THE DAY OF PENTECOST – JUNE 5, 2022

The coming of the Holy Spirit in power (Acts 2). The work of the Holy Spirit is to universalize and to internalize the presence of Jesus. The bodily presence of Jesus was succeeded by the Holy Spirit being always with us, wherever we may be, and entering into our personalities to change us into his image from within. The Holy Spirit is the ‘executive’ of the Godhead, meaning that what the Father and the Son desire to do in the world today, they execute through the Holy Spirit. John Stott lists seven areas of his ministry.

1. Christian conversion. He begins by convicting or convincing the world of sin, righteousness and judgment (John 16:8-10). “Every stab of conscience and pang of guilt, every sense of alienation and longing for reconciliation, and every anxious fear of coming judgment are prompted by him. Next, he opens our eyes to see the truth, glory and saving power of Jesus… The Holy Spirit moves us to repent and believe, and so to experience the new birth. For to be born again is to be ‘born of the Spirit John 3:6-8).” The Nicene Creed rightly calls him ‘the Lord, the Giver of life.’

2. Christian assurance. The Holy Spirit is God’s ‘seal’ to indicate that we are now his own (2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13; 4:30). The indwelling Spirit actively assures us of God’s love and fatherhood (Romans 5:5; 8:16). He is the guarantee or down-payment of our future inheritance (2 Cor.1:22; Eph.1:14).

3. Christian holiness. “His ministry is not only to show Christ to us, but to form Christ in us. And he does it by penetrating deeply into the hidden recesses of our personality. We are to live by the Spirit, be led by the Spirit, and keep in step with the Spirit, surrendering daily to his mastery and following his promptings (Gal.5:16,18,25).”

4. Christian understanding. He is the Spirit of truth (John 14:17; 15:26; 16:13). He believes, loves, defends and teaches the truth. He is the primary author of Scripture and its primary interpreter. He spoke through the prophets in the Old Testament and the apostles in the New Testament. “He will teach you all things….he will guide you into all the truth” (John 15:26; 16:13). We need his illumination to understand and to apply the Word of God in the Scriptures to our lives.

5. Christian fellowship. What happened at Pentecost was that the remnant of God’s people became the Spirit-filled body of Christ. The church is the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. “There is one body and one Spirit” (Eph.4:4). We are united by the Spirit.

6. Christian service. The Spirit gives both supernatural and natural abilities to members of the church. The gifts of the Spirit are for service to be used for the common good, so that the church is built up and grows into maturity. We should emphasize the teaching gifts, since nothing nurtures the church like the truth. The love of Christ is the supreme gift.

7. Christian mission. It is the Spirit who empowers us to witness to Christ. There is perhaps no greater need in the contemporary church than that we should be filled with the Holy Spirit (Eph.5:18). “We need him not only to bring us to conversion and assurance, nor only to sanctify, enlighten, unite and equip us, but also to reach out through us in blessing to an alienated world, like rivers of living water which irrigate the desert (John 7:38,39).”

(Ted Schroder, John Stott: A Summary of his Teaching, Piquant editions, pp.19-21)