Acts 2:1-4 – Fire Inside
Three ladies had a bible study and were talking about being refined by the fire. They did not understand about being refined in the fire like silver. One volunteered to go to the silversmith and see what that meant. When she went she did not tell the silversmith why she was really there. He proceeded to tell her about being sure the silver was put in to the hottest part of the fire. He explained that was so all the impurities would be burned away. He also said that he had to watch it all times to make sure it was not in there too long. If it were there too long, it would be ruined. The lady asked, “How do you know when it is done”? His answer was, “That’s easy: when I see my reflection.”
Today we are finishing our series on Pentecost. It’s been a great time seeing how God used the Acts 2 Pentecost to bring more meaning to the already-meaningful holiday which had been going on for centuries. On April 3, the week after Easter, we saw how Pentecosts were pilgrim festivals, how people were required to come to where God was. Acts 2 shows us that God came to us. The next week, BBC student Derrick Lareva shared his heart with us. Then, on April 17, we saw how the holiday was a memorial to God giving of the Law to Moses and the Israelites. Acts 2 showed us that the Law is now written on our hearts. On April 24, we noticed in Genesis 11 that the Tower of Babel was a judgement from God, and it separated people. The Acts 2 Pentecost united them again, and displayed God’s mercy. On May 1, we looked at the idea of firstfruits, the very best a person can give to God. And we also saw that since the Acts 2 Pentecost, we are God’s firstfruits, and we must offer ourselves. Last week, Mother’s Day, we saw the OT hero Ruth becoming a Jew, and needing a redeemer. We too need a Redeemer, someone who will buy us back and make us His own.
And today, I have one last Pentecost thought for you. It’s found in Exodus 19:1-19. Let me sum up this chapter. The Israelites, led by Moses, have escaped Egypt. They crossed the Red Sea by God’s hand, and they have arrived at Mt.Sinai, as Jewish scholars would point out, on the day that would come to be known as the Feast of Weeks, or the Feast of Harvest, or the Day of Firstfruits, or Pentecost. Here, at Mt.Sinai, God would reveal Himself in a way that He had never done before. He would give the Law, that bundle of commandments and rules that would guide His people to know Him better. And He first reveals Himself to Moses, the man of God. And this appearance would certainly be flamboyant.
Let’s look at v16-19 again, looking at the sights and sounds. There was a powerful storm, and a dense cloud. There was a blast from a ram’s horn. The whole mountain was covered with smoke like from a furnace, because the Lord was there in fire. The mountain shook violently, the sound grew louder, and finally the Lord’s voice was heard from the midst. The glorious presence of the Lord appeared on Mt.Sinai in full force, revealing to His people His power and purity.
Let’s skip ahead some 1300 or 1500 years. God had not just appeared on earth in a cloud, but rather, as a man. Jesus, God in the flesh, had lived as a teacher and preacher. He had been killed for His beliefs according to the Father’s plans, to make a way for us to be with Him forever. He had risen from the dead to give us a hope, and He had promised that He would not leave us alone. He promised another like Him, the Holy Spirit, who would live with Christians, and live in them too. Jesus had been lifted from the earth for 10 days, and the day of Pentecost had come. The believers were praying together in the Upper Room, the room where Jesus began the sacrament of the Last Supper, perhaps owned by Mark, aka John Mark. Let’s read Acts 2:1-4.
Once again the presence of God shows up, almost with the same effects. Jewish tradition had always associated storms, fire and a voice with the presence of God. And here they. A mighty wind like a storm, fire that looked like tongues resting upon each person there, and other languages, speaking God’s words to different people groups. Pentecost was an updated Mt.Sinai.
But it was also upgraded, too. You see, the fire on Mt.Sinai was only for Moses. Everyone else stood at a distance. Only Moses got the fire of God in His life. Only Moses got God’s power. Only Moses understood God’s presence. But not anymore. Now, since the Acts 2 Pentecost, God’s power, God’s purity, and God’s presence are for all believers.
The OT contains lots of references of God’s people having the Spirit upon them. Joseph in Gen.41:38, Moses in Num.11:17, Joshua in Num.27:18, Gideon in Jud.6:34, Zechariah in 2 Chr.24:20, and Elijah and Elisha in 1 and 2 Kings.
But what’s funny is that some scoundrels had the Spirit upon them as well. Samson in the book of Judges had the Spirit from time to time, set apart at birth as a deliverer of God’s people. But He was also a liar, disobedient to his parents, a compromiser, and a womanizer. David was listed as a man after God’s own heart, but he too was a womanizer, as well as a conspirator and a murderer. Balaam was a Gentile prophet who said some good things about Israel when the Spirit came upon him, but he was no Jew nor a nice guy, and died in judgement from God. And Saul was a backslider who had the Spirit but lost him as well.
The Spirit in the OT was not mainly a purifying agent. He came upon people on occasion to help them accomplish a task, from building the tabernacle to ridding the land of heathens. But He did not always change people. Good people remained good, bad people remained bad. Which is one of the reasons why the New Covenant, the new way that God deals with humans, is better.
What’s more, the Spirit doesn’t just come upon us, as He did in the OT. That still happens. 1 Peter 4:14 says, “If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.” The Spirit coming upon us when we need to do a special service, like having the grace to go through persecution.
The Bible says that things happen in our lives by the Spirit and with the Spirit. But more than these, the Bible says that the Spirit lives within Christians as well. Eph.2:22 says, “And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.” The Spirit has taken up residence in your heart as a believer. The Spirit doesn’t just show up occasionally as the need arises. Rather, the Spirit abides in your inner being.
This goes to show that the Spirit is not just for the occasional believer, either. He’s not just for the ones with monumental tasks to accomplish. He’s not just for preachers or pastors or evangelists or missionaries. No, the Spirit means to bring power for each person, whether a so-called church worker or not, to live a life pleasing to Him. And you know, I can think of no greater task than for a regular person to life a faithful and obedient life day in and day out. To me, that is a task worthy to be accomplished, and desperately needed in the world today.
So even as the power, the mighty rushing wind, is for each of us, so too is the fire for each of us. That fire is the refining fire of God. It changes us. It cleanses us. It makes us like Him. It was prophesied about in the OT. Malachi 3 says, “But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the LORD will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness.” That refining fire will burn away the excess stuff in our hearts. John the Baptist described Jesus’ ministry with these words: “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” Jesus has a lot more to do with your life than just forgive you. He wants to cleanse and change you too.
So, since Jesus has the desire to change us, and the Holy Spirit has the power to change us, then why are we so much as we always have been? Why are we still so stubborn? So unforgiving? So bitter? So selfish? So secluded? So complaining? So ungrateful? So faithless? So lustful? So unpleasable? So displeasable? So much of 2 minds? So much of a divided heart?
My brothers and sisters, this should not be. Perhaps that’s why Paul tells us in Ephesians 5:18, “Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.” Perhaps Paul was fully aware that Spirit-filled living is not a one-time shot. It makes little difference what kind of experience you once had with God if your life isn’t showing it now. If you aren’t living with power in your life to be faithful to Him, and if you aren’t living with freedom and victory over sins – big or little – then you have a spiritual problem. But the good news is that this problem is not unfixable.
The late Bill Bright used to tell this story. During the Depression, a field known as Yates Pool, was a sheep ranch owned by a man named Yates. Mr. Yates wasn’t able to make enough on his ranching operation to pay the principal and interest on the mortgage, so he was in danger of losing his ranch. With little money for clothes or food, his family (like many others) had to live on government subsidy.
Day after day, as he grazed his sheep over those rolling West Texas hills, he was no doubt greatly troubled about how he would pay his bills. Then a seismographic crew from an oil company came into the area and told him there might be oil on his land.
They asked permission to drill a wildcat well, and he signed a lease contract.
At 1,115 feet they struck a huge oil reserve. The first well came in at 80,000 barrels a day. Many subsequent wells were more than twice as large. In fact, 30 years after the discovery, a government test of one of the wells showed it still had the potential flow of 125,000 barrels of oil a day.
And Mr. Yates owned it all. The day he purchased the land he had received the oil and mineral rights. Yet, he’d been living on relief. A multimillionaire living in poverty. The problem was that he didn’t know the oil was there, even though he owned it.
This is Pentecost Sunday, the day we remember the Holy Spirit coming down into the world and into our hearts. And we are so content to sit here smug and unchanged, while the passionate burning fire of God waits to refine us. I invite you today – come to the mountain of God. Come and have your garbage burned away. Come and have the life God intended for you.
