(June 16, 2025) Dr Richard Winter reminds us of a special day…

June 8 saw many churches celebrating Pentecost— rejoicing about that first outpouring of the powerful Holy Spirit 50 days after Easter as recorded by Dr Luke in Acts 2.

Pentecost
Now Pentecost was originally a Jewish celebration observed 50 days after the first day of Passover. This harvest festival celebration was also called the Feast of Weeks and Shavuot.

For Christians that Acts 2 Pentecost is significant because it marked the beginning of the Christian church and our Holy Spirit empowerment to spread the message of Jesus… and to move in spiritual power (1Corinthian 12:8-11).

I trust that your church recalled what Acts 2 Pentecost and the blessed Holy Spirit empowerment means, that you were blessed last Sunday— and encouraged to trust the Holy Spirit in seeking to serve our Lord and spread His gospel.

Ponderings
In any case let me share afresh some pertinent pentecostal truths—

• Think of the Book of Acts as a sequel to Luke’s gospel about Jesus and His ministry.
• It’s about the direction and ministry of the Spirit in founding and expanding Jesus’ church.
• Acts tells of Jesus empowering all disciples to take the gospel to the entire world.
• Tells of challenges to folk who had no electronic help, or easy connection to printed Bibles.
• With no ‘church buildings’ initially, Acts make it clear that Jesus meant sharing the gospel was to be a person-to-person project!

If there was any early reading to be done, it was —  

• Read my life,
• Read my language,
• Read my morals,
• Read my devotion to my God and
• Read my commitment to doing as He asked.

Now that immense task of reaching all humankind is still hard for most of us to grasp and get involved in today! After all, if God is all powerful why doesn’t He zap everyone and make them believe? Or send a thought-believing lightning bolt from heaven…? Wouldn’t that solve the problem, Lord? No!

(i) Doubts
Such thoughts nullify the decision of free will choice which God gave at creation to Adam and Eve and all their descendants.
(ii) Decision
Everyone has to make a decision for themselves as to what they do with the salvation message of Jesus (God in the flesh) being crucified on Calvary’s cross to save us from the penalty of sin.
(iii) Duty
Will you obey His teachings and love Him the way He loves you, with a whole heart?’ If so, you will be blessed as you learn and grow in what it means to have the only message of eternal truth that brings salvation to anyone who will believe it.

Problems
So what’s the problem today regarding following Jesus and what’s to be done about it?

• Simply stated many Christians do not share the gospel to bless needy individuals.
• They don’t even seek Holy Spirit opportunities, nor call on His power to help them!
• And some Christians just feel so powerless struggling to have victory over sin!
• Unable to be bold in their witness they’re tired of running the Christian race of new life.
• They wonder if there’s more to the Christian life than just biding time until Jesus returns.

Maybe this describes you, and maybe it’s because there is an absence of God’s power and the fullness of the Holy Spirit active in your life.

Let’s look afresh at  Acts 1 and 2— at the person and power of the Holy Spirit available to all believers and learn what it means to be baptised with the third person of the Godhead!

1. Promise (Acts 1) —
After Jesus’ resurrection, He presented Himself to His disciples giving many convincing proofs that He was alive! He appeared to them for forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God (v3).

Then, on one occasion, He gave them this command— and promise— ‘Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptised with water, but in a few days you will be baptised with the Holy Spirit’ (v4).

Verse 8 is so dynamic and encouraging: ‘… you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem … to the ends of the earth.’

 So let’s get a few facts from the Book of Acts…

• Acts was written by Luke sometime around AD 60-69.
• He explained how the church was spiritually empowered to reach all humankind.
• In order to be equipped to spread the good news of Jesus, often at the risk of death, Luke tells of the disciples receiving the enabling power of the Holy Spirit.

And so do we! They got it— and so can we!

Sadly many Christians are living powerless lives, struggling to overcome temptation and sin, unable to witness— and are simply waiting for Jesus to return. Jesus knew we all would face problems and prefer every easier option. Simply put: We need the Holy Spirit to be—

• Bold as witnesses.
• Resistant against sin and temptation.
• Available vessels for God’s miracles.

So the question is: ‘How do you get this boldness and the power that comes with the Holy Spirit?’

2. Precursor (John 14)—
Well, we start with the teaching of Jesus— ‘And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you’ (v16-17).

If we don’t know the depth of Jesus’ prayer, we need  a little Greek here and there (and that’s got nothing to do with souvlaki or baklava!).

‘With’  in Greek is ‘para’ meaning ‘with, near, or around.’ Just like we are with and near each other in church, a major role of the Holy Spirit is to be around us, near us, leading us to the saving knowledge of Christ and using us to share about Him. (No one comes to Jesus without the Holy Spirit’s influence).

After acceptance of Jesus as Saviour, the Holy Spirit indwells believers! John tells of Jesus after His resurrection catching up with His concerned disciples—‘“Peace be with you.” When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit”’ (John 20: 19-22).

As for us, the Holy Spirit is given by Jesus at the very moment of our conversion, He comes to dwell in the believer with power enabling us to live for Christ and to achieve whatever He has for us to achieve! Paul wrote in 1Corinthians 3:16, ‘Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?’

3. Position
Regarding Christian baptisms, the New Testament speaks of three— water, spirit and fire.
(i) Water
This is acknowledging your sins and burying them symbolically  to show your death to an old life and the arising of your new life in Christ (Galatians 3:27).
(ii) Spirit
Baptism in the Holy Spirit is an overflowing fullness of the power of the Spirit in the believer, subsequent to salvation (Acts 1:8).
(iii) Fire
I’ll share about this in another article, but do note that John the Baptist prophesied that Jesus would ‘… baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire’ (Matthew 3:11).

The outpouring of Holy Spirit baptism is subsequent to salvation— the 120 gathered in the upper room were already believers who were following Christ’s instructions and waiting for this event which would enable them to witness Christ everywhere.

Have you received Christ and this baptism, dear reader? Are you waiting… longingly? Are you desirous? I sincerely pray so.

Let’s look at a little more Greek to explain what happens after one accepts Jesus as Saviour. You have been drawn by God to believe and the Holy Spirit at that moment saves you, not because of your good deeds but by God’s grace.

Baptism in the Greek is baptizo, meaning ‘to overwhelm, to submerge, to immerse.’ Scripture makes a distinction between the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and His overwhelming power. Just as you were covered, immersed with water in your water baptism, so will you be in your Spirit baptism. Yes, there’s a feeling when the water envelopes you, and one when the Holy Spirit baptises you!

There will be a significant way of living from that moment on! You will—

• Not just live with knowledge of Jesus, but with His Spirit directing you.
• No longer be living materialistically because your worldview will change.
• Understand ‘church’ not as a mere noun, a building: It’ll be an action word!
• Be praying for lost souls who don’t know Jesus to be saved.
• Gladly give freely to those that need financial help— and to missionary enterprises.
• Be available to help people who need general and material assistance.

Power
Then you will understand what Acts 1:8NLT— ‘But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth’— is all about!

Some more Greek understanding here…
(i) Upon
This is epi meaning ‘superimposition, on, over.’
(ii) Power
Power is dunamis, from which we get our English word ‘dynamite.’

Disciples are to be like dynamite wherever they go… ‘blowing up’ the resistance of evil, false teaching and lethargy, with love!

That’s how the church started in Jerusalem that Acts 2 Pentecost celebration— the 120 in the upper room became 3000 after Peter witnessed the risen Christ. The book of Acts then tells of many more being added later. Jesus’ great commission of Matthew 28:18-20 was being fulfilled!

Every Christian should understand that ‘the end of the earth’ is literally go where there are people. That  if you can’t go, you can help a willing and able person to go. We call these people missionaries and you can… should… and will support them in realising this too is a Holy Spirit power activity.

Spirit-filled, we have a worldview that says we commit to reaching the lost whether close to us, near to us, or far from us.

Prayer
If you’re feeling that your Christian life is blah, blah and blah—

• Get off to your ‘upper room’ and wait, pray and expect!
• God, the same today, yesterday and forever, will meet you there… listen to what the Spirit will say.
• And everyone who sees you after your divine empowerment will see you are like a little package of dynamite ready to bring to rubble the works of Satan, vain philosophies and works of the flesh!

I ask again— have you accepted Jesus as Saviour and Lord? If so have you been baptised in the Spirit?

You will know it and you will tell others— and others will know it anyway!

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Dr Richard Winter pastors The Connection Church, Huntington Beach, California. Link: OnlinerConnect@gmail.com  
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