{"id":7456,"date":"2024-05-15T13:00:39","date_gmt":"2024-05-15T11:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/predication.net\/?p=7456"},"modified":"2024-05-15T13:00:40","modified_gmt":"2024-05-15T11:00:40","slug":"the-gift-of-the-spirit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/predication.net\/?p=7456","title":{"rendered":"The Gift of the Spirit."},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">In each of the four Gospels, Jesus is mentioned as the one who came to baptize <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">with the Holy Spirit. He poured out the Spirit of God on God&#8217;s people to fulfill\u00a0 <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">prophecy. At the end of his life, Jesus began to speak more about the gift of the Spirit,\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">whom he came to send. At that time, for the first time, he spoke openly about the Father, about love and\u00a0 <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">unity that would characterize his disciples. The connection between these three\u00a0 <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">things is obvious. Jesus even went so far as to tell his disciples\u00a0 <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">that it was better if he departed from them bodily so they might have the Spirit. After\u00a0 <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">crucifixion and resurrection were his last words:\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">&#8230;but in a few days, ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost &#8230;the Holy Ghost shall come upon your\u00a0 <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Spirit, you will receive power and be witnesses to me&#8230; (Acts 1:8)\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">They waited and prayed. On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came upon them in power. They spoke in\u00a0 <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">tongues, praising God and proclaiming the message of repentance and forgiveness of sins as\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Jesus had commanded them.\u00a0 <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">They experienced for themselves what Jesus spoke to them about. Furthermore, they experienced a new relationship with Jesus and a new\u00a0 <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">knowledge of the Father. It was the result of the Father and the Son indwelling through the Spirit\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Holy Spirit in their hearts. They were working in and through them in the proclamation of the gospel and <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">confirming it by the signs which the Son had promised. The disciples experienced the fruit and the gifts <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">of the Spirit in abundance. They possessed great peace, joy, and confidence. They knew until <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">they were and who was working through them.\u00a0 <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The apostle Peter, in his sermon that day, recorded in Acts 2,\u00a0 <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">makes it clear that anyone can gain what the disciples have gained. It&#8217;s supposed to be the regular <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">part of Christianity and the average conversion experience. Consequently, this <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">outpouring of the Spirit becomes the standard expectation and experience of Christianity.\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Twenty-five years later, the Apostle Paul meets a group of disciples from Ephesus.\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">He asks them just one question to ascertain if they are Christians: Have you also received the Holy<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0Spirit, when you believed? (Acts 19:2). When he finds out that they did not, he tells them about\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Jesus baptized them, laid his hands on them, and &#8220;the Holy Spirit came upon them; and\u00a0 <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Spoke with tongues and prophesied&#8221; (Acts 19:6).\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The teaching of Jesus and the experience of the early Church point to a prominent and influential\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">reception of the Holy Spirit as the key to understanding and experiencing Jesus and the Father.\u00a0 <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">They point to the clear and concrete experience of a Person who acts in concrete<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0work, bringing concrete results. Christians who <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">have yet to have this experience have been instructed. Those who have had this experience have been praying\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">to receive them.\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The Word and Spirit of God have been actively manifested throughout all stages of salvation history. Their r<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">elationship with the Father, however, was revealed gradually. At Pentecost, God completed the revelation of Himself<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> as Father, as Son, and as Spirit. The mystery, concealed for ages, was revealed, and <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">its power spread to the ends of the earth. How is this revelation related to God<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, with our times today?\u00a0 <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Among the approximately one billion people who belong to the various Christian churches, <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">many millions do not experience what should be expected of the Christian life.\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">They are baptized as babies and often grow up in an environment that is not.\u00a0 <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Christian. Few of them come to adulthood to affirm the baptismal fact.\u00a0 <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">A personal decision for Christ and an adequate reception of the fullness of the Holy Spirit.\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The rite of Confirmation, which in many churches is such a confirmation\u00a0 <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">decision in adulthood, is typically celebrated after inadequate preparation and with little\u00a0 <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">expectations. The consequence is that many Christians are unaware of the work of the Spirit.<\/span><\/h2>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The Holy Spirit has only a vague knowledge of Jesus and the Father. If their apostle\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Paul had asked: &#8220;Did you also receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?&#8221; They would have answered <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">like the disciples of Ephesus: &#8220;We have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.&#8221;\u00a0 <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">I would now like to share with you a conversation I had with Mary\u00a0 <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Trapp is the well-known character from the film With a Song Around the World. Translation of her autobiographical novel Sing in My Arms,<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> publishing after she<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0had experienced\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">the outpouring of the power of the Holy Spirit in her life. It will enlighten us about many things that <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">we consider.<\/span><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In each of the four Gospels, Jesus is mentioned as the one who came to baptize with the Holy Spirit. He poured out the Spirit of God on God&#8217;s people to fulfill\u00a0 prophecy. At the end of his life, Jesus &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/predication.net\/?p=7456\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nezaradene"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Gift of the Spirit. - predication.net<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/predication.net\/?p=7456\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Gift of the Spirit. - predication.net\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In each of the four Gospels, Jesus is mentioned as the one who came to baptize with the Holy Spirit. 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