“The Coming of the Holy Spirit: A Study of the Acts 2 Pentecost”
A Paper Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Course
NBST 522
Dr. Robert Kendall
By
Jeffery S. Cully
Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary & Graduate School
Liberty University
Student ID #L23736349
June 2012
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Table of Contents
Introduction 4
Old and New Testament Pneumatology 5
The Pentecost Tradition 8
Coming of the Holy Spirit 11
The Response 13
Peters Sermon 14
A Growing Church 17
Conclusion 19
Bibliograpy 20
Introduction Ten days have passed since Christ’s glorious ascension; now the Feast of Pentecost is at hand celebrating God’s revelation of Himself at Mount Sinai. It is by no mere coincidence that over a half a millennium later God will use this same occasion to forever memorialize the gifting of the Holy Spirit, by which His creation is now empowered to witness to the Good News, that the Christ has come. The apostles must have experienced an air of electrifying anticipation as they gather about in what Luke simply describes as “one place” but was more than likely Solomon’s Portico.1
These twelve apostles along with an additional one hundred and eight faithful obey the command of their Lord as they wait the Promise of the Father; what Luke will refer to as a mighty wind. Ever the diligent historian, Luke has vividly recorded in Acts 2 what must have been truly one of the most astonishing of events. Suddenly as without warning the disciples find themselves enveloped by a strange yet wonderful, supernatural manifestation.2 Each are immediately filled with the Holy Spirit in what surely resembled the Shekinah glory of God as seen by Moses. The promise which Jesus had made to His disciples weeks before at the last supper has come to fruition. The Great Comforter and teacher, the helper which John has prepared us for in his Gospel has finally arrived. From Genesis through Acts 1 we have seen a picture of God, His Son and His Spirit preparing mankind for the Father’s final redemptive act, the sacrifice of the Son and sending of a teacher, the sending of the Holy Spirit in His stead. Yet what did this arrival ultimately mean for those who were in Christ and is there more to this manifestation than first meets the eye? It is the intent of this exegetical paper to address these issues and attempt to arrive at a better understanding of the events, purpose and theme of Acts chapter two.
Old and New Testament Pneumatology
In the very beginning of God’s revelation to man, the second verse of Genesis, we see the third member of the Holy Trinity engaged in the Father’s work of creation, “hovering over the face of the waters (Genesis 1:2 NKJV).” We see then the Holy Spirit as not simply an extension of God’s power but a rightful heir to the honor and adoration due the Trinitarian monarchy.
This forgotten member of the Trinity, simply said is as much a being of Deity as the Son of Man Himself, with all the attributes and characteristics of personality. Fitzer suggests, “By personality is meant separateness of being, individuality, mode of subsistence. The essential characteristics of personality are self-consciousness, emotion and self-will. All persons lacking these attributes are not persons.”3
While the person of the Holy Spirit may be timeless His fulfillment of the work God would have of Him differs in practice between Old and New Testament. Referred mostly as the Spirit of God in Old Testament scripture we see a progression of the revelation of God’s ultimate plan for man’s redemption through the Holy Spirits giving of prophecy and scripture or the empowerment of certain men with skills and abilities suited to the performance of God's will.4
Examples of these men of God and their empowerment are abundant throughout the Old Testament. Joshua and the Judges who led Israel from their enemies, Gideon who “the
