Acts 2:1-4
And in the completed time – the day of Pentecost – they were
all together upon the place. And
suddenly out of heaven a sound became as being brought of a violent wind. And it filled the whole house where they were
sitting. And they saw by them tongues as
of fire which divided into parts and set upon each one of them. And all were filled of the Holy Spirit and
they began to call out in other tongues just as the Spirit was giving to
declare to them.
Thoughts for Today:
First Thought:
Pentecost comes 50 days after the Feast of Firstfruits. The Feast of Firstfruits was always the
Sabbath after Passover. How cool is it
that the Holy Spirit came to the disciples in full 50 days after the Feast of
Firstfruits? Well, let’s remember. Depending on which Gospel you are reading,
Jesus either died or was arrested on Passover.
Either way, He was raised on the first day of the week after
Passover. This means that Jesus was
raised on the Feast of Firstfruits!
Jesus resurrection reminds us that He is the first fruit, and our
resurrection will follow His!
Why does it make it easier to believe God can raise people
from the dead knowing that He has already done it with Jesus?
Second Thought:
We need to be careful and not think that the Holy Spirit
“came for the first time” at Pentecost.
According to John 20:19-23, Jesus breathed upon the disciples on the day
He met with them when He was raised – giving the Holy Spirit to them. We also believe that the Old Testament was
written through the power of the Holy Spirit as He spoke through the prophets
and other writers. We believe that most
of the psalms were written by David, speaking no doubt out of words given to
him by the Holy Spirit. In fact, Genesis
1:2 tells us that the Spirit of God hovered over the waters. So this is not the first coming of the Holy
Spirit to the earth.
Why is it important to teach that this is not the first time
that the Holy Spirit came to people?
Third Thought:
The Holy Spirit comes with a particular gift: the ability to
tell the Gospel to people in any language.
The coming of the Holy Spirit is all about equipping people to fulfill
Jesus’ command to tell the world about Him.
We like to teach that the Holy Spirit brings many different kinds of
gifts – and He does – but it is important to remember that the proper use of
those gifts results in people hearing about Jesus Christ.
Do we always use our gifts to tell people who don’t know
Christ about Him? What does it say about
us when we use a spiritual gift for the benefit of ourselves or someone else
when it really has nothing to do with proclaiming Christ to the world?
Passage for Tomorrow: Acts 2:5-13
2 comments:
Thats really cool about the first fruits thing I didn't know that...and on your second thought..its important to know that the holy spirit was around the whole time guiding people along because that shows that God has been working through people for a very long time.
You are absolutely correct. Although God does work in "new ways" it shows us that in spite of it sometimes feeling "new" it is still the same consistent God.
Post a Comment