On the first Feast of Pentecost after the death
of Jesus, Peter stood to address the crowd that had gathered. Something was
occurring to the disciples of Jesus. The confused spectators asked Peter
what was happening for they heard these Galileans speaking in their native
tongues. They actually heard the followers of Jesus speak in over twelve
different dialects. Their query, quite naturally, was, "What meaneth
this?"
In Peter's response to their question, he quoted several statements of God
made through the Old Testament prophet Joel. The end of the quote was "And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:
The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord
come: And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be
saved" (Acts of the Apostles 2:19-21).
"The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before
that great and notable day of the Lord come . . . ." What does it mean?
At least, it can be seen, based upon what had been said, that "before
that great and notable day of the Lord" the sun must turn to darkness
and the moon must turn into blood. But, what does it mean?
The early followers of Jesus had
previously been told by Him not to depart from Jerusalem until they had received the
promise of the Father. It was a promise that Jesus Himself had given to
them. For He had told them (John 14) that something would occur in their
lives that would forever change their lives. They would become filled with
His Holy Spirit.
They were patiently waiting "with one accord in one place" (Acts
of the Apostles 2:1). Although the 120 that were gathered in the upper
room probably disagreed in many different areas, they were all at the
same place at this time of their lives (literal meaning of one
accord). They knew that Jesus had been raised from the dead. They knew
He was alive. Moreover, He told them to wait until the promise of the
Father would come.
When the intercourse of the Holy Spirit came into the flesh of man, there
was nothing else that could occur but the flesh of man experiencing the full
sensation of his being. Those early believers heard the wind. They saw the
fire. They spoke with a new tongue. It was an experience like no other
experience. It would forever change their lives.
Miraculously, those early followers of Jesus were speaking in a language
that was totally foreign to them. They would soon recognize that not only
did they speak at this moment in a new tongue, their speech would forever
be changed. They would have a new way of expressing themselves.
Their
entire thinking process would be changed. They were being moved to a
different way of life. They were becoming people of the kingdom of God.
The event of the Holy Spirit coming into the body of flesh caused quite a
stir among the people of Jerusalem. As the multitude from many different
localities came together to witness this phenomenon, they heard the
Galileans speak in their native tongues (Luke gives over twelve different dialects). The multitude was perplexed (Acts of the Apostles
2:6). They did not understand what was happening to their countrymen. They
wondered, "What meaneth this?" (Acts of the Apostles 2:12).
Although some thought their intoxication was the result of too much new
wine, Peter stood up and proclaimed,
Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem,
be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: For these are not
drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. But
this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to
pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all
flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young
men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my
servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my
Spirit; and they shall prophesy: And I will shew wonders in heaven
above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of
smoke: The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood,
before that great and notable day of the Lord come: And it shall come to
pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
(Acts of the Apostles 2:14-21)
Through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Peter
explained what was happening to him and the other 119 gathered on that
notable day.
Peter not only expressed in words the truth of the baptism of the Holy
Spirit he was demonstrating the truth by the actual message he was
preaching. He was speaking with inspired speech. The words he was speaking
were not coming forth from the working of his mind within himself.
He had
not and was not putting together a message to share with the people. The
words coming forth out his mouth were the words of God Himself speaking
through the inspired speech of the Holy Spirit. He was prophesying.
Peter was experiencing exactly what the prophet Joel had predicted (Joel
2:28-32). Many years prior to this particular feast of Pentecost, Joel had
prophesied that God was going to do a special work among His people. He
would bestow His Spirit upon man to become the essence of man’s life.
Through the power of the Holy Spirit, the people would not speak from
their own understanding but from divine inspiration. As with Peter on this feast of Pentecost, the words that would come forth
from their mouth would be the words of God Himself speaking through the
inspired speech of the Holy Spirit. Speaking with a new tongue, a
different language, a different way of saying things, would come forth
from their mouth. They would prophesy.
They would not only speak a new tongue but they would also see things
differently. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, they would be able to
discern the working of their life clearly. They would come to understand
the way of life because they would now see with a new vision. Walking no
longer in darkness, perplexed by life, Jesus Christ would actually become
their sight.
They would speak differently and see differently because they would now
think differently. The thinking of the mind would not come from the
initiative of the individual, the exercise of the mind itself. The mind
would be exercised but it would be under the divine influence of the Holy
Spirit.
The mind would be restored to what God intended from the beginning. The
thinking of the mind would be beyond the control of the person. The
prophesy, the vision, and the dream of man would be by the power of the
Holy Spirit.
The day any individual begins to speak, to see, and to think differently
is a notable day. It is the restoration of life. For the glory of heaven
or the degradation of hell lies exclusively in the exercise of the mind of
man. As Peter would later quote David to say, concerning that notable day
when things change, God makes the person to be in a good frame of mind
(Acts of the Apostles 2:26). He makes known to the person the ways of life (Acts of the
Apostles 2:28).
The prophet Joel correlated this new way of speaking, seeing, and thinking
with other sensational things that must occur before "that great and
notable day of the Lord [would] come" (Acts of the Apostles 2:20). It
is only when the ways of man begin to manifest death and hell, which they
will eventually always bring, that man will be ready for his salvation.
This indication (signs in the earth beneath) is the product of an
omen (wonders in heaven above) that has already occurred (Acts of
the Apostles 2:19). When man begins to fail to experience the heavenly
life, a prodigy has been set. The "life" (death and hell) of the
earthly realm will be experienced.
The light of the heavenly realm, the light of life, will become darkened.
The actual attractiveness of life produced by God will lose its appeal.
Instead of life being glorious and powerful, it will become shameful and
weak. The "sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into
blood" (Acts of the Apostles 2:20).
It is only when the ways of man become filled with bloodshed and fires of
tribulation that man will turn to the Lord. When life becomes a scant
vapor of what it should be, the heart of man is then conditioned to have
Jesus come forth in the power of the Holy Spirit. For it is only when man
comes to the end of himself will he call out to the Lord to be saved. The
"notable day of the Lord" only comes with the blood, the fire,
the vapor of smoke, the sun darkened, and the moon turning to blood.
The life of God can be quickened again in man because Jesus Christ Himself
has been raised from the dead. He was raised to life "after his
passion" (Acts of the Apostles 1:3). As Jesus had said during His
earthly ministry, He must first experience the miraculous life after death
before others could be taken to the same place of mystery.
The words of Peter now turn to the actual events on that feast day of
Pentecost. He said, "Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of
Nazareth . . . ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and
slain" (Acts of the Apostles 2:22,23). Peter was to add, however,
"let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that
same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ" (Acts of
the Apostles 2:36). Within the context of these two statements, the secret
to experience the life of God is given, the mystery of life after death.
Jesus Christ becomes both Lord and Christ.
As it was manifested in Jesus, so shall it be experienced in every
believer. Peter quoted David to illustrate the power of life after death,
the power of being baptized with the Holy Spirit. David said, prophesying
of Jesus and all who would believe on Him, "Therefore did my heart
rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in
hope" (Acts of the Apostles 2:26). The heart rejoicing, the tongue
glad, and the flesh resting in hope is miraculous because the one speaking
these words is in hell (Acts of the Apostles 2:27). In the midst of hell,
it seems, as if hell is not being experienced. Only the power of the Holy
Spirit can produce that witness.
David said, "I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on
my right hand, that I should not be moved" (Acts of the Apostles
2:25). David would not waver, be agitated, or disturbed when the
circumstances of life were such that the external world around him was
crumbling. Because the Lord was always before him and was his source of
strength, David would not waver even though he was experiencing hell.
In hell, David said his heart rejoiced (Acts of the Apostles 2:26,27).
With the word rejoice meaning "to put in a good frame of
mind," the power of the Holy Spirit can be seen. A new way of
speaking, a new way of seeing, and a new way of thinking not only enabled
David but will enable every believer to know what is transpiring in life.
The ways of life, the mystery of life after death (the baptism of the Holy
Spirit), has been revealed.
In hell, the speech of David is glad (literally, "to jump for
joy"). Not that he is rejoicing in the pains of death, but knowing
that his "light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for
[him] a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory" (2
Corinthians 4:17). The power of the Spirit, the baptism of the Holy
Spirit, can turn pain into gain.
When David was in hell, his "flesh rest[ed] in hope" because the
life that he would soon experience would be the unadulterated life of God.
He would stand again. He would stand in the power of being raised to
newness of life, the power of the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
Again, David said this would happen because the Lord of glory, the Lord of
life, had "made known to [him] the ways of life; [the Lord] shalt
make [him] full of joy with [the Lord’s] countenance" (Acts of the
Apostles 2:28). Beholding the face of the Lord, the believer will be
changed to a new way of speaking, a new way of seeing, and a new way of
thinking by the power of the Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 2:18). Where the
Spirit of the Lord is there is always freedom from the pains of death.
Using the words of David, Peter stated that God had raised up Jesus to set
Him "by the right hand of God exalted" (Acts of the Apostles
2:25-35). He connected the ascension of Jesus with the events of the feast
of Pentecost on that particular day. He said, "Therefore being by the
right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise
of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and
hear" (Acts of the Apostle 2:33).
The ascension of Jesus and the receiving of the Holy Spirit on the day of
Pentecost are inseparably connected not only by Peter but also by Jesus
(Gospel of John 13:33-14:28) and the angelic messengers (Acts of the
Apostles 1:11). Jesus Christ had come again to take up His abode within
the hearts of the people (John 14:23). Through the power of the Holy
Spirit, the unadulterated life of God would once again be experienced by
man.
Peter then closed his account of the meaning of what was transpiring on
that day with "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly,
that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and
Christ" (Acts of the Apostles 2:36). Upon hearing that the Jesus they
had crucified was raised from the dead by God, the hearts of the people
were pierced with conviction. The message of the death and resurrection of
Jesus Christ, the message of the way of life, brought conviction to
the people who had taken pride and trusted in their own way of life (Luke
18:9). They cried, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?"
Peter’s response to their question is simple and yet profound. It
contains within its meaning both the problem and the solution to the
struggles of life. The ultimate answer to their question, the answer to
the struggle of all men, was that they should "receive the gift of
the Holy Ghost" (Acts of the Apostles 2:38). This gift would come
into their hearts to overwhelm them (literal meaning of baptize) .
Consequently, they would become people who were experiencing the kingdom
of God. Saints of God controlled by the Spirit of God with a new way of
speaking, a new way of seeing, and a new way of thinking. They would
become transformed (Romans 12:2) into the image of Christ (2 Corinthians
3:18). They would become free from the bondage of their own lives.
This power of the Holy Spirit to change their lives would be a gift.
Receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit would not occur because the
believer had done something. It would not be given as a reward for
an act or deed accomplished by the believer. It was and is the free
work of God, and only the work of God, in the life of man.
This profound truth is illustrated in Peter’s opening and closing
remarks to their question, "What must we do?". He ended his
response to their query with "Save yourselves from this untoward
[warped or perverse] generation" (Acts of the Apostles 2:40). The
people must experience salvation.
The reason why the people needed deliverance from the age of their time
was that their thinking had become warped. In other words, the common
philosophy or teaching of the time was that their righteousness (their
lives) was a product of their doing. Or, as Paul would later say of this
generation,
Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for
Israel is, that they might be saved. For I bear them record that they
have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being
ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own
righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of
God. (Romans 10:1-3)
The people of that age needed to be saved from
themselves, from their own perceived understanding of how to live life.
Their mind-set, their thinking, was completely opposite from what it
should had been. They, like Judas (Acts of the Apostles 1:13-26), had
started down the wrong road. They perceived that the destiny of their
lives was actually in the thought process of their control.
For example, they attempted, many of them honestly attempted, to make God
the Lord, the source, of their lives by their choices. They did not
understand that no matter how hard they might try, however, it was still
them trying. God was not the Lord of their lives. They were. Although they
were doing their best to live for God, they were still in control.
They would have to experience turning from this direction of their
thinking to an entirely new way of thinking (literal meaning of repent
[Acts of the Apostles 2:38]), a new direction. They would have to come out
from under the control of their mind by their initiatives and choices.
They must come under the control of the Holy Spirit. They must "be
baptized . . . in the name of Jesus Christ" (Acts of the Apostles
2:38).
With name ultimately meaning "to know," they must come to
experience Jesus in such a way that He would permeate their thinking. He
would become their mind. Thinking as Jesus thought (Philippians 2:5), they
would be controlled by the Holy Spirit.
The freedom from sin (literal meaning of remission of sins in
"Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ
for the remission of sins . . .") can only occur when a believer is
turned from his old way of thinking (repent) and begins a new way of
thinking (baptized in the name of Jesus). As long as a person believes he
has the capability to direct the course of his life, there is no freedom
from sin.
Or, as Jesus said, "For judgment I am come into this world, that they
which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind"
(John 9:39). When He made that statement, some of the Pharisees ask Him,
"Are we blind also?" (John 9:40). The response of Jesus to their
question was, "If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye
say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth" (John 9:41). Jesus simply
stated that when man thinks he can see he has no freedom from sin.
The "gift of the Holy Ghost" (Acts of the Apostles 2:38) is
enjoyed only when man’s mind has been removed as the source of his life.
This turning from the mind of man to the mind of Christ for freedom from
sin is accomplished only by the power of the Holy Spirit. The process,
which can begin in any moment of time, is brought about by the working of
God in the circumstances of life itself.
Being baptized for the dead (1 Corinthians 15:29), becoming a martyr for
Christ (Acts of the Apostles 1:8), is only possible by the power of the
Holy Spirit. Only the Spirit of God working in man can produce a heart
that rejoices, a tongue that is glad, and flesh that shall rest in hope
while hell is being experienced. The dying off of the outer man and
the coming forth of the inner man is a work of God in the lives of the
people.
The death, resurrection, ascension, and return of Jesus Christ, when it
begins to be understood, is a powerful message that changes lives. When
Peter preached it on that feast of Pentecost, three thousands souls
received his word and the Holy Spirit began His work within their hearts.
It was a new beginning and they would continue "stedfastly in the
apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in
prayers" (Acts of the Apostles 2:41,42).
With their lives now changed, an entirely new way of living was occurring:
"And all that believed were together, and had all things common; And
sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man
had need" (Acts of the Apostles 2:44,45). The people were
experiencing the risen Christ as their life.
The message of life after death, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, produced
a powerful lifestyle of gladness and joy: "And they, continuing daily
with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did
eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart" (Acts of the
Apostles 2:46). In the simplicity of the mind, the grace of God
flows to produce the life of joy unspeakable and full of glory.
Jesus had said that those early believers would "receive power, after
that the Holy Ghost [was] come upon [them]: and [that they would] be
witnesses unto [him] both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria,
and unto the uttermost part of the earth" (Acts of the Apostles 1:8).
When the baptism of the Holy Spirit was occurring those same believers
went about "Praising God, and having favour [being gracious] with all
the people" (Acts of the Apostles 2:47).
When the martyrdom of a believer occurs and Christ comes forth out of his
life, the real witness of Jesus is experienced. There is nothing else that
can occur in the lives of those whom God is sending but "many wonders
and signs" (Acts of the Apostles 2:43). Though the power of the Holy
Spirit working in the lives of those early believers "the Lord added
to the church daily such as should be saved" (Acts of the Apostles
2:47).
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