First Baptist Church
May 19, 2002
Acts 1:4-8 & 2:1-4
Luke 8:4-8
Accepting the Spirit
For many of us this started out as just another day in church. But, today is Pentecost. Pentecost is undeniably the most misunderstood and most often neglected special day on the religious calendar. Think of it this way, we celebrate the birth of Jesus, His death, and His resurrection are all special days in the church. We may even celebrate Passover, and include special secular days like Mother’s & Father’s Day, Graduation Sunday, Rally Day, Men’s Day, Women’s Day and the list can go on and on . . . BUT what about Pentecost? Pentecost is the birth of the church. It is the day when the promised Holy Spirit came upon those first apostles and close followers of Jesus. Without this event, the church would be 100% powerless.
Today, I want to take a look at Pentecost and what it means for us. I especially want to look at the decision we must make if we are to be Christ followers who use the full power of the Holy Spirit.
When I think about today’s scripture, I am struck by what Jesus told the disciples in Acts 1. In essence, Jesus told them to sit tight, don’t go anywhere because in a few days you will be baptized by the Holy Spirit. Have you ever been expecting a package in the mail, or waiting for a phone call from the doctor, or a call from that someone special. Maybe you were waiting for the microwave to cook your food, and one minute was like waiting forever.
Most of you know I love to read, and I order most of my books over the Internet. But, sometimes the waiting drives me crazy. I want the book now, so I can dive in to it.
Think about these followers of Jesus. They were simply told to wait, and if they obeyed they would receive power from God that would be more than they could ever imagine. After all, look at Jesus. Immediately after telling this to His followers, He is taken up to heaven before their eyes. After watching that, and knowing that He was resurrected from the dead, think we would have been satisfied to wait? Well, maybe we would have made it one day. But the Bible tells us the followers had to wait 10 long days.
Finally the day arrives. Of course, they didn’t know the day had arrived. They were just being obedient, devoting themselves to prayer, Bible reading and worship. Then it happens. The Holy Spirit comes rushing into the room. Luke describes what they heard. It sounded like a violent wind which was blowing and filled the entire upper room. Some of us may appreciate that sound, after being here during the tornado in 1999. Debbie and I were sitting on the living room floor in the dark, trying to open the plastic wrapping a new flashlight was in. Not the best time to struggle and open a flashlight. While the wind didn’t blow through our home, it sounded like a freight train rushing past our home. I can only imagine what the Holy Spirit sounded like to the 120 followers.
Then they saw what seemed to be like tongues of fire. What a powerful image. Fire from heaven coming down and touching each person, filling them with the Spirit of God. Can you imagine that? Wouldn’t it have been great to be in that upper room? Experiencing the power of the Holy Spirit, as it came upon not just the apostles, but every one who believed in Jesus was filled that day.
I have to tell you it blows me away to think of what those people experienced. Because, if most of us were to be honest, we too, would want to experience what they did. Sometimes we may even wonder — "am I really filled with the Holy Spirit? After all, I never had that happen to me."
You see when the Holy Spirit came upon those first followers of Jesus, there were many Jews in Jerusalem celebrating the Jewish holiday called Pentecost. Pentecost simply means "50 days." Because this holiday occurred 50 days after Passover. For the Jews, Pentecost was a special holiday. It was a religious harvest festival, something like Thanksgiving without the football games. Thousands of Jews would crowd into Jerusalem.
Now, the really cool thing about what happened comes next. The believers didn’t just stay in the upper room celebrating what happened. After all, that would have been natural. They could have compared stories about how they felt and what they saw and experienced, BUT they didn’t. Instead, they went outside and began to talk in languages that they didn’t even know. The people heard this commotion and they came to check it out.
Some people laughed at the believers, claiming they were drunk, but by the time Peter was completed the inaugural sermon of the church, 3,000 people had accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. How about that for an altar call?
So, what does all of this mean for you and I?
I want to demonstrate for you what the 4 possible choices are to the Holy Spirit and what the end results can be.
First I want to read another scripture for you. It is called the parable of the Sower and is found in Luke 8:4-8 —
While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from town after town, he told this parable: 5 "A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds of the air ate it up. 6 Some fell on rock, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, 100 times more than was sown." When he said this, he called out, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."
Now, let’s just pretend that these 4 jars represent the 4 soils Jesus talks about.
JAR NUMBER 1 — (put no liquid in the jar - "the soil" - and put in as much baking soda "the seed" as you like)
The 1st Jar represents the path or sidewalk. This is the type of person that hears the message of Jesus, but they reject Him lock, stock and barrel. Jesus tells us that the seed is plucked up by the devil. Their hearts are hardened to the Word of Christ.
JAR NUMBER 2 — (fill 1/3 water + little vinegar and put in a measured amount of baking soda. The reaction you’re looking for is a little fizz but not much more)
The 2nd Jar represents the rocky soil. The soil reacts with the seed. And the seed immediately begins to grow, but because there’s not much top soil, it was not able to take root, and the seed quickly dies out. Jesus explains that these are the type of people who hear the Word, and get excited about it, but when the trouble and trials of life come their way, they quickly fall away.
JAR NUMBER 3 — (fill 1/3 with vinegar and put in a measured amount of baking soda. The result you’re looking for is for the vinegar to boil almost to the top of the jar and then die down)
This 3rd jar represents the soil among the thorns and weeds. This is the type of person who gets all excited about Jesus, comes to church, may even become a Christian. But their faith gets choked out. They never took the weeds out of lives. They become distracted by something else and Jesus suddenly is choked out of their lives.
These are the people who are able to withstand the pressures and trials of life, however, they weren’t able to give up the things of the world. Things like bitter spirits, greed, money, pornography, gossip, drunkenness, impatience, and the list goes on.
JAR NUMBER 4 — (fill jar to ½ with vinegar and put in a goodly amount of baking soda. The result you’re seeking is for the vinegar to boil over abundantly – you’ll want a tray underneath to catch the overflow)
The 4th jar is the good soil. When the seed is planted in the good soil, it can produce a crop which yields 100 times more than was planted. That’s what God is looking for. He’s looking for a believer who is more than just a casual acquaintance. A believer who takes their faith seriously and produces a crop.
The impact that the Holy Spirit can make in each of our lives varies. It varies for only one reason — us. When we are willing to let the Holy Spirit in and take over, then watch out. But most people fall in jar number 3. That is the soil that grows up in the weeds and thorns. Most people are in that range because we have not let go of the things of the world. We have not let go of the things that we know we must let go of, if we ever want to experience the Spirit as we desire.
Take a moment and think to yourself, where do you fall in this continuum?
Are you more like the seed planted on the sidewalk or path?
Are you more like the seed planted among the rocky soil?
Are you more like the seed planted among the thorns? OR
Are you more like the seed planted in the good soil?
None of us have to be satisfied where we are at. If you believe you’re just fighting the Holy Spirit tooth and nail, and that seed He’s dropping is falling on the sidewalk, than I have good news for you. You don’t have to be satisfied with that.
Or if the Spirit has been dropping its seed and you have accepted it, but what trouble hits, you high tail it out of here, then you can stop and turn back to God.
If the Spirit has been planting seed in your weeds and thorny soil, and the things of the world are grabbing hold of you. Then you cut away those weeds and take the next step . . .
If you are already accepting that seed and you believe you are in good soil, then fantastic. Keep up the good work and bring more people along with you. But know that when you are in the good soil, satan is always going to try to throw things at you that will knock you down.
The next step is grabbing onto the good soil. The Holy Spirit wants you to take the good soil, so that we can experience His presence, we can experience His power. And I’ll tell you something, we all have His power within us, it is just a matter of unleashing the power of the Holy Spirit and then brothers and sisters . . . WATCH OUT!! Because when that happens there will be no force on earth or in hell that can stop us. Satan watch out, because as Jesus told Peter in Matthew 16:18, ‘the gates of hell will not prevail against the church."
That’s the Good News of the Holy Spirit. I would encourage anyone who wants to move from where they are right now in their lives and wants to accept the power that is available from the Holy Spirit, then I bid you to come forward during this hymn so we can pray that we would accept His Spirit in greater ways, so that we not only experience its power, but we begin to unleash it in our lives.
Would you pray with me. . .
* Illustration comes from "Heno Head’s Simple Science Object Talks."
