Getting to know the Holy Spirit: The lead up to Pentecost

The next few weeks we will be looking at the influence of the Holy Spirit in the lives of the Lord’s disciples – the ‘twelve’ and other close followers of Jesus in the Book of Acts.

Mark 16:20 (NLT)

And the disciples went everywhere and preached, and the Lord worked through them, confirming what they said by many miraculous signs.

The lead up to Pentecost

In Acts 1 we are told that Jesus appeared to the disciples on a number of occasions after his resurrection to encourage them. On one of these occasions whilst dining with them, he tells them not to leave Jerusalem until they have received the Father’s gift of the baptism with the Holy Spirit.

Acts 1:3-5 (NIV)

³ After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. ⁴ On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. ⁵ For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

Just before the ascension of Jesus into heaven, he left the disciples with the instruction to wait in Jerusalem until they receive the promise of the Father which was the infilling of the Holy Spirit – power from on high.

Luke 24:49 (NLT)

 “And now I will send the Holy Spirit, just as my Father promised. But stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power from heaven.”

And in John 16:12-15, again just before his ascension, Jesus tells the disciples that he has lots to tell them, but they won’t be able to bear it all right then, but when the Holy Spirit comes, as in Luke 24:49 above, he will guide them in all truth, step-by step throughout their lives.

John 16:12-15 (NIV)

¹² “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. ¹³ But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.¹⁴ He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. ¹⁵ All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”

So now we have the scene set, the lead up to Pentecost, where the disciples are waiting in Jerusalem to be baptized with the Holy Spirit and where they will receive power from on high to enable them to step out and fulfil their God-given purpose in Christ Jesus.

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.”

In the meantime, let’s have a look at what they were doing whilst they were waiting. They weren’t just hanging around, they were actively engaged in putting into place some very important spiritual principles.

1.     They were waiting in Jerusalem just as the Lord told them to. Being obedient to the Word – Acts 1:4; Luke 24:49.

Isaiah 40:31 (KJV)

But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. 

2.     They were praying together continually – Acts 1:14. 

3.     They chose another apostle to replace Judas in obedience to the Word – Acts 1:20; Ps 109:8.

What can we learn from this to apply to our lives today?

Cultivate a daily lifestyle where prayer and obedience to the Word plays a BIG part – in fact the BIGGEST part and wait patiently for the Lord!

May the name of Jesus be lifted up and glorified!

An extract from my book: Fan Into Flame: Life in the Spirit available on Paperback:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1798692120

Getting to know the Holy Spirit: Who is it that baptises the born again believer with the Holy Spirit?

When we go through water baptism we are usually baptized by a pastor or an elder or another in authority at our local fellowship, but who is it that baptizes us with the Holy Spirit?

It is Jesus, our High Priest, who baptizes us in the Holy Spirit. Let’s have a look at the scriptures that confirm this.

Matthew 3:11 (NLT)

 “I baptize with water those who repent of their sins and turn to God. But someone is coming soon who is greater than I am—so much greater that I’m notworthy even to be his slave and carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

In the above verse it is John the Baptist talking to the Jews and the person he is referring to as the one that will come after him is Jesus. The verse below also confirms that it is Jesus who baptizes us with the Holy Spirit.

Acts 2:33 (NLT)

Now he is exalted to the place of highest honor in heaven, at God’s right hand. And the Father, as he had promised, gave him the Holy Spirit to pour out upon us, just as you see and hear today.

In the below verses we see that Paul imparts the Baptism with the Holy Spirit in the name of Jesus when he lays hands on some disciples in Ephesus 

Acts 19:1-7 (NLT)

While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled through the interior regions until he reached Ephesus, on the coast, where he found several believers. 2 “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” he asked them.

“No,” they replied, “we haven’t even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”

3 “Then what baptism did you experience?” he asked.

And they replied, “The baptism of John.”

4 Paul said, “John’s baptism called for repentance from sin. But John himself told the people to believe in the one who would come later, meaning Jesus.”

5 As soon as they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 Then when Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in other tongues and prophesied. 7 There were about twelve men in all.

May the name of Jesus be lifted up and glorified!

An extract from my book: Fan Into Flame: Life in the Spirit available on Paperback:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1798692120

Getting to know the Holy Spirit: What did life in the Spirit look like for Jesus?

What did living life in the Spirit look like for Jesus – his daily life?

Knowledge of the Word!  Prayer!  Fasting! All self-sacrificial and obedient to the Word of God itself, and of course to the Father!

Jesus had a well-developed lifestyle of prayer when he began his ministry, and this continued all through his ministry on earth. There are at least twenty-seven verses in the New Testament that tell of Jesus praying.

Matthew 14:23 (KJV)

And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone.

Luke 5:16 (KJV)

And he withdrew himself into the wilderness and prayed.

This is what the lifestyle of Jesus looked like - life in the Spirit Rom 8 - and we need to be imitators of Christ!

Eph 5:1 
Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. 

John 14:12 
Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.

Miracles, signs and wonders – Gifts of the Spirit

1.     Changing water into wine – Jn 2:1-11

2.     Healings:

The official’s son – Jn 4:46-47

Peter’ mother-in-law – Mk 1:30-31

The Leper – Mk 1:40-45

The Centurion’s servant – Mt 8:5-13

The paralytic – Mt 9:1-8

The woman with an issue of blood – Lk 8:43-48

The two blind men – Mt 9:27-31

The man at the pool – Jn 5:1-9

The deaf and mute man – Mk 7:31-37

The blind man in Bethsaida – Mk 8:22-26

The man born blind – Jn 9:1-12 

The man with abnormal body swelling – Lk 14:1-4

The 10 lepers – Lk 17:11-19

Two blind men at the roadside – Mt 20:30-34

The ear of the high priest’s servant – Lk 22:50-51

3.     The great catch of fish – Lk 5:1-11

The 2^nd great catch of fish – Jn 21:5-7

4.     Casting out demons:

The man in the synagogue – Mk 1:23-28

The two demoniacs – Mt 8:28-34

The man who could not speak – Mt 9:32-33

The man who was demon possessed and blind – Mt 12:22

The Canaanite woman’s daughter – Mt 15:22-28

The boy plagued by a demon – Mt 7:14-21

The woman crippled by a spirit for 18 years – Lk 13:10-17

5.     Resurrection:

The widow’s son – Lk 7:11-18

The synagogue leader’s daughter – Mt 9:18-26

Lazarus – Mt 11:38-44

Jesus rose from the dead – Lk 24-5-6

6.     Calming the storm – Mt 8:23-27

7.     Feeding the five thousand – Mt 14:15-21

8.     Feeding the four thousand – Mt 15:32-39

9.     The fig tree withers – Mt 21:18-22

May the name of Jesus be lifted up and glorified!

An extract from my book: Fan Into Flame: Life in the Spirit available on Paperback:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1798692120

Getting to know the Holy Spirit: Jesus overcomes the Tempter

How did Jesus silence Satan and overcome temptation?

Through his knowledge of the Word! It is written.

Luke 4:4 (NIV)

Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’ ^{(Deut 8:3)}

Matthew 4:7 (NIV)

Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ^{(Dt 6:16)}

Matthew 4:10 (NIV)

Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’ ^{(Dt 6:13)}

Three strikes and he’s out!

Matthew 4:11 (NIV)

Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

What’s important for us to remember and put into practice from this little section?

1.     Fasting

Although there is no scripture in the Bible that commands us to fast, we do know that fasting was part of Jesus’ lifestyle and as we are called to be imitators of Christ it makes good sense for us to fast at times as well. Just before his encounter with Satan in the wilderness, we are told this:

Matthew 4:2 (NLT)

For forty days and forty nights he fasted and became very hungry.

And Jesus says this to his disciples just after his teaching to them on how to pray:

Matthew 6:16

“When you fast,…………..

Here the Lord says “When you fast” not “if you fast” so from this we can gather that there is an expectation for us to fast.

2.     Knowledge of the Bible

Knowledge of the scriptures should of course be a key priority in our daily walk as Christians and true followers of Christ! As Jesus is the Word, the more we know the Bible the more we will know Jesus!

May the name of Jesus be lifted up and glorified!

An extract from my book: Fan Into Flame: Life in the Spirit available on Paperback:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1798692120

Getting to know the Holy Spirit: The Holy Spirit and Jesus the Man

Jesus – The Spirit Filled Man

Jesus – the Spirit filled man. Now this is a statement worth pondering on!

Jesus the man, but not just an ordinary man, a man filled with the Holy Spirit. The kind of man that Jesus wants us to strive to be from day to day – being transformed to His image.

The example that every born-again Christian should be following of course is the example of Jesus, in fact, He is the only example we should be following. The words that every born-again Christian should listen to, follow, believe in and put into practice in our lives are those found in the Bible, the Word of God. His manual for our lives! Jesus and the Word are one.

All right then so let’s have a good look at how the Holy Spirit influenced the life of Jesus and what Jesus said and taught about him (the Holy Spirit) that we need to take hold of and mold our lives into and around. I guess what I need to say now is that every word that comes out from our Lord needs to govern our Christian walk. But let’s look at the specifics of the Holy Spirit.

A good place to start then is in the book of John. If we turn to Chapter 1, we read this from the words that John the Baptist himself spoke:

John 1:32-34

32 And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him.33 And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.34 And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.

In this chapter from verse 29, John the Baptist is witnessing to his followers that Jesus is the messiah. He goes on to tell them in the three verses above that he saw the Holy Spirit descend from heaven like a dove and remain on Jesus. This was Jesus’ baptism in the Spirit directly from the Father in heaven and in addition to this, verse 33 tells us that it is Jesus who will baptise us (all believers who desire to believe and receive) in the Holy Spirit.

It is interesting to note too that it was only after Jesus was baptised in water and in the Holy Spirit that he began his ministry in great power and wherever he went and taught, miracles, signs and wonders and many other supernatural happenings accompanied his ministry as he moved in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus wants us to emulate him in this way too – he will baptise us in the Holy Spirit so that we are able to do as he did and do even greater things! A victorious Church that is moving in the power of the Holy Spirit and in unity. How cool is that?

Continues next week with....Jesus defeats the Tempter!

May the name of Jesus be lifted up and glorified!

An extract from my book: Fan Into Flame: Life in the Spirit available on Paperback:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1798692120

Getting to know the Holy Spirit - The Holy Spirit and Jesus the baby and the boy

The Holy Spirit and how he was influential in the life of Jesus as a baby and a boy when he walked the earth in human form.

The birth of Jesus:

Matt 1:18 (NLT)

This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit.

In the above verse we are told that Mary was impregnated by the Holy Spirit thus making God the father of Jesus. This was a significant move of the power of God through the Holy Spirit that had never been done before and will never be done again in any other being – God and the Word becoming flesh in order to fully identify with man!

The verses we have read above show us that the Holy Spirit was active in the life of Jesus the man right from his conception in the womb of his mother Mary.

The Bible doesn’t say much about Jesus as he grew up as a child, or as a young man until he reaches the age of 30 and begins his ministry as a man in the power of the Holy Spirit – that is after being both water-baptised and then immediately baptised with the Holy Spirit.

We’ve established that the birth of Jesus was the work of the Holy Spirit, so let’s now look at the work of the Holy Spirit in the baby Jesus and then the boy Jesus.

The Holy Spirit and the baby Jesus – Luke 2:1-40

In these verses Luke describes three significant, supernatural encounters that occurred in the first eight days in the life of baby Jesus.

1.   An angel of the Lord and a company of the heavenly host appear to a group of shepherds in the fields to tell them about the birth of the long-awaited Messiah – Luke 2:8-20.

2.   At baby Jesus’ dedication at the temple in Jerusalem he is blessed by a man called Simeon who is described as full of the Holy Spirit. Simeon takes Jesus in his arms (a sort of laying on of hands and praying) and praises God for the birth of the Messiah – Luke 2:21-35.

3.   At the same time there was also a prophet named Anna at the temple who also thanked God for the Messiah and spoke about the child to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem. Proclaiming to all that the long- awaited messiah was finally here!

The Holy Spirit and the boy Jesus – Luke 2:41-52

The next time Jesus is mentioned in the Bible is as a 12-year old boy. In these verses (Luke 2:41-52) we are told that Mary and Joseph and their family (including Jesus) went to Jerusalem to attend the Passover Festival. After the festival they leave for home, but Jesus stays behind without his parents realising. It is only after a day’s travel that they notice that Jesus is missing and return to Jerusalem to find him. It is three days before they find him, and this is what he was doing, remember he is just 12 years old:

Luke 2:46-47 (NIV)

⁴⁶ After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.⁴⁷ Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers.

So, in the above verses we see that this 12-year-old boy is sitting among the teachers of the day asking them questions and they are amazed at his understanding and his answers to their questions. This is the work of the Holy Spirit rising up in him.

After this the Bible doesn't tell us anything further in the life of Jesus the the boy except that he grew in stature and favour with both man and God.

Coming next week: The Spirit filled life of Jesus the man.

May the name of Jesus be lifted up and glorified!

An extract from my book: Fan Into Flame: Life in the Spirit available on Paperback:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1798692120

Getting to know the Holy Spirit - The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament

In the Old Testament, unlike in the New Testament, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit was selective and only for a specific purpose.

Exodus 31:1-5 (NIV)

Then the Lord said to Moses, 2 “See, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, 3 and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills— 4 to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, 5 to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of crafts. 6 Moreover, I have appointed Oholiab son of Ahisamak, of the tribe of Dan, to help him. Also I have given ability to all the skilled workers to make everything I have commanded you:

Here we have God telling Moses that He has called out Bezalel and filled him with the Holy Spirit and gifted him with a number of spiritual gifts to enable the construction of the tabernacle and it’s ornamental decoration and to teach others to do the same.

Numbers 27:18 (NIV)

So the Lord said to Moses, “Take Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit of leadership, and lay your hand on him.

In the above verse God tells Moses to lay hands on Joshua as His spirit was in him (Joshua) and the purpose of the spirit being in him was for leadership, Joshua was to succeed Moses as God's anointed leader of Israel. This is also one of the first instances of the laying on of hands on someone for an impartation of the Holy Spirit.

In the book of Judges we see that God raised up a number of Judges, such as Samson, to deliver Israel from oppression. These Judges were only able to act once the Spirit of God had come upon them. The Judges were chosen by God alone for this task. Read the book of Judges for yourselves and you will see what I mean!

1 Samuel 10:10 (NIV)

When he and his servant arrived at Gibeah, a procession of prophets met him; the Spirit of God came powerfully upon him, and he joined in their prophesying.

In this verse the Holy Spirit came upon Saul and he began to prophesy. Those that were witness to this event then realised that God’s anointing was upon Saul and that he was a changed man as was foretold by the prophet Samuel in verse 6 of this same chapter below.

1 Samuel 10:6 (NIV)

The Spirit of the Lord will come powerfully upon you, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be changed into a different person.

King David knew the presence of the Holy Spirit in his life! The Holy Spirit empowered him to be a great warrior and it was from his lineage that our Lord Jesus took on His humanity. David knew God’s presence was with him through the Holy Spirit as we see in the below verse:

Psalm 139:7 (NIV)

Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?

And, of course, all the prophets and writers of the Bible, Old and New Testament wrote under the power of the Holy Spirit and by the same token, all prophecy came from men in the power of the Holy Spirit.

John 1:1 (NIV)

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

2 Peter 1:21 (NIV)

For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

2 Tim 3:16-17 (NIV)

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

In the Old Testament the infilling of the Holy Spirit was selective and for a period of time and for a specific purpose only, unlike in the New Testament where the infilling of the Holy Spirit is for all Born Again Christians and is permanent.

May the name of Jesus be lifted up and glorified!