Scripture: Acts 2:1-21 (Call to Worship - Psalm 104:24-35)
Title:
Pentecost Will Change You!
Pentecost Message -
The Holy Spirit will transform the way 1. You Speak (Your language) 2. You walk (The way you live)
INTRO:
Grace and peace from God our Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Grace and peace from Our LORD Jesus Christ who came to take away the sins of the world!
Happy Shavuot (shah-voo-ote) this morning!
Enjoy Shavuot today!
That may have been what you would have heard if you had been at the Temple in Jerusalem some 2,000 years ago. Of course, we don't use the word "Shavuot" in many of our churches today. Nor do we use the other title "Festival of Weeks". Instead, we use the Greek translation of the Hebrew word "Shavuot" - PENTECOST.
So - Happy Pentecost!
You may remember that Shavuot/Pentecost is one of the three main Jewish Festivals that the LORD commanded His People to celebrate after they were freed from their bondage in Egypt (Exodus 23:14-17). The other two festivals of course, being, Passover which is celebrated fifty days earlier in Spring and Sukkoth ( Feast of Tabernacles) which is celebrate around the end of September or early October.
Historically and theologically, the Festival of Pentecost has always had a very important double significance. First of all, Pentecost was an agricultural festival. It was the day that the grain farmers would bring the first sheaf of wheat from their crops to the Temple and offer them up to the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY (Exodus 34:22) as a thanksgiving offering. They would then spend a great time praying that the LORD would grant His People an abundant grain harvest and would help them safely bring it in.
All of this was no small matter. An abundant wheat harvest was essential for their very survival. They knew that their lives depended on the Lord's grace and blessings. Without wheat and other grains there would be no bread and without bread literally thousands of people would be in dire danger of poverty, starvation and death. An abundant grain harvest meant life. An abundant grain harvest meant national success and prosperity.
Pentecost also honored the anniversary of the Day that the LORD GOD JEHOVAH (the Good God of Creation) gave His Teachings (Torah) to the whole nation of Israel at Mt. Sinai. Pentecost was the day that God revealed more about Himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
As a result, the people were able to know more about God and understand more clearly how they were to live as God's Holy People. They began to realize what it meant to be a People of Holiness, People of Love and a People of Unity in everyday life. They began to realize what it meant to be a set apart people who followed the will of the Good God of Creation/the Great I Am that I Am. By the time of Jesus, it became of part of Jewish tradition to spend the day of Pentecost reading the Torah, reciting the Ten Commandments along with spending the majority of the day in worship, prayer and celebration.
It should not surprise us that the LORD used both the seasons of Passover and Pentecost to explain the true mission of His Only Begotten Son, Jesus - God in Flesh. The Bible tells us that Jesus died on the Cross and Rose Again during the season of Passover as an eternal signpost that in Christ we can experience everlasting freedom from the bondages of Sin, Death and Hell. In Christ, we can be born from above having all our sins and guilt wiped away. We can be rescued and redeemed by the blood of Jesus.
On Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was poured out as a signpost revealing to us that in the power and presence of the Holy Spirit we are now able to live as genuine human beings who can reflect God's Image and Glory both today and forevermore. In the Holy Spirit we can live a life that is supernatural and transformative. In the Holy Spirit we can live life as it is meant to be - a life that is fulfilling and meaningful. A life that is full of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.
As followers of Jesus, the Bible tells us that we are filled with the Holy Spirit. Being filled with God's Spirit is not just for those whose traditions are Charismatic or Pentecostal in nature. It is not just something that happens to some people and not to others. The Bible tells us that every believer is filled with God's Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13-14; Acts 2:38) when they receive Salvation. In other words, the Holy Spirit -- your source of power for living -- is "included" when you receive Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord.
It is also imperative that we keep being filled with God's Holy Spirit ( Acts 4: 23 - 31; Ephesians 5:18). For without the vibrant filling of God's Holy Spirit, our witness will become powerless and our Christian Life will become stagnant, sluggish and absent of victory and celebration. We must realize that being filled with God's Spirit is not a one off experience. It's not something we only experience only once in our lives. It is a moment by moment, daily way of living (Galatians 5:16-25). Each and every day we are to ask the LORD to fill us as we consecrate our hearts, minds and souls to Him.
Oh, we might over time develop some talents, gain some knowledge and even become eloquent but without the infilling presence, the baptism of the Holy Spirit we will be Christian in name only. For to be a Christian is to have the Holy Spirit. To be a Christian is to enjoy the continual infilling presence of God's Holy Spirit in our lives.
This morning, this Pentecost Sunday Morning let's take some time to remember what it means to be Filled with God's Holy Spirit. Let's remember what it means to be baptized in the Holy Spirit:
I. It means that the Holy Spirit will transform the way that we Speak
When we are filled with the Holy Spirit one of the first things that we begin to notice is that our language begins to change. The way we speak begins to change. What we speak will change. We begin to notice that we are being filled with a whole new language. I am not speaking of tongues per se but of the reality that people who have been filled and are being filled with God's Holy Spirit speak differently. The focus of their language changes, the words that they use change and the general manner of their conversations change.
In some ways it's like talking to a person who is beginning their journey learning their trade or going to school studying to be a doctor, a lawyer or a teacher. The more they learn, the more they become skilled at what they do the more their language changes. It also happens when someone picks up a new hobby or starts liking a new sport.
They begin learn a whole new language. They begin to speak differently.
- Suddenly, they are telling you about cam belts, ABS, ECM and CV Joints.
- Others begin to share all kinds of information about certain muscles, bones and diseases - they begin to say things like latissimus dorsi (/?l?'t?s?m?s 'd??rsa?/), tibia, femur and Mucormycosis ( mu•cor•my•co•sis)
- From others you begin to hear terms like BP, CPR, ABG, and CBC.
- Still others are using all kinds of legal terms and jargon - De facto, Ex parte and Habeas corpus
- And from others you hear all kinds of new terms like that was a hat trick (hockey), that is a bump and run (football) , that is a round off (cheerleading) and that is a bicycle kick (soccer) etc...
In a very similar way when we are baptized/filled with God's Holy Spirit we discover that we too begin to have a whole new language that we speak. For example, we find ourselves:
+Praising God more and more.
Praising God is the native language of Heaven. It's what we read about when the Bible speaks to us about Heaven. All around heaven the angels and other heavenly creatures are voicing their praise for God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The air is saturated with Praise and Worship.
The more we are filled with God's Holy Spirit the more we find ourselves praising God in Church, at Home and around the Office. We find ourselves praising God for being God, for anointing us, for blessing us and for living in and through us. We find ourselves praising God for the day He has given us, the job He has called us to and the resources that He is putting at our disposal. We find ourselves praising the LORD for the opportunity to be a part of a community that needs to hear and see the message of Jesus.
All you have to do is to turn back to the first few chapters in Luke's Gospel and you see this happening in the lives of Mary, Elizabeth and Zachariah. Each one when they were filled with God's Holy Spirit began to praise God. It seems that they couldn't do anything else. It's like Praising God just exploded out of their mouths. Later on both Simeon and Anna were both filled with God's Spirit and they too started praising God giving Him honor and glory.
When the Holy Spirit fell on Pentecost, on the Samaritans and later on the household of Cornelius they all began to praise the LORD. They began filling the air with Praise and Worship. I think we are to understand that praising God is merely a byproduct of being filled with God's Holy Spirit. The more we have the Holy Spirit the more we will be praising God. Our speech will be more and more filled with God Praise.
When Paul was writing his letter to the churches around Ephesus, he wrote these words:
+ Ephesians 5:18-20
"Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit, as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the LORD in your hearts, giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."
I believe this morning that our worship services are to be filled with Praise. Praise at the beginning, praise in the middle and praise at the end. Our individual lives are to be filled with praise. Praising God for being God. Praising God for being Jehovah Jireh (Our Provider) , Jehovah Rapha ( Our Healer), Jehovah Shalom (Our Peace) and Jehovah Sabaoth (Our Protector). Praising God for His Good Creation. Praising God for Salvation and Sanctification. Praising God for the Infilling Presence of His Holy Spirit. Praising God for our Families, our Friends and our Communities. Praising God for Everything.
We must never let our "Concern" time - our times when we voice all of our wants, our wishes and our needs to over ride our Praise/Joy time. All too often we are quiet when it comes to Praise Time and yet full of conversation when it comes "Concern time". We desperately need both. We need to share our burdens and uplift others in prayer but we must not forget to allow the Holy Spirit to lead us in a time of Praise and Worship.
I believe that it was a lack of praise that led to the sin of the Church of Sardis (Revelation 3:1 - 6). They had the outward appearance of being a great church but they had no joy, no praise and very little worship. They went through all the motions of doing acts of service but they had no life. They were dying from the inside out. That meant that they had been grieving the Holy Spirit. That means they had not allowing the Holy Spirit to lead them, speak through them and guide them. They had not been allowing the Holy Spirit to share times of praise, worship and celebration.
When we allow the Holy Spirit to lead us, guide us and speak through us then we notice that we begin to praise God more and more. We begin to speak the very language of Heaven.
+ We also find ourselves Being Bold in our Witness
We also find ourselves being bold in our witness. When the Early Church was threatened for speaking in the name of Jesus in chapters 3 - 4 they didn't tiptoe away and become silent. Instead, they gathered together and prayed for more of God's Holy Spirit. They prayed for another filling/baptism of God's Holy Spirit in their lives. As a result they were filled with Holy Spirit boldness, courage and strength. They didn't back down in telling everyone that Jesus the Messiah was the Way, Truth and the Life.
This is exactly what Jesus said would happen back in John 16:13 - 14 (ESV)
"When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you."
and in Luke 12:11 - 12 (ESV)
"And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rules and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say."
When we find ourselves in the midst of unbelievers or people who want to tell us that their form of religion is the one we should be worshipping, we should not cower or be afraid. When people start cursing Jesus or putting down Christianity we don't have to hide or find a door to run away. We don't have to sit and be silent.
Instead, we are to allow the Holy Spirit to speak in and through us. Now, we don't rely our own human wisdom and power but we allow the Holy Force that is within us to speak forth the truth about Jesus being the Savior and Lord of the Universe. We allow the Holy Spirit Power within us to speak forth the truth in love, mercy and grace.
Even as the Holy Spirit spoke through the 120 that day - words of salvation, words of holiness and words of unity in Jesus, so too, will the Holy Spirit speak through us today. The more we are filled with God's Holy Spirit the more we will praise Jesus and the more boldness, strength and courage we will possess.
Have you ever found yourself just having to say something? I mean you become just so emotional, so filled with thoughts that you just have to say something. That is how we can be in the Holy Spirit. We can allow the Holy Spirit to bubble up inside us - leading us to Praise and Glorify His Name. We can allow the Holy Spirit to speak through us words of adoration, encouragement, knowledge, truth and grace.
Evil has plenty of its own promoters and spokespersons. You hear them at work, at the office and where you shop. You hear them using the language of evil as they curse, share negative words and thoughts and promote vulgar and morally offensive ideas. You can hear them speaking about violence, hatred, jealousy, greed and anger. You can hear them being bold in using obscene, rude and downright evil language.
How did they get that way? How did learn how to use such horrible language? They got that way by permitting evil to speak in and through their hearts, minds and souls. They got that way by allowing the Devil to use their mouths to fill the air with hatred towards the LORD GOD and mankind. They got that way by allowing the Devil to enlist their help to drown out Praising God. They got that way by allowing the Devil to use them to curse the very name of Jesus Christ, the name above all names. They got that way by learning how to speak the language of Hell.
That is not who we are in Christ Jesus and in Christ Jesus they do not have to be that way. Neither them or we have to speak the language of Hell. Instead, we can choose to be baptized and filled with God's Holy Spirit. We can choose to surrender our minds, our hearts and our voices over to God's Will and Way. We can choose to praise the Name of Jesus privately and publicly. We can choose to use His name to bring about a spirit of holiness, unity and love. We can choose to fill God's Good Air with Praise and Adoration for the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. When we do that we change the very atmosphere of our homes, our offices, our places of commerce and play. When we do that we change the very atmosphere of our Houses of Worship.
When we are filled with God's Holy Spirit we speak the native language of Heaven - the Language of Praise with Courage and Boldness.
II. Secondly, it means that the Holy Spirit will transform the way we Walk/Live
The Bible is basically a walking book. From the moment the LORD GOD created Adam and Eve we humans have been walking. God had us walking everywhere. In the Garden the LORD used to come down in the cool of the day and spend time walking with Adam and Eve. It was through their daily walks that God taught them, loved them and shared time and space with them. It was through their daily walks they learned how to be genuine human beings reflecting His Image and Glory. It was through their daily walks that they became One with God, One with one another and with all of creation. It was through their daily walks that they learned how to live. They discovered that walking the right way with God led to living the right way each and every day.
However, today we don't walk as much. Instead, we drive. We sit. We fly. We like to move as fast as we possibly can. We've got places to go and things to see. We are too busy to take time to go for a walk. All of that stuff was yesteryear. We got to move. We got to go. We got to get to our destinations as quick as possible. We have too much to do and too little time to do it. We don't always have time to leisurely spend time walking with God. Or so we think.
However, God is still interested in us taking time to walk, to share time and space with Him. God is still interested in us taking the time to sit with Him and enjoy His Presence. God is still interested in teaching us through our walks how to be quiet, how to listen and how to experience the best life possible both here on this earth and on the New Heaven and Earth to come.
It should not surprise us that the LORD tells us places like Ps. 46:10 -
"BE still and know that I am God."
Or that God told Abraham in Genesis 17:1 - 2
"When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, 'I am the GOD ALMIGHTY, walk before me, and be blameless, that I may make my covenant between me and you and may multiply you greatly." (ESV)
Do you remember why Enoch received so much praise and honor from God? Genesis 5:24 tells us:
"Enoch walked with God and did not die, for God took him to heaven."
Being baptized/filled with the Holy Spirit enables us and teaches us to slow down so that we can learn a new walk; a whole new way to live. Oh, we will still drive, fly in planes and get to places quickly but our walk/the way we do life will be transformed. The Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit gives us a New Walk - A Walk that is Spirit-filled and Spirit-led. A walk that:
+ Romans 6:4 tells us that is a walk that brings Newness of Life - a life that is ever creating, ever becoming more and more like Jesus
+1 John 2:6 tells us is the same walk as Christ walked while He was here on earth.
+Ephesians 5:8 tells us that the Holy Spirit will teach us to walk as Children of Light and not Children of Darkness. Children that bring healing and wholeness and not chaos, destruction and death.
+Ephesians 5:15 tells us that we will learn how to walk as people full of wisdom, knowledge and revelation.
After Paul shares those things in Ephesians 5 he goes on to show us how to walk in chapter 6 (six) when it comes to family, work and life. Paul understood that in his day as it is in our day that we all will spend the majority of our time either at work or at home. So, it is important for us to walk in the Holy Spirit both at home and at work.
It is rather easy to walk in the Spirit at Church. After all, most of the time we are in Church only one or two hours a week. Others may enjoy a few more hours but on the average today a person of faith spends around 40 - 60 hours a year in Church.
But that some person spends around 2,000 - 2,500 hours a year at work and around the same amount of time at home doing chores or living with their family. Aside from our time of sleep we spend the majority of our time working or being home. So, the place that needs us the most to walk in the Spirit is at home and at work.
And that is why we need the constant infilling presence of God's Holy Spirit. If we are going to be a witness for the LORD our greatest time to be a witness is not at church but at home and at the office. That is the time we are around the greatest number of people and when we have the best time to let our light shine. It's our best "SALT TIME" so to speak.
That is also the group of people that over time will know us the best. We can pretty well fool people at church if we only see them for an hour or two a week at best. We can put on a happy face and we can have a holy countenance.
But that is not the way it is around family, friends and co-workers. That is not the way it is when we are in the public eye hours a day, weeks on end. The real us emerges. The real us comes out more and more.
That is why Paul tells us over and over again not only to be filled with the Spirit but to allow the Holy Spirit to continue to be filling, leading, guiding and transforming. Paul lived among real people and enjoyed a real life. His was not the life of living in an ivory tower high and lifted up from people. His was a life that was lived in the streets, in houses and yes at times in prisons.
His was a life that was full of drama, pressure, rest, victory, sorrow, pain, celebration, worship, fellowship, work, friends and life. His was a life in which he knew both how to work with his hands, his brain and with his heart. His was a life that was tried and tested and that came under all kinds of scrutiny and inspection.
That is why when the Apostle Paul writes chapters five and six of Ephesians they ring so true. They hold such practical truths. Paul knew what it meant to live in a family. He knew what it meant to work for others and have others work for you. He knew what it meant to work with those he considered his children and he knew especially what it meant to have to fight evil, demonic attacks and Satan himself.
That is why the Apostle Paul lived in the Spirit and was always asking for the Holy Spirit to continually fill him every day. He needed the wisdom, the knowledge, the power and the presence of God's Holy Spirit filling his heart, mind, soul, body and mouth. He needed to know that the Holy Spirit was directing his feet, guiding his hands and working through every fiber of his being. He knew he needed a Holy Spirit recharge in his life day after day after day.
Paul needed that because:
+He wanted to be completely surrendered to the LORD JESUS CHRIST - the Messiah, the King of the Universe, the Lord of All. As soon as Paul realized that Jesus was the Messiah and Savior of the World he decided right then and there to give Jesus everything. For if Jesus is the Son of God, for Paul, there was only one answer - Follow Him, Listen to Him, Obey Him and Allow His Holy Spirit to transform you, fill you and lead you in this life and in the life to come.
+He wanted to be the best witness for the Lord. He wanted to be a living example of what it meant to be a Spirit-filled, Spirit-led Disciple of Jesus. He wanted to be a walking advertisement of what a genuine human being looked like, sounded like and acted like under God's control. He wanted to show all those around him what living the New Life in Christ was all about.
+He wanted to live the best life possible here on Earth and on the New Earth to come. He knew that God died and rose again so that he could have Abundant Life and Paul wanted Abundant Life.
+He wanted to enjoy the company of others around him and if possible to lead them to experience a New Life in Christ. He wanted others to live the life that he was living. A life that was full of joy, peace and mercy. A life that both abundant and gave God glory and honor. A life that brought meaning, healing and wholeness into God's World.
And Paul wanted it all to be real. He didn't want to be a phony or to appear to be someone that he was not. He didn't want to give people this image of a holy man who did not have to deal with real life. He didn't want people to get this idea that to be a real follower of Jesus meant that you had to separate yourself from other people or live a life of drudgery, heartache and doom.
No, he knew as everyone else knew back then that Jesus had lived a wonderful life here on earth. That Jesus had enjoyed human life to its fullest. That Jesus had not only shown us how to live a perfect human life but he had done so with joy.
At times I think people get the wrong impression of Jesus. They tend to believe that Jesus went around in a constant daze of meditation and contemplation. That he was full of sorrow, burdens and pain as he knew he would have to take all the sins of the world and die on a cross. That Jesus was one of the most miserable person to ever walk on the planet.
That is not the true Jesus that is the Son of God, Lord of Lord and King of Kings. No, our Jesus - the true Jesus was full of joy, laughter and life. He was constantly being invited to parties and celebrations. He was constantly bringing life and healing to others. Children loved to be around him and they loved to hear him speak. Women felt safe around him and men felt welcomed and included. Jesus had time for people. He listened to them, enjoyed their life and walk among them with great joy.
And why shouldn't he? The Bible tells us that Jesus is God in Flesh. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit created everything and called it good. We are a part of God's Creation. Why wouldn't Jesus love to be around us - rescuing us, redeeming us and helping us become the very people He designed us to be.
This morning, the LORD has a wonderful walk for all of us. Not one that simply exists for a little while on Sunday morning and then gets pulled apart the rest of the week. He has a walk that is full of anointings, blessings and little joys that enable us to live a life that is meaningful, that is full of joy and that brings salvation and value to us, to our family and to our friends. The LORD wants to help us live a Spirit-filled life at Church, at Home and at the Office.
Today is Pentecost Sunday - the Sunday we celebrate the Outpouring of God's Spirit upon His People. The day that we are to understand that God wants to give us a New Language - the Native Language of Heaven - the Language of Praise and being Bold/Courageous in Our Witness for our Risen Lord. The day we are to understand that God wants to walk alongside of us teaching us, giving us wisdom, knowledge and revelation. That God wants to walk beside us helping us enjoy His Good Creation, other human beings and life in general.
This morning as we close how is it with our language and our walk? Are we people of Praise and bold in our witness? Are we people who walk a Holy walk not only on a Sunday morning but at home and at the office? Are we people who are enjoying our lives in God's Holy Spirit?
This morning as we close let us come together and pray for God to fill our hearts, our minds and our souls. Let us surrender our will to His will. Let us allow God to cleanse us, purify us and fill us with His Power and Presence.
As we sing this song - our altars are open for any who would love to come down and ask God to give them a refreshing of His Holy Spirit. Our altars are open for any who would like to surrender their lives to God to begin to speak a new language and walk a new walk.
Songs - "Breath on Me, Breath of God" or "Holy Spirit, Rain Down on this Place"
