May 2009

"THE LANGUAGE OF THE GOSPEL"

The Festival of Pentecost, celebrated on the 31st of this month, gives us the opportunity to rejoice in the language of the Gospel. Perhaps you have never thought of the Gospel in that way. Yet, language and Gospel were closely associated at Pentecost. Acts, chapter 2, tells us how the apostles were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. The amazing thing about that Pentecost Day is that the people gathered in Jerusalem from different parts of the world and heard those apostles speaking (and speaking the Gospel) in their own respective languages (verses 5-6).

That same kind of Pentecost miracle has occurred in our lives. Without the Holy Spirit's work in our lives the language of the Gospel would be a foreign one. Yet we know it by the grace of God. Consider how that has happened. To begin with, we have heard the language of the Gospel. Many of us were very young, maybe not even talking yet, when the language of the Gospel was first spoken to us. We heard prayers spoken. We heard hymns and spiritual songs sung. Through the Word of God we heard as the Holy Spirit was working. Having heard the language of the Gospel, we learned the language of the Gospel. We learned "Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so." We learned that He died on the cross and rose from the dead. We learned of His forgiveness and of the home He has prepared for us in heaven. Through the Word of Truth we have learned as the Holy Spirit was working.

Having learned the language of the Gospel, we can now speak the language of the Gospel. We speak it with words and actions. We speak it when we tell others the message of salvation. We speak it when we reflect the love of Jesus to others. Through the Word of Christ we speak as the Holy Spirit works. To speak the language of the Gospel, we must, of course, know it. As we read and study the Bible we become more fluent and more articulate in the language of the Gospel. We become more comfortable speaking the language to family and friends. Through the Word of Scripture we desire to know more fully as the Holy Spirit works.

Pentecost still continues to be amazing in our own lives. The Holy Spirit, working through the Word, has made the language of the Gospel one that we can know and understand and speak boldly to others.

Pastor John

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