Pentecost: The Outpouring of the Holy Spirit

Rev. J. Van Haaren (1933-1983)

The outpouring of the Holy Spirit is one of the extraordinary events in the history of the salvation of the Church. This is actually true of all of the facts of salvation which Christ accomplished in the saving of the elect. Not one of them can be missed. Without Christmas there would have been no Easter; without an Easter there would have been no Ascension; without Ascension there would be no Pentecost. There would have been no salvation for any person if the Word had not become flesh and dwelt among us. Eternal life would not have been possible for a hell-worthy sinner if Christ had not risen from the dead. It would not have been possible for any son of man to be placed in the communion with God if the blessed Immanuel had not ascended into heaven to bring His Church home, and the Holy Spirit could not have come if Christ had not accomplished all that was necessary for the salvation of lost sinners.

Since Christ has made complete satisfaction for God’s violated attributes and has entered into the sanctuary not made with hands but heaven itself, to appear before the countenance of God for us, the Holy Spirit now descends upon Pentecost to dwell within His Church. This is now related by Peter in such an eminent manner while filled with the Holy Spirit. He points to the fact that Pentecost was the result of Christ’s work upon earth. The multitude which had come together was perhaps of the opinion that Jesus still lay in the grave because they had nailed Him to the cross and murdered Him. Nevertheless, He can no longer be found in the grave because God has raised Him from the dead and taken Him up into glory.

It is written in our text that Christ was exalted at God’s right hand which is a picture of His majesty and omnipotence. This right hand has done marvelous things, for it has placed Christ, who had humbled Himself unto death, as the triumphant King upon His heavenly throne and has given Him the reins of the kingdoms of the earth. Exalted by God’s right hand, He lives forever to be active for the welfare of those who are His. Through Him, therefore, they may approach boldly to the throne of grace to receive mercy, to obtain grace, and to find help in time of need. Exalted by God’s right hand, Christ has received the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father. This does not mean that Christ only received the promise of the Holy Spirit after His ascension but that now the promise is fulfilled. Pentecost is the feast of the fulfilled promise.

What was that promise? That the Holy Spirit would come after Christ had finished His work upon earth to continue it until the day of His return. That Spirit had been promised to Christ by the Father in the stillness of eternity when Christ presented Himself as the substitutionary Surety for all of the elect. Had the Father not promised the Son, “Ask of Me, and I shall give Thee the heathen for Thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for Thy possession”? For this the Holy Spirit was necessary. By the work of this Spirit, Christ would bring His elect to eternal life, gathering them from among all peoples.

Christ, through His death and shedding of blood, would lay the foundation of salvation, and the Holy Spirit would raise His Church upon that foundation. First, Christ had to satisfy God’s justice and pay the ransom for all those who had been given Him by the Father, and afterwards, He would receive the authority to send the Holy Spirit for the salvation of those which were His.

That Spirit had been promised by the Lord Jesus to His disciples when He said, “And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever; even the Spirit of truth.” Just before the Lord ascended up to heaven, He has spoken once more with His disciples when He explicitly commanded them “that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith He, ye have heard of Me.”

Peter noted that the promise of the Father has now been received. That Spirit has been poured out because of the good pleasure of the Father which happily goes forward by the hand of Christ to be glorified in His people and to have them share in His benefits. That means that not one of those who have been bought by Christ’s blood can go lost.

The Spirit seeks them out and converts them. He awakens in their heart a sorrow after God which works repentance to salvation not to be repented of. It is He who in His uncovering ministration makes place for Christ and His righteousness. He opens the eyes for the Fairest among the children of men and causes them to experience that grace is poured into His lips.

He makes Christ necessary and indispensable so that a sigh is born which cries out, “Give me Jesus or else I die, for outside of Jesus there is no life but an eternal ruination of the soul.” It is the Holy Spirit who assures the soul cut off by God’s justice that it has a right to eternal life. Yea, that Spirit causes men to embrace that blessed Surety and Mediator as their God so that they call out in wonderment, “He is mine, and I am His.”

The Spirit assures them of the good pleasure of the Father and testifies with their spirit that they are the children of God and heirs of eternal life. Oh, what a blessed work of a Triune God, for now the Father receives again to Himself His lost child. Christ receives His people as the payment for His mediatorial work, the Holy Spirit receives His temple, and a hell-worthy people receive salvation.

The entire work of salvation, therefore, is from God, through God, and unto God. Of this salvation Peter is speaking when he says, “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.” The apostle wishes to say that the wonderful tokens of this day are proof that Christ truly lives. They tell us of His coronation. What you now see and hear all comes from Him!

The coming of the Holy Spirit preaches unto us that Christ truly has been glorified, that He lives, sitting at the right hand of the Father, adorned with all power both in heaven and upon earth. Yea, on the day of Pentecost it appears that the exaltation of Christ does not extend only to the glory of God but also to the salvation of God’s Church.

Has it already become Pentecost for you? Many heard and saw the tokens, but they remained the same. How many Pentecost sermons have you heard already, and what has been the result? Has the Holy Spirit become necessary for you? He can break the hardest heart. What a blessing it would be if you had to call out with the three thousand, “Men and brethren, what must we do to be saved?”

Are there some who feel the impossibility of ever being saved, having been brought to an end in themselves? Oh, that God’s Spirit would bring you as a lost soul at Jesus’ feet. Lost ones, He uncovers the salvation which is in Christ. How your sorrow and tears would then be changed into a joyful chorus. Yea, may that Spirit make Christ glorious in your heart and fill your heart with His grace. May He cause it to become Pentecost by testifying with your spirit that you are children of God, for as many as are led by this Spirit, they are children of God.

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