WHAT MEANETH THIS?
Acts 2: 12
What meaneth this?
This questioned surfaced first among hungry, curious people on the day
of Pentecost over two thousand years ago.
However, that was not the only time or the last time the question has
been asked. This question reaches down
through time to the twenty-first century.
Jesus said “Man shall not live by bread alone.” (Luke
4:4) In other words, we have a spiritual hunger as well as a physical
hunger. There is an aching void in man’s
soul with a quenchless hunger for the supernatural. This God-shaped hole is in each of us; it is a
vacuum in our being desiring to be filled.
The Holy Spirit baptism, first given on the Day of Pentecost, was
designed by God to fill that need.
Many books have been written and many sermons preached in
order to distort the meaning of this question.
The Holy Spirit baptism is not our final goal or the final lap of a
Christian marathon but rather it is the qualifying factor for entry into the
race. Hebrews 2: 1-2 states “…let us run
with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and
finisher of our faith…” It is not an
“added benefit” but an “absolute necessity” for Jesus said in John 3:5 “Except
a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of
God.”
The receiving of the Holy Spirit was not just for the
apostles and disciples in the early church but it is for us today! It is not for a select few but for all to
receive! Acts 2: 39 says it is a “promise
unto you , and unto your children, and
to all that are afar off. ” When Peter preached the first sermon on the
day of Pentecost, the hearers asked what they should do and Peter responded
“Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the
remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost”. (Acts
2:38) This is how we are born again so
let us follow Jesus’ command in John
3:7 “you must be born again“ and Peter’s
instruction in Acts 2: 38 and receive this wonderful, free gift!
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