Scripture: Acts 2:1-21; Luke 24:48-49; Acts 1:4-5 Call to Worship - Psalms 104:24-34
Theme: Holy Spirit - Pentecost Sunday -
1. The Fulfillment of God's Promise - The Coming of the Holy Spirit!
2. The Power of God's Promise - The Infilling of the Holy Spirit!
3. The Proclamation of God's Promise - New Life through the Holy Spirit!
INTRO:
Grace and peace from God our Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ! Good morning!
At the end of Luke's Gospel in chapter 24 Jesus tells His disciples:
"You are my witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high." (Luke 24:48-49 ESV)
And then again in Acts 1:4-5 we read - "And while staying with them He ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit not many days from now."
In both passages Jesus shares that He has a plan. That plan involved his followers staying around Jerusalem for an unspecified period of time waiting for the outpouring of God's Holy Spirit into their lives. Just as they had been baptized in water so now they were to receive a baptism into God's Holy Spirit. This baptism would provide them the power they would need to be Jesus' witnesses for the whole world.
But until the Holy Spirit came they were to wait. They were to pray, enjoy a time of fellowship and wait.
How many of us like to wait? It's not something that a great many people enjoy doing. Did you know that the average person today spends around 4-5 years of their lives just waiting? We spend that time:
+waiting to fall asleep each night
+waiting for our smart phones or computers to down load the information we want
+waiting for the doctor or dentist and then for our prescription to be filled
+waiting for some type of medical test to come back
+waiting on the freeway or at an endless number of traffic lights
+waiting in the line while shopping or going to a sporting event or even a movie
One could say that a great part of our modern life today is spent waiting for this or for that.
So, we can understand what our disciples were going through in chapters one and two of the book of Acts. They were waiting. They didn't know the full extent of what it would mean to be "baptized in the Holy Spirit" and they didn't know the exact time table but at least 120 of Jesus' disciples decide to hang around Jerusalem waiting.
St. Luke tells us that on the morning of Pentecost that waiting came to an end. God's Holy Spirit was poured out in an amazing way. Listen again to verses 2-4:
"And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance."
All of this of course caused quite a stir. People from all over the place wanted to know what in the world was going on. Peter stands us and shares the message of Jesus Christ and the Bible tells us that some 3,000 people came to faith and joined the Early Church. I think all of us would have to agree that what happened on Pentecost morning was well worth the wait. Can you imagine any church running 120 suddenly mushrooming to having over 3,000 after only one service?
This morning, I would like for us to look at three wonderful things that our passage shares with us. We see:
1. The Fulfillment of God's Promise - The Coming of the Holy Spirit!
2. The Power of God's Promise - The Infilling of the Holy Spirit!
3. The Proclamation of God's Promise - New Life through the Holy Spirit!
I. The Fulfillment of God's Promise - THE COMING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
That morning of Pentecost the Coming of the Holy Spirit was a fulfillment of God's Plan and Promise. A plan and promise that the LORD had shared with His Prophets:
"And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy; your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out My Spirit." - Joel 2:28-29
"I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statues and be careful to obey my just decrees." Ezekiel 36:25-27
"This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write in on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people." - Jeremiah 36:33
Jesus tells His disciples this same plan and promise. In John chapters 14-1, Jesus spends a great deal of talking about and praying for the coming of the Holy Spirit. Jesus tells his disciples that soon He will send them the Helper, the Comforter, the Holy Spirit. Jesus tells them that the Holy Spirit will infill them with truth, knowledge and revelation. The Holy Spirit will convict people of their sins and lead them to experiencing the New Birth. The Holy Spirit will bring them to experience a Oneness with the Lord God Almighty. Jesus tells them that the Holy Spirit will give them the power to do even greater things than they have seen him do.
On that Pentecost Sabbath all of God's Promises came to pass - His Holy Spirit was outpoured and God's Promise of a New Age for all creation began.
Before we look at the Power of God's Promise that comes through the Holy Spirit there is a little insight that I would like for us to take a moment and examine. Let's go back to Acts 1:12-14. We know that God's Plan and Promise was to pour out His Holy Spirit. But it was a plan and a promise that included a co-partnership with Jesus' disciples. For Pentecost to happen I believe the Bible tells us that Jesus disciples had to do their part.
+They first of all had to obey and listen to Jesus. Jesus told them to stay around Jerusalem and wait. We read in verses 12-14 that is exactly what they did. They went to this place called the Upper Room and they waited. They stopped all that they had been doing and waited. These 120 people put their lives on pause to wait for the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
It's easy to read Acts chapters 1-2 and get all caught up in the symbols of the wind, the fire and the languages and forget that none of this happened by accident. It happened because God had a plan and a promise. And part of that plan and promise included the disciples being obedient to the LORD. That obedience meant for however long it took they had to stay in Jerusalem and wait.
This was no small task. Taking care of 120 people - feeding them, lodging them and providing them space took a great deal of time and energy. Someone had to come up with the money to pay for everything. Someone had to cook their meals, clean their clothes and provide for them some direction. We know that part of that direction came from the Apostle Peter who used this time to organize the group and find a replacement for Judas Iscariot who had committed suicide after betraying Jesus.
We also know that the majority of time was spent in prayer. No doubt there was a great deal of sharing stories, getting some type of organization formed and perhaps even putting down on paper some of Jesus' parables and sermons but the majority of the time was dedicated to praying, spending time in God's Presence and waiting.
Pentecost came through individual and corporate prayer.
I don't believe we would have been reading about Pentecost or anything else that has to do with the Early Church this morning if they had not spent that time in prayer. Their obedience to Jesus and their prayer opened up the way for the LORD to send His Holy Spirit.
Sadly, I think many times today we underestimate the value and the need of prayer - both individual and corporate prayer. The Early Church experienced Pentecost because they had spent dedicated sacred time in prayer. I believe the Bible teaches us that prayer enabled the LORD to bring about His Promise of Sending His Holy Spirit.
Without prayer there is no power. Without prayer there is no presence. Without prayer there is really nothing. The Gospel writers tell us that Jesus called His Father's House - a House of Prayer. Today, we have made God's House a great many things:
+A place to gather for worship and praise
+A place to gain more insight and knowledge
+A place to connect with other brothers and sisters in the LORD
+A place to share the Lord's Supper
+A place to enjoy food and fellowship
None of those things are wrong - in fact as we read Acts 2:42-47 they are the very things that the Early Church did as well. But the #1 thing that they did was pray. It was out of their times of prayer that they received their strength, their instruction and the continued infilling presence of the Holy Spirit. It was out of prayer that they experienced oneness with the LORD and with one another. It was out of prayer that they experienced people coming to faith.
We have to understand this morning that the promises that God wants all of us to receive will overflow in our lives only as we appropriate them through our prayer times. Prayer is the key. Praying individually along with corporately is why Jesus had them wait. Prayer changes us. If we don't want to change then we will abandon prayer. Prayer brings us in alignment with God's Plans and Purposes. Prayer brings us closer together with the LORD and with one another. Prayer opens the door to the 2nd Promise of Pentecost - The Promise of Power
I remember years ago a Presbyterian Church in which some of its members copied keys for one another so that people could come to the church at any time of the day or night to pray. Some thought that no one needed a key to the church except for a select few. However, others wanted to spend time in God's House praying for the pastor, for themselves, for their families, for their town and for God's Presence. So, they got a key and made copies.
Can you imagine that? People wanting a copy of the church's key so that they can come and spend time in God's Presence praying. Oh, that every church all over the world would pass out "Prayer Keys".
II. The Promise of Great Power - In Infilling Power of the Holy Spirit
Secondly, we see that all of the signs that we read about speak to us about the majesty and power of the Holy Spirit. The wind, the fire and the languages are all symbols of the work that the Holy Spirit wants to do in our lives and through our lives. Each one reminds us that the LORD wants to cleanse us, infill us and enable us to be redeemed, renewed and restored into His Holy Image.
The image of the wind reminds us that the power of the Holy Spirit comes from outside of ourselves. This morning, you and I do not have the inherent power to transform ourselves. We do not have within us some special innate power that all we need to do is to tap into and suddenly we can experience great transformation in our hearts, minds and souls.
This is one of the major differences between Christianity and Hinduism and Buddhism. Both Hinduism and Buddhism believe that there is at the core of every human being a special power that merely needs to be released. A power that is native in everyone. It is their belief that every person has been born with a godlike power that only needs to be tapped into and released. They believe that all a person has to do is to empty themselves of the things of this world and by doing so they will rediscover their own godlikeness. Then through their own godlikeness they will be able to experience tranquility, serenity and happiness.
We know better this morning. We know that before we came to Jesus we were dead in our trespasses. There is nothing to awaken because there is nothing holy in us. The whole reason our LORD came to our earth, lived among us and died for us on Calvary was not to awaken us or rekindle some innate godlike power. It was because we needed to be rescued, redeemed and restored into His Holy Image. Jesus died because we needed to be born form above - we needed to be purified and cleansed of our sins through Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord!
That is why on Pentecost day we see the tongues of fire. Throughout the Scriptures God uses the image of fire to speak of purifying and cleansing. We see it at the burning bush with Moses. We see it in the vision of Isaiah as the Seraphim - the angels of fire purify and cleanse Isaiah. We see it in the words of Malachi as he speaks of God sending a refining fire that will burn away the dross. We see it in the words of John the Baptist as he preaches how that the Holy Spirit will burn away the sin and the useless chaff that is in our lives.
Today, we all need the fire of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We need a fire that will continually allow the LORD to refine us more and more. We need a fire similar to the fire that the old refiners would use to make the silver and gold more pure. We need the fire of the Holy Spirit that will burn off all our spiritual impurities so that we can more and more reflect the image of Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord.
We need to understand that each time we feel convicted the LORD is not trying to condemn us but to refine us. Each time we are called to confess, to repent and to move closer to the LORD it is not to harm us but to help us become more like Jesus.
The truth that the LORD wants to work within us and not against us is visibly displayed in the miracle of the languages we see in our passage this morning. Each person that day was either able to speak or to hear their own language. This was a direct reversal of what we see happening in Genesis 11 at the Tower of Babel.
If you remember it was at the Tower of Babel that post-Flood mankind thought they could create a way to ascend to heaven and make a name for themselves. They thought they could build a man made platform that would in some way enable them to rise up to the throne of Heaven. They believed that it was in their own power to be on the same level as the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY.
The LORD confused mankind's language so that man would not destroy himself all over again. However, under the control of the Holy Spirit the LORD enabled His disciples and others at Pentecost to understand one another no matter what language they were speaking. God was working within His disciples to speak a common language with a common theme - the Lordship of Jesus, the Message of Salvation and an Invitation to be the Genuine Humans that God has invited all of us to be - and that is God's 3rd Promise that we see here in on Pentecost Sunday.
III. The Proclamation of God's Promise - New Life through the Holy Spirit!
On Pentecost the LORD fulfilled His Promise of sending His Holy Spirit!
On Pentecost the LORD gave the Infilling Power of His Holy Spirit!
And we see on Pentecost the LORD Proclaimed that we all could enjoy New Life through His Holy Spirit!
The message of Pentecost is the message that the LORD wants to cleanse, purify and empower His disciples to go out and share the Good News of Salvation. The message of Pentecost is the message that God did not abandon creation nor did He abandon His original plan of Creation.
We need to remember that in the Garden of Eden Adam and Eve enjoyed four wonderful relationships:
+They enjoyed a holy relationship with the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY - a relationship in which the LORD was able to spend time with them in Oneness of heart, mind and soul.
+They enjoyed a holy relationship with themselves as individuals. Adam and Eve enjoyed who the LORD had made them. They were not afraid to be vulnerable and transparent. They had not to hide or no masks to wear or be someone they were not.
+They enjoyed a holy relationship together as a team. They were each different and yet they understood how to become one. Like the Holy Trinity, Adam and Eve knew how to enjoy and relish in a oneness of spirit and being.
+They enjoyed a holy relationship with all of creation. Adam and Eve were given dominion and authority over all the earth but it was a dominion that expressed itself in stewardship and love. The Bible tells us that the ground was not cursed nor were the living things afraid or at odds with mankind. It was a place of Paradise for all of creation.
I believe that through His Holy Spirit the LORD seeks to rescue that original plan. As much as it is possible this side of everlasting life I believe that the LORD through His Holy Spirit wants us to enjoy:
A right relationship with Him, with ourselves, with others and with our world.
And as Spirit-filled, Spirit-led people of God we have been given a proclamation to share and a mission to accomplish. We are to share the message that in Jesus Christ the penalty of sin can be removed and the power of sin can be broken.
As you read the entire book of Acts you see this being played out. Chapter after chapter we see sickness and disease conquered. Chapter after chapter we see people's needs - emotional, material, social and spiritual being met. Chapter after chapter we see God's Holy Spirit flowing through the lives of men and women, boys and girls and homes, communities and whole societies being transformed into the image of Jesus.
Wherever we see the Holy Spirit at work we see the LORD working with His Disciples rescuing, redeeming and restoring humanity. Wherever we see the Holy Spirit at work we see people's live become more productive and fulfilling.
History is full of this very thing thing happening. For example, before the move of the Holy Spirit through the Methodist Revival in England things were a mess. Thomas Carlyle described the condition of English society in the 1700's as one in which the "stomach well alive, soul extinct." It is recorded that Sir William Blackstone visited every major religious leader in England in the early part of the 1700's to hear a message of God's saving grace and not once did he hear a powerful message about Jesus, redemption or holiness.
England was being pulled down by a host of personal and corporate sins:
+ Homes were being destroyed by drunkenness and gambling was so extensive that many saw England as "one vast casino." By the 1740's over 20 million gallons of gin alone was being consumed by a nation whose population was a little more than 6 - 7 million people.
+ Newborn children were left to die of exposure on the streets. It is also estimated that over 95% of the infant poor in the workhouses died before they could reach adulthood.
+ One out of every four women living in the urban areas (especially in London) became prostitutes with many of them being forced to start as young as eight years old.
+Tens of thousands died each year from a number of sexual transmitted diseases.
+ In many communities it was seen as gentlemen sport to sell one's wife by auction for a night of immorality.
+Violent crime was rampant and domestic crime was merely a part of everyday life.
+ Bishop Berkeley wrote that morality and religion in England had totally collapsed to "a degree that was never known in any Christian country."
Yet, in the midst of all of this sin the Lord did not abandoned England nor His Church. History tells us that on December 31, 1739 at Fetter Lane in London a group of people gathered to pray for the LORD to bring revival to England. About three o'clock in the morning, sixty young men who had gathered to pray received a supernatural anointing and infilling of God's Holy Spirit. Among those present were John and Charles Wesley along with George Whitefield. They left that chapel that New Year's Day morning empowered by the Holy Spirit in a whole new way. Within months, George Whitefield and the Wesley brothers were preaching in the fields and stirring the hearts of thousands of coal miners that many thought were beyond the reach of Jesus Christ.
It was not long before what later would be called - The First Great Awakening and the Great Methodist Revival was transforming all of England. Coffee and tea replaced alcohol. The meeting place replaced the brothels. Violent and domestic crime plummeted and church attendance began to increase. The whole society of England was turned upside down. A renewed spirit for prayer, Bible reading and study replaced the demonic spirits of pornography, gambling, incest and lust. A renewed interest in education led to the formation of Sunday School, the start of the end of the child and slave labor and the beginning of whole new medical and technological advancements. When people are freed from the slavery of sin it is amazing how what they can create under God's insight and revelation through His Holy Spirit.
Many people today believe that our nation is beyond redemption. Many people today believe that the best days for Christianity are over for our nation and that we in the Church are going to have to accept the fact that we will be closing more and more churches over the next few years. Many people believe that our only course of action is to accept defeat and to learn to live in a world of paganism and sin.
However, as I read God's Word and spend time in prayer I have not discovered that our LORD has stopped the presence and power of His Holy Spirit. I have not discovered where Jesus has re-entered the tomb and laid back down. I have not discovered where Jesus sent word to His Church to give up on the Great Commission or to stop praying for an Out pouring of His Holy Spirit.
The truth is what happened on Pentecost was never to be a onetime event. By reading the book of Acts you know that. What happened in the 1700's in the Great Awakening and in the Great Methodist Revival was never to be a onetime event. History has shown us that there have been at least 10 Great Awakenings and Global Revivals since the time of the Early Church.
All it would take for us to experience a New Awakening Today is for the Church of Jesus Christ to do the same things that these Early Christians did:
+The obeyed and listened to Jesus - they put all their faith in Jesus and they asked the LORD for greater wisdom, understanding and revelation.
+They prayed through until the Holy Spirit anointed them. They stayed in God's presence until God brought His glory upon each of them. They allowed God to purify and cleanse their hearts, the minds and their souls.
+They went out empowered by the Holy Spirit and shared their story. They shared how Jesus rescued them, redeemed them and was restoring them into His Holy Image.
If we will do those things then I believe with all my heart that we will see a mighty move of God in our lives, in our homes, in our churches and in our communities. I believe that the same Holy Spirit that transformed the rampant paganism that was a part of the Roman Empire and that transformed England in the 1700's and America in the 1800 and early 1900's is still on the Throne.
The real questions we have to ask ourselves is:
+Will we come to Jesus with a heart, mind and soul in full obedience?
+Will we surrender and commit ourselves to whatever He asks before He asks?
+Will we allow the fire of the Holy Spirit to purify us and cleanse us from all our unrighteousness and will we allow that fire to stay with us the rest of our days?
+Will we commit our lives to both individual and corporate prayer?
+Will we put aside our agendas to come together as the Early Church did and be dedicated to praying through until we receive God's anointing and blessing?
+Will we in the power of the Holy Spirit go out and share our faith story - How Jesus rescued us from a life of sin - How Jesus redeemed us and how Jesus filled us with His Holy Spirit?
+Will we then commit ourselves to a life of spiritual formation - doing all we can in this life to
-Enjoying a right relationship with God?
-Enjoying a right relationship with ourselves?
-Enjoying a right relationship with others?
-Enjoying a right relationship with our world at large?
Closing song - Invitation for prayer and commitment
