The Jewish people witnessed such great and miraculous works of God in Egypt, during their slavery there, and even after that. But they forgot all that and continued to desire and live like the nations surrounding them. God’s Tabernacle in their midst was a testimony of the presence of God with them to guide them on righteous paths. God called them His chosen people, just as His sons and daughters, yet their hearts and minds continued to remain connected to the traditions and customs of the nations around them.
Causes of lack of understanding of God’s Word – King Nebuchadnezzar attacked Judea and Jerusalem three times and all those who were equipped with some skill or gifted with wisdom were taken to Babylon. Daniel and his three friends, Nehemiah and many others achieved success and reached influential positions in the royal court. King Cyrus of Persia issued a decree for the Jewish people to go back to Jerusalem ‘to build the house of the LORD God of Israel (He is God)’ (Ezra 1:1-11). Not many were ready to go back and Zerubbabel, from the house of King David was appointed as Governor over the region, by the king. They started the work but then their enthusiasm got low and all started building their own houses.
After a long gap of about twenty years, God appointed Prophet Zechariah to encourage the people to start building the Temple again. The Angel of the LORD gave him the message from God, ‘This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the LORD of hosts’ (Zechariah 4:6). The message was clear you cannot achieve anything without the guidance and empowerment of the Holy Spirit. The people again submitted to the Lord and the Temple work was finally completed, though the new Temple building was not of that scale and pomp as of Solomon’s Temple.
The Son of God was born as a Man, as a Redeemer of mankind, but with the added mission to reveal God the Father to them. He prayed to the Father in heaven and declared, ‘I have manifested Your name to the men You have given Me out of the world’ (John 17:6). The first part of the mission of Lord Jesus was to reveal the glory of God in heaven to mankind on earth. Without a real manifestation and understanding of God, the people would again turn to their own ways as per the devil’s man-made god and his ways.
Joseph was called out of prison to interpret the dreams of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, for none of the wise men in his court could do that. Joseph not only warned about the coming seven years of famine after a seven years period of abundance but also provided a solution to the problem. He was a Hebrew slave, despised by all and that too a prisoner undergoing punishment, yet he could tell the mystery with such knowledge and understanding. Pharaoh was so impressed that he said to his servants, ‘Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom is the Spirit of God?’ (Genesis 41:38-40). All others with worldly knowledge had failed and Joseph was put in-charge of everything in Egypt. The kingdom gained so much that it grew stronger in every sense.
Joseph could even forgive his brothers, who had sold him into slavery out of jealousy. After the death of Jacob, their father, he could set their fears at rest by saying, ‘Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God?’ (Genesis 50:19-20). He must have deliberated on all that happened to him to further say to them, ‘you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good’. The presence of the Spirit of God made such a difference in his attitude to life.
Lord Jesus, despite the objection of John the Baptist, was baptised and as He came out of the water, ‘the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him’ (Matthew 3:16-17). Even God the Father from heaven expressed His delight in Him. He started His ministry work only after that and the first was to show the devil his place as compared to Himself, the Saviour Lord. All along for the next more than three years, He taught and guided the disciples. But before His crucifixion, He could assure them, ‘I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you’ (John 14:18). His presence in each believer is definite in the form of the indwelling Holy Spirit.
Apostle Paul reminded and warned all believers, ‘Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?’ (1 Corinthians 3:16). I have been asked by many believers about the proof of the Holy Spirit being in one’s ability to speak in tongues. Apostle Paul has specifically stated one ‘to another’ while listing out the gifts of the Spirit. He taught ‘to another different kind of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues’. Many believers keep on living under this perception that the Holy Spirit is given to Pastors and other leaders and find it difficult to even understand the Scripture. Our faith itself is a gift from the Holy Spirit and no one can follow the Lord without His work and guidance.
We are supposed to ‘desire spiritual gifts’ and what we desire we ask from God and receive (1 Corinthians 14:1). The promise of our Saviour Lord is fulfilled at the time of baptism and the Spirit of God descends on a believer like Lord Jesus received, though not in a visible form. We must remember that ‘there is no partiality with God’ and for Him a Jew or a Greek or a Gentile are all equal (Romans 2:10-11). His Son received the fullness of the Spirit, for His role was totally different from any believer. As God blessed His Son, so He blesses each of us as His children. Lord Jesus promised that the promised Helper from God ‘will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you’ (John 14:26).
The believers had very little access to Scripture like we have today and any teaching was from leaders. It is believed that in China at one time Christianity was banned and death penalty or imprisonment was common. A Holy Bible smuggled in was distributed page wise, that people memorised and passed on. In this way most people could recite the whole Bible from memory and not suffer punishment for possessing the Scripture. The Holy Spirit helps believers to understand, remember and live the Word.
Another role of the Holy Spirit that leads a sinner to repentance, is to touch their souls and enlighten them. Lord Jesus limited Himself to the constraints of the body but the Holy Spirit is everywhere touching lives all over the world (John 16:7- 8). He also will ‘convict you of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgement’. Sin is the truth about man and his sinful nature, righteousness is the truth about God and judgement is the inevitable combination of these two truths. Everyone has an inherent sense of guilt about his life, exposed by the little light within and also some judgement to come. The Holy Spirit fills us with His light that exposes and convinces us of our sins. He also helps us in finding the answer to overcome this sinful nature and forgiveness from sins, through faith in the Saviour’s finished work on the cross. A believer who submits to His presence starts turning away from all wrong acts.
God assured the captive Israelites of making them clean from all filthiness (Ezekiel 36:25-27). The next step is to give ‘a new heart and a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh’. All this will be through His Spirit, who will, ‘cause you to walk in My statutes’. Since repentance and resultant turning around towards is the first step of faith, the Holy Spirit strengthens in remaining on that path. God is love and the evident work of the Holy Spirit is a realisation of that love towards us. God becoming Man, undergoing all that we face and suffering extreme humiliation, ridicule, being spit on the face and the terrible death on the cross, start becoming clearer to us.
Then the fruit of the Spirit ‘love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, kindness, faithfulness and self-control’ start visibly changing us from within (Galatians 5:22-23). This change then starts appearing in our behaviour towards others, both believers and non-believers making us more tolerant and understanding towards others.
The creation of man started with first being ‘formed’ of the dust of the ground and this process is in the mother’s womb. The next step is to give ‘breath’ or ‘neshamah’, the spirit and soul to make him a fully living and speaking being. The third step is the formation of the soul into a God- conscious being, living in His ways. This part of the process was stopped in the Garden of Eden after Adam and Eve were removed from there. However, God did not abandon mankind and His Word was given, first through Moses in the Pentateuch and later through His Prophets. The Holy Spirit in us continues the process of reformation of the soul by teaching us and leading us on the right paths.
Lord Jesus, while teaching Nicodemus about New Birth and the work of the Holy Spirit, told, ‘The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes’ (John 3:8). We can only understand the working of the Holy Spirit through the changes brought about by Him. But many believers want to feel His presence within and when that does not happen, start doubting His presence in them. He is always within every believer and we receive Him in faith and rejoice in His work in us.
Living in the fullness of the Holy Spirit – Lord Jesus has taught, ‘God does not give the Spirit by measure’ for He blesses with His fullness (John 3:34). His presence gets more and more effective in us as we draw closer to Him through prayer and meditation on His Word. No one can find this priceless treasure of God without a devoted prayer life. It is not about my becoming first in the others’ eyes but to make God number one in my life, above everything. His Spirit must prominently shine in me above everything that I consider myself to be. Someone questioned a Rabbi about not being considered much by others. The answer given by him was, ‘why do you fill yourself with yourself so much that no one can add anything’.
When we humble ourselves before God, giving Him all the prominence in our lives, He starts lifting us up. Our Saviour is our model to imitate and He brought Himself low to be Man and suffer for His creation to be exalted to the ‘right hand of God in heaven’ (Philippians 2:8-9). That place was always His from the beginning but He received it back through His sufferings to show us the way. He cares so much for us that He ensures our protection and strengthening in every situation. Our Lord was fully aware of the planned outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. Being aware of the disciples’ fear of the Jews, the Risen Lord blessed them by being in their midst behind closed doors (John 20:19-22). Lord Jesus blessed them with Shalom, His peace and then ‘breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit’. This is similar to God breathing into the nostrils of man formed from the earth to give him life. A new spiritual life and power was given to the disciples to be strong in faith and prayer till the Day of Pentecost.
Apostle Paul ended the letter to the Corinthian Church with benediction, ‘The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all’ (2 Corinthians 13:14). The Greek word ‘koinonos’ means ‘partnership, social dialogue, communion, fellowship’. This fellowship has three basic aspects – First is togetherness or being in each other’s presence and this is His permanent presence in us as taught by Lord Jesus. He is present everywhere we go, so we do not need to wait for prayer time or cry out to Him for being with us. The second is communication, for any fellowship without this is fake. Thus, we can speak to Him at any time, place or situation and He will answer. The blessing to each believer is to be able to talk to Him anywhere for without that the relationship itself becomes weak. The third is togetherness in an intimate relationship.
We are the children of God and God’s Spirit is in us to teach us His ways and His Word. God visited Adam and Eve ‘in the cool of the day’ and this failed to prevent them from sin (Genesis 3:8). What we do in obedience to God is He working through us and not we ourselves. This is what being filled with the Holy Spirit is about, living always in His presence, communing with Him continuously and letting Him be the director of your life. We surrender to Him to be filled with His presence always. Every Church service ends with this blessing for all present but most people then, are already planning their move home. Very few properly hear and hardly any receive this in faith. The Holy Spirit is left inactive in their lives and they live like those who live in poverty without knowing that a massive treasure is there in their bank account. When we are not regular in our fellowship with Him, His presence in us starts becoming inactive and we start stumbling.
Those truck drivers who drive long distances usually connect to a close friend and each one guides the other about the route as well as helping him stay awake. In this way accidents are averted and one is alerted about any impending hurdle or danger in the way ahead. In like manner, in this journey of life, when we remain connected to the indwelling Holy Spirit, our walk becomes easy and trouble free. We also avoid stumbling and continue to live righteously. He is ready but are we?
