God's Spirit Poured Out

Jesus spoke of the Holy Spirit coming, especially on His last night with his disciples before  He was crucified and also after He resurrected. A collection of many of these verses are found in the post The Promise to Come and Jesus Ascends to Heaven. After His resurrection, Jesus instructs His disciples:

"I am going to send you 
what my Father has promised; 

but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high." 

Luke 24:49 NIV

"Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift he promised, as I told you before. 
John baptized with water, but in a just few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit... 
you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.

And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me every where... 
in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." 
Acts 1:7,8 NLT
 As I sit down to write this and behold the mystery of the powerful coming of the Holy Spirit, I am humbled and in awe; not quite sure of even what to write. All of my posts are from an everyday persons perspective and experience. I am not a theologian; just some who loves God and want to share Him with other people through His Word. All that to say, what was Pentecost? What happened when God poured His Spirit out on Jesus' disciples? This is what the Word of God says:

"On the Day of Pentecost* all the believers were meeting together in one place. Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability." Acts 2:1-4 NLT

*The Festival of Pentecost came 50 days after Passover (when Jesus was crucified).

What happened that day was nothing short of a miraculous act of God. I love the intimate portrait of the out pouring that El Greco created in the image above. What do you see in their faces? The disciples knew that Jesus promised the coming of the Spirit. In this painting I see that when they heard the sound from heaven like a mighty wind; they looked toward heaven, with expressions of sincerity, of complete trust; a steady expectancy and surrender to God and to what was about to happen. He poured out His Spirit on everyone in the room and they began speaking in languages that they did not even know. Why is that? And imagine, just picture being there as you read what follows:

"At that time there were devout Jews from every nation living in Jerusalem. 

When they heard the loud noise, 

everyone came running, 

and they were bewildered to hear their own languages being spoken by the believers. 

They were amazed. 

"How can this be?" they exclaimed. 

"These people are all from Galilee, 

and yet we hear them speaking in our own native languages... about what God has done!" 

They stood there amazed and perplexed. 

"What can this mean?" 

Acts 2:5-12

"How can this be?" they asked. An absolute miracle of God for them! "What can this mean?" God had a wonderful plan about to launch and they were going to be part of it! You see, Jesus came to bring the good news of God's gift to the people living in and around Israel. After His death, buriel and resurrection He spelled out the next move of God and He gave this Great Commission to His disciples:

"I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. 

Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, 

baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 

Teach these new disciples to obey all the commandments I have given you. 

And be sure of this; I am with you always, even to the end of the age." 

Matthew 28: 18-20 NLT

  

 What a better way to begin to spread the gospel to all nations! God poured out the Holy Spirit in such a miraculous way that foreign Jews living in Jerusalem would hear about what God has done in their own languages! Then when they go home to their friends and families to tell of what God has done, they could speak with authority to the miracle they witnessed. We will look at the verses below once again. They are profound in their message and important as these are the last words Jesus spoke before He ascended into heaven:

"Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift he promised, as I told you before. John baptized with water, but in a just few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit... you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.

And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me every where... in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." Acts 1:7,8 NLT

There was a purpose in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and a purpose to God giving them the ability to speak in languages they did not know... it was to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ into the whole world.

In the following posts we will look at Peter and how the out pouring of the Holy Spirit would change the lives of the disciples forever. 

What is the power of the Holy Spirit? Big question. How can it change your life and mine forever?