Asking For A Revival

Asking for a Revival

Acts 2:1-13

Online Sermon: http://www.mckeesfamily.com/?page_id=3567

“From the fall of man to our day, the work of redemption in its effect has mainly been carried on by remarkable [i.e., extraordinary] communications of the Spirit of God.”

Jonathan Edwards, leader of the Great Awakening

Over 2,000 years ago right before His ascension the Lord told His disciples to remain in Jerusalem until they received the promised gift of a divine Advocate (John 14:16), the Spirit of Truth (John 14:16) who would aid them in their Great Commission to go and make disciples of all nations (Acts 1:4-5; Matthew 28:18-20). Knowing that there are none truly righteous (Romans 3:9-20) and that they were being sent out like sheep amongst the wolves (Matthew 10:16) who would undoubtedly persecute them (John 15:18-25), the disciples needed the Holy Spirit not only to enable them “to live kingdom lives” but also to effectively plant and water seeds of righteousness (1 Corinthians 3:6-9). In Acts chapter two we are told of the glorious day when the wind and fire of the Spirit filled the hearts of the 120 brethren and not only were they able to speak in many languages that they never learned but were also empowered to do great miracles in Jesus’ name and add to the church daily! For those believers who are in churches that rarely have a baptism and are left to rejoice in seeing a mere visitor it often feels like one is on a “spiritual treadmill of regular church attendance, involvement in ministry, seminars and endless religious activity” but still barren of power and fruit. This of course raises all sorts of questions. Was the Day of Pentecost a one-time event or are we too clothed with the same Holy Spirit’s power to effectively go and make disciples of all nations? “What makes the difference between a Christian who is progressing, and one is, who is either regressing or standing still?” Surely, He who wishes none to be lost (2 Peter 3:9) has cloaked those who are amongst such ripe fields (Matthew 9:37) with the divine power to show them the Spirit by which they must be baptized to enter His kingdom? We know God is active today so how does one ask and receive another awakening? The following sermon is going to review Acts 2:1-13 to not only see what happened during original Day of Pentecost but also to understand what is required to see explosive growth in our hearts and churches this very day!

The Day of Pentecost

Receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit happened on the “Festival known in late Judaism as Pentecost.” It was the second of three great annual festivals of the Jewish people and got its name because it was celebrated 50 days after the Passover. While early Hebrew and Aramaic speaking Jews knew this celebration also as the “Feast of Weeks” (Exodus 34:22, Deuteronomy 16:10) or “Day of the First Fruits” (Numbers 28:26, Exodus 23:16) due to its celebration of the first fruits of the grain harvest (Exodus 23:16; Lev 23:17–22; Num 28:26–31); it was later celebrated as the “anniversary of the giving of the law on Sinai.” It is fitting that the divine power demonstrated on Mount Sinai under the Old Covenant would once again be shown to announce and celebrate the New Covenant in Christ’s blood (Luke 22:15-20)! On this Jewish holiday many pilgrims from all over the known world would come to the Holy City of Jerusalem to celebrate God’s law and bountiful provisions. “It is appropriate that the event that was going to propel the gospel to the ends of the earth took place at a time when people from the ends of the earth were in Jerusalem. While what happened on this celebration day did not begin the church as the body of Christ, for it already existed by this time, the gift of the Holy Spirit empowered the believers to not only have a more intimate and personal relationship with their Savior but also to obey His command to proclaim the Good News to the ends of the world!

The Wind

While the 120 disciples mentioned in Acts 1:15 were meeting and praying in the upper room an incredible life-giving miracle happened. Luke tells us that “suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting” (verse 2). In the major ancient languages of Hebrew, Greek and Latin “wind” was often used to symbolize the “Spirit.” Wind, after all, “is of all material things, one of the most spiritual in appearance; it is invisible, ethereal, mysterious” hence it is fitting that it would symbolize the divine presence and power of the Holy Spirit (2 Sam. 5:24; 22:16; Job 37:10). In the same way that God breathed into Adam, and he received life people need God to breath His Spirit into them to be born again and receive eternal life. In examining the importance of this glorious event Charles Spurgeon stated, “by Him are we quickened at the first; by Him are we kept alive afterwards; by Him is the inner life nurtured, and increased, and perfected. The breath of the nostrils of the man of God is the Spirit of God.” Ezekiel’s prophesied new heart and dry bones coming to life (37:9-14) was now a reality for the final Messianic Age had begun! Even though the wind blows where it may (John 3:8) and therefore cannot be controlled or subject to any human command, the 120 disciples who entered into the upper room to wait patiently to receive the promised Comforter were granted a miraculously gift from heaven that empowered them to cast down every vain imagination of the lost and effectively fulfill Christ’s command to witness the Good News first in Jerusalem, then Judea and Samaria and then to the ends of the world (Acts 1:8). This was the first sign that the Spirit of God had been received.