by furaha nchimbi | 1 January 2021 08:46 pm01
Many Christians have wondered why the Holy Spirit did not immediately descend on the apostles after Jesus’ resurrection. Why did they have to wait until the Day of Pentecost — exactly fifty days after Passover (Acts 2:1)? Was it because they were unworthy? Not at all.
Rather, this delay reveals a consistent pattern of the Holy Spirit’s work in Scripture.
The Holy Spirit does not descend randomly, hurriedly, or incompletely. When He comes, He comes in fullness, and His descent always aligns with God’s timing, God’s preparation, and God’s purpose.
Jesus Himself told His disciples to wait:
Luke 24:49 (ESV)
“But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”
The disciples needed to be:
✔ spiritually aligned,
✔ purified in their obedience,
✔ united in heart,
✔ and grounded in Christ’s teaching.
Only then were they ready for the Spirit to produce the fullness of God’s work in them.
Scripture repeatedly compares God’s Spirit to rain — something that falls on all soil without discrimination:
Hosea 6:3 (ESV)
“He will come to us as the rain, as the latter rain that waters the earth.”
Rain does not choose where to fall. It simply causes whatever is in the soil to grow:
• wheat or weeds,
• fruit or thorns,
• useful crops or destructive plants.
This is a profound theological truth:
The Holy Spirit strengthens the nature already growing in a person.
Just as rain empowers whatever seeds lie hidden beneath the surface, the Spirit amplifies what is already planted in the heart.
This is why Paul warns:
Galatians 6:7 (ESV)
“Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.”
Therefore, it is the believer’s responsibility to cultivate holiness — to prepare the soil of the heart.
The Holy Spirit is called the Helper (John 14:26), meaning He “helps” what is already growing inside you.
If you plant repentance, holiness, love, and a hunger for God, the Holy Spirit will magnify them:
Galatians 5:16 (ESV)
“Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.”
But if you plant secret sin, hypocrisy, immorality, pride, or worldliness — the Spirit will expose and intensify the consequences of what you have sown.
The Spirit is not a passive force.
He is God, and He responds to what He finds in the heart.
This is why Scripture speaks of:
Thessalonians 2:10–12 (ESV)
“a strong delusion” sent by God to those who reject truth
This does not mean God delights in deception, but that He allows the heart’s hidden seeds to grow into their final form — whether righteous or corrupt.
The author of Hebrews beautifully expands this principle:
Hebrews 6:7 (ESV)
“For land that has drunk the rain… and produces a crop… receives a blessing from God.”
Hebrews 6:8 (ESV)“But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless… and its end is to be burned.”
This means:
The same Holy Spirit who blesses one believer may harden another.
Why?
Because of the state of the heart.
Many believers attend church, sing in choirs, participate in fellowship, and yet secretly indulge in sin. When the Spirit begins to move in the church, they expect blessing — but the Spirit instead intensifies the corruption already present.
This is why some people become worse after spending time in church — not better.
In Matthew 13:24–30, Jesus explains that both wheat and weeds grow together until the time of harvest.
The rain (symbolic of the Spirit) nourishes both.
The weeds grow stronger in order to be fully exposed before judgment.
Thus, when the Holy Spirit moves:
• the sincere become more holy,
• the false become more corrupt.
This matches Jesus’ teaching:
Luke 6:44 (ESV)
“Every tree is known by its own fruit.”
Many misunderstand this phrase.
Theologians explain that God did not “create evil” for Saul; rather:
✔ Saul rejected God,
✔ harbored jealousy, pride, and rebellion,
✔ and repeatedly disobeyed the commands given through Samuel.
So when the Spirit of the Lord departed (1 Samuel 16:14), God allowed a tormenting spirit to afflict him according to the condition of his heart.
The same Spirit who once empowered Saul for victory (1 Samuel 11:6) now exposed and magnified his inner corruption.
God had not changed — Saul had.
This is why Jesus warned believers to be careful in God’s house:
Luke 12:48 (ESV)
“To whom much is given, much will be required.”
The church is not a playground.
It is the environment where the Spirit works most intensely.
If you come with holiness, He will increase it.
If you come with sin, He will expose and intensify its consequences.
The beautiful side of this truth is that the Holy Spirit empowers every righteous seed:
• If you sow holiness, He makes you holier.
• If you sow faith, He deepens your faith.
• If you sow love, He enlarges your love.
• If you study the Word, He multiplies revelation.
This fulfills Jesus’ promise:
John 16:13 (ESV)
“When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth.”
This is why the Holy Spirit is called the Helper — He enables believers to become everything God intended.
Examine yourself.
What seeds are present in your heart?
What will the Spirit magnify when He descends?
Prepare your heart so that when the Spirit comes, He finds good seed — not weeds — and brings forth fruit that glorifies Christ.
2 Corinthians 13:5 (ESV)
“Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith.”
May the Lord bless you and lead you into deeper truth.
Source URL: https://wingulamashahidi.org/en/2021/01/01/a-deeper-look-into-a-work-of-the-holy-spirit-that-many-believers-do-not-understand/
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