Acts 2:1-21
Last Sunday was one of my favourite times in the Christian calendar but, unfortunately, due to the baptism of my youngest grandchild I was unable to be here. Who can tell me what was important about last Sunday? Pentecost! We often think of Pentecost as being the birth of the church as we know it, and it was. But did you know that Pentecost actually has an older history? Pentecost concluded the Passover season and began the season of harvest, as the Feast of Weeks, one of the three great holidays in Jewish life. Pentecost celebrated the first fruits of the harvest. Jews were required to observe the Feast of Weeks fifty days after the offering of the barley sheaf at the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The Greek word, Pentecost, simply meaning fifty, reflects the fifty days between the two significant festivals. It is not accidental, of course, that the birth of the Church, this great “harvest of souls,” should occur on this important “harvest” festival. And that’s the fascinating thing I find about the Bible, nothing happens by chance, for when you become familiar with God’s word, time and time again, you will see how, what is in the Old Testament, is fully revealed in the New Testament.
The same author, Luke, wrote both the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles. In my mind, it is unfortunate that the two books are separated in the New Testament by the Gospel of John, because placing Acts directly after Luke would help us to see how one flows into the other; how the book of Acts picks up where the Gospel of Luke leaves off. Luke began his Gospel with the story of Jesus’ birth. He begins the book of Acts with the story of the Church’s birth. First, came the Messiah; now comes the Holy Spirit.
There are so many misunderstandings and misconceptions about the Holy Spirit that I decided today, after we have celebrated the birth of the Christian Church, the day the Spirit brought life to the lives of all those on that incredible Day of Pentecost, it would be an opportunity to address these. So,
Who is the Holy Spirit?
Firstly, the Holy Spirit is God. He is a person as much as the Father and Son are persons. He is not an “experience”, or an “it,” or a “dove” or a “flame of fire” or even a “ghost.” While he may be symbolized by some of these things, like the flames you often see decorating the church at Pentecost, He is an invisible person with a mind, emotions, intellect, and will. He is God, equal in power and personality to the Father and to the Son. He is the third member of the Trinity, not because He is the least, but because He is the last to be fully revealed in the Scriptures.
Secondly the Holy Spirit is another Jesus.
Jesus described the Holy Spirit as “Another” The Greek word actually means “another who is exactly the same.” So although the Holy Spirit is a distinct person, He is exactly the same as Jesus, but without the physical body, or as one child once described Him, Jesus without skin! Jesus didn’t leave us to stumble along through the future on our own. He sent “Another.” One who would have His same mind, His same will, His same emotions, and His same intellect. He is the One who will get along side you and me. Don’t you just marvel at that!
Thirdly the Holy Spirit is the Counsellor
Have you ever wished that Jesus were here in the flesh to sit beside you, take your hand in His, tell you how much He loves you, talk to you about your problems, and give you wise advice? Well He has come! He is here in the person of the Holy Spirit, who makes Jesus real to you and me. The holy Spirit is the One with whom we can commune today, right here, right now!
Fourthly the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth.
Jesus said the Holy Spirit is not only another me, but He is also the Spirit of Truth which means He never works independently or in isolation. He always works through the Truth, the Living Word of God, who is Jesus, and the Written Word of God, which is your Bible. And for those of you who read God’s word regularly, you will have experienced, time and time again, the power of God’s word in your lives, which is, in fact, the power of the Holy Spirit.
And finally the Holy Spirit is Holy.
This is rather stating the obvious, isn’t it, but often we overlook and forget that the Holy Spirit is Holy! You and I can never assume we are filled with the Holy Spirit if our lives are full of sin. One of the first things He does when He comes into our lives is to give us a desire to be holy. The very sins we used to enjoy, we begin to hate and, increasingly, as we surrender to Him, saturating ourselves with the Scriptures, He gives us the desire to confess our sins and, the power to separate from them.
Well, we’ve learned who the Holy Spirit is but,
What is the purpose of the Holy Spirit?
For besides giving us counsel, sealing our salvation and giving us an awareness of the presence of Jesus in our lives, what does He actually do?
Firstly, the purpose of the Holy Spirit is to Empower us.
When the Holy Spirit comes into your life at your baptism or at your invitation, you receive as much of Him as you will ever need. Unfortunately, there is a misconception that you get a little of Him at a time and a little bit more at later experiences. This is not so. Since He is a person, you cannot get Him in pieces. You either have all of the Holy Spirit or you have none of the Holy Spirit. The more we surrender our lives to Him and live moment by moment under the control of the Holy Spirit, His character, which is the character of Jesus, becomes evident to those around us. The Holy Spirit empowers us, not just to live for Jesus, but to be like Jesus as He forms Christ within us. Yet we are not just an imitation of Christ but also an embodiment of Him.
Secondly, the purpose of the Holy Spirit is to Enlighten us.
The world sees Jesus as a man, perhaps even a good or great man and possibly even as a prophet, but still a man. It is the Holy Spirit who opens our spiritual eyes of understanding so that we see Jesus as much more than just a man. We see Him as our Creator, the Jehovah of the Old Testament, the long awaited Messiah, the only Son of God, the Redeemer of Israel, the Lamb of God, the Saviour of the world, the Good Shepherd, the Risen Lord, the Judge of whole universe, the reigning and ruling King of Kings. The only way we can be convinced of Who Jesus is, is through the enlightenment we have received from the Holy Spirit. Jesus explained, “When he, the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you.” ( John 16:13-14 )
Thirdly, the purpose of the Holy Spirit is to encourage us.
Even when the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin, it is with encouragement that he will give us the power to confess it and put it out of our lives. The conviction itself is evidence that he cares about our Christ-likeness, that he is attentive to our spiritual growth and that he is active in transforming us into the people God wants us to be. In the journey of life when we think we can’t go one more step, when the journey becomes painful beyond endurance, when our hearts feel heavy, when our spirits are burned out, we have the Holy Spirit who comes alongside us, puts his everlasting arms around us and gently encourages us with His presence.
And finally, the purpose of the Holy Spirit is to equip us.
When you and I received the Holy Spirit into our lives, we became members of the larger body of Christ, the family of God that includes other believers. But the new privilege of belonging to God’s family brings with it new responsibilities to care for and build up the other family members. For that purpose, the Holy Spirit gives us each gifts that enable us to be contributing family members. It is not something we need worry about for, as I have discovered, whatever God commands us to do, the Holy Spirit equips us for it and it’s really that simple!
My prayer is that we, like Peter and the disciples on that incredible day of Pentecost, will open our hearts to the infilling of the Holy Spirit, that He may so empower, enlighten, encourage and equip us that we, here at CPAC, will see the Holy Spirit not only ignite us but set our hearts on fire for God!
