“…the palaces shall be forsaken, the bustling city will be deserted. The forts and towers will become lairs forever…UNTIL the Spirit is poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field.” Isaiah 32:14,15
One of the great, and fundamental truths of true Christianity is that God alone can do the work of God. For example, Scripture declares to us the simple reality that, “Unless the Lord builds a house, they labor in vain who build it; unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.” (Ps. 127:1) What does this simple picture of the building of a house, and the protecting of a city communicate to us? It is simply the fact that man is totally incapable in a most extraordinary way, by his capacities, gifts, and material resources, to accomplish anything apart from God, especially when the matter is clearly revealed as the will of God. Another example would be the Lord’s word to Zerubbabel, with respect to the building of the second temple: “‘Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of hosts.” (Zech. 4:6) It has been said, and proven, that “God’s work done in God’s way will not lack God’s supply.” Why? Simply because that which is the revealed will of God has behind it all the resources in Christ for its realization, that is IF God can find someone who is willing to trust and obey Him fully.
Perhaps one of the greatest pieces of evidence that God alone can do the work of God, is found in what occurred before, during, and after Pentecost. In the economy of God, and this being declared and explained by the Apostle Peter, he stood up on the day of Pentecost, after the crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension of Christ into heaven, and declared to the religious men gathered in Jerusalem at that time, having come from many parts of the Roman Empire, that the event of the outpouring of the Spirit was the fulfillment of the prophet Joel’s declaration, proclaimed about seven hundred and fifty years before hand. Joel wrote: “And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams. And on My menservants and on My maid servants I will pour out My Spirit in those days, and they shall prophesy.” (Acts 2:17,18) Why is this event of the outpouring of the Spirit at this time, declared to be in “the last days,” so important to grasp? This event would change the then known world, and our own to this present day. On that day the living church of Christ was born, for God in Christ by the Spirit had not come only to dwell WITH Christ’s disciples, but to dwell IN them. Up to that time the Temple of God consisted of a building, made of stone, but wonderful in that God was present there, revealing His glory in a mighty way during the reign of Solomon, and later, during the ministry of Christ, but in a different manner. On the day of Pentecost, another “temple” was created where the Spirit of God would come to dwell in hearts of flesh, the souls of men. The Apostle Paul would declare it in this way: “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” (1 Cor. 3:16) The Father and Christ had come by the Spirit to “dwell” in the hearts of believers, so that, as they walked by faith and obedience, in communion with Him, His blesse life would be revealed to the world.
The Lord Jesus prayed before His death and resurrection: “…that they may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You: that they also may be one in US, that the world may believe that You sent Me.” (Jn. 17:21) The Spirit’s outpouring was God’s way of reaching the world.
Dear Father, Be our ALL today. In Jesus’ name, Amen.