The LORD God is Eternal, He abides in the Eternal Now. Among the great mysteries (or better said, among our severe limitations) is the nature of God Himself – what I have come to think of as the Tri-Unity of the Three Personages: Father, Son, and Spirit. As I have admitted before, the complexity of the doctrine of God inevitably comes down to a Man’s (I use the capital to indicate “mankind” similar to how Adam is used initially) ability to believe it to be true. In other words, since it is beyond our ability to observe and therefore know, we are left with choosing to accept the inexplicable.
Jesus expressed extreme joy and excitement to His disciples when He explained to them how the Father would enable them after His return to the Father’s right hand. As we read in John, after Jesus and His followers enter Jerusalem, He speaks to them of His death and what will come because He is willing to sacrifice His life. In the midst of that conversation, but after Judas has left, Jesus tells them:
“I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; the Spirit of Truth, Whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him (the Spirit) or know Him, you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. John 14:16-17
The title “Helper” (as I mentioned previously) is the Greek word “paraklētos” which means “called to one’s aid”. It is the description of one who responds when “called to or for”, one who “exhorts or encourages”. Jesus uses the pronoun “another” to imply that the Spirit will be given by the Father in place of Jesus’ presence. And He notes that those of the world cannot receive Him (the Spirit of Truth) because it (the world – “kosmos”) cannot see or come to know, recognize or perceive Him; but that they (the disciples) know Him because He remains with them.
Of course they knew from the Books of Moses that the Spirit of God was active in the creation of the world and that He had direct dealings with their forefathers – not least of which was King David himself. What Jesus was saying was not decisively new or different – and yet…
Jesus goes on to detail their upcoming relationship with the Holy Spirit:
“These things I have spoken to you while abiding with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, Whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful. You heard that I said to you, ‘I go away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved Me, you would have rejoiced because I go to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. Now I have told you before it happens, so that when it happens, you may believe. I will not speak much more with you, for the ruler of the world is coming, and he has nothing in Me; but so that the world may know that I love the Father, I do exactly as the Father commanded Me. Get up, let us go from here. John 14:25-31
“When the Helper comes, Whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of Truth Who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness about Me, and you bear witness also, because you have been with Me from the beginning.” John 15:26-27
“But 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 He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.
I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you. John 16:7-15
Much is woven into the words of Jesus to His eleven friends (remember, all of this was spoken to them after Judas departed and before they went to the garden). Some of which would only apply directly to them; the rest which also applies to us. The remainder of this post will focus on those promises of Jesus relative to the “Other Helper” for which we can continue today to believe for from God.
[For full disclosure: The basis for my selections is the application, to the writings of the New Testament, of the principle regarding the value of the Old Testament’s scripture as sources of our examples and for our instruction (see 1Cor.10:6-11; Rom.15:4) “upon whom the ends of the ages have come.” (I will emphasize that, generally speaking, application of principles from the Words of God, though an important part of our understanding of God’s ways, does not replace the interpretation that stands solely in the face of the original text.)]
In my experience, the most controversial interaction between the Spirit of God and those who accept the ransom of Jesus as the means of salvation, is what is seen on the day of Pentecost. Many aspects of that particular event (as noted in the previous post) were unique – clearly focused on bringing the foundations of the house that Jesus promised to build for us into sharp focus. But there are clear indications that, at least throughout the time from Pentecost to Paul’s death, the central intent of the “baptism” (the dipping or immersing) into and of the Holy Spirit was applied and even emphasized.
As a reminder, both Matthew and Luke refer to Jesus being the one Who would dip/immerse believers in the Holy Spirit and fire; and that Jesus commissioned His disciples to go into the world and dip into the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. After the Pentecost event, Peter tells the Jews in his sermon that what they had witnessed was the fulfillment of the prophesy from Joel chapter 2 – again tying in the “becoming” on (“hayah”) of the Spirit with the very real and creative work at the start of the Last Days.
After the martyrdom of Stephen, a great persecution “came into being” against the assembly of believers in Jerusalem, resulting in the scattering of many of them (though not any of those appointed by Jesus as His messengers) throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria. The persecution included a house to house search for believers, men and women, who would be dragged off to prison. (This would be the prison that was kept by the Jewish religious leaders, not by the Romans.)
Among those scattered would be Philip (the Philip we met in Acts 6:5) who went down to the city of Samaria, preaching the Anointed One to them and performing miracles by the power of the Holy Spirit. The revival was of such import and impact that those still centralized in Jerusalem sent Peter and John specifically so that they might pray for them all to receive the Holy Spirit. We are told in 8:16-17 that “He had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been immersed/dipped into the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they (John, Peter, and likely Philip), were laying hands on them, and they were receiving the Holy Spirit.”
It may be a small stretch, but when we think of the name into which the disciples were to be dipped, we have the three-fold name (which, in some order or another is seen over 80 times in the New Testament): the name of the Father (Lord), and the Son (Jesus) and the Holy Spirit (Christ or Anointing). It could be, especially as the Spirit was teaching them all things, that a detail like that mattered. In any case, after laying hands on them (which was a practice from the Old Testament), they were receiving the Spirit!
The next parallel occurrence is found in Acts chapter 10. The leading of Peter to Caesarea was, on its own standing, a remarkable story of the Holy Spirit leading a servant of God. And though not the same as the events leading up to the outpouring of Pentecost and the spiritual harvest it brought; the bringing in of the Gentiles was of equal magnitude for the young history of the body of Christ. The details of Peter’s being drawn to Caesarea can be read in chapter 9 beginning in verse 36 (which happens to follow directly after the story of Saul’s conversion, though possibly a year or two later from a chronological perspective); for our purposes we will focus on his time in that city, beginning in 10:24.
Cornelius, the centurion whom the Lord had sent Peter to meet, bowed at Peter’s feet in reverence when he arrived. Peter raised him to his feet and reminded him that he too was just a man. The language suggests a casual conversation; though with the words Peter is about to speak, we can imagine, despite his dream from the days before, that he is pensive. When he sees the large assembly he tells them, “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a man who is a Jew to associate with a foreigner or to visit him…” And I can imagine Peter taking a deep breath and then continuing, “…yet God has shown me that I should not call any man unholy or unclean.”
Historians suggest that Peter’s trip to Caesarea to visit Cornelius occurred in about 35 AD – so five years after Jesus had told them that they were to make disciples of the Gentiles and five years after the Holy Spirit fell on the place they were praying; and yet the disciples were still struggling to understand the depth and breadth of the purposes of God on the earth. At least, in Peter’s case, until this point in time.
In verse 34 we are told that Peter says:
“I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him. The word which He sent to the sons of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ (He is Lord of all)—you yourselves know the thing which took place throughout all Judea, starting from Galilee, after the baptism which John proclaimed. You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. We are witnesses of all the things He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They also put Him to death by hanging Him on a cross. God raised Him up on the third day and granted that He become visible, not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen beforehand by God, that is, to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead. And He ordered us to preach to the people, and solemnly to testify that this is the One who has been appointed by God as Judge of the living and the dead. Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.”
While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message. All the circumcised believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. For they were hearing them speaking with languages and exalting God. Then Peter answered, Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be immersed who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he?” And he ordered them to be dipped in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay on for a few days. Acts 10:34-48
There is one more occasion that is worth pointing out relative to the replication of the importance of the immersion or dipping in the Holy Spirit. We have seen the initial events of Pentecost and the very similar outcome in Samaria after John and Peter hear of their acceptance of the blood of Jesus – and come to pray for them to receive the Holy Spirit. And then with the Gentiles, as represented by Cornelius, and those in his home who evidenced the “becoming” on with the speaking of languages and the glorifying of God!
At the beginning of Paul’s third missionary journey, we learn of the last time, in the documented history of the newly founded assemblies, that the doctrine and teaching of being immersed in the water that represents our death and burial, and in the Spirit that represents our resurrection and the newness of life. Paul has returned to Ephesus; at the same time Apollos of Alexandria has gone on to Corinth (possibly with Aquilla, though with the banishment being recently lifted, Aquilla and Pricilla may have returned to Rome or would do so soon). When he arrives we are told that Paul “found some disciples.” Luke (the author of Acts) does not elaborate, but tells us that Paul said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” Again, we do not know if this was a word from the Lord, something that Paul noticed about the disciples, or his awareness that Apollos, who was fervent but had only been acquainted with the immersion (baptism) of John, would not have included the immersion of the Spirit in their discipleship – or maybe a combination of all three.
It is worth pausing here for a moment. Apollos’ zeal for the Lord is not in question. Nor is his willingness to go toe to toe with the religious leaders in order to share the truth about the Messiah. He had been tutored by Aquilla who “explained to him the way of God more accurately” in regard to the “baptism of John” (though Paul’s letter to the believers in Corinth may suggest that there remained some doctrinal differences). Time-wise, it is likely 54 AD or shortly after. Nero, as the new emperor, had lifted the banishment from Rome that had been placed on the Jews by his father (the banishment would have included all Jewish converts since Rome still saw the Christianity as a sect of Judaism). Paul’s relationship with those in Ephesus ran deep – therefore it is not impossible that the disciples he found, if they were unknown to Paul, might have warranted his question without any further implications.
My point: in the third decade of the spread of the good news to the remotest parts of the earth, it was possible for people to have a strong faith in the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross as the payment of our Ransom, in His Justification as proven by the resurrection, and in His ascension to return to the Father until His second coming without having any knowledge or awareness of the immersion into the Holy Spirit. And I believe that dynamic is even more likely to exist nearly 2,000 years later – in our day. What this means is that the acceptance of the Ransom price is all that is required to live for eternity with Him. But, to live out the fulness of His plan on this earth; there is more for us, the ransomed, to avail ourselves of (as the last section of this post will demonstrate).
And so:
And they said to him, “No, we have not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.” And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” And they said, “Into John's baptism.” Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in Him who was coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking with languages and prophesying. There were in all about twelve men.
The first post-Pentecost example of how the presence of the Holy Spirit would be for us all, what Jesus was for His disciples (which is what Jesus meant by saying that “another Helper” being given would be to their (our) advantage). In our chapter 4 of the book of Acts, after having been arrested for healing the lame man (and preaching the good news of Jesus which led to another five thousand men believing their message) Peter responds to the religious leaders who are demanding to know under what authority he healed the man. And his response comes while being filled with the Holy Spirit. The circumstances described speak to the exhortation of Jesus found in Luke 21:14-15 when He asked them to trust in Him to give them the words to say when they are questioned because His words would be those which none of their opponents will be able to either resist or refute! And so it is confirmed in the leaders’ response to Peter’s appeal:
Now as they observed the freedom of speech of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and recognized them as having been with Jesus. Acts 4:13
Next, in a very dramatic encounter, the Holy Spirit, working with Ananias, brings Saul into the “fold” after he meets Jesus on the road to Damascus. Saul was traveling to Damascus intent on bringing down the “heretics” who claimed that Jesus was the Messiah. The city of Damascus was about halfway between Jerusalem and Saul’s home of Tarsus – about 150 miles north by northeast from Jerusalem. By horse, this was likely a five day journey, which only speaks to the degree of ferocity motivating Saul.
We are told in verse 10 of Acts chapter 9 that the Lord speaks to Ananias, a disciple, in a vision, giving him directions on how to find Saul. And Ananias does what any of us would do: he makes sure the Lord is up to date on how bad this guy Saul is! To which the Lord (not at all surprised by Ananias updated intel) replies, “Go, for he is a select tool of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; I will detail to him how much he must endure for My name’s sake.”
When Ananias arrives to the place the Lord sent him, he lays hands on Saul and says:
“Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” And immediately there fell from his eyes something like fish scales, and he regained his sight and he got up and was immersed; and he took food and was strengthened.” Acts 9:17b-19a
A bit later (after his time in the wilderness of Arabia – usually thought to be about 12 years) Saul also experienced the Holy Spirit providing direction and assignment. We are told in Acts 13:1-4 that while those in the assembly who had been gifted to speak forth and discern the will of God and to instruct the people of God were dedicating their efforts to the Lord in fasting, the Holy Spirit said,
“Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Acts 13:2b
We are not told exactly how the Holy Spirit spoke His instructions. It is possible that they heard Him audibly; it is also possible that it was by His impressing on one or many that this was His will. Ultimately what we know is that they were sent by Him and then they went.
As we move from the history as recorded in the book of Acts, to the encouragement of the holy ones who assemble in His name through the writings of Paul (primarily) and Peter we will look first at how Peter understood the importance of the Holy Spirit in these last days.
As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries, seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things into which angels long to look. 1Peter 1:10-12
What Peter shares is the connection from the prophecies of the Old Testament, which we examined in part one, and what their divinely inspired revelations actually mean to those of us who are born in this last age. What the prophets came to understand is that the Holy Spirit, sent from heaven, is the means through which and by which we hear and receive the good news of our salvation – that Jesus’ shed blood was offered for us to pay our ransom and to enable us to participate in His restoration of our inheritance.
In his letter to Titus, Paul expands the thought around both our grounds for salvation and the means of it.
He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. Titus 3:5-7
Paul adds to that understanding the fact that the Spirit of God dwells in us, both in Romans 8:9 and in his second letter to Timothy, our chapter 1:14. His comment in the letter to those in Rome does make it clear that it is our choice as to whether or not the Spirit dwells in us; it should also be noted that this “indwelling” is related to our being born again and does not align with the experience of those who Paul met in Ephesus that had accepted Jesus’ ransom but had not been immersed in the Spirit.
However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of the Anointed One, he does not belong to Him. Romans 8:9
Paul goes on to say:
But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies on account of His Spirit who dwells in you. Romans 9:11
In other words, Paul is letting us all know that being born again gives us access to the life giving power of the Holy Spirit!
And to Timothy, Paul’s encouragement is to guard through the Holy Spirit that dwells in us, the good deposit we have received. (see 2Tim.1:14)
In his first letter to those in Corinth (likely written by Paul shortly after his return to Ephesus) Paul reminds them (and therefore it is for our teaching) that since their bodies are the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, Whom they have received from God, that they are not their own and that they need to flee immorality – since it is that sin in particular that is a sin against a man’s body.
Along with the Holy Spirit dwelling in them, Paul tells the believers in Rome that the Kingdom of God is not the physical and earthly things – even those that at times reveal differences of doctrine and understanding but is instead “righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”
It is also in his letter to those in Rome that we are told that the Holy Spirit walks by our side giving aid and sharing in our struggles. He recognizes that we even struggle with knowing how to pray for what is needful, and so He intercedes on our behalf with inexpressible groanings; and that He who searches the hearts knows what is the thought of the Spirit, and so He intercedes for the us according to God (see Rom.8:26-27). And we are also told in our chapter 15 verse 13 that it is by the power of the Holy Spirit that we are able to have hope in our ability to abound in the joy and peace of the God of hope.
As Paul signs off in his second letter to those in Corinth, he gives this blessing:
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship (the sharing together) of the Holy Spirit, be with you all. 2Cor.13:14
Paul’s greeting to those in Ephesus – the gathering of believers with whom he seems to have the deepest relationship – we have a beautiful expression of our destiny in the Spirit. For those who have read the series on foreknowledge, predestination and election this will be familiar; it is worth reviewing here again!
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in the Anointed One, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.
In Him we are ransomed through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth.
In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory.
In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the ransoming of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory. Ephesians 1:3-14
It is that last statement that pertains to this post: “…having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, Who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the ransoming of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory!” What more can be said.
With that we will wrap this post – leaving the review of how the Holy Spirit is both Gift and Giver for the purpose of building the house for the gathering of the saints for the next round.