PASTOR RYAN LADEN – DEVOTIONALS
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The Gospel goes out into the world more times than anyone can count every single day. There is more Christ-centered content being created and shared in every language under the sun today than could have ever even been dreamed of by the Apostle Peter as he stood up to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ for the first time on the day of Pentecost so long ago. And yet, we see so many people responding to the Gospel and to those who share it, with nothing but ridicule and objections.
In today’s devotional, we will follow the Apostle Peter as he is led by the Holy Spirit to share the message of Jesus Christ to that crowd that gathered in amazement as the church sprang to life, empowered by the power and person of the Holy Spirit.
Let’s listen to what happened after the crowd witnessed the miracles of Pentecost:
12 Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”
13 Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.”
14 Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. 15 These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning!
(Acts 2:12-15 NIV11)
Funny/Sad
This is both funny and sad at the same time.
It is funny because of Peter’s response to the claim that all the Jesus people were drunk was simply that it is way too early in the day for that. I mean, come on, we have not even finished breakfast.
It is sad because of what it says about the propensity of mankind to explain away anything that we cannot own or explain with our own limited logic.
Lack of Understanding
Some in the crowd could not understand what was happening as the Holy Spirit enabled the church to lift up the praises of God in unity and in such a way that everyone present heard every one of the disciples in their own mother tongue.
Most of the people in the crowd were in awe and wonder, looking on with a sense of the miraculous. But no doubt this was shattered when the cynics cried out and attempted to discredit the work of God with crude humor.
Today
Honestly, this sounds like it could have happened today. When we see a move of God take place in our lives or in the world around us, there seem to be those who love nothing more than to try and discredit and dismiss the fingerprints of God.
Peter attempted to recover credibility with his simple answer of it being too early to get drunk, but nothing was going to shut the mouth of those naysayers.
Explanation
What Peter said next did much more to explain the true nature of what was happening with all of these Jesus people.
16 No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: 17 “‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. 18 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. 19 I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. 20 The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. 21 And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’
(Acts 2:16-21 NIV11)
The Prophet Joel
Peter, led by the Holy Spirit, reaches back into the message of the Prophet Joel and reminds the people assembled before him that what they are seeing happen right before their eyes was a part of God’s bigger plan. In Joel 2:28-32, the Prophet points to a future in which the Holy Spirit (Spirit of God) will be poured out without limitation upon all who call on the name of the Lord.
In this reference, the events of the morning take a prophetic and God empowered perspective. This is not a work of man nor the after effects of wine, it is the beginning of the final age. It is the beginning of the age of the Spirit, and all those present were blessed to be a part of this miracle.
Take Heart
Take heart from what we read today.
Do not let the cynics, complainers, and naysayers cause you to hold back from sharing the truth of how and where you see God at work in your life. Tell the world about Jesus and let the Lord sort out the ones who refuse to listen. Just keep being a witness for Christ.
In Christ,
Ryan Laden
PASTOR RYAN LADEN
Senior Pastor at PARK HILL BAPTIST CHURCH
Worked at MTN. CHURCH
Former Senior pastor at Warnbro Community Church
Studies at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary
Studied at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary
Studied at Baylor University
Studied at Texas Tech University
Went to Castle Hills First Baptist
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