The Promise of The Holy Spirit
The Promise of The Holy Spirit
Why we need the Holy Spirit
The disciples had a very great task now. Many people would oppose them.
Paul warns us in Ephesians chapter 6 that we do not fight against powerful people. We fight against spiritual powers. Jesus described himself as the light of the world, but these powerful spirits do not want light. They want darkness. They want to behave like the Devil.
But when God calls people to a task, he helps them. He gives them all the powers that they need. Jesus promised his disciples the power of the Holy Spirit.
In general, the Jews had not obeyed God. He gave them his law, but they could not obey it. But God told the prophets to promise them a new covenant.
33 ‘Yes, I will make a new covenant with Israel's people at that time. It will be like this: I will put my law deep inside them, in their hearts and minds. I will be their God, and they will be my people.’ That is what the Lord says.
34 ‘Then people will not have to teach their friends or their family about me. They will all know me already. The important people and the ordinary people will all know me. I will forgive the wicked things that they have done. I will no longer think about their sins.’ That is what the Lord says.
Jeremiah 31:33-34 EasyEnglish Bible (EASY)
There are similar words in Ezekiel 36:26-27. Jesus talked to the disciples about the promise of the Holy Spirit just before he died. John records it for us, in John chapters 14-16. Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would teach the disciples. The Holy Spirit would help them to remember what Jesus had taught them (John 14:26). The Holy Spirit would teach the people about sin, goodness and judgement (John 16:8). Men would arrest the disciples and take them to their rulers. Then the Holy Spirit would tell the disciples what they should say (Luke 12:11-12). The Holy Spirit would give them calm when they were in trouble or difficulties. (John 14:27, John 16:33).
The Holy Spirit gives courage to the disciples
Soon afterwards, Jesus' words came true. We can read about this in the Book of Acts. Jesus had given the disciples a task. He gave them all the qualities that they needed to do it. Peter spoke about that on the day of Pentecost. [That was the day when Jesus sent the Holy Spirit.] The people who heard him realised at once about the sin in their lives. This is what Jesus had promised that the Holy Spirit would do. 3000 people believed in Jesus that day.
Let us think about Peter. He followed Jesus to court. But then Peter said that he did not know him. When a servant girl asked him questions, he swore at her. He denied that he knew Christ. However, only a few weeks later, Peter spoke out with courage. Although people were ready to attack him, Peter was bold. (See Acts 4:1-22, Acts 5:17-42). Soon after Jesus became alive again, men took Peter to the Jewish leaders. These men had ordered the death of Jesus. They could easily do the same to Peter. They ordered him not to speak about Jesus. This was his reply.
29 Peter and the other apostles answered, ‘We must obey God rather than obey people. 30 You fixed Jesus to a cross so that he died. But then the God of our ancestors caused him to become alive again. 31 God raised Jesus and he put him in the most important place at his right side. Jesus is now the one who leads us and the one who saves us. He has made a way for the people of Israel to turn back to God. He wants us to stop doing wrong things. Then God will forgive us for our sins. 32 We tell people about what happened to Jesus. We ourselves saw these things. Now God has given his Holy Spirit to people who obey him. The Holy Spirit also shows that these things are true.’
Acts 5:29-32 EasyEnglish Bible (EASY)
And on another occasion, Peter said this to them:
12 Then Peter said, ‘Only Jesus can save people. There has never been another person in the world that could do this. God has not given any other man the authority to save us.’
Acts 4:12 EasyEnglish Bible (EASY)
The Jewish and Roman rulers tried hard to stop these Christians, but the new belief had spread too far. Nobody could not stop it.
