M.R. Hyde - Who is the Holy Spirit? A Devotional Journey Through the Book of Acts

Who is the HolySpirit?

A Devotional Journey Throughthe Book of Acts

Copyright 2013 M.R.Hyde

Blog: http://thewordwwtw.blogspot.com/

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Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE,NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica.Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. The "NIV" and"New International Version" trademarks are registered in the UnitedStates Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica. Use of eithertrademark requires the permission of Biblica.

Table of Contents

Endnotes

Partof Gods good gift to us is his written Wordrevelations of himselfin human history. We will approach the book of Acts in a devotionalmannerwanting to be transformed by God through his wonderful Word.We may be looking at it a little differently than most peopledo.

Many studies talk about thebook of Acts being a history of the birth and growth of the NewTestament Churchand this is in part what it is. Some studies saythat this book is a biography featuring key figures of evangelismand apostleship. We can read how lowly fisherman became mighty menof God and how common or corrupt folk, women and men like you andme, become vibrant and miraculous evangelists. And that too, iswhat this book isin part.

But I am after somethingvery particular in my life. I want to become very focused on God. Iwant to move from an anthropocentric worldviewthat is, seeingeverything from a distinctively human perspectiveto a moretheocentric worldview. I want to know what God is doing, how heis doing it and how I can recognize him more and more. I want tounderstand and appreciate his great undeserved gifts to me. I wantto be less in control of my life and controlled more by the HolySpirit. I want to completely surrender to the kind of life thatwill lead me into his abundance, joy, peace and power.

Therefore I invite you on ajourney with me to find out what it means to be under the influenceof the Holy Spirit. It will be like unwrapping a wonderful gift. Ateach turn of the page, at each new passage we explore together, itwill be like tearing off the wrapping, opening the box and findingsomething absolutely wonderful. I think you will be surprised atwhat we find. Pray that God would reveal himself to you in powerfuland effective ways.

The first seven chapters ofthe book of Acts are Lukes reflections of a particular time thatbegins in Jerusalem. The disciples had just experienced the deathand resurrection of their Friend and Savior Jesus Christ. Severaltimes prior to these events Jesus had told them about the HolySpirit. We can find these passages in several places in the booksof the GospelMatthew, Mark, Luke and John. In fact, so much can belearned about the Holy Spirit throughout the entire Bible! Throughthis journey we will focus on selected passages that will teach ussome of the nature and work of the Holy Spirit.

In Lukes Gospel he wroteabout John the Baptist, the powerful prophet of the Messiah and hismessage. Do you remember what John said and did? Luke wrote aboutit in this way.

Luke 3:15-18

The people were waitingexpectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John mightpossibly be the Christ. John answered them all, I baptize you withwater. But one more powerful than I will come, the thongs of whosesandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the HolySpirit and with fire.

That is one of many accountsgiven regarding the Holy Spirit and his relationship to JesusChrist. The disciple named John also wrote his account of the lifeof Jesus. In his Gospel we find some of the most specific andlengthy writings about the Holy Spirit. In John 3:34 John wrotethat God gives the Spirit without limit to the Son. In 7:39 Johnrecalled that the Spirit would be given to the disciples afterJesus was glorified. And in John 20:22, after the resurrection,Jesus breathed on the disciples and said to them, Receive the HolySpirit. But, by far the most powerful verses about the coming ofthe Holy Spirit are in John chapters 14 and 15. In these wonderfulchapters Jesus describes the promise of the Spirit and the work ofthe Holy Spirit. I challenge you to read these chapters this week.There is so much to learn about the Holy Spirit!

We are finding out somepretty incredible things about the Holy Spirit as a gift so far.But before we go any further, read Lukes first words inActs.

Read Acts 1:1-9

Now, lets review what weare beginning to learn and comprehend about the Holy Spirit fromall these Scriptures we have approached. What kind of gift is theHoly Spirit? How does the Holy Spirit operate as a manager ofsurrendered lives? Where does the Gift come from? When did thedisciples receive the Gift?

Specifically we have foundthat the Holy Spirit is a gift of God himself. The Spirit comesfrom the Father and is given to the disciples. So, the Spirit,plain and simple, is a gift from God. No one can buy the Spirit, noone can create the Spirit and no one can steal the Spirit. Somepeople may try to tell you that if you send a certain amount ofmoney to them, or attend this special meeting, or receive theirhandkerchief, that you will have the gift of the Holy Spirit. Butno amount of money, no amount of effort, no amount of handkerchiefscan get you what is freely given by God to allbelievers.

The Holy Spirit revealshimself in several ways. We learn that the Holy Spirit comes fromthe Father and through Jesus Christ and after his glorification(that is, his bodily ascension into heaven) in a specific and newway. It is very important that we understand the relationshipbetween these threeFather, Son and Holy Spirit.

It is the orthodox Christianbelief that these three are demonstrations of one God. God theFather and Creator of everything, Jesus the divine Son having cometo us in human flesh, and the Spirit is our present Comforter andHelp. In our human musings we have a simplistic way of perceivingand attempting to grasp who God is. And God, knowing our simple,fallen minds, has elected to reveal himself as the One true livingGod, revealing himself to us in three ways. God is gracious to giveus three ways to understand him. God, Jesus Christ and the HolySpirit are not three different gods. No, they are the divine andholy mystery of the Trinity. This is very clear in the mind of Lukeas he writes the opening passages of Acts. The three aspects of Godare part of one whole. This is what we learn from the entire Bibleand what we accept by faith as Christians. So, as the Holy Spiritis given to us, we also understand that it is the Spirit of Godhimself that we find within us after we repent of oursins.

The Holy Spirit comes to usas a gift through baptism of fire. This is a powerful and almostoverwhelming imagethrough fire. What an unusual gift! Would yougive someone something through fire? Fire does several things: itburns away unnecessary or wasteful materials; it intensifies theheat by which pure gold is separated from the less lovely elements;it cleanses and breaks things down to the basics and essentials.Fire does so many things. And so does the Gift of Holy Spirit fire.As we explore Acts we will watch as the Holy Spirit does his workof consuming and cleansing.

Another thing we learn aboutthe Holy Spirit is that the Spirit comes after we wait. Waiting canbe a very difficult thing. Imagine with me the disciples after theyhave watched Jesus ascend into heaven. What would be their nextstep? They had followed Jesus, God in the flesh, for three yearsand at that moment their leader seemed to be gone. Jesus gave veryclear instructionswait for the next step. Their leader was notgone, just coming to them in a different formas a Gift. And thisgift would be full of fire and power. And they would be able toreceive it.