THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE GOSPELS

The person of the Holy Spirit is an indispensable part of God's work in the earth today.  As we will see in today's article, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit in His place to equip and prepare the church to carry out God's will.  According to Ephesians 5:25-27, Jesus is in the process of presenting to Himself a "glorious church", "not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing...HOLY and without blemish."  How is Jesus doing that?  According to the Apostle Peter, He is doing it through the person and power of the Holy Spirit.  When referring to the saints, Peter wrote that they are "sanctified, MADE HOLY, BY THE SPIRIT to be obedient to Jesus Christ." (I Peter 1:2 Amp.)  Jesus is coming again, and the Holy Spirit is preparing Jesus' bride for the day when she will be presented before Him. It is thus essential for the church to become fully acquainted with the Holy Spirit and His work so she will be prepared for the glorious day of Jesus' return.
We see the Holy Spirit at work throughout the four gospels.  In Luke 1:15, an angel appears to Zachariah, declaring that he and his wife Elisabeth will have a son, John the Baptist, who will go before the Lord (Jesus), filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb.  In Luke 1:26-38, we have record of the angel Gabriel appearing to the virgin Mary, declaring that she will conceive and bring forth a son who shall be great, the Son of the Highest, who will reign over the house of Jacob forever.  Having no husband, Mary inquires of the angel how she will conceive. The angel responds, saying, "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee."  Through the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus was conceived in Mary's womb!
During Mary's pregnancy, she went into the hill country, into a city of Juda, and entered into the house of Zacharias and Elisabeth (who was pregnant with John). When Mary greeted her, the scriptures record that Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke out with a loud voice, saying, "Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb." (Luke 1:39-42)
Upon John's birth, his father, Zacharias, filled with the Holy Ghost, prophesied concerning the ministry of Jesus and his son, John. (Luke 1:67) Luke also records that a man, Simeon, was continually praying concerning the coming of Jesus and the Holy Spirit revealed to him "that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ." (Luke 1:26)  
The third chapter of Luke's gospel records the ministry of John the Baptist who came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.  We referred to a previous passage where the angel told his father, Zachriah, that he (John) would be filled with the Spirit from his mother's womb.  So, John's ministry was conducted under the power of the Holy Spirit.  John was "The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make His paths straight."  Upon seeing Jesus coming to the river Jordan to be baptized of him, John declares, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." (John 1:29) He also declares, " I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh...He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire." (Luke 3:16)
As John baptizes Jesus, "the heaven was opened and the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon Him." (Luke 3:21-22) Luke then records that Jesus, FULL OF AND CONTROLLED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT, RETURNED FROM THE JORDAN AND WAS LED IN (BY) THE HOLY SPIRIT" into the wilderness to be tempted (tried, tested) by the devil. (Luke 4:1-2)  Notice that Jesus' ministry did not commence UNTIL the Holy Spirit descended UPON Him at Jordan.  After 40 days, upon leaving the wilderness, Jesus came to His hometown, Nazareth, entered the synagogue, and stood up to read from the book of the prophet Esaias. When He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written of Him, " The SPIRIT OF THE LORD is upon me, because HE HAS ANOINTED ME to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised. To preach the acceptable year of the Lord." (Luke 4:16-19)
These passages bear witness of the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of Jesus from the time of his conception until He was launched into His ministry.  The prophet Isaiah foretold that Jesus' ministry would be conducted under the anointing of the Holy Spirit. In Acts 10:38, Luke writes, "How GOD ANOINTED JESUS OF NAZARETH WITH THE HOLY GHOST AND WITH POWER: Who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with Him."
Do we need the power of the Holy Spirit working in our lives today?  If Jesus needed the Spirit in His life and ministry, I believe it is safe to say that we do too!  Want to know more about the person and work of Holy Spirit? Do you want the power that revealed Jesus to the world to be at work in your life?  If we want our lives to reflect the reality of Jesus' life and ministry in the earth today, we must consider and embrace the fact that the Holy Spirit is an indispensable part of bringing that to pass.