I JUST FEEL LIKE SOMETHING GOOD IS ABOUT TO HAPPEN, Part III
Acts 2:1-4—“And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”
I JUST FEEL LIKE SOMETHING GOOD IS ABOUT TO HAPPEN, Part III
On that initial day of Pentecost, not only was there a “divinely inspired disruption” that ushered in the Holy Spirit in a way never before known on this planet, but the Bible also tells us that there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing, mighty wind.
This is something that interests me, for the word wind in this text means “breath, respiration, or breeze.” I believe what this means is that on the day of Pentecost, the sound that came from heaven was the literal breath of God, for the Holy Spirit is the breath of God.
Right after His resurrection, when Jesus stood before His disciples, the Bible says, “He breathed on them, and said unto them, receive you the Holy Ghost” (Jn. 20:22). This was the same act performed by God to Adam as He breathed into Adam and he became a living soul. It was there that He breathed life into lifeless man, and it was at this time, in John 20:22, that He breathed spiritual life into those who are without power.
Before I continue on this subject, let me please address once again the importance of the believer being baptized with the Holy Spirit.
Without the baptism with the Holy Spirit, the believer is without power, and the church is without power. In order to do what God has called every single child of God to do, believers desperately need the power of the Holy Spirit; we are powerless against the forces of darkness that seek to hinder us along the way.
The church, by and large, has forsaken the person of the Holy Spirit, and, as a result, is powerless and has opted for the ways and means of the world to address its problems. That is a recipe for disaster. When will the church wake up and realize that without the power of the Holy Spirit, which can only come by preaching on the baptism with the Holy Spirit, it cannot hope to solve the issues that it faces? As I have stated before, the Cross is the foundation of the church, and the Holy Spirit is the power of the church.
CLOVEN TONGUES AS OF FIRE
At the same time, there also “appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.” Now, this does not mean that a literal “forked tongue” sat upon their heads, as many seem to think, but rather that the Holy Spirit was distributed evenly among the entirety of the number of people that attended the prayer meeting.
“Fire” as with the “wind” was a fulfillment of prophecy, which was given by John the Baptist when he declared, “He shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire” (Matt. 3:11). Fire is a purifying agent that is meant to burn out the debris and chaff off of a particular object. In the life of the believer, the Holy Spirit is the purifying agent by which we are continually being cleansed, burning out all of the debris, garbage, and chaff that have built up due to sin.
SANCTIFICATION
This process is known as the sanctification process of the believer and is a must for every single child of God. There are things in our lives that the Holy Spirit alone can remove, and He does so through this process. It is not a simple process, nor is it an easy process, but it is a necessity.
The process of sanctification is a process where the Holy Spirit desires to mold us into what He wants us to be and to remove what needs to be removed. It cannot be done by and through our own abilities, strength, or education. It has to be done by and through the person of the Holy Spirit. Also, this process of sanctification is something that every single child of God will have to go through, and the reason is that there is much “flesh” that has to be removed.
Regarding this process known as sanctification, we cannot and will not be what we ought to be in the Lord without the working of the Holy Spirit. I firmly believe that without the baptism with the Holy Spirit, very little can be done for the cause of Christ.
I know some people take great offense to that statement, and they bring up many great men and women of God who were not filled with the Spirit and did tremendous exploits for God. We should never minimize the work of those who accomplished great things for God, but for many, these things were done before the great latter day outpouring of the Holy Spirit that took place at the dawn of the 20th century. So, those men and women of God walked in all of the light that they knew.
However, we cannot say the same today. Ever since the Azusa Street Revival, the latter day outpouring of the Holy Spirit has been felt all over the globe, and we have such a greater responsibility to continue to see a world touched for the cause of Christ. That is why, I believe, that the Lord has helped us to touch much of the known world in these 60 years that we’ve been in ministry, all due to the moving and operation of the Holy Spirit.
What began in the early 1940s regarding my great-great grandmother receiving the infilling of the Holy Spirit, trickled down to my grandfather first, then to his parents—my great grandparents—then down to my parents, and then down to me. It is because of my family being brought into this great happening that has caused us, and is causing us, to reach the world for Christ. This could not have been done otherwise, no matter how talented, charismatic, or experienced we may be. This work is a work of the Holy Spirit, by the Holy Spirit, and through the Holy Spirit.
POWER AND PURITY
Getting back to our text, I want you to notice that these two symbols—wind and fire—were used in the initial outpouring of the Holy Spirit, which means that two of the Holy Spirit’s most paramount works are power (wind) and purity (fire). This means that the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives is to provide power and to purify our lives. Nothing that we can muster up can come close to the work of the Holy Spirit. There is no power without the Holy Spirit, and there can be no purification without the work of the Holy Spirit. These two great works can only be brought about as one goes through to the baptism with the Holy Spirit, for these two works can only be brought about by and through the person and office of the Holy Spirit.
THEY WERE ALL FILLED
When it was all said and done, every single person that day who were participants in the day of Pentecost were filled with the Holy Spirit. The word filled means “to soak up as with a sponge, to imbue (saturate, or to breathe), influence, supply, accomplish, or to furnish.” This is exactly what happens to the believer who is filled with the Spirit—they become saturated with the Holy Spirit. This is in direct fulfillment of prophecy where Christ said that the Holy Spirit shall be with you, and shall be in you (Jn. 14:17).
Outside of salvation, this is the greatest experience that a believer can ever have—being filled with the Holy Spirit. I believe, as I have stated any number of times, that before the rapture of the church takes place (which is just right around the corner), that we are going to see the greatest move of God the world has ever seen, with more people being saved than ever before as well as more people being baptized with the Holy Spirit than ever before.
The title of this article for the last few months has been something that I, personally, have been feeling in my spirit. No matter what the Devil will try and do over the course of the next few years, I honestly feel that something good is about ready to happen. God never brings the best first; He always saves the best for last.
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