The Advent Part 33
Acts 2:2, “And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.”
Just as in the beginning of physical creation wherein light and life were not possible on earth until the Spirit of God came and hovered above the face of the waters, everything up to that point being without form and void, so it was in the beginning of spiritual creation that the Holy Spirit needed to descend from heaven and bring new life, because the price of mankind’s redemption had been paid in full on the cross.
A new and peculiar people were about to be born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. These were to be God’s own people, sanctified and set apart to Him, righteous and holy and full of the power of the Spirit of God.
As one famed theologian so aptly stated, ‘Pentecost was the continuation of the work that began on Golgotha, the work of new life, the work of resurrection and power.’
The Apostles and all those that made up the small band of one hundred and twenty believers, waited patiently for the promise of the Father, just as Jesus had commanded them to do. They neither knew the day nor the hour of when this promise would be fulfilled, but they knew without doubt that it would.
The sound from heaven came suddenly, as of a rushing mighty wind, but this was no wind. It filled the house where they were sitting, engulfing those who were present, submerging them, and as suddenly as the sound came from heaven, those gathered in the upper room were born again, and they became the Congregation of God, the Body of Christ.
It is of this particular moment that Paul would later write, and remind those to whom he was writing, and by extension reminding us, that by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body.
1 Corinthians 12:13, “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body – whether Jew or Greeks whether slaves of free – and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.”
As previously mentioned the number twelve signifies that which was completed, or that which forms a whole, it is interesting that in the upper room there were one hundred and twenty individuals, which if my multiplication skills are as keen as in my youth is 12X10.
It was only the Holy Spirit, and the power thereof that could have transformed a group of believers into the Congregation of God, the holy people of the New Covenant through which God would commence His work throughout the earth.
The baptism of the Holy Spirit is not a work that can be initiated by man or performed by man, but it is wholly a work of God. It is God that baptizes, it is God that pours out, and it is God that fills us. Our duty as believers, as faithful followers of Christ is to make certain that our vessels are clean and ready to receive that which God, in His time, will pour out.
Before the Day of Pentecost, and the advent of the Holy Spirit the emphasis was placed on the word ‘ask.’
Luke 11:13, “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”
After the advent of the Holy Spirit however, the emphasis is placed on the word ‘receive.’
Acts 2:38-39, “Then Peter said to them, ‘repent, and let everyone of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord God will call.’”
We are no longer living in the time of the promise, but rather we are living in the time of the fulfillment of the promise of God. Yes, the Holy Spirit is available to all those who repent and are baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. Yes, we as believers have access to the gifts and the power of the Holy Spirit, because we are part of those who are afar off, those whom the Lord God has called, just as Peter stated.
It is doubt that keeps us from experiencing the fullness of the Holy Spirit, it is doubt that keeps us from knowing the promise of God personally and intimately, because once we have believed and repented and been baptized, the Word tells us that we shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Because of preconceived notions, and denominational walls we deny even the possibility of knowing the presence of the Holy Spirit as the primary church did. Rather than press in, rather than seek out, rather than go to the Word and see what it has to say concerning this great and precious gift, we’ve grown content with the ‘God doesn’t do that anymore’ mentality, and have resigned ourselves to being less than what God intended His children to be.
The Word doesn’t say that ‘we might’ it doesn’t say that ‘it is possible’ the Word doesn’t say ‘there’s a good chance’, but rather, it says that we shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. I stress this point, because of the countless number of believers that wander about powerless, and absent of authority, believing that all there is to this faith, all there is to the Christian walk is potluck dinners, Sunday service, and special Christian concerts.
We, the children of God were meant for so much more, we were meant to walk in authority, we were meant to walk in power, we were meant to be the vessels through which God would do great and mighty works that the world might know we are His, and that He is in us.
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.
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