The emotion I hope to communicate is that of a child digging in a sandbox with a plastic shovel while gazing across the street where a massive excavator is moving earth. It is both humbling and inspiring. The current experience is exposed and it’s limited but the potential experience is revealed and it’s unlimited. This is the emotion that God has often stirred in me when I think about the Holy Spirit. It feels like failure when I look at my spiritual life but it feels like victory when I look at what the Holy Spirit has made available to me.
Try to imagine the scene of Jesus’ final moments on earth before ascending to heaven (Acts 1:1-11). He died, then came back to life, then spent 40 more days on earth. On day 40 He tells His followers to wait there and that in just a few days they would be baptized by the Spirit and receive power. Then they watch Him rise into the air and disappear. That would be a lot to take in. The one who just rose from the dead and lifted off from the earth told them that something big is about to happen. Jesus set a high expectation for the experience of the Holy Spirit and He wasn’t exaggerating.
Fundamental Belief #5: The Holy Spirit
God the eternal Spirit was active with the Father and the Son in Creation, incarnation, and redemption. He is as much a person as are the Father and the Son. He inspired the writers of Scripture. He filled Christ’s life with power. He draws and convicts human beings; and those who respond He renews and transforms into the image of God. Sent by the Father and the Son to be always with His children, He extends spiritual gifts to the church, empowers it to bear witness to Christ, and in harmony with the Scriptures leads it into all truth.
Notice these 4 things from Acts 1:4-8 about the Holy Spirit:
#1 The Promise of the Spirit
The Spirit is a promise of the Father(v4, also Ephesians 1:13). It is not a contract, a reward, a VIP status, but a promise. A promise made by one who never breaks His word. If you are feeling like the limitless experience of the Spirit is unattainable for you remember that it is a promise for all who come to God in repentance (Acts 2:39).
Jesus reminded His followers that He already told them about this promised(v4). And He made some outstanding claims about it!
Luke 11:13 “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
John 6:63 “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all.”
John 3:34 “for he[God] gives the Spirit without measure.”
John 14:16-17 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
John 14:26 He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you
John 16:7-8 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment
John 16:13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.
#2 The Baptism of the Spirit
Jesus told His followers how they would experience the Spirit in their lives, they would be baptized by Him. To be baptized means to be immersed. Get that picture in your mind. We are immersed in the Holy Spirit. I baptize people. I dip them fully under the water and they come out soaked and dripping. That is how the how our connection with the Spirit should be. We often think of the Spirit coming into us and this is true. But we should not think that He is a little thing that fits inside of us but that we are fully immersed in Him. The Spirit comes upon us (v8).
We see an example of what this looks like in the next chapter(Acts 2). You’re familiar with the outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost. It was noticeable. People couldn’t not notice it. They were baptized. They were soaked and dripping with the Spirit.
Often when Scripture tells of a believers experience with the Holy Spirit is describes people as being “filled” with the spirit(Acts 2:38; 4:8; 6:5, 10; 8:14-17; 13:9, 13:52; 19:2-7; 10:44-46; 15:8; 11:28, 21:11). The text could use different words and still be true. The Spirit also influences, blesses and leads. But He doesn’t do those things from a distance, rather, He fills us.
#3 The Gift of the Spirit
The spirit cannot be earned as a wage. It must be received as a gift. Sure, there are things that can be done to put ourselves in a position to receive. Like obeying God (Act 5:32), ask for the Spirit (Luke 11:13), and hunger for it (Matthew 5). But ultimately it is a gift. If God doesn’t give the Spirit there is nothing that can be done to manufacture it.
There is no secret code. The followers of Jesus were not given the spirit because they had some special theological understanding. They were confused (v6). We have more knowledge of the Spirit today than they did on day 40. But having the Spirit is not a result of great learning it is a gift of God.
#4 The Fruit of the Spirit
I know, the “fruits of the Spirit” are in Galatians, not Acts. But we see come great fruits of the spirit in the experience of the early church. They received power. That is a fruit of the spirit. Notices, the text doesn’t say that they became powerful but that they received power. We are not to become something great in ourselves but to have God in us.
The Spirit enabled the believers to witness. The Spirit was given for practical fruits not just sensational experiences. The Spirit allowed them to join God’s work. It was the Spirit who told Peter to go with the three men after his vision (10:19). The Spirit set apart Paul and Barnabus for their first missionary journey (13:2 & 4). The Spirit was so involved in their discussions that they could say “it seemed good to the Spirit and to us” (15:28). A fruit of the Spirit is powerful and practical employment in the work of God.
How much do you want the Spirit?
While listen to a sermon by A.W. Tozer and I was struck by the words, “we all have as much of God as we want”. What to you think about that? It brings us back to that humbling and inspiring place where we started. Is it really my desire that sets the limit on my experience of God? We know, since the Spirit is a gift and God is sovereign, that we could desire like crazy but we will never obligate God to give. But God is willing to give and He is looking for our willingness to receive. I think this is what Ellen White was communicating when she said, “If all were willing all would be filled”(AA 50). More importantly, Jesus told us this when He said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they will be filled”(Matthew 5:6). And James reminds us that “we have not because we ask not” (James 4:2). We want the Spirit. But how much do we want Him? We like the thrill of the power but not the price of surrender. If I am not filled what is the problem? It is not with God’s ability to fill or His desire to do so. It is my lack of desire. Notice how C.S. Lewis described our desires, “Like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”. This is serious. If there is any desire in your life that is bigger than your desire for God then you will not be filled.
I know, our lives are full of distraction and desires for others things. But we must allow God to increase our desire for Him. To gift us with a holy discontentment for “spirituality” without the Spirit. To change our desires so that only He can satisfy them. We are back in that sand box. We can be content with the plastic shovel. Or we can trust that there is a far greater experience of God through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and desire that above all else.