A Tribute to the Holy Spirit

“When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father,that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father,He will testify about Me." -- Jesus had said this to His disciples as He promised them that the Holy Spirit would come to them.

This weekend, I felt I had to give tribute to the Holy Spirit to mark Pentecost, when in dramatic form the Holy Spirit came from heaven with a loud noise, rushing wind, and tongues of fire to the disciples who were waiting in the upper room. Being filled with the Holy Spirit, the disciples began to speak with other tongues, and all who gathered from other nations heard their own language spoken by these disciples who were not previously known to be multilingual. Some mocked them saying they were drunk, but then with boldness, the very same Peter who had denied Jesus three times just weeks before, now started quoting the prophets and testified to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. After he had been empowered by the promised Holy Spirit, Peter in the blink of an eye had become an eloquent Bible scholar who asserted the death and resurrection of Jesus. Peter would have been viewed as an insurrectionist with his declarations. However he did not back down, and the Holy Spirit taught Him at that moment what to say. (See Luke 12:12)

I really love the relationship between Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Jesus gave the Holy Spirit a lot of respect. He went as far as to say, “And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him.” Luke 12:10. That means irreverence to Jesus can be forgiven, but dissing the Holy Spirit is not going to go over too well.

Jesus submitted Himself to the Holy Spirit. For me, one of the greatest imageries in the Bible is when Jesus got baptized.

After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.” Matthew 3:16-17 NASB

Stop a second and picture that scene. There at the baptism was the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Jesus bursts out of the water, and His Father says He is pleased with Him as the Holy Spirit comes down as a dove putting the spotlight on the Son. Then, they all go off for a celebration dinner to commemorate Jesus’ baptism. Nope, that’s not the way the story goes. That would have been my preferred storyline for the next scene, but in the Bible the plot thickens as the Holy Spirit leads Jesus into the wilderness for 40 days to be tested by the devil. Although weakened in the flesh from hunger, Jesus stood His ground in the Spirit and no matter what the tempter came with, He could combat it with the Word. Subsequent to Jesus’ wilderness season, His ministry began. Many of us want to get baptized and jump into public ministry. However, we should never give in to the flesh, but rather we should follow the leading of the Holy Spirit who may bring us to a period of trials to prepare us for God’s purpose. It is important we submit to the Holy Spirit. Jesus explained why to His disciples.

But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you. John 16:13-15 NASB

In John 14:26 NASB, Jesus said, "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.” This word “Helper” has different interpretations in other translations in which it is rendered as “Advocate,” “Counselor” and “Comforter.” All of which are true of the Holy Spirit. Now, I am not going to get lost in the debate about the difference between the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the infilling of the Holy Spirit. I must confess that the more I listen to these teachings the more confused I get. The Holy Spirit is not meant to separate us. Paul must have been bogged down by the separations in the Ephesian church when he wrote to them saying:

Being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. Ephesians 3:4-6 NASB

There is oneness in the Holy Spirit, He brings us to unity through peace. He works in us, through us and around us. Wherever He is there is liberty. He is the Truth, He is our Helper, He is our Advocate, He is our Counselor and He is our Comforter. He intercedes for us with groans when we have no words to say, and He gives us the words when God has a message to bring through us. He raised Jesus from the dead and He lives in us. And as we walk in Him, He empowers us to be like Christ, pleasing to God. He testifies to our spirit that we are children of God, and so we can cry out, “Abba, Father!” He is not to be disrespected, but to be revered.