Iliff and Saltillo UM churches
Pentecost Sunday
May 19, 2002
“Empowered for Service”
Acts 2:1-21
INTRODUCTION: The Holy Spirit was evident in scripture from the very beginning. Genesis 1:1 speaks of the “Spirit of God hovering over the waters” at the creation. The power of God was in evidence at all times but in a different way during the Old Testament times. In the Old Testament the Spirit of God came UPON certain individuals and gave needed power and ability to do specific tasks. Under the Old Covenant the divine presence was on Israel as a CORPORATE entity rather than on INDIVIDUALS.
Signs that He was present among them was represented by Wind, Fire, and Inspired Speech (or other tongues).
a. The Wind: The symbol of the wind of the Spirit is mentioned in Ezekiel 37:9 when the wind came from the four corners and new life came into the dry bones.
Before the day of Pentecost, in John 3:7 Jesus said, “You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again. The WIND blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
b. The Fire: Moses’ call came through the experience of a burning bush in Exodus 3:2-5. “There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up.”
You will remember the pillar of fire that stayed with the Israelites in Ex. 13:21
There was the consuming fire at Mt. Sinai in Ex. 24:17 “To the Israelites the glory of the Lord looked like a consuming fire.”
Exodus 40:38 “the cloud of the Lord was over the tabernacle by day and fire was in the cloud by night in the sight of all the house of Israel during their travels.”
The call of Isaiah in Isaiah 6:7 involved fire. The purifying fire of the Spirit was evident in Isaiah’s call. “A live coal from the altar touched my mouth and the seraph said, “See this has touched your lips and your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”
c. Inspired speech or tongues: Certain people were called to bring words of encouragement and/or words of judgment to the people. Isaiah 50:4 says, “The Sovereign Lord has given me an INSTRUCTED TONGUE to know the Word that sustains the weary.”
These scriptures give you just a few examples of the Jews’ familiarity with wind, fire, and tongues as related to the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament.
The Promise of the Holy Spirit’s coming in a different way was prophesied in Joel 2:28 “I will pour out my Spirit on ALL PEOPLE, Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.”
1. Preparing for a New Era: John the Baptist in Mark 1:8 said, “I baptize you with water but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.
Later Jesus tried to prepare His disciples for the coming of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. He said
John 14:16 “And I will ask the Father and He will give you another Counselor to be with you forever--the Spirit of Truth.”
John 14:26 “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the father will send in my name will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.’
John 16:7 “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 sin.”
John 16:13 “But when the spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth.”
Jesus tried to show the disciples that they needed the Holy Spirit to guide and direct them in their daily activities rather than them trying to go it alone.
STORY: Some surveyors were sent to a remote mountain to design a new map of the terrain. Everyday they would go up and over the rugged hills and every night return to their camp.
Usually every night they were joined by an old shepherd who enjoyed the companionship sitting around their fire at night. They would swap stories and tell of their daily adventures up on the mountain.
The old shepherd insisted that he would accompany the surveyors the next day so they wouldn’t get lost.
Feeling fairly sure of themselves after so many successful trips, they asked why he felt he needed to go along. The shepherd quietly insisted. “I must go with you.”
The shepherd insisted, “I must go with you for I know the mountains like the back of my hand. If I don’t go you will get lost.”
The surveyors were aggravated by his insistence. They said, “We now have a map made of the area. We don’t need you to go along. We can do it ourselves.”
The shepherd said, “But there is no fog on your map.”
The two “EXPERTS” went up the mountain early the next morning by themselves. Soon a thick fog encircled them and led them astray. They were lost! They wandered all around that mountain and became exhausted. Suddenly out of the fog, the old shepherd appeared beside them and led them home through the fog.(source unknown)
Can we relate to this story today? We feel so sure of ourselves that we are strong enough to go up and over the rugged hills of life day after day all by ourselves. Although we sometimes choose to go it alone, the Holy Spirit gently calls to us, “I must go with you.” Sometimes we ignore him because we have made our own MAPS to chart out our life’s pathway.
Our guide and comforter the Holy Spirit dwells in our presence and as we celebrate the day of Pentecost we mark the coming of the Holy Spirit to each of us individually.
II. Pentecost--A New Era: Pentecost was 50 days after the Passover and was one of three great pilgrim festivals. Pentecost for Jewish people was the day of the giving of the Law and for Christians it is the day of the coming of the Spirit.
On the day of Pentecost when “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.” It was not gradual but rather suddenly--a real attention getter. It filled the whole house which symbolized God’s presence among them in a more personal and powerful way than they had ever experienced before. EVERYONE was included.
They saw what seemed to be TONGUES OF FIRE that separated and came to rest on each of them. That was a very significant fact because up until this day the divine presence of the Lord rested on Israel as a whole rather than on each believer individually. In the King James version it says “cloven tongues” of fire. That means DIVIDED OR SEPARATED. For the first time the individual person had access to the presence of the Holy Spirit--INDWELLING him rather than merely RESTING UPON him for some specific task. The Amplified Bible says “FILLED or DIFFUSED throughout their soul.” Then it says that they spoke with OTHER TONGUES. “All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them” (v. 4). The words at Pentecost were considered current languages of the day and were recognized by people who were in Jerusalem--Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and others. The significant thing here is that they understood Galileans who didn’t know these languages speaking them by the Spirit’s enabling. Verse 6 says the crowd came together in “bewilderment because each one heard them speaking in his own language and asked, ‘are not all these men who are speaking Galileans?’”
Because these three signs of the Spirit’s coming were evident on the day of Pentecost and were considered in Jewish tradition to be a sign of God’s presence, they could relate to this as being genuinely what was promised by the prophet Joel and by others down through the centuries. This was what John the Baptist talked about as the forerunner of Jesus and what Jesus was telling his disciples about before he ascended into heaven in Acts 1:8.
III. What WAS the PURPOSE and How does it Apply to us today?:
(1.) He told them the infilling of the Holy Spirit would give them power to be witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. Where is your Samaria today? Do you have power to share the Good News? The ministry of the church today is dependent upon the work of the Holy Spirit. Scripture tells us it is “not by might nor by power but BY MY SPIRIT saith the Lord” (Zechariah 4:6).
(2.) He told them that another purpose for them as well as us today is that we can live more consistent and overcoming lives. Paul realized the need for the infilling of the Holy Spirit when he told the Ephesians, “Be filled--and continue being filled--with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18).
A question to ask today is, “How much do I experience God’s power today for sharing the Good News with others and for living an overcoming life?”
Am I filled with His Spirit?
How would my life change if I asked for more of God’s Spirit today?
On the day of Pentecost some were amazed and perplexed and asked one another, “What does this mean?” They wanted to know more.
In verse 13 Some of the people mocked and made fun. They said, “They have had too much wine.”
STORY: A Sunday school teacher had taught her class to recite the Apostles Creed by giving each child one phrase to learn.
At the Sunday school presentations the class was asked to give their recitation. They began beautifully.
“I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth,” said Sarah.
“I believe in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord,” chimed in Rachael.
Everything went perfect one after the other and then there was a long pause.
Finally a little girl spoke up and said, “Uh, the little boy who believes in the Holy Spirit is absent today!”
Do we believe in the Holy Spirit today as a significant part of our individual lives? Are you more like the people in verse 12 who were trying to figure it all out or would you be more like those in verse 13?
CONCLUSION: In our study on Jabez Prayer there were five steps given to receiving more of the Holy Spirit today.
1. Recognize your need for more of the Spirit.
2. Confess your sins and ask for forgiveness. I John 1:9
3. Ask to be filled with the Spirit for service. Acts 4:31
4. Identify what the Spirit wants done.
5. Act in faith. Believe you are filled and step out.
Concluding scripture in I Corinthians 6:19 says, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is IN YOU whom you have received from God?”
Let us pray:
