The Coming of the Holy Spirit

MEMORY VERSE: “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, which the Father will send in my name: shall teach you all things, and remind you of all things which I said to you.” —John 14:26, Emphatic Diaglott

ACTS 2:1-11

THE Holy Spirit is the holy power of God, used by him for the accomplishment of his purposes. In the Dark Ages it was decided by certain theologians that the Holy Spirit was a person, and it was construed to be the third person in a trinity of gods. Our Common Version translation of the New Testament attempts to support this erroneous understanding by using “Ghost” instead of “Spirit,” and in many instances the personal pronoun “he” is used in reference to the Holy Spirit.

Because of this, we have copied the memory verse of this lesson from the Emphatic Diaglott translation, by Prof. Benjamin H. Wilson. Prof. Wilson properly uses the word “Spirit” instead of “Ghost” and omits the use of the personal pronoun, which does not appear in the Greek text. Modern translations as a rule use the word “Spirit” instead of “Ghost” when reference is made to the Holy Spirit. That the Holy Spirit is not a person, but a power, or influence, is shown in the statement by Peter that Jesus had “shed forth” this holy power upon the waiting disciples at Pentecost. (Acts 2:33) A power can be “shed forth,” but a person cannot be.

It was in keeping with Jesus’ promise contained in our memory verse that the Holy Spirit was “shed forth” at Pentecost. And what a display of power it was! “A rushing mighty wind … filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.” In this demonstration of power the tongues seem to be symbolic of speech, and the disciples were being authorized to be preachers of the Gospel as witnesses of Jesus.

“And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” Much is being made of this today in a number of denominational churches. But speaking with “tongues” as practiced today is very different from that which took place at Pentecost, and later in the Early Church. Verses 9 to 11 of the lesson reveal that gathered for Pentecost were Jews from essentially all known parts of the world at that time. These did not know the language spoken by the disciples, so the Holy Spirit miraculously enabled these newly constituted witnesses for Jesus to speak to all these different groups in language with which they were familiar.

Thus this vast multitude received the Gospel witness in a remarkably short period of time. Returning to the countries from which they came, the believing ones could continue the witness among their own people, and thus the work of the new age had a wonderful start. The gift of “tongues” continued with certain ones in the Early Church as long as there was need for it, and then it ceased.

The “tongues” of today serve no useful purpose. Seldom does anyone understand the gibberish that is uttered, and rarely does it even resemble any of the known languages of today.

We read that the waiting disciples at Pentecost were “filled with the Holy Spirit.” Here again we have the thought of a power, or influence, rather than a person. When they were “filled with the Spirit” they began to speak. This is one of the things accomplished by the infilling of the Holy Spirit—it not only commissions one to speak in the name of the Lord, but it enthuses him with the urge to speak. The disciples at Pentecost were additionally empowered to speak in languages unfamiliar to them. This was a needed blessing at the time.

Isaiah 61:1-3 opens with the statement, “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,” etc. When Jesus began his ministry he applied this passage to himself, and his Spirit-filled followers come under this same anointing of the Spirit, as members of his body. They also are anointed to proclaim glad tidings.

The Holy Spirit does not authorize anyone to preach that the wicked are to be eternally tormented in a fiery hell. The message of God’s Spirit-filled people is one of joy and of comfort. It is the Gospel that was preached before to Abraham, and reiterated by the angels on the night that Jesus was born. It tells of the “Seed” of promise, and of the blessing of “all the families of the earth” through that seed. (Gen. 12:3; Gal. 3:8,16,27-29) It tells also that this is the age when the Lord accepts the sacrifices of his people as they follow in the footsteps of Jesus. Today it includes an explanation of chaotic world conditions, that this is the day of God’s vengeance, to be followed by the messianic kingdom of joy.

QUESTIONS

What is the Holy Spirit?

Why were the disciples at Pentecost empowered to speak with tongues?

What is one of the things a Spirit-filled Christian will want to do?

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