Making Him Known Series

Evangelism # 5 – Resourced from PreachingPlus.com

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The Miracle of Communication -

Knowing God and Making Him Known

Are you a good communicator? In the estimation of what person?

If I asked many wives about their husbands’ skills in communication, the answer would likely be:

“What communication? He doesn’t talk!”

If I asked husbands, they might say;

“Why didn’t God equip my wife with a mute button? She never stops talking!”

In our multi-cultural nation having an interpreter is sometimes a necessity. When I drove through Miami,

Florida years ago, I thought I’d left the US of A and entered Cuba! Signs were in Spanish. Everywhere, people spoke Spanish! Communication was happening all around me, but I was largely shut out because I did not know the language.

Communication is sometimes hindered by specialized language that has come into every part of our lives.

This week at our Christian School I received a letter from a Child Study Team at a public school that included the following sentences:

“We will soon be making application for grant fund for children with disabilities allocated under the IDEA, Part B, which requires LEA’s to expend a proportionate share of funds on services to students with disabilities who are enrolled in alternative educational settings.”

I’m sure that an educator who is familiar with the lingo, could interpret that for me in a second, but I don’t know what the IDEA, Part B, is; nor do I know what a LEA is, thus I cannot comprehend the full message.

Listening to computer people talk with each other is like hearing a foreign language: Giga-bytes, RAM, Hard Drives, Floppies, USB ports, Software, PCI or AGP video, Macs and PC’s ...... Of course, medical people, lawyers, preachers – we each speak in our own language complete with short-hand and jargon!

The most important message in the world, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, – a message that brings hope, assurance, and life to those who receive it with understanding – requires an interpreter!

It is a heavenly message that no earthly words alone can convey adequately. Have you ever tried to tell someone about God’s love, about Jesus Christ, about eternal life – only to have them stare back at you blankly? They hear the words, but they cannot grasp the meaning! What’s missing?

AN INTERPRETER!

The Bible reminds us that we have an INTERPRETER that doesn’t leave us fumbling around on our own, trying our best to hear God OR stuttering and stammering as we share His message with others. Who is He?

The Holy Spirit.

Today is Pentecost Sunday, the birthday of the Christian church, and the day that we celebrate the work of the Third Person of the Holy Trinity. On Pentecost, God’s Spirit rested on the first disciples empowering them to speak His words of promise, hope, and salvation to the world. This message fits so neatly into this series on spreading the Good News, doing the work of evangelism, I cannot help but see a greater Mind, orchestrating it all!

TEXT: Acts 2:1-21 Pew Bible Page 1691

It’s a great record about a marvelous day of the first experience of the Spirit. Let me set the scene for you. It’s been 50 days since the tumultuous experiences of the Crucifixion and Resurrection. During those days, Jesus appeared to his followers and greatly comforted them. 10 days prior to the event in our text, he called the small band of disciples together to tell them to wait in Jerusalem to be filled with Power before they began doing anything else. He promised, “You will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” They heard, but they did not fully understand. Why? The Interpreter had not yet been given!

Then, he left them, ascending into heaven. They waited, faithfully and prayerfully. Perhaps they were discouraged, not knowing exactly what it was they were waiting to experience. Perhaps they felt abandoned, then... it happened while they were still a little sleepy, at 9 in the morning!

(READ - Acts2: 1-21)

A thunderous sound like a gale force wind filled the room. What does the wind symbolize? Change!

Violent winds accompany changing weather patterns. God, by His Spirit, was blowing a change into the world, a new era of His relationship with humanity.

At the same time, they saw a strange phenomenon. They saw fire separating and resting on the heads of each one gathered there. Fire is a Biblical symbol for holiness and purifying. Fire consumed the sacrifices laid on the altar, symbolically taking them for God’s purposes. God, by His Spirit, was claiming these people as His own, taking control of their lives for His purposes, to fulfill His plan.

That day was marked by yet another sign, Speaking in other Tongues. (v.4)

Language is a gift and a curse! In the letter of James, chapter 3, the apostle observes the power of the tongue, a symbol of the power of words. We can use our words to build up or tear down, to bless or to curse, to inspire others to great achievement or to reduce their dreams to rubble! He goes on to say, James 3:6