THE PROMISED HOLY SPIRIT
It
has been our privilege for the past eight years to shepherd God's flock at Hope
Church in Sharon, a small town in Massachusetts. What makes Sharon unique is
that, besides others, it has two distinct communities: A large Jewish community
that follows the Torah, the first five books of the Old Testament. A small
Christian community that follows Jesus the Messiah and His teachings as
recorded in the New Testament, which is the continuation of the Old Testament.
The
Jewish community observes three major festivals, one of which is the Feast of
Weeks, also known as Shavuot, a Hebrew name. The Feast of Weeks is the second
of the three "solemn feasts" that all Jewish males were required to
travel to Jerusalem to attend (Leviticus 23, Deuteronomy 16:16). This important
feast begins seven full weeks, or precisely 50 days, after the Feast of
Firstfruits. It is also known as "Pentecost" (Acts 2:1), which means "fifty."[1]
From
June 1 to 3, 2025, the Jewish community observed "Shavuot, a two-day
festival that commemorates the giving of the Torah to the Jewish people at
Mount Sinai."[2] What connection
do Christians have with the Jewish festival, Shavuot, or the Festival of Weeks?
Jesus was crucified as the "Passover Lamb" and rose from the grave at the Feast of First Fruits. After the resurrection, He spent forty days teaching His disciples before ascending to heaven (Acts 1). On the day of Pentecost, or fifty days after His resurrection and ascension to heaven, God sends the Promised Holy Spirit (John 14:15-27). Unfortunately, many sincere Christians are unaware of the significance of Pentecost, let alone celebrate it. On this Pentecost Sunday, we will learn about the Promised Holy Spirit. What is the role of the Holy Spirit in the World, and how does He impact the lives of individual believers today?
I. The Most Neglected
Doctrine of the Holy Spirit
In general, we
Evangelical Christians believe in a Triune God, that is, God the Father, God
the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. We spend a considerable amount of time
learning about God the Father and God the Son. But many sincere Christians have
little to no interest in learning about God the Holy Spirit, the third Person
in the Godhead. Why is this disinterest and neglect?
Martyn Lloyd-Jones, who
wrote a whole book on this crucial doctrine, "God the Holy Spirit,"
explains the neglect this way: "Generally speaking, the position today is
that the doctrine of the Holy Spirit is either neglected or it tends to be
emphasized and exaggerated in a false manner. Because people are so afraid of
the spurious, the false, the excesses and freak manifestations of the Holy
Spirit, so they neglect the doctrine of the Holy Spirit altogether."[3]
We are comfortable
addressing God as our heavenly Father and Jesus as God's Son, but how do we
address the Holy Spirit? Does the Holy Spirit have a personality? Is the Holy
Spirit Divine? Let's explore these questions from the Bible and the book
"God the Holy Spirit." Martyn Lloyd Jones notes, "I have heard
most orthodox people referring to the Holy Spirit and His work as 'it' and
'its' influence and so on as if the Holy Spirit were nothing but an influence
or a power."
He provides a few
reasons behind that thinking: First, his work appears impersonal to us because
it involves mystical and secret work. Second, the very name itself. What does
Spirit mean? It means breath, wind, or power. That makes one think of Him as just
an influence rather than a person. The third reason is the very symbols used in
speaking of Him: the dove, oil, water, fire, and so on. The fourth reason is
how the KJV wrongly translated the work of the Holy Spirit. "The Spirit
itself beareth witness with our Spirit"(Rom 8:16), "the Spirit
itself maketh intercession"(Rom 8:26).[4]
The NIV translates as the "Spirit himself." Hence the
confusion!
II. The Person and the
Divinity of the Holy Spirit
Let us examine the scriptures
to establish the Person and divinity of the Holy Spirit. In our 'In Him'
series, the personal pronoun 'Him' referred to Jesus Christ. Jesus uses the
masculine personal pronoun "He" several times, referring to the Holy
Spirit in John 14-16. If Jesus addressed the Holy Spirit as 'He' and 'Him,' we
too can refer to the Holy Spirit as 'He' and 'Him,' not as a force, power, or
influence. A few scriptures that support the Person of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is identified with the Father and the Son
in such a way as to indicate personality. Look at the Baptismal Formula:
"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the
name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."Matthew 28:19.
He identifies with us as
a person. In a letter to the Gentile believers, the Apostles said, "It
seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond
the following requirements." Acts 15:28. He has a sovereign will. I Cor
12:11, He distributes the spiritual gifts as He wills. He can be grieved, so we
are warned not to grieve the Holy Spirit (Eph 4:30). He expresses love as we
read about the fruit of the Holy Spirit. (Gal 5:22).
He can be lied to, as in
the case of Ananias and Sapphira in the early Church. Peter rebuked Ananias,
saying, "How is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied
to the Holy Spirit." After that, he made a profound statement, saying,
"You have not just lied to human beings but to God."Bringing out the
divine nature of the Holy Spirit. Acts 5:3-4.
Here are some scriptures
about the divinity of the Holy Spirit. He is the creator, as stated in Genesis
1:2. Job notes that the Spirit of God made him—Job 33:4. He is eternal, as He
was referred to as the eternal Spirit. Heb 9:14. He has the same attributes of
God. He is omnipresent, as stated in Psalm 139:7. He is omnipotent, as seen in
Luke 1:35. He is omniscient, as mentioned in 1 Corinthians 2:10-11. These
scriptures reveal the Person and Divinity of the Holy Spirit.
III. The Work of the Holy
Spirit In The Life Of A Believer
There are many promises of God in the Bible,
and all of them are "Yes" and "Amen" in Christ. II Cor
2:20. In 900 BC, God promised through His prophet Joel that in the last days,
He would pour out His Spirit on all people (Joel 2:28-29). Eight hundred years
later, Jesus promised his disciples that he would ask the Father, and he would
give them another Advocate to help and be with them forever—the Spirit of
Truth. He would also live with and in them. John 14:15-17.
As
promised, God sent the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost to a group of 120
disciples first and then to 3,000 Jewish people from all over the World
gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Weeks. He convicted them of
their sins, leading them to repentance and baptizing them in the water. As a
result of the Holy Spirit's conviction, a Church was born.
Here
are a few ways the Holy Spirit works in our lives. First, the Holy Spirit
convicts people of their sins and leads them unto repentance as He did in Acts
2:37-39. Second, when we believe in God through our faith in Jesus, we will be
marked with God's promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our
inheritance until the final day of redemption. Eph 1:14
Third,
the Holy Spirit takes up residence in the bodies of believers, making us His
temples. I Cor 6:9. For that reason, we honor God with our bodies, avoiding
sexual immorality and all other vices that destroy our bodies, the temples of
the Holy Spirit.
Fourth,
the Holy Spirit will teach us all things and remind us of everything that
Christ has said. The best way to learn about Jesus is to sit humbly with an
open Bible, a pad to write, and ask the Holy Spirit to teach us about Christ.
In addition to these, He counsels us, comforts us in our hurts, and helps us in
our prayer life. If you are a believer in Christ, you have the Holy Spirit
residing in you. Throughout my life, I have learned to rely on Jesus through
the Help of the Holy Spirit. If you let Him, the Promised Holy Spirit can also
guide and lead you to Christ.
[1] https://www.gotquestions.org/Feast-of-Weeks.html
[2] https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/609663/jewish/What-Is-Shavuot.htm#:~:text=15-,Shavuot%202025,of%20the%206th%20of%20Sivan.
[3] Martyn Lloyd-Jones, “God The Holy
Spirit.” Page 5
[4]
Ibid., 8,9
