The Promise of the Holy Spirit
Introduction
The study of the Holy Spirit is always an interesting one, but it is also one that is neglected.
Don Stewart listed several reasons why the study of the Holy Spirit is overlooked. Among those he listed:
-The fear of fanaticism. Because the fanatical behavior of some individuals has been attributed to the Holy Spirit, there is the overreaction of neglecting the Holy Spirit altogether.
-The Holy Spirit Is Invisible. Since the Holy Spirit has no body or shape He is often thought of in an impersonal or unimportant way. This leads people to ignore or neglect His ministry.
-He Works Inwardly Not Outwardly. There are no great outward signs of His ordinary work. Jesus Christ the Savior did something outward for believers while the Holy Spirit does things inside believers.
-The Holy Spirit Is Hard to Conceive Of. While it is easy to conceive of God the Father and God the Son, it is difficult to conceive of God the Holy Spirit. Jesus was a Person who lived in history. The New Testament gives us many details about His life and ministry. Thus we are able to relate to Him. Likewise, it is easy to understand God as an all-wise, all-powerful Father. However it is not the same with the Holy Spirit.
-The Holy Spirit Does Not Speak of Himself. He is always representing others. He was sent to testify of Jesus. Jesus said: “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. “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”(John 16:12, 13 NKJV).
-We Do Not Have a Personal Relationship with the Holy Spirit. While believers have a relationship with God the Father through His Son Jesus Christ, there is no such relationship with the Holy Spirit. He is the means through which we know the Father and the Son. We do not have a unique relationship with Him alone.
We shouldn’t let any of these things keep us from growing in the knowledge and appreciation for the Holy Spirit!
We begin with the promise of the Spirit.
John Stott: “The Christian life is life in the Spirit… it would be impossible to be a Christian, let alone to
live and grow as a Christian, without the ministry of the gracious Spirit of God. All we have and are as
Christians we owe to him.”
The Christian life begins with a new birth, and the new birth is a birth “of the Spirit”.
John 3:5-8 “ Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
1. The Promise of the Spirit is the Promise of Sonship!
Stott “All who have the Spirit of God are the sons and daughters of God, and all who are sons and daughters of God have the Spirit of God.”
Galatians 4:6 Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.”
Romans 8:15-16 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.”
Romans 5:5b “God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”
Paul sums it up by affirming that “And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to
Christ.” (Romans 8:9).
Romans 8 is of considerable importance because it demonstrates that in Paul’s mind to be “in Christ” and
“in the Spirit,” to have “the Spirit in you” and “Christ in you” are all synonymous expressions.
2. His Ministry is Both to Reveal Christ to us and to form Christ in us.
It is by the power of the indwelling Spirit that the evil desires of our fallen nature are restrained and the good fruit of Christian character is produced.
He also unites us to the Body of Christ, the Church, so that Christian fellowship is “the fellowship of the Holy Spirit,” and Christian worship is worship in or by the Holy Spirit. Philippians 2:1, 3:3 ESV So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy,....who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus ..."
The Spirit is our guarantee. Ephesians 1:13-14 NIV And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.
The Spirit will be active in raising our mortal bodies. Romans 8:11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.
From the very beginning to the very end of our Christian life, we are dependent on the work of the Holy Spirit.
3. The Promised Outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
Stott “This ‘outpouring’ or ‘baptism’ of the Holy Spirit was to be one of the main distinctive blessings of the new age.
Cottrell “Thus in a real sense Pentecost was the beginning of a truly new age, an age that continues to this very day. one thing that makes it new is the role played by the Holy Spirit in this age.”
John 7:37-39 On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” 39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.”
The prophets foretold that in the days of the Messiah God would grant a liberal effusion of the Holy Spirit, which would be new and distinctive, and available for all.
Isaiah 32:15 till the Spirit is poured on us from on high, and the desert becomes a fertile field, and the fertile field seems like a forest.
Isaiah 44:3 For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants.
Ezekiel 39:28,29 Then they will know that I am the Lord their God, for though I sent them into exile among the nations, I will gather them to their own land, not leaving any behind. 29 I will no longer hide my face from them, for I will pour out my Spirit on the people of Israel, declares the Sovereign Lord.”
Joel 2:29 “Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days.”
John, the last prophet of the old order, ascribed the outpouring of the Spirit to the Messiah himself: Mark 1:8 “I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
On the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2, Peter assured all who would repent and be baptized would receive from God two free gifts: forgiveness and the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Acts 2:38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
A reading of the first two chapters of Acts leads to the conclusion that this “gift of the Spirit” is synonymous with what has been termed:
-The Promise of the Spirit (1:4, 2:33, 39)
-The baptism of the Spirit (1:5)
-The outpouring of the Spirit (2:17, 33)
Stott: We could sum it up by saing that these penitent believers received the gift of the Spirit that God had promised before the day of Pentecost, and were thus baptized with the Spirit whom God poured out that day or Pentecost, and thus were baptized with the Spirit whom God poured out on the day of Pentecost.
In addition to remission of sins, it also includes the positive blessing of the Holy Spirit to regenerate, indwell, liberate and transform us.
Titus 3:5b-7 He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.
4. The Day of Pentecost had two distinctive meanings.
- It was the last event of the saving career of Jesus, the long-promised outpouring of the Spirit consequent on Christ’s death, resurrection, and ascension. As such it completed the inauguration of the new or Messianic age, the age of the Spirit.
It was the fulfillment of the general Old Testament expectation of the Spirit’s coming, but also of those special promises of Jesus in the Upper Room.
Conclusion
1. Leonard Allen, “Poured Out. It’s an image of lavish generosity, of breadth and richness and fullness. It’s not a
sparing gift here and there, reserved for a few lone prophets, extraordinary leaders, and wild visionaries. …
the outpouring of the Spirit was not restricted to a few special people but was being poured out on the whole
community of God’s people and beyond - sons, daughters, old men, young men, servants, male and female.
….Pouring out is a metaphor for the lavish and life-giving gift of teh Spirit to all believers in the messianic
age that has dawned.”
2. To begin our study, we should recognize that the gift of the Holy Spirit was a matter of prophecy and
promise.
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Resources
Allen, Leonard. Poured Out: The Spirit of God Empowering the Mission of God. ACU Press, 2018.
Cottrell, Jack. The Holy Spirit: A Biblical Study. College Press, 2006.
Stewart, Don. Why Is the Subject of the Holy Spirit Neglected?
https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/stewart_don/faq/the-identity-of-the-holy-spirit/03-why-is-the-subject-of-holy-spirit-neglected.cfm
Stott, John. Baptism & Fullness: The Work of the Holy Spirit Today. InterVarsity Press, 2021.
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