The Promise of the Holy Spirit

Over the next 4 weeks we are going to explore together the incredible significance of the day of Pentecost and the coming of the Holy Spirit to indwell believers and empower the church for mission.

The feast of Pentecost had enormous significance to the people of Israel.

It was in fact a representation of something that was to come, even though the people at the time didn’t really grasp this concept.

Pentecost is the New Testament name for the Jewish Feast of Weeks.

The harvest festival which marked the completion of the barley harvest and the beginning of the wheat harvest.

It was a time of great celebration and was marked by a one day festival.

This festival was celebrated fifty days or seven weeks after the grain offering made during the Passover feastival.

The word Pentecost means fiftieth and hence the name we use in the church today.

The festival was associated with some important events in the life of the nation of Israel.

The renewal of the covenant with Noah after the flood and also the covenant with Moses.

By the second century after Jesus and the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem the festival became associated with the giving of the law at Sinai.

For the people of Israel and in particular for the disciples it was a time associated with new beginnings.

A fresh start, where God does something new and incredible and different from before.

Today many theologians see the Day of Pentecost as the day which marks the beginning of the church.

It started with a promise

The Holy Spirit was promised centuries before in Joel 2:28-32

And like many Old Testament prophecies which are spoken of in the New Testament it speaks to the immediate situation of the people and points to something even greater in the future.

Between 800 and 500 years before Jesus the prophet Joel spoke to the people of Israel as they faced devastation by an enormous plague of locusts.

The sky was darkened, everything was eaten.

Joel describes this event in the first chapter of his book and it speaks of a land utterly stripped of anything that is eddible, including the bark off the trees.

The prophet speaks of this event as a judgement upon the people and it is so bad that they don’t even have anything left to offer as sacrifices in the temple.

Their entire system of worship is broken down by this plague of locusts.

This is sybolic of their broken fellowship with God.

It is the day of judgement and the locusts are seen as an Army marching across the land.

Bringing devastation to everything.

But with repentance there is promise.

Promise of a new day.

A day of God’s favour.

A day where God is victorious over darkness for the sake of his people.

With repentance there is restoration and then a new day, a day where God will dwell with his people.

It is a common theme amongst the Old Testament prophets.

But there is something different in Joel.

Something which is only alluded to in other parts of the Old Testament, something which is picked up explicitly by John the Baptist and Jesus in the Gospels.

It is the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit on all believers.

This is a new aspect of God’s presence.

Joel 2:28-32

Joel 2:28–32 NLT

“Then, after doing all those things, I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions. In those days I will pour out my Spirit even on servants—men and women alike. And I will cause wonders in the heavens and on the earth— blood and fire and columns of smoke. The sun will become dark, and the moon will turn blood red before that great and terrible day of the Lord arrives. But everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved, for some on Mount Zion in Jerusalem will escape, just as the Lord has said. These will be among the survivors whom the Lord has called.

Isaiah 32:15, Ezekiel 39:29, Isaiah 44:3, Zechariah 12:10, all allude to this pouring out of the Spirit of God on all poeple.

But Joel is much more explicit.

Here is a promise.

In the last days my Spirit will rest upon all my people.

Untill now the promise of God’s presence has been for individuals.

Prophets, Priests, Kings.

Yes God would be with his people, the nation of Israel whilst they remained faithful.

But his special presence would be with those he called to minister to the people.

But this promise is different.

All people, young and old, men and women, even on servants.

The promise is present

John the Baptist took up this theme of God’s Spirit being poure d out when he declared in Matthew 3:11, Luke 3:16 and Mark 1:8 that one is coming who will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

We see again this pattern, repentance is followed by restoration.

With repentance there is restoration and then a new day, a day where God will dwell with his people.

The new day of God’s indwelling presence.

Matthew 3:11 NLT

“I baptize with water those who repent of their sins and turn to God. But someone is coming soon who is greater than I am—so much greater that I’m not worthy even to be his slave and carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

The concept of Baptism, the immersion or drenching of a person as it was understood in the time of John the Baptist tells us of the scope of the experience.

This is not some minor temporary occurance.

This is significant, all encompassing, a complete change of situation.

The promise of the Holy Spirit is for John beyond anything that he is offering.

Repentance and baptism as a sign of that change is one thing.

A necessary and essential first step.

But what is coming is far greater.

It is the very presence of God.

And the one who is to come will bring it about.

John declared that the promise was being fulfilled when he said of Jesus in John’s Gospel chapter 1 verses 29 - 34 John 1:29-34

John 1:29–34 NLT

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! He is the one I was talking about when I said, ‘A man is coming after me who is far greater than I am, for he existed long before me.’ I did not recognize him as the Messiah, but I have been baptizing with water so that he might be revealed to Israel.” Then John testified, “I saw the Holy Spirit descending like a dove from heaven and resting upon him. I didn’t know he was the one, but when God sent me to baptize with water, he told me, ‘The one on whom you see the Spirit descend and rest is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ I saw this happen to Jesus, so I testify that he is the Chosen One of God.”

Jesus revealed the promise of the Holy Spirit to the disciples on a number of occassions through his earthly ministry.

The concept of the very presence of God being with them always would have been an enormous thing for the disciples to grasp and let’s be honest, it took them a while to get it.

But then they only had their own understanding of the situation, based upon hundred’s of years of expectation that God would free Israel fromt he oppression of their enemies.

So their outlook was a little off track.

Jesus spoke primarily of the relational aspect of the presence of the Holy Spirit and like everyone of their day the disciples were looking for a military victory.

Jesus spoke of waiting for power from on high.

He spoke of one who would reveal all things to them.

He spoke of comfort and presence.

John 14:15–17 NLT

“If you love me, obey my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.

The promise arrives

Jesus’ promised his disciples that after his ascention the Holy Spirit will arrive in Luke 24:49 and Acts 1:4

Luke 24:49 NLT

“And now I will send the Holy Spirit, just as my Father promised. But stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power from heaven.”

There is a very important reason why Luke finishes his Gospel record and then begins the book of Acts with the same command.

Volume 1 is the Gospel of Luke, Volume 2 is the book of Acts.

The promise of the Holy Spirit and the ascension conclude the Gospel.

The promise of the Holy Spirit and his arrival begin the book of Acts.

There is a fundamental change in history at this point.

The promise is delivered in Acts 2.

The church is born and the relationship of believers with God is changed forever.

A new chapter of God’s relationship with humanity has openned.

The promise is for you and I as much as it is for those who were in Jerusalem of that day.

The question for each of us today is very real and very present.

Have we embraced the promise or are we figuratively still sitting in Jerusalem waiting.

The disciples of Jesus day didn’t fully understand until the Holy Spirit was poured out.

Only then, when questioned, did Peter stand up to give a divinely inspiried explanation and appeal.

The promise was given hundred’s of years before Jesus.

The promise was declared as present in the person of Jesus when John the Baptist said this is the one.

The promise has arrived and is available for you and I.

What are we going to do with the promise of Pentecost, the indwelling presence of God within us?

Receive the promise and the presence of God, guiding, convicting, inspiriing, comforting and empowering.

For this is the true purpose of the promise.