Welcome back for the new year! My lifegroup started back this past week, and we went around the circle and prayed for each family. Maybe your group needs that also?
The Holy Spirit
What comes to your mind when you think about the Holy Spirit?
What are some common perceptions/misperceptions about the Holy Spirit?
I thought this video was a pretty funny one, but it might not be to your taste.
This can be a little difficult to understand. The Holy Spirit, like Jesus, is part of the Trinity. That means He is co-equal and co-eternal with God and yet distinct from the other two persons of the Trinity in His work. Though we often feel inadequate to be used by God for His kingdom, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to indwell believers for the express purpose of empowering us to be His witnesses (Acts 1:8). Today we will see how, by the power of the Holy Spirit, we can find confidence to be used by God for His kingdom and glory. The Holy Spirit gives us the will, the wisdom, and the power to carry out Jesus’ commission to take the gospel to the world.
Here is some of what Jesus says about the Holy Spirit:
John 14:15–17 (NLT)
“If you love me, obey my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.”
John 14:26 (NLT)
“But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.”
John 15:26 (NLT)
“But I will send you the Advocate—the Spirit of truth. He will come to you from the Father and will testify all about me.”
John 16:7–10 (NLT)
“But in fact, it is best for you that I go away, because if I don’t, the Advocate won’t come. If I do go away, then I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment. The world’s sin is that it refuses to believe in me. Righteousness is available because I go to the Father, and you will see me no more.”
So, according to Jesus, who is the Holy Spirit, and what does He actually do?
Acts 1:8 (NLT)
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
So, thinking about the Holy Spirit as described by Jesus, how does He help us accomplish the mission that Jesus gives us here in Acts 1:8?
The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity that indwells followers of Jesus and is the presence and power of God in their lives. The Holy Spirit helps us understand Jesus and remember His teaching (John 14:26). The Spirit bears witness to Jesus (John 15:26) and will convict the world of sin, righteousness and God’s judgment (John 16:10). After Jesus returned to heaven, the Holy Spirit picked up where Jesus left off. While Jesus physically walked the earth for a very short time, the Holy Spirit will be with us forever, and we are dependent on His power to help us take the gospel to the nations and to open the ears of those who hear it.
Even though the Holy Spirit wasn’t officially given to us until after Jesus’ ascension, He does show up from time to time in the Old Testament. He was also promised in the Jewish Scriptures. In the passage below, what did Joel prophesy about the release of the Holy Spirit?
Joel 2:28–32 (NLT)
“Then, after doing all those things, I will pour out my Spirit upon all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy.
Your old men will dream dreams,
and your young men will see visions.
In those days I will pour out my Spirit
even on servants—men and women alike.
And I will cause wonders in the heavens and on the earth—
blood and fire and columns of smoke.
The sun will become dark,
and the moon will turn blood red
before that great and terrible day of the LORD arrives.
But everyone who calls on the name of the LORD
will be saved,
for some on Mount Zion in Jerusalem will escape,
just as the LORD has said.
These will be among the survivors
whom the LORD has called.
So, how does Luke, the author of Acts, tell us that Joel’s prophecy was fulfilled at Pentecost? (see below)
Acts 2:1–2 (NLT)
On the day of Pentecost all the believers were meeting together in one place. Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting.
Sure, the Holy Spirit has always been at work in the world. Throughout the Old Testament and in the New Testament prior to Jesus’ birth and even during His ministry, the Spirit shows up time and again. Sometimes the Spirit is described as a mighty wind that was an agent from God. The Old Testament often tells of God giving the Holy Spirit to people He chose and called out for service such as prophets, priests, and kings. In Joel 2, the prophet announces God’s promise to release His Spirit on all humanity, which Peter connected to the events that happened at Pentecost (Acts 2:17-21).
How was the role of the Holy Spirit in the world forever changed after Pentecost?
What would you say are one or two of the greatest blessings of having the Holy Spirit dwell within you?
On the day of Pentecost, God released His Holy Spirit into the lives of all believers, just as Jesus had promised many times. In the old covenant era (before the cross), the Holy Spirit came upon men and women to empower them for the work God had called them to accomplish, but His work was not on such a grand scale. When God promised to establish a new covenant, He also promised to give His Spirit. And the nature of the Holy Spirit’s work would be different in the new covenant than in the old. All who belong to God because of the work of Jesus Christ receive the Holy Spirit’s indwelling presence.
In what ways does the reality of the Spirit’s life-giving, permanent presence in your heart affect your view of Christian living?
How does having the Holy Spirit’s power make a difference in how you have been able to serve God and live out His Acts 1:8 mission?
Acts 1:8 gives the church, both past and present, its marching orders. We are to faithfully share with the rest of the world the story of what Jesus has done for us. We can do so confidently because we believe that we have been changed by Jesus, empowered by the Holy Spirit, and sent out as witnesses to change the world.
In what ways does the reality of the Spirit’s life-giving, permanent presence in your heart affect your view of Christian living?
What evidence could you point to that shows the Spirit’s power at work in your life?
As a member of the church, how does the Spirit enable you to share the gospel and join in the church’s mission? What is your next step in the mission?