Continuing the series on ‘Everyday Church’, our everyday witness can only be done effectively if we know the fire of the Holy Spirit in our lives (see Acts 2). The disciples had been commanded by Jesus to wait in Jerusalem until they received the gift of the Holy Spirit (see Acts 1:4-5, 8) and this they did. Obedience and expectation are key; as Mark discussed last week, attitudes are crucial, and we need to understand the importance of gathered meetings (see Matt 18:20) as well as coming before God with expectation and anticipation. Hunger and thirst for God are essential if we are to receive all He has for us (see Ps 42:1-2, Ps 63:1), a longing which Paul expressed in Phil 3:10-14.
The Holy Spirit came to the disciples as wind and fire (Acts 2:2-3). Jesus talked to Nicodemus about spiritual birth using the metaphor of wind. (John 3:5-6, 8) Wind cannot be controlled or seen; in the same way, the Holy Spirit is God; we cannot control where He moves, how He moves, in whom He moves, when He moves. He gives life to people as He desires. He leads people in the ways they should go. He comes when He wishes. Fire, too, often cannot be controlled and can be devastating, but its purifying, cleansing force is needed in our lives. We often find this frightening and daunting, but we need to understand the sovereignty of God and be sure that the gifts He gives are for our benefit and good. A sense of unworthiness will always be our response to a vision of God’s majesty and holiness (see Isaiah, Job and John, for example), but God does not give us this vision to terrify us. He gives us His Spirit to empower us for service.
All of us need to be filled with the Spirit if we are to be witnesses to what Christ has done and to live the Christian life by the power of the Spirit rather than in our own strength (Eph 5:17-20, Gal 3:2-3) We should not be afraid to ask God to fill us (James 4:2 reminds us that we often don’t have things because we don’t ask God), for His will is that we should be filled with His Spirit.