The Holy Spirit Is The Soul Of The Church
Pentecost is a significant festival in the Christian church, celebrated on the Sunday that falls on the 50th day of Easter. It commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles and other disciples following the Crucifixion, Resurrection, and Ascension of Jesus Christ, and it marks the beginning of the Christian church’s mission to the world.
Luke 24:46-49 confirms that after his resurrection, Jesus appeared to his disciples. Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures and told them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses to these things. And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”
Luke 24:52-53 also tells after Jesus’ ascension to heaven, the disciples returned to Jerusalem with great joy and were continually in the temple blessing God. On the day of Pentecost, the promise of power from on high spectacularly came upon the disciples (Acts 1:1-21).
They were all together in one place. And suddenly, there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. So, the sound of wind and the speaking in various languages by the disciples brought together a crowd of 3,000.
The disciples spoke in various languages to the crowd of Jewish men. They were in Jerusalem from multiple nations for The Jewish feast of Pentecost, which celebrated a thanksgiving for the first fruits of the wheat harvest, also the giving of the law at Mount Sinai.
The men were astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear each of us in his own native language? We hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?”
Peter stood up and said these men are not drunk as some, you suppose, but they are speaking these languages because the Holy Spirit is upon them. So, the Holy Scripture is fulfilled as the prophet Joel predicted. God is pouring out his Spirit in these last days.
The Holy Spirit has been called the “Soul of the Church.” As one of the three persons of the Holy Trinity, the Holy Spirit guides us to encounter the fullness of truth in Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord
As people we cannot accomplish these things on our own. We are unable to understand who Jesus is and believe in Him without the help of the Holy Spirit. “No one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit” (1 Cor 12:3). Jesus calls the Holy Spirit the “paraclete,” meaning “he who is called to one’s side.” Our confidence is in the Holy Spirit beside us in our lives.
