Dave spoke this morning from Luke 24:49 as we celebrated (in advance, since he is away next weekend!) Pentecost, the birthday of the church!
Jesus had spoken extensively to His disciples about the Holy Spirit (John 14-16) and after the Resurrection told them to wait in Jerusalem until they had been clothed in power from the Holy Spirit. The disciples obeyed Him, spending time in prayer and waiting on God in the Upper Room before the Day of Pentecost (10 days after the ascension) when the Holy Spirit came on them like a rushing wind and with what seemed like tongues of fire settling on them. (Acts 1-2) God’s glorious presence in this form was the fulfilment of many prophecies.
The Holy Spirit has frequently been likened to wind (see Ezekiel 37 when the breath/wind of God entered the dry bones and caused them to come alive and Job 38, when God speaks to Job from a whirlwind, or John 3, when Jesus likes the Spirit to the wind which blows wherever it wants) and to fire (God speaking to Moses from the burning bush or leading the Israelites from the pillar of fire by night, for example.) The people saw with their own eyes God’s signs of His presence and knew God was with them, all 120 of them being filled with the Spirit. Pentecost, that ancient festival which had come to represent the anniversary of the giving of the Law, was the day God chose to pour out His Spirit and write His new law on hearts of flesh.
Churches which welcome the Holy Spirit will know the ability to speak in other tongues (as prophesied by Jesus in Mark 16:17), enabling us to communicate directly with God and will have the ability to witness, for the Holy Spirit is given not for our personal enjoyment but to give us the power to witness to God. They will also see the miraculous at work, as the early church did (Peter and being involved in miracles of healing and deliverance, for example.)
We see from this that the Spirit-filled life is essential (not optional) and the Holy Spirit is available to us all, for all time. The church cannot function without the Holy Spirit, but with the Holy Spirit, nothing can stop the church!