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It was most fitting that the sending of the Spirit and his descent
upon us should take place after the departure of Christ our

Saviour. As long as Christ was with them in the flesh, it must
have seemed to believers that they possessed every blessing
in him; but when the time came for him to ascend to his
heavenly Father, it was necessary for him to be united through

his Spirit to those who worshipped him, and to dwell in our
hearts through faith. Only by his own presence within us in this
way could he give us confidence to cry out, Abba, Father, make

it easy for us to grow in holiness and, through our possession
of the all-powerful Spirit, fortify us invincibly against the wiles of
the devil and the assaults of men.

It can easily be shown from examples both in the Old
Testament and the New that the Spirit changes those in whom

he comes to dwell; he so transforms them that they begin to
live a completely new kind of life. Saul was told by the prophet
Samuel: The Spirit of the Lord will take possession of you, and

you shall be changed into another man. Saint Paul writes: As
we behold the glory of the Lord with unveiled faces, that glory,
which comes from the Lord who is the Spirit, transforms us all

into his own likeness, from one degree of glory to another.
Does this not show that the Spirit changes those in whom he

comes to dwell and alters the whole pattern of their lives? With
the Spirit within them it is quite natural for people who had been
absorbed by the things of this world to become entirely other-

worldly in outlook, and for cowards to become men of great
courage. There can be no doubt that this is what happened to
the disciples. The strength they received from the Spirit
enabled them to hold firmly to the love of Christ, facing the

violence of their persecutors unafraid. Very true, then, was our
Saviour’s saying that it was to their advantage for him to return
to heaven: his return was the time appointed for the descent of

the Holy Spirit.

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