Confident

April 12

“When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place,” Acts 2:1.

There are many views about the role of the Holy Spirit among Christian denominations. Obviously, the Holy Spirit was present at creation. Genesis 1:2 states, “The Spirit of God moved upon the face of the deep…” The resultant transformation of the panorama of the world testifies to the amazing impact He had upon the creation of this planet.

Nor do believers dispute the role played by the Holy Spirit at the inception of the Church. Few among those who accept the Biblical version of how the Church came to be dispute the significance of the Third Person of the Trinity in that activity which is fully described in Acts 2:1-21:

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken.

Utterly amazed, they asked: "Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”

Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.”

Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

“‘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. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

It is obvious that the power of the Holy Spirit, moving upon ordinary men in that day, as well as upon the compelling speech He gave through Peter, was the impetus that was needed to ‘jump-start’ the fledgling Church. Few, of any denomination, dispute that reality.

But many believe that’s all it was; they feel the Church in its infancy required a special unction from the Heavenlies and that the Holy Spirit came to perform that necessity. They are not so sure about the rest. However, there are among believers those who embrace to their hearts the entirety of the Word of God in the matter.

They believe that people of faith in Christ will prophesy and see visions and dream dreams They believe that the Holy Spirit will indeed be poured out upon God’s servants and handmaidens.

When reports predict the appearance of several ‘blood moons’ in conjunction with Jewish holy days, they are convinced that these are among the signs in the heavens that are spoken of (see Luke 21:11, Luke 21:25 and Acts 2:19).

All that they see convicts them to pray with even greater fervency that men will be saved, for as the Word says, that great and terrible day of the Lord is coming, Malachi 4:5. They are certain everyone who calls upon the name of Jesus will indeed be saved from the wrath to come; that everyone who names Him as Savior will escape from the ravages of time. They are confident that everyone who receives Jesus into his heart will be saved for the glory of Heaven!