Disciples Global Network

The promise of the Spirit is vital to the redemption of humanity and the Covenant of God with His people, the Church of Jesus Christ . The New Testament links the “ Promise of the Spirit ” to the “ Blessings of Abraham ,” the promise that God will bless the nations through the Great Patriarch. The Spirit is the gift believers receive “ through the hearing of faith .” It is part of the Covenant promised to Abraham, and the Apostle Peter connects this gift to “ the blessings ” for the nations, the Gentiles, in his sermon preached on the Day of Pentecost.

Jesus is the anointed Son of God whose life and ministry were characterized by the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit . The activity of the Spirit dominated the life, words, and deeds of Jesus of Nazareth. He was “ Jesus, the one called Christ ,” the Anointed One, the long-awaited Messiah of Israel.  When  an angel  informed  Joseph that   Mary carried a child  “ conceived   of the Holy Spirit ,” his declaration indicated that something more than a miraculous birth was about to unfold.

With the outpouring of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, the blessings for all nations promised to Abraham commenced . The Bible describes the Gift of the Spirit as “ the Promise of the Father ” and links it to the Abrahamic covenant. The promises to Abraham and “ his Seed ” find their fulfillment in the New Covenant inaugurated by the Death and Resurrection of Jesus, and the Spirit bestowed on us is “ the earnest ” of that inheritance.

Peter summoned his audience in Jerusalem to repent and be baptized “ in the name of Jesus Christ .” He concluded his sermon on a note of fulfillment and with a foretaste of things to come . Peter began with a citation from the Book of Joel , and he finished his message with a clause from the same passage, thus neatly bracketing his sermon.

In the Book of Acts , the application of Joel’s prophecy to the events of the Day of Pentecost links the outpouring of the Spirit on the Church to the start of the “ Last Days .” The activity of the Spirit beginning that day is essential for understanding the rapid spread of the Gospel from Jerusalem to the center of the Roman Empire. That same process must continue until the “ arrival ” or ‘ Parousia ’ of Jesus at the end of the present age.

The description of the outpouring of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost stresses the theme of fulfillment. On that day, what was foreshadowed by the ancient feast began to receive its promised substance. The bestowal of the Spirit was an epochal event that marked the start of the Age of the Spirit, and the Gift of the Spirit fulfilled what the annual Levitical feast symbolized.

The Last Days, the time of fulfillment, began with the Death, Resurrection, and the Enthronement of Jesus Christ . When we hear the term “ Last Days ” we assume it refers to the final few years of history just before Christ’s return. Nevertheless, the New Testament presents this period as the era of fulfillment that began following the Death and Resurrection of Jesus, and the outpouring of the Spirit on Pentecost. In Christ, the “ ends of the ages ” have come upon the Church, the people of God – (1 Corinthians 10:11).

The prophecy in the book of Joel sets the tone for Acts, including the signs and wonders that accompany the gospel  – Acts 2:17-21.  Jesus told the disciples to “ tarry in Jerusalem ”  UNTIL  they receive the Spirit, then to proclaim the “ kingdom of God ” in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria, and the “ uttermost parts of the earth .” The book of  Acts  records how the early church carried out this mission under the power of the Spirit.

On Pentecost, the Spirit of God descended on the disciples accompanied by audible and visual manifestations. As they were “ filled with the Spirit ,” they all began “ speaking in other tongues .” This caused confusion and questions among the Jewish pilgrims who witnessed the epochal event.

In  Acts , the activity of the Spirit is essential to the life and growth of the church. The church was inaugurated by the outpouring of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost, and the young faith spread quickly from Judea to Samaria, Syria, Asia Minor, Greece, and finally, to the heart of the Roman Empire.

The book of  Acts  lays stress on fulfillment. The things foreshadowed in the Hebrew scriptures are actualized when the disciples are “ filled with the Spirit and spoke in other tongues ” on Pentecost. This is the seminal event that marks the inauguration of the Church, the age of the Spirit, and the commencement of the final harvest.