One special sign was a sound of a violent storm, perhaps like the sound of a tornado. The signs are given only once, although He came to stay with His people. The Holy Spirit was given with "signs." Although He in Himself is invisible, the church must know who He is and what He does when He is given. The Holy Spirit, "poured out" on Pentecost, is "the third person of the Trinity, one with the Father and the Son" as we learned from our earliest catechism books. The Spirit will continue the work of God until all the elect are raised from the grave in the final day, in a new heaven and earth, to enjoy an eternity in full life and fellowship with the Lord. John says that their works are even greater than what Jesus Himself did on earth. What blessings are given to the people who receive the Spirit, and are enabled to produce such marvelous fruits. He is the Spirit that, in this world devastated by sin, produces the fruits of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22). He is the marvelous Power of God that enables sinners to walk and live in the way of godliness. The Holy Spirit makes new creatures (or creations) out of old, lost sinners. On Pentecost He begins to work in them, giving them the harvest of His wonderful salvation. When Jesus was on earth He preached to the people with word and deed. The Holy Spirit was poured out into the church. Now the "first fruits" of the completed spiritual harvest are being brought in with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.Ĭonsider what a harvest this was and is for the church of Jesus Christ! What the pay check is to the laboring man, what the financial profits are to the business man, and what the harvest is to the farmer, that Pentecost is for the church of Christ. This was also the fiftieth day after Jesus had been crucified. On this day they were to bring to the Lord the first fruits of the complete harvest. It was a Jewish feast day celebrating the fact that the Lord had given His people a full harvest. Does this perhaps symbolize that out of the darkness of sin the victory of Christ turns the darkness of night into the light of the morning, and the Spirit's being poured out brings the light of a new day that will never end? Jesus was born in the night, He arose early in the morning, and the Holy Spirit was poured out when it had become day. Out of the darkness, through the morning and into the day - in that order the great events of salvation seemed to have taken place here.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |