A Spirit People

May 19, 2002 (Pentecost Sunday)

A Pentecost Primer

Welcome to the celebration of Pentecost. If we were Jews living back in the time of Jesus and his disciples, we’d likely be gathering in Jerusalem today. If we were Jews living back in that time, we’d be bringing the first fruits from our crops, and we’d be gathering at the temple to celebrate and give thanks to God for His word, his law.

Pentecost (Greek for “fiftieth day”, as in fiftieth day after Passover) began in the Old Testament. It is the festival to celebrate the first fruits of the crops that were planted in very early spring. In OT times, farmers were to take the first fruits, the best of their crop, and bring it to the temple as a thanksgiving offering to God.[i]

Setting The Scene

· Read John 16:5-7; 12-13, 16

Jesus had been preparing his disciples for what was to come.

Friends, the Holy Spirit is no less than the very presence of the Living God—Jesus—dwelling in the lives of His people.

The last time we saw the disciples they had just returned from Mt. Zion, just outside Jerusalem. There they had seen Jesus ascend into heaven. You’ll remember that just before Jesus left them, he told them

“Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father (God) sends you what he promised. Remember, I have told you about this before…in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:4-5, NLT, parenthesis added).

Now let’s skip ahead. Soon after, Jesus ascended to heaven. Do you remember what happened after that? The disciples were staring up into the sky in bewilderment when two angels appeared and basically said, “friends, He’s coming back, that’s a promise. But in the mean time, you have work to do. Now stop your cloud gazing and do what he told you to do.” So they returned to Jerusalem, gathered together in that room above the street, and waited together, constantly in prayer.

A few days later, on the day of Pentecost, while all the believers in Jesus were cramped together in that upper room, God’s promise of his Holy Spirit was fulfilled.

Roaring Wind, and Tongues of Flame

Remember, the Holy Spirit is no less than the very presence of the Living God—Jesus—dwelling in the lives of His people.

“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”(Acts 2:1-4).[ii]

As I wrote this message on Friday, there was a tremendous wind outside. There is an eerie moaning whistle through the cracks in the window frames when the wind blows against the west side of the building. It was wonderful to hear it as I wrote this. I guarantee, however, that the sound that blew through the upper room that day was more like the sound of a furious tornado than the whistle of a stiff spring breeze.

And then there was fire! Holy Spirit flames of fire that came down and appeared to rest on each one of those in the room.

This, my friends, was the mighty God coming in power upon his people. The wind and flames are symbols. They are symbols used to describe a couple of key truths about who God is, about what they represented:

“The wind indicated that He was uncontrollable. He would blow, and go, and move as He chose. No human would ever contain him or tell him when to move and where to go.

The violence of the wind made it clear that he was powerful. Like a windstorm is powerful, so too is the Holy Spirit of God.

The flames represented the holiness of God. Throughout the Bible, flame is used to purify, to make holy.

Through a violent wind and tongues of fire, God wanted everyone to know that His Holy Spirit was completely powerful, completely uncontrollable, and completely holy.

An Individual Blessing

It says that the Holy Spirit came down in tongues of fire and appeared to “rest on each of them”(v. 3). The all-powerful, holy, uncontrollable, Spirit of God came to rest on each of them individually! Now why is that significant? Because up until that moment, the Holy Spirit had rested upon Israel as a corporate people and there was a sense of distance between God’s Spirit and his people.

Periodically, the spirit would come upon a specific person, usually a leader, at a specific time, for a specific task (Moses is a good example). But mainly the Holy Spirit remained distant from the people. But on the day of Pentecost, that changed. Now, the Holy Spirit was for every individual. The presence of God would now reside intimately with all believers.

Here’s the point:

This Holy, powerful, uncontrollable God was no longer at a distance—he was “here” residing with those who called upon His name[iii].

What’s the Point Today?

This is a great story, isn’t it? It’s packed with action, special effects and conflict. It makes you think and it demands a response. All things a great story has. But let me e something perfectly clear: this is not just a good story.

“Let me tell you something: 2000 years later, nothing has changed! The Holy Spirit is still the same today. We still, as a church, live in the era of the Holy Spirit. He is still active. He is still blowing like a violent wind; he is still an unquenchable fire. And he still, with all this holiness, resides within (those who choose to follow Jesus for their life).”[iv]

What’s the significance of the Pentecost story and the Holy Spirit’s arrival for us today? I want to suggest three things:

· The Holy Spirit make intimacy with God possible

Pentecost is a story of intimacy with God. This is the story of God coming intimately close to His people. This was a moment of intimate connection. “Pentecost has opened the door for us to have an intimate and supernatural experience of God.”[v] When the Spirit came upon the believers at Pentecost, it says they “were declaring the wonders of God”. What do you think that looked like? I’ll tell you what it wasn’t like. It wasn’t a somber, quiet, drab event. This was ecstatic, joy-filled worship. This was a people delighted with God, excited to declare his wonders.

One way to express the joy over this intimacy with God is through praise of God in worship, in particular, through music. Fernando says that singing is one of the supreme expressions of our joy over the intimacy we have in Jesus.[vi] Even Paul, in his letter to the Ephesians, connects singing directly with the fullness of the Spirit: Be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with all your heart to the Lord”(5:18-20, NASB).

(Zion Challenge—singing is vital to our expression of worship; hymns, choruses, psalms, sing!)

The Holy Spirit’s coming inspired those present to burst forth with songs and proclamation of God’s wonder.

· The Holy Spirit is transforming God’s people

No one who chooses to follow Jesus for his or her life is left uninhabited by the Holy Spirit of God. This is what it means to be born again. When you choose to follow Jesus, you are made new. The sin would once cause your death, can now be burned away by the fire of the Holy Spirit. You are a new creation. The old things have passed away and new life has begun.

Romans 8 says that the “Spirit of God sets people free” and that when someone chooses to follow Jesus “they are no longer controlled by the sinful nature but by the Holy Spirit that lives in you”(paraphrase). In other words, no one who chooses Jesus can remain the same. When you choose to follow Jesus and his ways, God gives you the Holy Spirit which begins to transform you, to move you from sin towards holiness; from the old life and ways, to new life in Jesus. This is ‘redemption’, when the Holy Spirit changes you form your sinful past, and transforms you.

The Holy Spirit won’t force itself on you though. It will change you only if you are willing to be changed. If you say “I want to follow Jesus for my life” but remain content to live in your old ways, doing the things you’ve always done, change will not happen.

The Holy Spirit is all about transforming us into God’s people, following God’s way that is best for us.

· The Holy Spirit is calling the church to do it’s job

When the Spirit came upon the disciples at Pentecost, it said something very important about the church. The Spirit came upon a group, and that group began proclaiming the wonders of God, and as a result, many people came to believe. This is the essence of church.

The purpose of the church is mission. The reason the church was created, the reason we gather here, is so that others may come to know the truth of Jesus and how He changes lives. The church exists to proclaim the truth of Jesus, and to make disciples who will proclaim the gospel.

Everything the church does must reflect this: Acts 2:42-47. The early church, by being the church, attracted unbelievers.

Some asked, upon hearing the message, “What do we do with this?” Some just passed it off as a drunken fit. Similar things happen today. There are people who accept the message of Jesus and choose to follow them or their life. There are others, however, who reject it. Some will reject, some accept. This is not for us to worry about. When I began preaching one of my colleagues said to me, “Shaun it is not up to us as preachers to convince the audience. The Holy Spirit does that. Our responsibility is to preach the truth.”

The book of 2 Corinthians says that the word of God is the fragrance of life or the fragrance of death to those who hear it. Rejection is to be expected. Our responsibility is to proclaim the wonders of God, his Gospel—the good news—through our love of God and neighbor!

Conclusion

The Holy Spirit is traditionally something that we don’t pay too much attention to in the church. It’s mysterious, it’s, well, a Spirit! We can’t see it, it’s vast, immeasurable, and without boundaries. We like things that can be explained in rational, reasonable ways. But the Holy Spirit can’t be explained. It just is. And what it is is the very presence of the living God among and in us.

(Churches, people who are changed—nothing less than the Holy Spirit of God working in our lives and in our community to transform us and make Himself known to the world around us)

“We now live in the age of the Spirit. The promise of the Father has now been fulfilled. Every single Christian receives (the Holy Spirit). It is no longer just for a particular people, at particular times, for particular tasks. It is for all Christians, including you and me.”[vii]

I conclude, would you quiet your hearts and pray with me?

Father God, thank you for sending your spirit to us. Thank you for dwelling in each of us who believe in you. We don’t want to sit on the sidelines though. Take control of our lives, fill up every part of it, burn away the sin and transform us. Holy Spirit, free us to worship you with joy and passion. Free us to love God and neighbor that they may know your wonders and come to put their trust in you. Your ways are awesome, your Spirit a mystery. Please give us courage to learn more about you and wrestle with that mystery. We give you thanks for your presence, your Spirit. Now may you be honored by our worship. Amen.

Notes

[i]Martha Zimmerman, Celebrating the Feasts (Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House

Publishers, 1981), p. 104.

[ii]All Scripture references are taken from the New International Version unless otherwise indicated.

[iii]The above italicized portion was adapted from a sermon by Andrew Lambkin, entitled, “Knowing God”(April 29, 2002). Andrew Lambkin is the Young Adults pastor at North Shore Alliance Church in North Vancouver, British Columbia. His message was used here with permission.

[iv]Ibid

[v]Ajith Fernando, The NIV Application Commentary, “Acts”, Terry Muck, General Editor

(Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1998), p.92.

[vi] Ibid 92

[vii]Nicky Gumble, Questions of Life, (Published in the USA by Cook Communications, 1996) p. 131.

May 19, 2002 (Pentecost Sunday)

Another reason for the Pentecost celebration was to give thanks to God for his law, his word to the people. On that day the people remembered how God gave his word to Moses. So Pentecost then brought Jews together from all over the world to give thanks to God for his provision of food, and his word that guided their lives.