They Believed In The Holy Spirit

They Believed in the Holy Spirit

Acts 2:1-4

John 14:15-26; John 16:5-14; Acts 1:4-8

Acts 2:1-4; And when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent, rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance NASB

The disciples believed in the Holy Spirit because Jesus had taught and promised them the Holy Spirit. The doctrine of the Holy Spirit is one of the most abused and ignored doctrines in all the Bible. It’s been abused by our Pentecostal brethren when it comes to tongues, healings, and miracles while at the same time in many of our mainline denominations it is ignored, I think, primarily because we don’t want to be labeled Pentecostal. Honestly, it wouldn’t hurt some of our Pentecostal brethren to practice the truth of Scripture and it wouldn’t hurt some of us Baptist to practice a little Pentecostal Spirit.

The disciples and the first church believed in the Holy Spirit. They may not have understood completely at this point the great importance of the Holy Spirit and just why they needed to wait for Him as the Father had promised but they knew Jesus had promised and commanded them to wait for Him and if their Lord said wait for what the Father had promised {Holy Spirit} it must have been of great importance.

And when the day of Pentecost had come,

Here they are: serving, praying, fellowshipping, searching the Scriptures; and patiently and faithfully waiting and then on the day of Pentecost, the waiting was over and the promise became reality. Why Pentecost?

Pentecost means "fiftieth" because this feast was held fifty days after the Feast of Firstfruits (Lev. 23:15-22). The calendar of Jewish feasts in Leviticus 23 is an outline of the work of Jesus Christ. Passover pictures His death as the Lamb of God (John 1:29; 1 Cor. 5:7), and the Feast of Firstfruits pictures His resurrection from the dead (1 Cor. 15:20-23). Fifty days after Firstfruits is the Feast of Pentecost, which pictures the formation of the church. At Pentecost, the Jews celebrated the giving of the Law, but Christians celebrate it because of the giving of the Holy Spirit to the church.

The Feast of Firstfruits took place on the day after the Sabbath following Passover, which means it was always on the first day of the week. (The Sabbath is the seventh day.) Jesus arose from the dead on the first day of the week and "became the firstfruits of them that slept" (1 Cor. 15:20). Now, if Pentecost. was fifty days later—seven weeks plus one day—then Pentecost also took place on the first day of the week. Christians assemble and worship on Sunday, the first day of the week, because on that day our Lord arose from the dead, but it was also the day on which the Holy Spirit was given to the church.

—Bible Exposition Commentary (BE Series) - New Testament

, they were all together in one place.

Now, it may simply mean that the believers were all gathered together in the same place, such as the upper room, but I think there may be a deeper spiritual truth to be had here that every church should hear and heed. The KJV says “one accord”

We are about to see the promise of the Holy Spirit upon the first church and see what happened as they were indwelt and infilled with power from on high.

They were all together in one place or of one accord. If the church, any church today, is going to see the Holy Spirit of God move in great power and presence they must be all together and one in spirit and truth. We live in a day when liberal theology and practice seems to be the norm in the church but there are still a great number of Bible-believing, Jesus preaching churches out there, yet many are not seeing the power and presence of the Holy Spirit at work in them and among them.

Why do you suppose that is so? I personally think that many of those Bible-believing, Jesus preaching churches are not all together in spirit and truth. Understand, if the church is not of one mind, one spirit, and one body {unity} then the preaching of one Lord, one God, one hope, and one salvation {truth} isn’t going to make a lot of difference in the lives of others. Truth trumps unity {oneness} but without unity, truth will always suffer.