The Spirit of God

On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. "Sovereign Lord," they said, "you made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything in them. You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David: `Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed One. ' Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen. Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus."

After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.

All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all (Acts 4:23-33).

When did Jesus give His disciples the gift of the Holy Spirit? In the Gospel of John chapter 20 we read these words: On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven." According to this, Jesus gave the gift of the Holy Spirit already on the evening of Easter Sunday.

But then we read the following account from the 24th chapter of Luke: While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you." They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. He said to them, "Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have." …Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, "…I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high." In the Book of Acts chapter two, Luke describes the day when the disciples received this gift of power from on high: When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

But even that is not the end of it. In today’s reading from Acts we are told the following: After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.

So we read that on at least three occasions, the disciples were filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. The first time was on Easter evening when Jesus breathed on them; at that time they were given the ability to understand the Scriptures and were authorized to forgive sins as the Lord’s representatives. The second coming of the Spirit was on Pentecost, when the disciples were enabled to preach to the people in a variety of foreign languages. The third time came when the disciples were being pressured to keep quiet about their faith; when Peter and John were thrown into jail to intimidate them, the Spirit filled them with the courage to preach without fear.

Each time God’s Spirit filled the disciples, it was to address a need. The disciples were anything but perfect; even with God’s help, they continued to make mistakes, come up short. Peter provides just one example. The 10th chapter of Acts describes his encounter with Cornelius, a soldier of the Roman Empire who had converted to Christianity. According to a long-standing law, Israelites were not permitted to associate with anyone other than fellow Jews—but God sent the Holy Spirit to Peter, telling him that in Christ all are brothers and sisters together. As a result, Peter began to associate freely with Christian Gentiles. But in Galatians chapter two we are told that Peter, under pressure from some Jewish Christians, went back to distancing himself from Gentile converts; eventually Paul had to step in and set him straight once more. The Spirit of God had spoken directly to Peter, telling him to spend time with Gentiles who wanted to know about Jesus; yet after a period of time, Peter was persuaded to change his behavior because of the pressure brought by people under the control of sin.

We are no different. We come to church to have our sins forgiven. We listen to our Lord speak to us from the pages of Holy Scripture. We leave church knowing how Christ wants us to live our lives. But then an attractive face invites us to set aside our morals for a night of fun. An empty wallet tempts us to take something from the store without paying for it. We resent a parent or teacher or boss telling us what to do, so we yell at them or deliberately do shoddy work in order to get even. Although we pledge ourselves to God and welcome the gift of His Spirit, most of the week we barely give Him a passing thought.

Some people have the mistaken notion that once the Spirit enters your heart, He will be there forever. Years ago, a politician on his deathbed was visited by a representative of the church. "Will I go to heaven when I die?" the sick man asked. The clergyman responded, "if you have faith in Jesus. Do you believe in Him?" To this the politician replied, "I used to."

The Holy Spirit comes to us in baptism and He comes each time we fill our eyes and ears with the words of heaven offered through the Bible. Yet how quickly we turn away. It’s like a child walking hand in hand with a parent. The adult knows where to go and how to get there safely; but the child keeps tugging on the parent’s hand, trying to go this way and that in pursuit of one distraction after another. The little one doesn’t understand the risks that come from getting lost or stepping out into traffic—only the parent’s grip keeps the child safe. In the same way, the Spirit of God takes us by the hand to keep us from heading into danger and guide us to paradise. But we constantly tug the Spirit to go where we want to go, and when He won’t give us the approval to do as we want, we often snatch our hand away and take off on our own. And then, when the thrill of sin results in hurt and disappointment, we find ourselves without guidance and protection, alone and afraid. The Spirit never abandons us, but we frequently demand that He let us go—a decision that is extremely shortsighted and foolish.

We must thank God that He is patient with us. The Lord kept sending His Spirit to blaze anew in the disciples, and He does the same for us as well. It begins with repentance. We must come to God in prayer, taking full responsibility for our behavior that has separated us from God. No excuses, no trying to put the blame on anyone else. Jesus said, My sheep listen to my voice…no one can snatch them out of my hand (John 10:27, 28). We can’t blame anyone, not even the devil, for pulling us away from God—when we let go of His hand, it is only because we made the decision to do so.

When we own up to our failures, Jesus responds with His loving touch. A child that has gotten dirty needs to be washed and dressed in clean clothes. In the same way, Jesus frees us from our moral filth; He washes us with His blood which was poured out from the cross to atone for our sins. Then He dresses us in clean clothes; He covers us with the robe of His righteousness. Cleaned and properly dressed, we are now made presentable to go somewhere very special—God’s palace in heaven. And so Jesus sends the Holy Spirit to take us by the hand and start leading us there again, as He was before we got distracted and pulled away from Him.

Does God ever run out of patience with us? On one occasion, Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?" Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times (Matthew 18:21-22). Essentially, the Lord told Peter that if he was keeping count of how many times he accepted an apology, he was not offering true forgiveness. If Jesus wants us to forgive without keeping a record of the past, we can only imagine how generous He is in forgiving us and restoring the Spirit to our wandering hearts.

Yet we dare not take the Lord’s generosity for granted. Jesus suffered greatly to offer these opportunities to you; if you truly love Him, it should grieve you each time you find yourself needing to ask for mercy and a renewed connection to the Spirit of God. Don’t be an ingrate; treasure every opportunity provided you to walk hand in hand with the Holy Spirit, as you pray, as you worship, as you study the Bible. The Spirit is Christ’s gift to you—don’t ignore Him or take Him for granted. When He pricks your conscience, warning that what you are considering doing is wrong, listen and respect His guidance.

The disciples needed the help of the Holy Spirit, not just once but over and over again, as they dedicated their lives to serving the Lord. Certainly you and I need the Spirit’s continual help as well. With His support, the church honoring Jesus Christ grew from a mere handful of believers to a worldwide religion; who can say what the Spirit might achieve with your life?