And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. Acts 2:3
What a spectacular sight! Cloven tongues that looked like fire appeared and rested on each of the Christians gathered in the house. The text does not say they were fire, but they looked like it. We need to use our imagination because a full description is not provided. Did it appear as individual tongues that sat on each person, or did it go from one person to the next? We are not sure. But one thing that we do know is that this was one of the manifestations of the Holy Spirit as He came to dwell in each believer. As the tongue that looked like fire sat on each, it confirmed that each had received the gift. Another thing that we know is that this great display occurred once, and only once. Nowhere in the book of Acts do we read of a repeat of this dramatic event. Nowhere do we read of any call for Christians to look for a repeat of this. So why do some of the religious groups around us spend so much time and effort in praying for the Holy Spirit to come upon them? Good question!
In the previous chapter, the Lord Jesus had promised His followers that they would receive power after the Holy Ghost was come upon them, and that as a result they would be witnesses throughout the world (Acts 1:8). The people to whom He was speaking could not, and did not, go throughout the world. But those who came after them in the centuries that followed did go throughout the world. So it was to those early followers and all of those who came after them to whom the Lord Jesus issued His promise. The power to witness, as indicated by the cloven tongues as of fire, was received by all of those early believers, and therefore has been received by every believer from that moment until now. When each of us has trusted Christ as Saviour, we have received this gift that has given to us the power of the Holy Spirit to witness. If this gift is ours upon our conversion, we have no need or reason to ask for or seek it, although we should desire that we will be willing to allow this great power to be displayed in our lives. Those who are still seeking to receive this gift are either not saved or are misinformed.
Ephesians 2:9 tells us that our salvation is not of works, lest we should boast. Titus 3:5-6 tell us that not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour. So receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit, which is part of our salvation, has nothing to do with ourselves and everything to do with God. But those groups that urge people to pray for or work for this gift make it something to be deserved by holy living or prayers or whatever. Only pride would make us think that something given by grace is deserved. And pride is the greatest of sins.
We do not deserve, nor can we earn, the gift of the Holy Spirit. As a component of our salvation, He is our reminder of the grace of God. -Jim MacIntosh