We’re looking this evening at the Day of Pentecost and the coming of the Holy Spirit.
Last week we did an overview of the book – the type of person Luke was, why he wrote, what theology he touched on. We have time only to look at themes. The key verse was :
Acts 1:8
This was an unconditional promise. Jesus said they would receive power. All they had to do was to go back to Jerusalem and wait until the Holy Ghost was poured out.
This books bridges between the Gospels and the Epistles, providing the historical context for the Epistles. The Gospel was propelled – Jerusalem to Judaea to Samaria to the uttermost parts of the earth. Luke has one aim in view – the transmission of the Gospel from a Jewish centre in Jerusalem to the centre of the civilized world in Rome. In the Gospel of Luke, he starts in Rome (with talk of the taxing) and ends in Jerusalem with the crucifixion. Now we move in the other direction. This Gospel isn’t just for the Jewish nation, but for the people of the world. The Holy Spirit orchestrates everything, directing them in everything they do.
Acts 2:1
God’s timing is always perfect. In Gal 4, Paul refers to the fullness of time. Here again we have a sense of timing. This is a point in history where eternity intersects with time, and God sends for the promised Holy Spirit.
Pentecost means fiftieth. The Passover was the time when Jesus was crucified. Here we are fifty days later, which was when they celebrated the first fruits of harvest.
John 12:23-25
At the death of Jesus, the wheat had fallen into the ground, and now fifty days later we have the firstfruits. God had such a sense of timing. Jesus had done His work, had returned to heaven. In world terms, God had set the stage. At this point in history, we have the Romans in charge. The Greek civilization prior to them had brought a common language – everyone could speak Greek, not just the educated people. Not only that, but the Old Testament scriptures had all been translated into Greek. We have a common language for communication, and the scriptures in that common language. And the Romans enforced peace – the Pax Romana. That meant that communication was easier. They built roads, got rid of the brigands.
We have the Bible available in a language accessible to everyone. We have an area where there is easy communication. And people were fed up with the ethos of life – corruption and cruelty. 90% of people in Rome were slaves. There was hopelessness and despair. People wanted something different. They were ready to hear the Gospel. The whole of history had come together. God had set the stage for the time of harvest.
Martin Lloyd-Jones: It was the outpouring of the spirit on the day of Pentecost, unique but with aspects which were repeatable, which alone explained the survival of the Christian church .
God was at work in His people. The Comforter had come. The Comforter is one who comes to strengthen and equip us in our faith, to enlighten our understanding, to convince the world of sin, righteousness and judgment, to guide us into all truth.
It’s the Holy Spirit who inspires and guides the events which transpire in this book. There’s a sense of purpose, of victory, of achievement, that God is at work.
Acts 1:1-3
By implication, this is still Jesus at work.
John 14:12
Luke is recounting the entire mission of Jesus is directed by the Holy Spirit.
Jesus instructs the apostles through the Holy Ghost Acts 1:2
The waiting disciples are baptised with the Holy Spirit Acts 1:5-8
Believers receive the Holy Spirit at new birth
Believers are described as filled with the Holy Ghost
The spirit is conferred by the laying on of hands, speaks to individuals and leads and guides.
In effect the Holy Spirit brings Jesus back amongst them, but is now unlimited in space and time. Because Jesus came as the second Adam, He came in the form of a man. He related with individuals. He lived and operated and did miracles within a limited geographical area. But now He doesn’t come as a man, but to indwell men, to empower men, to enable them to do what God is asking them to do. It’s the same, but it’s different.
The Spirit, like the Father, we don’t see. His chief work is to reveal the son and guide us into all truth. Although His ministry is unseen, He is revealing the fullness of the Father in each heart.
Primarily we see the Holy Spirit in relation to witness. He comes to reveal the things of Christ in the hearts of individuals, but that revelation is to be communicated to the world – it’s not just for you and me.
John 15:26-28
The revelation isn’t just for us – it’s to be communicated to the world. When you read through the Gospels and the early chapters of Acts, although they had shared intimate moments with Jesus, the disciples really had no understanding of what Jesus had come to do.
They believed in Him as the Son of God, a great prophet, the one who would release them from the Roman yoke. They knew nothing of the new creation, of righteousness, of the ability to stand in the Father’s presence without condemnation ... They had heard Jesus teaching, but did not grasp it. They did not understand John the Baptist’s word concerning Jesus.
They understood John’s baptism, the need to repent and get right with God, but they didn’t understand what God’s purpose was. They didn’t understand that Jesus would take the sins of the whole world, would die and would rise from the dead and return to the Father – and would send forth the Holy Ghost, and that Holy Ghost would come and indwell not only these people in Acts, but you and me today.
They couldn’t grasp this. They saw Jesus as having authority, as walking with God, as someone who would deliver them from Roman rule. But they didn’t really understand why he came.
We can’t grasp what it means until the Holy Spirit comes and shows us. It’s as though He takes the scales from our eyes, and we see, understand, speak in a new way.
MLJ: IF the Gospel was something you and I could understand, it would not be the glorious Gospel of the blessed God. It would be a philosophy.
We can’t persuade people into faith. There is a sense in which we persuade, challenge, convince, but it avails nothing unless the Holy Spirit is at work to convict.
When we examine the early chapters of Acts, one of the clearest things is the change in Peter. Other than Paul, he is the disciple who is described the most – impetuous, foolhardy, full of enthusiasm. He always had to push other people out of the way to make his presence felt. As a man he had a real call. He was the first to be called. He always heads the list. He heads the 12, heads the 3. He was the dominant personality, and became the spokesman for the others. He always opened his mouth before others spoke. He seemed to have real glimpses of revelation. When Jesus challenged them to say who He was, it was Peter who spoke up. And when people turned away, it was Peter who asked to whom else they could go. Peter saw ... and yet he didn’t see. He tried to deflect Jesus from going to Jerusalem, and Jesus had to rebuke him. He understood, but he didn’t understand because he didn’t understand the purpose for which Jesus had come.
But a tremendous change came, and that change was defined by the Day of Pentecost. People say he was a coward because of the denial. He was a man of courage and loyalty. He was ready to fight, but didn’t understand what the fight was to be. Probably the denial was the lowest point of his life. Peter wrote himself off, but Jesus didn’t – after the resurrection, He sent word to Peter.
Three time Jesus told Peter to feed His sheep – mirroring the three denials.
But despite all this, the disciples still wanted to know when He would restore the kingdom to Israel. They still saw Him as meeting their need, but He wasn’t there for that at all.
Peter went back to Jerusalem to wait for the promise. And then Pentecost happened, and the house was filled. God sent out His spirit, with wind and fire. Wind was associated with the spirit in Jewish tradition.
Ezekiel 37:9-15
This Gospel would be preached by men with tongues of fire. It would be preached in such a way that nothing could withstand it.
Stephen was the first one to pay the price for having a tongue of fire. They were all filed with the Holy Ghost, denoting new birth and a new creation, just as Jesus had promised.
I wonder what it was like when suddenly there was a mighty rushing wind and they began to speak. At that moment the church of Jesus Christ was born. These were the first fruits of His sacrifice. And once again, Peter is the first on his feet.
This is a different Peter, a man with authority. All the things he had failed to understand suddenly made sense. All the bits of the jigsaw started to come together, and he was able to communicate that to the people who were watching and listening.
Jesus had said, I am the way, the truth and the life. Peter hadn’t understood why that involved the cross, but now he understood. The truth of redemption was coming alive. The life of Christ was revealed inside him.
“You are the message.” At this time, Peter became the message. He was able to speak, convict because the Holy Spirit was working through him. And his words were tremendously challenging.
Acts 2:22-25
Acts 2:36
Peter didn’t pull any punches. This isn’t the Peter who hid when challenged by the maidservant. This is a man with authority, power and conviction. And they were pricked to their heart. The same mob who called for the crucifixion. Peter tells them they crucified Him. Peter comes in the power of the Holy Spirit, and says, “You did it.” And they ask what they should do, and Peter tells them to repent and be baptised.
This went far beyond the message that John preached, and the people responded to it. Jesus said ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free ... And it began on the Day of Pentecost. And the same Holy Spirit who birthed the early church lives and works within us. That power is as real today as then. The reality of the Holy Ghost convicting people of sin and filling them with Himself is as real today as then.
In Acts, the ministry of the Holy Spirit is just the same. Different format but just the same as when Jesus walked the earth.
Martin Lloyd Jones ...
God sent His spirit and hasn’t called Him home. The Holy Spirit is still at work, within individuals, within this church, within His church worldwide.
So we have a changed Peter – a man who is very different from the man we see in the Gospels, who has a sense of purpose and direction, who knows that God has selected him for a purpose, to carry the Gospel to the ends of the earth.
In Acts 3, we have the account of the first miracle. A familiar story – the lame man healed at the Gate Beautiful. It must have been galling for the members of the Sanhedrin. 50 days before they had got rid of Jesus. They knew what they had done was unlawful. It was all wrong. The witnesses didn’t agree. On the cross, they thought they had silenced His voice forever. And here they are weeks later, and it sounds as though the same thing is happening all over again.
Once again they demand that these rebels be dragged before the Sanhedrin. Peter knows he has to give account of the fact that he has a faith, that God is at work, that the law and prophets have been fulfilled .
Acts 4:13
In the natural, Peter and John had little to commend them – no money, no status. Here they were, called before the Sanhedrin to give account. They were unlearned and ignorant. Why did Jesus choose people like that? He wanted to prove that people don’t come into the kingdom of God by natural ability or by what they do, but because something supernatural has been done to them, and they have been transformed.
“Peter had not been reading textbooks ... Something had happened to him. He had been filled with power. Hew was a new man. God’s power gives us power to live. It takes failures and puts backbones into them, making them new men and women so that where formerly they were defeated, they conquer ... That is Christianity, and there is only one explanation. They took knowledge that they had been with Jesus.”
Now by His spirit Jesus was living in them, and the authority and power He had was working through them.
Romans 1:16
Peter and John were convinced of the same truth. They had come to a place where they knew their lives were in God’s hands. All they wanted to do was fulfil what God wanted. He would take the consequences. They just had to proclaim the message.
They’re dragged before the Sanhedrin, which doesn’t baulk at sentencing people to die, and they are told not to teach and preach.
Acts 4:29-31
They didn’t snivel, cry. They didn’t say, “Shut their mouths.” They said, “Open ours.” They didn’t worry about the persecution. They didn’t pray that God would silence the Sanhedrin. Instead they prayed for boldness. I think there’s a lesson here for us. This church has come through turmoil, bit is our prayer that we want those silenced who would speak against us – or is our prayer that God protected this church, and that purpose hasn’t been completed. We need to get on with what God has given us today. We need to forget what people say against us. We have a world to impact and we are going to do it in the power of the Holy Ghost.
Peter and John were not important people. They had no influence. They took on the Sanhedrin. They took on the forces of Rome, the philosophies of the age. But their only source was God, and they asked Him that He would enable them, that they would be able to share all that Jesus had taught them, that they would be able to touch lives with the Word of life, touch bodies that needed healing.
How did this little group of people stand against the might of the Sanhedrin and the power of the Roman Empire and turn the world upside down? It’s been that way all down the ages. Luther stood against the power of the Catholic church with his revelation that salvation is by faith. He turned the world upside down. God could have used other people, but God had a perfect time, and used Luther to turn Christendom upside down and brought back the truth that salvation is by faith through the grace of God.
We look at 18th century England, deplorable moral conditions. Churches were empty. People scoffed at Christianity. It seemed the nation was locked in darkness. “But suddenly a boy called George Whitfield began to preach in a manner which shook church, congregations, England ... He was later followed by the Wesleys, and the whole face of England was changed.”
This is the Holy Spirit – not a suggestion, not a force, but the third person of the blessed Holy Trinity.
In Acts we see particularly the Holy Spirit making it possible for this message to be preached with holy boldness.
Acts 8:4
It took persecution to drive the believers out of Jerusalem. They went everywhere preaching the word. The Greek here is “talking”, not preaching. Every one of us can do that. We can share the word. There are moments when God opens things for you. Someone asks you a question, and you can respond with words you didn’t know you had. If you try it yourself it all goes wrong. But if God opens the way, you can share the reality of what Jesus has done.
And that’s what they did – sharing the Gospel, telling people what had happened to them. It was so different from everything they had ever known.
I can look back to the day God met me. I can only describe it as a light coming on inside me and I understood things in a way I had never done before. I can identify with Peter. There were years when I didn’t understand. But all through that time God was creating a need, showing me I didn’t have what it took. And when God came it was as though a light came on and I saw things differently. It was as though I was walking on air. There was a lightness, a joy, a confidence tat God had done something real. It wasn’t something I did. Something supernatural had been done to me.
Share what you have. You don’t have to have the whole counsel of God. We know only in part, but we can share the part we have, that God loves us, has spoken into our lives. Maybe we aren’t where we want to be, but we can share what we’ve got.
The Holy Spirit enabled them to speak.
1 Thessalonians 1:5
Everything was against Paul in this situation. It was a pagan city, the people had no Jewish background and they were living a life of sin. Paul came and began to speak the word in the Holy Ghost and in much assurance. It wasn’t just his word – the Holy Ghost was speaking through him, and it bore fruit.
The Holy Ghost doesn’t just give us power to share, but also opens our hears to hear. Peter’s sermon at Pentecost was quite straightforward. There was nothing terribly special, but it came with power. The Holy Ghost took his words and planted them in the hearts of his audience and they were pricked in their hearts. They realised their guilt before God, and repented and were baptised and 3000 were added to the church. Later, 2000. Later the Gospel came to the Gentiles, because the Holy Ghost empowered both the speaker and the listener.
You see in this book also the importance of the Word of God. The book is punctuated by “and the Word of God grew and multiplied”. The word always came first. Peter asked for boldness to speak the word. The Holy Spirit and the word go hand in hand. Each of us needs that encounter with God which changes us on the inside. Where things we don’t understand, things we find difficult to believe suddenly become so simple.
The contrast between the Peter of the Gospel, unsteadfast, slow of heart ... and the same apostle as he meets us in Acts, firm, courageous ... is one of the most convincing proofs of the power of Christ’s resurrection.
I find it incredible that that gift is ours today. We can know that same power and authority. We can be part of God’s plan for His kingdom. We can take our place because we have the power of the Holy Spirit working in our lives.
I want to finish where I started.
Acts 2:1
They were all in unity. They didn’t know what to expect, but they were standing together.
Psalms 133:1-4
There the Lord commanded the blessing. We’ve been looking at Nehemiah, which is about a people who stood together, who were prepared to fight for their brethren. Over the last five or six years, I’ve been asking God how we engender in a second generation that pioneer spirit which inhabits an early church. When this church was birthed, there weren’t huge numbers, but there was a common purpose. The school was something huge to us. You see the Queen Mary in sail, and you don’t know what it took to build her.
I asked God how we bring that spirit to a second generation. Because that school was born out of sacrifice. There were tremendous sacrifices on the part of the people. Some of you here are second generation, and I want you to lay hold of it. We can’t take people from where they are now and take them back twenty years and put them in a different situation.
I see that God is going to build another generation of pioneers. There is opposition, financial pressure. People are finding it difficult. And when you find it difficult, you begin to discover where your priorities lie. I want that pioneer spirit to be characteristic of every generation in this church. We have something that God has done in our midst which is precious, and we’re not going to let go. If we have to fight, we’ll fight, because where brethren stand together in unity, God commands the blessing.
God allows pressure because pressure works something in us. We don’t grow when things are easy. We sit down and enjoy it. But when there is pressure we have to draw on resources which are beyond us. We have to be like Peter and John who didn’t have status and power, but had the power of God. We have to stand because we believe this is what God wants.
At some time the baton has to pass. And the first generation of pioneers have to transmit it to the second generation of pioneers, and the ones who will take it are the ones who will not let go, who will go beyond every pressure and say, “I know what God has done, what He wants to do, and I will not let go.”
No comments:
Post a Comment