Day 18 : Dividing line of the centuries
(Reference to Every Day with Jesus by Selwyn Hughes)
Are you a pre-Pentecost Christian or a post-Pentecost Christian?
From my understanding, when the author mentioned about ” a line through the pages of the New Testament” , it is actually talking about a period of transition in the New Testament: before Pentecost and after Pentecost came. And the dividing line was draw,separating these two eras was when the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus’s disciples. (Refer to Diagram below)
” All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.” ( Acts 2:4) This heavenly miracle took place in the Upper Room, where they gathered and waited for the Lord to fill them with the Holy Spirit. ( The Upper Room was also believed to be the location for the Last Supper)
Essentially, today’s devotion speaks about the sudden change in the disciples’ worship towards God. Before they’re filled with the Holy Spirit, they were unstable, swaying from one side to the other, unsure of their standing before God. Sometimes they condemn the evil spirits and sometimes they “rejoice that evil spirits were subject to them”. But, once God pour out His spirits on them and took on the reins, they prophesied and started to declare the wonders of God in languages that all could understand. As a young Christian, sometimes I do waver before God. At times I was filled with God’s love, singing praises to the Lord and at times, I doubt my love for God and asked myself why do I have to worship Him. It felt like I was on a little sampan, floating and bobbing up and down, feeling nauseous and confused all at the same time. But I guess, when you are filled with the Holy Spirit, you will be more in sync with God and you will be filled with this sense of joy,happiness and stablity that you can’t wait to share it with others. That’s when you decide to take a step forward and spread the Gospel to other non-Christians. You witness the work of Christ and you want God’s people to experience it in the same way as you do. The sampan has stabilised itself on the water and that’s when you can start inviting non-Christians to join you in the same sampan.
I can’t tell whether I am a post-Pentcost Christian in the eyes of the Lord. But one thing for sure, I believe the door to “the era of the Holy Spirit” was left ajar for me. Like Alice in Wonderland, I am taking a sneak peak and I just can’t wait to walk through the door and venture into the other world.
