As Jesus gave final instructions to His disciples just before His arrest, He addressed the coming of the Spirit. Jesus said the grief the disciples would experience at His death would be overshadowed by the coming of the Spirit.
When the Spirit comes and enters a disciple’s life, they will be empowered to speak under the anointing of the Spirit. Jesus said, “He will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness and the coming judgment” (John 16:8). Jesus went on to say, “The world’s sin is that it refuses to believe in me” (vs. 9). The mission of the Church is to counter that disbelief by speaking the truth of God’s love. “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future” (vs. 13:14).
The message of God’s hope will include a revelation about what will happen in the future. When the Spirit comes, he will guide the Church into the future where life can become confusing, even fearful to a world without hope. The Day of Pentecost was not just about empowerment to do the miracles of God. It will change how we see this life and respond to its challenges.
As the Spirit comes to convict the world of its sin and reveal how righteous God is in the middle of increasingly sinful displays, the Spirit will also reveal the reality of a coming judgment. It would be through the sound of the disciples’ voices that the Spirit will announce these things. Those announcements and warnings, if received and believed, will always be couched in hope when the Spirit is speaking through us. The sound of hope will determine the legitimacy of our message.
Glory! Thank You Father for sending us Your Spirit !
Help me Holy Spirit to give an answer in due season without fear. Family can be a delicate operation but it MUST be said.