Gift of the Spirit.

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’s people as the fulfillment of prophecy. At the end of his life, Jesus began to speak more about the gift of the Spirit, whom he came to send. At that time, for the first time, he spoke openly about the Father, love, and unity that would characterize his disciples. The connection between these three things is obvious. Jesus even told his disciples that it was better if he departed from them bodily, that they might have the Spirit. After crucifixion and resurrection were his last words: …but in a few days, ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost …the Holy Ghost shall come upon your Spirit, you will receive power and be witnesses to me… (Acts 1:8)

They waited and prayed. On Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came upon them in force. They spoke in tongues, praising God and proclaiming the message of repentance and forgiveness of sins, as Jesus had commanded them. What Jesus said to them, they experienced for themselves. They shared a new relationship with Jesus and unique
knowledge of the Father. It resulted from the Father and the Son indwelling through the Spirit Holy Spirit in their hearts. They were working in and through them in the proclamation of the gospel and confirming it by the signs which the Son had promised. The disciples experienced the fruit and the gifts of the Spirit in great abundance. They possessed great peace, joy, and confidence. They knew until they were and who was working through them.
In his sermon that day, the apostle Peter, recorded in Acts 2, clarifies that anyone can achieve what the disciples have gained. It’s supposed to be the regular part of Christianity, part of the everyday conversion experience. Consequently, this outpouring of the Spirit becomes Christianity’s standard expectation and understanding. Twenty-five years later, the Apostle Paul meets a group of disciples from Ephesus.
He asks them just one question to ascertain if they are Christians: Have you also received the Holy Spirit when you believed? (Acts 19:2). When he finds out that they did not, he tells them that Jesus had them baptized, laying his hands on them, and “the Holy Spirit came upon them,  spoke with tongues and prophesied” (Acts 19:6).
The teaching of Jesus and the experience of the early Church point to a prominent and influential reception of the Holy Spirit as the key to understanding and experiencing Jesus and the Father. They point to a person’s clear and concrete experience who acts concretely to work, bringing tangible results. Christians who have this experience have not had this experience; they have been taught. Those who have had this experience have been prayed to receive them. The Word and Spirit of God have been actively manifested throughout all stages of salvation history. Their relationship to the Father, however, was revealed gradually. At Taurica, God completed the revelation of Himself as Father, as Son, and as Spirit. The mystery concealed for ages was told, and this mystery’s power has spread to the ends of the earth. How is this revelation related to God in our times today?

Among the approximately one billion people who belong to the various Christian churches, many millions do not experience what should be expected of the Christian life. They are baptized as babies and often grow up in an environment that is not. Christian. Few of them come to adulthood to affirm the baptismal fact—a personal decision for Christ and adequate reception of the fullness of the Holy Spirit. The rite of Confirmation, which in many churches is such a confirmation decision in adulthood, is often celebrated after inadequate preparation and with little expectations. The consequence is that many Christians are unaware that the work of the Spirit Holy Spirit has only a vague knowledge of Jesus and the Father. If their apostle Paul had asked: “Did you also receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” They would have answered like the disciples of Ephesus: “We have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”
I would now like to share a conversation with Mary Trapp, a well-known character from the film With a Song Around the World. Translation of her autobiographical novel sings in after she had experienced the outpouring of the power of the Holy Spirit in her life. This will enlighten us about many things that we consider.