I was asked not long ago if the ministry of the Holy Spirit started on the day of Pentecost as recorded in Acts 2. My response was that the Holy Spirit has been at work since the beginning of creation. For instance, in Genesis chapter one, we read that the Spirit of God hovered over the waters before God spoke the first creative word. The Spirit of God worked in and through the prophets in the Old Testament. All of the scriptures that they wrote were at the instance of God’s Spirit. What then was the special attraction on the day of Pentecost? Firstly, the Holy Spirit came upon all the 120 congregants at the Upper Room. In the New Testament, the ministry of the Spirit was no longer limited to a select few. Moreover, the Holy Spirit now takes permanent residence in believers, unlike the temporary presence in the Old Testament.

If you submit fully to the Spirit of God, He will bless you with revelation through Scriptures and other means.

Our text provides further evidence that the Spirit was at work before Pentecost. It reports that a just and devout man by the name Simeon had the Holy Spirit upon him. God’s Spirit revealed to him that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Christ (Luke 2:26). Speaking about the ministry of the Holy Spirit, Jesus said that He would reveal things to come. The Spirit of the Lord is a revealer. Many believers like to stop at speaking in tongues as the proof of the Spirit’s presence, but there is more. If you submit fully to the Spirit of God, He will bless you with revelation through Scriptures and other means.