This week believers all over the world will be celebrating the Day of Pentecost—the day God sent the Holy Spirit and started the New Testament church! God had told the Old Testament Jew that He would always require believers to keep three feasts. They were the feast of Unleavened Bread (Passover), the feast of Tabernacles and the feast of Weeks (Pentecost). With Pentecost, the Church age began. The Holy Spirit was given and so Christians were empowered to spread the gospel and lead a victorious Christian life.
Dave Roberson, in his book, The Walk of the Spirit—the Walk of Power, says that he now knows more than ever before how important the baptism of the Holy Spirit is for those who wish to make a difference in Christianity. He said that praying in tongues, a gift of the Holy Spirit, is the revelation gift that helped lay a scriptural foundation in his life. He said that God used his prayer language to get him ready for the eternal truths that are now being poured into his spirit in preparation for the days to come.
He said he has been filled with the Holy Spirit for a long time but still marvels at the experience. The idea that the third Person of the Godhead chose to take up residence within his spirit, still excites him. He ponders the fact that God has a plan for each of our lives and that He makes His abode with us in order to help us work out that plan. And he believes that the supernatural language the Holy Spirit brings when He comes is perhaps the greatest phenomenon of all!
The Old Testament Jew longed for that experience. They were as familiar with the Holy Spirit as we are because mention was made of God's Powerhouse beginning in the first chapter of the first book of the Bible where it states that God's Spirit created the earth, hovering over the surface. The King James Version calls it "brooding." That term is familiar to us—a mother hen broods over her chicks. And the Holy Spirit also garnished—beautified—the heavens for man's enjoyment.
God called Moses into his destiny to lead the children of Jacob into the Promised Land. He did this by allowing Moses to experience the Holy Spirit's presence in the form of a burning bush that did not burn up. Later 70 leaders would receive of Moses' anointing of the Holy Spirit. Artisans were taught by the Holy Spirit how to make the beautiful objects that would be used in the Tabernacle. First Saul and then David the Shepherd boy were anointed by the Holy Spirit for their kingships.
The prophet Ezekiel had prophesied that one day God would take out the Israelites' stony heart and replace it with the Holy Spirit. The Prophet Joel prophesied that the day would come when God would pour out His Holy Spirit upon their sons and daughters; their old men would dream dreams and their young men would see visions. Jesus, on the day He ascended back in heaven told His followers not to leave Jerusalem until they received this power.
On the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came with signs and wonders: "Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm in the skies above them and it filled the house where they were meeting. Then what looked like flames of or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them." All in the upper room were filled with the Holy Spirit." (Acts 2)
They had received the "Promise of the Father!" (Acts 1:4) The Holy Spirit brought with Him nine gifts of the Spirit that were essential to the early Church and even more important to the Church world today. Today each believer has been given a special spiritual gift for the purpose of helping the Body of Christ. We will move in all nine of the gifts as we mature but one gift will be especially used by us because there are different ways that God wants to work in each of our lives.
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