God-fearing people can have carnal reactions to a move of God. Those making fun of the work of Holy Spirit were what we might call the “churched people” of that day. Yet when the presence of God began to manifest in that city, they were bewildered. These religious, faithful members of the synagogue even made fun of the move of God: v.13 “Some, however, made fun of them and said, ‘They have had too much wine.'” Today people would say something like, “Oh, they’re just in the flesh.” When God restores a truth to His people it can get messy because humanity, dug into its carnal comfort zones, is not easily moved. The way the God-fearing people reacted in Acts 2 is proof positive that God-fearing people can have carnal reactions to a move of God even to the point of making fun of it. A preacher I heard quoted said, “The ways of God must be inscrutable beyond understanding. If they were not, they would be surrendered to man’s mind. And if to man’s mind, then ultimately to man’s control.”
(This is the fourth excerpt from Marty Gabler’s article “Amazed and Perplexed“ taken from his most recent book release “Toward an Understanding of Moves and Manifestations of God”. More excerpts will be posted Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.)