The Pentecostal Centre Acts 2:1-41; Ps 104:27-35; 1 Cor 12:1-13; John 7:37-38 St Marks 4.6.17

Introduction   https://youtu.be/C8zYHjeWSMU

Pentecost is a wonderful time of celebration for Christians of all sorts who remember when the Holy Spirit was first outpoured on all God’s people. But there is a lot of confusion about “Who/what was at the centre of the first Pentecost?” traditional Christians are likely to see Pentecost as the birthday of the Church, this is true, but the birth of the new covenant community of God was caused by something greater than itself (Acts 2:42-47). Pentecostals focus on the baptism of the Spirit accompanied by speaking in tongues at Pentecost (Acts 2: 4, 17-18, 33, 38). But Peter who is God’s authorised interpreter of Pentecost does not make these the centre point of his preaching in Acts 2. By now the identity of the central character and main actor on the Day of Pentecost must be plain, as in every sermon in Acts Peter’s topic was, “Who is Jesus?” His sermon in fact gives a thumbnail sketch of Christ’s life and ministry. He begins with “Jesus of Nazareth a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs” (v.22), then, “you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men” (v. 23), then, “This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses.” (v. 32 cf. vv. 24ff.), until we come to the hinge point of Peter’s explanation of the strange events of that day;  “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.” (v.33). Peter and the crowds were seeing and hearing what John the Baptist had prophesied of the ministry of the Messiah; “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” (Matt 3:11; Luke 3:16; John 1:33). Jesus is the Giver of every Pentecostal gift (cf. Luke 24:49).

The previously confused crowd (v.12-13) suddenly enter into a space of tremendous spiritual clarity when Peter’s preaching climaxes with “know for certain that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ.”” (v.36). Peter is testifying that the slain, raised and glorified Jesus now shares God’s sovereign authority over the world and his outpouring of the Spirit’s power is the evidence for this. With this revelation of the true identity of the messiah they had rejected thousands of Jews rushed to repent and become a part of the new community of God’s people (vv. 37ff. Cf. vv.5-11). But to gain deeper insight into how Jesus was able to pour out the Spirit we must reflect on today’s reading from the Gospel of John.

The Glorified Giver

“On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” 39 Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.” (John 7:37-38).

At the Feast of Tabernacles water was poured out at the temple altar symbolising the water flowing out of the rock in the wilderness (Ex 17:5-6) and the anticipated outpouring of the Spirit when Messiah comes (Isa 43:20; Ezek 36:25-27; 47:1 cf. Isa 12:2-6). Huge excited crowds attended this festival anticipating the God’s words in Isaiah; “Therefore with joy you will draw water From the wells of salvation. 4 And in that day you will say: “Praise the Lord” (12:3-4).  Audaciously Jesus, who looks like just another man,  stands up in the hearing of the crowd and declares himself to be the one who will give the Spirit, something only God can give (Isa 44:3; Joel 2:28).  Jesus’ promise to fill the believer to overflowing with “rivers of living water” = dynamic spiritual life seems plain enough. Why then does John add a comment in his Gospel; “the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”” (John 7:38).

The language of glorification is a major theme in John’s Gospel. Here are some of Jesus’ prayers in John; ““The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified…. Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again…. “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you…. now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.”” (John 12:23, 28; 17:1, 5). In the plan of God the glorification/perfection of the humanity of Jesus can only come through his death, resurrection and ascension to heaven. This is everything that Peter preached about at Pentecost. But why does Jesus have to die in order to pour out the Spirit? Because Jesus can only share the Holy Spirit with forgiven people.

The outpouring of the Holy Spirit is a direct result of the pouring out of the life of Christ for the forgiveness of our sins. Centuries before Christ’s coming the Lord promised; “my servant… will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death…and made intercession for the sinners.” (Isa 53:12 cf. John 14:16-17). And in Jesus’ own words, ““This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.” (Luke 22:20). Jesus’ promise that rivers of living water would flow out of the heart of spiritually thirsty people would come true he became the thirsty one in our place.

At the close of John’s account of the crucifixion we read, “Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said…“I thirst.”” (John 19:28) then he said ““It is finished,”…and gave up his spirit.” (John 19:30). Once Jesus has yielded his spirit to the Father in death John records a prophetic sign; “one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water.” (John 19:34). The victory of Jesus on the cross is sealed by the sign of outpoured blood speaking of forgiveness and flowing water symbolising the gift of the Spirit. These signs testify that because Jesus poured out his life in our place the Holy Spirit can be poured into us. “What the cross cleanses the Spirit fills.” (Bingham).

Peter himself is the perfect evidence of the glorification of Jesus, he stands up at Pentecost as a changed man, no longer the coward who had abandoned his Saviour but with a heart cleansed and fully forgiven of sin and filled with the power of the Spirit (cf. Heb 10:22). His words communicated power because (1 Cor 4:20) again and again he proclaimed from the Psalms Jesus as the King enthroned in heaven who has began to rule the world with justice (Pss. 16:8-10; 68:18; 110:1; Acts 2:25-28; 34-35). The heavenly wind, flames of fire, prophetic tongues and anointed preaching are an earthly echo of the coronation of Christ at the right hand of God Lord of all (Acts 10:36). This powerful presence of Christ as heavenly King and Judge moved masses in the crowds to repentance: “Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to…the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”” (Acts 2:37). These converts were the first fruits of the theme my Ascension sermon last week; Messiah is ruling in the midst of his enemies (Ps 110:1-3). These are great and marvellous things but how do they apply to us?

Pentecost and Church

Jesus said, ““If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes …‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’’” (John 7:37-38); the genuine spiritual thirst of which Jesus is speaking isn’t a desire for self-gratifying inner experience. Christ himself interprets this thirst when prophesies to his disciples before Pentecost,  “you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now….you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses…to the end of the earth.””” (Acts 1:5, 8). Being all devout Jews the disciples understand that Jesus was referring to Psalm 2 where the Father promises his Son,  “Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession.” (Ps 2:7-8). They knew that when Jesus went up to heaven in their sight he went there to ask the Father give him the Spirit to pour out so the nations would be converted. So what did they do – “They all met together and were constantly united in prayer” (Acts 1:14). The whole Church was united in prayer with the prayers of their heavenly Lord thirsty for the revelation of the glory of Christ by the Spirit on the earth; and they were not disappointed with God. The thirsty pray, no prayer means no thirst, no thirst for the streams of living water. By this standard the Church in Australia is in a terrible state.

Is the Bible our standard for reality or do we judge reality by our everyday experience; Romans says, “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit” (Rom 5:5 cf. Acts10:45; Tit 3:5-6), Corinthians testifies, “13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body…and all were made to drink of one Spirit.” (1 Cor 12:13), Ephesians exhorts, “keep on being filled with the Spirit” (Eph 5:18), keep on drinking of the waters of living God.

In the light of a Christ-centred understanding of Pentecost what might a Spirit-filled Church look like? There is the deepest spiritual connection between the events of Pentecost and what Paul describes about spiritual gifts in our 1 Corinthians reading. Through their “seeing and hearing” the presence of the Spirit at Pentecost in the miracle of tongues and prophetic preaching the crowds were convinced that Jesus was indeed “Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:33, 36-41). In exactly the same way when people are in Church seeing and hearing (1 Cor 12:7) the Spirit of Christ healing and empowering his people through prophecy, healings, miracles and so on they will confess ““Jesus is Lord”” (1 Cor 12:3).  Pentecostal power always places Jesus where the Father has placed him, at the very centre of everything (Eph 1:10; Col 1:16).

Conclusion

Jesus promised that “rivers of living water” would flow from inside all who believe in him. Every one of us can fulfil the lovely words of Isaiah, “if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted….you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.” (Isa 58:11). My own inner life however often doesn’t feel like “an ever flowing stream” and I know I’m not alone in this (Amos 5:24). At these times I must confess I have lost my vision of……the glorified Jesus as Lord over all the trials and tribulations of this world. I need a fresh infilling of the love and power of God like I first had 40 odd years ago when I was so thirsty for God’s Spirit that I told the Lord I wasn’t going to get off my knees in my bedroom until he filled me with his Spirit; and he flooded my heart for hours with his most marvellous glorious love. That’s a generation ago but in preparing this sermon the Lord brought to mind something from 1994

I was at the Iguassu Falls on the border of Argentina and Brazil, one of the most spectacular scenes of rushing water in the world, when we were there 3 million litres per second were flowing over the 2.7 kilometre long chasm. As I was watching the unvarying stream of torrential water flowing over the falls my heart was moved with a sense of the eternally unceasing outpouring of the love of God’s Spirit.  Then walking up a track to higher ground I passed a tiny creek trickling out of the hillside which spoke to me of the weakness of all human efforts.

Glorified love poured from the heart of the Father and Son in the power of the Spirit into the innermost being of the praying disciples at the first Pentecost. This is the lost Pentecostal centre that we must thirst for. What is stopping us doing that? Unworthiness, guilt, shame, sin – the blood of the cross has dealt with it all. Not spiritually thirsty enough, Jesus was thirsty for God’s Spirit in our place on the cross. Worried about controversial consequences- what will other people/Anglicans think if we become a church that operates in the Pentecostal power of signs and wonders? None of this really matters does it; only one thing matters….(what’s that)……that the Jesus who bled and suffered and died for me might be glorified. If we make this our prayer, that Jesus be glorified in his Church (Eph 3:21) then surely we will know the Pentecostal centre of the manifested Lordship of Christ in our own lives.