As we review Acts 2:1-40, we discover the day that the church was empowered by the Holy Spirit. It was not born on the day of Pentecost because Jesus himself said that he started the church. (Matthew 16:18) Just like when God created Adam, he had to have a divine breath breathed into him. So, it is in the advent of Jesus that he is the creator of the church. This chapter records the advent of the Holy Spirit who is the sustainer of the church. This interbreeding occurred on the Jewish holy day called the day of Pentecost celebrated the coming harvest. The spiritual Pentecost also was a celebration of power, in particular for the spiritual harvest to come. In verse 12 the observers asked what does all this mean. That question is almost more relevant for us today.
If we are to be spiritual, we must have the Holy Spirit operating in our lives. On that day of Pentecost those people were selected by what appeared to be cloven tongues resting upon them. According to the prophecy of Joel, what was fulfilled that day people were used mightily. They spread the good news of the gospel in the language of the hearers miraculously without learning the language. The disciples obeyed without knowing how things would result. Those people were empowered by God contrary to today’s church that so easily accepts its own impotency to the effect the world.
If we are to be attracted to God’s mission, we must have his Holy Spirit. These people were in one place in one accord. So must the people in the church have a unity that is not a human achievement but a divine impetus. Too little attention is paid to the importance of the power that the Holy Spirit can infuse into believers. It is the Holy Spirit that is our comforter, our teacher, our encourager, and one who blesses us beyond human imagination. On that day our spiritual ancestors heard what it was like that of the sound of a tornado but there was no wind. It was the sound of rushing, but no blowing. The Holy Spirit was announcing himself to those people in the upper room. Because of the Holy Spirit we are empowered to give a message to the world without interference as God gives it to meet every man’s needs.
If humanity is to be saved from their sins, it must all be through the influence of the Holy Spirit. (John 15:24-26) It is up to us in our response to the Holy Spirit to realize the situation in which we spiritually find ourselves. That requires first for us to make a confession of our nature and our behavior. It is also an honest assessment of the helplessness we face in looking toward eternity. As a result, our submission to the influence of the Holy Spirit is something we must all realize. Then we must respond inwardly and outwardly. We cannot respond to the Holy Spirit on a superficial basis. It cannot be arbitrary. It must be spirit felt within us that produces an outward reaction. As a result of the experience with the Holy Spirit, we must be reactionary agents. In other words, converts must become spiritual people. Saying a nine-minute prayer, reading a few scriptures as directed by another person, or even going forward in the church is insufficient. We must have that transition that causes us to migrate from the carnal and natural to the spiritual and Godly.
Christian Writer 