The Outpouring of The Holy Spirit

Friede....Shalom...Peace everyone!

It's been such a lovely day when Holy Spirit is poured out on the church. so, today i wanna share a little bit about Pentecost and some points I learnt today from the sermon of my pastor from Acts 2:1-13.

The day when Holy Spirit is poured down is called Pentecost. the day of Pentecost itself actually was a Jewish feast held fifty days after Passover.  It was a time to celebrate the firstfruits of the harvest. so it was a great and wonderful celebration coz it also commemorated the day when the Law was given to Israel (Guzik Commentary on Acts 2).

This great moment started by "together", when all believers were in one place ( Acts 2:1 Now when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place). the word "together" shows that they were gathered together sharing the same heart, the same love for God, the same trust in His promise, and the same geography. it happened 10 days after the ascension of Christ. The disciples still remembered Jesus's message before He ascended into heaven that they had to stay in Jerusalem till the day came (Luke 24:49 "And look, I am sending you what my Father promised. But stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” ) so, they hadn't started testifying the LORD till they were filled by the spirit.

the pouring of the spirit was revealed by these signs:

• a rushing mighty wind 

And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. (Acts 2:2)

the spirit came as the mighty wind that filled up the space. I like this point that it comes as the wind. the nature of the wind is to fill up the space, meaning that there's none passed by. all, the whole spaces are filled. The same thing happens to us that the spirit fills the space of our hearts and makes us joyful coz one of His roles is to comfort us. Jesus knows that the disciple must have been so weary and sad coz He just revealed Himself for 40 days but directly ascended to heaven. they must have been so lonely that's why He gives them the comforter that fills up all the weary soul. The same spirit also fills our hearts today . Holy spirit fills and cheers us up whenever we face all the difficulties and burden in life. so don't ever think that you're alone facing this world coz Holy Spirit, the faithful comforter is always with us.

• the divided of tongues, as of fire 

"Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit." (verse 3-4a)

When reading "as of fire" there are two things come up to my mind ; "flame and purification process of gold". the fire always burns up everything, including the weary soul. the bible says that fire of the spirit sat on each of them". it means that the spirit burns their weary heart to be in spirit and makes them blazing to testify about the Lord. It was true that after the rushing mighty wind and the divided of tongues as of the fire, the disciples started to speak the Word of God, testifying all the mighty things done by God. the spirit also purifies our soul. purification is badly needed in order to get a pure heart. many times we minister with various motivations but God wants a pure one that's why we need Holy spirit to purify our thoughts and heart, getting the pure one.

• The phenomenon of speaking in tongues

And began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, "Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born? Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs; we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God." (verse 4-12)

Pentecost is also the day when God unifies the diversity of language so that people can listen and understand the Word of God. if we compare to the incident in Babylon when God cluttered the language, on Pentecost He did the different thing. since communication requires good understanding, no understanding can create chaos as in Babylon. God knows it very well that's why He unified the diversity. in the other word, it can be said that Pentecost is also the day when God renewed and reconciled communication among men based on love and understanding and it's done by the Holy Spirit.  

The spirit has been poured out but still there are some people who harden their heart not accepting it. It happened on the day of Pentecost when the people saw what had happened the bible says;

"So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, "Whatever could this mean?" Others mocking said, "They are full of new wine." verse 13.

This group of people represent some of us who still stand against the truth. in spite of giving space for the spirit, some of us tend to be offensive. we deny the spirit not giving Him the right place in our heart. so, if today you read this post I just wanna remind you as Peter reminds the church;

TODAY, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your heart.

 Happy Pentecost day!!!!
Be blessed.. :)