Pentecost Acts 2: 1 -21
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 as the Holy Spirit comes upon
them as tongues of fire, they start speaking in other languages to the
amazement of those passing by.
This is a familiar story for many of
us. But what’s going on here and what relevance does it have for us sitting
here today?
Well Luke tells us what’s happening
here at the beginning of the previous chapter of Acts. He recounts that before
ascending up to heaven, Jesus tells the disciples not to leave Jerusalem but to
wait for the gift His Father promised.
Jesus says to them; ‘John baptised
with water but not many days from now you will be baptised with the Holy Spirit
…and you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you will
be my witnesses.'
Indeed, John the Baptist described
Jesus as the one who would baptise people with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
So what we see at Pentecost is the
first disciples being baptised with the Holy Spirit by Jesus.
Now don’t let the word baptise
confuse you. It comes from the Greek word ‘baptizo’ – which means to dip or
plunge or immerse.
So these references to being baptised
with the Holy Spirit simply mean to be dipped or plunged or immersed in the
Holy Spirit. And Jesus is the one who does this.
The important point for us here today
though, is that this is not something that just happened to the first disciples
to kick start the early church.
As we read through the book of Acts
we see God continuing to fill and empower Christians in the early church with
the Holy Spirit in this way.
In Acts chapter 10, for instance when
Peter goes to Cornelius’ house and starts preaching, the Holy Spirit falls upon
all those who were listening to him and they start speaking in tongues and
praising God.
And still today all around the world
Jesus is filling Christians with the Holy Spirit and imparting spiritual gifts
to them.
Indeed according to the International Bulletin of
Missionary Research there are estimated to be over
6oo million Charismatic and Pentecostal
Christians across the world today; and
Charismatic and Pentecostal
Christianity is the fastest growing phenomenon in
world religious history.
Now being filled with or baptised with the
Holy Spirit – whatever you want to call it - is different from being converted
or being born again.
It is a separate act of God in a
believer’s life which can occur at any time -from immediately after conversion –
to several years or even decades later.
A person receives the Holy Spirit
when they become a Christian. But God doesn’t just want us to receive the Holy
Spirit. He wants us to be filled with and empowered by the Holy Spirit. And He
wants to equip us with spiritual gifts to serve Him.
And just as the first disciples and
members of the early church needed to be empowered in this way – so do
Christians today including us here at Brenchley.
Picture for a moment a glass with
some water in it. The glass is a Christian and the water is the Holy Spirit.
Now if this glass is immersed in
water - it will be filled with water. So if a Christian is immersed in the Holy
Spirit by Jesus – he or she will also be filled with the Holy Spirit - and this
action releases power and new spiritual gifts into a believer’s life.
So how can we be filled with the Holy
Spirit today?
Most commonly perhaps this is through
another Christian praying for us and simply asking Jesus to fill us with his Spirit
and to release his power into our lives.
This is how I received it. I went
along to a Charismatic Christian meeting and asked someone to pray for me.
Sometimes also – as He did in the
book of Acts - the Holy Spirit will descend upon a group of assembled
Christians and empower them.
What does a person experience when
this happens?
Different people experience different
things. Some people may experience some sense of power touching or filling
them.
Some people may experience very
little – and wonder if the prayer has worked.
I didn’t feel much when I was prayed
for but over the coming days and weeks I became aware that there was new power
in my Christian life and I discovered that new spiritual gifts had become
available to me.
People’s experience is varied and
really the experience itself isn’t important.
What is important is how a
person’s life is impacted afterwards in their service of God.
What sort of spiritual gifts might we
receive from God? 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 are 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 at any time 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 first, I find that often God will 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 simple message of encouragement for
an individual or sometimes it may be a message for a church.
Other gifts include gifts of healing,
messages of wisdom and knowledge, faith to receive something from God, the
ability to interpret a message given in tongues, and the ability to discern
when evil spirits are at work.
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 God’s
church.
I found for instance that God started
to communicate with me with little mental pictures particulalry when I was
praying for someone or sometimes to clarify the meaning of scripture.
These weren’t amazing 3D visions but
just little pictures in my mind’s eye to encourage or help the person I was
praying with. If I asked you now to picture in your mind a bowl of apple
crumble and custard – this is the type
of picture I’m talking about.
Now it’s important to say at this
point that 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 by God should be because we want to be as fruitful
and effective Christians as we possibly can – and we want to help and encourage
others in their faith.
It can be very damaging in churches
when Christians who have received spiritual gifts – act unlovingly or even look
down on other Christians who haven’t had a similar experience.
And this is one of a number of
reasons that some Christians can be put off from moving forward with God.
But it’s a great pity because what
God gives is always good. The part that isn’t good - is hurtful or unloving
behaviour by Christians who really should know better.
Another reason people hold back from
seeking spiritual gifts is because they are afraid. After all speaking in
tongues and prophesying all sounds a bit well - supernatural.
Initially I was afraid but I wanted
to move forward with God, and I discovered that actually it’s exciting and
immensely encouraging when God helps or encourages others through a gift He has
given you.
If you’re a Christian you already
have the Holy Spirit living in you – so being filled with the Holy Spirit is
just a step forward from what you already have.
And the gifts I’ve experienced really
haven’t been scary at all. On the contrary I find it really faith boosting and
encouraging when God works through me in some way to help or encourage others.
For some people the main blockage to
them moving forward with God is their pride and self sufficiency. They are too
proud to humble themselves and seek prayer from another Christian.
These people don’t want to appear
weak or needy in any way – and so they will always seek to receive things they
need – like being filled with the Holy Spirit or healing – directly from God.
But the fact is we do each need other
Christians - and a proud self sufficient person will almost certainly find that
God’s way forward for them is through humbling themselves - and admitting their
need to and seeking prayer from - another Christian.
Another point I’d like to make about being
filled with the Holy Spirit – is that it won’t mean our Christian lives will
suddenly become perfect or easier.
We may feel a greater desire to
worship God and for a while we may feel His presence with us more closely – but
we will still have to put time and effort into our relationship with Him.
And most importantly in order to
discover any new spiritual gifts we may have been given, we will need to be
actively seeking to share our faith and to encourage others.
The gifts God gives are for service –
and with the exception of the gift of tongues - we will only tend to discover
them as we meet with and seek to serve other Christians.
The final point I want to make is
that even if we have been filled with the Holy Spirit in the past – God always
has new things He wants to do in our lives and new things to impart to us – and
so we need to remain open to receiving from Him whatever He may want to give
us.
Sometimes for instance if I feel
spiritually weary - I’ll ask another Christian to pray for me – asking God to
fill me with His Spirit afresh in order to revive and strengthen me.
So to tie up what I want to say this
morning, regardless of how long we may have been a Christian, God wants to fill
us with His Holy Spirit – to empower us and to equip us with spiritual gifts to
enable us to serve him more effectively.
As I’ve said before, our on-going
prayer should be - Lord I want to be as effective as I can in reaching others
with your love. Please fill me with your Holy Spirit and impart to me any gifts
that you want me to have.
I don’t know 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.
Don’t be fearful or proud. 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.
I’m always happy to pray for you – as
I’m sure are Campbell and Mike.
Alternately you might prefer to ask some other
mature Christian that you know and trust to pray for you.
Or perhaps like I did – you could go to some mainline Christian event
or meeting and ask someone to pray for you.
In the name of the living God. Amen
