The Advent Part 53
Acts 2:21, “And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
On the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit descended to earth, He came in power with signs and wonders, but He came to an exclusive group of people and not to the world as a whole. The group of people I am referring to are the followers of Christ, those who receive Him and worship Him and serve Him as Lord and King. Try as the world might, the world cannot receive Him, nor can it ever know the true magnitude of the power and glory of the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
John 14:16-17, “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.”
These were the words of Jesus, and there is allot to unpack in these two verses. First, Jesus said that He would pray the Father, and it would be the Father who would give us another Helper once He ascended back into glory. Now this Helper that the Father would send would abide with us forever, not for a limited time, not for a season or a generation as some continue to claim to this day. The Spirit of truth, the Helper who would come could neither be seen nor known by the world, and as such the world cannot receive Him. The essence of what Jesus was saying is that only those who are of Him and in Him can receive and know the Holy Spirit, and as such anyone who claims the power of God while attempting to circumvent the need for Christ, is a liar and the truth is not found in them. Last but not least, Jesus makes an important distinction, telling His disciples that although they already knew the Holy Spirit, for He dwelt with them, the day was coming when He would be in them.
The presence of the Holy Spirit has been visible throughout the Old and the New Testament, yet the only time that the Holy Spirit was able to dwell, or be in man began on the Day of Pentecost when the rushing wind was heard, and the tongues of fire were seen, and those who were present in the upper room began to speak in other tongues.
Until the advent of the Holy Spirit, until the day He came to earth to be the Comforter and the Helper Jesus promised, the only way that man could be saved was by strictly adhering to the Law of Moses. Once the price for our redemption was paid in full by Christ on the cross however, once Jesus bought us by His blood and the Holy Spirit came, whoever calls on the name of the Lord is saved, because the Holy Spirit aids them in that regard as well. Not only is He the Spirit of truth, He is also the Spirit of grace, and as such can speak to men’s hearts and call them to repentance.
Hebrews 10:28-29, “Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, and counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?”
The Holy Spirit is present in the Church, He is present amidst the Congregation of God on earth, He is present within the Body of Christ, and the church preaches Christ that the sinner might hear, be drawn to repentance, and call upon the name of the Lord. Whosoever then calls on the name of the Lord with sincerity of heart, will be saved.
The reason Jesus commanded His disciples, and by extension us in this present generation to go and preach the gospel to the nations, was so that they might hear the good news of the Gospel, believe, repent, call upon His name and be saved. God’s heart and His desire is still that men come to the knowledge of truth, it is still that men believe in His Son Jesus that they might be saved, and as representatives and ambassadors of the kingdom of God on this earth, as those who have been tasked with preaching a resurrected and glorified Christ, it is incumbent upon us to use every opportunity to share the good news with as many as God will bring in our path.
We are not given the Holy Spirit to feel superior to our fellow brethren, we are not given the Holy Spirit to think ourselves somehow special in the eyes of God, we are given the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the Holy Spirit for the edification of the Body of Christ, and the preaching of the Gospel of the Kingdom to those who are lost.
In His goodness God not only commanded us to go and preach the good news, He has thoroughly equipped us that when we do have the opportunity to speak the name of Jesus and of all His wondrous works, we would do so with authority and power, with signs and wonders following that those who hear us would know it is not in our own wisdom that we speak these things, it is not in our own strength that we stand, it is not in our own authority that we are bold and fearless, but it is all in Christ, and through Christ.
It is the anointing, it is the infilling of the Holy Spirit that teaches us, it is the anointing and the infilling of the Holy Spirit that gives us utterance to speak the words of life to those who are dying, it is the anointing that gives us the courage to stand, and this anointing abides in us as long as we abide in Him.
1 John 2:27, “But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.”
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.
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