The work of the Holy Spirit is as needful as that of Christ. Perhaps this surprises you. But Jesus says, ‘It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you’ (Jn. 16:7). That would be a terrible disaster. The ministry of the Comforter is essential. In Old Testament times the coming of Christ was promised and eagerly anticipated. When He did eventually come He promised and taught His people to long for the coming of the Spirit.

Having died for His people’s sins and so satisfying the demands of divine justice, Jesus rose on the third day, ascending up to heaven on the fortieth day after His resurrection, and sent the Holy Spirit ten days later. The coming of the Spirit proves that Christ has gloriously completed His work of atonement. The Spirit carries on and perfects the work of salvation that Christ has begun. He does so as the arm of Christ.

The Baptist said, ‘I indeed baptise you with water unto repentance but he that cometh after me is mightier than I. He shall baptise you with the Holy Ghost and with fire’ (Mt. 3:11). Most of the studies on the Holy Spirit’s work deal with His activity in the individual. The Bible, however, goes beyond the atomistic approach and also speaks of the corporate work of the Holy Spirit in the church and it is with this that we would like to deal in this article.

1. The Spirit in the Origin of the Church⤒🔗

There is a sense in which the church existed in the Old Testament. Stephen speaks of the ‘church in the wilderness’ (Acts 7:38). The church consists of the people of God, born again of the Spirit, and saved through faith in the Messiah. In Old Testament times as well as in the New, the Spirit applies the redemption purchased by Christ to individuals. There is the outward church, Israel, and there is the invisible church, the true Israel, amongst whom there are no hypocrites.

Yet something special happened on the day of Pentecost. On that day the age of the Spirit began, and the church of the New Testament was born, a church for the whole world. Jesus’ public ministry was inaugurated with His being baptised with the Spirit. In the same way His disciples must wait till they receive the baptism of the Spirit that will make them a mighty church ready to minister for God in the world. The Spirit came that day with the sound as of a rushing mighty wind, cloven tongues as of fire resting upon the faithful, and new powers to communicate in foreign languages given to them. God’s people became a church on fire for God, bold, wise, powerful and zealous. Sinners were convicted of their sin and converted in large numbers, 3,000 on the first day. Jesus said, ‘Greater works than these shall he do’ (John 14:12), and now this difficult saying of Christ becomes clear as far larger numbers are saved than were through Jesus’ preaching. The parable of the mustard seed becomes a reality as the tiny group of followers grows into a great church. The vital ingredient in this spectacular development is the pouring out of the Spirit. Although He worked in the Old Testament church it was in a much more limited and restrained way. There were few outside Israel to whom God’s grace came. Even in Israel many were obviously unregenerate. Now, however, Christ has died, redemption is accomplished, the gift of the Spirit has been given and the church of the New Testament begins, equipped for its great task of evangelising the world and preparing God’s people for glory.

2. The Spirit Equips the Church←⤒🔗

What a difference the coming of the Spirit made on the day of Pentecost! The weak, frightened, confused disciples became mighty fearless preachers. In Old Testament times the Spirit equipped individuals for various tasks, judges to judge (e.g. Judg. 6:34), kings to rule (e.g. 1 Sam. 10:9-10), prophets to prophesy (Ezek. 2:2), Bezaleel to build the tabernacle (Ex. 31:3), etc. In the New Testament the church is given the Spirit who equips individual believers for their function within the group. The whole church is compared to a body and the individuals are members or different parts of that body. ‘To one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit’, etc. (1 Cor. 12:8-9). The ‘Spirit dividing to every man severally as he will’ (1 Cor. 12:11) ensures that the church is fully equipped for its task. The extraordinary gifts have passed because the Lord no longer sees them as necessary for His church, but all that is required for the good of the church and successful evangelism remains.

Paul tells us that Christ, having ascended to heaven, ‘gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ’ (Eph. 4:11-12). He does this through giving His Spirit on the day of Pentecost. The Spirit gives the required gifts to individuals which they need to fulfil their vital role within the whole body.

3. The Spirit Teaches the Church←⤒🔗

‘All Scripture is given by inspiration of God’ (2 Tim. 3:16). ‘Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost’ (2 Pet. 1:21). The Scriptures are thus the product of the Spirit through which He teaches the church. However, the Spirit does not just give the Bible but also opens hearts and minds to its truths. God gives His church ‘the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: the eyes of your understanding being enlightened’ (Eph. 1:17-18). Jesus declares, ‘The Spirit of truth will guide you into all truth ... He shall receive of mine and shall show it unto you’ (Jn. 16:13-14). ‘He shall bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you’ (Jn. 14:26). ‘He shall testify of me’ (Jn. 15:26). The Spirit assures the church of the truth of Scripture. He enables us to cry, ‘Abba, Father’ (Rom. 8:15). John states concerning the people of God, ‘Ye have an unction from the Holy One and ye know all things’ (1 Jn. 2:20).

If every individual Christian knew all things there would be no need for ministers or commentaries. This verse must be talking of the church collectively. The body of Christ as a whole and in all ages does not need an outsider to teach it. All it needs to know is in the Bible, and the Spirit helps the church to understand it. The Spirit has led the bride of Christ through the various controversies, Trinitarian, Christological, etc. The church today must not ignore what it has learned in the past but rather build upon it. We praise God that He has given a great teacher to his church.

4. The Spirit Governs the Church←⤒🔗

Christ is the King and Head of the church. Christ, however, is in heaven. It is through His Spirit that He rules the church. The Spirit gifts and equips individuals for office and guides the church to appoint such individuals. As the prophets and teachers at Antioch ministered to the Lord and fasted, ‘the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them’ (Acts 13:2). Addressing the elders from Ephesus, Paul says, ‘Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God’ (Acts 20:28). The Spirit is also actively leading in the development of the work. Paul at one stage was ‘forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia; after they were come to Mysia they assayed to go into Bithynia: but the Spirit suffered them not’ (Acts 16:6-7).

It was the Spirit’s will rather that the gospel should be preached in Europe. The Spirit in those days governed the church by supernatural guidance. Today he works through the Bible, providence and the thoughts of God’s people as they pray for direction. The Spirit is also active in the exercise of church discipline. ‘Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven ... For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them’ (Mt. 18:18, 20). We usually apply this ‘presence’ to worship, but its first reference is to discipline.

5. The Spirit Unifies the Church←⤒🔗

The ecumenical movement seeks to unite churches but it only achieves at best an organisational unity which glosses over real differences. The Spirit, however, truly unites all Christians in one church. In this church there are no hypocrites. The entrance is through Christ the door. The Spirit works outside the fold irresistibly drawing people to enter. ‘Except a man be born of the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God’ (Jn. 3:5). This new birth or regeneration occurs when the Spirit enters into an individual and, dwelling in him as well as raising him from a state of spiritual deadness, unites him to Christ. Being all united to Christ we are all united to one another. ‘By one Spirit are we all baptised into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit’ (1 Cor. 12:13).

Just as the ‘body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body; so also is Christ’ (1 Cor. 12:12). This unity which the Spirit produces is not a mental unity but a real unity. It is a mystical unity just like that within the Trinity. Jesus prays for such unity within His church, ‘that they may be one, as we are’ (Jn. l7:11). Because of this essential unity Christians must endeavour ‘to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit’ (Eph. 4:3-4). Individuals within the church ‘as lively stones are built up a spiritual house’ (1 Pet. 2:5), ‘an habitation of God through the Spirit’ (Eph. 2:22). True unity is not increased by enlarging the size of the conglomerate or by mixing tares with the wheat. The Spirit unifies the invisible church and Christians have a duty to give visible expression to this by seeking deep unity in doctrine and life.

6. The Spirit enables the Church to Worship←⤒🔗

Corporate worship is a vital part of church life. As Christians we must take care we are ‘not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is’ (Heb. 10:25). In this gathering Christ is present by His Spirit (Mt. 18:20). The congregation confesses Christ. No man can say Jesus is Lord but by the Spirit (1 Cor. 12:3). Praise is a vital ingredient of worship. The material to be sung is described as ‘spiritual songs’, i.e., songs inspired by the Spirit (Eph. 5:19). Prayer is also essential to worship. It must be ‘always in the Spirit’ (Eph. 6:18), otherwise God will not listen to it. The role of the Spirit in the congregation’s worship is expressed by Paul in the words ‘I will pray with the Spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also; I will sing with the Spirit and I will sing with the understanding also’ (1 Cor. 14:15). Thus ‘thou shalt bless with the Spirit’ and the unlearned present in the congregation will say ‘Amen at thy giving of thanks’ (1 Cor. 14:16). Similarly preaching must be ‘in power, and in the Holy Ghost and in much assurance’ (1 Thess. 1:5). Worship is dead without the Spirit. ‘The letter killeth but the Spirit giveth life’ (2 Cor. 3:6).

At the time of the Reformation there was considerable debate about the nature of the presence of Christ in the Lord’s Supper. The Roman Catholic church argued for transubstantiation, i.e. that the bread and wine became the actual body and blood of Christ. The Lutheran church taught consubstantiation, i.e. the body of Christ is in, with and under the bread and the wine. Because of this bodily presence of Christ wherever his people are partaking of the Supper the Lutherans must also argue for the ‘ubiquity’ of the body of Christ, i.e. that it is able to be present in more than one place at the same time. The Reformed position is that Christ’s body is in heaven and being human it can only be in one place at one time. He is present at the Lord’s Table by His Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the one who enables us to worship God acceptably as a congregation of His people.

7. The Holy Spirit in Evangelism←⤒🔗

Before ascending up to heaven Christ left the Great Commission with His church, ‘Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world’ (Mt. 28:19-20). Christ promises to be always with His church. He is ascending up to heaven. The only way He can remain present is by His Spirit. In the account given in the book of Acts He tells them not to depart from Jerusalem but to ‘wait for the promise of the Father which ye have heard of me. For John truly baptised with water but ye shall be baptised with the Holy Ghost not many days hence’ (Acts 1:4-5). The mission to evangelise the world could only be undertaken with the power of the Holy Spirit. When He came on the day of Pentecost 3,000 souls were converted. The ‘worm Jacob’ threshes the mountains and beats them small and makes the hills as chaff (Is. 41:14-15).

The Holy Ghost convicts men of sin, of righteousness and of judgment to come (Jn. 16:8). ‘The wind bloweth where it listeth’ and when He touches people He raises the dead (Jn. 3:8). The Thessalonians turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God: ‘For our gospel came not unto you in word only but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost and in much assurance’ (1 Thess. 1:5). Christ said, ‘Upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it’ (Mt. 16:18). He does this by means of his Holy Spirit who is vital to the church’s evangelism programme.

8. The Spirit Revives the Church←⤒🔗

It may be observed that from the fall of man to our day the work of redemption in its effect has mainly been carried on by remarkable communications of the Spirit of God. Though there be a more constant influence of God’s Spirit always in some degree attending His ordinances, yet the way in which the greatest things have been done towards carrying on this work always has been by remarkable effusions at special seasons of mercy. This was Jonathan Edwards’ conclusion

In revival a dull, lifeless church awakens. The Holy Spirit brings about new repentance, prayer and zeal. Thus He stirs up the dying embers and sometimes starts, indeed, a forest fire. The Spirit is grieved by sin. He withdraws His felt presence because of the idols, materialism, worldliness and prayerlessness He sees in the church. He stays away till God’s people repent. We will not repent until He returns as the Spirit of grace and supplications (Zech. 12:10). Then the church truly repents and experiences ‘life from the dead’ which is the essence of true revival (Rom. 11:15). Christians separate from the world. Evangelism becomes effective. The fear of God comes down on whole communities.

This is of course what we need today. We are in the second century since the Reformation during which there has been no wide scale revival in Britain. Our duty is to be aware of the need we have of the Spirit to revive the church, equipping it for its task, instructing, governing, unifying the body and bringing reality to our worship and success to our evangelism. The preaching of God’s Word needs to be ‘in demonstration of the Spirit and of power’.