As is my custom, I plan to move through this topic piece by piece, step by step. As I do so, I’m sure I’ll write some things that will make you say “What’s that got to do with anything?” Hopefully, it will all make sense in the end.

As we look at the work of God’s Spirit in the Bible, an important passage to keep in mind is the following: “On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.” (John 7:37-39) John points to a change, a dividing line, a point where the Spirit’s activity is clearly different from previous times. In the gospel of John, Jesus being glorified refers to Jesus dying and coming back to life. John says that the Spirit was not “given” until after that time. [Interestingly enough, the word “given” is not in the original; the Greek says “the Spirit was not”]

This is important because we will see that the Spirit was active in the Old Testament and during the time of Jesus’ ministry. The Spirit acted through people, “fell upon” people, and “came over” people. Men were filled with the Spirit, like John the Baptist. None of these things, however, correspond to the “giving” of the Holy Spirit which occurred after Jesus’ resurrection. We live in the “last days,” after the outpouring of God’s Spirit. We are in the “after” period, set apart from the “before” by what happened in Acts 2.

As we continue to work toward our framework for understanding, let’s keep this crucial passage in mind.

As we look at miracles in the Bible, it helps to look at, well, miracles in the Bible. There were basically three periods of time in the Bible when men regularly performed miracles. It’s easy to lose sight of the fact that miracles were not the norm during Bible times; great men of God like Noah, Abraham, David, etc. were not known for performing miracles. Did God perform miracles outside of these three periods of time? Of course. But these were the only times that miracles were common:

1. The time of Moses: when God revealed the Law through Moses, he accompanied that new revelation with miraculous activity.

 

2. The time of Elijah and Elisha: Elijah came to represent the prophets, so much so that he appeared to Jesus on the mount of transfiguration, along with Moses. Elisha received a “double portion” of the spirit that Elijah had. They were symbolic of the prophetic word, the revealing of God’s Word through the voice of his servants.

 

3. The time of Jesus and the apostles (which we’ll be studying more in depth)

Some have affirmed that, since God is unchanging, the miraculous activity that was present in the church in the first century must be present today as well. But that goes against what we see in the Bible of the unchanging God. He used miraculous activity at certain times, the times when he was revealing himself in a new or special way. God confirmed the new type of revelation by way of miracles, then ceased to use the miracles when the new type of revelation was established.

Should we surprised if God chose to use a similar pattern in New Testament times?

I want to spend a few days discussing the Holy Spirit, specifically regarding the Holy Spirit and his relationship to the miracles we see in the New Testament. Some of the framework that I use for understanding what I read there was partially shaped by some materials I read from Douglas Jacoby; the book that I read however, is no longer available. Brother Jacoby has a newer book on the Holy Spirit and prefers that people read that one. You can also search for “Holy Spirit” on DouglasJacoby.com and come up with a number of articles on the subject. All that to say that I want to give credit where credit is due, but please don’t hold brother Jacoby responsible for anything that I say. Almost 20 years ago, I read a book that he no longer sells, and my ideas have evolved since then.

Anyway, I want to present some of this. I’ve found it helpful. If it’s useful to somebody else, great. If not, great. If you can correct me based on Scripture, as always, I’m more than open to that. I need that. Matter of fact, that’s what we’re here for. So spend some time reviewing any relevant passages and we’ll jump right in tomorrow. Have a great Monday!