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.
4. God is constantly working on us, changing us, transforming us to become what He wants us to be if we yield to the Holy Spirit.
C. WIND & FIRE ARE POWER-GENERATING FORCES
1. WIND Mills have been used for thousands of years to grind grain and pump water for irrigation.
2. More recently, wind "farms" have been built to generate electricity. Modern wind farms can generate the same amount of electrical power as a nuclear power plant.
3. For centuries the wind has been used in sailing to carry ships and boats across the seas.
4. The "Spirit of God" blowing in your lives will have the same power-generating effect as the Wind.
5. That's why Jesus commanded his disciples to "Go into
all the world, preach the gospel, make disciples, etc., but first they were to "Be filled with the Holy Ghost", "Wait till you be endued with power from on high." He sent the Baptism of the Holy Spirit to empower them to do works of service for Him.
6. FIRE also is (obviously) a power-generating force: wood, coal, gasoline, diesel, even nuclear all utilize fire to produce energy. No wonder God uses wind and fire as symbols of His power!
D. WIND & FIRE ARE CLEANSING FORCES
1. It's so common now to use leaf blowers to dispose of leaves around our houses. Wind routinely blows away a lot of stuff we want moved.
2. Likewise, the wind of the Holy Spirit has a cleansing element too. The Holy Spirit "blows in" godliness in our lives and "blows out" the garbage and sin that has collected.
3. Fire too does a cleansing work. In old Westerns, after pulling out the bullet, they would cauterize the wound with hot metal as a way to stop the bleeding and kill the infection. Fire is used to heat up precious metals to the melting point and then the impurities may be skimmed off.
4. In Isaiah 6:7, a Seraph touched a fiery coal to Isaiah’s lips and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.” Heavenly fire cleanses also!
E. WIND & FIRE ARE PENETRATING AND DESTRUCTIVE FORCES
1. We all know how destructive winds can be: tornadoes and hurricanes. They move things that seem unmovable and penetrate objects in seemingly impossible ways.
2. An official report of the destructive force of the wind says,
a. “Heavy timbers have been driven up to 9 feet deep into the earth or driven through the sides of buildings.
b. “2X4’s have been driven through trees, broom straws have been driven through 4X4 posts.
c. “Railroad trains have been thrown from their tracks. Iron bridges have been completely dismantled and carried
from their foundations. Heavy boulders, weighing tons, have been rolled considerable distances.”
3. There are times we need the Holy Spirit to move in our lives like a warm, gentle, summer breeze and there are other times when we need the “wind of God” to blow with destructive force and demolish every stronghold, every wall, every obstacle satan has around us.
4. There are times we need the fire of God to expose, enlighten the sins we have in our lives and then to consume all the junk we’ve let accumulate. Like burning your idols!
F. FIRE & WIND BOTH SUSTAIN LIFE
1. Where there is no wind, life becomes fragile. Biosphere II was an experiment with a closed environment. The plant life inside the dome had everything it needed: sun, air, water, soil. But when they bumped the trees, they fell over; without wind they developed no root system, no resistance.
2. Living creatures can’t exist without breath – internal wind. Neither can we live without the Holy Spirit.
3. The same is true of fire. On the reality show “Survivor,” any tribe which did not quickly get fire will not be able to compete because of lack of fresh water. Similarly, the fire of the Spirit provides us with fresh water!
II. WIND & FIRE SYMBOLIZE GOD’S LIVING PRESENCE AND ACTIVITY
A. REVIVALS OFTEN ACCOMPANIED BY WIND & FIRE
1. WIND
a. At the Creation, the “Spirit of God (wind) hovered over the waters” of the world (Gen. 1:2).
b. Gen. 2:7 says, “The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and he became a living soul.”
c. A wind blew at the Exodus (14:21) and drove back the Red Sea for their deliverance; a wind “from the Lord” brought food to them (Num. 11:31).
d. The Lord spoke to Job out of a tornado (Job 38:1); to
Elijah God spoke out of a “great and powerful wind” (1 Kgs. 19:11).
e. God “sent a great wind upon the sea” to deal with Jonah (1:4); “the stormy winds…do His bidding” (Ps. 148:8).
f. God told Ezekiel to “Prophesy to the Wind” (Ezek. 37:9) in order to bring life to the nation of Israel (and by extention, the Church).
g. God is seen upon the wind (2 Sam. 22:11), and He “brings out the wind from His storehouses” (Ps. 135:7).
h. The Holy Spirit came at Pentecost as a “rushing, mighty wind” (Acts 2:2).
2. FIRE
a. God at the Burning Bush (Ex. 3:1-6). At Mt. Sinai/Horeb (Ex. 19:10-11,16-22), God descended in fire.
b. God’s presence protecting Israel or at the Tabernacle at night, seen as a “pillar of fire” (Ex. 13:21; 14:24; 40:38, etc.).
c. The fire of God fell when special breakthroughs were made to draw near to God (Lev. 9:24; 1 Chron. 21:26; 2 Chr. 7:1; 1 Kgs. 18:38).
d. God revealed Himself as if on fire (Ezek. 1:27; Dan. 7), and was Himself described as a “consuming fire” (Heb. 12:29).
e. John the Baptist said we would be baptized in the Holy Spirit and fire (Mt. 3:11). Fire did appear on the Day of Pentecost when the 120 were filled with the Spirit.
B. WHAT THESE MANIFESTATIONS SYMBOLIZED
1. Wind symbolizes God’s presence that is everywhere and, if it’s still, is hardly noticed. We breathe it and live by it without noticing the fact. The wind appears to be powerless when still. But when moving or swirling, wind shows itself as incredibly powerful. So the Holy Spirit -- as wind – means that God’s Spirit is no longer stationary, but moving, creating, performing. That’s what He was doing on the Day of Pentecost, and that is what He’s doing right now! He’s moving now!
2. Fire symbolizes the bursting into flame of God’s burning passion. Every time you see the fire of God manifested (in Scripture), it’s at a point where breakthroughs are occurring between God and man. His
love, zeal, and sacred purpose are again ignited, almost always in response to man’s efforts to recommit to Him.
III. THE NEED FOR “FRESH” WIND & FIRE
A. DEFINITION OF “FRESH”
1. New to one’s experience; not encountered before.
2. Recently made or produced; not stale or spoiled.
3. Having just arrived; new.
4. Revived or reinvigorated; refreshed.
B. WHY WE NEED FRESH WIND/FIRE
1. Some of you are discouraged by circumstances.
2. “ “ “ “ weary with over-work.
3. “ “ “ “ old and physically tired.
4. Others of you have lost your vision.
5. Some are brand new Christians, but you need this message.
6. THERE WAS A TIME WHEN:
a. Moses needed this message and God sent him a burning bush!
b. Elijah needed this message and God sent him a wind that tore the mountains apart and a fire which devoured!
c. The 12 disciples needed this message and God sent a rushing, mighty wind and tongues of fire which rested on each of them.
7. Today the Spirit of God is present and God is up to something...
a. to discouraged folks, His word is “Cheer up!”
b. to dishonest folks, His word is “’fess up;”
c. to sour folks, He says “Sweeten up!”
d. to closed folk, He says “Open up;”
e. to gossipers, His word is “shut up;”
f. to conflicted people, He says “make up;”
g. to sleeping folks, He says “wake up;”
h. to lukewarm people, He commands “fire up;”0
i. to dry bones, He says “shake up”; and
j. to pew potatoes, He says “stand up!”
k. But most of all, Christ is the Savior of all the world, so let’s lift Him up!
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION
Ask yourself what are the reasons why many content themselves in living on LOW POWER when they could be operating on the awesome HIGH POWER of the Holy Spirit of God. Illustration:
1. In his book Sit, Walk, Stand, Watchman Nee describes a preaching mission to an island off the South China coast. There were seven in the ministering group, including a sixteen-year-old new convert whom he calls Brother Wu. The island was fairly large, containing about 6,000 homes. Nee had a contact there, an old schoolmate of his who was headmaster of the village school, but he refused to house the group when he discovered they had come to preach the Gospel. Finally, they found lodging with a Chinese herbalist, who became their first convert.
2. Preaching seemed quite fruitless on the island, and Nee discovered it was because of the dedication of the people there to an idol they called Ta-wang. They were convinced of his power because on the day of his festival and parade each year the weather was always near perfect.
3. "When is the procession this year?" young Wu asked a group that had gathered to hear them preach. "It is fixed for January 11th at 8 in the morning," was the reply. "Then," said the new convert, "I promise you that it will certainly rain on the 11th." At that there was an outburst of cries from the crowd: "That is enough! We don’t want to hear any more preaching. If there is rain on the 11th, then your God is God!"
4. Upon being informed about it, Watchman Nee saw that the situation was serious and called the group to prayer. On the morning of the 11th, there was not a cloud in the sky, but during grace for breakfast, sprinkles began to fall and these were followed by heavy rain.
5. Worshipers of the idol Ta-wang were so upset that they placed it in a sedan chair and carried it outdoors, hoping this would stop the rain. Then the rain increased. After only a short distance, the carriers of the idol stumbled and fell, dropping the idol and fracturing its jaw and left arm.
6. A number of young people turned to Christ, but the elders of the village said that the wrong day had been chosen; it should have been the 14th. When the 14th
arrived, the Lord answered with torrential rain and floods as before. The power of the idol over the islanders was broken. Many conversions followed and the island became a Christian enclave.
B. ALTAR CALL
1. To open your life to the Spirit of God is open your life to power. The baptism in the Spirit is no guarantee that we will be like Jesus, but it is a guarantee that He will make that similarity possible because that power is available.
2. Receive the gift of the Father. In simple, child-like faith take the Gift He offers - His own Spirit. Believe this Gift is meant for you. God desires His power flow through you, empowering you, equipping you, and enabling you.
3. Diligently seek to be filled with His Spirit. Pray for this Spirit baptism - until you’ve received it. Remain open to letting God use you in incredible things.
