The Holy Spirit

Acts 2:1–13 NIV

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?” Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.”

After his death and resurrection Jesus had met with his disciples and other followers on several occasions over a period of about forty days. Then, suddenly, he was gone. He had ascended to heaven and they stood there gazing upwards. Was that it? What were they to do now? It is not difficult to imagine the turmoil that was going through their minds as they struggled to understand what they had just witnessed and to decide what to do next. What should they do as individuals? What should they do as a group? Should they disperse and go back to their homes and their former lives? What was the purpose of those three years they had spent with Jesus? There clearly was a purpose, but what was it?

And to stay in Jerusalem was probably not safe for some of them. But Jesus had commanded them not to leave Jerusalem but to wait for the gift that his father had promised them.

What did they know of this gift? What could it be? What did they know of the Holy Spirit or the Spirit of God? Since these followers of Jesus were all Jews and some of them may have been devout in their practice of their religion, they would have know something about the Holy Spirit. References to the Spirit could be found throughout the Jewish Scriptures, from the second verse of Genesis:

Genesis 1:2 “Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.”

The disciples knew that the Spirit of God was a power as demonstrated in God’s act of creation

They would have know that the Spirit of God could sometimes be seen in God’s servants: Joseph

Genesis 41:38 “So Pharaoh asked them, “Can we find anyone like this man, one in whom is the spirit of God?””

Exodus 31:1–5 “Then the Lord said to Moses, “See, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills— to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of crafts.”

Numbers 11:24–25 “So Moses went out and told the people what the Lord had said. He brought together seventy of their elders and had them stand around the tent. Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke with him, and he took some of the power of the Spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders. When the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied—but did not do so again.”

They might have known about Balaam:

Numbers 24:2 “When Balaam looked out and saw Israel encamped tribe by tribe, the Spirit of God came on him”

or Joshua;

Deuteronomy 34:9 “Now Joshua son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom because Moses had laid his hands on him. So the Israelites listened to him and did what the Lord had commanded Moses.”

There were several occasions where they had kearned that the Spirit of the Lord came upon…

Judges 3:10 “The Spirit of the Lord came on him, so that he became Israel’s judge and went to war. The Lord gave Cushan-Rishathaim king of Aram into the hands of Othniel, who overpowered him.”

Judges 6:34 “Then the Spirit of the Lord came on Gideon, and he blew a trumpet, summoning the Abiezrites to follow him.”

Judges 11:29 “Then the Spirit of the Lord came on Jephthah. He crossed Gilead and Manasseh, passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and from there he advanced against the Ammonites.”

Judges 13:25 “and the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him while he was in Mahaneh Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.”

Judges 14:6 “The Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him so that he tore the lion apart with his bare hands as he might have torn a young goat. But he told neither his father nor his mother what he had done.”

Judges 14:19 “Then the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him. He went down to Ashkelon, struck down thirty of their men, stripped them of everything and gave their clothes to those who had explained the riddle. Burning with anger, he returned to his father’s home.”

Judges 15:14 “As he approached Lehi, the Philistines came toward him shouting. The Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him. The ropes on his arms became like charred flax, and the bindings dropped from his hands.”

1 Samuel 10:6 “The Spirit of the Lord will come powerfully upon you, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be changed into a different person.”

1 Samuel 10:10 “When he and his servant arrived at Gibeah, a procession of prophets met him; the Spirit of God came powerfully upon him, and he joined in their prophesying.”

1 Samuel 11:6 “When Saul heard their words, the Spirit of God came powerfully upon him, and he burned with anger.”

1 Samuel 16:13 “So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David. Samuel then went to Ramah.”

1 Samuel 16:14 “Now the Spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him.”

1 Samuel 19:23 “So Saul went to Naioth at Ramah. But the Spirit of God came even on him, and he walked along prophesying until he came to Naioth.”

2 Samuel 23:2 ““The Spirit of the Lord spoke through me; his word was on my tongue.”

1 Chronicles 28:11–12 “Then David gave his son Solomon the plans for the portico of the temple, its buildings, its storerooms, its upper parts, its inner rooms and the place of atonement. He gave him the plans of all that the Spirit had put in his mind for the courts of the temple of the Lord and all the surrounding rooms, for the treasuries of the temple of God and for the treasuries for the dedicated things.”

Nehemiah 9:30 “For many years you were patient with them. By your Spirit you warned them through your prophets. Yet they paid no attention, so you gave them into the hands of the neighboring peoples.”

Psalm 51:11 “Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.”

Psalm 104:30 “When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the ground.”

Psalm 139:7 “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?”

Isaiah 11:2 “The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—”

Isaiah 40:13 “Who can fathom the Spirit of the Lord, or instruct the Lord as his counselor?”

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

Isaiah 59:21 ““As for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the Lord. “My Spirit, who is on you, will not depart from you, and my words that I have put in your mouth will always be on your lips, on the lips of your children and on the lips of their descendants—from this time on and forever,” says the Lord.”

Isaiah 61:1 “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners,”

Ezekiel 36:26 “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”

Joel 2:28 ““And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.”

Micah 3:8 “But as for me, I am filled with power, with the Spirit of the Lord, and with justice and might, to declare to Jacob his transgression, to Israel his sin.”

Zechariah 12:10 ““And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son.”

It is difficult to imagine, that Jesus’ disciples, a group of ordinary men from all walks of life, just like us, were so well versed in their knowledge of their scriptures that they knew all that there was to know about the Holy Spirit. But they probably did know that the Spirit of God was powerful, that some of the men and women from their faith were enabled to do mighty things for God from time to time. The spirit of God came powerfully on them. That was their understanding — that God gave his Holy Spirit to enable his servants to speak for him, as he did through Moses and through their prophets. Or the spirit of God enabled men to stand against their enemies, as he did through Joshua, through Gideon, Jephthah, Samson, Elijah and many others. And all those men of faith did not have the Holy Spirit all of the time, but only as God directed on specific occasions.

To show this let me take you to the prophet Ezekiel. He was a contemporary of Jeremiah and was taken to Babylon after the second siege of Jerusalem by the Babylonians. It was there that he was called to speak for God among the exiles there. We read of his call in chapter two: He had just seen a stange vision and heard a voice.

Ezekiel 1:28 “Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. When I saw it, I fell facedown, and I heard the voice of one speaking.”

Ezekiel 2:1–2 “He said to me, “Son of man, stand up on your feet and I will speak to you.” As he spoke, the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet, and I heard him speaking to me.”

“The spirit came into me”

Then, when he was told to deliver the message from the Lord to the exiles we read this:

Ezekiel 3:14 “The Spirit then lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness and in the anger of my spirit, with the strong hand of the Lord on me.”

Then a little further on:

Ezekiel 3:24 NIV

Then the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet. He spoke to me and said: “Go, shut yourself inside your house.

and in chapter 11:

Ezekiel 11:1 “Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the gate of the house of the Lord that faces east. There at the entrance of the gate were twenty-five men, and I saw among them Jaazaniah son of Azzur and Pelatiah son of Benaiah, leaders of the people.”

There were prophecies that at some future time the Lord would put his spirit, first of all on his anointed.

Isaiah 11:2 “The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—”

Isaiah 42:1 ““Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will bring justice to the nations.”

And then on all who are part of his kingdom.

In Isaiah chapter 32, the chapter on the kingdom of Righteousness we read this:

Isaiah 32:1 “See, a king will reign in righteousness and rulers will rule with justice.”

Isaiah 32:14–15 “The fortress will be abandoned, the noisy city deserted; citadel and watchtower will become a wasteland forever, the delight of donkeys, a pasture for flocks, till the Spirit is poured on us from on high, and the desert becomes a fertile field, and the fertile field seems like a forest.”

There is the prophecy from Joel, that was preached by Peter at that first Pentecost:

Joel 2:28–29 ““And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days.”

In John chapter seven the writer records some words of Jesus when he was attending the Feast of the Tabernacles. Jesus said this:

John 7:37–38 “On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.””

John then added his interpretation of those words:

John 7:39 “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.”

That’s what they might have discerned abouty the Holy Spirit from their scriptures.

What had Jesus taught them about the Holy Spirit? Well, we know that Jesus had been talking about the Holy Spirit and they had seen evidence of it in the life of Jesus. Or if they hadn’t witnessed it personally, they certainly had had the occasion described to them..

There was the occasion of his baptism. In Matthew chapter three, John said this:

Matthew 3:11 ““I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”

And then we read in verse 16:

Matthew 3:16 “As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him.”

John goes deeper into the significance of this occasion. He said in John 1:29 “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

And then he said: John 1:32–34 “Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.””

Then there was the start of his ministry in Galilee and in particular his home town of Nazareth. Luke tells us in chapter 4.

Luke 4:14 “Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside.”

In the synagogue in Nazareth His words set out his mission:

Luke 4:16–19 “He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.””

The disciples had witnessed the Spirit at work in Jesus as they travelled with him throughout the land. They witnessed it in his powerful teaching, in his healing of the sick, in his power over evil spirits; in his power over the forces of nature.

The disciples themselves had experienced the power of the Holy Spirit working through them. Mark chapter three records Jesus appointing twelve of his followers to be apostles with the purpose of sending them out on mission.

Mark 3:13–15 “Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. He appointed twelve that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons.”

In Matthew chapter ten it is recorded this way:

Matthew 10:1 “Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.”

In Luke chapter nine this is how it is recorded;

Luke 9:1–6 “When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. He told them: “Take nothing for the journey—no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra shirt. Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that town. If people do not welcome you, leave their town and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.” So they set out and went from village to village, proclaiming the good news and healing people everywhere.”

Luke chapter ten also records Jesus appointing seventy two others and sending them out two by two, and in verse 17 we read this

Luke 10:17 “The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.””

Mark 6:12–13 “They went out and preached that people should repent. They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.”

What an experience that had been for those disciples! In some measure these disiples and other followers of Jesus had experienced the power of the holy spirit.

Jesus had told them something else about the Holy spirit that both encouraged them and at the same time probably worried them or perhaps even terrified them. These words of Jesus come in Matthew chapter ten at the time he sent them out on mission and Luke’s gospel says a similar thing on a separate occasion.

Here is what Jesus said:

Matthew 10:17–20 NIV

Be on your guard; you will be handed over to the local councils and be flogged in the synagogues. On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

‘It will not be you speaking, but the spirit of your father speaking through you.’ A prophecy that was to come true, but at the time the disciples could not know that. No doubt the disciples spent a lot of time discussing among themselves what Jesus could have meant by what he said.

Another Counsellor

Shortly before those events in Jerusalem, which culminated in the death and resurrection of Jesus, Jesus was careful to spend time with his disciples, encouraging them, for the time was approaching when he would be taken from them. it is worth reading again John chapters fourteen, fifteen and sixteen. Jesus said many things in those chapters, but I just want to pick out what he said about the Holy Spirit.

John 14:15–17 ““If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.”

He lives with you and will be in you

John 14:25–26 ““All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”

He will teach you all things

John 15:26–27 ““When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me. And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.”

He will be a witness for the Christ and as disciples witness it will be the Holy Spirit witnessing through them

John 16:7–11 “But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because people do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.”

The message of the Holy Spirit is that the world is wrong and there will be a judgment, even for people who do not believe. The outcome is certain — the prince of this world stands condemned.

John 16:13–15 “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.””

Acts 1:4–5 “On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.””

In a few days you will be baptised with the Holy Spirit.

We can be thankful that those first followers of Jesus did not disperse, but did stay together,; they did obey Jesus; They waited: they received the Holy Spirit and were indeed witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.