The greatest story ever told
is the continuing saga of the salvation of man. How God
reveals and manifests His love to man stands alone as the cosmic event
of history. The telling of His story, God’s action to man, is the
romance of the ages. It is the good message, the Gospel of the grace of
God
There is no greater moment of joy than to experience the coming of the
Holy Spirit into the body of flesh. The union formed out of the flesh of
man and the Spirit of God is the life that God intended for all men to
experience. Pure, unadulterated love (the life of God) floods the soul
of man and reaches out to touch every aspect of his senses. It is joy
unspeakable and full of glory.
The joyful experiencing of God is the story of the event that transpired
on the Jewish feast day of Pentecost. The early followers of Jesus had
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 2:1). Although the 120 that were gathered in the upper room
probably disagreed in many different areas of their lives, 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 comes into the flesh of man,
there is nothing else that can 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 was being 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 at least
sixteen different dialects). The multitude was perplexed (Acts 2:6).
They did not understand what was happening to their countrymen. They
wondered, "What meaneth this?" (Acts 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 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 upon 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. They would
prophesy. 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 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 (Act 2:26). He makes known the ways of life (Acts 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 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 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 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 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 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. The true gospel proclaims
that Jesus Christ is 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 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 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 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 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. The ways of life, the mystery of
life after death (the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the gospel), 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 Cor.
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.
It is the power of the gospel to change lives.
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
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 Cor. 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 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 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 (John 13:33-14:28) and the angelic messengers (Acts 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. It is
the good message, the gospel.
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
(the gospel), 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 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 Cor. 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 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 1:13-26), had started down the
wrong road. They perceived that the destiny of their lives was actually
in the thought processes of their control.
For example, they attempted, many of them honestly attempted, to make
God the Lord, the source, of their lives by their choice. They did not
understand, however, that no matter how hard they might try 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 the direction their thinking
was carrying them to an entirely new way of thinking (literal meaning of
repent [Acts 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 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 (Phil. 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 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 Cor.
15:29), becoming a martyr for Christ (Acts 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 death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, when it begins to be
understood, is a powerful message that changes lives. The true gospel
can and does change lives. When Peter preached it on that feast of
Pentecost, three thousands souls received his word and the Holy Spirit
began its work upon 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 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 2:44,45). 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 2:46).
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 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 2:47). When the martyrdom of a believer occurs
and Christ is raised out of his life, the real witness of Jesus is
experienced. It is the manifestation of the gospel of the grace of God.
There is nothing else that can occur but "many wonders and
signs" (Acts 2:43) by those whom God is sending. 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 2:47). Jesus Christ was being manifested in and through their
lives. They were experiencing the Gospel of the grace of God.
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