Gift of the Holy Spirit
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Handout
Handout
Waiting for my gift
Waiting for my gift
I know there are many times where I have been excited to receive something. Especially in a time where I may not have felt well. Felt like I was left out of something or saddened by something else being taken away.
Cass and I are not very good about waiting for our presents for each other. We often give in and give each other our gifts early. Patience is most definitely something when it comes to gifts that we need to work on.
There are times where I have been impatient also awaiting on the good things that God has in store for me. I think of the things that I want instead of what God has planned for my life.
We are anxious for God’s presence
We are anxious for God’s presence
If we are honest with ourselves, we can think of many times where we have thought God to be distant from us. Where we desire to have answers given to the things which we find incomprehensible.
During the times where we are close to God, sometimes we feel like He retreats from us.
Many times when we struggle with understanding where God is and what He has planned for our lives, we are left worried that He is not within our reach.
Acts 2:1-13
Acts 2:1-13
When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.
And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.
And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them.
And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.
Now there were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven.
And when this sound occurred, the crowd came together, and were bewildered because each one of them was hearing them speak in his own language.
They were amazed and astonished, saying, “Why, are not all these who are speaking Galileans?
“And how is it that we each hear them in our own language to which we were born?
“Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,
Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of Libya around Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes,
Cretans and Arabs—we hear them in our own tongues speaking of the mighty deeds of God.”
And they all continued in amazement and great perplexity, saying to one another, “What does this mean?”
But others were mocking and saying, “They are full of sweet wine.”
God’s gift is Himself
God’s gift is Himself
Luke’s words here reflect a time where the disciples were waiting. 10 days prior to this, they had just watched Jesus ascend into heaven (Acts 1:9).
Before Jesus appeared to them and explained the Scriptures were about Him, they had spent time in the upper room contemplating what had occurred during the time after Jesus’s death and burial.
Now, after the time when Jesus had ascended to heaven, they were once again wondering what would occur.
Once the disciples had accepted they were to wait and pray together (Acts 1:14), they received a greater gift than they could have imagined.
The Holy Spirit coming upon those gathered in that room waiting on God to answer their prayers received the power of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4).
Pentecost
Pentecost
Previously, the festival of Shavuot had ushered in the proclamation that the harvest had begun. Jesus Christ being the first fruit offering begins the harvest season.
Paul later would say to the Ephesians that the Holy Spirit is the pledge to our future inheritance (Eph. 1:14).
For the believers in Jesus Christ who waited in the Upper Room on that Pentecost day, the arrival of the Holy Spirit was the receiving of the promise of God.
‘And it shall be in the last days,’ God says, ‘That I will pour forth of My Spirit on all mankind; And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, And your young men shall see visions, And your old men shall dream dreams;
Peter’s explanation of the Holy Spirit gives us hope that God is active today according to Keener.
Keener, Craig S.. 2016. Spirit Hermeneutics : Reading Scripture in Light of Pentecost. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. Accessed May 20, 2021. ProQuest Ebook Central.
One of the misunderstood applications of this passage is that the tongues spoken by the people were from a language not known to man. Many people will take the context of this and draw conclusions that there are special people who are only capable of having the access to the gift of the Holy Spirit.
However, this is not what is indicated by the text. Shortly after the tongues of fire are brought upon the people, we see the explanation that there are those who attest that the people who were speaking were Galileans.
The Galileans were not known to be educated in many languages during that time. Therefore, it was proposed that the people must have been drunk on wine early in the morning.
Those who heard the different languages were the Jews who were gathered in Jerusalem for the festival of the Feast of Weeks. This festival was to commemorate the ushering in of the harvest.
Who is the one which allows the languages to be spoken and understood?
Peter explains that the reason for the people being able to hear the accomplishments of God in their home tongue was not something they should be surprised about. Instead, they should look to the Scriptures to see that God had promised to pour out the Holy Spirit upon all mankind (Acts 2:17)
If you look back to who was gathered and devoted to prayer waiting, you will see a list of the men and women who were obediently patient to what God had in store for them.
Understanding the Gift God has for you
Understanding the Gift God has for you
You may be in a place of waiting now where you have accepted what God has accomplished through His Son, Jesus Christ.
Perhaps you are in a place where you have accepted Jesus for who He is and what He has accomplished. Remember though, that He doesn’t just ask us to believe but to act out our faith.
Jesus gave the disciples an explanation that it was necessary for certain things to happen before the Holy Spirit would be poured out upon all mankind.
“But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.
“But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.
When we the church recognize that the Spirit of Truth only speaks the things that are in alignment with both God the Father and God the Son, we are better understanding that the triune God does not speak things which contradict the nature of God.
The people hearing the languages testify that they were hearing the mighty deeds of God (Acts 2:11). When Peter explains what has happened, he uses Scripture to explain what has happened.
Working with the Holy Spirit
Working with the Holy Spirit
When the body of Christ, the church, understands the gift of the Holy Spirit enables them to prophecy to the truth of God, we are capable of reaching those who are lost.
Only the Holy Spirit can convict the heart of people of their sin (John 16:8-9). Our part in this as a church is to understand the word of God, understand what Christ has accomplished, and work alongside the Holy Spirit to profess the truth.
Atkinson mentions that since the Holy Spirit is the pouring out upon people, that they are now linked to God the Father.
Atkinson, William Parsons. 2014. Trinity after Pentecost. Havertown: Lutterworth Press, The. Accessed May 22, 2021. ProQuest Ebook Central.
We see here shortly after the Spirit empowered speaking, that there was an explanation by Peter of what occurred. As Peter worked alongside the Gift of the Spirit, many people understood and received salvation that day. 3000 people were said to have received Jesus as their Lord and Savior that day.
The church being linked with God is to understand Him better, profess His truth, and follow His Son, Jesus Christ.