“Thank You, Lord Jesus, that You are showing us that great power is unleashed as we yield our tongues to You. Your church must bring Your word to the nations. The world must be convicted of the sin, repent, turn, and seek You. The world must come into the habitat relationship with You. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.”
Acts 2:2-4 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. (3) Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. (4) And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
We have been seeing how powerful it is to yield our tongues to God. The Lord brings about cleansing. We worship God as we ought, for we see Him as who He is. We confront the evil in our world, pull down their power structures, and establish the kingdom rule of God. This is a great task for the church and the tongue becomes a critical part of what accomplishes through His church. This was what God accomplished through Prophet Jeremiah. Jeremiah 5:14 Therefore thus says the Lord God of hosts: “Because you speak this word, Behold, I will make My words in your mouth fire, And this people wood, And it shall devour them. Jeremiah needed to be aware and conscious that the words that he would speak, to his audience, would be fire. His audience would be wood and his words will devour them. This is a strong analogy and yet this is how, we, the church, must see our role in God’s purpose.
We are here, not to back away from the evil in our nations, but our role is to halt the evil and bring forth the righteousness of God, into our cultures. Our tongue being touched and released by God is in order to accomplish this purpose of God. The Lord demonstrated this work of God as He spoke with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. Luke 24:32 And they said to one another, “Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?” This is how the Lord will use His church as we confront sin in our world. People’s hearts will burn as we open the Scriptures to their understanding. The devil has kept the minds of people closed and locked, whereas, as we communicate with people, they will know the truth and the truth will set them free.
We see the immediate effect on the audience, who were witnessing this happening of the baptism of the Holy Spirit on the disciples. Acts 2:36-41 “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” (37) 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?” (38) 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. (39) 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.” (40) And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.” (41) Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.
Peter and the rest of the Apostles spoke the word of God, with such power and brought about conviction to the hearts of their audience. There was fire in their words. The response of the audience was astonishing. They pleaded and asked what they should do to set right the wrong which they have done. The turnaround that took place was total. They repented of their sin against God and so they experienced forgiveness. They were baptised or they died to their old nature and received the resurrection of Jesus. They also received the baptism of the Holy Spirit or they were now part of His church that will go out into the world and bring others to faith in Jesus.
II Corinthians 10:3-6 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. (4) For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, (5) casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, (6) and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled. This must be the calibre of His church. We are to bring down the strongholds of the enemy. Cast down arguments and everything that exalts itself against God. We are to bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ and punish all disobedience. Whereas, we are allowing evil in our world to breed. We shrug our shoulders in resignation. We are in the mode of self-preservation. We hardly see our role as how the Lord expects it of us.
“Will we repent and seek the Lord to fill us with the Holy Spirit so that we will communicate God’s message to our generation?”