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Coming Down of the Holy Spirit

PENTECOST
(see also Acts 2:1-21)

Power can be used in at least two ways: it can be unleashed or it can be harnessed. The energy in ten gallons of gasoline for instance can be released explosively by dropping a lighted match into the can. Or it can be channeled through the engine of a Datsun in a controlled burn and used to transport a person 350 miles. Explosions are spectacular but controlled burns have lasting effect staying power. The Holy Spirit works both ways. At Pentecost he exploded on the scene; His presence was like "tongues of fire" (Acts 2:3). Thousands were affected by one burst of God's power. But He also works through the church--the institution God began to tap the Holy Spirit's power for the long haul. Through worship fellowship and service Christians are provided with staying power.── Source Unknown.

HOLY SPIRIT

Gordon Brownville's Symbols of the Holy Spirit tells about the great Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen the first to discover the magnetic meridian of the North Pole and to discover the South Pole. On one of his trips Amundsen took a homing pigeon with him. When he had finally reached the top of the world he opened the bird's cage and set it free. Imagine the delight of Amundsen's wife back in Norway when she looked up from the doorway of her home and saw the pigeon circling in the sky above. No doubt she exclaimed "He's alive! My husband is still alive!"

So it was when Jesus ascended. He was gone but the disciples clung to his promise to send them the Holy Spirit. What joy then when the dovelike Holy Spirit descended at Pentecost. The disciples had with them the continual reminder that Jesus was alive and victorious at the right of the Father. This continues to be the Spirit's message. ── Thomas Lindberg.

GIFT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.

There are four distinct gifts mentioned in the New Testament.

Ⅰ. The gift of Christ by God to the world ( John 3:6).

Ⅱ. The gift of the Church by the Father to Christ (John 17:6).

Ⅲ. The gift by the believer of himself to God for His occupation use and service (11. Cor.8:5).

Ⅳ. The gift of the Holy Spirit by Christ to those who believe in Him ( John 1:33; Acts 2:38).

Let us note a few characteristics of the latter.

A. It was a Promised Gift. If we look back to the parting words of Christ as recorded in John 14:16 we shall see that he spoke again and again of “ The Comforter ” whom He would send to take His place and carry on His work. It is well to remember that the Holy Spirit is not an influence but a Person. His personality is most clearly taught by Christ and also the diversity of His operation is most significant in the revelation of Christ concerning Him.

B. He is a Powerful Gift (Acts 2:2-4 37). The power of the Spirit is seen in the two similes used “ wind” and “ fire”; and in the result produced in that 3 000 were pricked to the heart and converted. The power of the Spirit is most marked in the change He made in the disciples. They were turned from cowardice to courage. Filled with the Spirit there will be power to witness for Christ.

C. He is a Peculiar Gift (Acts 2:5-13). The multitude could not understand what made the difference in the disciples and as they heard them there was one of two results. Some were “ amazed ” and others “ mocked.” A man who is filled with the Holy Spirit will be a marked one. The devil will seek to overthrow him and men will scoff at him.

The peculiar features of the Holy Spirit are—He is holy loving true and righteous; and those who possess Him are like Him; hence those who are not in possession of Him do not like Him or His.

D. He is a Prophetic Gift (Acts 2:14-21). The Jews need not have wondered. We wonder that they should wonder for they should have known their own Scripture and have been expecting the fulfillment of its prophecies. Note the two “ I wills” in verses 17 18. The “ I will” tells us of the certainty of the promise; and the “ pouring out” of the sufficiency of the promise. The “pouring out” suggests another emblem of the Holy Spirit 6z. water.

The following five “ I will pour” illustrate the above:--

Salvation (Prov.1:23).

Satisfaction (Isaiah 44:3).

Speaking (Joel 2:28).

Supplication (Zech.12:10).

Superabundance (Mal.3:10 margin).

E. Purchased Gift ( Acts 2:22-36). These verses describe the person and work of the Lord Jesus and one of the consequences of His atoning work namely the gift of the Holy Spirit. It was Jesus in resurrection power who said to His disciples “ Receive ye the Holy Ghost” (John 20:22).

F. The preliminary to receiving the Gift (verse 38). Repentance towards God precedes the reception of the Holy Spirit. Repentance is taking God’s side against one’s self as the publican did when he condemned himself in God’s presence. Repentance is a change of mind wrought by the Holy Spirit and shewn in the action. Repentance is opening the door to the Holy Spirit. Receiving the Spirit is to allow Him to come in and take possession of the house.

G. Proclaimed Gift (verse 41-47). They proclaimed the gift in the following way:--

Confessing the Lord in baptism (verse 41).

Communing with the Lord’s people. Note the words “ fellowship ” “ together ” “all ” “one accord.”

Continuing in the truth of God and in oneness with each other ( see verses 42-46).

Consecration of all to the Lord (verse 45).

Praising God (verse 47).

Additions to the Church of God (verse 47).

── F.E. Marsh《Five Hundred Bible Readings》

 
《The Gift Of The Holy Spirit》
 
INTRODUCTION
 
1. On the day of Pentecost
Jesus poured out the Spirit of God on all
 flesh...
 a. As prophesied by Joel - Ac 2:16-17
 b. As proclaimed by Peter - Ac 2:33
 
2. In his sermon
Peter offered hope to his guilt-stricken audience...
 a. He offered remission of sins
 b. He promised the gift of the Holy Spirit
 -- Provided they repent
and were baptized in the name of Jesus
 Christ - Ac 2:37-39
 
3. What is the gift of the Holy Spirit?
 a. Is the gift the Holy Spirit Himself?
 1) As in "the gift of $100"?
 2) In which the $100 is the gift?
 b. Is the gift something from the Holy Spirit?
 1) As in "the gift of John Brown"?
 2) In which John Brown is the giver of the gift?
 
4. The grammatical construction in English allows for either meaning...
 a. The Holy Spirit is the gift
 b. Or the Holy Spirit is the giver of the gift
 
[As we endeavor to discern what is "the gift of the Holy Spirit"
let's
review some of the different arguments given for both positions. 
Beginning with...
 
I. THE GRAMMATICAL ARGUMENTS
 
 A. FOR THE HOLY SPIRIT AS THE GIFT...
 1. "gen.
receive the Spirit as a gift
Ac 2:38." - Arndt &
 Gingrich
Dorea
Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and
 Other Early Christian Literature
p.210
 2. "With the epexegetical gen. of the thing given
the Holy Ghost

 Ac 2:38." - Thayer
Dorea
Greek-English Lexicon of the New
 Testament
p.161
 3. "In Ac 2:38
'the gift of the Holy Ghost'
the clause is
 epexegetical
the gift being the Holy Ghost Himself." - Vine

 Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words
p.147
 4. "The genitive is appositional
as in v.33 the promise is the
 Holy Spirit
so here the gift is the Holy Spirit." - Lenski

 The Acts Of The Apostles
 5. "of the Holy Spirit - this clause is an appositional genitive
 with 'the gift' and means 'the gift
namely
the Holy Spirit.'"
 - Kistemaker
Acts
New Testament Commentary
p.110
 -- That the Spirit is the gift in Ac 2:38 is the general consensus
 of Greek scholars
 
 B. FOR THE HOLY SPIRIT AS THE GIVER OF THE GIFT...
 1. The phrase can easily be Objective Genitive instead of an
 Appositional Genitive
 a. E.g.
the gift of John Brown; John Brown is the giver of the
 gift
 b. E.g.
the gift of God; God is the giver of the gift - Jn
 4:10
 2. The meaning must be determined on the basis of doctrinal truth
 rather on grammatical form - Franklin Puckett
The Holy Spirit

 p.14
 -- This view questions the doctrinal bias of Greek scholars quoted
 above
 
[Then there are...]
 
II. THE CONTEXTUAL ARGUMENTS
 
 A. FOR THE HOLY SPIRIT AS THE GIFT...
 1. The immediate context
 a. Jesus spoke of the Spirit to His apostles as "the Promise of
 the Father" - Ac 1:4-5
 b. Peter spoke of the outpouring of the Spirit as "the promise
 of the Holy Spirit" - Ac 2:33
 c. Having just mentioned the "the gift of the Holy Spirit"

 Peter then says "For the promise is to you..." - Ac 2:38
39
 d. What promise is Peter referring to in Ac 2:39?
 1) The immediate context suggests the promise already
 mentioned and just offered as a gift
 2) I.e.
the promised Holy Spirit who has been poured out is
 now available as a gift to those who obey
 2. The remote context
 a. The Spirit is given (i.e.
a gift) to those who obey God 
 - Ac 5:32
 b. The same phrase ("the gift of the Holy Spirit") is used
 elsewhere when it clearly means the Holy Spirit Himself as
 the gift - cf. Ac 10:44-47
 -- That the Spirit is the gift in Ac 2:38 is supported by both the
 immediate and remote context
 
 B. FOR THE HOLY SPIRIT AS THE GIVER OF THE GIFT...
 1. The promise in verse 39 pertains to the blessing of salvation

 the consequent result of the remission of sins - Franklin
 Puckett
The Holy Spirit
p.22
 2. The promise relates to the Abrahamic covenant
fulfilled in and
 through Christ (Gen 12:1-3; 22:18; Ga 3:14-16) - ibid.
p.22-26
 3. This view interprets Paul's phrase "the promise of the Spirit"
 (Ga 3:14) as that which the Spirit promised
 a. But Paul may have meant receiving the Spirit was part of the
 blessing promised to Abraham's spiritual descendants
 b. Note the immediate context
in which Paul had been talking 
 about receiving the Spirit - cf. Ga 3:2
5-9
14 
 
[Certainly not as strong
but worthy of consideration are what others
have understood in the past. What might be called...]
 
III. THE HISTORICAL ARGUMENTS
 
 A. FOR THE HOLY SPIRIT AS THE GIFT...
 1. "The Holy Ghost is one of the promises of the New Testament
Ac
 2:38-39." - Barton W. Stone
Works of Elder B. W. Stone
  2. "The phrase 'the gift of the Holy Ghost' occurs Ac 2:38
and
 10:45
and in both places must be understood as equivalent to
 the 'the Holy Spirit as a gift'' - T. W. Brents
The Gospel
 Plan Of Salvation
 3. "The gift of the Spirit promised in Ac 2:38 was the Spirit
 itself" - David Lipscomb
Queries and Answers
 4. "The expression means the Holy Spirit as a gift" - J.W. 
 McGarvey
New Commentary on Acts of Apostles
 5. "Certainly the gift of the Spirit is the Spirit itself given."
 - Moses Lard
Lard's Quarterly
 6. "The gift of the Holy Spirit is not some definite thing the
 Holy Spirit gives
but the Holy Spirit as a gift." - R.L. 
 Whiteside
Reflections
 7. "I believe the Holy Spirit is the gift to those who repent and
 are baptized." - Ferrell Jenkins
The Finger Of God
 -- That the Spirit is the gift in Ac 2:38 is a view that has been
 held by many; these are but a sampling of those in the 
 Restoration Movement
 
 B. FOR THE HOLY SPIRIT AS THE GIVER OF THE GIFT...
 1. "The 'gift of the Holy Spirit' is justification by faith or
 spiritual salvation." - Franklin Puckett
The Holy Spirit
p.26
 2. "The gift of the Holy Spirit promised...is the gift given by
 the Spirit
not the Holy Spirit Himself." - Richard E. Black

 "What Do You Know About The Holy Spirit?"
edited by Wendell
 Winkler
p.201
 -- This view has increased in popularity in certain circles

 though it is comparatively still a minority view
 
[Finally
here are some thoughts as to the doctrinal import of this
passage. What we might call...]
 
IV. THE DOCTRINAL ARGUMENTS
 
 A. FOR THE HOLY SPIRIT AS THE GIFT...
  1. Different from the "gifts" of the Spirit
 a. "We must distinguish the gift of the Spirit from the gifts
 of the Spirit. The gift of the Spirit is the Spirit himself

 bestowed by the Father through the Messiah; the gifts of the
 Spirit are those spiritual faculties which the Spirit
 imparts
'dividing to each one severally even as he will'
 (1 Co 12:11)." - F.F. Bruce
Commentary on the Book of Acts

 p.77
 b. "We need
however
to distinguish between "the gift" of the
 Holy Spirit and what Paul called "the gifts" (ta pneumatika

 1 Co 12:1; 14:1) of that self-same Spirit. "The gift" is
 the Spirit himself given to minister the saving benefits of
 Christ's redemption to the believer
while "the gifts" are
 those spiritual abilities the Spirit gives variously to
 believers 'for the common good' and sovereignly
'just as
 He determines' (1 Co 12:7
11). Peter's promise of the 'gift
 of the Holy Spirit' is a logical outcome of repentance and
 baptism." - Richard N. Longenecker
Expositors' Bible
 Commentary
Vol. 9
p.283
 2. Related to the indwelling of the Spirit
 a. "Since the gift of the Spirit in Acts 2:38 is promised to
 all believing penitents who are baptized into Christ
and
 since the Spirit dwells in all Christians
this is the
 gift of the Spirit which was promised in Ac 2:38. - James D.
 Bales
The Holy Spirit And The Christian
p.13
 b. "This indwelling is not accompanied by miraculous
 manifestations
but by moral and spiritual fruit (Ga 5:
 22-23)." - ibid.
 c. If the "gift" is the Holy Spirit Himself
then it likely
 refers to the "indwelling" of the Spirit
 1) A blessing enjoyed by all Christians (cf. 1 Co 6:19; Ro
 8:9-11)
 2) Which we shall examine more fully in another study
 
 B. FOR THE HOLY SPIRIT AS THE GIVER OF THE GIFT...
 1. As indicated before
this view is that Peter refers to the gift
 of salvation given by the Spirit (cf. Puckett)
 2. This view is generally held by those who...
  a. Oppose any concept of a literal
personal indwelling of the
 Spirit
 b. Believe the Spirit's indwelling is entirely mediated
i.e.

 through the Word only
 3. This view is generally held by those who...
 a. Warn against the potential dangers of the opposing view
 b. Believe it provides a stronger case against certain
 doctrinal errors
 4. Yet these words by R.L. Whiteside regarding this view are very
 sobering: "...much perversion of Scripture is indulged in to
 support sectarian error
and some perverting is done
 occasionally to refute the arguments of errorists." 
 - Reflections
p. 218
 
CONCLUSION
 
1. What is the gift of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2:38? I am mostly
 persuaded by ...
 a. The overwhelming consensus of Greek scholars
 b. The immediate and remote contexts in which the phrase is found
 
2. Like many others
I believe "the gift of the Holy Spirit" is the
 Spirit Himself...
 a. Given to those who become children of God - cf. Ga 4:6
 b. A promise related to the indwelling of the Spirit - cf. 1 Co 6:19
 
3. The Spirit as the gift is an important element of the promise made to
 Abraham: "in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be
 blessed..." - Gen 22:18
 a. A promise fulfilled by Jesus blessing us
in turning us away from
 our sins - Ac 3:25-26
 b. A promise fulfilled by the work of the Spirit
whom Jesus poured
 out richly upon us that we might be justified and sanctified 
 - Ti 3:5-7; 1 Co 6:11
 
4. Even if "the gift of the Holy Spirit" in Ac 2:38 refers to something
 the Spirit gives...
 a. Other passages speak of the Spirit as being given to the Christian
 - Jn 7:37-39; Ac 5:32
 b. What a wonderful gift
one that refreshes the Christian like
 "rivers of living water"!
 
We shall learn more of the refreshing benefit of the Spirit in the life
of the Christian
when we take a look at the indwelling of the Spirit...

－－《Executable Outlines》