By The Rev Dr Stuart Lange/NZ Christian Network.
On the day of Pentecost, we see the magnificent outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles, and on all subsequent believers in Jesus. And we see God birthing his worldwide Church.
The background to Pentecost, of course, was the suffering and death of Jesus, and his triumphant Resurrection. Immediately before the Risen Jesus ascended to the Father, he announced that “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 timing was significant. Pentecost was the Greek name for the Jewish festival of Weeks, the festival in which Jews celebrated the start of the harvest. And through the power of the Holy Spirit, God was that day beginning a massive spiritual harvest, that in due course would spread throughout the whole world, to “the ends of the earth”.
God heralded this day with miraculous signs: the sound of a roaring mighty wind that filled the building (a symbol of the Spirit and the breath of life), with tongues of fire (a symbol of God’s purifying and powerful presence ), and the Apostles miraculously speaking intelligibly in foreign languages (a symbol of the coming proclamation of salvation in Christ to all nations).
To the Jerusalem crowd, Peter courageously reproached his countrymen for rejecting Jesus, proclaimed Jesus’ resurrection, and called them to repentance and faith in Jesus. The Holy Spirit powerfully moved, and 3,000 people repented and believed.
And so, the Church was born. In the power of the Spirit, God’s message of salvation in Jesus has subsequently been fruitfully preached to every corner of the globe, and billions of people have received new spiritual life in Christ.
Who receives the Holy Spirit? All who trust in Jesus. It is through the Holy Spirit that we first repent and come to believe, and receive new life from above, and are then empowered to live for Christ.
In so many ways, the Holy Spirit is at work in believers: in assuring us we belong to God (Rom. 8:16), in giving us God’s love (Rom. 5:5), in helping us pray (Rom. 8:26), in giving us understanding (John 14:26, 16:13), in changing us inwardly more like Jesus (2 Cor. 3:18), in helping us put to death what is wrong in us (Rom. 8:13), in growing in us the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23), in giving us gifts for service (Rom. 12:4-8, 1 Cor. 12-14), and in empowering us to evangelise and disciple people of all nations (Acts 1:8, Matt. 28:19-20).
In this season of Pentecost, there is so much for which we can give thanks and praise to God. May all who believe in Jesus be eager to live “in the Spirit”, and may the Holy Spirit move in power across our nation and world.
