I’m concerned that many Christians view that the purpose and operation of the Holy Spirit has changed since the first couple generations of the Church. It is popular to believe that because there was compiled a God-ordained, Holy Spirit inspired set of writings (of course, the Bible) that we, the believers, are now to carry out the great commission, unify, lift up, and teach the Church and have no need for God’s supernatural help in the form the GIFTS of the Holy Spirit.
The change in His operation from the old covenant to the new was obvious and dramatic – change based on the new covenant having been sealed by the blood of Jesus. I know of no other covenant since and no command given in the Holy Bible that is to change how the Holy Spirit would work.
Many books have been written on this subject, but of course I’m keeping it short being a blog and all – so I’ll share one tidbit from scripture that I believe will help believers to understand His ways. Let’s read:
14But Peter, taking his stand with the eleven, raised his voice and declared to them: “Men of Judea and all you who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and give heed to my words. 15 For these men are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only the third hour of the day; 16 but this is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel:
17 ‘And it shall be in the last days,’ God says,
‘That I will pour forth of My Spirit on all mankind;
And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
And your young men shall see visions,
And your old men shall dream dreams;
18 Even on My bondslaves, both men and women,
I will in those days pour forth of My Spirit
And they shall prophesy.
19 ‘And I will grant wonders in the sky above
And signs on the earth below,
Blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke.
20 ‘The sun will be turned into darkness
And the moon into blood,
Before the great and glorious day of the Lord shall come.
21 ‘And it shall be that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’
Acts 2:14-21 NASB
When Peter gives this speech, he states that what was witnessed (speaking in other languages as a result of the Holy Spirit descending in power) was spoken of through the prophet Joel. Read the whole scripture reference and notice how in verse 19 that the same prophecy begins its climax by talking about end times. This is really my point – the term of God’s outpouring of the gifts of the Spirit are in a prophecy that describes a stretch of time that expands from the beginning of the Church to the end – from Pentecost until the 2nd advent of our Lord Jesus.
From the day you first believed to the last the Holy Spirit with His peace and power is in you believer!