“They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.” Acts 2:3,4
When the Holy Spirit showed up in Acts 2 don’t you find it strange that he came to the upper room in the form of a tongue set on fire?
He could have come as a dove, an eagle or a turkey vulture for that matter. But he came in the form of a fluttering, fire-filled tongue.
Of all the crazy cool forms the Spirit could have impressed the disciples with he chose a funky-looking muscle covered in taste buds. Seriously?
That choice seems, well, weird…until you realize that the first sign of the indwelling Holy Spirit is that he sets your tongue ablaze with the good news of the gospel.
Jesus told his disciples 10 days earlier in Acts 1:8, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
The Holy Spirit appeared in Acts 2 and the disciples immediately began to speak the gospel message in different languages. A crowd gathered stunned that these backwoods, red-necked Galileans could speak their native languages perfectly without having ever seen any Rosetta Stone DVDs or downloads.
Minutes later the early church exploded from 120 to 3,000 souls. Their house church turned into a mega-church overnight.
But their fiery tongues were just getting warmed up. The gospel began to expand and explode like an inferno across Jerusalem. The Jerusalem Fire Department (AKA “The Sanhedrin”) tried to put out the fire but their water reacted like kerosene against these flaming evangelists.
Tongues of fire spread from Jerusalem to Judea to Samaria to the uttermost parts of the earth…just like Jesus promised it would.
What does all this have to do with you? More than you might think.
Is your tongue set on fire with the good news?
Has that fire in your heart for evangelism turned into a dying ember?
When was the last time you shared the gospel with someone, with anyone?
If you can’t remember then it may be time to give the Spirit his lighter back.
Let him set you ablaze with the good news in your sphere of influence. Let him spread like a wildfire across your school, neighborhood and workplace. Let him use you as his flash point.
If you don’t know how to share your faith then watch this or download this. But do something. Actually, let the Spirit do something through you.
One more quick question…
Got a light?
