The Perplexing Work of the Spirit – May 31, 2020

Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”
Acts 2:12

The Perplexing Work of the Spirit

The crowd didn’t know what to think.

Picture it this way: You are in this crowd. You are a member of the Jewish faith. You have traveled a great distance to reach Jerusalem, a place where the language is different from your own. You are there to celebrate the annual Jewish festival of Pentecost. Suddenly, in this crowd of people, you hear something that grabs your attention. You hear the voice of a man speaking to you in your own language. What’s confusing is that all the people around you—no matter what language they speak—are experiencing the same thing. At that moment, in that slice of time, you don’t know what to think.

On that day of Pentecost, that was the perplexing work of the Holy Spirit. On that day, the Holy Spirit enabled the disciples of Jesus to speak in languages they had never studied. He did this to proclaim a message that everyone there needed to understand. He did this to proclaim Jesus Christ.

The work of the Holy Spirit is still perplexing.

Go to any place where the good news of Jesus is clearly present. Why do people take the time to come? Why do people go to the trouble? Why do people often plan their calendars around the opportunity to soak up the message of Jesus Christ with others?

It’s all because of the perplexing work of the Holy Spirit.

In the eyes of the world, nothing so plain as the gospel should be so powerful or so life-changing. Nothing so plain as the gospel should have such an impact on so many souls.

But that’s the thing about the message of full forgiveness through faith in Christ. It’s the very tool the Holy Spirit uses to change hearts forever.

However, don’t be perplexed by the perplexing work of the Holy Spirit. Instead, rejoice in it.

Prayer:
Holy Spirit, you are a worker of miracles. You use the message of the gospel to bring us to Christ and keep us in Christ. Empower us to marvel in thankfulness for what you do. Amen.