Thoughts on Pentecost

We celebrate Pentecost in remembrance of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Jesus had given His disciples the promise that He would send the Holy Spirit to them.

He said: "It is expedient for you that I go away for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send Him unto you." (John 16:7)

As long as Jesus was among His disciples here on the earth, He was their Lord and Master, the one whom they followed. He was their advocate and their defender; He cared for them. They could commit themselves to His guidance in all things.

It was not God's plan that Jesus should remain in His bodily form here upon the earth after He had completed His redemptive work for us. Nevertheless, we were not to be left without a guide. He said: "I will not leave you comfortless. I will come to you." (John 14: 18) He comes in and through His Spirit, the Holy Spirit, which leads the children of God to all truth. "He shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you." (John 14: 26)

Let us remember that even though we are the children of God, we have not become such vessels of the spirit that we consist only of spirit. We also carry with us our corrupt flesh and the flesh does not want to be submissive to the spirit. Therefore, we have an inward conflict between the flesh and the spirit, between the old man and the new man in us. 

Another thing that we must remember is that the Spirit does not guide us or teach us anything that is outside of or       contrary to the Word of God.  During all of history there have been such delusions that people have thought that they had such great spiritual enlightenment that they have not remained in the Word of God but have followed their own spirit’s enlightenment. We have already cited Jesus' word to the effect that the Holy Spirit will teach us and bring all things to our remembrance that He has taught.  In other words, the Holy Spirit never departs from that which the Word teaches but guides and teaches us to follow God’s Word in life, in doctrine, and in faith.

The carnal mind and reason cannot understand the works of the Spirit. When the Spirit worked powerfully as it did on the first Pentecost, the wise of the world thought that the disciples were full of sweet wine. As concerns  the Kingdom of God, Jesus made the statement that God, the Father, has hidden these things from the wise and the prudent and has revealed them unto babes.  By His Word and Spirit, God has called us to repentance and faith as we have learned in our childhood teachings. "I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him, but the Holy Spirit has called me by the gospel, enlightened me with His gifts and sanctified and preserved me in the one true faith."

The Holy Spirit is also active today. By its help and power, we have seen and experienced that both young and old have come from darkness into light--from the power of Satan to God. The Spirit reminds us to be watchful and to abstain from sin. It also gives us a living knowledge of sin and the strength to confess and lay aside sin.

The Holy Spirit reveals Jesus' work of redemption and the forgiveness of our sins in His Name and blood so that we by grace are the children of God. The Spirit of God so that we by grace are the children of God.  The Spirit of God reveals to us that we have an eternal goal, a treasure preserved for us in heaven,

Dear children of God, let us not grieve the Spirit of God, but in humility and obedience walk in the light of the Spirit.  If darkness covers the earth and dimness the people, nevertheless a light arises for the righteous already here in our earthly lives and hereafter at the resurrection of the just.  To this end, God help us in your grace to our salvation and to your glory.

Kaare Suhr

Sions Blad, April 1991

Translated by A. Holmgren

Submitted by Pastor Stan