Last weekend, we celebrated Pentecost Sunday. It was 50 days after the resurrection of Jesus, 50 days after He conquered all sin, death and evil. He overcame all that held humanity captive and all that kept us separated from a relationship with God as our Heavenly Father. He made a way to establish His Kingdom here on earth through the Holy Spirit, who descended onto all the believers gathered in the upper room on the day of Pentecost.
| Acts 2:1-4 AMPWhen the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place, and suddenly a sound came from heaven like a rushing, violent WIND, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. There appeared to them tongues resembling FIRE, which were being distributed [among them], and they rested on each one of them [as each person received the Holy Spirit]. And they were all filled [that is, diffused throughout their being] with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues (different languages), as the Spirit was giving them the ability to speak out [clearly and appropriately. |
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Pentecost was the fulfilment of a promise from God given in the Old Testament. In Joel 2:28, God promised that He would pour out His Spirit on ALL flesh. Peter quoted Joel 2:28 when those who had been filled with the Holy Spirit were being accused of being drunk. It’s also a fulfilment of the promise Jesus gave His disciples when preparing them for the days ahead when he would no longer be physically present with them.
| John 14:16-17 AMP And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper (Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor—Counselor, Strengthener, Standby), to be with you forever— the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive [and take to its heart] because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He (the Holy Spirit) remains with you continually and will be in you. |
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The Amplified version encompasses what the Greek word used to describe the Holy Spirit means. The Greek word Paraclete covers all of the adjectives used to describe the Holy Spirit, likened to ‘One called alongside to help’
In John 16:1-6,Jesus, who had been with them in person, tells them that they are going to face opposition and persecution, even tells them that when people kill them in the future, they will think they are doing God a service. If that’s not bad enough, he goes on to say, “I am going away”, and in verse 7, he goes on to say It’s to your advantage that I am going - because if I don’t go, the Paraclete cannot come.
This must have seemed crazy to the disciples. We are on the other side of the Holy Spirit, having descended, but they are hearing this information and not understanding it at all. They had the privilege to be physically alive when Jesus was alive. Even after his resurrection, he appeared to them - showed them His scars and ate with them too; they had been specifically chosen to be His disciples. Can you imagine what they had seen, witnessed and experienced? But having Him present physically was going to change.
We have not seen Jesus in the flesh: We have experienced the infilling of the Holy Spirit, and in Revelations 22:4, we have the promises that one day, we, who have made Jesus Lord of our lives, will see Him face to face. We may not see Him physically, but He is EVER PRESENT IN OUR LIVES BECAUSE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD that came upon humanity on the day of Pentecost.
| Acts 1:4-5 AMPWhile being together and eating with them, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, “Of which,” He said, “you have heard Me speak.. For John was baptised with water, but you will be baptised and empowered and united with the Holy Spirit, not long from now.” |
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THE HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD - THE PARACLETE IS A PERSON
He is not an ‘it.’ He is not an impersonal force. He is part of the Godhead - Trinity - Our God is 3 in 1. He gives us Life and speaks Truth.
| John 6:63 ERVIt is the Spirit that gives life. The body is of no value for that. But the things I have told you are from the Spirit, so they give life. |
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The Holy Spirit supernaturally gives us eternal life, and He wants to speak TRUTH to us - spirit to spirit: But we can resist and ignore Him, and by doing so and not living in the fullness of the life He gives us, we can grieve the Spirit of God (Eph 4:30).
THE HOLY SPIRIT HAS BEEN THERE FROM THE BEGINNING OF TIME
| Gen 1:1-2 NKJVIn the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. |
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JESUS WAS CONCEIVED BY THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
| Matthew 1:18-21 NIVThis is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,because he will save his people from their sins.” |
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THE HOLY SPIRIT WAS AT THE WATER BAPTISM OF JESUS
| Matthew 3:16 - 17 (NKJV)When He had been baptised, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” |
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JESUS’ LAST WORDS TO THE DISCIPLES WERE ABOUT THE HOLY SPIRIT (ACTS 1:4-5)
WE WERE INTENDED TO BE THE DWELLING PLACE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
| 1 Corinthians 3:16 NKJVDo you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? |
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Adam and Eve were created in the image of God - God is a Spirit. Sin separated them from the Garden of Eden and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, which continues until we are ‘born again’ of the Spirit of God.
BEING FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT LEADS TO TRANSFORMATION
We see this clearly in the disciples’ lives. This transformation is central to all they became: from confusion into clarity, and self-reliance into cooperation with God’s will. It turns fear into boldness. They went from being fearful and running away to boldly running towards their mission. People would not have recognised these followers of Christ as the same disciples who had fled in panic, fear and confusion after Jesus’ arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane. They were forever changed. And this is true for us in this day and age - 2000+ years later. We are forever changed as we MAKE ROOM for the Spirit of God in our lives.
JESUS WAS TOTALLY DEPENDENT ON THE HOLY SPIRIT
| Luke 4:18 AMPThe Spirit of the Lord [is] upon Me, because He has anointed Me [the Anointed One, the Messiah] to preach the good news (the Gospel) to the poor; He has sent Me to announce release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to send forth as delivered those who are oppressed [who are downtrodden, bruised, crushed, and broken down by calamity] |
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If it was important for Jesus to rely on the Holy Spirit, then it must also be important for us to do so too, if we are to live in the fullness of all that Salvation has.
THE HOLY SPIRIT TEACHES AND GUIDES US INTO TRUTH
He reveals to us the things that could not have been understood before Jesus died and rose again. Jesus calls the indwelling presence in us ‘the Spirit of Truth’, who, Jesus says, will teach you all things (John 14:26).
| John 16:13 Amp But when He, the Spirit of Truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth [full and complete truth]. For He will not speak on His own initiative, but He will speak whatever He hears [from the Father—the message regarding the Son], and He will disclose to you what is to come [in the future]. |
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He dwells in us, teaching us the truth, the truth about ourselves and who we are in Christ Jesus, the truth about the world, the truth about the nature and character of the Living God (Gal 5:22). We are not left to find the truth on our own. We are not left to figure out the truth on our own.
| “He will teach us the benefits of Jesus’ death, the consequences of Jesus’ resurrection, and the full implications of Jesus’ ascension. And He will teach us to live with the expectation of Jesus’ return” (Darrel Johnson) |
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The greatest passion of the Holy Spirit is Jesus and revealing who Jesus is to us today. Therefore, the Paraclete comes to unveil and unfold The Truth step by step, leading to transformation from the inside out, transforming us more and more into the likeness of Christ himself. He helps us to see everything in light of the one who is The Truth, The Life, The Way. The Spirit knows Jesus. The Spirit loves Jesus. And it is His desire/passion that we know Jesus, and that we love Jesus.
When we make room and allow the Holy Spirit to capture our attention and hearts, we too will become preoccupied with Jesus. When a community becomes preoccupied with Jesus and His will and His way, when a community turns their eyes upon Jesus and His will and His ways, the transformation and impact that will unfold will be supernatural. It’s happened before - do you believe it can happen again?
On the day of Pentecost, Wind and Fire were part of the story. Throughout God’s interactions with humanity, these two elements have consistently indicated the presence and activity of the living God. Naturally, we know that fire spreads when the wind blows on it. The Holy Spirit’s fire fell on 120 people, and by the end of that day, 3,000 people had accepted Jesus Christ as Lord. You and I ‘on fire’ - that’s the plan for reaching those who don’t yet know Jesus as Lord and Saviour. What could happen as a community here in Berlin were more intentional about inviting the Holy Spirit into our daily lives? What could happen spiritually in our lives and the lives of others in our city as that fire that is in us is stirred, fanned into flame and with the wind of the spirit on it?!
It is the Spirit’s main purpose: to make Jesus real to us and remind us who we are in Christ Jesus. But it’s important to recognise that the Holy Spirit cannot work in our lives without our cooperation. God refuses to bypass our will in accomplishing His purposes in us. He forces no one—the Holy Spirit is a gentleman.
| Rev 2:7 NIVWhoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God. |
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Will you choose to cooperate with the Holy Spirit? Galatians 5:16–26 encourages us to walk in the Spirit, not in the flesh. The old nature (the flesh) is living life without the Holy Spirit. The New Nature is living life with the Spirit of God. Choose life! The more we practice and choose to cooperate with the Holy Spirit, the stronger our spiritual nature becomes and the weaker the flesh. He is standing by to speak to you, he is standing by to guide you, he is standing by to reveal the truth to you.
Let’s be a community that honours the Holy Spirit and be intentional like those in the upper room who make room for the Spirit of Truth to move in our lives.
PERSONAL REFLECTION
- Write down the “One Thing” that stood out to you from the message. How can you see this in your day-to-day life and apply it this week? Who can you share it with?
- What could being intentional about making room for the Holy Spirit look like for you this week?What adjustments can you make to create space for prayer, worship, God’s Word, and listening to His voice?
- What areas of your life are you holding on to or keeping away from the Holy Spirit? Why don’t you take a moment to invite the Holy Spirit into that area and allow Him to bring His truth, freedom, and life?
Heavenly Father, thank You for sending Your Holy Spirit, thank You that because of Jesus, we are no longer separated from You, but are now sons and daughters. Let Your fire burn brightly in our hearts and let the wind of Your Spirit stir us afresh. May our lives point others to Jesus. Let our community be marked by Your love, Your power, and Your truth, Amen.