The baptism of the Holy Spirit was a game changer. When the Holy Spirit fell upon the people, He transformed the disciples and changed the world!
When the Day of Pentecost had 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 the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one 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.
And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, “Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born? Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God.” So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “Whatever could this mean?” Others mocking said, “They are full of new wine.”Acts 2:1-13
When the Holy Spirit fell upon the disciples, people did not understand what was going on and why these simple fishermen spoke languages not native to them.
There is something about knowing a language that opens the window to a new world and a new understanding of a language from a foreign country. Similarly, the Lord opened the Kingdom of God to the disciples when they gained their spiritual language of speaking in tongues. They became an insider, and they were no longer dependent on others to tell them what the Lord spoke to them. Furthermore, when they gained their own revelation of what the Kingdom was all about, they became very courageous and fearless!
The baptism of the Holy Spirit connected the dots for the disciples. They saw God’s plan of salvation and their part in the Kingdom of God, which resulted in Peter preaching his first gospel message explaining man’s sin, our need of salvation, and Jesus’ sacrifice for our salvation.
The people who heard the disciples speaking in tongues thought they must be drunk. However, it was early in the morning, and these individuals were seeking the Lord and praying when they were baptized in the Holy Spirit.
Ironically, the baptism of the Holy Spirit is still misunderstood by many. Those who don’t understand it think of it as strange. They are afraid that speaking in tongues is made up by man, and people are just putting on a show. The enemy will try to create counterfeit experiences, and some people’s experience may not be authentic. However, just because some may abuse this beautiful gift from the Lord, it doesn’t mean that the entire experience is invalid.
If Jesus told His disciples to wait for the promise of the Holy Spirit, then it means that this is a very important gift. Instead of shying away from it or dismissing it, we need to search the scriptures and pray that God would show the genuineness of this foundational gift. We also should pray for the Lord to baptize us with the Holy Spirit if we have not experienced it before.
Do you believe that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is for you and other believers? Regardless of where you stand on this very important issue, I encourage you to study the work of the Holy Spirit in the book of Acts and find out for yourself the acts of the Holy Spirit in the early church. The Bible will help clarify what experiences are valid and which ones are questionable.
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