The Work of the Spirit

The Holy Spirit, the third person of the trinity, though not much known to the apostles, was always part of the trinity and working through the Kings, Prophets, Judges and we see this in the Old Testament.  

Here Jesus is assuring them of a fresh anointing of the Spirit that would help the apostles in their mission and will give them the strength to speak in front of leaders, kings, governors, etc.  He tells them that this Spirit will also keep them from falling away, means when the problems are too great, they will receive the courage to face all difficulties and come out of it victoriously and alerts them that there could be times in their lives when they would have to face death and the Spirit would give them the grace to accept death with the hope and joy of meeting Jesus again and the Father again heaven.  Jesus says these things to prepare them for the upcoming strife that they are going to face and that they should not be afraid and give up halfway.  He makes them aware that in the name of God many would come to kill them, but these people are the ones who are lost and do not know the Father and worship false gods.

Now that Jesus had little time on earth, he wanted to prepare them not just for the mission but also for the worst, and tells them that if he had told them about the sufferings in the beginning no one would have stayed with him.  Now that the apostles are prepared to walk the new way of life to enter the kingdom of God for eternity, they would understand the meaning of suffering and death better.

Today, we too are called to be prepared for the time is coming and is already in as we see our faith is challenged in many places and so this message is for us also today.  Let us pray that we are well connected with the Holy Spirit and ask for His help at every step of our life for guidance and protection while we go out preaching, proclaiming and living His Word.