The Holy Spirit in You
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Joel 2:28
On the Day of Pentecost, the followers of Jesus were gathered together in the Upper Room in Jerusalem. They were following Jesus’ instructions to “not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised” (Acts 1:4). Suddenly, “a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them” (2:2-4). Peter immediately associated those spiritual manifestations with the fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy (see verse 14; Joel 2:28-32).
The coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost is what distinguishes the Old Covenant from the New Covenant. Prior to Pentecost, the presence of God was with His people. In the Church Age after Pentecost, the presence of God is now within believers in the Person of the Holy Spirit. Old Testament believers had a legal relationship with God, but New Testament believers have a new identity and a personal relationship with their heavenly Father. The primary work of the Holy Spirit is to testify “with our spirit that we are God’s children” (Romans 8:16). Peter wrote, “Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy” (1 Peter 2:10).
Through the prophet Joel, God said, “I will pour out my Spirit on all people” (Joel 2:28). This universal inclusion of all people is also a marked difference between the Old and the New Testament. God had said “all peoples on earth will be blessed” (Genesis 12:3) through the seed of Abraham. This will be true regardless of race, age, gender or social class (see Joel 2:29). “And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (verse 32; see also Romans 10:13).
In the Old Testament, God spoke through the prophets to the people, but in the Church Age, God personally leads every one of His children, “for those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God” (Romans 8:14). In the Old Testament, Moses said, “I wish that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put his Spirit on them” (Number 11:29). God has put His Spirit in every New Testament believer, and according to the Joel’s prophecy, “Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions” (2:28). Because of our personal relationship with God, He will uniquely equip all His children.
Generally speaking, the “day of the Lord” (verse 31) is an idiom used to emphasize the decisive nature of God’s victory over His enemies. Prior to Pentecost, Jesus defeated the devil; and according to Paul, it is the eternal purpose of God to make His wisdom known through the Church to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, which is the spiritual kingdom of darkness (see Ephesians 3:10-12). The enemy knows he is defeated when the children of God speak the truth in love through the power of the Holy Spirit.
questions to consider:
In what ways does the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost distinguish the Old Covenant from the New Covenant?
Many of those who were present at Pentecost had witnessed the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. So why were they instructed to wait in Jerusalem before they could be witnesses?
What defines the Church today?
How has the Holy Spirit empowered your life to be a witness?
Of what are you a witness?
Neil T. Anderson is the founder of Freedom in Christ Ministries. He began the ministry in 1989 and continues to spread the message of freedom to this day.