Just as the Spirit within in the new birth is a definite experience, so there is also a genuine
infilling of the Holy Spirit which believers can receive today, which is also a definite experience.
On the Day of Pentecost, God gave this outpouring of the Holy Spirit not only to the 120 who
were gathered in the Upper Room (Acts 2:1-4), but to the Church — to all who would believe in
Jesus.
As I pointed out in the previous lesson, it is not a matter of the Father's giving believers the
Holy Ghost. God has already given the Holy Ghost to the Church on the Day of Pentecost. No,
it is a matter now of believers' receiving the Holy Ghost.
The world — unregenerated sinners — cannot receive the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth. The
world can receive the new birth, however. Sinners can receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and
Savior and be born again. But the experience of the infilling of the Holy Ghost is only for
believers.
Jesus called the outpouring of the Holy Ghost "the promise of my Father" (Luke 24:49; Acts
1:4). Peter also spoke of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2, using the phrase "the
promise of the Holy Ghost," and "the gift of the Holy Ghost."
ACTS 2:32,33
32 This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.
33 Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father
THE PROMISE of the HOLY GHOST, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.
ACTS 2:38,39
38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of
Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the GIFT OF THE HOLY
GHOST.
39 For THE PROMISE is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even
as many as the Lord our God shall call.
Jesus promised in Luke 24:49 and Acts 1:5,8 that the Holy Ghost would be given that believers
might be "endued with power from on High." Then on the Day of Pentecost, God shed forth the
Holy Spirit as He came upon believers (Acts 2:33). And the Holy Spirit has been here ever
since for believers to receive.
When the Church Began
Some people have said, "The Church began on the Day of Pentecost." But the Bible doesn't
teach that. The Church actually began when Jesus breathed on the disciples and said,
"Receive ye the Holy Ghost" (John 20:22). This is when the Holy Spirit indwelt the disciples
and did His work of recreating their spirits and making them new creatures on the inside
(2 Cor. 5:17).
Before Jesus breathed on His disciples, the disciples had a promissory note on salvation (John
14:16,17,23), but they weren't bor n again. Until Jesus breathed on the disciples, the Holy Spirit
had not yet been given to bring people into the new-birth experience, because Jesus had not
yet redeemed mankind through His death, burial, and resurrection (John 7:39).