Speaker: David Tan
Text: Acts 2:1-21
Pentecost Sunday falls on the 50th day after Easter. It was this day that the Holy Spirit fell upon God’s people causing tremendous excitement resulting in 3,000 saved in one day.
Interestingly, the NT Pentecost happened on the same day as the Jewish Pentecost. Celebrated on the 50th day after the Passover, and subsequently observed as the day Moses came down from Mt Sinai with God’s Law, we can draw very interesting reflections from these important events as they contrast and mirror God’s work in history.
Pentecost Sunday however has more to teach us than mere historical facts. What are they?
The Presence of the Spirit
Acts 1:8. Just before Jesus ascended into heaven, the disciples were told to expect the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. In Acts 2, the Holy Spirit fell upon the disciples in tongues of fire, and they began to speak in various foreign languages to the surprise of all the onlookers. That day marked the real birth of the church.
What has this to do with us today? On the simplest yet deepest level, it reminds us that God’s people and His ministry are spiritual in nature. We must remember that what ultimately drives us - the work we do, the life we live, the Church that we belong to and serve in – is not management skills (although there is a place for it), not human excellence and intelligence (although these too are gifts from God), but the presence of the Spirit, and his enabling power.
- John 14:15,16 – the promise of the indwelling Spirit within believers. He is both Counselor or Helper in the absence of Jesus’ physical presence.
- Eph 1:13,14 – the Spirit is the seal of guarantee of the believer’s salvation
- 1 Cor 19:20 – the Spirit is the mark of God’s ownership of the believer.
The power of the Spirit
Firstly, as Acts 2 reveals, the Holy Spirit’s work is to empower. Unless He empowers, we are finished. “Apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). The Christian life and the life of the Church are undeniably supernatural. So we should expect miracles, divine intervention, and works of deliverance, great revival in the church, which point to the reality of the Spirit’s power in our day.
But as the NT shows us and as church history records for us, these spectacular displays of power are also not as common as we want them to be; that’s why they are called miracles. People still die of diseases; not all Christians are healed; many do fall into spiritual oppression; Christians get killed every day and churches get burnt. Where is the power of God, we cry?
This leads to the second aspect about the Spirit’s power:
We read in John 14:26 that the Spirit is to make Jesus real to believers. John 16:13 further elaborates that it is the Spirit who leads people to the truth, and convicts them of sin (John 16:8). What is often missed is that often this work of conviction, transforming and sanctifying of believers is unseen, and usually slow and plodding. Yet this is very much the power of the Spirit at work.
The primary display of power that the Bible talks about, is seen in a believer’s faithfulness, growing in holiness, transformation of character, persevering through trials, running and finishing the race. Like reading the Bible one verse at a time, page by page, book by book. Nothing glamorous, but this is normal method employed by the Spirit to advance God’s plan.
We need to see both aspects of the Spirit’s power in our church today – the dramatic acts of power, as well as the slow abiding work of sanctification.
The purpose of the Spirit
The work of the Spirit cannot be separated from his purpose.
In Genesis 11, we hear the proud men of Shinar say: "Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth."
God struck down their work on that day and the people found themselves speaking in different languages, and were scattered. The Tower of Babel testified to humanity’s natural instinct to glorify the human spirit. God’s instinct on the other hand is to scatter us (physically and metaphorically) to extend the boundaries of His kingdom on earth. And He did this in Acts 2.
As the Spirit fell on those gathered in the upper room, we saw another scene of people speaking in foreign languages. As in the plains of Shinar, the coming of the Spirit led to a scattering of people – not as a punishment but as a means to spread the good news of salvation throughout Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth (Acts :8) This time, the dispersion was not to subvert human ambition, but as a means to point people to Jesus. (John 15:26)
The Spirit’s work is to glorify Jesus (Jn 16:14). You do not read in the NT about glorifying the Spirit or instructions to magnify His gifts and miracles. They are first and last about Jesus and it is always so that Jesus is lifted up and glorified.
Conclusion
The progressive revelation of God throughout history points to dramatic periods of preparation and fulfillment. The Old Testament was about the 'old creation.' In the 'new creation' of the New Testament, the focus is not us, not a place or possessions, but a Person - Jesus. All that we are, all that we do, all our desires will never satisfy unless we are satisfied in Jesus. It is the Spirit's work to nudge us, challenge us, empower us, sanctify us, inspire us, so that our passion for glorifying God will be the most satisfying thing in our lives. May we allow Him to accomplish that in us in the days ahead.
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