The Holy Spirit and the Movement of God

My next book will be on the movement of God in Acts. Here are a few (unedited) thoughts on the role of the Holy Spirit in the movement of God.

In the last days I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Acts 2:17

Before Pentecost Jesus was the sole bearer of the Holy Spirit. Following his death and resurrection, Jesus’ disciples experience his presence through the Holy Spirit.

The giving of the Spirit is the giving of God himself to every believer. Through Christ, God established a new covenant with his people. It is through the Holy Spirit that the Messiah now reigns. Jesus’ mission continues, but the work is carried out by his disciples empowered by the Holy Spirit.

“Luke doesn’t explain the Spirit, he shows him at work.” We learn who the Spirit is by what he does. There is a pattern—whether the Spirit is given to John in his mother’s womb, or to Jesus at his baptism, or to the disciples at Pentecost, or to Saul in Damascus—the gift of the Spirit always results in witness and mission.

The Spirit comes upon every disciple for a clear purpose—to bear witness to Jesus beginning in Jerusalem and continuing to the ends of the earth.

The Spirit is no respecter of persons. At Pentecost the young and old, rich and poor, men and women, are all indwelt by the Holy Spirit and have the power to bear witness to Jesus. There is no clergy-laity distinction—they all have the authority and responsibility to make disciples.

The Spirit works through the gospel to bring people to saving faith and form them into communities of disciples. The evidence of the Holy Spirit’s presence is the disciples transformed lives and powerful witness.

The Spirit has to do with the proclamation of the Word. The Spirit of prophecy comes upon all of God’s people and they declare his wonders to the world. The Spirit fills Peter so he can speak to the people of Jerusalem. The Spirit enables Stephen to speak with irresistible force. To speak boldly in the name of Jesus is the clearest sign of the Spirit’s work.

The Spirit serves the expansion of the Word. It’s the Word, not the Spirit, that Luke says grows, and the outcome is communities of disciples. On the day of Pentecost, the outpouring of the Spirit reached its climax in the proclamation of the Word to the nations and the formation of the church in Jerusalem.

The Holy Spirit establishes, unites, purifies, protects and increases the people of God. “The Spirit is about the mission, but the mission is to save, recreate, and reconcile a new people.”

Schnabel writes, “The Holy Spirit creates a community of people with diverse backgrounds, united in faith in Jesus as Savior and Lord—a community that includes Jews, Samaritans, Ethiopians, Romans, Syrians, Greeks, Galatians, Lycaonians, Macedonians, Achaians, and Asians who come to faith in Jesus.” This is the heart of God’s mission.

The Spirit breathes life into this movement of God, directing, intervening, propelling, and correcting. There are apostles, prophets, evangelists, teachers and elders all gifted by the Spirit. They don’t direct the movement, the Spirit does, and he uses whom he wills.

As the movement expands, the Spirit forms new disciples into churches and strengthens the life of the churches, enabling them to live in the fear of the Lord, encouraged and increasing in numbers. When Ananias and Sapphira deceive the community, it is an offence against the Holy Spirit who protects the purity of God’s people. When the barrier between Jewish and Gentile disciples must be removed, it is the Spirit who guides the Jerusalem Council. The Spirit appoints leaders within the churches and appoints leaders who multiply churches in new fields. On a later journey the Spirit blocked Paul and his missionary band from pushing further into Asia Minor and then opened the door into Europe.

When the mission to the nations languished, the Spirit used persecution to get Philip to Samaria. When the Samaritans believed, the Spirit confirmed their place among the people of God. The Spirit brought Peter to the house of Cornelius and as Peter preached the Spirit fell upon Gentiles demonstrating acceptance by God through faith in Christ alone. The Spirit was given to the Samaritans and the Gentiles, just as it was on the Jews at Pentecost. The Samaritans and Gentiles too will now bear witness to Jesus throughout the world.

After his last mission, Paul was bound by the Holy Spirit to go to Rome where he will bear witness to the emperor. The book of Acts ends with Paul in chains, in Rome awaiting trial. The missionary is bound but the Word still goes out in the power of the Spirit. The mission will continue despite what happens to Paul. The story cannot end, the Holy Spirit continues to work as a new generation of disciples accept the challenge of taking the gospel to the ends of the earth.

Without the work of the Spirit, there would be no proclamation, no conversions, no churches, no power to release Satan’s captives, and no missionary movement.

Acts is not the story of a by-gone era. The risen Lord continues his mission. He is powerfully present with his people through the Holy Spirit as they take the Word from Jerusalem to the world; making disciples and planting churches.