When the Holy Spirit Comes
(Ac 1:6-11)
God is Spirit (Jn 4:24).
He gives birth through the Spirit (He 12:9; Jas 1:18), and
He works through the Spirit and is testified by the Spirit (Mt 16:17, Mt 16:20).
Religions are human efforts to arrive at the divine state, while
Idolatry is images of gods that men make and give divine authority to (Ex 32:1).
However, God is the God of gods (Da 2:47), and
As such, He reveals Himself according to His ways and is testified accordingly (Jn 1:18).
All visible things are the evidence of the invisible, self-exiting God (Ge 1:1-31; Rm 1:20), and
The exodus of Israel was an event that testified the self-existing God (Ex 3:13, Ex 3:17).
Furthermore, Moses and the Israelites were all witnesses of the self-existing God.
Even in the Old Testament, there were works of the Holy Spirit, also called
"The Spirit (Nu 27:18), "the Spirit of the Lord (Jdg 14:6, Jdg 15:14), and "the Holy Spirit (Ps 51:11), who
Inspired holy men to prophesy and reveal power.
The sanctuary where the Ark of the Testimony was (Ex 25:22)
Testified the invisible self-existing God of Israel.
Jesus said, "Destroy this temple and I will raise it again in three days (Jn 2:19), because
Through the death and the resurrection of the temple of His body,
He would fully reveal God the Father for
He is the Word who was with the Father in the beginning (Jn 1:1, Jn 1:14) and
Became flesh through the Holy Spirit (Mt 1:20, Lk 1:35).
As such, though He is the Son of God,
Jesus was baptized with the Holy Spirit (Mt 3:16), and
Led into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit and was tested (Mt 4:1; Mk 1:12).
He was full of joy through the Holy Spirit (Lk 10:21), and
He drove out demons by the Holy Spirit and healed (Mt 12:28).
As He died, Jesus said, "It is finished (Jn 19:30), declaring that He:
- Laid down His life and fulfilled the Father's will (Jn 10:17-18);
- Condemned the origin of sin, who cut men off from God (Ge 3:4; 1Jn 3:8); and
- Shed His blood and redeemed the sins of all men, giving life to their souls (Mt 20:28).
Finally, He was raised among the dead by the Holy Spirit (Rm 8:11).
Before He ascended to heaven,
Jesus commanded the disciples to not leave Jerusalem and wait (Ac 1:4) for
After He goes to the Father,
He would send another Counselor, the Holy Spirit (Jn 14:16-18; Ac 1:4-5).
The Holy Spirit comes to those who long and wait for Him (Ac 2:1), and
He testifies Jesus (Jn 5:31-32; Ac 1:8).
He also lets believers:
- Know grace - that they have been forgiven of sins and that they have life in them (1Co 2:11-12; Eph 5:18);
- Have the heart of Jesus - so that they may bear the fruit of the Spirit (Php 2:1-2; Gal 5:16-18); and
- Leads them to the truth - so that they may know the things of the future and prepare for the Lord's return (Jn 16:8-11; Jn 6:13; Ac 1:11).
The man of the Spirit, therefore
Puts every effort to be filled with the Holy Spirit and
Become a witness of Jesus, of His resurrection
To the ends of the earth, to the end of the world, risking his life (Ac 20:24) for
He longs to have his faith be testified by the Lord when He appears a second time (He 9:27).
O Lord,
If the Holy Spirit is certainly in us,
Why is that our souls do not hear His voice?
Let us be filled with the Holy Spirit and Open up our mouths and cry out, "Jesus is alive!
Let us be witnesses of Jesus! Amen.