Empowered by the Spirit
Series: ROOTS (Acts)
Brad Bailey – September 25, 2011
Intro :
Today we are continuing in our series entitled “ROOTS” which is calling us to recapture the life and ministry of Jesus in us. We are seeking to hear through the Book of Acts… how Jesus continued his ministry through those who followed. It’s an opportunity to recapture the very core of the calling that is on our lives.
Last week we began engaging the profound transition…the reality that Jesus has given us his mission and ministry. He said to those who received his life in them… that they were now to continue to serve the kingdom of God… His reign and rule. Any Plan B? No.
Overwhelming? Yes…and that leads us forward as we focus on how he has not only given us his mission… but his source of power.
This is SO VITAL. Imagine someone giving you a really prominent job they had developed and succeeded at… and you took off in now doing it yourself… and then reached a point of frustration in which you realized they had given you the job but not the resources that they had relied upon. That is how many of us have sought to follow Jesus… we try to seek his life without drawing from the same resources. We try to take up his mission without his mode.
He knows how significant the resources are… and that is something he wants to say to help each of us hear afresh today.
Acts 1:4-5, 8
....while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: "Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit." …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."
baptized in water… now in Spirit.
Baptism = immersion… that is what now unfolds.
Acts 1:12-14 (NIV)
Then they returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day's walk from the city. 13 When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying… 14 They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.
Acts 2:1-19a (NIV)
1 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. 5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. 7 Utterly amazed, they asked: "Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? 8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? 9 Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs--we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!" 12 Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, "What does this mean?" 13 Some, however, made fun of them and said, "They have had too much wine." 14 Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: "Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. 15 These men are not drunk, as you suppose. It's only nine in the morning! 16 No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: 17 "'In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. 18 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. 19 I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below.
Profound moment… we could say the alternative to ‘all hell broke loose’ happened… all heaven seemed to break loose.’ It’s a moment which reaches back to what God had planned and promised… and which reaches forward… right into our midst this morning.
It’s a moment that begins in a room… lives gathered… wondering…waiting.
They knew who Jesus was… saw what he did… received him as their savior and leader… and wanted to follow him. But they faced their own limitations… felt their own limitations.
That is where the Spirit meets us… faced and feeling our limitations.
It’s still where the Spirit meets us. The Vineyard movement was birthed out of that sense.
A group of lives falling more deeply devoted to Jesus… experiencing his love… but seeking more of his presence and power. It began with seeking God’s presence neither presumptuously nor passively. That is the quality we see here on the day of Pentecost.
Seeking God… without presumption or passivity.
They ‘waited well’…without presumption of demanding anything from God… but neither in passivity of just following their own patterns of life.
They are ‘actively waiting.’ There are four qualities that are healthy to recognize in the way they waited.
• Simple Obedience – had gone to Jerusalem and waited – ‘they returned to Jerusalem from the hill’ (1:12)
• Consistent Prayer - ‘They all joined together constantly in prayer’ (1:14) This defines their disposition. They sought God’s will in prayer. Appears for 10 days.
• Recognized Leadership… that represented knowing Christ – In the section of the text we did not read, they recognize that the Scriptures had foretold of one who would betray and the curse that would befall them…referring to Judas…and the need to choose another who would replace them. They noted that it should be one who had been with Jesus. And Matthew was chosen. As such they were a group who established a healthy submission of their individualism to leadership grounded in Christ. [1]
• United with each other – ‘…they were all together’… united and in one accord (2:1)
They were beginning to live out the unity that Jesus had called them into…in which they sought not to be served but to serve…in which they served each other’s interests above their own.
Like these who first gathered… we can’t know how and when God will work… but we are to be where he wants doing what he wants… and trusting in his sovereignty. Those qualities provide the foundations for God’s presence and power.
‘Suddenly’… some force comes into their midst.
That word ‘suddenly’ captures the important fact that God can intervene at any moment He chooses. Your world can look one way at one moment and completely different the next.
As we hear of what happened, there is a sense of trying to describe something more spiritual than physical… but manifested in something like a rush of wind and the accompanying sound.
Would not be the last time that the Spirit of God was described like a wind.
Then this force comes upon them as individuals and they begin to speak out in languages that they as simple Galileans didn’t know. The volume was such that it could be heard outside…by crowds with travelers from all over. So this poured outside where this amazing phenomenon was recognized by all.
This transcending of languages was itself a sign… this whole event was a profound sign of God’s kingdom uniting all people. (Note: We are going to engage the whole dynamic of God uniting us amidst our diversity next week.)
Two responses
Some respond with amazement… wanting to pursue what it meant… others just became critical and cynical… suggesting maybe they were drunk. (12 Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, "What does this mean?" 13 Some, however, made fun of them and said, "They have had too much wine.")
It’s interesting that these two types of responses have always arisen… even today…and sometimes we may find an element of both in us.
When I first experienced something beyond me… amazed… wanted to know what it meant… would later experience… and ask: “God is this you? If so I want to receive what you have.” I would later have times where I felt less certain and more critical…. Sometimes in the healthy sense of being critical… but sometimes in the unhealthy sense.
The Vineyard became a good place to be… as I found freedom to pursue without presumption… and to recognize that God is not always going to flow within my boundaries of comfort. He will move through people that may not be as sound or sophisticated as I think is wise. So I have decided never to make my sense of what is ‘safe’ a boundary between what I will seek in my life with God.
So Peter rises to explain.
Quoting from the prophet Joel in the OT Scriptures… he describes how God had declared that…
“'In the last days, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.”
Peter declares to us is that…
1. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit is God’s PLAN
God declared a profound change would take place. In the Old Testament His Spirit had used only a few lives on a few occasions to make his will known… but a day was going to come when he would POUR OUT the working of his Spirit on all who receive Him.
This is part of a radical change that Jesus enacted… involving God’s manifest presence. Throughout the previous era, God’s manifest presence… where his will reigns… in temple and temporal moments working… now in living temples of those who can enter life with Him again.
This is what Jesus makes possible.
And God brought this forth in prophetic fashion… notably in bringing this new upon the holidays and festivals…fulfilling what they had symbolically represented.
It was during Passover that Jesus was crucified as the lamb now slain… whose sacrifice covers is from the judgment of death.
Then came the offering of First Fruits… which the Scriptures explain Jesus fulfilled as the first fruit of those who will be raised from the dead.
But then came Pentecost… which was the feast of the harvest… and occurred 50 days after the feast of first fruits (thus the name Pentecost meaning fifty.) Pentecost also occurred on the first day of the week (Sunday). God chose this day to pour out his Spirit as witnesses to the world. bring forth his church and to initiate the world wide harvest of souls. [2]
Sinclair Ferguson writes this…. “The inaugural outpouring of the Spirit creates ripples throughout the world as the Spirit continues to come in power. Pentecost is the epicenter, but the earthquake gives forth further aftershocks. Those rumbles continue through the ages.”
2. The Holy Spirit is the manifest PRESENCE and POWER of life with God.
God is redeeming life with Him. The Spirit is God personal manifest presence and power of that life.
To manifest something is to make it evident… to bring it out into reality. The Spirit is manifesting life with God… bringing into the created realm the reality of life with God. Everything that the Spirit brings to bear is about restoring life with God.
• Gives new life with God (creation , ‘born again’; involves power to convict and convince of sin… which is an essential part of leading us back into life.) [3]
• Unites us in relationship with God (Dramatically reflected on this Day of Pentecost as languages are transcended… as well as described in many Scriptures [4] )
• Serves our relating with God (i.e. prayer, etc)
Romans 8:26 (NIV)
“…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.”
• Forms God’s nature and character in us (fruits of the Spirit)
Romans 8:13-14 (TNIV)
“For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.” - Romans 8:13-14 (TNIV)
Gal. 5:22-23, he lists what the Holy Spirit produces in our lives:
“… the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” - Gal. 5:22-23
Illustration – like a balloon with a picture and message on it…when it’s not inflated it can’t be seen or understood. Only by being blown up through the means of another source can the balloon expand, displaying its message.
We struggle all through life trying to expand ourselves … but the expansion can only come from the force of the Spirit at work in and with me. He is forming the nature of Christ in us.
• Brings signs of restoring life under God (healing, deliverance, boldness of truth and justice) [5]
• Empowers our witness of life with God
Jesus had emphasize that the Spirit would enable them to be witnesses that would spread throughout the world. And through the book of Acts we are told how the Spirit gave them boldness to stand up and speak out… and the power this had. (Acts 5:12-42)
In all of these ways…
“What we must realize is that the presence and power of the Holy Spirit is NOT a matter of the material world having a spiritual dimension… as much as it is the spiritual world’s ability to create and relate to a material world. The Spirit is the ultimate source of force in the world.”
The Spirit reflects the will of God at work. When Jesus declared that the kingdom of God was at hand in his coming… I believe he was referring to what he was manifesting in himself… and the overcoming of the powers over this world…but also the power of the Spirit that was to follow. As the Spirit reflects the manifesting of God’s will… His reign…in us and through us.
This is what Peter explains when he says that they are not drunk with wine.
To be drunk with wine is to be ‘under the influence’ of something that is not simply ourselves.
That is what the Spirit seeks to be in our lives.
Paul would later state:
“Do not get drunk on wine…instead, be filled with the Spirit.” - Ephesians 5:18 (NIV)
Don’t give yourself to getting a DUI… choose to be LUI… Living Under the Influence of the Spirit.
3. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit is for ALL PEOPLE.
This is the critical truth at hand.
Who did the Spirit come upon?
Verse 3 - 4 –
“…came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit…” – Acts 2:3-4
As Peter explained, this is God’s plan… verse 17 –
'In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.’ – Acts 2:17
How do we relate to the Holy Spirit?
That is a grand subject… I just want to note a few values we have.
1. We seek to be naturally supernatural
“Supernatural” is a reality that we may all believe and value… but can raise some differences.
The tension that has arisen in relating to the Holy Spirit… has often been between that of focusing on the outward manifestations of the Spirit… and fearing the strange and even uncertainty of those manifestations. We have a tendency to become too focused on the dramatic aspects… or too fearful of such. (Some of us need to consider our felt need of control. Some of us may need to consider our focus on the sensational… the need for drama.)
Both of those tendencies can reflect something unhealthy… our need for drama and validation… and our need for control and comfort.
We need rise above an unhealthy focus or fear on the outward experience.
Many aspects of this particular event… manifestations of wind, noise, speaking in other languages… are neither repeated at other times… nor are they the essence of what is at hand. However… there often is some manifestations of the Spirit’s presence… and we should receive whatever God is authentically doing. No hype… no manipulation.
The key thing is that we should focus on the substance more than any sensation… the essence over the experience.
That freedom to recognize the limits of our control… to face our weakness… leads to the next point.
2. We seek God’s Spirit into our limitations.
(Both inner life / soul, such as overcoming fear with love… and outer life / body, such as strength, healing, etc.)
These include inner needs (i.e. problems with fear, anger, etc)… as well as outward working in ministering to others (i.e. prophetic insight, healing, etc.)
Paul declares,
“Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts…” - 1 Corinthians 14:1
3. We seek to be continually filled
While the initial Day of Pentecost was a unique day of the Spirit being poured out… it was only the beginning of his coming upon the lives of those who receive Christ.
He is freely at work… and everyone who receives Christ has the Spirit within them.
Yet there is an ongoing process of being filled… of the Spirit infusing new areas within us with God’s will… and working through us in new ways.
If the Holy Spirit is manifesting the will and nature of God at work in and through us… is that not an ongoing process? As A.W. Tozer said,
"Though every believer has the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit does not have every believer."
Closing – inviting all to take time to ask god to fuill them afresh… to offer needs.
Resources: John Hamby, Richard Tow
Notes:
1. Acts 1:20-21 (NLT) - Peter continued, “This was written in the book of Psalms…‘Let someone else take his position.’ “So now we must choose a replacement for Judas from among the men who were with us the entire time we were traveling with the Lord Jesus…”
2. As John Hamby notes more fully:
There are in fact three fulfilled prophecies,
1. The feast of the Passover.
The Passover was an observance of God’s
mercy to Israel in Egypt, when God brought judgment on the land of the Egyptians to convince the Pharaoh to release the children of Israel. To escape the plague on the firstborn in Egypt, the Israelites had to kill a lamb ad put the blood on the door-post and the lintels of their houses, and thus were protected from God’s wrath. Down through the centuries Israel had commemorated this event with the feast of the Passover. According to God’s timing Christ was crucified on Passover as the complete sacrificial lamb, the once for all time sacrifice for sin. His blood protects us from God’s wrath.
2. Offering of First Fruits. On the day after the Sabbath following Passover, an offering was made to God of the first fruits of the coming harvest. In John 12: 24 Jesus says of himself, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.” (NKJV) In 1 Corinthians 15:20 Pauls says, “But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” (NKJV)
3. Pentecost – Feast of the Harvest. Fifty days after the feast of the first fruits (thus the name Pentecost meaning fifty) came the feast of the Harvest. Pentecost also occurred on the first day of the week (Sunday). God chose this day to bring forth his church and to initiate the world wide harvest of souls.
Richard Tow notes the significance of Pentecost (Spirit) being connected to the day of Harvest>
“Why is all that important? Because the typology teaches us that Pentecost is about the harvest. Jesus established the connection in 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." Any time the church loses sight of that connection she gets into trouble. The Holy Spirit is poured out on the Day of Pentecost for the harvest of souls. We are empowered by the Holy Spirit to be a witness. That’s the express purpose of the baptism in the Holy Spirit.” (From sermon entitled, The Day of Pentecost)
3. Regarding the Spirit in giving new life with God…
Who originally gave life? God took the dust… raw materials that form human life… and breathed His SPIRIT into it…. life from himself… which when we turned away in autonomy… was lost. So it is the Spirit gives life again.
John 3:5-6 (NIV) - Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.
4. Regarding the Spirit’s role in uniting life with God…
Ephesians 4:3 (NIV)
Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.
2 Corinthians 13:14 (NIV)
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
Philippians 2:1 (NIV)
If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion,
5. Regarding the Spirit’s empowering signs and wonders…
Acts 5:12; 1 Corinthians 12-14
