The Pentecostal Church[1] Ps 104:26-3; Acts 2:1-21; Rom 8:22-27; John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJj2kuI3-50

Introduction

Pentecost is far more foundational to the fulfilment of the plan of God than generally recognised[2]. When Peter preaches, “This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. 33 Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.” (Acts 2:32-33), he is boldly stating that a human being now shares the authority of God to pour out his Spirit[3]. This means a complete reorienting of mindset about reality. So when the gospel was preached in Thessalonica Luke records the response of the pagans, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also…they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.” (Acts 17:6-7). Jesus himself had testified, “my kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36), and the coming of the Spirit on people so impressed this truth upon their hearts that they started to live by the values of a world turned upside down[4]. The Pentecostal experience reorients the Church away from obsession with the immediate temporary things of earth and gives her a sense of proportion of the “exceeding greatness” (Eph 1:19) of Christ her heavenly Lord[5] and her majestic place in him.

The Great Inversion[6]

When I was praying recently about ascension and Pentecost recently I “saw” what looked like a waterfall filled with light.  It was an insight into Revelation 22:1-2, “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life2 with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.” As the bearer of the light of Christ[7] the Spirit brings heavenly illumination to the Church freeing her from entrapment to the worries of this world (Matt 13:22). In the power of the Spirit the things “exalted among people” become an “abomination” to the people of God (Luke 16:15). The Spirit liberates from endless concerns about finance, personal comfort, reputation, health etc.  (2 Cor 3:17)[8]. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus gave a marvellous promise, “if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light” (Matt 6:22), this promise becomes true in us when we turn[9] from being mastered by money/mammon/material things to the Mastery of God (Matt 6:24; 1 Tim 6:10). The infilling of the Spirit at Pentecost brought heaven so close that it became the treasure of all those who received Christ that day (Matt 6:19-20). Whatever they had now became the Lord’s rather than a purely personal possession.

The intense presence and power of the heavenly Spirit released the first believers from a fear of lack so that, to quote a little further in Acts 2, “all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45…they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.” (vv. 44-45). The Church had become just as Jesus taught, “the light of the world” (Matt 5:14ff.)[10]. The light of heavenly life beamed out of the people of God (John 1: 4; 8:12 etc.). Through the outpouring and infilling of the Spirit’s river of life and light[11] the people of God became a lens through which the presence of the kingdom of God shone to all those around. Their radical manner of life stood in stark contrast to those who sole hope is this world. They knew heaven was waiting to welcome them as “sons of light” into its eternal dwelling places[12].

A New Presence

I was at a prayer meeting recently where over the years I heard hundreds of testimonies. This particular testimony, which included an array of songs written by someone I know well, had a quite different effect on me. I was pretty much left speechless[13]. Through prayer I concluded that it I had been in the presence of holy love and was experiencing the “awe” that the Spirit of the Lover of the Church gives to the heart of his Betrothed (2 Cor 11:2). This is a reality rare in our time, but one fully compatible with the outpouring of the Spirit as the Spirit of our Bridegroom. When the Spirit filled the Church at Pentecost a holy Temple was created on earth (1 Cor 3:16-17) filled with the internal, intimate and marital word of Christ (Col 3:16-17)[14]. Jesus’ work as Bridegroom of his Church always partakes of the beautiful action described in Ephesians, “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendour, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.” (Eph 5:25-27).

Tragically most Christians do not recognise that the Lordship of Jesus is the Lordship of a perfectly loving Husband[15]. When Peter exhorts Christian women to grow “in the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious…6 as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord” (1 Pet 3:3-6)”, he is ultimately[16] appealing for the Bride of Christ, us, to have a soft heart sensitive and submissive to the command of the Lord Christ as our Husband (Col 3:24).

Some of you might have seen the interior of older Protestant churches[17], which have the Ten Commandments on their wall. Pentecost teaches us that such external[18] ways of knowing God (Jer 31:31-34; Ezek 36:26; 2 Cor 3:3; Gal 3:2-3; Phil 3:3) are over.

Missional Potency

I was in a gathering of Anglican clergy during the week and the struggle to see conversions came up. This is a real problem for us, but Jesus did promise, “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). The sort of power he was talking about isn’t essentially intellectual or moral it is something far more intimate and relational. At the very end of the Bible we hear, “The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.” (Rev 22:17). When the Church as the Bride of Christ is filled with the Spirit, when we speak to people about Jesus (cf. Matt 10:20; Acts 4:8) they will hear the voice of Jesus (Matt 11:28; John 7:37) and those who hear will come[19].

Because of the coming of the Spirit upon Jesus at this baptism (Mark 1:9-11) those who heard him recognised he spoke about the things of God with new clarity and authority (cf. Mark 1:27). Since the Spirit is given to us as “the promise of the Father” (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4 cf. 2:33) Christ mightily assured his disciples, “When you are arrested, don’t worry about how to respond or what to say. God will give you the right words at the right time. 20 For it is not you who will be speaking—it will be the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.” (Matt 10:19-20). Just as when people met Jesus they met his Father (John 14:8-11) so when they meet Christians they should meet Jesus! This is why the Spirit was given.

When the disciples were all filled with the Spirit and spoke in all the languages under heaven (Acts 2:4-11) the crowds heard God speaking miraculously/prophetically through the mouths of ordinary people, so that when Peter preached the gospel of Jesus they were “cut to the heart” (Acts 2:37) repented, received baptism and the Holy Spirit and entered the Church. Pentecost itself is unrepeatable, but its consequences are repeatable. In 1 Corinthians Paul teaches about what should happen in Church when things are in good order, “if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all, 25 the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and so, falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you.” (1 Cor 14:24-25). When the people of God are in Spirit-inspired unity giving messages from God’s heart marvellous things happen.

I was visiting another church recently and asked after someone who I hadn’t seen for years. The pastor there mentioned being in India with her and how she shared in a service there about how God called her to forgive her husband’s adultery. At the end of the meeting a man came up and spoke to the local minister. He had just that week come out of prison for bashing his ex-wife because of her adultery with another man. Whilst in prison he had been plotting how to murder this man, but now, compelled by the testimony (cf. Rev 19:10) he had repented of his evil desire. When Christian people filled with the Spirit speak of “the mighty acts of God” (Acts 2:11) wonderful things always happen (cf. John 14:12).

Conclusion

When the Spirit was poured out at Pentecost the followers of Jesus were gifted with a new sense of proportion about what it means to be human. This astonishing revelation of the greatness of Christ meant they had a new hunger to be like Jesus. The Holy Spirit has not changed, [cf. he “is the same yesterday, today and forever” (Heb 13:8)], his supreme goal in all he does is to make us more like Jesus[20]. The Spirit living in us[21]  yearns to powerfully work amongst us with same passion and power he had to glorify Jesus in his days on earth (2 Cor 4:4; Col 1:15). This is why in scripture the Holy Spirit is outpoured with a dynamism like a river in flood (Isa 44:3; Acts 7:37-39) as he gives out the life and light of the ascended and glorified Jesus “without measure” (John 3:34). The gift of the Holy imparts a clear-sightedness about the relationship between the natural and the spiritual worlds which radicalises all human priorities and creates a remarkable group of people who cleansed from idolatry[22] have become a visible colony of heaven (Phil 3:19-21).

Let me present a challenge about what we need to ask God to do for our future as a congregation. At the start of the greatest missionary journey in history we read, “Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers…2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.” (Acts 13:1-2). The Spirit-inspired words of scripture are uncompromisingly clear here, “set apart for me”. We need to hear the Spirit calling each of us to yield ourselves heart, soul, mind, and strength to the will of Jesus and we must pray that my successor would hear the Spirit calling him in the same way.