TO RECOGNISE THE INDWELLING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
The first role of the Holy Spirit to testify, glorify and reveal Jesus Let us read some of the scriptures to understand this role of the Holy Spirit.
John 15:26 “…he (Holy Spirit) will testify about me (Jesus).”
John 16:14 “He (Holy Spirit) will bring glory to me (Jesus)…”
Ephesians 1:17 “…may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation (i.e., about Jesus)…”
Ephesians 3:4–5 “In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets.”
The most important role of the Holy Spirit is to testify and glorify Jesus.
Acts 2:4 says “All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit…”
In Acts 2:14, “Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd:…” and Acts 2:36, “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”
Now, if we carefully read the above verses they explain about the Holy Spirit. So the question arises whom were they testifying? The answer is –none other than Jesus Christ!
When Peter being filled with the Holy Spirit was testifying, he was declaring that God has made Jesus whom you crucified, both the Lord and God. So, here the Holy Spirit testified and glorified Jesus.
If we read Acts 3:12–15, we will see that Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit and then he healed a crippled man, but people stared at him thinking he did this through his own power and strength. Immediately, the Holy Spirit inside Peter started glorifying Jesus saying ‘Jesus is the source of life’. The faith that came through Jesus’ name healed the crippled beggar.
When we read Acts 4:12, Peter being filled with the Holy Spirit glorifies Jesus acknowledging, “…for there is no other name given under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” Whereas, when we read Acts 5:32 we find the Holy Spirit described as the witness of Jesus. If we read further, Acts 7:54–56 we find Stephen filled and controlled by the Holy Spirit looked into heaven and saw the glory of God. Now, what was the glory of God that Stephen saw? ‘Jesus’, who is the Lord of the glory as mentioned in 1 Corinthians 2:8. He was so thrilled and overwhelmed by it that he did not even feel the pain of the stones that were pelted on him by people. The glory was so magnificent that he started praying to Jesus as we read in Acts 7:59–60.
If we study the entire book of Acts, we get to know that they are the acts of the Holy Spirit but whom was the Holy Spirit glorifying? To one and only one -‘Jesus Christ’! When we read through Acts 8:26, 29, 35, we realize in these verses that the angel of the Lord is directing Philip to go near the eunuch and the Holy Spirit is also saying the same thing, but once Philip gets near that eunuch — he is not talking about the angel or the Holy Spirit but he is talking about only one person, who is to be glorified — ‘His name is the Son of the Living God.’ In Acts 10:19–36, Peter was totally guided and controlled by the Holy Spirit to go to a gentile’s house named Cornelius but when he reached his house what did he preach? Undoubtedly, he preached about Jesus who is the Lord overall.
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