Do You Know Him? Part 4

In the Old Testament the working of the Holy Spirit happened only to chosen people of God who were equipped for a particular divine service. However, as we will see, there is a definite difference in these experiences of the Holy Spirit for the New Testament believer. Not only was this to be the fulfillment of what was spoken by the Prophets Jeremiah (Jeremiah 31:31-34), Ezekiel (Ezekiel 36:25-27) and Joel (Joel 2:28-29) but Jesus Himself mentioned this very thing to His disciples (John 14:15-17, 26, 15:26, 16:7-15) However, we see in Luke's gospel just prior to Jesus' ascension something interesting concerning the coming Holy Spirit, "Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high." (Luke 24:49) The work endued means to "to put on oneself, be clothed with." The Holy Spirit was to come upon believers in such a way that, as Jesus said, "He dwells with you and will be in you." (John 14:17)

Ten days after the ascension of Jesus on the Day of Pentecost, the wonderful work of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament believer begins, "When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." (Acts 2:1-4)

Notice what was taking place here. First, the Holy Spirit came as a "mighty rushing wind." Jesus had mention this very thing concerning the Holy Spirit in His conversation with Nicodemus, "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit." (John 3:8) Another thing to take note of  is the Holy Spirit "filled the whole house where they were sitting." This is actually baptism in the Holy Spirit. Remember, Jesus said the the Holy Spirit would come and "He dwells with you and will be in you." (John 14:17). To be baptized or to receive baptism mean, "to dip; to immerse; to submerse." When a person is water baptized although they are immersed, completely covered in water, they are not filled internally with water, it only surrounds them. This is what happened when the Holy Spirit came. He surrounded them, He immersed them, He "filled the whole house where they were sitting."

Next, "Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them." This is what was spoken of John the Baptist, "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire." (Matthew 3:11) Throughout the Bible, fire is revealed as a symbol of presence; burning judgment of God; purifying; testing and or God's Holiness. The Holy Spirit appeared to them as divided tongues as of fire which symbolizes a purifying of their speech to speak the gospel unimpeded, or as the apostle Paul said, "And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power." (1 Corinthians 2:4)

The next thing that happened was, "they were all filled with the Holy Spirit." Not only were they immersed (baptized) in the Holy Spirit, but now the Holy Spirit took up residence within them and as Jesus said "endued with power from on high." I also want to note that being filled with the Holy Spirit with power from on high, is subsequent to regeneration, that is receiving Jesus as your Lord and Savior. (Acts 8:5-17, 9:1-9,  17, 19:1-7) Not only is being filled with the Holy Spirit subsequent to regeneration, but the believer is to continued being filled, "And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit." (Ephesians 5:18 with Acts 4:31)

Finally, they "began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." When we look into what we call "speaking in other tongues" we find that there are basically two kinds of tongues mentioned in the New Testament, 'speaking with tongues of men and of angels." (1 Corinthians 13:1) First, as it was on the Day of Pentecost, "And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language." (Acts 2:5-6) As we see, the Holy Spirit gave these disciple the power or ability to speak in the articulate language of the numerous travelers who were present in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost, the tongues of men. The other kind of tongues spoken of by the apostle Paul is called the "manifestation or gift of the Holy Spirit" (1 Corinthians 12:4-10), and is referred to as "the tongues of angels" or an "unknown tongue," "For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him; however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries." (1 Corinthians 14:2)

The point is, what had taken place on the Day of Pentecost was the beginning of the wonderful, supernatural work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers in the service of  the Lord Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, in many sectors of the church there are doctrines that reject the work of the Holy Spirit in the way He worked through the believers of the early church. The thoughts behind this are basically, what God did in one dispensation He does not do in another and or, the church has the canonized scripture and therefore has no need of such things. Yet one only has to logically look at the state of what we call the church in the USA to realize that it is erroneous teaching like this that keeps believers safely behind the walls of church building never experiencing "The Gift of the Holy Spirit." (Acts 2:38)

The apostle Paul revealed in his letters to Timothy that this very thing would be permitted to happen in the church in the future. By future, I mean after the first three hundred years of the church. Paul warned Timothy, "Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons." (1 Timothy 4:1) He tells Timothy, "But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!" (2 Timothy 3:1-5)

Even though reformation has come upon the church, and the church has experienced various revivals (to bring back to life) still many church leaders today work at disguising apostasy with various terms and doctrine. It still all comes down to rejecting the work of the Holy Spirit due to "having a form of godliness but denying its power" of  Christ(ianity). I pray for all of you who have fallen prey to teaching that deny the Holy Spirit from working in the church as He did in the early church to trust that the Bible is clear in saying, "For I am the LORD, I do not change;" (Malachi 3:6), "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever." (Hebrews 13:8). If God has not changed and Jesus is the same, then God's Word has also not changed, because Jesus is the Word (John 1:1, 1 John 5:7, Revelation 19:13)

In part 5 of this series we will discover the wonderful works of the Holy Spirit and what it means to believers today. Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ...