My Topic is, “And you shall receive the Gift of the Holy Spirit” Acts 2:38
Peter in speaking to the crowd that was there in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost speaks to a people who have seen a miracle performed on that day. In that they had heard the apostles speaking in their own native tongues.
Previous to this Jesus had told his disciples to wait in Jerusalem until they had received Power from on high. Luke 24:49
And so they waited and the bible records READ Acts 2:1-4
These 12 Apostles were filled, overwhelmed and baptized with the Holy Spirit of God.
Jesus told them to wait in Jerusalem because as Luke 24:47 stated they would be carrying out the great commission starting at Jerusalem and spreading abroad from there.
But before they could go forth to all nations they needed a miraculous means of distributing this marvelous message to those of multiple languages.
And so the Spirit of God enabled them to go forth and carry out this mission.
So here on the day of Pentecost, enabled by the Holy Spirit the Apostle Peter stands up and preaches the Gospel of Christ to the Crowd and tells them that they need to Repent and Be baptized in order to be forgiven of their sins and to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Some believe that this means we are to receive What the Apostles received.
That we too will have the abilities of the Apostles. Yet as we will see this is not the case.
You know…
1. When I was baptized although I understood that I was receiving the Holy Spirit I did not really understand how I would be affected by Him. I find that many are equally confused about how the Holy Spirit works on and in the Christian.
2. I conducted a survey of individuals online of differing denominations and received various answers to the following question: Who is the Holy Spirit and what does he do for the Christian?
Some responses were:
• I’ve been in church n people say they had the Holy Spirit. They jump around, flip out. I’ve only cried though because I knew my pastor was talking to 2 me and God saw what I was going through. Anyway the minister at my job said it’s like an angel on 1 shoulder who is the Holy Spirit and a devil on the other.
• He is the redeemer. He is the truth the light and way to the father. He gives the believer eternal life.
• He is God. God promised to never leave us nor forsake us. And that He was leaving, but He was going to send a Comforter, which will lead us and guide us into all truth. God’s Holy Spirit inside of us is evidenced by speaking in tongues.
These responses show that there are many that have some plain wrong ideas regarding the Holy Spirit.
So In order to clear things up I want to look at 3 things.
1.) Who is the Holy Spirit? (Traits, personality, etc.)
- Some say He is a power or force used by God, but is not a person.
- Some see him as a Ghost or simply the mind of God
- some think he possess a person, and overtakes him ..causing him to jump, shout, fall into convulsions, to speak a language only God understands...
A. He is a member of the Godhead (comprised of Father, Son and Holy Spirit) which refers to His divine nature as Deity. (Acts 17:29, Rom 1:20, Col 2:9)
H.S. is as much deity as Jesus and the Father.
All three were present at creation.
• In Genesis 1:1-2 we see Father and Spirit in creation
• In John 1:1-3 we see Jesus was also in creation
Thus he is part of God (Elohiym, plurality) who made man in His image. Gen 1:26
That is why Baptism is carried out in the name of all three, Matthew 28:19
B. He is a person – Not only does He perform actions he can have actions performed on Him.
1) He can be blasphemed, Matt. 12:31
2) He can be lied to, Acts 5:3
3) He can be resisted, Acts 7:51
4) He can be grieved, Eph 4:30
5) He can be despised, Heb. 10:29
2.) What did He do for the First Century Church?
A special measure of the H.S. was only given to the church in its infancy stage.
The Gifts of the Holy Spirit were given in order to:
a) Mature the church Ephesians 4:11-16
b) Confirm the Word. Mar 16:20, Hebrews 2:1-4
This was important because the word was not complete in written form. Once the written word was established the need for these miraculous gifts had passed. 1 Cor 8:8-13
NOTE: NOT EVERYONE RECEIVED THE MIRACULOUS GIFTS.
1 Corinthians 12:29,30- are all apostles?
I understand a bit about who he is..
I understand about what he did for them. But ……
3.) What does he do for me?
“And you shall receive the Gift of the Holy Spirit” Acts 2:38
Acts 2:39 states This Promise is For You (Those Jews Present), your children (Succeeding Generations) , all afar off (gentiles) even as many as are called (all those called by the gospel-2 Thess 2:14). Note: Parenthesis are my comments
This indicates that somehow everyone receives the Holy Spirit upon obeying the Gospel of Christ.
A. He dwells in us - 1 Cor. 6: 19,20, Rom 8:9,11
1Cr 6:19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
1Cr 6:20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
Father also dwells Gal 3:2
B. He seals us – Eph 1:13,14 4:30
C. He intercedes for us - Rom 8:26-27
D. He strengthens us - Ephesians 3:16
E. He leads us to produce His fruits Gal 5:16-22
Conclusion:
The Holy Spirit is often seen as a behind the scenes worker. Yet He is integral to the life of the true Christian. There is so much we cannot understand about Him. Yet there is comfort in us knowing that He is with us, strengthening us, and leading us by the words of Scripture.
