Before His death and resurrection Jesus promised the apostles on
numerous occasions that God the Father would send the Holy Spirit, the
Counselor, to them. (John 14:25-27; John 15:26 -
16:15) And on another occasion, this time forty days after
His resurrection and just before His ascension into heaven, Jesus told
the apostles, "...you shall receive power when the Holy
Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in
all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth..." (Acts
1:8) Ten days from then -- on the fiftieth day after Jesus'
resurrection -- what Jesus promised happened, "...when the Day of
Pentecost came, they were all in one accord in one place. And
suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind,
and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then
there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon
each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit
and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them
utterance." (Acts 2:1-4) And people from
around the world visiting Jerusalem at the time heard the apostles
declaring the wonders of God in their own languages. (Acts
2:5-11)
This was another miraculous
manifestation of God's awesome presence. The Holy Spirit
filled the apostles with power and supernatural abilities, empowering
them to be effective witnesses of the good news of Jesus Christ's
coming and salvation through Him. Exactly what Jesus had said
in Acts 1:8 happened, "...you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit
comes on you; and you will be my witnesses..."
Part of the powerful witness
of the Apostle Peter's address (within minutes of the Holy Spirit being
given to the apostles) to the crowd in Jerusalem was the message that
the same Holy Spirit they'd received is available to all
people. Peter quoted the prophet Joel's words, "In the last
days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people."
That's in Acts 2:17. At the end of Peter's powerful sermon
people who heard it asked what they should do. Peter's answer
again tells of the availability of the Holy Spirit to all who heard
God's call. He said, "Repent and be baptized, every one of
you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your
sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy
Spirit." (Acts 2:38) That message was indeed a
powerful witness because we're told in verse 31 that 3,000 were
baptized that very day.
The points? The Holy
Spirit is available to those who respond to God's call with repentance
and baptism. That Holy Spirit empowers us as witnesses of the
goodness and glory of God and of salvation through Jesus
Christ. God desires to comfort, counsel and bless us with the
Holy Spirit living in us. (1 Cor 3:16)
The Holy Spirit's presence in
us moves us from actions of our sinful human nature to acts motivated
by the Holy Spirit -- actions the Bible calls "fruit of the
Spirit." It's helpful to note the contrast between the
two. This contrast is powerfully made in Galatians
5:19-22 "The acts of the sinful nature are obvious:
sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft;
hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions,
factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies and the like. I warn
you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit
the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy,
peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and
self-control...." I think we can admit that in the list of
the fruit of the Spirit are the qualities we hope to see in others as
they deal with us. Also I think most of us would admit they
are qualities we wish were more prevalent in our own lives.
As we yield to the Holy Spirit and He produces this fruit in our lives
we become a witness for God in yet another way -- by the very lives we
lead.
The Holy Spirit is for
us. He is good, for God is good and the Holy Spirit is God.
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