spirit was in the Old
Testament and comes upon people. Now there's some that he came
upon and then he left. You know, people say, well, what
about that? And I says, you know what? We find him doing that
today. He moves upon people to do his
purpose. And when they've done his purpose,
he didn't need them anymore. He leaves them. Well, that's
what we find so often in the Old Testament. Saul being a case
in point. God led him, directed him, moved
him as he does all the world. And then when it was over, he
didn't need him. He departed from him and he had
a bad spirit towards David. Well, once again, in the book
of 2 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles chapter 24, 2 Chronicles chapter
24, we find these words recorded for our glorious benefit. Chapter 24 of 2 Chronicles, there
in verse 20, the scripture says, and the Spirit of God came upon
Zechariah. Well, Zechariah's one of the
prophets. Isn't it wonderful that the Spirit of the Lord came
upon Zechariah? So when we read his writings,
we can just say the Holy Spirit gave him these words to write.
Zachariah was a nobody until God saved him, and he wasn't
a writer, a heavenly writer, a spiritual writer, until the
Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God came upon him. He's the son of
Jehoiada the priest, which stood before the people and said unto
them, thus saith God, why transgress ye the commandments of the Lord
that ye cannot prosper? You know, we could just put in
there, why transgress ye all the words of the Lord? That's
a normal thing for us to do by nature. It only is the grace
of God that will cause us to realize that Jesus Christ fulfilled
it all, every jot and every tittle, and we trust him. So, the subject
of the Holy Spirit. You know, as we think about it,
The Spirit of the Lord came upon me is a quote in Isaiah chapter
61, verse one, and that verse of scripture is quoted in the
New Testament. The Lord quotes that about what
he did, and then he said, this has been fulfilled in your hearing. So in Isaiah 61, it says the
Spirit of the Lord is upon me. The Holy Spirit of God was upon
the Messiah all through all ages. Now, how did we get the word
of God? Second Peter, chapter one, verse
21. Let's turn over there. Second
Peter, chapter one, verse 21. Here we read this. How did we
get the Old Testament? How do we know that it's the
truth? How do we know that it's God's word? Well, here it says,
for the prophecy came not in old time, 2 Peter 1, verse 21,
for prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but
holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
So the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of God, was moving upon these
folks throughout the Old Testament. Moses, Job, all the other writers
moved upon them and caused them to write what God intended to
have written down. So the holy men of God, God's
saved servants, were used to write these Old Testament books,
but the Holy Spirit was the author. They were the secretaries in
every case. We just find that principle found
throughout the scriptures. The acts of the Holy Spirit in
the Old Testament, we find, turn with me to Psalm 104. Psalm 104.
Psalm 104, verse 29 and 30. Psalm 104. The 104th Psalm, verses 29 and
30. Thou hittest thy face, that they
are troubled. Thou takest away their breath,
they die, and return to the dust. Thou sendest forth thy spirit,
they are created. Isn't that another statement
about the new birth? They are created, a new creation
in Christ Jesus. And thou renewest the face of
the earth. So the Holy Spirit was used in the Old Testament
to do exactly what he does in the New Testament, and that is
gives people the new birth. He has the word brought to their
minds, their hearts, and then as a result, he gives the regeneration
or the new birth or salvation from above, birth from above,
a new heart, circumcised heart, however we want to look at it.
It tells us again in the book of Numbers about Joshua. Just look over there in the book
of Joshua. As we think about the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament,
in Numbers chapter 27, Numbers chapter 27. Let me get to Numbers
and not to Joshua. Numbers 27. This is recorded
about Joshua. Numbers 27 verse 18. Numbers
chapter 27 verse 18. And the Lord said unto Moses,
Take thee Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit. Now this is the only difference
between those ten spies and two spies, and that's the Spirit
of God. Those ten spies came back with
an evil report, they came back with a natural report, they came
back with natural fear, They came back with natural unbelief.
They came back with the same thing that they went over there
with. They had no gift given to them. And yet two of them
came back, not because they were smarter, not because they were
better, not because they were wiser. They came back with a
good report. Why? Because the Spirit of God
is in them. The Spirit of God was on them.
The Spirit of God revealed to them that God has spoken. He will fulfill his word. The
promise would be made. David said, the Spirit of the
Lord spake by me. The Spirit of the Lord spake
by me. And that's found in 2 Samuel
23 and verse 2. Well, as we think about this,
we find that that last two verses of that 13th chapter of the book
of Judges, the fulfillment of God's promise to those folks,
the promise was given and the promise was fulfilled. We find
that God blessed being blessed of God. Samson was blessed of
God and how he, God, blesses his people at every age. And
then the Spirit of God. Spirit of God acted, moved in
the Old Testament. In Ezekiel, I will put my spirit
within you. Ezekiel 36, 27. We're about ready
to wrap this up. I pray you bear with me for just
a moment. The book of Ezekiel. In the book
of Ezekiel, we read these words, Ezekiel chapter 36, Ezekiel chapter
36, and there in verse 27, Ezekiel 36 and verse 27, the scripture
says this, I will put my spirit within you. What a statement
about regeneration. I'll put my spirit in you and
cause you to walk in my statutes. That's the only way Christ himself
fulfilled all the statutes of the Lord, all the statutes of
God. He was impeccable, but he's also righteous to the core. He
fulfilled all righteousness and shall keep my judgments and do
them. How can we do that? only because of the Spirit, only
because God has given us the Spirit. Now, we don't do that
on our own. We are His workmanship created
in Christ Jesus unto good works, which He hath before ordained
that we should walk in them. And He shares with us that He
makes us both to will and to do of His good pleasure. So it's
His activity in us, but He says, I'll put My spirit within you,
cause you to walk in My statues, and you shall keep My judgments
and do them. God has promised that's exactly
what He will do, and His Word is fulfilled. Now, in closing,
we find there are some 200. Let me just There are some 283 direct quotations
from the Hebrew Old Testament in the New Testament. 283, quote
for quote. Beyond direct quotes, the New
Testament authors often allude to the Old Testament, and different
scholars and resources offer varying counts to these allusions,
and the references range between 600 and 4,000. So the New Testament is just
the Old Testament preached about, and that's what we're going to
find. Well, as we close this 13th chapter of the book of Judges,
Judges chapter 13, we're closing this chapter tonight, and we'll
be looking at chapter 14 the next time we find that God promised
them and it was fulfilled. He blessed them, he blessed Samson,
he blesses his people with every spiritual blessing, and he gives
them the Spirit of God, the indwelling Spirit, the Spirit that leads
and directs his people, the Spirit that allows us to have some understanding
about Scripture. We may not have much, but whatever
we have has been given as a result of the Spirit of God revealing
it to us. And then we'll pick up next time
with Samson, a grown man, Many years have taken place between
chapter 13 and chapter 14. Here's a man ready to get married,
and we'll follow that out the next appointed time. May God
bless you, and may this be a blessing to you.