The Coming of the Spirit

The apostle Peter had some good words of advice for us all. He wrote in his second letter: But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity (2 Peter 3:18 ESV).

Those words sound very nice, but do you know what they mean? Does God expect us to grow up in grace and in knowledge about Jesus? Obviously, He does, because that is what Peter told us do here. “Grow in grace and knowledge of Jesus.”

These words of Peter were meant to be more than a simple expression of good will. They mean more than saying to someone, “You have a nice day, now.”

Do you want to grow in grace? The grace of God is his purpose to give us the best blessings He has in heaven because He loves us. Do you know He loves you? He does. And how will He show his love? He has a plan for each of us to grow in grace and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ.

When my children were growing up, we had a wall where we put a line on the wall every few months so they could see they were growing. Are you doing that with your children? God is doing that with his children, too. If you are His child, He is wants you to “measure up.” He has no plans for you only to believe in Jesus and sit in church every week until you die humming along with the music. He wants you “to show up and grow up.”

That special day in Jerusalem that we call the first day of the church was a feast day in Jerusalem named Pentecost. It was a feast at the beginning of the Summer when the early Spring crops were just starting to ripen. Farmers had a little time for a break because the main chores of planting were finished, and they could come to Jerusalem and worship God, bringing with them a few samples of the earliest fruits of this year’s harvest.

At the Pentecost festival, the people could ask God to bless this year’s plantings. No one feels as tied to the cycles of the seasons, and as vulnerable to the changing weather as a farmer. Pentecost was a forward-looking holiday set in the Spring season. It was not a Fall holiday like Thanksgiving Day when the growing season was completed. Every farmer especially came to Jerusalem looking for the blessing of God for the coming season.

God chose the celebration of Pentecost to pour out his Spirit on the believers. The hard, cold, darkness of the previous season of the crucifixion and death of Jesus was over. A few hundred men and women had become witnesses of his resurrection. Before his death, Jesus told them, I have spoken to you while I am still with you. 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 (John 14:25-26 ESV). Like I said, Pentecost is forward -looking.

There is a revelation here. We know what happened: there was the sound of strong wind, flames of fire appeared, and the believers spoke in many different languages they had not learned. God poured out the Holy Spirit on the 120 believers who were praying together. Because Pentecost was a festival of the beginning of the harvest, God was showing this event was the beginning of something big that was coming.

It was a spectacular display. It sounded like a tornado, and fire was in the air. Many languages were spoken at once. Visiting Jews heard the word of God in their native languages, spoken by men and women with Galilean accents. A few eyewitnesses said they were drunk, but other eyewitnesses called it a miracle, saying, “I understood some of what they said and they were praising God!”

God did not make anyone believe. He never forces his Holy Spirit on anyone. Some who saw Jesus’s miracles praised God and some who saw started planning his murder. People make their own choices. His promise of baptism in the Holy Spirit is to every person who asks and seeks after Him.

After the crowd had gathered, Peter stood up to give God’s interpretation of what was happening. God wants more than an outward spectacle. He wants to get into your heart. He acknowledged that some said, “They are all drunk!” As one of those speaking in new tongues he said, “No, we are not drunk. It’s nine o’clock in the morning!” He told them that this was the fulfillment of Bible prophecies made a thousand years prior by King David, and also it was a fulfillment of the prophecies of Joel, who was a prophet in Israel hundreds of years before.

King David wrote many Psalms about 1000 B.C. God took a shepherd boy and made him a king of God’s nation. God made his life a prophetic sign that God would raise up a King forever, better than David (Psalms 89:3-4). This is why some of the Jews who needed healing had called out to Jesus, “Son of David, have mercy on me.”  One was a blind man, who showed his faith that Jesus was God’s eternal King by using the name “Son of David.” He asked for healing when he said, “Have mercy on me.” Mercy comes to us as God’s gift of forgiveness and blessings. When we receive a healing, we are experiencing grace from God. New experiences of grace are a part of growing in grace. The baptism in the Holy Spirit is one of God's gifts of grace.

Peter also quoted Joel’s prophecy of the day of the Lord. Joel prophesied that the Day of the Lord would come as a time of great judgment and a great blessing of forgiveness. In that day, God would judge all evil and fill all believers with his own Spirit in a world-wide revival. The “pouring out” of God’s Spirit in the last days would not discriminate among believers, Joel wrote. When the Spirit is poured out, then young and old, masters and servants, men and women would all be filled. No exceptions.

This was proven on the day of Pentecost when men and women gathered as one in prayer, and Luke reported that the Spirit of God was given to each and every person (Acts 2:3,4).

Twenty years later when Paul was establishing a new church at Corinth in Greece, he was still teaching that the Spirit of God is given to all believers, the rich and poor, men and women, the young and the old. He wrote that we needed love as the highest rule over our lives, and he included that in addition to love that they should expect to receive the gifts of the Spirit of God. He wrote, Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy (1 Corinthians 14:1 ESV). 

He also wrote to them, Now I want you all to speak in tongues, but even more to prophesy (1 Corinthians 14:5 ESV).

Paul wrote that in the last days before Jesus returned that life would be difficult (1 Timothy 4). The churches would be divided, and some will be preaching lies. The demons will appear to some people looking like angels, and many false teachers would be using religion to make themselves a lot of money. It wasn’t just that the false preachers loved money. They were merely telling people what they wanted to hear. “Money is good.”

Jesus also warned about miracles done by false prophets. He said, For false Christs and false prophets will arise and perform signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, the elect.  (Mark 13:22 ESV)

This is difficult to understand, but Jesus did not stop healing, and the apostles did not stop giving healing miracles to people, just because others were doing lying wonders. This applies to the baptism in the Holy Spirit today. God has a true in-filling of the Holy Spirit, even if there are false imitations.

Peter did not preach that the baptism in the Holy Spirit was given to make some people better than other people. The faith of Jesus Christ brings a wonderful leveling of social classes. Peter, who grew up under the Jewish priestly system, wrote that now there were no priests in the churches.

He wrote to everyone, But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9 ESV).

He said every believer was a priest because there were no special priests. Every person is a child of God because no one is excluded. Peter knew that on the day of Pentecost the Spirit of God filled every person that had been seeking more of Jesus, and waiting for the coming of the baptism in the Holy Spirit that Jesus promised.

On that Pentecost day, God sent the gift of the Holy Spirit at the exact time when the most Jews from the farthest places were visiting Jerusalem. The Spirit of God did not come as an inward feeling, or only upon a few special Apostles, but in an outward way so that all people could see and hear something (Acts 2:33). Peter spoke to the crowds saying this was the coming of the promise of God to put his Spirit within us.

God did this out-pouring as a public display of his inward grace in those who received his Spirit. Certainly, Peter did not think the initial out-pouring was the end or completion of God’s grace to few apostles only. Because the Spirit was upon each of them, God’s grace was available to every believer there.

Peter did not use the coming of the Spirit as a claim of personal superiority. He made no one bow before him or kiss his hand. He did not ask that anyone call him “Father.” The circumstances taught otherwise.

Luke wrote about the history of those days in the book of Acts in the Bible. He said the number of believers was about 120, and that on the day of Pentecost they were “all” gathered in one place. The Holy Spirit fell on “each of them.” Luke says they were “all filled with the Holy Spirit.” Luke had already mentioned that 120 people were praying, including women and the brothers of Jesus.

Luke recorded that the arrival of the Spirit of God was accompanied by the sound of a very strong wind. Many witnesses have described the sound of an approaching tornado as a thundering sound like a freight train at full speed. God proved it was his Spirit at work because there was no force of wind blowing them away, but only the sound of wind.

It was like Moses when he was called to serve God in the desert. He saw a bush burning, but the bush was not turning to ashes. The bush was so unusual that he stopped and drew near to it out of curiosity at first. This sound from God on the day of Pentecost filled the entire neighborhood (Acts 2:6), and so the crowd that was headed for the Temple turned aside to see what all the commotion was about.

A huge fire appeared, and it divided into fingers of fire that pointed to each person being filled with the Spirit of God. They began speaking in languages they had not learned. The people who gathered there because of the great noise of the wind, also saw the flames. As the sound of the wind diminished, the people heard real languages, and the words were praises to God. Some others mocked the sounds they did not understand and blamed the disciples for making it up. Others who understood one or two of the languages asked, “What do these things mean?” (Acts 2:12).

Even today we hear the same opposite reactions. Some say, “They are drunk, or sick or have mental problems” because they speak in tongues. Others are hearing the miracle, and the praise of God, and are cautiously asking, “What does this mean?”

Many years ago, a visitor came to our church in the USA from Indonesia. He was a retired American missionary pilot from Indonesia. During the worship when all were praying in tongues to God, he heard the praise of God in the Indonesian language he had learned when he flew missionaries into the forests. He joined the church, and we became friends.

Remember, this was the day of a great religious holiday in Israel. Some of those hearing the languages are hearing their own languages. Luke mentions at least 15 language groups that heard about the mighty works of God that day. They had come from up to 2500 miles away to worship God, and the Spirit of God was speaking in their native languages about his own mighty working in the world.

Many people came to believe in Jesus that day. Jesus had only been crucified about two months earlier. He rose up from the dead and spent 40 days with the disciples as he taught them that he is stronger than death. This is the gospel of Jesus, that Jesus died in our place to pay for our sins and reconcile us to God. God will give the gift of eternal life to anyone who believes in Jesus as the Son of God.

Why were they all praying together for several days to be baptized in the Holy Spirit? Because Jesus told them to wait. Luke wrote about it in Acts, chapter 1. Jesus told them to wait in Jerusalem for the promise of the Father, which, he said, ‘you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now' (Acts 1:3-5 ESV).

On the day of Pentecost, Jesus could have appeared instead of sending the Holy Spirit. He did not. We need to ask, “Why did Jesus not appear personally?” Peter was very specific that after Jesus appeared to them, he told them he would not return until he was ready to reign over the Earth.

He poured out his Holy Spirit on them that day so that we would have God’s Spirit within us, and the Spirit of God would help us remember everything about Jesus. Jesus wants us to preach the gospel before he comes back.

Peter told the people that Jesus received the promise from the Father to pour it out on us. He said, Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing (Acts 2:32-33 ESV).

Paul wrote to the church in Rome and said, He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? (Romans 8:32 ESV).

This is exactly what Jesus said. If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! (Luke 11:13 ESV).

Theologians can call it whatever they want, but I will speak plainly. We want Jesus to rule our lives as we put our faith and trust in him personally. He told the disciples that he would not stay on Earth but would send the Holy Spirit to be his own presence within us. Jesus taught them, If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 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 (John 14:15-17 ESV).

He also said at the same time: If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him (John 14:23 ESV).

There are many things to teach about the baptism in the Holy Spirit. I will teach more next time. For today, I want you to learn these three truths.

1.   The baptism in the Holy Spirit is a promise to every person who believes in Jesus. You are not an exception.

2.   Because God is One, He is the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The presence of the Holy Spirit is the presence of Jesus Christ with us. Jesus told all the disciples that he will send the promised Holy Spirit to them because he cannot be with us in his resurrection body now, but he will come back later. This was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost in the lives of believing men and women gathered in prayerful anticipation of the fulfillment of Jesus’s words.

3.   The Holy Spirit baptism is not automatic, but the Spirit was poured out on the disciples for the first time starting on a special day. Peter taught on that same day that this promise is available to every person after that day also, even from that day forward. This is how the teaching of Peter ended on that Pentecost day in Jerusalem.

And Peter said to them, Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself. Acts 2:38-39 ESV. 

Why did Peter make such a promise to the people if repentance and baptism in water were sufficient? There is a baptism in the Holy Spirit promised to every believer.

In the next lesson we will see how the Baptism in the Holy Spirit was always re-occurring when people believed the Gospel message about Jesus. This is the New Testament church in action.  

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