The 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 to fulfill  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, about love and  unity that would characterize his disciples. The connection between these three  things is obvious. Jesus even went so far as to tell his disciples  that it was better if he departed from them bodily so 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 the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came upon them in power. They spoke in  tongues, praising God and proclaiming the message of repentance and forgiveness of sins as Jesus had commanded them.  They experienced for themselves what Jesus spoke to them about. Furthermore, they experienced a new relationship with Jesus and a new  knowledge of the Father. It was the result of 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 abundance. They possessed great peace, joy, and confidence. They knew until they were and who was working through them.  The apostle Peter, in his sermon that day, recorded in Acts 2,  makes it clear that anyone can gain what the disciples have gained. It’s supposed to be the regular part of Christianity and the average conversion experience. Consequently, this outpouring of the Spirit becomes the standard expectation and experience of Christianity. 

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 about Jesus baptized them, laid his hands on them, and “the Holy Spirit came upon them; and  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 the clear and concrete experience of a Person who acts in concrete work, bringing concrete results. Christians who have yet to have this experience have been instructed. Those who have had this experience have been praying   to receive them. 

The Word and Spirit of God have been actively manifested throughout all stages of salvation history. Their relationship with the Father, however, was revealed gradually. At Pentecost, God completed the revelation of Himself as Father, as Son, and as Spirit. The mystery, concealed for ages, was revealed, and its power spread to the ends of the earth. How is this revelation related to God, with 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 an 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 typically celebrated after inadequate preparation and with little  expectations. The consequence is that many Christians are unaware of the work of the Spirit.

The 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 with you a conversation I had with Mary  Trapp is the well-known character from the film With a Song Around the World. Translation of her autobiographical novel Sing in My Arms, publishing after she had experienced the outpouring of the power of the Holy Spirit in her life. It will enlighten us about many things that we consider.