The Church in the Book of Acts

The Promise of the Holy Spirit

1 In my first book I told you, Theophilus, about everything Jesus began to do and teach ² until the day he was taken up to heaven after giving his chosen apostles further instructions through the Holy Spirit. ³ During the forty days after his crucifixion, he appeared to the apostles from time to time, and he proved to them in many ways that he was actually alive. And he talked to them about the Kingdom of God.

⁴ Once when he was eating with them, he commanded them, “Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift he promised, as I told you before. ⁵ John baptized with water, but in just a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

Acts 1:1-5, New Living Translation

I have succeeded in meeting my goal of reading through the Bible in 3 months. It was difficult some days, and if I missed even one day, it was hard to catch up. But it did give me a chance to see the scriptures more as a whole, instead of piece by piece. Next, I have decided that since I'm about to embark on the adventure of starting a new church, it would be a good idea to read through how the Church as a whole started. I'm going to study the book of Acts.

There are a couple important points in the first 5 verses of the book. We are told that for 40 days after Jesus rose from the dead, Jesus appeared to the apostles , and proved in many ways that He was alive. How incredible that must have been! They were most certainly traumatized by the experience of watching Jesus be tortured and killed. The reality of His death was beyond any doubt. I am sure it would have been tempting to think that they were victims of mass hysteria, or that they were seeing a ghost.

Jesus wanted to remove all traces of doubt. He ate in their presence. Ghosts don't eat. They were able to touch Him. You can't touch a spirit. It seemed impossible, but it was true - Jesus was indeed alive!

I am a bit jealous of these early Christians. I would have hated watching Jesus suffer, but I would give almost anything to actually see Jesus with my eyes, hear His voice with my ears, actually reach out and touch His hands. I have to confess, it is harder to believe without this physical, tangible evidence. I long for that confirmation. Yet I believe, based on the testimony of those who did see and hear and touch.

Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15:3-8:

³ I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. ⁴ He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said. ⁵ He was seen by Peter and then by the Twelve. ⁶ After that, he was seen by more than 500 of his followers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. ⁷ Then he was seen by James and later by all the apostles. ⁸ Last of all, as though I had been born at the wrong time, I also saw him.

This is pretty compelling evidence. I'm sure that if we were in a court trial today, and there were over 500 witnesses all saying the same thing, we would consider that to be overwhelming evidence. Many of these witnesses were so convinced of what they saw, they were willing to die for the sake of their testimony. They knew Jesus was alive, and no matter what happened to them, they could not deny it.

In the church today, do we still have tangible evidence of Jesus's divinity, and of His work on Calvary? Are we just to depend on the testimony of hundreds of witnesses who lived so long ago, we are tempted to count their stories as irrelevant to our world today?

I suppose the best answer to this question is hinted at in the next few verses. Jesus commanded His followers to stay in Jerusalem until the Father sends them the gift He had promised them. They were about to be baptized with the Holy Spirit.

This meant that they were not merely going to see Jesus, talk with Him, or touch Him. They were actually going to live with Him in a new way. His own Spirit was going to dwell in them, filling them, giving them power. His Spirit would teach and guide them, and give them all they need in order to accomplish His will.

With this baptism, the proof of Jesus's resurrection moved from being an objective truth to a subjective experience. He was indeed alive, and He was actually with them in a very intimate way. He was with each and every one of them in that same way. This is something that went far beyond their wildest imagination. As a man, Jesus could only be in one place at any given time, and could only give His undivided attention to one person at a time. He may have been divine, but He was after all still human.

But this was different with the Holy Spirit. The Spirit can be with an infinite number of people, giving each one intense, undivided attention.

Of course, the Holy Spirit is not quite as tangible. The reality of His presence can't be denied. But rarely does He speak in an audible voice. Rarely if ever can He be seen or touched. And perhaps because I'm too much like doubting Thomas, I long for something I can experience with my senses, something I can examine, define, and prove that it exists scientifically.

But really, the gift of the Holy Spirit is exactly what we need. Everyone in the church can have a vibrant, life-changing experience with God. He is always there. I wonder how much more effective I would be if I would stop looking for proof, and just accept His presence as a reality, and be willing to submit to it.

I keep waiting for some kind of sign, to show me He's here. I want the tongues of fire dancing on my head, or I want the building to shake. If no such sign is given, does that mean He isn't with me? Of course not!

Perhaps the greatest sign of His presence is hinted at by the use of the word baptize. We are baptized with the Holy Spirit. Baptism was a symbolic washing, a demonstration of our cleansing through repentance. But water baptism can only touch the outside of a person. It doesn't penetrate into the body, making its way through all the tissues until it finds the heart. And even if it could do that, it couldn't actually wash away anyone's sins. They aren't physical clumps of dirt that can be effected by soap and water.

The sins are cleansed not by the water of baptism, but by the blood of Jesus. The water baptism is a way for us to engage our senses in the reality of our salvation. But this new baptism, a baptism with the Holy Spirit - this went beyond symbolism. It was in itself a wonderful act of grace. The cleansing that was only symbolic in water baptism becomes a reality with the baptism of the Holy Spirit. As promises several times in the Old Testament, our hearts are actually cleansed and renewed.

Yes, I still sin. But because of the work of the Holy Spirit, I no longer want to sin. When I blow it, I ache. I can't stand it, I have to go to Him for restoration. My attitudes, desires, and as a consequence my actions are all changing because of the work of the Holy Spirit in my life.

I have never heard the voice of Jesus with my ears. I have never reached out and touched Him with my fingers. I have never looked into His eyes. But I have felt the wonderful effects of being baptized by the Holy Spirit. I long for even more of His Spirit, more of His presence.

This is the hope that is offered to any church. We don't have to go it alone. It isn't about programs. It's not about our own efforts. We don't have to struggle to do everything right. What we need is for Him to fill us with His Spirit. Come, Lord Jesus!