Prophecy and the Holy Spirit

In Acts 28:24-28, Paul quotes Isaiah 6:9-10.

The words of the prophets were the words of the Holy Spirit.

Behavioral Restrictions for Gentiles

In Acts 15:28-29, the Holy Spirit sounds like a partner with the leaders of the new movement including Jewish and Gentile believers.

These verses are a key to understanding why Jews and Christians of various perspectives get focused on sins related to food and sex.

God Will Accept Anyone

Soon after Jesus’ resurrection, it wasn’t entirely clear if non-Jews could become Christians.

Acts 10 clearly illustrates that anyone could be included.

This is fortunate for me!  Not too many Irish-Italian-Norwegian Jews out there.

Acts 8

According to this verse, it appears that receiving the Holy Spirit is independent of being baptized into Jesus’ name.

And don’t ever try to buy access to the Holy Spirit!

Missing the Point

In Acts 1, we read that the Holy Spirit will be given soon.

Then, in Acts 2, the Holy Spirit shows up.

People in the crowd accuse the believers of being drunk.

No matter how great the miracle, some people will never get it.

Receiving the Holy Spirit

In John 20:19-22, on the evening of the day of Jesus’ resurrection, we read that he breathes on his followers and gives them the Holy Spirit.

This event supports the idea that the Holy Spirit is specifically a gift given to Christians after Jesus’ return to heaven.

But we encounter the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament and earlier in the gospels as well.

King David and the Holy Spirit

Mark 12:36 explains that David spoke ”by the Holy Spirit” when writing Psalm 110.

What is the difference between ordinary speech and speaking by the Holy Spirit?

Psalm 110 is an example of predictive prophecy, but David spoke other words of prescriptive prophecy as well.  Maybe speaking “by the Holy Spirit” is another way to say speaking prophetically.

Don’t Mess with the Holy Spirit

We read–in Matthew 12:32, Mark 3:29, and Luke 12:10–a strong warning against blaspheming against the Holy Spirit.

Speaking against Jesus is forgivable, but speaking against the Spirit has consequences in this life and the next.

What makes this sin so serious?

John the Baptist’s Prediction

In Matthew 3:11, Mark 1:8, Luke 3:16, and John 1:33, we read that John the Baptist drew an important distinction between his own ministry and Jesus’.

John says that he baptizes with water, but Jesus will baptize with the Holy Spirit.

Babies and the Holy Spirit

In Matthew 1:18, we read that the Holy Spirit is involved in Mary’s pregnancy and Jesus’ conception.

And in Luke 1:15, we learn that John the Baptist “will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth.”