Jesus said when people are baptized in the Holy Spirit, they are clothed with spiritual power (Luke 24:49). God can now do signs and wonders through them by the name of Jesus Christ.
On the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was poured out upon God’s people, and they were baptized in the Holy Spirit.
This fulfilled a prophecy from Joel.
“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, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams. And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; and they shall prophesy. I will show wonders in heaven above and signs in the earth beneath: blood and fire and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Acts 2:17-21)
One sentence in Joel’s prophecy is about the very end of the age – the sun will turn to darkness and the moon to blood. This will happen around the time Jesus returns. The rest of Joel’s prophecy is about now.
Joel prophesied that miracles will happen among God’s people when they are baptized in the Holy Spirit. They will prophesy, have dreams, see visions, and tell others about the gospel of salvation.
Joel also prophesied that as a result of being baptized in the Holy Spirit, God’s people will work signs and wonders. This is still happening today. The Holy Spirit is still being poured out, and God is still the same.
The book of Acts is the standard for Christianity. It shows us what we’re supposed to do and what the church is supposed to be like. We need to follow this divine pattern; nothing else is going to work.
Acts shows that Christians should pray for God to work signs and wonders (Acts 4:30). Throughout Acts God worked signs and wonders (Acts 14:3). Signs and wonders are one way God testifies of his presence among his people (Hebrews 2:4). This is normal Christianity.
Signs are important. They show direction. They reveal the way to go. Signs give instructions and warnings. Signs can show ownership.
Wonders are also important. They cause people to be amazed. God wants people to be amazed about him because he is awesome.
In the prophecy from Joel, God talks about signs and wonders being blood, fire, and pillars of smoke. These are the ways God describes the spiritual realities of signs and wonders. Blood, fire, and pillars of smoke are invisible things in the spiritual realm that operate when signs and wonders occur. These spiritual powers contain far more energy than physical weapons, and they can transform lives and nations.
Blood
The first sign and wonder is the blood. The blood of Christ is a living spiritual reality. The New Testament reveals that the blood of Jesus testifies in the earth (1 John 5:8). The blood tells of Jesus, the gospel, and of victory over sin. The blood of Jesus sprinkles those who come to God through Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:2). in the Old Testament people were sprinkled with the blood of dead animals in order to approach God, but now we are sprinkled with the invisible blood of Jesus which is far more powerful. The blood of bulls and goats was just a symbol of the powerful blood of Christ. This blood of Jesus is alive and powerful, and it is speaking things in the earth (Hebrews 12:24).
There is power in the blood of Jesus to work miracles. The biggest miracle is when someone is born again. This happens because of the blood. Through the blood of Christ, people get victory over sin. The power of lust and desire can be quenched in the blood of the Lamb. We can overcome Satan by the power of the blood (Revelation 12:11). All these signs and wonders happen because of the blood of Christ.
Fire
The second sign and wonder is the fire. Fire is a sign and wonder that represents God’s presence. Our God is a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:29). When God appeared to Moses, he was like a fire. On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came on the disciples like fire. God is a wall of fire around his people (Zechariah 2:5). The Israelites followed the pillar of fire by night through the wilderness. Fire represents the powerful presence of God that is with us. We don’t need actual manifestations of fire like they did in the Old Testament because we now have the full reality of Christ in the New Covenant which is far greater.
Fire purifies. God’s fire burns up things that are not according to him. Fire heats. God wants us to be hot for him, and this will happen because of the power of his presence. Fire is energy. The energy to live for God comes from the Holy Spirit. Fire gives light. God is our light that shines in the darkness and shows us the way. The fire of God also brings judgment. God’s fire operated when Ananias and Saphira were killed for lying to the Holy Spirit. The fire of God’s judgment operated when the sorcerer was struck blind.
Today when the fire of God is revealed, signs and wonders occur.
Cloud (Pillars of Smoke)
The third sign and wonder is the pillar of cloud. God led his people by the cloud through the wilderness (Exodus 13:21-22). This represented a new way of living – according to God, not the world.
The glory of God appeared in a cloud (Exodus 16:10). A cloud covered the tabernacle, which was the presence of God (Numbers 16:42). When the temple was built, the cloud of God’s presence filled it (1 Kings 8:10-12). When Christ comes among his people, he is like pillars of smoke (Song of Solomon 3:6).
The cloud represents the baptism in the Holy Spirit, and the enduring presence of God in our lives that results from that.
When the Israelites were baptized unto Moses, they were baptized unto him through the Sea and under the cloud (1 Corinthians 10:2). These two baptisms represent water and Spirit baptism. Going through the Red Sea represents being baptized in water. At this time the Israelites were delivered from Egypt, Pharaoh, slavery. This represents being delivered from sin and Satan. When they were under the cloud, God’s presence and power was with them. This represents being baptized in the Holy Spirit and walking in the Spirit.
Clouds bring rain, which represents the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Clouds shade people from the heat. The cloud of God’s presence in the Old Testament protected God’s people, led them, and comforted them.
In the Old Testament, Israel needed things like fire and clouds to appear to them so they would know the presence of God. They were limited because Jesus had not yet come in the flesh. Today, we don’t need these things. We have the full revelation of God among us through Jesus Christ. He has poured out his Spirit among us, and now the blood, fire, and cloud are among us in fullness. We may not be able to see them, but that doesn’t mean they are not real. They are even more real now because they are the eternal spiritual realities. We need to understand the riches we have in Jesus Christ. As we understand these things and believe God’s word, we will experience the power of the blood, the fire, and the pillars of smoke.
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