Pentecost Sunday
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Today is Pentecost Sunday
Tonight’s discussion
1 When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place.
2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.
3 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them.
4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
5 Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven.
6 And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language.
7 And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans?
8 And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language?
9 Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,
10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome,
11 both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.”
12 And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?”
13 But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.”
As followers of Jesus, we have been endowed with a powerful blessing. The HS resides in us.
He told His disciples before He went to the cross
16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,
17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.
After His crucifixion and resurrection, just before His ascension Jesus reminded them about the HS, and added some more details -
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Who is the Holy Spirit?
The Holy Spirit is the Third Person of the Trinity.
The Holy Spirit is the Third Person of the Trinity.
We are introduced to Him in the very beginning of God’s holy Word.
1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
Does your life feel it is not taking shape?
feel empty?
Surrounded by darkness?
How do we know He is God?
Divine Attributes
Divine Attributes
The HS is God, possessing divine attributes.
What are divine attributes? These are qualities that only God possesses, namely eternal, omnipotent [all-powerful], omniscient [all-knowing] and omnipresent.
· Eternal (Heb. 9:14) refers to Him as the eternal Spirit.
He is omnipresent
7 Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?
8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
9 If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
10 even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.
We cannot go anywhere away from the HS.
car, subway, job
What is His range of knowledge?
1 Cor. 2.10 says “the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.” and adds,
English Standard Version Chapter 2
no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God
All the thoughts of the Father are known by the HS.
So He is eternal, omnipresent, omniscient
The HS is also omnipotent (Luke 1:35)
35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.
we’ve already seen that the HS was involved in the work of creation.
Divine Works
Divine Works
This is a nice segue to the HS and divine works
The HS can do only what God does
Creation of the world
Creation of life - Luke 1.35
Resurrection.
11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
The HS is also given
Divine Rank
Divine Rank
The HS is mentioned along the Father and Son
Baptism of Jesus
16 And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him;
17 and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
The Great Commission
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
Peter writes to the elect exiles:
1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion … 2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ
So we see the HS is God, very God.
God, the Holy Spirit dwells in us today.
If He is in us, we cannot be defeated. We are not victims.
We have power within us to rise above the storms that come against us, to rise above the struggles of life.
The resurrection power of Christ is in us by the power of the HS to resurrect that which was dead, destroyed.
When all seems to be lost, God is able to step in and change our circumstances.
God, the HS is in you, don’t you give up. Don’t you dare quit!
Paul wrote
20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,
The Holy Spirit is a Person.
The Holy Spirit is a Person.
He is not “the active force of God” as some claim. Jesus and the New Testament writers refer to the Holy Spirit as a person. They use “HE” and “HIM”, never “IT”.
English Standard Version Chapter 14
You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
26 “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.
How do we distinguish a force from a person?
A force does not have a will. A person does.
11 All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.
A force does not have knowledge. A person does.
11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.
A force does not speak. It takes a person to speak. Rev. 2.7
English Standard Version Chapter 2
7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
A force does not give instructions or commands. A person does.
2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”
A force cannot be grieved, or made sad. A person can.
30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
The Holy Spirit has a mind, will and emotions.
Whenever a JW comes around to engage you in conversation - point them to these verses in various translations and show them their New World translation is the only one that’s different.
The Holy Spirit is at work in us
The Holy Spirit is at work in us
He leads us.
He leads us.
14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
We read about Paul in Acts 16 during his second missionary journey -
6 And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia.
7 And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them.
As they went on to Troas, Paul received a vision and the Macedonian Call.
We see this in the life of Jesus
1 And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness
He intercedes for us
He intercedes for us
26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.
Prayer can be difficult but the HS comes to our help. As we fall upon our knees before God, envision coming to rest upon you, and coming to your aid, coming to strengthen you and inspire you to pray, give you the words, burden, passion for prayer.
That’s why Paul instructs in Eph 6.18
English Standard Version Chapter 6
18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.
He teaches us
He teaches us
26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
When it comes to the things of God, spiritual things, truth, the best teacher is the HS.
You may be on the fence on abortion - the HS will teach you
You may be on the fence about homosexuality - the HS will teach you
You may be on the fence about gender confusion - the HS will teach you
You may be on the fence on the Israeli-Palestinian issue - the HS will teach you
testimony
Instead of listening to what the world has to say, social media, mainstream media, listen to the voice of the HS
Let Him enlighten you as you study the Scripture
John, the Apostle was so confident in the ability of the HS to teach us, he wrote
26 I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you.
27 But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him.
Today as believers we live in a world that is increasingly manifesting the Antichrist spirit, anti-God, anti-truth, anti-church
We cannot make it in our own strength. We need to rely on the power of the HS - His truth, conviction, power to enable to live as true believers, not wishy-washy, not shaky, not knowing your ankle from our elbow.
We need Holy Ghost power to withstand the evil of today and to continue to be witnesses of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul says “Be filled with the Spirit.”