What Meaneth This?

By Joel Siegel

If you know the Holy Spirit, you know He manifests mightily. If you know Jesus, you know He invites us to come to Him and drink. If you know God, you know He overfills every vessel He encounters. Put all three together and it's a situation that's impossible to contain. God's fullness always leads to overflow. Overflow leads to spiritual manifestations that occur in ways beyond what most would consider "normal" church behavior. Learn what Scripture teaches about Holy-Ghost outpourings and learn to cooperate with all God desires to do. As you do, He'll flood your life with His presence, power, and peace, and make you a blessing to the world around you.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Joel Siegel
• Release date: Jan 31, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201346805

Joel Siegel

Faith in God’s Word, and constant reliance on the Holy Spirit have been the keys to success in the life and ministry of Rev. Joel Siegel. Raised and educated as a Jew, Joel Siegel, at age 18, had a life-transforming encounter with Christ that brought him true purpose and fulfillment.  Rev. Siegel began preaching and teaching the Word of God soon after he was saved in 1986. He entered full-time ministry in 1990, serving for three years as the music director for the gospel music group Truth. Truth’s road schedule took Joel and his wife Amy worldwide to over 300 cities a year, ministering in churches and on college campuses. From 1993 to 2000, Joel was the musical director for Rev. Kenneth E. Hagin’s RHEMA Singers & Band. In addition to assisting Rev. Hagin in his crusade meetings, Joel produced many music projects for the ministry, including his first solo release, Trust & Obey. From 2000 to 2011, Joel and Amy served as founding pastors of Good News Family Church in Orchard Park, NY. During this time, they were frequently asked to host shows for the TCT Christian Television Network. Joel regularly hosted their popular Ask The Pastor program. Rev. Siegel spends his time ministering to congregations in the U.S. and abroad, passionately endeavoring to fulfill his assignment to help lead this generation into the move of God that will usher in the return of Christ.  The Siegels make their home in Colorado. Joel oversees Faith Church Colorado in the town of Castle Rock, where Amy is lead pastor.  For music recordings, audio teaching series, books, and other resources, or to invite Rev. Joel to minister at a church or event, please visit siegelministries.org.

Book preview

01 What Meaneth This?

Have you ever been to a service in a Charismatic or Pentecostal church where things broke loose and believers began running, dancing, shouting, and laying on the floor? If so, you might have asked the same question they asked in the book of Acts.

And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this? Acts 2:12 (KJV)

What meaneth this? This question refers to the events of the Day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came powerfully upon believers. We’re not told how each one reacted to this power, but we know there were reactions. We know they all spoke in tongues. We know that the occupants of the Upper Room on this day became so saturated with God’s presence that they migrated outside, where they mingled among the townspeople. Perhaps not coincidentally: an international conference of Jewish leaders was taking place nearby, and these spiritual leaders were among the onlookers as God’s mighty power came to indwell man.

What did these observers and passers-by see? They saw something the world had never seen—a new phenomenon. They saw God-filled people.

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Overflow

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It’s a fact that when God fills anything—a boat, a cup, a room, a person—He overflows the vessel being filled. That’s just how God works.

Convenience stores often have self-serve cappuccino machines with labels that read, Release button when cup is 3/4 full to prevent overfill. The manufacturers of these machines understand that hot liquid mixed with coffee-flavored powder can foam when dispensed and overflow, making a mess. While we’re wise to heed such labels, God never does. He fills and fills and fills until the substance is not just going into the vessel but is also flowing from the vessel. That’s His goal: to fill a person so much that He Himself—His Spirit—is coming back out. He wants to manifest Himself through us. He desires to so cram us that we’re dripping, sloshing, and exuding God.

And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Acts 2:4

As God’s people were filled with His presence and power, it changed them. Their beings took on the properties of God. God, you understand, is immortal. Jesus, now resurrected, is immortal. There’s no limit to the degree of power that Jesus can absorb in His body, for His body has been transformed for the purpose of storing and transmitting the glory of God (that’s why Scripture calls it a glorified body). Ours can do the same, but to a much lesser degree.

Our spirit (our inner man) was recreated in the image of God when we were born again. Although our redemption includes the same glorified body that Jesus possesses, that part of our redemption isn’t yet available. Our spirits are able to experience God to the full extent that we wish, but we’re limited by the present condition of our bodies. Unlike the Father and Son, our bodies are mortal. We’re immortal on the inside, but mortal on the outside. This makes for an interesting dynamic.

Paul spoke of the dichotomy of these different parts of our being.

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 2 Corinthians 4:16

God’s Spirit came upon believers on the Day of Pentecost because they had been spiritually renewed and were able to receive His fullness. Yet, because of their physical mortality, they were overwhelmed by the intensity of His power.

The disciples on this day found themselves aware of another realm: the God-realm. They had known of the existence of this realm, having walked with Christ, but were now experiencing it for themselves. They weren’t just close to the God-realm, their lives had merged with it. They were experiencing true oneness with their Creator, His power coursing through them from head to toe. This was a new dimension of life. Other than Jesus, no one had ever experienced this level of saturation with the presence of God. Even Moses, radiating God’s glory, didn’t have God living and manifesting within him.

These were the first God-filled people in this new age, but they wouldn’t be the last. Only two chapters later, Pentecost was again experienced as the believers pressed into God in prayer.

And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness. Acts 4:31

If the building in which the believers were praying shook under the weight of God’s glory, it’s safe to assume the believers themselves shook. Imagine the sight of these early Pentecostals trembling, jerking, shaking, and falling to the floor as they yielded to the Holy Spirit. Again, we see people just like you and me, filled to overflowing with the power and presence of God.

When God filled the believers on the Day of Pentecost, several things happened. Most notably, the believers began to speak in other tongues, a powerful sign to the foreign Jewish leaders who were present. All heard the gospel preached in their own language!

And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. Acts 2:6

. . . .And we all hear these people speaking in our own languages about the wonderful things God has done! Acts 2:11 (NLT)

Did the believers actually speak all these different languages? Scripture doesn’t indicate that they did. It says the onlookers heard them speaking in their own languages. It’s more likely that they spoke in tongues the way you or I would—just yielding to the promptings they were receiving—and the Spirit caused the foreigners standing by to hear as though it was their native language. Either way, it was miraculous.

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Fire

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Besides the phenomenon of tongues, there were other supernatural occurrences that day. Notice verse three in this same chapter:

And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. Acts 2:3

This verse doesn’t receive the attention it deserves. It says fire—or what looked to be fire—appeared and sat on each of them. What does that mean? What’s that like?

Fire from Heaven is a phenomenon throughout Scripture. The burning bush that Moses encountered hosted the presence of the Holy One. A flaming torch of glory passed through the offering as God established His covenant with Abraham. The Children of Israel enjoyed the guidance and protection of God’s fire as they journeyed each night through the wilderness. Jeremiah the prophet likened God’s Word to fire shut up in his bones. And the three Hebrew children saw a furnace of flames become the fire of God: God’s Son personally escorting them to safety. The manifestation of God’s Spirit is indeed likened to fire.

The fire of God on the Day of Pentecost was seen and experienced by all who were in the room. It settled on each one, the verse said. We’ll discuss the purpose of such visitations in a later chapter, but, for now, think about what it might have been like for the upper room disciples to experience the fire of God.

The presence of God within the believers grew so intense that it seemed like fire. It wasn’t just visible; it was internal. It was tangible: sitting upon them and burning within them. The presence and power of God can indeed manifest like fire.

When a person encounters fire in the natural realm, there’s bound to be a reaction. As a schoolboy, I remember being taught how to respond if we found ourselves on fire. We were