The Gift He Promised | Tim Sheets

For several weeks, I have spoken with you about how the Lord restores the soul. Today, we will focus on the spirit. When a Christian receives Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, they receive a reborn spirit. As we have learned, the soul is renewed and refreshed, but the human spirit, once dead in trespasses and sin, is not merely restored—it is born again.

We do not receive a new soul or a new body at salvation. But our spirit experiences an actual new birth. This is not symbolic or metaphorical. It is a real spiritual birth from God. The reborn spirit becomes alive to God, alive to His voice, alive to His Word, His ways, His will, and His purposes.

The newborn spirit is then empowered to its full potential through the infilling of the Holy Spirit, first revealed on the Day of Pentecost in Acts chapter 2. Pentecost was a divine reset. It restored God’s original design for humanity and activated the believer’s spirit through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit.

Few people fully understand the powerful truth being restored to believers through this work of the Holy Spirit. Yes, each person must choose to walk in it, but those who do can live as true sons and daughters of the living God, operating in remarkable spiritual potential.

Jesus Promised the Power of the Holy Spirit

In Acts chapter 1, Jesus appeared to His disciples for forty days after His resurrection, proving He was alive and teaching them about the Kingdom of God. Before ascending into heaven, He gave them this command:

Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends the gift He promised.

He told them that John baptized with water, but soon they would be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Then He declared:

You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be My witnesses throughout the earth.

After speaking these words, Jesus ascended into heaven while they watched. Two angels then appeared and promised that He would return in the same way He had departed.

Pentecost: The Birth of Supernatural Christianity

Acts chapter 2 records what happened next:

When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, the believers were gathered together in one place. Suddenly, a sound came from heaven like a mighty rushing wind. Tongues of fire appeared and rested upon each of them. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages as the Spirit gave them utterance.

They were filled with the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. He gave them the supernatural ability to speak languages they had never learned naturally.

Jesus had instructed them not to begin their Kingdom assignment until they received this power. That alone reveals how essential the baptism of the Holy Spirit is to Christian life and ministry.

Why Did God Choose This Sign?

The first evidence of Pentecost was speaking in other tongues. Why would the all-wise God choose this sign?

For years, I have studied this question. God does nothing without purpose. Pentecost was not random. It was deeply intentional.

The book of Acts shows that speaking in tongues was not a one-time event. It continued throughout the early church. While people from many nations heard the wonders of God in their own languages, the apostles later taught that tongues had even deeper meaning and purpose.

The apostle Paul explained:

It is a prayer language: “When I pray in tongues, my spirit prays.”
It is a language of intercession: The Holy Spirit helps us pray when we do not know what to pray.
It is a language of praise and worship flowing from the spirit.
It is a power language that stirs spiritual gifts such as wisdom, knowledge, healing, miracles, prophecy, and faith.
It builds spiritual fruit such as love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, and self-control.

This reveals that supernatural Christianity, the supernatural church, and the Kingdom of Christ all function through the empowering work of the Holy Spirit.

Paul even said, “I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you.”

The Mystery Behind Pentecost Begins in Genesis

To understand Pentecost, we must go back to the beginning.

Genesis chapter 11 tells us that the whole earth once spoke one language with one vocabulary. Because they shared one language, people could communicate clearly, unite around one purpose, and build together with extraordinary effectiveness.

God had created humanity in His image. Adam and Eve were taught language by God Himself. Whatever that original language was, it came from heaven. It was the language of God’s Kingdom.

Heaven and earth once spoke the same language.

Think about that. Humanity originally communicated in a language connected to divine authority, purpose, creativity, and power.

The Tower of Babel and the Confusion of Language

After sin entered the world, humanity still shared one language. As people multiplied, they gathered in Babylon and began building a city and tower. This tower was not simply architecture it represented rebellion and false worship.

They wanted fame, control, and a centralized place of worship apart from God.

The Lord said that because they were united in language and purpose, nothing they imagined would be impossible for them. So God intervened and confused their languages, scattering them across the earth.

Families began speaking different languages. Nations were formed around those languages. Babel became the birthplace of division and dispersion.