In his book on preaching, The Heart Is the Target, Murray Capill includes a section dealing with the preacher’s need of the help of the Holy Spirit in order to preach the Word of God effectively.
There he points us to the example of the apostles on the day of Pentecost:
“The story of Acts begins with the disciples waiting in expectation for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Without the presence of the Holy Spirit, they dare not begin to preach. Only with the Spirit’s power will a man like Peter, who had previously felt such pressure from an unnamed slave girl that he denied his Lord three times, be enabled to speak boldly and courageously to thousands and be useful to God in the salvation of many souls. On the day of Pentecost, it is preaching that brings in the first gospel harvest, but it is Spirit-empowered preaching. The same fruit would have been quite inconceivable just one day earlier.” (p.40)
The only plausible explanation for the newfound boldness of Peter and the others in their preaching of the gospel was the power and work of the Holy Spirit within them.
Capill then goes on to show that the presence and work of the Holy Spirit is prominently featured throughout the rest of the book of Acts (citing no less than 18 examples!). In fact, nearly every chapter in the book makes some kind of reference to the Holy Spirit! Why is this? What lesson are we to learn from this? He writes,
“There are many other references to the Holy Spirit in Acts, but the point is clear. The Spirit is never far from the action. Or more correctly, the action of Acts is the action of the ascended Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit in and through his people. Just as the advance of the gospel in Acts cannot be understood apart from the central place of preaching, neither can preaching be understood apart from the central role of the Spirit.” (p.41)
While we certainly no longer have Apostles among us, and we therefore should not be expecting or seeking for the signs and wonders that accompanied the ministry of the Apostles (what Paul calls “the signs of a true apostle” in 2 Corinthians 12:12), the ongoing advancement of the gospel in this world through the preaching of God’s Word must still be done in dependence upon the work of the ascended Christ through His Holy Spirit in and through His people.
Pentecost marked the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the church, and the effects of that outpouring still continue to this day. The great Puritan theologian, John Owen, writes the following:
“The great privilege of the gospel age, which would make the New Testament church more glorious than that of the Old, was the wonderful pouring out of the promised Holy Spirit on all believers.” (The Holy Spirit, p.19)
That outpouring of the Holy Spirit took place on the day of Pentecost. And so that great privilege of living in the gospel age is ours, as is the ongoing benefit of having received the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the church.
Even though the day of Pentecost is often misunderstood and underappreciated, it would truly be difficult to overstate its importance in the ongoing life and ministry of the church to this very day. It is only the work of the Holy Spirit that makes the preaching of the Word of God effectual for the salvation of sinners and the sanctification of the saints.
Schreiberspace 