Acts 2:1-4, 14-21 The Promise of the Father
It happened on the day of Pentecost – a Jewish festival on 50th day after Passover, also known as the Feast of Firstfruits (Harvest).
• So they waited for 10 days, after Jesus’ ascension.
• According to Acts 1:15, there were 120 of them. They believed what Christ said and waited for the Holy Spirit to come.
Just as the Lord said, when the Holy Spirit came upon them, they were become witnesses for Him.
• They experienced a power, a boldness that they have never seen or experienced.
• It didn’t come from them, it was given to them. His arrival overwhelmed them.
• They were not drunk; they had just received a gift from God, one whom the Father promised.
And Peter said this was prophesied, by the prophet Joel.
• God will pour out His Spirit on all people, your sons and daughters, young men and old men. Even on my servants, both men and women.
• And Peter repeated this after his sermon – 2:38-39 “Repent and be baptised, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far of – for all whom the Lord our God will call.”
Man can now relate to Him like never before.
• In the past, the Holy Spirit does come upon men, occasionally, for special tasks.
• But now He is permanently here, dwelling WITH us and IN us, according to Jesus.
If we come to adore our heavenly Father, and love our Saviour Jesus, then we need to appreciate the Person and the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
• If He is not an impersonal force, but the third Person of the Godhead, then we ought to appreciate and love Him the way we love the Father and the Son.
• Without Him, we won’t be saved; we won’t be able to know Christ.
Someone said that most of us are bogged down between Calvary and Pentecost.
• We have been to Calvary for pardon, but did not really move to Pentecost and experience the power of the Holy Spirit.
• If we do not know Him, then we are on our own. Or at least, we feel that we are on our own.
• Yet the Lord says He is WITH us and IN us today (John 14:17).
And His presence gives us the power to be witnesses for Christ.
• So we are going to acknowledge His presence. He is there each time we talk about Christ with our friends.
• He is there speaking to us each time we worship and pray. Let us recapture the power of His presence, each time we draw near to God.
We believe He works in and through us.
• If God the Father plays a predominant role in the OT before Christ, and then the coming of Christ and His dominant role in the Gospel era, then today, the Holy Spirit is playing the dominant role in our world and in our lives.
When Jesus was on earth and the disciples had a problem, they would turn to Him for advice.
• But when Christ returned to the Father, they would have to turn to someone else.
• Jesus says God the Father will provide a Counsellor (Comforter).
• Jesus tells them: “He will guide you. He will comfort you. He will counsel you and will remind you of things I have told you.”
Listen to what Jesus said about the Spirit, in John 7:37-39.
37 On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." 39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.
• The Holy Spirit is the source of the overflowing life
So let’s acknowledge His presence more.
• He is present but usually our sense of the Father and Jesus is often stronger than our sense of the Spirit’s presence.
• We know the Father, we know Jesus, but not so familiar with the Holy Spirit.
• Let us acknowledge His presence in FAITH - in worship, in our sharing with one another, in our prayers and our time with God.
We need to recognize His voice when He speaks.
• Jesus says, He is “the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all 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. 14He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. 15All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.” John 16:13-15
• “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God…” (2 Tim 3:16). The Bible itself was written by the Holy Spirit. He used men from all walks of life but every one of them was led by the Spirit.
Each time we’re moved by God’s Word, or be reminded of what Jesus said, He has spoken. That’s His ‘job description’.
• A thought we have may not just be a thought. A burden you feel for some things may not just be a feeling. A desire you have to do God’s will or work cannot be a coincidence.
• The Spirit may have spoken. How else do we expect Him to speak to you?
• Acknowledge His presence in our lives. Expect Him to speak.
Secondly, we need to appropriate of His power.
He is the power of God.
• Let’s look at Jesus’ parting words to the disciples, recorded by Luke, in Luke 24:46-49
46He told them, "This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high."
We need to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
If I ask you, “Please turn on the lights,” three forces are involved.
• First I am the one who gave the command. God the Father has a plan.
• Second, you have to be the one who walks to the switch and flips it. Jesus submits to the Father’s will and fulfils His desire.
• But finally, who brings on the light? It is not me, and it is not you.
• It is the power – the electricity – that produces the light. The Holy Spirit transforms lives.
We don’t experience His power if we did not
(1) recognise His presence, and
(2) did not ASK for it. We did not pray for the filling of the Holy Spirit.
In Luke 11:13 Jesus said, “How much more will your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them who ASK Him.”
• That’s the verse that transformed Oswald Chambers.
• In order to be filled, it means we need to be empty. We need to surrender our lives to Him.
Campus Crusade for Christ has two small booklets – The Four Spiritual Laws (yellow) and “The Spirit-Filled Life?” (blue).
• Have You Made the Wonderful Discovery of the Spirit-Filled Life?
The Bible tells us that there are 3 kinds of people
1. Natural Person (Someone who has not received Christ.)
"A natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised" (1 Cor 2:14).
2. Spiritual Person (One who is directed and empowered by the Holy Spirit.)
"He who is spiritual appraises all things...We have the mind of Christ" (1 Cor 2:15).
3. Carnal Person (One who has received Christ, but who lives in defeat because he is trying to live the Christian life in his strength.)
"And I brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to carnal men, as to babes in Christ. I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able, for you are still carnal. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshy, and are you not walking like mere men?" (1 Cor 3:1-3)
What God has provided for us is an abundant and fruitful Christian life.
• So what are some signs or fruits of this kind of life?
The Spiritual Person - Some spiritual traits which result from trusting God:
The degree to which these traits are manifested in the life depends upon the extent to which the Christian trusts the Lord with every detail of his life.
• We grow into these by the power of the Holy Spirit.
• We GROW into these, in order words, it does not happen overnight. We grow in maturity.
Why it is that some aren’t growing as fast, not experiencing this abundant life?
It happens when we trust our own efforts MORE THAN the power of the Spirit to live the Christian life. We fail to draw upon the power of the Holy Spirit to live the Christian life.
• For some, they are either uninformed about or has forgotten about God’s love and power.
• They are distracted by many other things, to remember what God has provided for us.
The Carnal Person – some traits that characterize the person who does not fully trust God:
So we are to be directed and empowered by the Holy Spirit.
• Though all Christians are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, not all Christians are filled (directed and empowered) by the Holy Spirit.
CONCLUSION
We need to ACKNOWLEDGE the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
We need the APPROPRIATE the power of the Holy Spirit. The Bible says the promise is for you.
Pray and ask the Lord to fill us with the Holy Spirit?
"And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit" (Eph 5:18).
If you have never made such a prayer before, you can do so.
• Acknowledge your need of Him.
• Sincerely desire to be directed and empowered by the Holy Spirit.
• Tell Him you are willing to surrender your life to Him.
• Say, “Lord, I take what you give, Fill me with the Holy Spirit!”
