“The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
JOHN 3:8
The mighty, rushing wind blew into the Upper Room on the Day of Pentecost and didn’t stop. Since Pentecost, the Holy Spirit is constantly moving and working, bringing refreshing and empowerment to the Church. The Spirit of God took the field long ago, and He has never withdrawn from the battle! He does not “visit” now and then: He came to stay permanently
ON-GOING PENTECOST! WHAT IS IT? IT IS WHAT BEGAN WHEN JESUS ASCENDED through the gates of glory: He left the door open. Then the HOLY SPIRIT DESCENDED through the same opening (Acts 7:56). A strong breeze began blowing—a mighty, rushing wind. It blew away the stale air of musty religious tradition. They needed no air-conditioner in the Upper Room; it was filled with the freshness of Resurrection springtime.
The Holy Spirit is always on the move, always in action. The New Testament word for Spirit is pneuma, meaning wind or breath—air in motion. Pneuma does NOT mean still air. Have you ever known a wind that didn’t blow? To be wind, it must be in motion. I never heard of a “still hurricane” or a “calm gale.” Air in a jar is not wind. If the Holy Spirit is wind, then He is in motion all the time or He is not the Holy Spirit. To ask the Holy Spirit to move is like asking for fire to be hot. The idea of a Holy Spirit who doesn’t move is unknown in Scripture. The Holy Spirit always means Divine activity. He is the Divine Operator on earth.
Weathermen speak of the prevailing wind. The winds change, but there is always a normal or general direction, such as from the west. The air currents naturally flow in that direction. There is also a prevailing wind from heaven. The Holy Spirit constantly blows with the pure freshness of glory, day and night, always streaming toward us.
WE ALL TALK ABOUT GOD MOVING ON OUR BEHALF IN answer to prayer. He does, but there is something else. He is always moving. God moves TOWARD us, all the time, with prevailing currents of blessing and power. God does not come in gusts, such as an occasional sudden blast on a Sunday morning or Friday night prayer meeting. His sovereign will is nothing like that. His will is what Scripture teaches—that God isn’t a weak force one day and a strong force the next day. We need no barometer for God and no temperature gauge. He isn’t around sometimes for revival or healing, but all the time—it is up to us, not God, Who never changes. He doesn’t have moods. God has no uncertainty factor; it is our faith that has to push past uncertainty.
The New Testament makes no distinctions in the work of God. Scripture never talks in terms of special “moves” of God, spurts of power or revival spasms. Christianity is a Holy Spirit movement from start to finish. The Spirit of God is always moving and always reviving His work.
IN SCRIPTURE, WE READ ABOUT THE POOL OF BETHESDA, where an angel would stir the waters every now and then (John 5:1-9). Whoever could get into the pool first would be healed. The pool offered a solution, but it was not a constant flow, and it was very competitive to access. A man lay by the pool for 38 years and was never healed—until he met Jesus. Whenever the waters were stirred, he could never get in quickly enough. Jesus’ love, mercies and power are not like the pool of Bethesda. They are constant and never switched off. They are independent of our personal efforts; all He asks is whether we want to receive.
The on-going Holy Spirit needs on-going people. Pentecost is a driving energy by its very definition. The Spirit is ceaselessly moving. Matthew 28:10 is clear about the purpose for the wind of the Holy Spirit. “GO, TELL MY BRETHREN!”
ON-GOING PENTECOST MUST BE PENTECOST WITH A GO, and we must do the GOING and the TELLING. As soon as we gather, He is there to bless, to heal and to save. Evangelism by the Holy Spirit is a gale of freshness blowing through the dirty atmosphere of our streets. We only need to partner with the Holy Spirit and let His wind blow!