In the book of Acts the Holy Spirit came down to the disciples in the form of fiery tongues(Acts 2:1-4). Most of the time the Holy Spirit is pictured in the form of a dove, meek and serene. But in Acts 2, it went down in a form of overwhelming and consuming tongues of fire. Today, let’s find out the reason as to why the Holy Spirit came down to the disciples in such form.
First, let’s know the uses of a tongue and fire with the help of the scriptures.
Uses of the tongue:
- Used for tasting food.
- Enables a person to speak and make sounds.
- Death and life, blessing and cursing are in the power of the tongue(Proverbs 18:21).
- Everything was created through the words that came out from the mouth or tongue of God(Genesis 1).
Uses of fire:
- Used to cook food.
- Keeps a person warm.
- Serves as a light.
- Refines and purifies minerals such as gold.
- Used to make weapons such as swords.
If we combine the functions of both the tongue and fire we can see a lot of truths. The tongue is used for tasting and the fire is for keeping you warm. We can say that the Holy Spirit is given in a form of fiery tongues in order to ignite or heat up the appetite of the disciples to God’s word and ministry. Had they not received the Holy Spirit, their passion and love for Christ might die immediately.
The tongue enables a person to speak while the fire serves as a light. The Holy Spirit is also given in order to give them words that would enlighten and give hope to those who would hear including themselves.
Lastly, the tongue has the power to cause death or life, blessing or cursing. It was likened to a little flame that can set a whole forest on fire(James 3:5). The fire is used to refine and purify minerals such as gold. When a gold is refined all the unwanted elements are burned and the gold becomes pure and dross-free. Likewise, the Holy Spirit was given in order to give our words the power to refine and purify. We are like golds in the sight of God for we are made righteous through the blood of Jesus. But we still get dirty as we walk on this earth. You can liken the gold to our righteousness and the dirt to our bad behaviour. Our value as gold does not change, that is, our righteousness, but we must constantly be refined in order to remove the dirt and dross in us which is our unrighteous character.
How Are We Refined?
We are refined by using the power of our fiery tongues. Today, the Holy Spirt enables our words to cause powerful effects, it can either be good or bad. If you want to see yourself changed start speaking God’s word in your life today. If you are having a problem dealing with your bad behaviour start declaring that you are righteous in the sight of God through Christ, your old self passed away, you are now a new creature(2 Corinthians 5:17). Through constant speaking comes constant refining.
What else can your fiery tongue do? If you have questions or have something to share feel free to leave a comment. I hope you’re blessed today by this article. God’s grace be with you all.
(Image used from google.)
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