On the day of Pentecost the Spirit gave the believers the utterance to speak in different tongues. Acts 2:3 and 4 say, “There appeared to them tongues as of fire, which were distributed; and it sat on each one of them; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, even as the Spirit gave to them to speak forth.” The tongues of fire here are a symbol of speaking, symbolizing that God’s economical Spirit of power is mostly for speaking. He is the speaking Spirit. The different tongues mentioned here were the dialects of the attendants (vv. 6, 8). The disciples were Galileans (v. 7), yet, by the utterance given of the Holy Spirit, they spoke the different foreign dialects of the attendants who came from different parts of the world. However, this does not mean that those who were filled outwardly with the Holy Spirit all spoke in different dialects (cf. note 1 of 2:4 and note 1 of 10:46). In any case, one manifestation of the believers’ being filled outwardly with the Holy Spirit was that they were given the utterance by the Spirit to speak in different tongues; with these tongues they uttered the things concerning Christ in His resurrection and ascension.
The Spirit in us also witnesses of the resurrected and exalted Christ. Acts 5:32 says, “We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit.” As the context of this verse indicates, these things refers to the resurrection and exaltation of Christ. Verse 30 says, “The God of our fathers has raised Jesus, whom you slew by hanging Him on a tree.” Verse 31 continues, “This One God has exalted to His right hand.” Both the apostles and the Holy Spirit were witnesses of these things, because the Spirit, as the Witness of the resurrected and exalted Christ, gave utterance to the believers and enabled them to witness of the Christ who is in His resurrection and exaltation. Today we, through the all-inclusive Spirit, need to testify of and preach the Christ who is in His resurrection and exaltation.
The Spirit is the power for us to preach the gospel of Christ to the Gentiles. Paul said, “I will not dare to speak anything of the things which Christ has not accomplished through me for the obedience of the Gentiles, by word and by work, in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Spirit of God; so that from Jerusalem and round about to Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ” (Rom. 15:18-19). During Paul’s time, Illyricum was a remote region in the northeastern corner of Europe, yet Paul was able to preach the gospel from Jerusalem to a remote, uncultured region. This is because he preached the gospel to the Gentiles in a prevailing way through the all-inclusive, consummated Spirit as power. As a result of such gospel preaching, the unclean, defiled Gentiles were sanctified in the Holy Spirit and became an acceptable offering to God (v. 16). In the same way, today we need to preach the gospel of Christ to the Gentiles through the Spirit as power, that Gentiles in increasing numbers may turn from paganism and all other isms unto the obedience of the faith.
When we preach the word of the Lord, the Spirit demonstrates Himself with power in our preaching. In 1 Corinthians 2:4 Paul said, “My speech and my proclamation were not in persuasive words of wisdom but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.” Persuasive words of wisdom issue from the human mind; demonstration of the Spirit comes from our spirit. This shows us that Paul’s speech and proclamation were not from his mind with words of speculation but from his spirit with the release and exhibition of the Spirit and, hence, of power.
First Thessalonians 1:5 says, “Our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit.” Here we see that the gospel preached by the apostles was preached not only in word but also in power and in the Holy Spirit. Power and the Holy Spirit always go together in the preaching of the gospel. Therefore, when we preach the word of God, if we are willing to put aside our human wisdom, not depending on our eloquence but exercising our spirit and trusting solely in the work of the Spirit, the Spirit will demonstrate Himself with power in our preaching that people may be subdued.
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