LENTEN READINGS AND REFLECTIONS

DAY 21

Reading: Acts 7:1-11:18

By this time you may have noticed the prominent and significant presence of someone in the book of Acts who has been, by comparison, not quite so noticeably present in the four gospels, the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit descends on the Apostles at Pentecost and indwells converts when they put their trust in Christ and are baptized. He gives words to the apostles when arrested and brought before the Sanhedrin in chains and empowers them to heal and work miracles in Jesus' name. He gives courage and peace to Stephen as he goes to his death for the sake of the gospel, carries Philip from Judea to Azotus in the twinkling of an eye, fills Cornelius the centurion and his household with tongues and praises for God, and turns the hardened pharisaical heart of Saul into that of a tireless evangelist and apostle to the Gentiles.

Just what is the Holy Spirit?

First of all the Holy Spirit is a “who” not a “what.” He is the third person of the Trinity. He was not created in the book of Acts. He is God in the same way that the Father and the Son are God. He has always existed and always will exist coequal and coeternal with the Father and with the Son.

Prior to the Ascension of Christ, the Holy Spirit only occasionally filled servants of the Lord to temporarily equip them for a specific mission. But once Christ Ascended into heaven, he sent the Spirit to dwell permanently in the hearts of his people.

If you are a believer, then God the Holy Spirit lives in you. He has indwelled your heart. By virtue of this indwelling, you have a more intimate and personal relationship with God than anyone in the Old Testament. You are, literally, a walking Temple .

People in the Old Testament could only proceed as far as the outer courts of the Temple and only on the basis of the blood of goats and lambs. Only the priests could actually enter the Holy Place and only the High Priest once a year could proceed into the very presence of the Lord in the Holy of Holies, the inner sanctum of the Temple that housed the Ark of the Covenant where God had promised to dwell personally with his people.

But now, on the basis of Christ's blood, his final sacrifice on the cross, you have direct access to the Father. You live with him and he lives in you through the Holy Spirit.

The prophets and priests and kings of the Old Testament would give their lives to experience for just one moment the indwelling presence of the Spirit that we, generally speaking, take for granted.

The Lord is with us and in us at all times. In him we live and move and have our being.

But if this is true, how is it that we sometimes pray for the Holy Spirit to “fill” us? Why do we ask him to fill us if he has already indwelled us?

Notice in your readings for this morning the way the Holy Spirit moves within and among those in whom he already lives. Philip, for example, was already indwelt by the Holy Spirit when the Spirit picked miraculously transported him from Judea to Azota. Peter, already indwelt by the Spirit, prayed for God's Spirit to work through him in order to raise Dorcas from the dead.

The Spirit indwells all believers, so that we always live in his presence. But, at the same time, the Spirit often fills us or equips us in a special way for specific missions or tasks.

It is, therefore, always good to ask the Lord to “fill” you with his Holy Spirit to accomplish his purposes.

Every Sunday I ask the Lord to fill me with his Spirit before I preach. I do the same before every bible study and before I begin my personal prayers and study in the morning.

Ask the Lord to fill you with his Spirit today. In fact, make it a daily request. Ask him to give you special insight into his Word and to help you see his hand in your daily circumstances. Ask him, especially, to fill you with the Spirit's power to fulfill tasks and roles that seem beyond your ability. The Spirit's power is often made manifest in our weakness.

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