Transcript & Slides: The Holy Spirit in Action

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The Holy Spirit in Action
By David Feddes

A boy was trying to fly his kite on a windless day. He stood on a long grassy stretch, laying out the tail of the kite, adjusting the bow of the crosspieces, and making sure the guide string had the right amount of slack. Then he ran across the grass, and as he ran, the kite climbed into the air. When the boy reached the end of the grass, he stopped, and the kite came fluttering to the ground. The boy rewound his string and studied the kite. He checked the tail, the crosspieces, and the guide string, and he decided the tail was too long, so he shortened it.

Once more, he took off across the field, and again the kite began to fly. But the moment he reached the end of the clearing and stopped, the kite fluttered to the earth once again. Still not ready to give up, the boy examined the kite again, and this time he increased the bow in the crosspieces. He was bound and determined to fly that kite, and he was obviously an expert on how to adjust the thing for better flight. Again, he poised himself and charged across the field as fast as he could run. The kite lifted a little higher than it had before, but the moment the boy stopped running, the kite dropped to the ground.

Another boy was standing at a distance watching all this. He called out, “You’ve got to wait for the wind.” “I know, I know,” said the boy with the kite. But the disappointment on his face was obvious. It frustrated him that all of his efforts were not enough to keep the kite flying.

Waiting for the Wind

You’ve got to wait for the wind. That is true if you are trying to fly a kite, and it is true if you are trying to get your spiritual life off the ground. Human preparations are no substitute for divine power. You can read the latest books and try all sorts of things to improve yourself. And if you are the leader of a church or some kind of Christian outreach, you can try new strategies and techniques to be more exciting and more effective. It may even seem to work for a little while, but without God’s Holy Spirit, everything you try will eventually come fluttering back down to the ground. Unless the breeze of God’s Holy Spirit is blowing, nothing of lasting spiritual importance can happen in any individual or in any church.

Jesus himself made this clear. After his resurrection and shortly before he ascended to heaven, Jesus told his followers that they would be his witnesses to the world. However, they would not be able to do it without empowerment by the Holy Spirit. Jesus told them, “Stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high” (Luke 24:49). Jesus also said, “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my father promised” (Acts 1:4). Jesus was saying to wait for the wind.

Jesus did not have many followers, and the ones he did have were not very impressive or influential. There was no way they would accomplish anything worthwhile through their own efforts. They might as well go fly a kite without any wind as try to win people to Jesus without the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit. The church would never soar upward and stay aloft merely through the efforts of those ragtag disciples. That is why Jesus told them to wait. He promised them that soon the wind of the Holy Spirit would begin to blow, and then amazing things would begin to happen. Jesus told the disciples, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

The Holy Spirit is the one Jesus told his disciples to wait for. Jesus did not say to wait for a sensational preacher. He did not say to wait for a well-planned mission strategy. He did not say to wait for an exciting new music director. He did not say to wait for a great scholar to give convincing arguments in favor of Christianity. Jesus did not say to wait for a new daycare center or a helpful support group to attract people to church. Jesus said to wait for the outpouring of his Holy Spirit in power. These other things might be fine, but for genuine spiritual life and power, the greatest need is for the Holy Spirit of the living God.

The Bible says that the power of the Holy Spirit came mightily with Pentecost. “¹When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. ²Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. ³They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. ⁴All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:1–4). The disciples began praising and preaching as they were filled with the Holy Spirit.

By the time the day was over, about three thousand people put their faith in Jesus and were baptized into the church (Acts 2:41). Less than two months earlier, many of those same people had been part of the mob that called for Jesus to be crucified. Suddenly, thousands of them were crying over their sins and trusting in the risen Lord Jesus. God’s Holy Spirit touched their hearts and changed their lives. It is as true today as it was back then that the church can flourish and do the Lord’s work only through the Holy Spirit. That is true not only of the church as a whole but also of every individual.

Let us think about the Holy Spirit, and in particular the work of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit in action. 

Enlivens

• Rebirth: That which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ (John 3:6-7)
• New life: It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. (John 6:63)
• Abundant life: The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. (2 Cor 3:6)

The first thing to highlight about the action of the Holy Spirit is that he enlivens. He gives life. Jesus said, “Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit” (John 3:6–8). Jesus teaches a religious leader that you must be born again, and this comes only through the work of the Holy Spirit.

The Bible teaches at the very beginning, in Genesis chapter 1, that before anything living existed on earth, “the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters” (Genesis 1:2). When God spoke, it was the work of the Spirit to bring life. Even physical life, in one sense, comes from the work of God operating through his Holy Spirit. But eternal life, spiritual life, the kind of life that God gives, enabling someone to live with him forever, has to come through rebirth. It is the Holy Spirit who enlivens. He gives new life.

Jesus says, “The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing” (John 6:63). The things that we do in our own efforts cannot contribute at all to making us spiritually alive. Only the Holy Spirit can do that. The life he gives is abundant life. “The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” (2 Corinthians 3:6). Commands and orders and ideas do not give life in and of themselves. Taken by themselves, that kind of thing kills. Law kills. Spirit makes alive. That is the first thing we need to know about the action of the Holy Spirit, that he, and only he, can give true life.

Indwells

• Nearness: Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? (1 Cor 3:16)
• Love: God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. (Romans 5:5)
• Assurance: God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” (Gal 4:6)

A second thing about the Holy Spirit is that he indwells. He lives within those to whom he gives life, and that means he is near to us. “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16). It is a tremendous thing to have the Holy Spirit not merely nearby but right within you. You cannot get any nearer than having someone live right inside you.

The Holy Spirit wants to be enjoyed and noticed. How do you feel if you are in a room and someone else is in the same room with you, but they will not look at you? They always look in the other direction. They will not get into a conversation with you. They try to pretend you are not even there. A good many of us go through life as though the Holy Spirit is not even there. Even for Christians, it is easy to let our attention drift away from the presence of God with us. His nearness is something not only to receive as a fact, but to pay attention to from moment to moment.

Another tremendous thing about the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is that he brings us an outpouring of God’s love. “God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us” (Romans 5:5). The Holy Spirit enables us to experience the love of God the Father and the love of the Son of God, Jesus Christ, poured out upon us. He takes all of that love and pours it into our hearts, filling us with a deep sense of the love of God. This is a tremendous blessing.

The apostle Paul prayed that Christ would dwell in our hearts through faith, that the Holy Spirit would strengthen us for that, and that we would have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ (Ephesians 3:16–19). It is the work of the Holy Spirit to help us experience this tremendous love of God. Along with that love and that nearness comes assurance. “Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father’” (Galatians 4:6). We speak to God as our Father, our daddy, the one who loves us, and we have assurance that we belong to him because his Holy Spirit seals that on our hearts.

Reveals

• Jesus: When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth… He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. (John 16:13-14)
• Bible: No prophecy of Scripture was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. (2 Peter 1:20-21)
• Personal path (Acts 11:12, 13:2, 16:6-10)

Another vital action of the Holy Spirit is that he reveals. He is the one who shows things to us. He shows us Jesus. Jesus himself said, “When he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you” (John 16:13–14). The ministry of the Holy Spirit is to point us to the Lord Jesus Christ, to help us receive what the Lord Jesus teaches us, and to accept all the truth that comes to us in Christ.

Nowadays, spirituality is popular. Many people like to say, “I’m a spiritual person.” But spirituality is not some vague fog bank. The Holy Spirit is not the spirit of a cosmic fog bank. He is the Spirit of truth. He is the Spirit of Jesus, who keeps pointing people to Jesus. Any kind of spirituality that does not lead to the truth, to the one who said, “I am the truth,” Jesus Christ, is no good spirit at all. The Spirit who comes from God reveals Jesus.

He also reveals the Bible. “Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:20–21). Elsewhere it says, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). The word for Spirit is closely related to breath or wind. Scripture is God-breathed, breathed out by God. The Bible is given to us by the Holy Spirit.

Not only does he give us the words of the Bible, but he also enables us to understand what the Bible says. He opens our minds and enlightens them. That is a great ministry of the Holy Spirit, so that the Bible is not merely words on a page, but comes to life and becomes understandable to us by the work of the Holy Spirit within us. He gave us the words, and then he gives us the ability to grasp, understand, and apply those words.

A third thing the Holy Spirit reveals, in addition to showing us Jesus and revealing the Bible, is that he guides us on our personal path. The Bible gives examples of this, especially in the book of Acts. In Acts 11, the apostle Peter was specifically told to go and visit a Roman army officer named Cornelius, and he did so, an important moment in the advance of the church. In Acts 13:2, the Spirit revealed to people who were praying and fasting in the church at Antioch, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them” (Acts 13:2), and they were sent out on their missionary journeys. In Acts 16, the apostle Paul tried to go to one place, but the Spirit of God would not let him. He tried to go to another place, but again the Spirit of God would not let him. Then one night Paul had a vision of a man from Macedonia saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us” (Acts 16:9). Paul took that as the Holy Spirit’s leading and went to Macedonia, becoming the first missionary to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to Europe.

There was a particular strategy and action that the Spirit wanted Paul to take, and he led him to take it. At crucial junctures in our lives, there may be things God wants us to do that are not directly spelled out in Scripture. God will never lead us to do something that goes against his teaching in Scripture, but sometimes decisions such as whom you will marry, what kind of work you will do, or a particular important decision in ministry are left to us, guided by sound thinking. At other times, he lays something clearly on your heart as the thing he wants you to do or the person he wants you to see. He gives particular guidance for your personal path.

In my own case, it was the leading of the Holy Spirit that moved me from being a mathematics major into preparing for seminary and the gospel ministry. At that time, my best grade was in mathematics and my worst grade was in speech. It took definite nudging along my personal path for the Holy Spirit to move me in that direction. In addition to revealing Jesus and the words of the Bible, we should look to the Spirit to guide our steps and be sensitive to him. Sometimes he leaves the final decision to us, and sometimes he makes his will clear through inner prompting and circumstances. When he does, we must follow where he leads.

Transforms

• Glory: We all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. (2 Cor 3:18)
• Fruit: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23)

Another action of the Holy Spirit is that he transforms. One way he transforms is by showing us the glory of Jesus Christ. This is closely related to his work of revealing. “¹⁸And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18).

The Spirit is showing us the glory of Jesus Christ. As that glory becomes more and more evident to us, it has an impact on us. Just as Moses was up on the mountain with God and came down with his face glowing, so people to whom God has been revealing the Lord Jesus through his Spirit are set aglow with that same Spirit, and we become more and more like Jesus. There is the beauty of the Lord resting upon us. There is the radiance of the Lord shining from us. This comes from the work of the Spirit. He puts us in contact with Jesus, and Jesus rubs off on us. Jesus shines from us. That is all part of the transforming work. It is vital, therefore, that we spend time with the Lord, that we listen to him, and that we open our lives to the work of the Spirit as he shows Jesus to us.

Another aspect of this transforming work that the Bible talks about is the fruit of the Spirit. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22–23). What a beautiful picture of what it is like to be filled with the Spirit and to have his fruit in your life. It does not say fruits. There are nine different qualities mentioned, but they are all one fruit, and that fruit is the character of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Spirit shows us the glory of Jesus and helps us reflect that glory. The Spirit puts the life of Jesus inside us. That life begins to flourish in us and grows into beautiful fruit, the fruit of Jesus Christ taking shape in us through the Holy Spirit.

Empowers

• Force: “The Spirit of the Lord rushed/came upon” Othniel, Gideon, Jephthah, Samson, Saul, David
• Fullness: “full/filled with the Spirit” Jesus, John, Elizabeth, Zechariah, disciples on Pentecost, seven deacons, Stephen, Barnabas, Paul
• Spiritual gifts: Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit… Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts (1 Cor 12:4, 14:1)

Another aspect of the Holy Spirit’s work is that he empowers. He gives strength. In the Old Testament, the Bible often speaks of the Holy Spirit coming in force upon someone. Again and again in the book of Judges, we read that the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon people such as Othniel, Gideon, Jephthah, and Samson. Later, the Spirit came upon Saul, who became king of Israel, and upon David, who became another king. There is power coming upon people. Gideon defeats an enormous army with only three hundred men. Jephthah has a ragtag band, but the Spirit of the Lord comes upon him and he wins a mighty victory. Samson faces a thousand Philistine enemies who want to kill him, and he grabs the jawbone of a donkey that is lying nearby and kills a thousand enemies with the power of the Spirit upon him (Judges 15:14–15). Saul rescues the people of Israel from a vicious enemy who threatens to gouge out the right eye of everyone in Jabesh Gilead if they make a treaty with him, and Saul rallies the people after the Spirit of the Lord rushes upon him (1 Samuel 11:6). The same is true of David. The Spirit of the Lord comes upon him and anoints him powerfully for his tasks (1 Samuel 16:13).

In the Old Testament, the Spirit is operating in power, usually with language of coming upon people, and sometimes withdrawing again after giving that empowerment. In the New Testament, it is more typical to speak of being filled with the Spirit. It is not just power upon you, but the Spirit coming into you and empowering you from the inside. Jesus himself was supremely filled with the Spirit, and we read again and again that he was filled with the Spirit as he carried out the works of his ministry (Luke 4:1, 14). John the Baptist was filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb (Luke 1:15). His mother Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit as she spoke (Luke 1:41). His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:67). On Pentecost, Jesus’ disciples were all filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4). Seven deacons who were selected to help distribute food to widows had to be men full of the Holy Spirit and faith (Acts 6:3). One of them was Stephen, and when he was about to be killed, he spoke boldly of Christ, and the Bible says he was full of the Holy Spirit (Acts 7:55). Barnabas was full of the Holy Spirit and faith and was a mighty encourager (Acts 11:24). Paul, the great missionary, was filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 13:9), and the Bible urges us to be filled with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:18).

So in the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit comes upon people with great force and power, and in the New Testament he comes within, filling us and giving us power from within. As part of his empowerment, he gives spiritual gifts, particular abilities with which we can build others up, extend the kingdom of God, and spread his gospel. “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:4). “Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts” (1 Corinthians 14:1). Spiritual gifts are a large topic in themselves, and I am not going to cover them in detail here. But it is important to know what some of your spiritual gifts are, because if we are Christians at all, we all have gifts from the Spirit, and we are meant to use them. We are at our best and most effective when we are using the Spirit’s gifts in devotion to him.

As we think about empowerment, there is an important warning to give. Do not base your assurance of salvation on gifts or on empowerment. Judas had great empowerment to drive out demons (Matthew 10:1–4), yet Judas is lost. King Saul had great power come upon him, but he grieved God, did not walk with the Lord, and ended up tormented by evil spirits (1 Samuel 16:14). He had power and ability to do certain things in the strength of God, but he never had the life of God and the character of God in him. Balaam in the Old Testament prophesied because he had a special gift from God to foresee certain things about the future, but he was not a true man of God (Numbers 22–24; 31:16). Jesus says that on the last day there will be people who say, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?” But he will reply, “I never knew you” (Matthew 7:22–23).

It is a tremendous thing to have God’s power upon you and God’s gifts to do certain things, but those are not the key to a relationship with God. When Jesus’ disciples came back after driving out demons and performing miracles of healing and preaching, Jesus said, “Do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:20). It is wonderful to have the strength of God with you and the gifts of the Spirit to do things, but this must be said very solemnly, especially to those who will be Christian leaders. There are people who have preached the true message of the gospel, and people have been saved through their preaching, even though the preachers themselves were not truly born again. To be used by God is not always the same as to be saved by God. It is vital that we be born again and transformed, and not be satisfied merely with success or power. The Holy Spirit’s empowerment is a great blessing, but empowerment must never be taken as an end in itself.

Unifies

• One body: For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body… and all were made to drink of one Spirit. (1 Cor 12:13)
• Fellowship: The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. (2 Cor 13:14)
• Bond: Maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit. (Eph 4:3-4)

A final aspect of the Spirit’s action is that he unifies. “For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free, and we were all given the one Spirit to drink” (1 Corinthians 12:13). The purpose of the spiritual gifts is to build one another up in unity, and the Spirit brings people together. Jesus’ prayer was that, with the coming of the Holy Spirit, his people would be one, just as Father, Son, and Spirit are one (John 17:21). A blessing of Scripture is this: “¹⁴May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all” (2 Corinthians 13:14). The fellowship, the koinonia, the communion, the togetherness, the oneness, is the work of the Holy Spirit. “³Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. ⁴There is one body and one Spirit” (Ephesians 4:3–4). The Holy Spirit gathers in people of all kinds, from every racial background, of every age, male and female, and binds them together in one body in Jesus Christ. That too is the blessed work of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit in Action

• Enlivens: born again to new, abundant life
• Indwells: nearness, love, assurance
• Reveals: Jesus, Bible, personal path
• Transforms: glory, fruit
• Empowers: force, fullness, spiritual gifts
• Unifies: one body, fellowship, bond

In summary, the Holy Spirit in action enlivens. He causes you to be born again to new and abundant life. He indwells you so that you experience his nearness, the love of God the Father, and the assurance of belonging to God and of being saved forever. He reveals Jesus. He helps us understand the Bible, which he himself inspired. He helps you walk the personal path and purposes he has for you as an individual. He transforms by giving you glimpses of the glory of Jesus Christ and by bearing the fruit of Jesus Christ in your life. He empowers with great force, with fullness, with the spiritual gifts he equips you with. He unifies all of his people together. These are some of the works of the Holy Spirit.

In a sense, everything God does is accomplished through the executive activity of the Holy Spirit. The Father plans it, the Son enables it, and the Spirit carries it out in our lives. As we think about the Holy Spirit in action, let us remember that he is the blessed third person of the Holy Trinity, that he does mighty deeds, and that we depend on him entirely.

Many churches today have resources the early church did not have. We have money, technology, seminaries, study committees, and surveys to tell us what people are looking for in a church. For a business to succeed, you identify what the customer wants and provide it. For a church to increase its list of customers, it can follow the same basic business principle. We even have the ability today to get people interested in church without any help from the Holy Spirit, simply by giving people what they want. We may be able to produce satisfied customers that way, but only the Holy Spirit can produce changed lives.

Sometimes Christians, with excellent intentions of leading people to Jesus, frantically try one thing after another to get people involved in church. Some of what they try is good. The church should seek to be attractive, helpful, and hospitable, and we should use every resource at our disposal. But let us not fool ourselves. When we coax people into churches by our own efforts, what we end up with are churches full of happy, well-adjusted sinners, not Spirit-filled saints. We may be giving people enough religion to make them immune to the real thing. They may join a religious club, but the vitality and reality of the Holy Spirit is missing. If we call that a successful church, we offend the Holy Spirit, deceive ourselves, and shortchange those who need what only the Spirit of God can give.

If you are involved in church leadership, put away your how-to manuals for successful church leadership for a while. Ask what your church needs more right now, one more program that worked somewhere else, or spiritual revival and renewal in the Holy Spirit. In Acts 19, the Bible tells of people who had received good teaching but had never been taught about the Holy Spirit. When asked if they had received the Spirit, they replied, “We have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit” (Acts 19:2). There is a Holy Spirit, and we need him desperately. He is the third person of the Trinity, and he does amazing things.

Ask and receive

I have focused on the doctrine of the Spirit and his activities, but what we need is not doctrine alone. We need dependence on the Spirit. Fall before the Lord in prayer and plead that the Spirit will dominate every part of your life and ministry. Teach others what the Holy Spirit does, and urge them to turn to Christ and to have the Holy Spirit taking action in them.

Jesus says that the Father will give the Holy Spirit if we ask: “If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:13).

On another occasion, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive (John 7:37–39).

That invitation still stands. If you are thirsty, drink from Jesus. As you drink from Jesus and receive the Spirit he gives, the Spirit will not only flow into you but overflow from you, bringing life, truth, joy, blessing, and power into the lives of others.

Here is the invitation of Pentecost. Peter said, “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. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, for all whom the Lord our God will call” (Acts 2:38–39). If you are thirsty, drink. If you need forgiveness, ask. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Then proclaim Jesus to others and tell them that they too can receive this blessed Holy Spirit and all the wonderful things he does in our lives, for our good and for the glory of God the Father.

 

The Holy Spirit in Action
By David Feddes
Slide Contents

 Waiting for the Wind

“Stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” (Luke 24:49)

“Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised.” (Acts 1:4)

"You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8).

Pentecost Outpouring

When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:1-4)

 Enlivens

• Rebirth: That which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ (John 3:6-7)
• New life: It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. (John 6:63)
• Abundant life: The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. (2 Cor 3:6)

Indwells

• Nearness: Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? (1 Cor 3:16)
• Love: God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. (Romans 5:5)
• Assurance: God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” (Gal 4:6)

Reveals

• Jesus: When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth… He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. (John 16:13-14)
• Bible: No prophecy of Scripture was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. (2 Peter 1:20-21)
• Personal path (Acts 11:12, 13:2, 16:6-10) 

Transforms

• Glory: We all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. (2 Cor 3:18)
• Fruit: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23)

Empowers

• Force: “The Spirit of the Lord rushed/came upon” Othniel, Gideon, Jephthah, Samson, Saul, David
• Fullness: “full/filled with the Spirit” Jesus, John, Elizabeth, Zechariah, disciples on Pentecost, seven deacons, Stephen, Barnabas, Paul
• Spiritual gifts: Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit… Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts (1 Cor 12:4, 14:1)

 Unifies

• One body: For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body… and all were made to drink of one Spirit. (1 Cor 12:13)
• Fellowship: The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. (2 Cor 13:14)
• Bond: Maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit. (Eph 4:3-4)

 The Holy Spirit in Action

• Enlivens: born again to new, abundant life
• Indwells: nearness, love, assurance
• Reveals: Jesus, Bible, personal path
• Transforms: glory, fruit
• Empowers: force, fullness, spiritual gifts
• Unifies: one body, fellowship, bond

Ask the Father

What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent;  or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 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 11:11-13)

Accept Jesus’ invitation

Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive. (John 7:37-39)

Receive the gift

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 2:38-29)