The Divine Fire
We look back today at the first evidence of the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in the early days of the Christian Church. This movement by the Holy Spirit is a promise fulfilled by Jesus and a promise fulfilled by prophecy as St. Peter tells us from Joel Chapter 2
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Jesus said in John Ch 16:vs 13, 15
13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you."
The record of Acts relates the supernatural way in which the Holy Spirit arrives. A violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house. 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.
It is clear from our Jewish roots and the early church that Pentecost is about a new spiritual experience. It is about something that is given to us by promise and it is about how we are changed when we receive this promise of the indwelling Holy Spirit. It is about a harvest, a harvest of souls.
At the First Pentecost we see the church swept away by the power of this Holy Spirit and possessed with the supernatural ability to speak in foreign tongues. It was at this time that the world of Jewish believers came to celebrate Shabuoth.
They came from all over the known world to worship in Jerusalem at the temple. It could be said that on this day the sons of Abraham were introduced to the Christian Church. Two previously separated groups are brought together by the Holy Spirit to experience the next step in Gods divine plan for the salvation of the world.
The Holy Spirit continues to this day to bring different groups together. Sometimes by supernatural expression and other times it is by spiritual conviction. The Holy Spirit is not only evidenced by the gift of tongues. The Holy Spirit is also evidenced by the gifts listed in 1 Corinthians 12 NIV
7Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues and to still another the interpretation of tongues. 11All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.
Our church, the body of Christ is built not upon one gift but all the gifts that Jesus has given us through the Holy Spirit. We need to honour them all equally and not favour one over the other. We need to prayerfully consider how Jesus wishes to build us up and use us as we are empowered with these various gifts.
All of you hear today who know Jesus as Lord are empowered with a gift from the Holy Spirit. Some of you know this well and you exercise your gift or gifts as God directs you. Others amongst you have yet to discover your gift but in Gods time he will reveal it to you as his need for you to exercise it is made clear.
We all share in this Holy fire this divine spark we call the Holy Spirit. But if we fail to exercise our gifts and or share our discovery of it we may limit our ability to be effective ambassadors for the Saviour.
What if everyone at Pentecost put their hands over their mouths in an effort to quiet the spirit within them? Three thousand Jewish pilgrims might not have been saved and added to the church and countless many more would not have shared their experience with their communities and families on their return to their homelands. It would have been a lost opportunity to build the church.
Have we lost opportunities to build our church? Have we stayed the Holy Spirit of God because of fear or doubt or because we have not exercised the gifts our God has given us?
Let us then look forward to a time and a day when we willingly surrender to the power and presence of the Holy Spirit as we too are filled with a divine fire to exercise our gifts in order to build up the church for a time when Christ will reap a great harvest amongst us.
The other day I wanted to go fishing with my son and my good friend John. I own a very old aluminum fishing boat that I have been fixing up over the last couple of years. This year my sister in law gave me my birthday present early and bought me some additions to my boat and trailer. I worked for weeks to paint the boat, rewired all the electrical and put on a few new additions. I did all this by myself which was a small miracle in itself.
Now, I had my little boat looking like it really belonged on the water with the other fishing boats. Last week was to be the first time I launched it this year. Ive been talking about this boat to all my friends and co-workers to the point that they are tired of hearing it.
So last Monday it was sunny and warm and I got off work early and called my son and my friend John. We headed out to the St. Clair River and began to put the boat down the launch. Lots of other people were there putting in their boats and it was kind of busy and hectic and as always a few problems.
I backed up the car and my son Josh released the boat and my friend John was in it holding it fast to the dock. I parked the car and began to walk to the boat. I was feeling pretty happy in fact I was very happy to finally be out having some fun after having gone through my Dads funeral and everything. We all got in and everyone waited for me to do the honors and start the motor.
I turned the key and to my surprise, nothing. Actually this would have been a normal result had I not spent so much time and effort re-wiring it. You see we always had a little unexpected trouble with this old boat but that was in the past I had fixed her all up she should run like a top.
Well I was deeply disappointed and embarrassed and a little angry and I think I might have been speaking in tongues too. After I settled down we agreed to take it out of the water and back home.
My friend was very understanding and we all tried to laugh it off but it hurt too much since I had put so much effort into getting it ready. I told my son not to bother even covering it up I was going to let it sit and rust or sell it. I had decided the boat was at fault and had let me down after all I had done for it to make it look great again.
Well it was ready except for one thing. It had no fire. It had no spark. My buddies gave me lots of advice about how I should tear it apart replace spark plugs etc, etc. What you need to understand is that I can barely make coffee for myself let alone work on an outboard engine.
After two days passed I decided once again to try to figure out what was wrong. Instead of tearing the motor apart I started to check the wiring. I worked my way back from the ignition to the controls and lights and bilge pump and then to the battery.
When I made it to the battery I discovered my problem. I was not connected to the power source. A small wire that runs off the main cable had rusted and broken off and I was not making contact with the power source. I had no fire.
Well using my boat story as an example the same thing can happen to us in our churches. We can have the best looking building inside and out. We can pretty things up and clean them up and make everything look like new but if we are not connected to the power source we will have no fire.
We as a church need to have the divine fire of the Holy Spirit in us. In every one of us or our engine will not start. Its like every one of us is a single cylinder of that engine but not one will fire if we are not connected.
Today I want to connect with our God and His divine fire, The Holy Spirit. Will you wait with me just as the early apostles did? Will you look to God to send us the fire we need to reach our world?
Let us give whole heartily to the work of the church by allowing God to fill us a new. Let us come together today and invite the mighty rushing wind of God into our lives and let that wind stir our souls to exercise our gifts in a new way.
Let us open our mouths and speak not in foreign tongues but rather let us speak to those who are foreign to the message of Jesus Christ.
Trust your gifts, they come from God. Know that they are spiritual gifts and therefore they are of divine origin. Serve the kingdom and give over to the Holy Spirit as you are led to.
Watch with me as God does his work in us and through us for his glory and honor and power so that a great harvest of souls will be the gift our Lord and Saviour receives when he comes to claim his harvest from off the fields of this world.
1 Peter 4:10 NIV
7The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. 8Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 9Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering Gods grace in its various forms.
Let us pray.
