Acts 2
Introduction
: I want to spend a few weeks (hopefully) addressing what is known and referred to as Pneumatology (study of work of the Holy Spirit).
Pentecost as Priority
Pentecost and Power
Pentecost for Purity & Purpose
Seeing that today is “Pentecost Sunday,” I start today with the day of Pentecost recorded in Acts chapter 2.
My Bibles sub-heading for Acts 2….
The Holy Spirit Comes
.
Read 2:1-17
2:15
, “These men are not drunk as some of you are assuming…what you see was predicted long ago
…”
Verses 17-21 quote Joel’s prophecy.
In Verses 22f Peter preaches about Jesus’ place and ministry and calls the people to believe and repent.
The people who were convicted asked,
“Brothers, what should we do?”
to which Peter replies,
2:38
, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
Transition
: Of all the gifts given to mankind by God, there is none greater than the presence of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit has many functions, roles, and activities. First, He does a work in the hearts of all people everywhere. Jesus told the disciples that He would send the Spirit into the world to “convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment” (
John 16:7-11
). Everyone has a “God consciousness,” whether or not they admit it. The Spirit applies the truths of God to minds of men to convince them by fair and sufficient arguments that they are sinners. Responding to that conviction brings men to salvation.
Jesus said He would send the Spirit to us to be our Helper, Comforter, and Guide.
John 14:16
, “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever.”
The Greek word translated here “helper,” “comforter,” Advocate,” is
parakletos
, means “one who is called alongside” and has the idea of someone who encourages and exhorts.
“
Another
” is the equivalent to “one like me.”
The Holy Spirit takes up permanent residence in the hearts of believers:
Romans 8:9
,
“
But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.”
(NKJ)
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
,
“
Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?
20
For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body
1
and in your spirit, which are God’s.”
(NKJ)
1 Corinthians 12:13,
“For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body– whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free– and have all been made to drink into
1
one Spirit.”
(NKJ)
Jesus gave the Spirit as a “compensation” for His absence, to perform the functions toward us which He would have done if He had remained personally with us.
Transition: I could spend all month and more easily with this teaching about function, but let me just mention three as examples to help us this morning.
The first function of the Holy Spirit I’ll mention is that of the H.S. as revealer of Truth.
Question
: Isn’t the truth what all men are seeking for? All of the sciences, philosophies and religion are in pursuit of one essential need everyone has…to know truth!
John 16:13
,
“However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.”
(NKJ)
The Spirit’s presence within us enables us to understand and interpret God’s Word.
Testimony
: (1) My experience with the Gideon bible before salvation. (2) My early (and not latter) Bible reading revelation(s).
To conclude my first thought is that the Holy Spirit is given to reside in us to lead, tell, reveal and encourage us about what is true as it relates to God.
Transition
: The second role or function of the Holy Spirit is that He is the “Fruit” producer and director of the Christian life.
When I speak of fruit, I refer to what comes out of and from us. That which is seen, understood and enjoyed by ourselves and by others.
John 15:1-5
,
“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”
(NKJ)
It is the work of the person of the Holy Spirit in us that keeps us connected to Jesus and which naturally produces good product!
Galatians 5:22-23,
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23
gentleness, self-control….”
(NKJ)
Question
: Is fruit automatic? Yes but not necessarily permanent! What do I believe? That as long as you are connected to Jesus and filled and led by the Spirit yes? But all fruit has to be current / fresh to be good/right!
Transition
: My third focus about who and what the Holy Spirit does / produces would be that of gifting.
Another one of the Holy Spirit’s roles is that of gift-giver.
First Corinthians 12
describes the spiritual gifts given to believers in order that we may function as the body of Christ on earth. All these gifts, both great and small, are given by the Spirit so that we may be His ambassadors to the world, showing forth His grace and glorifying Him.
In the Book of Isaiah 11:2-3, the Gifts of the Holy Spirit are described. In the passage the gifts are considered ones that the Messiah would have possessed. Through Jesus, we also receive the Gifts of the Holy Spirit in the Sacrament of Confirmation.
Wisdom
helps us recognize the importance of others and the importance of keeping God central in our lives.
Understanding
is the ability to comprehend the meaning of God’s message.
Knowledge
is the ability to think about and explore God’s revelation, and also to recognize there are mysteries of faith beyond us.
Counsel
is the ability to see the best way to follow God’s plan when we have choices that relate to him.
Fortitude
is the courage to do what one knows is right.
Piety
helps us pray to God in true devotion.
Fear of the Lord
is the feeling of amazement before God, who is all-present, and whose friendship we do not want to lose.
* These actually attributed to Christ but want to list here.
Gifts of the Spirit are special abilities provided by the Holy Spirit to Christians for the purpose of building up the body of Christ. The list of spiritual gifts in
1 Corinthians 12:8-10
includes wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, discerning of spirits, speaking in tongues, and interpretation of tongues. Similar lists appear in
Ephesians 4:7-13
and
Romans 12:3-8
.
The gifts of the Spirit are simply God enabling believers to do what He has called us to do
.
2 Peter 1:3
says, “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.”
The gifts of the Holy Spirit are part of the “everything we need” to fulfill His purposes for our lives.
Conclusion
: Pneumatology is vast and great and pretty much unlimited.
As I conclude, I refer once again to Acts 2:15,
“These men are not drunk as some of you assume….what you see was predicted long ago.”
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