The Long Awaited Spirit

This morning we are going to look at one of the 3 most important moments in the history of the world.  

1. Creation. John Calvin – “God created the world to function as a  theater of His glory in the drama of redemption.”
2. Death and Resurrection of Christ – Implications throughout all of human history. Both before AND after the event.
3. Pentecost – Pentecost was that moment in redemptive history when God unlocked the power of the Holy Spirit and gave it to His church, not just for those who were gathered there, but to the church of every age and to every Christian throughout time. 

Acts 2:1-13

When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. 5 Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. 6 And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. 7 And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? 9 Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, 11 both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” 12 And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13 But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.”

Context/Story

• The day of Pentecost on the Jewish calendar was the day of an annual feast called the Feast of Weeks. A week has seven days, so a week of weeks is seven times seven, which is forty-nine days. After those forty-nine days are accomplished, the fiftieth day is Pentecost, so fifty days after the great celebration of Passover is this feast. It was the Jewish Thanksgiving of the Old Testament.
  • It lined up nicely in the Jewish calendar with the harvest of crops, and so people would come and thank God for the harvest.
  • They are coming from Iran, Turkey, North Africa, Crete, Rome, Arabia, Egypt, Syria, across various smaller parts of the Middle East.  And they are going to encounter God in such a way, that when they return home, they are returning home as missionaries. 

The Spirit

• Who is the Spirit?
  • He is God, The third member of the Trinity, Fully God – made of his very essence, Perfect in thought, word, and action.  Distinct from the Father, and Son, But in perfect harmony. He is a He scripturally speaking.  
  • People make 2 mistakes with the Holy Spirit  
    • 1. They ignore him entirely.
      • People get uncomfortable with the Spirit and the miraculous power He brings so they focus elsewhere.
    • 2. They focus exclusively on Him at the expense of the father and the son.
      • The Spirit exists to glorify the son, the son glorifies the father, so that God might be all in all. 
• What Does The Spirit Do?

1. Proclaims the Message of God – John 16:13 
   • He does not speak of his own accord, but speaks what He hears
2. Convicts the World of Sin – John 16:8
   • The spirit acts not just in believers but in the whole world.
3. Regenerates the Heart – Ezekiel 36:26-27 
   • The scriptures sometimes talk about being baptized in the spirit. That is an event that happens once, at the moment of conversion. 
4. Sanctifies the Believer– Galatians 5:16-17
   • It is the fruit of the spirit, brings people to maturity. He began a good work, it is the holy spirit who continues and completes the work of growth in Christ.
5. Gives Gifts to Believers – 1st Corinthians 12:4,11
   • Your spiritual gifts come from the Holy Spirit.
6. Illuminates the Scriptures – 1st Corinthians 2:10-13
   • Non-Christians who want to debate and fight about the bible.  I can tell you but you won’t understand.  It is a spiritual discernment.  
7. Guarantees our Eternal Security – Ephesians 1:13-14
   • You don’t have to wonder, you don’t have to worry, it is the Holy Spirit’s job to keep your salvation secure, and He has never failed in His mission.
8. He is called the Comforter, the Counselor, The Intercessor, The Encourager.
   • All acts of daily living.

• I find it unfortunate that we have taken 1/10th of the ministry of the Holy Spirit and made that the entire focus of the Holy Spirit in the church. His primary job is not to give mountain top moments and incredible experiences.  But to help and empower the believer in their daily Christian walk.  We need Him to help us overcome sin, to strengthen us in our trials, and to illuminate the scriptures.  He is there with us for the long haul, and being filled with the spirit is something that should help us in our daily lives.

• Usually the Holy Spirit Works in Quiet and Gentle Ways

1. 1. • He comforts Elijah in the cave with a still small voice. 
      • One of the fruits of the Spirit is Gentleness.

• SOMETIMES THE HOLY SPIRIT WORKS IN LOUD AND POWERFUL WAYS

1. • The Spirit fills Samson when he tears down the walls of the temple of Dagon, and killed 3000 philistines. 
   • He Clothes Gideon before he goes down and defeats Midian.
   • The Spirit comes upon Mary for the immaculate conception.
   • And here the Spirit works powerfully at Pentecost

The Spirit Comes in Power

• The Spirit came like wind and like fire.
• “Like a mighty rushing wind” – The spirit has often been described in these terms. 
  • Hurricane force winds – How many of you have ever walked out in a hurricane?  Nobody? Why not? Because it is a self eliminating question.  If you do it just once, you’ll never do it again.  
    • And what you see is that the wind comes with power. It overwhelms; it overtakes. It’s this all-consuming unstoppable force. God the Holy Spirit is a person, but his power is like that.
  • Ezekiel 37 – Ezekiel is shown a valley of dry bones, and is asked by God, “Can these bones live?”  He replies, “Only you know, God.”  God then forms the bones back together, with muscle and tendons and flesh, but they still do not live.  Only when God breathes His spirit into them do they come back to life.  
  • Only the Spirit has the power to bring new life.   This same spirit is in the room with the apostles at Pentecost.
• Tongues of fire – Fire has much significance in the old testament.  We are reminded of God appearing in the burning bush.  Or of God descending on mount Siani, Or of fire consuming the sacrifice of Elijah on Mount Carmel. God led the Israelites with a pillar of smoke and a pillar of fire.
  • Fire brings illumination – We don’t realize this as much in our modern day, but through most of history, it was fire that lit the world.  Even today, we get our brightest light from a giant ball of fire in the sky.
    • Fire illuminates for us what we need to see.  So does the Holy Spirit
  • John the Baptist says, Matthew 3:11 – I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
• That wind, that fire, is as much for us today as it was for those gathered in the upper room. We are to be people of the Holy Spirit, as well as of the Son and the Father.

Tongues

• You heard of tongues? Kind of controversial. Churches have divided over it. Denominations debate over it. We’re going to discuss it.  
  • The text says (vs 4) that the Spirit dwelled within each of them, and changed their speech.  Many would say that in Acts 2, they were speaking in a heavenly prayer language, but what we read HERE is that they were speaking in known dialects, and people from all around the world were amazed.
  • Partly because those who were speaking were Galileans.  This is the backwoods uneducated Jews from the stix.  This is like if Uncle Sy from Duck Dynasty were standing before a group of ambassadors from around the world and delivered the gospel in perfect Mandarin.  “Well, that’s unexpected. I did not anticipate that Uncle Sy knew Portuguese. I did not see that coming.”
    • An event of this magnitude demands explanation, yet those who saw these events had no explanation to give, and it bothered them greatly.
      • Vs 12 – And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?
    • Others accused the apostles of being drunk, but their explanation was, of course, Ridiculous.  Has anyone ever met a drunk who could suddenly speak a foreign language?
      • This happens all the time. Men trying to explain away the divine through natural means only end up making fools of themselves. 
• What Does Our Church Believe About Tongues?
  • Continuationism Argument – The private prayer language argument.
    • 1st Corinthians 13:1 – If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I’m a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
    • 1st Corinthians 14:2a – For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God.
    • Romans 8:26 – Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.
    • Personal Experience – Tough to argue with (nor should you try to argue with) personal experience.
  • Cessationism Argument 
    • 1st Corinthians 13:8 – Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.
    • The Miraculous gifts died out shortly after the church began.  We have no serious record of tongues, healing, or miracles after the first 100 years of the church. 
  • We have elders who would say that they speak in tongues, and we have other elders who are cessationists and think those first elders are crazy.  Let’s just say that we have fun Elder meetings.
  • The beautiful thing at Celebration Church is that nobody is dying on this hill. People fight, people divide.  We don’t make it a divisive issue here at Celebration Church.  We fight for unity instead.
• Public vs private makes a big difference. 
  • Some things you do in private that should not happen in public.  
    • Clip Your Toenails, Eat a Tuna Sandwich, sing in the car.
    • Rarely do we see tongues used in a public setting in such a way that the biblical qualifications are met. 
      • You need an interpreter, you need to be orderly, and you need to be under the authority and direction of the leadership of the church.  We don’t just believe in spiritual gifts, we believe in spiritual leadership. 
    • Celebration Church’s stance here is that you should feel comfortable inviting your non-Christian friends to the church knowing that they will hear the gospel, and they won’t be weirded out thinking everyone is drunk and crazy. 
• What does Brandon Believe about Tongues?
  • For those who are wondering, I find myself a hesitant Continuationist.  I don’t believe that there is enough biblical evidence to say that tongues, or any of the other miraculous gifts have ceased.  But I am hesitant, because A LOT of the ways in which the miraculous gifts are being manifested today are absolutely unbiblical.  I myself do not speak in tongues, but I believe that God can do and does do what He wants.  And that may mean that He gives you that gift. 

Receive or Reject? (Conclusion)

• When the Holy Spirit comes at Pentecost, many are struck by God., some ignore it, or excuse it, or explain it away.  Next week, we are going to see the reason why Jesus told the disciples to wait.  They are going to have a good old fashioned revival.  Peter is going to get up and preach, and 3000 people are going to come to Christ.  
  • Have you received Christ?  Or have you been spending the last 30 minutes trying to explain away what the scriptures say?  Don’t Ignore the Spirit.  Don’t grieve, or frustrate the spirit of God.  Come to Jesus. Follow Him. Receive eternal life. 
•  THE LORD’S SUPPER
  • In a few minutes we are going to begin worshiping again.  Songs of praise as we do so, we want to do something different with the Lord’s supper.  
    • Stations set up for you to take when you are ready with your family.
      • Gluten free station
    • There is no rush.  Anytime in the next 3 songs, as we respond in worship, we are also going to respond with the Lord’s supper.  
      • When you are ready, take the bread, and the cup, and pray with your spouse or with your family.  Pray then eat the bread, drink the cup, then return to your seat to continue worshiping.
    • Open Table – If you are a believer this is for you
      • If you are not a follower of Christ, we ask that you let this time pass you by, and take Christ instead.  He is far better.