Jesus' ministry commenced following His baptism in the river Jordan after the Holy Spirit came upon Him (Matt 3:13-17) in power. Later, He outlined the job He had when He read from Isa 61:1-2 saying, - "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour." (Luke 4:17-19). Notice His ministry did not commence until after the Holy Spirit came upon Him, and He continued to minister in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Following Jesus' death and resurrection He was seen alive on different occasions by quite a number of people. On one oc casion over five hundred people saw Him at the same time (1 Cor 15:6). Just before He ascended to heaven He gave His followers this instruction - "... 'Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptised with water, but in a few days you will be baptised with the Holy Spirit'." (Ac 1:4-5) This clearly illustrates that Jesus desired that His followers should be baptised with the Holy Spirit. This subsequently took place ten days after Jesus ascended to heaven, "When the feast of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Without warning there was a sound like a strong wind, gale force - no one could tell where it came from. It filled the whole building. Then, like a wildfire, the Holy Spirit spread through their ranks, and they began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit enabled them." (Ac 2:1-4 - The Message). As a result these disciples became overwhelmed with joy and excitement and they started to give praise to God by supernaturally praising Him in languages they had never learned - tongues.
A number of Christians believe that this supernatural experience was only for the early Christians, and the starting of the Church, and not for today. However:-
- Scripture suggests something different.
- Church history proves otherwise.
- The amazing growth of the Pentecostal / Charismatic movements worldwide. (This will be dealt with later).
On the feast day of Pentecost, Peter stands before a vast crowd and gives an explanation concerning this unusual phenomena. He states that the people's strange behaviour is not the result of alcohol, because it was too early and the 'pubs' were still closed. In this explanation he outlines God's intentions, and quotes from the Old Testament Book of Joel chapter 2 In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people .... ". (Ac 2:17) and he continues "The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off - for all whom the Lord our God will call." (Ac 2:39) . Here he includes people down through the ages including the age in which we live.
What was the promise Peter was referring to?
Before Jesus ascended to heaven, He told His followers to wait in Jerusalem until they received the promise of the Father (Ac 1:4). They remained in Jerusalem, and on the feast day of Pentecost, God fulfilled His word and 120 believers were baptised in the Holy Spirit. This experience marked the birth of the church, and was a fulfilment of Jesus' own teaching in Mark 16:17 - "And these signs will accompany those who believe .... they will speak in new tongues." When Peter visited the house of Cornelius who was a gentile, those present were baptised in the Holy Spirit and they praised God in others tongues (Ac 10:46).
Initially the church moved in the power of the Holy Spirit and saw amazing results. They saw:-
- multitudes finding faith in Christ,
- lives changed and transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit,
- people being set free from evil spirits,
- many outstanding healings that stood the test of close scrutiny,
- people with diseases healed,
- people raised from the dead,
- cities filled with much joy,
- they turned the known world upside down
and there's still more ...... Jesus actually believed what He said, "I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father." (Jn 14:12)The early church and many others in Church history have experienced this to be true. George Jeffreys and the founding members of the Elim Pentecostal Church would also be included in this number.
The apostle Paul writing to the church at Corinth says, "Therefore my brothers, be eager to prophesy and do not forbid speaking in tongues." Nowhere in the scriptures do we read that the gifts of the Holy Spirit, including tongues have ceased or were only intended for the early church. In fact we read of the early Christians being baptised in the Holy Spirit along with the gentiles - and Praise God all over the world today hundreds of millions of Christians can testify to the experience of being baptised with the Holy Spirit and being able to speak to the Lord using languages they have never learned.
I trust that you too have experienced this wonderful blessing from the Father. |