Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:4-5 NIV).

I can imagine how very sad the chosen apostles of Jesus must have been as they watched their beloved Lord as He was taken up from them into heaven in a cloud. They had spent every day together for three and a half years and had come to depend on Him for everything.  He was their Teacher, their Guide, their Sustainer, their Leader, their Lord, their Master and their Protector.  Now they watch Him with great longing as He ascends into heaven to sit on the right hand of the Father, in a seat of great power and authority.  There is no denying the great love that they had for their Lord and Master.  As they stood there gazing up into heaven, their eyes fixed on Jesus, two angels appeared to them.  They asked the apostles why they stood gazing up into heaven.  The angels then comforted them with the promise that this same Jesus will one day come again in the same manner that He was taken up into heaven, that is, in clouds of glory, and all eyes shall behold Him.  (Acts 1:9-11).

The faithful disciples of Jesus had grown to 120 in number by the time of Jesus’ ascension into heaven. These disciples, along with Mary, mother of Jesus, the other women who daily followed after Jesus, and the brothers of Jesus, waited in Jerusalem for the promise of the Holy Spirit just as Jesus had directed them to.  This Holy Spirit would act as their Comforter and guide, teach them all things and bring to their memory everything that Jesus had taught them.  While waiting, Peter and the other ten remaining apostles chose one of the other disciples who had followed Jesus since the baptism of John, to take the place of Judas who betrayed Jesus.  They did this by casting lots which fell on Matthias.  The disciples lived daily in community with one another, and ministered to the needs of each other with love and affection.  They were in unity with one another as they prayed daily making their requests known to God.  (Acts 1:9-26).

When the Day of Pentecost finally came, God fulfilled His promise to pour out His Spirit upon all flesh. “And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days” (Joel 2:28-29 NKJV).  This great outpouring of the Holy Spirit begun on the Day of Pentecost and will continue for as long as God continues to save people from their sins.

“…When the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.  And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:1-4 KJV).

On that notable Day of Pentecost, there were devout Jews present from every nation under heaven. There were many different languages represented in Jerusalem that day and every person present heard the disciples preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ in his own language!  Through the power of the Holy Spirit, the apostles were able to preach the message of salvation to the multitude, in languages that they had never learned or spoken before! This was an awesome and brilliant display of God’s great power!

That day, Peter stood up and under the anointing of the Holy Spirit declared, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call” (Acts 2:38-39 NKJV).

Peter made it known publicly that the promise of the Holy Spirit is for everyone who hears the message of salvation, their children, their children’s children, and everyone down through the ages. He is for as many as the Lord our God shall call.  If you received the call to repentance, then the gift of the Holy Spirit is for you.  For as long as the church of Jesus Christ is here on earth, this great outpouring of the Holy Spirit will continue.  You do not want to be left out of this great outpouring.

The Holy Spirit is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance of eternal life (Ephesians 1:13-14) and seals our adoption as sons and daughters of God (Romans 8:14-16). “Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His” (Romans 8:9 NKJV). If you are not sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit, you do not belong to Jesus.  You cannot afford to ignore a gift so great and so vital. I am encouraging you to get yourself into a position where the Holy Spirit can be poured out upon you.  Get your heart in the right place with God as quickly as possible and seek Him for this great outpouring of His precious Holy Spirit.

Jesus taught, “These signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover” (Mark 16:17-18 NKJV).

Every born-again believer is spiritually charged and gifted by God for service through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. This great anointing comes with a sudden surge of power.  Under the Spirit’s anointing, the believer will speak with new tongues, that is, the tongues of angels, the heavenly language and other earthly languages that they have never learned or spoken before.  This comes naturally under the anointing.  Tongues cannot be taught by man and should not be memorized for future use.  It is spontaneous and comes only under the anointing of the Holy Spirit.  All Spirit filled believers have power to heal the sick, to cast out demons, and to deliver the oppressed in the mighty name of Jesus.

The Holy Spirit gives gifts to every believer at will. We are not all given the same gifts.  Each of us receives the gifts necessary for our area of service and once we receive them, they naturally start to flow through us for the benefit of others.  These are supernatural gifts given at the discretion of the Holy Spirit for the benefit of the Church at large.

The apostle Paul listed nine gifts of the Spirit in 1 Corinthians 12:7-11 as follows: word of wisdom, word of knowledge, faith, gifts of healings, workings of miracles, prophecy, discerning of spirits, different kinds of tongues, and the interpretation of tongues.  These gifts are available to all believers but we need to earnestly desire them in order to receive them.  Paul taught us to eagerly desire or seek after the gifts of the Spirit, especially the greater gifts, so that we may edify or build others up.

The Holy Spirit also gifted people to the body of Christ. Over the next several weeks, we will examine in great details the nine sign gifts of the Holy Spirit, the fivefold ministry gifts of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:11) along with four other ministry gifts; and the purposes of these ministries (Ephesians 4:12-16).