Acts 2:1-4
And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
The word Pentecost means "fiftieth." This day was called Pentecost because it was the fiftieth day after the Passover. Pentecost was a Jewish feast that had been observed since the time of Moses. In the Old Testament, it marked the end of the grain harvest and involved offering the firstfruits to God. It also coincided with the giving of the law on Mount Sinai. It’s no surprise Jerusalem was so full of people during this time, as Jews from all over the region gathered to give thanks for the harvest, offer their firstfruits, and praise God for giving them the Law.
On this day, God chose to send His Spirit into His brand-new temple—the Church. This wasn’t a building made with hands but the hearts of His people, whose bodies are now the temple of the Holy Ghost. Just as God gave His Law written on tablets 1,500 years earlier, He sent the Holy Spirit to write the Law on their hearts. The Law of Moses had been fulfilled, and the law of faith was now fully revealed.
Those 120 believers in the upper room were the firstfruits of the Church. Many of them would be offered up as sacrifices—some by crucifixion, others by lions, swords, or persecution. A few would live to old age, but every one of them gave their lives in service to the One who gave them life.
Just as God filled the Tabernacle in Moses’s day and the Temple in Solomon’s day, His fire fell once more—but this time, not on a physical structure or a lifeless sacrifice. Instead, it fell on living sacrifices. To this day, we are still commanded to present our bodies as living sacrifices.
There may not be visible flames of fire above our heads this morning, but let me ask: Is your all on the altar of sacrifice laid? Is your life being consumed for His glory? Oh, that we would live in the power of a sacrificed life!
The effects of that Pentecost cannot be overstated. Those 120 Spirit-filled believers left the upper room, and by the end of the same day, 3,000 souls were converted. From there, the Gospel spread to Jerusalem, Judea, and the uttermost parts of the earth. It was said of these Holy Ghost-filled men that they “turned the world upside down.”
I’m not looking for another Pentecost, but I long to live in its power. I want to present my body as a living sacrifice and let the sacred flame consume every fiber of my being. I want to be empowered and emboldened to preach to the masses, to be an instrument through which many come to repentance and faith.
Oh Lord, fill us with Your Spirit! Consume us! Use us! May we turn the world we live in upside down for Your sake!
I’m not seeking an ecstatic, miraculous experience. Instead, I pray that the Spirit would give me utterance to speak boldly and clearly for the sake of the Gospel. Oh Lord, let Paul’s prayer and the example of those disciples be fulfilled in our lives:
“Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit… 19 And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel” (Ephesians 6:18-19).
Amen