THE HOLY SPIRIT

QUESTION IS: Can the church function effectively without the Holy Spirit?

The church cannot function effectively without the Holy Spirit. The church, however, can function without the Fire of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit existed from the beginning. God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were from the beginning. Hence, the church always has the Holy Spirit. The church is not a building; it is a body of believers who trust in the risen Christ. The Early Church was follower of Jesus Christ, and the church today will continue to follow Christ to the end of the age.
John the Baptist prepared the way for Jesus’ ministry. John preached the Good News, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” I have heard some said that John the Baptist did not preach good news. Yes, John preached the Good News! Luke refers to John’s preaching as the Good News (Luke 3:18). The Good News is a call to repent, to turn from selfish desires and turn to God, get baptize, and receive the kingdom of heaven, the reign of God in Christ in Jesus.

John the Baptist preached repentance and baptism before Jesus’ arrival for ministry, Jesus preached repentance and baptism after John, and the disciples preached repentance and baptism after Jesus.
A call to repent, baptize, and receive Jesus in the preacher’s proclamation is not bad news; on the contrary it is “Good News.”

Where does the church stands today on preaching the good news of repentance, baptism and receiving Jesus Christ?

When John the Baptist called people to repent, the Holy Spirit propelled them to repent and drew them to John to be baptized. I imagine John baptized thousands of people in his day! Perhaps the reason we are not baptizing thousands today it is because we are no longer preaching the good news of repentance and baptism and receiving Jesus - the kingdom of heaven – the reign of God in Christ.

What is the difference between John’s baptism and Jesus’ baptism?

John made it clear that he baptizes with water for repentance, but Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. (Matthew 3:11). Well, that tells us something about the degree of the work of the Holy Spirit in John’s ministry, and the work of the Holy Spirit in Jesus’ ministry. John’s baptism propels the people to repent – to turn from the ways of sin, turn to God, get baptized and receive the kingdom of heaven that was about to arrive on the scene in Jesus Christ. Jesus baptizes with the Holy Spirit and fire, and his baptism empowers or removes fear and gives the believer boldness to be Christ’s witness through the world.

Jesus himself was baptized by John in order to fulfill all righteousness (Matt. 3:15). Righteous is to be in right standing with God the Father, it is to stand on God’s side – the side of truth. Righteousness is faith in Jesus Christ; it is putting complete faith and trust in God the Father through Jesus Christ our Lord and savior. And Jesus would fulfill all righteousness by baptizing the disciples with the Holy Spirit and fire. At Jesus’ baptism, when he came up out of the waters of his baptism, the heavens were opened and the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighted on him. And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased. (Matthew 3:16 - 4:1).

Present at Jesus’ baptism was the mystery of the Trinity, the one God in three persons, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. In Jesus is God the Son, in the voice which spoke out of the heavens is God the Father, and the Dove, which alighted on Jesus, is the Holy Spirit and fire. We use symbols for the Holy Spirit as Dove or Fire. I believe Jesus at his baptism received the Holy Spirit and Fire. I believe Jesus was empowered by the Holy Spirit and Fire at his baptism to carry out His ministry all the way to the cross, to his death burial and resurrection, and all the way to his ascension.

Jesus launched his ministry in Galilee after his baptism, and after he returned from the wilderness where he overcame Satan’s temptation. Thus, Jesus fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy, “The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned.” Jesus began to preach the same message that John preached, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” Jesus, the light of the world has come to people, to draw them out of their darkness into light. Jesus, the kingdom of heaven has come; the reign of God in Christ Jesus, the shalom of God in Christ, has come to Galilee of the Gentiles. And Jesus would reach out to broken people. In Jesus’ ministry the blind received their sight, the lame walked, the lepers were cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead were raised, and the poor received the good news. Jesus was bold! He was on fire for ministry, empowered by the Holy Spirit and Fire to heal sick people, to boldly walk up to fisher men mending their nets on the shores of Galilee and say to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.” How bold is that! When the Holy Spirit and Fire come upon or empowers the believer there is boldness and fearlessness to proclaim truthfully the Gospel of Christ – the Good News.

Jesus gathered twelve believers as his inner circle of disciples. He taught them the Word for three years, and in those three years they still did not understand much of what Jesus had to say to them. At times it was amazing how dense or thick headed the disciples were when it came to understanding Jesus. Once Jesus asked his disciples who do they think he really is? And Jesus told Peter that his answer came from the Father in heaven. Peter was finally getting it! Jesus was so excited that he tells Peter, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven.” It was only moments after that Peter began to reprimand Jesus for telling the disciples that he would suffer and be killed in Jerusalem and on the third day be raised from the dead. Instead of trying to understand what Jesus had said and respond with concern and compassion, Peter rebuked Jesus. Jesus, in turn responded to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.” 

The church today faces the same problem when it comes to listening to the Holy Spirit. Anyone who listens to the Holy Spirit’s leading is considered to have stepped out of line with the church and be reprimanded. Believers are afraid to pray a decent prayer to God for the sick and dare to believe God for healing. Jesus dares to set free, people who were held captive by sin. His ministry would take him on a journey that only the Fire of the Holy Spirit can withstand.  

When Jesus was taken away to be crucified, his inner circle of disciples abandoned him. They literally went in hidings! Peter who told Jesus’ “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God,” disassociated himself from Jesus out of fear for his life. It was not until after the resurrection when Jesus entered the room where they were hiding, and breathed on them to receive the Holy Spirit that they came out from behind locked doors. St. John tells us, “it was the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”  When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” (John 20:22).

After Jesus’ resurrection he breathed on his disciples and sent them out from behind closed doors.

The disciples were baptized with water for repentance. But in order for them to become fearless, and bold they need Jesus’ baptism – they need Jesus to baptize them with the Holy Spirit and fire. The disciples, in their fears, doubt, and feeling of hopelessness, Jesus comforted them with ‘peace.’ Then he breathed on them and told them to receive the Holy Spirit.

I believe that Jesus breathed on them the resurrection power, the same power that raised Jesus from the dead. The disciples were spiritually dead and in hiding. They were crippled by the fear of losing their lives, and the fear of ever being able to preach Christ again. The resurrection power of Christ Jesus breathed new life into them and raised the church up from death to life in the risen Christ.

Were the disciples fully empowered for ministry after Jesus breathed on them to receive the Holy Spirit?

I think they still needed to be baptized with the Holy Spirit Fire! The Fire of the Holy Spirit would empower the disciples to be bold and fearless to go into all the world and preach the Gospel of Christ. It would make them fearless to preach the Gospel even in the face of death. The church today needs the Holy Spirit Fire if it is going to raise up new missions, start new congregations, heal the sick, do justice, and preach the Gospel in a way that will change lives.

Were the disciples fully empowered for ministry on the day of Pentecost?

I believe that the full empowerment of the disciples was fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost. And after that they were fully empowered to take the gospel to the ends of the earth. Luke tells us that Jesus ordered his disciples not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father. He told them that they will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon them and they will be his witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth (Act 1).

Whether we want to believe it or not, God had to finish the work of the Holy Spirit in the disciples. God also finished the work in Jesus Christ, which led him from his birth to his ministry, from his ministry to the cross until He said, “It is finished.” The ‘work’ in Jesus led him from the cross to the grave and from the grave to the victory of the resurrection. The same is true today, just like the disciples, God, through Jesus Christ must finish in us the work of the Holy Spirit.  As believers, we need to cry out to God in repentance, as David did, “[Forgive me of my sins], do not take your Holy Spirit from me -- and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.” (Psalm 51:9-10). We need to cry out, “Baptize me Oh God, with the Fire of the Holy Spirit.”

The second infilling of the Holy Spirit was with the Holy Spirit Fire on the day of Pentecost. This was after Jesus’ ascension.  Luke tells in (Acts 2), “When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.  Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.”

There were about fifteen different nations of people present, and each heard the disciples spoke to them in language they knew. Some people today interpret this to mean a heavenly language in which all the disciples spoke one language and God mysteriously allowed each nation to hear the spoken word in their own language. Some believe that the disciples spoke different languages and the Holy Spirit mysteriously allows those present to hear their own language without confusion. The mysteries of God have many interpretations by us humans. But blessed are those who did not see or hear and yet believe, and the just shall live by faith (John 20:29, Hebrews. 10:38).

The infilling of the Holy Spirit and Fire was complete at Pentecost and the disciples were empowered and ready to boldly, and fearlessly preach the gospel throughout the world.

Once Paul the Apostle was passing through Ephesus and found some of Jesus’ disciples. He asked them whether they received the Holy Spirit when they became believers. They told Paul that they had not even heard of the Holy Spirit. Paul then asked them, into what were they baptized. And they answered, “Into John’s baptism.” Then Paul explained to them that “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, in Jesus.” Upon hearing this they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, when Paul laid his hands on them, and the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied (Acts 19:6).  

We know that these disciples were already baptized with water for repentance and they themselves gave witness to that. However, they needed to be baptized in the name of the Lord. They needed to be baptized with Jesus’ baptism, which is the Holy Spirit and Fire. So, Paul the Apostle who himself was baptized with Jesus’ baptism – with the Holy Spirit and Fire, laid hands on the believers at Ephesus and they were baptized with the Holy Spirit and fire.

Please follow my blog and make your comments on what you have read. Please let me hear your interpretations and discussions. The peace of the Lord be with you. Amen.