"This Is That"

   Now 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 utterances.
   Now 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? -------------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."
   But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, "Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words. For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But this is that which was spoken of by the prophet Joel:   And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams. And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall prophesy.------------------------------ Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Men and brethren, what shall we do then?" Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.  Acts 2:1-39

Did you notice how amazing God is? Did you notice how He kept His Promise to send the Holy Spirit and did you really take notice of just how awesome an event it was? Mighty rushing wind, tongues of fire, huge crowd gathered completely amazed! There is one line in here that causes me great concern. ---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."

It saddens me so much that there were those that even though they heard them speaking "the wonderful works of God." in their own language could still mock and not acknowledge this amazing Holy Spirit event! The thing that saddens me and takes me to my knees in intercession is the fact that there are still those in the church today who mock and refuse to acknowledge the fact that the Holy Spirit is still at work in the world today.

In Matthew 25 Jesus tells us a parable about ten virgins. Five were wise and five were foolish. I don't know about you but it I am concerned because the only thing that separates them is that the wise have oil and the foolish don't! We all know that the oil is symbolic of the Holy Spirit throughout Scripture so what does that mean for those who, in today's church refuse to acknowledge the Holy Spirit? I hope that this parables isn't prophetic and that half the church won't be ready because they don't have oil!

Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call. Acts 2:38-39