We are all familiar with the events on the day of Pentecost in which the Holy Spirit descended on the followers of Christ. They spoke an earthly language so that those present in Jerusalem as visitors and worshipers could hear the gospel in their own tongue. Afterwards Peter preached a sermon explaining what was happening.
Then in chapter ten of the book of Acts when Peter went to preach the gospel in the city of Caesarea, the Holy Spirit again descended on those present in the house. This is in response to a man who was very devout and fasted four days before the Lord. He was told to send representatives to Joppa to fetch Peter so that he would be told what he should do as result to his dedication to the true God.
In Acts chapter nineteen we have another occasion in which this time Paul preached to people in Ephesus. On this occasion those who heard his sermon were afterwards baptized in water followed by the anointing of the Holy Spirit in which they spoke in tongues. This was an earthly language they had not learned but were moved upon by God’s Spirit.
What a glorious, wonderful thing it must’ve been to witness what happened those three times. How awesome it is that God shared his Spirit with new believers. But why did it have to happen three times? Was it not that the day of Pentecost was good enough? Is this simply a duplication of what happened in Jerusalem?
Look closer to see those involved. Those who receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit in Jerusalem were Jews. Those who receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit in Caesarea were Romans. Those who receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit in Ephesus were Gentiles or sometimes called Greeks. How wonderful it is that God left no one out. He shared his Spirit with believing Jews, believing Romans, and believing Gentiles. This was the total composite of the church that Jesus established. Today none of us are left out from the spiritual membership of what is the church.
Paul later described the church as body parts. He also talked about people having different abilities, different talents in the church. We are all like the bricks that make up the church building. When we accept Christ as Savior, we come into that same body of Christ that has had the unction of the Holy Spirit within it. When we accept Christ as our Savior, the Holy Spirit abides within us so much so that the apostle Paul describes it as our bodies being the temple of the Holy Spirit. Ours is to display the moving of God as a testimony throughout the world.
Christian Writer 