THE PROMISED HOLY SPIRIT
Acts 2:1-47
“Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.”
This is what was spoken by the prophet Joel. This is the prophecy coming true before your very eyes. It is now the last days and as God promised, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit has begun.
Why are these the last days? Because Jesus, the Messiah sent by God was crucified, but God raised him from the dead. Jesus is now Lord and is seated at the right hand of God and according to David, God will now make his enemies a footstool for his feet. But in the meantime, Jesus has poured out the promised Holy Spirit on all of us.
The last days were ushered in by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit; the event we saw in Acts 2. It was also the day the church was (officially) born. The last days were preceded by the ascension of Jesus to the right hand of God, initiating the work of God to “make his enemies a footstool for his feet.” These are the last days because they will culminate on “the great and glorious day of the Lord” when final judgement will be meted out but “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” The last days are also days of great promise, because not only will they be saved, who call on the name of the Lord, they will receive the promised Holy Spirit.
Little is said here about what the Holy Spirit will do (see 2022 Week 06) but it is unmistakable that his outpouring is vital to us who live in the last days. “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” All who align themselves with Jesus, rejecting their alignment with the world and the prince of darkness, God will forgive and bless with the promised Holy Spirit.
At the end of that day of Pentecost, a community was formed, comprising people who have received the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Just as the coming of Jesus was brought forth by the Holy Spirit in the form of a baby, so now, through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the body of Christ came together as a small community of believers who obeys his command to love one another, who remembers him and his sacrifice through the breaking of bread, as he requested, who seeks to “remain in him, letting his words remain in them”, as he taught, and who are not afraid to ask of him (pray), their master and Lord, who has promised that as they seek to glorify God in their fruitfulness, it will be done for them (see 2022 Week 05).
And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.