by Bill Johnson
To illustrate the nature of this sound, I like to compare it to that of a musical instrument. A gifted musician can get an almost magical sound out of the saxophone as they skillfully breathe across the reed properly placed in the mouthpiece of the instrument. Now in the same way, consider the breath of God blowing across the reed of the hearts of one hundred and twenty people releasing a sound over a city that changed its atmosphere. When you change an atmosphere, you change a destiny. That’s what people heard. A harmonic sound that came because one hundred and twenty were together in unity, not only with each other, but with the Spirit of the resurrected Christ. That is the sound that was heard some 2,000 years ago. It was a sound that initiated the ushering in of 3,000 people in one day. A momentum was created through this open Heaven that made it so people were added to their numbers daily (see Acts 2:47). That continued until it opened even more and they moved from addition to multiplication (see Acts 9:31).
Once a Coward, Not Always a Coward
When Peter saw the crowds gather, he had an uncontrollable urge to preach. This man, who was a coward only days ago when questioned by a servant girl (see Mark 14:69), now stood heroically before thousands to proclaim the good news. Remember, it wasn’t just the fact that he had to give witness to a large crowd. It was before a crowd that was now mocking what they saw once they were drawn to that place. This sermon came in the midst of the most unusual manifestations by God’s chosen people. The crowd thought the hundred and twenty people were drunk. But often what we think drives the world away from the Gospel actually brings them to it. It only drives away those who have been taught against it. (Many think God’s reputation is somehow protected when our dignity is preserved. And yet God is constantly asking us to lay down our rights—even to dignity.) Courage rose up in Peter’s heart, and he made sense of it all and brought forth the perfect message for this moment. Cowards are only one touch from God away from becoming courageous preachers with great power.
“What must we do to be saved?” (See Acts 2:37.) That’s quite a response from the people who crucified Jesus only weeks earlier. Was it Peter’s sermon? While I don’t want to take away from the moment of profound bravery, Peter preached under an open Heaven. This atmosphere carried the sound of Heaven that changed the mindsets of an entire city in moments. His message was quite brief. But it was filled with power, and it brought understanding so that the nervous mockery stopped and the real issues of the heart could be seen. In this one message, 3,000 people were saved. This becomes the devil’s worst possible nightmare. Suddenly, things progressed from the anointing/open Heaven existing over one Man, Jesus, to the one hundred and twenty, and now imparted to 3,000 new believers. The potential of this movement is unlimited, until the whole earth is filled with His glory! And that is God’s intention through those who host Him well, all while yielding to the wonderful Holy Spirit.
What It’s All About
I have a Pentecostal background, for which I am very thankful. My forefathers paid quite a price to preach and defend that the baptism in the Spirit and speaking in tongues is still for today. I owe it to them to do nothing to take away from their accomplishments, but to add all I can. Having said that, I have seen that many have come to the wrong conclusions about this Holy Spirit baptism. It’s not for tongues (which I believe is important and available to everyone). It’s for power. And it’s not just power for miracles. It’s so that the power-charged atmosphere of Heaven can rest upon a person, which forces a shift in the atmosphere over a home, business, or city. This baptism is to make us living witnesses and examples of the resurrection of Jesus—the ultimate display of Heaven’s power. The Spirit of the resurrected Christ is what filled the air on the day of Pentecost.
The Long Prayer Meeting
I can only imagine that after ten days of praying together they were tired and had probably exhausted everything they could think of to pray about. Suddenly, their affection for Jesus was taken to a level they had never known or experienced before. Their spirits became empowered by the Holy Spirit in that suddenly moment. They were alive, really alive for the first time in their lives. They spoke of things they didn’t understand. Two worlds collided. And the understanding of God that exists in that heavenly realm actually influenced the language of the one hundred and twenty here on earth. They spoke of the mysterious ways and the mighty deeds of God.
This baptism is likened to wine and not water. Water refreshes while wine influences. When God calls a particular baptism a baptism of fire, it is obviously not one of mere refreshing. Heaven has come to influence earth in this baptism. But when that rushing mighty wind came and the language of Heaven poured forth from their lips, they also were refreshed by what influenced them. Paul would later point out that praying in tongues edifies us. There’s little doubt about that happening to this small group. To top it off, they were speaking something so completely satisfying, so accurate and powerful, that it was like experiencing a completely new day. And they were. This heavenly language came as an eruption from their hearts. But for the first time in their lives, and actually in all of history, they said what needed to be said perfectly without missing it or falling short in one way or another.
The Spirit of God spoke through them with brilliant understanding of whom He was exalting. Their praise went right from the Spirit of God, through their yielded lips, to God Himself. In this instance, the human intellect was bypassed. They were “speaking of the mighty deeds of God” (Acts 2:11). This time, the language was a language of praise—not prayer. Imagine the privilege it was to speak of the great mysteries of God’s nature over a city that had rejected Him. It was intoxicating, to say the least. The intention of the Lord is that this baptism of fire would ignite every heart. This would be best expressed by a people who were presence-driven instead of ministry-driven. It’s not about what I can accomplish for God. It’s all about who goes with me and my doing all I can to protect that most valuable connection.
When More Leads to More
A few years after this great outpouring of the Spirit, things were still going quite well. In fact, the numbers were increasing daily, and miracles would shake an entire city. Peter and John released a miracle to a lame man that seemed to shake up everyone (see Acts 3:1-10). They were credited as having great boldness. As a result, they were arrested, interrogated, persecuted, and finally released. Upon their release they went to a prayer meeting and prayed for more boldness.
And now, Lord, take note of their threats, and grant that Your bond-servants may speak Your word with all confidence, while You extend Your hand to heal, and signs and wonders take place through the name of Your holy servant Jesus (Acts 4:29-30).
And the Spirit of God came in again. We always need more.
Many who speak in tongues think they are full of the Holy Spirit. Being full of Holy Spirit is not evidenced in tongues; it is evidenced by being full. How do you know when a glass is completely full? It runs over. Peter, on the day of Pentecost, is filled with Holy Spirit. In Acts 4, Peter joins many others in a prayer meeting. Their overwhelming expression was to cry out for more. Peter prayed for more. He did not pray for relief in the midst of persecution, but instead for more boldness, that expression that sometimes offends, so that he could go deeper into the realms of darkness and pull out more victims. And the Bible says:
And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness (Acts 4:31).
In Acts 2, Peter is filled. In Acts 4, he needs to be refilled. Why? If you are doing this right, you must get filled often. There is one baptism. But we are to live in such a way that we give away all we get, while our capacity for Him increases. When we live full of the Holy Spirit, experiencing overflow, only more of Him will do. Needing to be refilled is not a sign of something gone wrong. Continual dependence on more is a good thing.
Purpose of Outpouring
It is so easy to assume that so
mething like the baptism in the Holy Spirit is primarily to make us more useful in ministry. That makes us top heavy in the sense that we become professionals in areas of life that were really reserved for romantics. My friend Bob Kilpatrick would call that approach law instead of art.1 There are parts of our walk with Christ that should never be reduced to a list of goals and accomplishments. Instead, this unimaginable privilege of carrying His presence should never reduce me to a laborer for God. The decision of being a servant or a friend is still being chosen by people around us every day. While it is one of my highest privileges to serve Him completely, my labor is the byproduct of my love. This baptism introduces us to intimacy at the highest possible level.
The heart of God in this matter is clearly seen in this amazing prophecy from Ezekiel. “I will not hide my face from them any longer, for I will have poured out my Spirit” (Ezek. 39:29). In the outpouring of the Holy Spirit is the revelation of the face of God. There is nothing greater. “In the light of the king’s face is life, and his favor is like a cloud with the spring rain” (Prov. 16:15). Rain is a biblical metaphor for the move of the Holy Spirit, thus the term outpouring. This verse also links God’s face, His favor, with the outpouring of His Spirit.2
The revelation of the face of God through the outpouring of the Spirit is made available to everyone. The outpouring in Acts 2 was the beginning. The outpouring of the Spirit is the fulfillment of the quest for God’s face. This means that wherever we go in revival, we can’t go past the face. The only direction to go is to cry out for a greater measure of His Presence in the outpouring. Psalm 80 links the favor of His face with the work of His hand. The righteous who seek His face in intimacy are those who can be used to do great exploits. Heroes of the faith became men and women “of [God’s] right hand” (Ps. 80:17). He put them on like a glove and used them to display His signs and wonders. We must be those who see what’s available and contend for a greater measure of His favor to be upon us.
Moses experienced the transforming Presence on his own face. It was the result of his own face-to-face encounter with God. The outpouring brings us to His face again. And believe it or not, Moses’ experience pales by comparison. “How will the ministry of the Spirit fail to be even more with glory?” (2 Cor. 3:8). So then, as we prioritize hosting His presence, we learn to release His face of favor into the earth. That is what people of great favor do.
ENDNOTES
1. The Art of Being You: How to Live as God’s Masterpiece by Bob and Joel Kilpatrick tackles this issue beautifully. It is from Zondervan Publishing.
2. My book, Face to Face with God, from Strang Publishing takes this theme as its primary focus.
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The Ultimate Prototype
Somewhere around 10 years after the day of Pentecost, the church was experiencing growing pains again. It happened at least once before in Acts 6 when some of the widows were not having their basic needs met. It became apparent that to take care of people correctly they needed people who could give themselves to practical service while the apostles were able to commit themselves to prayer and the study of Scriptures. The new team of servants was called deacons. But now there was a much bigger problem. Gentiles were getting saved in great numbers, and they were affecting the culture and nature of this new organism called the Church. Some might say that the tail was now wagging the dog.
It had taken quite awhile for the gentiles to become a real emphasis for the church of Jews. In fact, they were quite happy with life together in Jerusalem, that is, until persecution hit. (Even open heavens do not guarantee there will not be opposition. As long as there are people who make agreements with the devil, there will be varying levels of opposition to God’s people.) The church then spread around the known world while the apostles stayed behind. Two things happened. One is that people who were not thought to be leaders found themselves in a place where leadership is required.
Sometimes we don’t know what we have in us until it’s required of us to serve. They stepped into a greater anointing and found out rather quickly what they had. People got saved in significant numbers. Then, they started to give attention to the commission given to them close to 10 years earlier from Jesus Himself. “Go into all the world…” (see Matt. 28:19). And then:
You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth (Acts 1:8).
The movement outside of Jerusalem was growing so quickly that they called for help from their spiritual leaders, the apostles. And they brought the much-needed help, both in the miracle realm and in the governmental role. It seems that the shift in focus was almost by accident. This is when the church started having issues with the gentile believers.
Who Invaded My Pew?
I’ve seen this happen in our day. Church members get quite comfortable, and then revival hits. Those who reject it of course won’t call it an actual move of God. But there’s always a great influx of people who have “not paid the light bills” all these years who come into the church, excited, wondering why people just sit there. When you add to the mix a great number of converts, things really get exciting. New believers are known to bring all kinds of issues to the surface. My uncle used to say, “Every household needs a two year old.” He was speaking naturally. But the same is true spiritually. Priorities get refined automatically when children are around. Chuck Smith of Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa made such a choice when confronted this problem at the beginning of the Jesus People Movement. The members were concerned about their new carpet being soiled by the barefoot hippies. Pastor Chuck told them that he would tear out the carpet then. Priorities. Simple but profound.
Of course, when you have a need to justify criticism you have to find a spiritual term to make it OK. Holiness or discernment is often used for such moments. It amazes me how many people, who have prayed for revival for years, will leave a church once they get it. Great moves of God upset everything. Nothing is left untouched. As fishers of men our job is to catch them and let Him clean them.
The apostles had many concerns. Most of it dealt with issues of holiness, which is a very legitimate issue. They had to settle on what salvation by grace really looked like. These new believers were challenging things that might have never been questioned by the Jewish believers. When you add to the mix the fact that there were those with unhealthy attachments to the old way of doing things, as in Mosaic Law, there was a real uncertainty about it all. I’m sure each apostle had their convictions as to how things should be.
There’s no doubt of their commitment to salvation by God’s grace. But there is also strong evidence that they didn’t think alike, but more importantly they didn’t want to present multiple standards as they continued to successfully evangelize the known world. They had some decisions to make.
The First of Its Kind
The first leaders’ conference was called for this elite group of apostles. They convened in Jerusalem, the God-chosen headquarters for the Church. As they met they presented the issues. But the way they came to a conclusion is quite fascinating. They shared testimonies. They each had stories to tell pertaining to God’s outpouring among the Gentiles. As they heard the stories they began to recognize a theme: God poured out His Spirit upon Gentiles before they knew enough to get themselves acquainted with Jewish traditions. In fact, He seemed to move among them with little regard for their own readiness for an authentic Holy Spirit outpouring.
What moves me in this part of the story is that they actually developed their theology around what they saw God do. They didn’t approach the issue with an exegetical study of Jesus’ sermons to find out what to do. That kind of study is noble and good. But you usually need the move of God to be happening before you get insight about what it is that is happening. I’ve never heard of anyone studying their way into a revival.
Now I realize that this seems to be treading in dangerous territory for so many, but to me the
risk is worth it. Why do you think new moves of God almost always start with people who don’t know what they’re doing? At least in part, we limit God to our present understanding of how God moves, all while praying that God would do a new thing among us. What we know can keep us from what we need to know if we don’t remain a novice. When we become experts we have chosen where we level off in our maturity. He still requires that primary advancements in the Kingdom be made through childlikeness.
Can I Get a Witness!
James, the apostle at Jerusalem, brought the testimony time to a biblical conclusion. He said, “With this the words of the prophets agree!” (Acts 15:15). What he shared in the following moments was possibly new to him, as there’s no record of this revelation being commonplace before this moment. It appears to me that God actually dropped this Scripture into his heart as they were talking. In other words, God gave Scripture to James to back up the legitimacy of the stories being told. Biblical backing is vital. But I doubt there has ever been a great move of God where everything that happened was preceded by revelation—they understood it before it happened. Experience gives understanding. Complete understanding first seems to violate the issue of trust that is deeply valued in the heart of God for His people. At any rate, James got a word from God to give the needed biblical backing.