Acts 2:1-4, 14-21
The Works of the Holy Spirit
Pentecost was an act of God. No one dictated it or commanded it, God Himself did.
• No disciple asked for it, and no one understood the significance of it until it happened.
• Jesus said the Father will send the Holy Spirit after he departs. That promise came true at Pentecost.
God knows its significance. Without the Holy Spirit, no one will be saved.
• Without the Holy Spirit, no one will be strong enough to tell the world about Jesus and finish the work.
• These believers must be transformed - from mere believers of Jesus to passionate witnesses of His love and grace.
• It did not happen because they went through a course or a seminar. It did not happen because of anything inherent in them.
• It was an act of God. He infused into them the passion and the power to witness to a lost and dying world.
God did that because there was no other way. We need the Holy Spirit today.
Reflect with me today the works of the Spirit in our lives – regeneration, renewal, revival.
We need Him firstly because (1) He is the Power for REGENERATION
• We are born again by the power of the Holy Spirit.
• 1 John 3:24 says “This is how we know that He [Christ] lives in us: We know it by the Spirit He gave us.” This new life in Christ comes through the Holy Spirit.
• He is the one who convicts; He is the one who enlightens us to the need for Christ; He is the one who prompts us of the words of Christ.
• We are able to know Christ and worship Him because of the work of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus says, “He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears… 14 He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.” (John 16:13-15)
It is good to remind ourselves that this life revolves around Christ; it is founded on a relationship and not some rules, rituals or routines.
• The Christian life is not about keeping rules but knowing Christ.
• This is fundamental and we need to remind ourselves of that. It is all about Christ.
• The Holy Spirit does not point us to a set of doctrines or guidelines for life. He points us to Jesus Christ.
People say church people are nice people. They are kind and loving, helpful and caring. In church, everyone dresses up and behaves their best on Sundays.
• But this is not what the Christian life is about – being good, moral people gathering together every Sunday for a time of singing and fellowship.
• It is about Christ and my relationship with Him. Paul says, “For I resolved to know nothing [while I was with you] except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” (1 Cor 2:2)
Being a Christian is more than just doing the righteous things or believing the right doctrines, it is in knowing the right person.
• As long as we think that Christianity is something that WE do, we are missing the point.
• Pentecost reminds us that it is not about what we do, but what God does in us. The Holy Spirit convicts us; He rekindles the fire within our hearts; He causes us to fall in love with Jesus over and over again.
Until I commit myself to knowing Christ on a daily basis and living faithfully for Him, I cannot experience the true joy of being a Christian because the Christian life has nothing to do with any other thing except a personal and vibrant relationship with Him.
• The Lord says, abide in Me and you shall bear fruit. (cf. John 15)
• Until I live by this constant fellowship with Christ on a daily basis, I am just going through the motions of religion without the experience of a new life.
• Unless and until we are committed to knowing and loving Him, seriously, on a daily basis, we are distant followers who look and act like Christians but without the power.
• There is little passion or power within, but just the appearance of it. There is little faith within, just the act of confidence.
Make time for Jesus. This relationship is foundational to everything else.
• James 4:8 “Come near to God and he will come near to you.”
• APPLICATION: Pray 5min every day.
• Paul said, “I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection” (Phil 3:10).
This leads us to the next point - (2) the Holy Spirit is the Power for RENEWAL
• The Christian life is not just about salvation, but transformation.
• Everyone wants a change for the better. People are looking for ways to improve themselves – their lives, looks, images, qualifications, status. We go for courses, seminars, and self-help books to upgrade ourselves.
• But ultimate a true and lasting change to life can only from the Holy Spirit. He changes us from the inside out.
We saw this radical CHANGE in the disciples and in the believers after them.
• We saw lives changed wherever Jesus was preached. We saw that change in Acts and the Roman world. We have been seeing that change down through history.
• The Holy Spirit transforms us and in turn, the world around us.
God is interested, not just in saving you but in changing you.
• He wants to change you back into His likeness, to be just like Christ. To be passionate about the Father’s Kingdom, just like Christ.
• The Holy Spirit is the agent for such a transformation. “Live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.” (Gal 5:16)
He is the power behind the change in our lives. Eph 5:18 says be filled with the Spirit.
• In order words, change will come when we allow Him to take control.
• The question then is one of degree. To what degree is He controlling us?
• It has been well said that we do not need more of the Spirit, but He needs more of us.
• Instead of thinking of the filling of the Spirit as an electric light switch which is either on or off (filled or not filled); we should compare His work to the light dimmer. The light is there, but is it bright? The light controlled by the dimmer varies by degrees. The more you allow Him to take control, the brighter it can shine.
How do we allow the Spirit to control our lives to a greater degree?
• Learn from the disciples – they took a stand to trust Christ, and make the choice to obey His plan and will. When they do that, the Holy Spirit enables them.
• TAKE A STAND. Make that decision before anything happens that you want to trust Christ and make Him your Lord.
• MAKING CHOICES. On a daily basis, I make little choices to honour Him and obey Him. When you do that, the Holy Spirit comes by your side and aids you in that choice.
I cannot your impulses or your emotions, or what will be thrown at me by a world filled with sins and temptations.
• But I can control the will, that is, the STAND I take and the CHOICES I make.
• The more I submit to Him, the more the Spirit is able to control me and allow my choices to glorify God.
• He is not running your life; you have to ALLOW Him to run your life.
Acknowledge Him, because the Holy Spirit aids you every day in the little choices you are making.
• Is He an untapped source of help in your life today? Have you being acknowledging His presence each day? Do you recognise His voice when He calls?
• APPLICATION: Show the love of Christ and bless someone in a practical way this week.
And lastly, (3) the Holy Spirit is the Power for REVIVAL – bringing a cold world back to God.
• The Christian life is not about being blessed, but sharing it.
• God is not only interested in saving you, He is not only interested in changing you, He is interested in changing everyone around you!
• 2 Peter 3:9 says He is patiently waiting, “not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”
The theme of Pentecost is clear - it is for the propagation of the Gospel.
• The words were clear – “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses…” from here to the ends of the earth. (Acts 1:8)
• The sign was clear – they spoke in tongues, in the languages of the people in foreign lands; words that they have not learnt but given.
• They are to cross language barriers and proclaim “the wonders of God” (Acts 2:11) to the ends of the world.
We are saved and then transformed so that we can inform the world of the saving grace of Christ.
• We are SAVED to be TRANSFORMED so that we can PROCLAIM the wonders of God.
• It has happened to us, and it must happen to everyone around us. This is the agenda of God!
Rev Rick Kirchoff, Pastor of Germantown United Methodist Church, made these opening remarks to the Memphis Annual Conference:
When God sends forth the Spirit amazing things happen: barriers are broken, communities are formed, opposites are reconciled, unity is established, disease is cured, addiction is broken, cities are renewed, races are reconciled, hope is established, people are blessed, and church happens.
Today the Spirit of God is present and we’re gonna‚ have church. So be ready, get ready... God is up to something... discouraged folks cheer up, dishonest folks confess up, sour folks sweeten up, closed folk, open up, gossipers shut up, conflicted folks make up, sleeping folks wake up, lukewarm folk, fire up, dry bones shake up, and pew potatoes stand up! But most of all, Christ the Saviour of all the world is lifted up...
My world around me must change because I am changed!
• Share Christ, and make it a habit of doing so. This is our calling today!
• APPLICATION: Share Christ with someone this week – tract, website, e-card, etc.
• Has this generation of Christians lost that passion?
Pastor Francis Chan, the senior pastor of Cornerstone Church in Simi Valley, California wrote in his latest book entitled, “Crazy Love”. He has already sold one million copies worldwide; a figure he says demonstrates the extent to which he is not alone in feeling a sense of frustration with "comfortable" Christianity.
He spoke at the Christian Resources Exhibition in London last week (13 May 2010) and he said, “Radical living was not only for the early church believers, but it's what the church today is also called to.” He had experienced resistance to the radical extent of his service for Christ, not from non-believers but from fellow believers.
He said that all Christians were called to live like the early church believers who denied themselves, took up their crosses, sold their possessions to the poor, and shared everything they had.
“To me it’s crazy to live any other way than a completely radical lifestyle,” he said.
“It wasn’t just for the apostles. It wasn’t just for the early believers. It’s for us today.”
He lamented that Christians were too often “missing it” – the level of commitment and passion to spreading the Gospel demonstrated by the early church.
“You go to church these days and you stare forward and sing a couple of songs and listen to the message and go home,” he said.
“Haven’t you wondered how come everyone’s so content and everyone acts like this is the norm and this is okay when in your heart it’s driving you crazy and it doesn’t square with Scripture?”….
“I feel very concerned for those people who walk into these buildings we call church and think they are Christians because they said a prayer and made a decision,” he said.
“Saying a prayer means nothing if there’s no follow through.”
He continued: “Where’s the obvious truth and where’s the obedience because I think we’ve missed some obvious things and created a system that doesn’t really make sense and we’ve done that because we don’t really want to live out Christianity, we don’t really want to become like Christ.
“Do you really want to be like Christ – rejected your whole life, spit upon, crucified? ...
We don’t want that part of Christ and yet it is those times when we are rejected for the Gospel that we really feel the peace and come to remotely resemble Jesus.”
Pastor Chan is stepping down after 16 years as the senior pastor. He said he had decided to leave the church he and his wife planted because he feared that he liked his popularity too much. He will deliver his final sermon at Cornerstone later in the month, and plans to move with his family to a developing country.
… by Maria Mackay, Christian Today Reporter
