Pentecost In The Believer's Daily Life
Pentecost: The Promise Of The Holy Spirit In The Old Testament.
Theologically speaking, everything that has been said up to
this point is purely theory. Only with the ministry of the
Holy Spirit may one legitimately speak of daily practice.
God the Holy Spirit has come to apply the provision the Lord
Jesus Christ has obtained for the believer. Through His work
of the New Birth, the Christian has been transformed; and
through His work of anointing, the believer is enabled to
live the Christian life successfully.
One of the most encouraging and impressive promises of the
Old Testament has to do with the Holy Spirit. It is found in
Joel 2:28, 29. There God promises that the day will come
when He will pour out His Spirit equally upon all His
people. In that day it will not make a difference if one is
a man or a woman, old or young, master or servant. All will
receive the Holy Spirit alike.
This does not mean that the Old Testament saints were
without the ministry of the Holy Spirit. When Jesus Christ
said to Nicodemus that a person must be born of the Spirit
to enter the Kingdom of God, His stipulation applied equally
well to all people in all of time (John 3:3, 5). It is
evident that the Old Testament saints were recipients of the
ministry of the Holy Spirit in the New Birth, in that they
are used as an illustration of salvation to New Testament
saints. According to the writer of Hebrews, salvation by
faith was true of Abel (Hebrews 11:4). David (Romans 4:6),
Abraham (Romans 4:10-25; Galatians 3:6-14), and Rahab (James
2:25, 26) are similar examples. It must be recognized that
there was also an anointing of certain individuals in the
Old Testament by the Holy Spirit. Bezaleel and Aholiab were
anointed to enable them to build the tabernacle (Exodus
35:30-35). And there was the anointing of Saul (1 Samuel
10:10) and David (1 Samuel 16:13) as kings over Israel.
Moses (Numbers 11:25) and Joshua (Numbers 27:18) were
anointed to lead the children of Israel. The various judges
were anointed to deliver the people of God from their
enemies (Judges 3:10; 6:34, etc.). The Holy Spirit came upon
the prophets to inspire them to speak forth the message
given to them by God (1 Chronicles 12:18; 2 Chronicles 15:1;
20: 14; 24:20). Even upon Balaam, a false prophet, God
placed His Spirit so the demonic endeavors of Balak would be
thwarted (Numbers 24:2).
Pentecost: The Promise Of The Holy Spirit In The New
Testament.
As great as this ministry was in Old Testament times, God
promised through Joel that a day would come when it would be
transcended. This theme was taken up by the last of the Old
Testament prophets and further explained. John the Baptist
stated that the Holy Spirit would be given by the Messiah
(John 1:33). This clarifying statement is of great
importance. It determines the theological perspective for
all that the New Testament states concerning the Holy
Spirit, in that the ministry of the Spirit would always be
inseparably related to the Person of the Lord Jesus and the
carrying out of His purpose.
Additional clarification concerning the ministry of the Holy
Spirit was given by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. There are
five passages in the New Testament in which the coming of
the Holy Spirit is further clarified.
The first is in John 7:37-39. Jesus Christ stated that all
those who would thirst, who would come to Him and drink,
believing on Him, would themselves become the source of
living water. The Apostle John observed that this invitation
and promise revolved around the coming of the Holy Spirit
Who had not yet been given.
In this passage there are two factors of importance which
have been pointed out previously. The first has to do with
how one receives the Holy Spirit. This, we are told, is by
believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. The second has to do
with the result of His ministry in our lives. We will become
the means of life-giving help to other people. These words
of the Lord Jesus boldly cut through the worry and
uncertainty so characteristic of many Christians. Here is
the answer to the doubt and uncertainty which revolve around
the question of personal ability to live a meaningful life.
What is His answer to our weakness in life and service? He
states that we must thirst for Him, come to Him, and drink
of Him in faith. As always, the problem is not in the
provision, but in the lack of appropriation. When we learn
how to respond by faith and thereby give Jesus Christ His
rightful place, there will be a spontaneous ministry of the
Holy Spirit to us and through us. Faith and love must be
more than verbal pronouncements; they must be activities of
life. That which determines our relationship to the Holy
Spirit is our relationship to Jesus Christ.
The second passage of clarification is found in John
14:16-20. Here the Lord Jesus characterizes the Person and
work of the Holy Spirit in ascribing two titles to Him. The
first is "Comforter" which means in the original language,
"One called alongside." By this title we are taught that the
Holy Spirit would be a constant help to the believer, as one
called to his aid, by standing alongside. It is significant
that the Lord Jesus also stated the Holy Spirit would be
"another Comforter." He was, therefore, to take the place of
Christ Himself with His disciples. The significance of this
truth is almost beyond human comprehension. That God
Himself, the Holy Spirit, would come to us to be our Helper,
is overwhelming!
The second title of the Holy Spirit is that of "Spirit of
Truth." This indicates the purpose of His coming. He is the
divine Teacher of Truth." Because non-Christians reject the
Truth and love darkness rather than light (John 3:19), they
cannot receive nor will they receive this ministry of the
Spirit. However, the Holy Spirit has come to every believer
- to be his Teacher (1 John 2:20, 27).
In application of these two titles, the Lord Jesus explained
how He would come to the disciples in the coming of the Holy
Spirit (John 14:18); and that they would become the
recipients of assurance and illumination ( John 14:19, 20).
The same promise is summarized later in the chapter (John
14:25, 26).
A third passage of instruction in this Farewell Discourse is
found in John 15:26, 27. The titles of the Holy Spirit are
restated as well as the emphasis on the relationship of His
ministry to that of the Lord Jesus and to God the Father.
The additional element here is on the purpose of His coming.
The Lord Jesus said, "He shall testify of me, and ye also
shall bear witness ... " The Holy Spirit would comfort,
instruct, and illuminate those who believe on the Lord Jesus
so that they may be enabled, through His indwelling
presence, to bear witness themselves.
The fourth section of importance concerning the ministry of
the Holy Spirit is found in John 16:7-16. Here we are told
that the Holy Spirit will convict the non-Christian of sin,
righteousness, and of a future judgment. All mankind are the
recipients of this reproof. In addition to what has been
said in the previous passages, about the work of the Holy
Spirit in the believer, this passage includes two further
statements of great importance. The first is found in verse
13, " ... He shall not speak of Himself ... " This means
that the Holy Spirit will not draw attention to Himself.
This profound statement, expressed so simply, indicates that
the entire ministry of the Spirit is away from Himself. All
endeavors, whether by the individual Christian or by a
church or denomination, to place the Holy Spirit at the
center of their attention and instruction is, therefore,
under divine censure.
The second statement clearly expresses the purpose of the
Holy Spirit's ministry. It is found in verse 14. The Lord
Jesus said, "He shall glorify Me ..." Instead of drawing
attention to Himself, the Holy Spirit would magnify Jesus
Christ. This is His goal in the life of the individual
believer and in the ministry of the church. Jesus Christ is
to be given His rightful place at the center of all things.
When the believer or church chooses to do this, then there
is a cooperation with the Holy Spirit and the result can
only be spiritual success. When this is not done, weakness
will inevitably follow. The importance of these truths can
hardly be overemphasized.
The fifth passage of explanation is found in Acts 1:4, 5, 8.
The Lord Jesus, after His Resurrection from the grave,
instructed His followers to wait in Jerusalem for the
fulfillment of the promises concerning the Holy Spirit. They
were to be baptized with the Spirit and would thereby
receive the power or ability to be witnesses for Jesus
Christ throughout the whole world.
Pentecost: The Manifestation Of The Holy Spirit.
Fifty days after the Crucifixion of the Lord Jesus, the Old
Testament promises regarding the coming of the Holy Spirit
were fulfilled. In obedience to the instruction of the Lord
Jesus (Acts 1:4, 5, 8), a group of His disciples were
praying together when the Holy Spirit descended upon them.
With the sound of a great wind and with the appearance of
fire, the Holy Spirit filled all the disciples (Acts 2:1-4).
As a further demonstration of the presence of the Holy
Spirit, all the disciples began to speak with tongues so
that the many strangers in Jerusalem heard the gospel
preached in their own language. As a result three thousand
persons responded to the commands and promise of the gospel
and were baptized (Acts 2:4-11, 37-47).
The Apostle Peter that same day explained the meaning of
this great event. He quoted the promise concerning the Holy
Spirit as given in Joel 2:28, 29 and indicated that it had
now been fulfilled (Acts 2:14ff). The coming of the Holy
Spirit, Peter expounded, was due to the activity of the
ascended Lord Jesus Who had poured out the Spirit upon His
people (Acts 2:33). Pentecost, therefore, was further and
conclusive evidence of the Resurrection and Exaltation of
the Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of God (Acts 2:29-36).
It is important to understand that Pentecost, like the
Crucifixion, Resurrection, and Ascension, happened only
once. It is also important to see that the Church, now
called the Body of Christ (Ephesians 1:22, 23), was brought
into existence in this outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Before
this time the Church is spoken of as yet in the future
(Matthew 16:18). But now, on the Day of Pentecost, the
Church is described as present (Acts 2:47), and continually
referred to from this time forward.
The spiritual value of these two truths is of great
significance to the believer. Today, when an individual
repents of sin and receives Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord,
he is baptized by the Holy Spirit into the Church (1
Corinthians 12:13). By this great act, the believer becomes
a member of the Church and receives all the benefits of the
Day of Pentecost.
The Holy Spirit has come! The promises have been fulfilled.
The Body of Christ has been brought into existence and is
made up of people baptized with the Holy Spirit. To become a
Christian means one is added to that baptized group and in
turn receives all the spiritual benefits the first disciples
received on the Day of Pentecost (1 Corinthians 12:13-27).
In order to avoid confusion, it is necessary to distinguish
between the spiritual benefits of Pentecost and the public
demonstration of that day. The public display of power in
the wind, the fire, and the speaking with tongues were given
by God to indicate the importance and significance of that
great event. The wind and fire would immediately call to
mind the supernatural activity of God with the prophets (1
Kings 18:38; 19:11, 12; Ezekiel 1:4; etc.), and the speaking
in tongues was a public evidence that the promise of Joel
concerning an anointing of all of God's people had indeed
come to pass. Such a manifestation of power also
characterized the Crucifixion, Resurrection, and Ascension.
The Christian now possesses the legal benefits of all of
these great deeds of God. It would be as wrong for one to
expect the wind, fire, and tongues of the Day of Pentecost
to characterize his relationship with God today as to expect
the darkness of the Crucifixion, the earthquake of the
Resurrection, or the appearance of Angels of the Ascension.
What are the benefits of the Day of Pentecost which all
believers now possess? The Scripture describes this great
provision of God under five headings. The first we have
already considered. It is that of baptism with the Holy
Spirit whereby one is brought into a saving relationship
with the Lord Jesus Christ and made a member of the Church
which is His body (1 Corinthians 12:13). When does this
happen? This important event happens the moment one believes
on Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. In fact, all of these
five benefits come to pass at exactly the same time.
The second benefit of the Day of Pentecost is described as
the New Birth (John 3:3, 5). In this act of the Holy Spirit
the repentant and believing sinner is given the spiritual
life obtained for him by Jesus Christ in His atonement (John
10:10; 1 John 5:9-13).
The third benefit is that of being indwelt by the Holy
Spirit. The believer thereby becomes the temple of the Holy
Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16, 17; 6:10; 2 Corinthians 6:16).
The fourth benefit is described as being sealed with the
Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13, 14; 4:30).
The term "seal" is taken from the practice of "sealing" a
legal document with a bit of wax into which an official
"seal" or stamp was pressed. The emphasis here is upon the
truth of ownership. The believer, by this act of the Holy
Spirit, is shown to belong to God. This work of the Holy
Spirit is further described as the "earnest" or pledge that
all the future benefits of redemption will also be given the
believer (2 Corinthians 1:22; 5:5; Ephesians 1:14).
The fifth benefit is the bestowal of gifts by the Holy
Spirit. Every Christian has been given some ability or
talent so that he can make a meaningful contribution to the
furtherance of God's plan. In this regard it is important to
see that the Apostle Paul described the Church by the
analogy of the human body. As every member of the body must
contribute to the full expression of the person, so every
member of the Church has been given a gift and this gift
must be utilized so that the Church may express itself fully
(1 Corinthians 12:4-31; Ephesians 4:7-16). This is God's
provision not only for the individual believer but also for
the furtherance of the local church. When God's people are
spiritually alert and exercising their divine gifts, the
individual church will find itself adequately staffed with
workers.
These five benefits appear to be subsumed in the Scripture
under the term "anointing" (2 Corinthians 1:21; 1 John 2:20,
27). The Christian is, therefore spoken of as one who has
been anointed by the Holy Spirit. This again points back to
the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament. The
New Testament emphasis is also indicated in that all the
believers now receive this anointing alike. And all have
received the five great benefits of Pentecost.
But now we must face a practical question of spiritual
importance. If all believers possess these benefits of
Pentecost, why are these benefits not more enjoyed and
utilized? What a tremendous thing it is to be baptized, born
again, indwelt, sealed, and gifted by the Holy Spirit! How
dare we be filled with uncertainty and weakness?
The answer is clear and yet hard to confess. The fact of
these great benefits depends on the work of God within us.
The resultant assurance, power, and enjoyment of these
benefits depends upon us. It is one thing to possess this
provision of Pentecost — and quite another to know how to
live, and then to so live, that this divine provision may be
adequately manifested in our daily lives.
Pentecost: The Manifestation Of The Holy Spirit.
We have been commanded by God to "be filled with the Holy
Spirit" (Ephesians 5:18). The Christian has no vote in this
matter. Living a Spirit-filled life is not optional. And to
choose to disobey God condemns one to a life largely devoid
of divine fellowship, grace, love, and purpose.
What does it mean to be filled with the Holy Spirit? It
means, in all simplicity, to be surrendered to God (Romans
12:1, 2) so that the Holy Spirit can do in and through us
what He was sent to do. Endless numbers of books have been
written explaining this one profound truth. Have so many
words confused us?
The Christian is seriously warned against hindering this
ministry of the Holy Spirit in his life. Ananias and
Sapphira are held up as an example of lying to (deceiving)
or tempting the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:3, 9). Stephen accused
those who refused the truth of the Word of God of resisting
the Holy Spirit (Acts 7:51). The Apostle Paul stated that
the believer who is unconcerned and slothful about putting
the Word of God into daily practice, is grieving the Holy
Spirit (Ephesians 4:30). And those Christians who scorn and
deride the expression of the Holy Spirit in their own lives
and the lives of others are quenching the Holy Spirit (1
Thessalonians 5:19).
These four sins clearly and tragically describe what it
means to practice a lack of surrender to God. They vividly
indicate the anti-surrender which characterizes the lives of
most Christians. How easy it is to practice these four sins
by substituting pretense for honesty, doubt for faith,
disobedience for obedience, and an attitude of scornful
self-complacency for one of grateful desire for every
manifestation of the Holy Spirit.
And now we know why we are not Spirit filled! We lie to,
resist, grieve, and quench the Holy Spirit! The lethargic
unconcern manifested by many Christians about this
indisputable truth only proves the correctness of this
accusation. What must we do to live a genuine Christian life
and be filled with the Spirit? First of all, we must stop
blaming God for being spiritually empty (Jeremiah 2:5, 13).
In a close connection with this, we must stop contriving
theological reasons for our lack and thereby turn our faults
into virtues! God is not to blame. The Holy Spirit has come
- there is no need to wait for Him. Ever since the Day of
Pentecost, which happened only once, every believer has had
all the value and provision of Pentecost given to him in his
salvation (Romans 8:9). We are at fault.
Secondly, we must confess our sins and stop committing them.
We must stop pretending - stop acting as though we hadn't
sinned, acting as though we are right with God. We must stop
grieving the Holy Spirit - stop being so unconcerned about
putting the Word of God into practice. We must stop
quenching the Holy Spirit - stop scoffing at those who are
our examples in spirituality and start thirsting for God
ourselves.
Thirdly, we must thoroughly understand why the Holy Spirit
indwells us and learn how to cooperate with Him. He was sent
to achieve clearly defined goals in our lives. These goals
we must make our own by deliberate decisions of faith and
practice.
The first goal the Holy Spirit has been commissioned to
fulfill is that of glorifying Jesus Christ in the believer.
Before the Christian can practice honesty he must become a
holy person. Before he can practice love, joy, peace, etc.,
(the fruit of the spirit, Galatians 5:22, 23), he must
experience love, joy, peace. The Holy Spirit has been sent
to take the work of Jesus Christ in His Crucifixion,
Resurrection, and Ascension and make personal application of
this cleansing, enablement, and deliverance in the very
character of the believer. This is what sanctification is
all about. This is how the Holy Spirit leads and teaches the
believer to mortify (put to death) the sinful attitudes and
practices of the old nature (Romans 8:1-13) and to
experience the freedom of sonship (Romans 8:14-17).
We are, therefore, to "walk (live) in the Spirit" (Galatians
5:16). When this is done there will be a freedom, a
deliverance from the overpowering desires of the old nature
(Galatians 5:16). Without this cooperation, a deadening,
discouraging tension is set up in our lives (Galatians
5:17), and we live without a sense of purpose and progress
and without love and joy and peace.
The Holy Spirit has thus been sent to enable us to give
Jesus Christ His rightful place at the center of our lives.
We must learn how to give Him that place as our Lord, our
Sanctification, as the Head of the Church, as the Lord of
the Harvest Field, and as the Living Word.
How tragically different is the Biblical description of the
Spirit-filled life from what we often see in our own lives!
Many Christians have earnestly tried to practice the
Christian life without realizing that the real need was
within. As a result the practice was partially a pretense
and the vicious cycle started again.
The second goal the Holy Spirit has been sent to achieve is
that of glorifying the Lord Jesus Christ through the
believer (John 15:26, 27). The emphasis here is on daily
practice and witnessing. The Lord Jesus often spoke of this
as a spontaneous result of the indwelling Holy Spirit (John
7:37-39; 15:26, 27; Acts 1:8). When the believer cooperates
with the Holy Spirit in regard to the first goal of personal
sanctification, this second goal will be achieved
automatically. The believer will then be, in character, a
witness, and he will not find it difficult to speak up for
His Lord. This is a self-condemning explanation of our lack
of faithful witnessing. What determines our daily
relationship to the Holy Spirit? What does it mean, and how
are we to be filled? We must be taken up with the Lord Jesus
Christ! We must respond to Him and His Word by faith and
love and thereby give Him His rightful Place in our lives.
We must learn to live in fellowship with God and in daily
obedience. The Holy Spirit has been sent to glorify Jesus
Christ in our lives, and when we give Him His rightful
place, then we are filled with the Holy Spirit. This is why
the Holy Spirit is called, "the Spirit of Christ" (Romans
8:9).
The enabling ministry of the Holy Spirit is set forth in
Diagram 14.
The Key To Success: The Believer Must Learn To Cooperate
Actively With The Ministry Of The Indwelling Holy Spirit.
(Ephesians 4:30).