Some kind of power came from outside; a transcendent energy.
How are we filled with the Spirit?
Reminder: Pentecost was 50 days after Easter, 10 days after the ascension. They had been told by Jesus to wait for it.
In the forty days between Easter and the Ascension Jesus had instructed them on what he had taught--brought the Kingdom of God, miracles--and what he had done--suffered, died, resurrection--and how his work continues through the disciples.
What was Pentecost already on the day that he sent the Spirit of God down? (V. 1) it was already Pentecost, a special day.
Two ways the Jews celebrated Pentecost.
Original meaning was the feast of the first fruits. About 50 days after Passover is when the first fruits were brought in and eaten to thank God--that is where we get the word Penta-cost
About 50 days after Passover is when God came down on Mount Sinai and met with Moses, giving the Law and making them a new people.
What did it mean for God to send down his Spirit on that day?
When the Spirit of God fills here is how you know it:
1. You experience the First Fruits of the future; 2. The goodness of God (His glory) and the 3. Brotherhood of the nations.
I. Experience First Fruits of the Future
Rushing wind, fire, tongues.
(V.12) what do these mean?
A new era of the Spirit had arrived.
If we allow other parts of Scripture to interpret what this new era meant, we come to understand something about the "first fruits."
This big word--eschatological--is the Greek word for end times
Everything in this world is subject to decay. The Big Bang teaches us that the world is running down. Some of you look great but you won’t be able to hold onto it.
Some of you feel great..... Some of you have a great family.... But everything is subject to decay.
Someday God’s creation will be liberated.
(Romans 8:18-23) "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies."
We know this because we have the first fruits of the Spirit. We have the presence of the future, an installment of the glorious future, of heaven itself. We can experience his presence, what we will have in total in heaven, right now.
It is the first fruits. We have in our church and inside ourselves what we need to stem the tide of decay in the social and emotional and cultural realm. But it still is only the first fruits.
We make two mistakes: not expecting enough, and expecting too much.
John Newton said, "I am not what I ought to be, I am not what I hope to be, but I am not what I used to be... ’By the grace of God I am what I am’."
II. The goodness of God (his glory)
(V. 2,3) There was wind and fire. In the Old Testament, when God shows up you get wind and fire.
Job: wind; Abraham: a burning torch; the first Pentecost at Mount Sinai God came down in a wind storm and fire. This tells us that a spirit of the transcendent is possible.
Example: Freud and Nietzsche view that Christianity is a crutch, that modern man will outgrow it. So the west stripped the miraculous out Christianity. But they were wrong. The west is hungry for the spiritual; the hunger won’t go away.
See Phil Jenkins’ The Next Christendom, p. 8.
Why are people returning to Orthodox Christianity? Without the transcendent there is no meaning. This verse tells us we can have it.
This is not electricity; it is not naked power. When they are filled they begin to talk, explaining what happened to them.
What do they talk about? They are not talking about power, gifts, miracles. They are declaring the wonders of God.
Being filled with the Spirit is having an experience of truth. It is neither rationalism, or mere experience. It is having a deeply rational experience. They are not getting "zapped." God comes and declares his name.
On Mount Sinai God came to declare His name.
Exodus 33
"Show me your glory," says Moses.
(33: 19) "I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name The Lord. And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy."
I will make all my goodness pass before thee...
What this means is that God’s glory is mainly, and chiefly, manifested to us in and through his goodness. And that in turn means that we are given a manifestation and an understanding of the character of God. Therefore when we pray to know God’s glory what we are praying for is to have a knowledge of the character of God. And working for God’s glory is working to see that His character is known to the world and held up with honor.
Interestingly God uses the word "all" my goodness. What does this mean? Why not just say "goodness" and leave it at that?
He seems to be emphasizing that his goodness is a catchall phrase for all the attributes of God. So God, who already has demonstrated His goodness to Moses, decides to give him a huge dose of it to satisfy him. Something extra. To see it all at once. This is what happens in revival; it is something extra.
God puts Moses in the cleft, shows only the "back part" of his glory.
(34: 6,7) The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, "The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation."
On the one hand he says I am "merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin."
But on the other hand says, "but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation."
That sounds crazy.
First he says he forgives but then he says he does not clear the guilty or let debt go unpaid?
Why can’t he clear the guilty? He is so good. But if you had a judge that winks at crimes and let’s the guilty go free, we would say that is not a good judge. Some would say he has to choose between justice and goodness. That is how anyone feels if you have not experienced the Spirit of God.
Some say that God is all judgment and not good. Others say he is good and forgives everyone, but not just. But neither is filled; they aren’t declaring the wonders of God.
Some say God will get you if you don’t come to church, the others say it does not matter how you live. But when the Spirit comes to you, you see the cross.
When God punished Jesus on the cross, His goodness, justice and love hits you. The Spirit shows you all the goodness of God.
This is not only how you become a Christian, it is also how you live the Christian life.
Are you dry? Are you stagnant? Are you doing things that you know are wrong? You only have half of God’s goodness. You have forgotten the justice side of him; or you see only the goodness side of him.
Moses said that He is all good.
Amazingly, we see God face to face. The fire comes down on us and in us.
(John 1:12) "But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God."
III. The brotherhood of the Nations
Why does Luke list so many nations?
At the Tower of Babel, God came down to confuse their tongues.
When you decide to justify yourself the result is a destruction of community and racial superiority. God comes down to start a new community. Barriers between groups come down.
The first sermon was preached to all the cultures together. When God comes down it demotes our nationalism. The cross breaks down the barrier.
The way you know a revival has come is when people get along who before would not even talk to each other.
In conclusion:
We said that Moses wanted more. He longed for God himself and for the Glory of God.
Do we know anything of this longing? Do we desire God himself and not just the things He can give us? Do we have the same desire as the Psalmist in Psalm 42 or Psalm 17:15
Psalm 42:1-11 (ESV) "As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God."
(Psalm 17:5) "As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness; when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness."
These Old Testament saints lived in a different dispensation. They looked forward to the realization of the promise: the coming of Christ.
We have Christ and all his benefits, but I wonder if we have the same passion as they did? How does our experience compare with theirs?
This then is the ultimate end of the true seeking for revival. It is based on the prayer for the glory of God. Of course Moses already knew about the glory of God and had seen it manifested but his prayer was to still see it revealed. And this should be our prayer. As we see the church languishing and weak this should be our prayer; as we see the condition of our hearts--dry, bored, unmotivated, lukewarm.
We are so busy and distracted that we no longer desire the glory of God. And yet we spend our whole lives seeking something to give us meaning, to wake us from our sleep. We long for heroism. We long for purpose. We long to be part of the "in" group. We long to feel good about ourselves, to stop the self accusations that we all have. What is it that we long for? I contend it is the glory of God.
This was Paul’s prayer in Philipians 3:10 "That I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. Not as though I had already attained ..."
Paul wanted more.
Is this happening here?
