On Pentecost Sunday, we honor the Holy Spirit and the wonders that he performed over 2000 years ago.
Today, let's look at Acts 2: 1–11.
"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 and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.”
Imagine how it was that day: the apostles were huddled together in a room, praying that God would show them what to do, terrified that the Roman soldiers would find them and drag them away.
Amid their prayers, the Spirit came upon them like a rushing wind (think the freight train roar of a tornado) and filled the whole house in which they were staying. First came that deafening sound, and then an overwhelming feeling of love and power and grace and mercy filled every pore of their bodies and souls. Suddenly, God was no longer far away. Now God was inside them, cleansing them of every fear, every doubt, empowering them and cheering them on all at the same time.
What a miracle!
The fear was gone: all that was left was awe and wonder for the Lord of the universe and what He has done.
The feeling was so incredible that they had to go out and tell someone, to try to share the incredible thing that had happened to them. They rushed out into the bustling street and started proclaiming what God had done.
Amazingly, the strangers in the streets didn’t just stop and listen to them. They were staring at them wide-eyed with mouths hanging open. The apostles came out of hiding with tongues of fire resting on their heads! That’s an attention-getter if there ever was one! A great buzz of excitement built to epic proportions, and Jesus’ friends begin to make out what everyone was saying: they all heard what the disciples were telling them, not in Aramaic (the language the disciples knew), but in each person’s native tongue! People from all over the known world were gathered in Jerusalem that day and each heard the Word of God in his own language. What a wonder! What a day! What an awesome God we serve!
The Holy Spirit sure knows how to make an entrance, doesn’t He? He was a mighty presence all through the book of Acts, helping the apostles establish the early church. Some argue that it was the Holy Spirit who appeared to the Israelites in the wilderness as a cloud by day and a pillar of smoke by night. We see a lot about what He did, but what we don’t see is who He is. Jesus describes Him as the Helper and the Comforter, but that doesn’t reveal much about Him personally.
The Old Testament shows us who God the Father is. There are records of his conversations with folks like Abraham, Isaac, David, and others. The Psalms tell us a lot about who the Father is. The Gospels show us who Jesus is. Much of his life was recorded by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. But the Holy Spirit? We have references to Him throughout the Old Testament, but the spotlight is never on Him. That’s the problem. The Holy Spirit is always pointing to God the Father and to Jesus. As to his independent character, we are left in the dark. We must determine who the Holy Spirit is by inference.
I found only one instance where the Holy Spirit directly speaks — in Acts 13: 1 — and that is just a single command, so we never hear much of what He has to say. Since he works through people, we don’t see him act directly. That tells us something about Him: He is all about the witness that He gives and empowering others, and not so much about promoting Himself.
There are some things we do know about the character of the Holy Spirit.
We know that He is a person, just as Father God and Jesus are people. How do we know that? Scripture gives us little glimpses into His nature. We know that He has emotions because Scripture tells us that he gets angry. We read how He can be in Isaiah 63:10. We learn how He can be insulted in Matthew 12:31. It's important to remember these traits. While it's tempting to think of the Holy Spirit as a thing — a machine that engages when Jesus pushes the button — that’s not a true assessment of the situation.
The Holy Spirit is an equal part of the Trinity. His nature is the same as Jesus’ and the Father’s. Jesus said that if we know Him we know the Father. The same is true of the Holy Spirit. If we know Jesus, we know Him.
Though the Holy Spirit’s nature is the same as the Father and the Son, His mission is unique. We know that he lives inside us, so that we may be encouraged and empowered to do the work of the Great Commission. In 1 Corithinians 4:19, Paul shares with us, “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you
have from God?”
We often speak of Jesus inside us, but that is wonky theology.
The person of Jesus does not live inside us: the person of Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father. The Holy Spirit, whom he sent, lives within us.
We also know from Isaiah 11:2 that the Spirit is a spirit of wisdom and understanding and counsel and might. If we ask the Spirit to give us those things, He is eager to oblige.
We know he is a teacher from John 14:26. We just have to be better students!
Romans 8:26 encourages us by reminding us that the Holy Spirit also intercedes for us. The Holy Spirit prays to the Father for us, even when we don't pray ourselves.
With all these things that the Spirit is willing to do for us, it makes Him a great ally to have. So why don’t we turn to Him more often? We will ask the Father to meet our needs, we ask Jesus to help us, but we often ignore the Holy Spirit and what He can do for us. That’s okay. He’s humble, but we might be missing out on a lot of benefits we could have if we only asked Him for them.
Some folks try to discount the stories of miracles in the Bible because we don’t see them happening today. I don’t agree: I think we see miracles all around us if we take the time to look. We might not see larger miracles, not because the Holy Spirit is weak or finished with all that kind of business, but because we don’t ask in faith.
I encourage you this week to think hard on the personhood of the Holy Spirit. Talk to Him like you’d talk to your closest friend. Confide in Him. Ask for His help. He’s listening. His mission is to help you. Ask for His presence and power in your life. If you do that, you might just be astounded at the generosity and grace of His answer to you.
If you see a mighty move of God as an answer to prayer, please let me know! I’d love to hear your story.