It is the season of fire and wind. It is the season of tornadoes and storms. It is the season of Pentecost. Today is one of the ten best days here in the Southern tier of New York. It is going to be in the high 80's with blazing sun. (It is 104 F in Bhubaneswar, the capital city of Orissa, India. It is mango season there.)
In Acts 2:2 we read, “Suddenly”— The Lord of fire and wind, can intervene at any moment He chooses. Your world can look one way at one moment and completely different the next. All you need is for the Lord to show up in power. The walls of Jericho looked exactly the same after Israel had obediently circled them thirteen times. But when everything was in place and everything God told them to do was done “suddenly” the walls fell. Let us never forget the possibility of a “suddenly” from the Lord in our lives. “Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.” Understand that it was not an actual wind. It was a supernatural sound; it was not the sound of a gentle breeze but the sound of a violent wind (Like the roar of the stormy sea or of a tornado). People often report that a tornado sounds like a freight train. That is something like what they heard. It got people’s attention.
When God wanted to get Job’s attention He did something similar. Job 38:1 says that God answered Job out of a whirlwind. Elijah was taken into heaven in a whirlwind. And, of course, wind is symbolic of the Holy Spirit. Jesus indicated that fact when He said to Nicodemus in John 3:8, “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit." Acts 2:3 “They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.” It was a manifestation of the glory of God. They saw something that looked like a mass of flames appears over the whole group. Then it broke up and a single tongue that looked like a flame of fire settled on the head of each one of them. [8] The symbolism suggests that they were not only empowered as a group but as individuals as well. [9] One thing we know about fire is this—you can take one flame and start a forest fire with it. Phillip got on fire for God and went to Samaria and got the whole city on fire. Fire will spread. Each one is empowered by the Holy Spirit to be a witness. Fire is a common evidence of God’s presence in the OT. God met with Moses at the burning bush. He led Israel with a pillar of fire. Elijah went to heaven with a chariot of fire. There were manifestations of fire at Mt. Sinai when the law was given.[10] Listen to the description of what it was like when the law was given at Mt. Sinai, Ex 19:17-19, “Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. 18 Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the LORD descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, the whole mountain trembled violently, 19 and the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder. Then Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him.” At Sinai God was signifying that something very important was taking place. On the Day of Pentecost these signs of fire and wind were doing the same thing. They were powerful attention getters. Acts 2:4 “All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.” The fact that all of them were filled with the Spirit is significant. In the Old Testament the Spirit of God came upon leaders to enable them to fulfill an office. Elisha received a double portion of the Spirit from Elijah. Aaron was anointed by the Spirit for his priestly duties. David was anointed by the Spirit as king.
In the past special people have received the Spirit but at this time all are receiving. In fact, Peter brings this out in his sermon. Quoting Joel 2 he says in Acts 2:17-18, “In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. 18 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.” Regardless of age, regardless of social status God promises in these last days to pour out His Spirit upon them. Toward the end of this sermon he talks about receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit and says, Acts 2:39, “The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off-for all whom the Lord our God will call." The promise of the Holy Spirit baptism is not just for that generation but for their children and for generations to come.[13] Significantly, in the book of Acts the Lord is anointing all His people. They are becoming a prophetic community. The whole church is to be charismatic. The church is to be a prophetic community that proclaims the good news of Jesus Christ to the world.[14] Tongues of fire are symbolic of the passionate, zealous witness that God’s people are to give to the world.
There are two reactions from the crowd. Some are receptive. They recognize that God is doing something. They don’t fully understand what it all means but they are curious and open to God. Verse 12, “Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, "What does this mean?"
When God does something we don’t fully understand let’s take that approach. Let’s inquire as to what it means. Let’s hear Peter out and respond to the Holy Spirit. It is very limiting to reject something God is doing simply because we’ve never seen it before. I fully expect God to do some things during this next decade that we’ve never seen Him do before. It will be consistent with Scripture. It will be consistent with the purposes of God and the nature of God. But it may look very different that what we’ve seen before. Be teachable. When Peter gave Scriptural support for what was happening 3000 of these people received it. Others were resistant. They pridefully ridiculed what they saw. Acts 2:13 “Some, however, made fun of them and said, "They have had too much wine.” The Greek indicates they were mocking with gestures as well as with words.[23] Galileans were considered hillbillies by Hebrew Jews.[24] The fact that God was using uneducated people, people less esteemed in society, may have influenced their attitude. When God chooses a person He is not looking on outward appearances. He measures a person from the heart.[25] Man looks upon outward things and draws his conclusions. Sometimes he draws the wrong conclusions.I don’t know how many of these mockers repented and became a part of the 3000 that day. One thing I do know is that every person in that crowd got an opportunity to respond. Every person in that crowd made his or her own decision as to what he or she would do with the opportunity God had placed before them that day.
God has designed opportunities for you and me. He manifests Himself in our lives and then calls upon us to respond. I want to be the kind of person who opens up to God and takes advantage of those opportunities. Don’t you? It’s amazing to me that people in that crowd could be witnessing one of the greatest events in human history and not even realize it. God was there but part of the crowd discounted it as insignificant; they even ridiculed it. Outwardly the whole crowd saw the same thing, but some did not appreciate the value of what was before them. Are we open to what the Lord wants to do next in our lives? What if it is different from what we expect—different from what we have seen before? May the Lord set our hearts on fire. In the words of Graham Kendrik of England, one of the anointed musicians and composers of modern Christian worship songs:
" Blaze Spirit Blaze Set our hearts on Fire".
Amen and amen.
In Jesus,
Brown
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment