The Advent Part 38
Acts 2:5, “Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven.”
The fact that God chose Passover and Pentecost, two of the most important holy days for the Jewish people to pour out the Holy Spirit was by no means an accident or happenstance. Everything God does is planned to the minutest of details, leaving nothing to chance, and in all things great and small God has a plan. This instance was no exception, as God chose this time, and Jerusalem as the place to make known to His beloved the mystery of His will, and continue His great plan of mankind’s redemption.
Ephesians 1:7-12, “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth – in Him, in whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.”
God never intended for the advent of the Holy Spirit to take place in secret, He never intended it to be done with subtlety, this was the blaring sound of the trumpet, the blaring sound of the ram’s horn, signifying to all who were present that a new era had just begun, that the Church had just been birthed, and that all who were thirsty could come and drink.
The Word tells us that in Jerusalem at the time of the advent of the Holy Spirit there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven. There would have been no better time to reveal the truth than this, and God in His perfect wisdom knew this long before the Day of Pentecost came around.
In our never ending quest to process, to reason, to understand, and logically label every event in our lives, in our need to make sense of everything all the time, we lose sight of the fact that God works all things according to the counsel of His will. There are no accidents in life, we are not as rudderless ships thrown about to and fro by chance or coincidence, but everything that happens, everything that occurs in our lives, has a purpose and a plan, and is done according to the good pleasure which God purposed in Himself.
Even though the devout Jews of that time had traveled to other nations, the Word telling us that it was every nation under heaven, and even though they had integrated into the societies to which they traveled, speaking their language, there were still certain religious duties that they had to perform, some of which required a pilgrimage of sorts to Jerusalem.
It was only here in Jerusalem, in fact it was in the temple that they would bring their gifts and offerings before the Lord, it was only in Jerusalem that they could celebrate the Lord’s Passover, have holy convocations, and fulfill the law of Moses as it was given to them in the twenty third chapter of Leviticus. Not all Jews who lived abroad traveled to Jerusalem for these feasts and celebrations, but only those who were considered devout, wholly committed and dedicated to the Law of Moses.
It was here in the presence of those who had gathered from every nation under heaven that God saw fit to birth the Church. The birth of the Church is not merely a spiritual work which God did, but it is also historically proven out that fifty days after the resurrection of Christ, on the Day of Pentecost, at around the third hour of the day which is 9 am, the Church was born.
Even from its inception the congregation of God gave a powerful witness and a powerful testimony to a great multitude of people, as previously mentioned an estimated two million souls, each in their own specific tongue that they might understand and believe. Faith in Christ, salvation through Christ, redemption by Christ, is not reserved for only a handful of individuals, it is not reserved for only a specific nation or nationality but rather it is for all who believe, all who come to know Jesus as Lord, Savior, and King. God proved His impartiality on the Day of Pentecost, speaking to each in their own tongue that they might know the saving grace that is our surrender to Christ, and our worship of Him.
Titus 2:11-14, “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.”
The grace of God that brings salvation, has appeared to all men, and it teaches us that we ought to deny ungodliness, we ought to deny worldly lusts, and live soberly, righteously and godly in this present age. God has done His part, His grace has appeared to all men, it teaches us right from wrong, it teaches us the way of truth from the way of deception, the way of light from the way of darkness, it reveals the hidden truths of God to us and shows us what we must do, but whether we choose to obey, whether we choose to follow, whether we choose to submit, are decisions we must make individually. God’s desire is to redeem us from every lawless deed, to purify us for Himself as His own special people, and if in humility and repentance we come before Him, He is willing and able to do just that. He will not however force us into His kingdom, He will not twist our arm to walk through the narrow gate, we must do so of our own volition.
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.
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