Pentecost 2022 Ps 104:26-36; Isa 44:1-8; Acts 2:1-21; 32-33 John 7:37-39
Introduction https://youtu.be/NOFzs-5AWG4
In some circles Pentecost is celebrated as the birthday of the Church[1], while in others the emphasis is placed on the power of the Spirit and his gifts, today I want to talk about his launching of the divine mission of love into the world. Since “God is love” (1 John 4:8, 16), this is the communication of his own life for the sake of the world. We are able to know the Spirit[2] as the perfect communicator of the holy love in God[3] to us because Jesus on our behalf “rejoiced in the Holy Spirit”, cried out “Father” (Luke 10:21) and heard ““You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”” (Luke 3:22), He is the Spirit in whom the Father and Son love each other[4]. In an (postmodern) age cynical of claims to unconditional love but clear that institutions[5] dominate people[6], the Church is the Spirit’s home of love in such a world where he alone dwells[7],[8]. As the Ascension of Jesus into heaven marked the taking of humanity into God for its glorification, the outpouring of the Spirit by Christ signals his gift of limitless intimacy with the Father to his Body on earth[9]. Peter explained to the stunned crowd at Pentecost, “Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he (Jesus) has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.” (Acts 2:33)[10]. There is no limit to the work of the Spirit uniting us to God as our Father and Jesus as our Saviour and Bridegroom.
Salvation-History
Using the Old Testament prophet Joel as a background (Joel 2:28-32), Peter points to signs on the earth and in the heavens[11] as pointing to the beginning of “the last days”[12], the world is coming to a critical apocalyptic end, as a faithful remnant is being refined and the Victorious kingdom of God is set up on earth[13]. The present form of this fallen world is passing away and a new spiritual community is emerging (1 Cor 7:31; 1 John 2:8, 17) whose defining characteristic is God’s love[14]. This love in the Spirit (Rom 15:30; Col 1:8) urges every follower of Jesus[15] (2 Cor 5:14) to take his good news ‘to the ends of the earth.’ (Acts 1:8)[16]. Pentecost signals everything is in the process of transformation[17]. The Spirit burns in us (Rom 12:11; Acts 18:25) to proclaim the victory of Jesus to establish his rule on earth, “by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God” in ministering “the gospel of Christ;” (Rom 15:19). Pentecost is a complete trinitarian action.
The Gift of the Father
First, the Father is active, Jesus had promised “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!’” (Luke 11:13) and in the days before the pouring out of the Spirit he named this as, “the promise of the Father” (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4)[18]. When a person is “baptised in the Spirit”[19] they are united with all Jesus has ever received from his Father. Since the Spirit is the life of the Father in Christ his presence brings the spiritual vitality of Jesus into our hearts[20].
Jesus Receives the Spirit
The gift of the Spirit to Jesus form him to pour out on the Church (Acts 2:33)[21] fulfils his marvellous prayer, “The glory[22] that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.” (John 17:22-23 cf. v.26). When I used to lecture on the Trinity I asked my students, “Did the apostles preach the doctrine of the Trinity?”[23], the answer is “No!”, but when Peter was preaching at Pentecost he was flooded (Rom 5:5 etc.) with a sense of the all-encompassing love the Father, Son and Holy Spirit have for each other. This is what the Lord offers all of us in the outpouring of his Spirit (Acts 2:17[24]). The tremendous boldness with which Peter spoke of Jesus as Lord (Acts 1:8)[25] is still available today through the gift of God’s Spirit.
The Fullness of the Spirit of Christ
There is a well-known saying, “what the cross cleanses the Spirit fills” (Hession). Pentecostal power is an outworking of the depth of Calvary. The power of Jesus heartfelt prayer in Gethsemane, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” (Mark 14:36) becomes real in us through the gift of his Spirit (Rom 8:15; Gal 4:6). Only the shedding of his perfect reconciling blood[26] and his return to the Father in heaven makes it possible for sinful humanity to receive the most amazing gift of the all-Holy Spirit of God with all his authority (John 20:22; Acts 8:15; 19:2)[27]. The Pentecostal dimensions of the gift of the Spirit remakes us as true blessed sons of God[28].
Where Received
Our fellowship with the Son and “our Father” (John 20:17; 1 John 1:3), is indescribably intimate, St. Augustine became very excited and cried out to God, “you were more inward to me than my most inward part; and higher than my highest” (Confessions III/7/11), Calvin likewise testifies God “is” closer to me than I am able to be close to myself[29]. Some of us who have hardened our hearts because of bitter experiences (Heb 3:8, 15; 4:7) might be tempted to dismiss these cries, but they are biblical. The infilling with the Spirit brings something much deeper than a mental change[30]. Jesus prophesied, “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart/innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’” 39 Now this he (Jesus) said about the Spirit” (John 7:38-39). We have been baptised by the Spirit into the intimate fellowship of trinitarian love, “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.’ (Rom 5:5)[31]; “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God” (Rom 8:16) and “he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.” (1 Cor 6:17). This is the most profound of all possible relationships[32]. Since we are indwelt profoundly and permanently by a holy God (Luke 1:35; John 17:11; 1 Thess 4:8) the New Testament regularly calls Christians “saints/holy ones” 60x. If you are a disciple of Jesus, you must never i.e. it is wrong, to talk down your own spiritual condition.
Power
In Scripture the Holy Spirit is intimately connected to power[33]. Jesus expounded what would happen to his disciples at Pentecost, “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”” (Acts 1:8). When I was a member of the Pentecostal Church it was like they had a two-stage gospel message, the first stage was coming to Jesus for forgiveness of sins and the second was being “baptised in the Spirit” for power to live out the Christian life. This teaching helped set me free from terrible bondages, “I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, 7 for God gave us a Spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” (2 Tim 1:7).
My spiritual mentor Geoff Bingham lived the last 60 odd years of life in pain from a war wound. But my students in the Ministry of the Holy Spirit class always went silent when I read out his words[34], “All healing is from love, by love, for love…ultimate healing will be in the ultimate climax of love. It will be the ultimate climax of love….The test of the true healer is that his life is rooted in the Cross, in the Spirit, in love. [He will show the fruit of the Spirit. Where he exercises the gifts of the Christ and the Spirit, he will exercise them in love.]” Paul commanded us, “Let all that you do be done in love.” (1 Cor 16:14).
Why?
Why is God so “lavish” i.e. exceedingly generous with us (Eph 1:8; 1 John 3:1)? If we ask what it is that ultimately explains the inseparability of the Love of God from the ministry of the Spirit one answer that comes to mind is that he, the Spirit, is the bridal gift from the Father to the Church as Christ’s betrothed. From the start of creation (Matt 19:4-5) holy matrimony was designed to point to the eternal Marriage between Jesus and the Church (Eph 5:32; Rev 19-20) the Spirit is the means by which Jesus shares all he has with us. All his sufferings and all his glory come in the gift of his perfect presence in our hearts[35]. This calls to mind the teaching that Christ has so united himself to his Church that one new spiritual reality has come into existence[36]. Jesus and his Bride are now connected through the Spirit in the closest possible way, forever[37]. There is nothing like the intimacy of this spiritual marriage.
A Community of Prophets
As Jesus is the Prophet, Priest and King the Pentecostal outpouring baptises all Christians (1 Cor 12:13) into a priestly community of prophets and kings (1 Pet 2:5, 9; Rev 1:6; 5:10; 20:6), in the glory of the Spirit (Acts 2:4; Rev 1:10) we are enthroned with Christ in the heavenlies (cf. Eph 2:6,9) and transformed into mouthpieces of God (1 Pet 4:10)[38]. Any Spirit-filled believer can perform a prophetic action in word or deed (Matt 25:40, 45) which points to Jesus[39]. With God as our Father and Jesus our saviour-Husband [in the bond of the Spirit] of course we can know what is happening on the inside of God (cf. 1 Thess 1:1; 2 Thess 1:1).
Conclusion
Since the Holy Spirit is loving bond between the Father and the Son, he is the strength of the love between the Christian and Christ[40]. In his final earthly conversation with Peter, Jesus asked him a pointed and solemn question, ““Simon, son of John, Do you love me more than these?” (John 21:15). This question is unclear as to its meaning, does it mean, “Do you love me more than these things i.e., this fishing gear?”[41]…or “Do you love me more than these other disciples love me”[42] or “Do you love me more than you love these friends of yours?” Peter could not answer Jesus in full confidence[43] until he had been filled with the glorious life of the Lord of the Spirit (2 Cor 3:17) on the Day of Pentecost, then his love for Jesus was filled with boldness and clarity (Acts 2:14; 4:13, 31). This is what it means to be filled with the Spirit. Today Christ questions us, “Do you love me more than you love your husband/wife/children/work/lifestyle/religion….? Our answer totally depends on the power of the Holy Spirit in us. Thankfully, Jesus has promised to give us, “the Spirit without measure.” (John 3:34). Let’s take him at his word as we come and pray…
“Come Holy Spirit”
[1] More accurately, of the new covenant people of God.
[2] As the Third Person of the Trinity.
[3] Who communicates to God that he is a “Holy Father” (John 17:11) and to Jesus that as Son of God he is essentially holy (Luke 1:35).
[4] Classically described as the bond of love between Father and Son in St. Augustine’s writings. http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1015-87582014000500010 The fact that in polytheistic religions, such as Hinduism, the gods are always in dispute with one another and competition exposes these systems as false
[5] See especially, Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse
https://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au, but similarly for the aged care sector in which the churches are deeply involved.
[6] According to “the hermeneutics of suspicion”.
[7] As in a temple e.g. 1 Cor 3:16-17; 6:19; 2 Cor. 6:16; Eph. 2:21.
[8] This does not mean there is no love beyond us, for the Spirit is Creator (Gen 1:2; Job 33:4; Ps 104:30).
[9] Likewise, when the Lord enters the heavenly world he exclaims, “Behold, I and the children God has given me.”” (Heb 2:13)
[10] The trinitarian dynamic is unmistakeable here. Theologian and revivalist Jonathan Edwards comments, “Christ will give himself to his saints as he has given himself for them”.
[11] Cf. Isa 13:10 -13; 24:1- 6, 19 – 23; 34:4; Ezek 32:6 -8; Joel 3:15 -16; Hab 3:6 -11. The use of these passages in the Gospels (Matt 24:29; Mark 13:24- 25 cf. Isa 2:19- 21; 5:25; Jer 4:23- 28; Am 8:7 -10) indicates the end of old Israel at the hands of Rome
[12] Which in the New Testament are present from the time of Christ until his Return e.g. 1 Tim 4:1; 2 Tim 3:1; Heb 1:2; James 5:3; 2 Pet 3:3
[13] E.g. Dan 7; 12.
[14] “Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.” (1 Cor 13:8-9).
[15] As Lord and Messiah (Acts 2:36).
[16] This echoes Psalm 2:8 ‘…I will make the nations your inheritance, and the ends of the earth your possession.’ The universal rule of Messiah is about to be enacted, and this is why “every nation under heaven” (Acts 2:5) gathers in Jerusalem.
[17] Not only all in Israel, but “all flesh”, the nations of the world, will receive the Spirit. If it is the case that “whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved”, the anointing of Messiah to bring ‘justice to the nations’ (Isa 42:1) is now spreading out from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth (cf. Joel 3:1-2). The promise of the Spirit and forgiveness is to “all that are far off” (Acts 2:39).
[18] This promise relates to passages such as Isa 32:15; 44:35; Ezek 11:19-20; 36:26-27; 37:1-14; 39:29; Zech 12:10.
[19] Language, because of the way it is employed in Pentecostalism, I tend to avoid, but I use here because it is so highly descriptive of being overwhelmed by the Spirit. It certainly is what happened on the first Pentecost.
[20] What was given at Pentecost was a communication of Jesus’ life with the Father in the Spirit to the humanity of the disciples. This is how, with Christ, our humanity has been taken into God (Col 3:3; 2 Pet 1:4; 1 John 4:15,16).
[21] Which was one with the gift of the Spirit the Father gave to him throughout eternity.
[22] The glory of Jesus is to be completely loved by the Father in the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.
[23] Which was formulated in the creeds of the fourth century in response to the development of heresies in the Church.
[24] “I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh”.
[25] As a witness to the coronation of Jesus as Lord of all in heaven.
[26] Only after Christ’s “glorification” (John 7:39), reconciling and redeeming activity in life, death, resurrection, and ascension was completed (completed in and through the presence and power of the Spirit), could the Spirit be given without total consuming sinful humanity.
[27] The gift of the Spirit initiates our sharing in the fellowship of the Trinity by uniting us to Jesus in the same manner as he unites Jesus to the Father by mutual indwelling (John 17:21-26).
[28] The communication of divinity took his humanity, united without separation to the Person of the Word, to the condition of a humanity of the Son of God. This divinity communicated to him bestowed on him not only glory, but also the power to make sons by giving the Spirit, since it is the Spirit who places the life of Christ in us, who makes us sons in the divine Son and who dedicates us to resurrection after him (see Rom 8:9-11 and 14-17; Gal 4:6; 1 Cor 12:13) (Y. Congar)
[29] “Thus he is not only outside us but also in us in such a way that we are outside ourselves.” (Calvin)
[30] Though there si such a thing as “the mind of the Spirit” (Rom 8:6, 27).
[31] Likewise, “God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”” (Gal 4:6)
[32] All that Jesus became objectively for us in his humanity (John 1:14; Rom 8:3; 1 Tim 3:16 etc.) has been subjectively made real in us through the gift of the Spirit.
[33] See also Mic 3:8; Zech 4:6; Luke 1:17, 3; 4:14; Acts 8:19; 10:38; Rom 1:4; 15:13, 19; 1 Cor 2:4; Eph 3:1; 1 Thess 1:5; 2 Tim 1:7.
[34] See Geoff Bingham, https://www.newcreationlibrary.org.au/books/covers/162.html
[35] The Spirit, as Paraclete (John 14:16), is Christ’s ongoing presence in the world, his alter ego (Smalley)
[36] “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For kin one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves4 or free—and mall were made to drink of one Spirit.” (1 Cor 12:12-13)
[37] The idea of totus Christus (Augustine), the whole Christ speaks of Christ, the head, and the Church, the body, as one single being.
[38] The gifts that were particular under the old covenant are now freely distributed to all believers in the new covenant.
[39] Luke 1:41; 67; 4:18; 10:21; 12:12; Acts 1:2,8,16; 2:4; 4:8, 31; 6:5, 10; 10:44-46; 13:2, 9; 18:25; 19:6; 20:23; 21:4,11.
[40] And between Christ and the Christian, but this is already perfected.
[41] Which stood for a whole way of life.
[42] As he had earlier professed in Matt 26:33; Mark 14:29.
[43] In John 21 his final reply is, ““Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.”” (v.15).