Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire

FRESH WIND, FRESH FIRE

Acts 2:1-4

INTRODUCTION

A. HUMOR

1. A little girl was getting quizzed by her Sunday school teacher to determine how well she knew the Bible. The teacher had asked several questions, and the poor girl had not answered any of the questions correctly. The sympathetic teacher, trying to come up with an easier question, asked the girl ‘who had been thrown into the den of lions and had survived.’

2. The girl paused and carefully thought for a moment. Her eyes brightened, and she then explained, "Oh, I know that one; it was Tarzan!"

B. TEXT

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

C. THESIS

1. SOME DAYS CHANGE THE REST OF YOUR LIFE.

a. Graduation, marriage, birth or adoption of a child, a new job, receiving an organ transplant…

b. The same can be said for a nation – July 4, 1776; September 11, 2001…

c. That’s the way it was for the “Day of Pentecost” as reported by the N.T. Book of Acts, chap. 2. It was a day when everything changed for the followers of Jesus Christ.

2. PENTECOST – A DAY LIKE NO OTHER (vs. 1-11). Pentecost (“50”) was the annual Jewish holiday that came 50 days after Passover. It commemorated the day when Moses met God on Mt. Sinai to receive the 10 Commandments, which was believed to be fifty days after Israel left Egypt. It also commemorated the ingathering of the harvest.

3. WHAT HAPPENED AT PENTECOST: 3 Manifestations

a. Sound like the blowing of a violent wind;

b. Sight of tongues of fire;

c. Prophetic utterance “declaring the wonders of God in our own languages” (vss. 4-11), foretold by Isaiah, Joel, and the Lord Jesus.

4. PENTECOST WASN’T A ONE-TIME EVENT, but the beginning of an outpouring. The wind, fire, and tongues symbolized that a new era was beginning; a new era which will continue until the Second Coming of Jesus.

5. “Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire” was the title of a book by Jim Cymbala of the Brooklyn Tabernacle, but he never did explain these signs. But God planned all three signs to speak to us about what will take place when a genuine revival breaks out.

6. We’re going to look at why God sent the wind and the fire at Pentecost. He didn’t have to. Nothing God does is without significance!

I. WIND & FIRE ARE LIKE GOD’S NATURE

A. FIRE & WIND ARE MIGHTY FORCES, OFTEN UNCONTROLLABLE

1. We all know how powerful winds can be. With all of our advancement in science and space exploration, we still cannot control the weather! We cannot control the winds or the fires that burn out of control.

2. The Holy Spirit is like that too. He cannot be controlled; we cannot tell Him how to do His job.

3. Some denominations want nice, safe services. They want their church services to follow the outline on the

back of the bulletin. But how many of you know, the Holy Spirit doesn't care about our bulletin! If He is going to really be manifested among us, we must get out of the way and let Him take over the service.

4. Only He knows what He wants to accomplish in a service, so how can we tell Him how it's all going to go? Only He knows who is going to be present and what kind of ministry they are going to need.

5. The same is true of our average day out in the world, in our personal life. We don't know who God is going to bring across our paths, so we must be walking in the Spirit and sensitive to what He is saying to us in order to meet the needs He brings to us.

B. WIND & FIRE ARE TRANSFORMING FORCES

1. The wind plays a big role in the transformation of the landscape. The constant blowing of the wind – picking up dirt, sand, rock and even trash – over time will transform the appearance of the land. This is called "Wind Erosion."

2. Fire also is a transforming force. When gold or other precious metals are exposed to fire they soften and become pliable. They can be transformed into any instrument that the engineer can design.

3. So it is when the Holy Spirit exposes our lives to the Fire of the Holy Spirit – the hard shell of our life begins to soften, so we can be molded into a tool fit for His use.