Many years ago, I was witnessing to a man about the necessity of being born of water and the Spirit when he interrupted me. “What is the Spirit?” he enquired “is it an influence?” Well, you cannot lie to an influence as Ananias and Sapphira did—5:13, and an influence cannot talk to you—13:2. No, the Spirit is a Divine Person in this world at the present time. Because He is a Divine Person, He has many titles, although “the Spirit” is common to all of them. Some of these are not found in Acts—e.g. “the Holy Spirit of God” —Eph. 4:30, or even “the Spirit of God”, a common title in the New Testament. We propose to consider here only the five titles found in Acts—The Holy Spirit, The Spirit, My Spirit, The Spirit of the Lord, and The Spirit of Jesus.
“The Holy Spirit”
This is the most frequently occurring title in Acts. Its use dominates and characterizes the book. There are 42 references to the Holy Spirit in Acts which we have classified for convenience as “The Framework” i.e. the two opening and closing references to the Holy Spirit in Acts and “The 40 references within the framework.”
A—The Framework—The opening reference to the Holy Spirit is the Lord’s at Jerusalem—1:2; the closing reference His great Apostle Paul’s at Rome—28:25. In the Lord’s opening pronouncement He commanded His own not to depart from Jerusalem. Paul’s last words in Acts are really a declaration that Jerusalem, the heart of Judaism had rejected the truth and God would give His salvation to the Gentiles. This had been the warning of Esaias the prophet to the fathers, but it had been ignored.
The reason the Lord told His own not to depart from Jerusalem was that the Church hadn’t been formed then. That event took place on the Day of Pentecost shortly afterward. Once it was formed, the instruction He gave His Apostle Paul was to depart from Jerusalem—22:21—and later not to go back to it—21:4. Jerusalem and all it stood for had nothing in common with Christianity. Jerusalem was the center of Judaism, a religion of the flesh. Christianity is a religion of the spirit, as the Lord pointed out— “the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth . . . God is a Spirit and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth” —John 4:23, 24. This then is the day of the Holy Spirit, who works outside Judaism.
B—The 40 References Within the Framework—Forty is the number signifying a period of testing in Scripture—e.g. Gen. 7:4, Ex. 24:18, Mark 1:13. After His resurrection the Lord was seen by His own 40 days—1:3. So there are 40 references to the Holy Spirit who replaced Him on earth. These are broken down here into four groupings of ten. Each group of ten classifies some important feature of the Holy Spirit’s activities in Acts. These are as follows:
The Holy Spirit Who Anointed Jesus is Given to Men—In 10:38 we are reminded how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit. Then in 2:33 the Father’s promise to Jesus to give the Holy Spirit to His own is brought before us. This brings to light the great thought of this grouping—union with Christ through the Holy Spirit. Because Jesus has the Spirit, He would give Him to us too. But in what way will the Father’s promise be kept? The answer is the baptism of the Holy Spirit—1:5—11:16. We could only receive the Holy Spirit as a free gift from the Father’s heart—2:38—8:18—10:45—15:18. Finally the Father’s promise is kept with the descent of the Holy Spirit—10:44—11:15.
The Effect in Men of Receiving the Holy Spirit—Power and Witness—The receiving of the Holy Spirit is given to us in 8:15—8:17—8:19—10:47—19:2. Power follows—1:8—19:22—19:6—then witness—5:32—20:23.
The Effect in Men of Receiving the Holy Spirit—Godliness of Life—We have two thoughts here— “filled with the Holy Spirit” and “full of the Holy Spirit.” The distinction between the two is not understood. The general thought is that the Holy Spirit controls the life instead of the flesh—that is there is no room for the flesh if one is filled or full of the Holy Spirit. “Filled with the Holy Spirit” is found in 2:4—4:8—4:31—9:17—13:9—13:52 and “full of the Holy Spirit” in 6:3—6:5—7:55 and 11:24.
The Words and Work of the Holy Spirit—As a Divine Person the Holy Spirit has a directive will. This is given us in 15:28— “it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us.” So we have the guiding of the Holy Spirit to preach—13:4—or not to preach—16:6. We have the Holy Spirit’s care of the Church in 20:28 and His comfort of it in 9:31. The Holy Spirit speaks directly in 13:2 and through others in 1:16 and 21:11. After this outpouring of goodness by the Holy Spirit we are reminded that “that which is born of the flesh is flesh” —man lied to the Holy Spirit in the Church—5:3—and Israel resisted Him—7:51.
“The Spirit”
Here is a title— “the Spirit” —which stands alone—without such adjuncts as “of Jesus” “of the Lord” or “Holy.” When the Lord was on earth, He communicated God’s thoughts to men, but they also spoke to Him. The Spirit, who replaces Him on earth, speaks to and through men only, in Acts. The Spirit overcomes the effects of the tower of Babel so that man can understand God’s thoughts without the limitations of language—2:4. Then the Spirit overcomes the evil of the Jews who “were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke” —6:10. Since the Spirit is the agent of the new birth—John 3 He said to Philip “approach and join this chariot” —8:29. With Peter He shows him the way— “the Spirit said to him behold three men seek you” —10:19. With Agabus the Spirit does not talk but signifies in some way not specified that there is going to be a great famine—11:28. Prophecy takes this form—it is not in plain words but signified to us in a way the Lord’s people can understand but not others. The world did not know that a famine was coming—it was a secret in the family of God. So with prophecy. What can the world understand from such an expression as “a woman clothed with the sun?” —Rev. 12:1.
The last reference to the Spirit in Acts is when the disciples at Tyre “said to Paul by the Spirit NOT TO GO up to Jerusalem” —21:4. Note the contrast with Peter— “the Spirit said to me TO GO with them” 11:12. Peter, although the Apostle to the Jews, obeyed and went with the Gentiles. Paul, although the Apostle to the Gentiles, ignored the warning NOT TO GO and went to the Jews. So the title “the Spirit” is found no more in Acts after this warning. Then Agabus comes in with a final warning. He uses another title—one we have already considered— “thus saith the Holy Spirit.” This warning also being ignored the title “the Holy Spirit” disappears from the text until Paul at the very end acknowledges that the Jews, and by implication their religious center at Jerusalem, are under the righteous government of God, who is now blessing the Gentiles.
“My Spirit”
God poured out His Spirit on the Jews at Pentecost. But it was written “I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh” 2:17. “All flesh” means Gentiles as well as Jews. This interpretation is confirmed by the following verse “even on My bondmen and on My bondwomen in those days I will pour out My Spirit.” 2:18. In Scripture the Jew was never a bondman but the Gentile was cf. John 8:33; Lev. 25:40-46. Thus “My Spirit” is connected with the sovereign will of a God who so loved a world of Jew and Gentile as to give His only begotten Son.
“The Spirit of the Lord”
This title is found only twice once in the Church and once in the world. “The Lord” denotes authority. This authority judges sin in the Church Ananias and Sapphira 5:9. Then after the blessing of the Ethiopian Eunuch “the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip” here it is sovereign authority to direct the service of the servant into divinely chosen paths.
“The Spirit of Jesus”
The only reference to “the Spirit of Jesus” is in 16:7. Even then it can be easily missed since there is a problem here with the text some M.S.S. reading only “the Spirit.”
However, “the Spirit of Jesus” is a title connected with salvation. For “Thou shalt call His Name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins” Mat. 1:21. So why then should “the Spirit of Jesus” prevent Paul from going into Bithynia to preach the gospel? As already mentioned, God had larger plans for Paul the evangelization of Europe. Perhaps Paul was being tested before being sent out on this work. Philip had been tested when he was told to leave a successful work and go away to preach to only one man the Ethiopian eunuch. The servant who obeys God’s will is God’s man for the time. Paul obeyed and the gospel still reached the people of Bithynia, without his having to preach it. How do we know? Because Peter writes a message of grace and peace to the converts at Bithynia, at the opening of his first epistle.