SERIES: “THE GROWTH FACTORS”
TEXT: ACTS 2:1-13
TITLE: “THE INSPIRATION FACTOR”
INTRODUCTION: A. A mechanic in Mangum, Oklahoma, answered the distress call of a woman
motorist, whose car had stalled. He examined the car and informed her that it was
out of gas.
She asked the mechanic, “Will it hurt if I drive it home with the gas tank
empty?
1. That woman didn’t understand the way that automobiles operate
2. She was confused as to what powers the vehicle.
B. We’re well into our series: “The Growth Factors”
--the factors important to numerical and spiritual growth
1. We’ve talked about The Motivation Factor
--why does FCC exist?
2. We’ve talked about The Expectation Factor
--do we have the same vision for the church that Christ has?
3. We’ve talked about The Communication Factor
--the importance of prayer
4. We’ve talked about The Affection Factor
--the importance of love
5. Today, we’re going to talk about The Inspiration Factor
--The importance of the Holy Spirit in the life of the church
C. Many Christians are confused about the Holy Spirit
1. There are those who over-emphasize the Holy Spirit
2. There are those who under-emphasize the Holy Spirit
3. There are those who ignore the Holy Spirit altogether.
4. Billy Sunday: “I sometimes wonder whether the church needs new members one-
half as much as she needs the old bunch made over. Judging by the way multitudes
in the church live, you would think they imagined they had a through ticket to
heaven in a Pullman palace car, and had left orders for the porter to wake them up
when they head into the yards of the New Jerusalem.”
D. Who is the Holy Spirit?
--The Bible refers to the Holy Spirit in many different ways
1. The Spirit of God – Gen. 41:36
2. The Spirit of judgment and fire
3. The Spirit of wisdom and understanding
4. The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord
5. The Spirit of truth
6. The Spirit of Christ
7. The Spirit of Grace
8. Counselor/Comforter
9. Power of the Most High
E. Acts 2:1-13 – “When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.
Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the
whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that
separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy
Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Now there were
staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they
heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard
them speaking in his own language. Utterly amazed, they asked: ‘Are not all these
men who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own
native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and
Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya
near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism Cretans and
Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!’ Amazed
and perplexed, they asked one another, ‘What does this mean?’ Some, however, made
of them and said, "They have had too much wine.’”
1. There is a special outpouring of the Holy Spirit that had been prophesied and
promised both in the Old Testament and by Jesus
2. Occurred on a day we call Pentecost.
a. Jews called Pentecost the Feast of Weeks
--it was one of the high holy days for the Jewish people
b. It celebrated giving of the Law (the Old Covenant)
c. It became the beginning of the Church
--The promised time when Jesus would lead His people not by His physical
presence but instead by His Holy Spirit.
d. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost isn’t just a history lesson
--It’s impact in the 1st century has implications for the church in the 21st century
I. THE EXPRESSION – HOW DID THE HOLY SPIRIT COME?
--There were some important events happening among the believers that precipitated the coming of the Holy
Spirit:
A. Believers were together
1. “all together” – word literally means “unanimous”
--not just together as a group of people but together in purpose and perspective
2. “in one place” – “ to admit or delight in”
--That’s where the body of Christ needs to be: accepting one another in grace
B. Expecting something
1. There was an expectance that God was going to do something in their midst
--They were awaiting the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise
a. They prepared for it by praying
b. They were ready to receive it because their minds and their hearts were focusing on what God
would do through them
2. Audible
--sound
a. Came from heaven
--not from N, S, E, or W; but from above
b. “like a violent wind”
--ever been in a tornado? sound of freight trains
3. Visual
a. visual effect – “saw what seemed to be tongues of fire”
b. One commentator describes it this way: “The original Greek gives the picture, not of a cloven
tongue on each, but the ‘firelike’ appearance presented itself at first, as it were in a single body, and
hen suddenly parted in this direction and that; so that a portion of it rested on each of those
present.”
4. It produced something that was hard to ignore
a. They heard speaking the message of Jesus in the native language of those gathered to celebrate
Pentecost
1). vs. 6b – “Each one heard them speaking in their own language
2). vs. 8 – they ask how it can be that they can hear in their own native languages
b. Spoke as the Spirit enabled them
--Work of God’s Spirit that allowed them to speak in other languages (dialects)
c. The Spirit accomplished what Jesus said He would do in John 14:26-27 – “"When the Counselor
comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he
will testify about me. And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.”
--v. 11b – “we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!”
C. All of them were filled with Holy Spirit
1. Not full of themselves but the very Spirit of God.
2. The comparison of the Holy Spirit and wind is important to comprehending the Spirit’s work in us
today
a. John Ortberg says the difference between depending on our efforts and the work of the Spirit is like
taking a rowboat across the ocean. It’s exhausting and usually unsuccessful.
b. He says that others have given up the rowboat and tried to throw themselves entirely on God’s
grace.
--That’s like drifters on a raft. They do nothing but hang on and hope God gets them there.
c. He warns that neither the rowboat nor the raft are effective in bringing about spiritual
transformation.
d. He says that the best image is the sailboat, which if it moves at all, is moved by the gift of the wind.
1). The wind isn’t under our control
--A good sailor just discerns where the wind is blowing and adjusts the sails accordingly
2). The good sailor does have a part in discerning how the wind is blowing, knowing the direction
he needs to go, and then setting the sails to catch the wind that God provides.
3. The symbol of fire represents several things for our lives:
a. Purity – fire is used to purify precious metals
--takes out the pollution and impurities
b. Presence
--God’s presence led the Israelites through the wilderness as a cloud by night and a fire by night
c. Transformation
--fire changes whatever it touches
d. God has come to indwell His people
1). to be with us constantly
2). To live in us: purifying and transforming us
II. THE EXPLANATION – WHY DID THE HOLY SPIRIT COME?
A. Jesus said in Acts 1:8 that when the Holy Spirit came that He would give POWER
1. Greek word here is dunamis
--explosive, inherent power ready to be put to use
2. The word “dynamite” entered the English language when the Swedish chemist and engineer
Alfred Bernhard Nobel (1833-96) made the discovery that became his fortune. He discovered a
power stronger than anything the world had known up to that time. He asked a friend of his who
was a Greek scholar what the word for “explosive power” was in Greek. His friend answered,
“Dunamis”. Nobel said. “Well, I am going to call my discovery by that name.” .
B. Six different areas where Holy Spirit brings power:
1. Power to witness
--Acts 1:8 – “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my
witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
2. Power to pray
--Rom. 8:26 – “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought
to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.
3. Power to strengthen the church
a. Acts 4:31 – “After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were
all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.”
b. Acts 9:31 – “Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace. It was
strengthened; and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it grew in numbers, living in the fear of the Lord.”
4. Power to live the Christian life
a. Gal. 5, Paul warns about trying to live the Christian life through the power of our own flesh
--that the flesh desires the things that are completely opposite from what the Holy Spirit desires
b. Gal. 5:22-23, he lists what the Holy Spirit produces in our lives: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love,
joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”
5. Power to convict and convince of sin, righteousness, and judgment
--Jn. 16:7-11 – “But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the
Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will convict
the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: in regard to sin, because men do
not believe in me; in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see
me no longer; and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.”
6. Power to change lives
--Rom. 8:13-14 – “For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you
pit to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God
are sons of God.”
III. THE EXCHANGE – WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE HOLY SPIRIT COMES INTO THE LIFE
OF THE BELIEVER AND THE CHURCH?
A. The Holy Spirit is not just a “one time deal”
--promised as part of the normal Christian life
1. Acts 2:38-39 – “Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ
for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for
you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”
2. 1 Cor. 3:16 – “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in
you?”
B. Vance Havner: “We are not going to move this world by criticism of it nor conformity to it, but by the
combustion within it of lives by the Spirit of God.”
1. Important that we understand this power that is given to us
--Without the work of the Spirit in our lives and in our church we become like the people Paul
describes in 2 Tim. 3:5a – “having a form of godliness but denying its power.”
2. 1 Cor. 2:4-5 – “My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a
demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s
power.”
C. John R.W. Stott, The Spirt, the Church and the World: “Without the Holy Spirit, Christian discipleship
would be inconceivable, even impossible. There can be no life without the life-giver, no understanding
without the Spirit of truth, no fellowship without the unity of the Spirit, no Christlikeness of character
apart from his fruit, and no effective witness without his power. As a body without breath is a corpse,
so the church without the Spirit is dead.”
CONCLUSION: A. One New Year’s Day in the Tournament of Roses parade, a beautiful float suddenly
sputtered and quit. It was out of gas. The whole parade was held up until someone could
get a can of gas.
The amusing thing was that this particular float represented the Standard Oil
Company. With all of its vast oil resources, they were out of gas.
1. There are lots of congregations today who are out of gas
a. They’ve relied too long on what they can do in their flesh instead of relying on the
Holy Spirit
b. They have looked to programs and people instead of almighty God
--Zech. 4:6 – “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubabbel: ‘Not by might nor by
power, but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD Almighty.”
2. Lots of people who are out of gas
--they’ve been trying to live life under their own power instead of the power of God’s
Spirit
B. Are you out of gas today?
