So today is Pentecost when we
remember and celebrate the person of the Holy Spirit coming upon the first
disciples to empower them to carry on Jesus’ work.
And I say person, because the Holy
Spirit is a person. He is the third person of the Trinity. He is referred to in
scripture as the Spirit of God or the Spirit of
Jesus and he has an absolutely
vital role to play in the world and in the church.
The Holy Spirit is the one who initially
brings us to faith in Jesus. He is the one who convicts us of our sin and makes
us realise our need for forgiveness and to be put right with God.
And when we make the decision that we
want to live life with God and in obedience to Him, rather than living
independently of Him, the Holy Spirit is the one who comes to live in our
hearts and lives.
And when He makes his home with us –
He is the one who imparts eternal life to us and opens our spiritual eyes to
recognise Jesus as Lord and God.
He is the one who enables us to
understand the bible and who empowers us to follow and serve God.
Of course Jesus himself also relied
on the Holy Spirit to empower him during his earthly ministry.
Paul tells us that Jesus emptied
himself of his own power and took on the nature of a servant.
This is why the Holy Spirit descended
upon him as a dove when he was baptised.
It was to empower him for his earthly
ministry.
And Jesus then modelled for us a life
lived in obedience to his Heavenly Father and reliant on the Holy Spirit’s
power - to enable him to do the miracles he did and to heal the sick and raise
the dead.
And I mention this because many
Christians read of Jesus’s miracles and healings and think - I could never do
that.
And of course humanly speaking
they’re right. We of ourselves have absolutely no power to heal anyone or to do
anything remotely miraculous
But we need to realise that the same
Spirit who empowered Jesus to do miracles is living in us – and if we walk in
obedience to God – then the Holy Spirit can also work through us as he did through
Jesus.
This is why Jesus said – “very truly
I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing.”
When Campbell and Ayline and I pray
for people to be healed at the communion rail – we are acutely conscious that
we have absolutely no power ourselves to heal anyone.
We are totally reliant on the Holy
Spirit – the Spirit of Jesus living in us – to work through us – and to touch
the lives of those we are praying for.
So we can see for instance in today’s
gospel reading why Jesus says to the disciples “As the father has sent me so I
send you.”
He is giving them a direct
instruction to carry on exactly the same work that he has been doing – in the
same way that he did – by living in obedience to God the father and relying on
the Holy Spirit to guide and empower them.
And then we read that he breathes on
them and says “receive the Holy Spirit.”
And at this point the disciples are
born again and become Christians. The Holy Spirit comes to reside in them and to
be with them forever- and their spiritual eyes are opened.
If any of them were still unclear
about the identity of Jesus – they are not anymore, and they understand that
the one who has been living in their midst is Lord and God.
But God has more to give them. Luke
tells us that Jesus says to the disciples – “I am going to send you what my
Father has promised ... (so) stay in the city until you have been clothed with
power from on high."
The Holy Spirit is already living in
them - but God wants to clothe them with His power. He wants pour out His
Spirit upon them abundantly and to pour spiritual gifts into their lives to
equip them to serve Him.
Picture yourself as a Christian – as
a glass with some water in it. You’re the glass and the Holy Spirit is the
water.
Well God wants to take a big jug of water
and fill you up completely with his Holy Spirit – so you’re overflowing.
And this is what we see happening to
the disciples at Pentecost. God fills them with His Holy Spirit and pours new
spiritual gifts into their lives.
Immediately they start speaking in
tongues – one of the new spiritual gifts God has imparted to them – and Jews
from every nation who have come to celebrate
Pentecost – hear the disciples
speaking in their own languages.
And God wants to do the same today.
Every Christian receives the Holy Spirit at conversion but God has more to give
us.
He wants to fill every Christian with
His Holy Spirit – to empower us and to pour new spiritual gifts into our lives.
Some people call this being baptised
by the Holy Spirit – some people call it being filled with the Holy Spirit.
What we call it doesn’t matter. What
matters is whether we have come to Jesus and asked him to fill us with His
spirit and to impart to us any spiritual gifts to us that he wants us to have.
And it matters because if we’re
Christians we should want to be as effective in reaching out to others with
God’s love as we possibly can – and so we should be open to God empowering us
in any way that He sees fit.
Being filled with the Holy Spirit and
receiving spiritual gifts isn’t a badge of honour – it’s for service, and our
motivation for seeking to be empowered should be because we want to be as
fruitful and effective Christians as we possibly can.
What we experience when we are filled
and the gifts we receive is entirely up to God. He will give us exactly what is
right for the work He wants us to do. Our part is simply to be open to receive
whatever it is He wants to give us.
What sort of spiritual gifts might we
receive from God when we are empowered? Well Paul deals with some of these in 1
Corinthians chapter 12 and judging by the book of Acts - two of the most common
gifts seem to be the ability to speak in tongues and to prophesy.
A lot of people have weird ideas
about tongues but it’s simply the God given ability to speak an unlearned human
or angelic language.
Just as you can choose to speak a
foreign language – so you can choose to speak in tongues. The difference is
that when you speak in tongues – you don’t understand the meaning of the words
you’re saying.
But God does – and personally I find
that tongues is useful when you’re unsure how to pray about something. If you
pray in tongues I find that God will often give you an insight into how to pray
for a particular person or situation.
Prophesy is simply the ability to
deliver a message from God. This can be a message of encouragement for an
individual or sometimes it may be a message for a church.
Other gifts include healing, messages
of wisdom and knowledge, the ability to interpret a message given in tongues, and
the ability to discern when evil spirits are at work – which is a gift my wife
has.
This isn’t an exhaustive list. There
are all sorts of gifts which God can impart to an individual – and the purpose
of these gifts is to strengthen and encourage others and to build up the
church.
I didn’t know anything about being
filled with the Holy Spirit until a few years after I’d become a Christian.
But then at the Anglican church I was
going to in Tunbridge Wells I came across some Christians who seemed to have a
certain power – which was evident when they prayed or spoke about God.
I asked about this and they told me
that God had filled them with his Holy Spirit and that he’d do the same for me
if I asked Him.
So I went along to a meeting and
asked someone to pray for me and God filled me with His Spirit. I didn’t feel a
huge amount when I was prayed for but over the coming days and weeks I noticed
that there was a new power in my Christian life.
I found particularly that God started
to communicate with me with little pictures in my mind’s eye – especially when
I was praying for people or sometimes to clarify the meaning of scripture.
These weren’t amazing 3D visions but
just little pictures in my mind’s eye. If I asked you now to picture a bowl of
strawberries and cream – this is the type of picture I’m talking about.
I remember for instance praying with
a guy who was a lorry driver who was convinced God was calling him to full time
ministry - but he didn’t know where or when and he was becoming increasingly
frustrated.
As I prayed with him a picture came
into my mind’s eye of a huge wheel which was slowly turning. And then I saw
that this guy had his shoulder to the wheel and he was pushing it with all his
might to try and make it go faster. But the wheel was going at its own steady
pace – and his efforts were in vain.
I shared the picture with him – and
explained to him that the wheel symbolised God’s will for his life – which was
slowly unfolding.
He needed to stop wearing himself out
and to trust God. All would be revealed in good time. Sometime later he joined
the Church Army and he is now a vicar in Scotland.
And just a few weeks ago I prayed
with someone here who was uncertain about the future and the way to go and I
saw a lovely pathway with roses blossoming either side. I felt that God was
saying the his future was going to be good.
Many people are afraid of spiritual
gifts and being filled with the Holy Spirit but actually it’s exciting and
immensely encouraging when God helps or encourages others through you.
I have no idea what gifts God might
choose to impart to you – but God knows you perfectly and He knows exactly
which gifts will be right for you – as you seek to serve Him.
God calls every Christian to be as
fruitful as possible and in order to do this we need as much help as we can
get. We each therefore need to be open to offering ourselves to God to fill and
empower as He sees fit.
When I was training, a fellow Reader
trainee became interested in being empowered by God and spiritual gifts and
read some books on the subject but then he told me he’d decided it wasn’t for
him after all.
He couldn’t have been more wrong. It
was precisely for him – particularly if he was going to be a Lay Reader.
Our prayer should be - Lord I want to
be as effective as I can I reaching others with your love. Please fill me with
your Spirit and pour into my life those gifts that you want me to have.
So how can we be filled with the Holy
Spirit? Well occasionally the Holy Spirit will come upon groups of Christians
and empower them as He did at Pentecost - but more commonly the simplest way is
to ask a mature Christian to lay hands on us and pray for us.
We can ask God directly to fill us
with His Spirit – as we can for healing – but if we want to receive spiritual
gifts - more often than not God works through His body – the church – to impart
these things.
Paul for instance writes to the Roman Christians - I long to see you
so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong.
Sometimes in order to receive from God
we may need to humble ourselves and ask a fellow believer to lay hands on us
and pray for us.
So to conclude if you’re a Christian
here today – have you come to God and asked Him to empower you – and to pour
new spiritual gifts into your life?
If you haven’t - I’d encourage you to
do so. There are people all around you who desperately need to hear the gospel
and to know God’s love – and you need to be open to everything God wants to
give you in order to reach out to them.
Don’t be proud – ask a mature Christian
that you know and trust to pray for you - and invite God to pour His love and His
power and His gifts into your life.
Perhaps you’ve been filled in the
past but spiritually you feel dry - like a lawn that needs rain. If that’s the
case come from prayer and invite God to fill you again – to refresh and revive
you.
Perhaps you haven’t yet received God
into your life and you’d like to.
Whatever your need, know that God
loves you and knows exactly what’s best for you. Come to Him and open your life
to receive from Him whatever He wants to give you.
In the name of the Living God. Amen.
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