As the people were in expectation, and all men reasoned in their hearts concerning John, whether perhaps he was the Christ, John answered them all, “I indeed baptize you with water, but he comes who is mightier than I, the latchet of whose sandals I am not worthy to loosen. He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit and fire, whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his threshing floor, and will gather the wheat into his barn; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.†Then with many other exhortations he preached good news to the people,… Luke 3:15-18 (WEB)
Yesterday was Pentecost Sunday. I hope you heard a Pentecost message as part of your Sabbath worship. Was it in the music, the Scripture, and the sermon and the invitation to receive Jesus and more of what the Holy Spirit has for you every day?
John tells me in this passage that the big difference that set him apart from Jesus was that Jesus came with the perfect baptism that would be more than sacramental water. Jesus’ baptism would be more than an outward sign of the inward change. When I receive Jesus – I am totally and completely changed! It is not just a ‘flash-in-the-pan’ experience! So what’s does it mean when someone says, “I have received the ‘baptism of the Holy Spirit’?
Now when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all with one accord in one place. Suddenly there came from the sky a sound like the rushing of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. Tongues like fire appeared and were distributed to them, and one sat on each of them. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other languages, as the Spirit gave them the ability to speak. Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Acts 2:1-4 (WEB)
Jesus gave me all that I need to be reconciled to God on the night that I said, “Yes, You are my Lord and Savior, Jesus.â€Â And so I began my journey as a child of God. God’s Spirit began to communicate with my spirit. Some people have always walked with the Lord. They do not remember a time when they did not know that Jesus was their Savior. There are others like me that made a ‘conscious’ decision maybe as a young teen to reject the existence of God and so I made a ‘conscious’ decision to accept Him and know that I needed Him. I also made a decision to be a disciple, a follower of Jesus; to live my life serving Him and seek to be like Him. I have experienced some ‘tiny’ Pentecost moments when the Holy Spirit was tangibly real and I marked some times when I received supernatural ‘jumps’ in my spiritual walk. My faith took a leap forward and an area of my relationship with God became more clear. As I sit here typing this, tears come to my eyes as I recall the goodness and extravagant gifts that God has given me. But it’s not all about me.
1 Corinthians 12 speaks a lot about the Holy Spirit and the gifts that He gives. But it is in 1Corinthians 13 that I am reminded to focus on the most important ‘gift’ – the gift of love. It is in love that I will accomplish the tasks given me as Jesus did. Jesus accomplished His mission of atonement through sacrificial love, not through speaking in tongues or casting out demons. The ‘testing’ of my spiritual life is measured in the fruit that is produced for God’s kingdom. It is in how much others see Jesus and worship Him and remember Him that shows how the Holy Spirit is working in me.
Take a few minutes today and read 1 Corinthians 12 and 13. And Listen.
