Lord, Pentecost Us Again
Acts 2:1-4, 13-21
Text Introduction: During December many Baptist churches focus attention on missions. While international outreach is always an important part of the church's work, we can never forget the obligation to be open to the Spirit's work in empowering us to reach our own neighbors.
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Even though it involved a motley crew of fishermen, tax-collectors, peasants, and socially-powerless women it would be hard to overstate the significance of the events Luke describes in this passage. This was a world-changing moment. Theologians argue about whether or not it is proper to call this the birthday of the church, but certainly it was day the church read its birth certificate and discovered its true identity.
The church, from this point forward, would be God’s fifth column challenging a world-system which had turned its back on its Creator.
Listen to Ernest Baker’s description of that day:
“One hundred and twenty disciples of the Lord Jesus were suddenly baptized in the Holy Spirit. their characters were wonderfully enriched. New gifts of speech, insight, and argument were conferred upon them. A great accession of zeal, and love, and devotion was added to their motive powers. Within a few hours 3,000 men and women were converted. The Christian Church was constituted. Every day conversions took place; sometimes scores, hundreds, and even thousands, were added to the ranks of the disciples. The work continued for years in Jerusalem itself. It was not the event of a season. It also spread abroad. The revival created missionaries, who went out in all directions. Revivals in other centers followed. Every city of any considerable importance in the Roman Empire felt the influence of the movement during the next few years.”
How does this compare with today’s church?
Well, it depends upon the breadth of your perspective. In the minds of many people the church is dying. They point to the fact there is little real growth, that conversions seem to be declining, that many people just don’t take the church seriously anymore.
Those whose visions look beyond the west, however, see something very different. They see that in the so-called Global South Christianity is rapidly growing. They see that in sub-Saharan Africa Christianity is the fastest growing religion. They see that there are millions of new Christian converts in China every year. And they see that even in Muslim nations there are many who risk their very lives to become take Christ’s name.
How can this be? Western churches have the money. Western churches have the technology—some of our churches even own radio and television stations. Western churches have the universities and seminaries. Western churches have the most highly trained clergy in the world. Yet, the Western church seems to be dying.
When we look at those non-Western churches, one thing stands out. They have no choice but to rely on the Holy Spirit.
There may be other differences but one must be the role the Holy Spirit played in the lives of these non-Western Christians.
The late John Stott reminded us of what too many in the West have forgotten:
“Without the Holy Spirit, Christian discipleship would be inconceivable, even impossible. There can be no life without the life-giver, no understanding without the Spirit of truth, no fellowship without the unity of the Spirit, no Christlikeness of character apart from his fruit and no effective witness without his power. As a body without breath is a corpse, so the church without the Spirit is dead.
Compare that with the attitude expressed in a statement cited by Os Guinness in which one modern church leader commented that the early church needed the Spirit because it did not know about mass marketing techniques like we do.
It’s time the church prayed, “Lord, Pentecost us again.”
As Christians, we speak of the Holy Spirit but our focus is usually on how the Spirit works in the life of the individual. And that’s important. The New Testament has some beautiful language to describe the relationship of the believer to God’s Spirit. The New Testament speaks of “baptism in the Spirit,” “being filled with the Spirit,” “walking in the Spirit,” and simply being “in the Spirit.” We probably don’t need to draw too much distinction between these terms, but remember they all speak of an intimacy with God through the Spirit. It is an experience the believer should cherish.
There’s no doubt the individual believer needs the Spirit. But so does the church. In the first chapter of Acts, Luke reminds us that Jesus had told the disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the coming of the Spirit. After reminding them of the great work they would do in spreading the gospel, Jesus said, “… stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”
Jesus knew that partnership with God, through the Spirit, was essential if the church was to do his work. The church always needs Pentecost.
I
WE NEED TO PRAY “LORD, PENTECOST US AGAIN”
BECAUSE THE SPIRIT
ENABLES US TO MINISTER WITH EFFECTIVE POWER.
Only a few days before Pentecost Jesus told the disciples to await this power.
You probably know the word “power” comes from “dunamis”, the same word from which we get “dynamite.” Elsewhere it’s translated as “miracle” and implies a power which is effective. It characterized the ministry of the early church.
Listen to Luke’s report in Acts 4:33, remembering that this report followed the first threats against the church by the authorities.
“AC 4:33 With great power the apostles continued to testify to the
resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. “
It was like a spiritual earthquake.
Next year will mark the tenth anniversary of the Sumatra-Andaman Earthquake. That is the earthquake that occurred early on December 26, 2004; it resulted in a tsunami in the Indian Ocean that took almost 280,000 lives. The quake was the third most powerful ever recorded on a seismograph and shifting lasted almost ten minutes. The entire earth shook and other quakes were triggered thousands of miles away in Alaska.
The revivals that shook Great Britain and America during the 18th century had that kind of power.
Yet, it’s probably a mistake to think of the Spirit’s power solely in terms of its explosive impact. One popular attraction in the Texas Panhandle is Palo Duro Canyon, just outside Canyon, Texas. Palo Duro Canyon the second largest canyon in the United States. Along the floor of the canyon meanders Palo Duro creek. The boys and I have wadded a good distance up that creek. It’s not very deep and not much to look at but that creek help to create the canyon through steady erosion. The process may not have been as dramatic as an earthquake but it was, nonetheless, powerful.
Sometimes the Spirit’s power works the same way. Slowly, steadily the Spirit erodes a pathway for the gospel into the heart of an individual or a culture.
Today’s church needs both kinds of power.
II
WE NEED TO PRAY “LORD, PENTECOST US AGAIN”
BECAUSE THE SPIRIT
ENABLES US TO COOPERATE WITH UNEXPECTED UNITY.
One of the most amazing things about the early church, noted by friends and foes alike, was its social makeup. Observers could hardly believe the reports of how rich and poor, Jew and Gentile, educated and uneducated, slave and free, worshipped together on the Lord’s Day.
That should have hardly been surprising when we consider the nature of the prophecy fulfilled that Pentecost.
This promise had a universal character as the words translated “all flesh” could be translated “all humanity.”
This promise transcended gender barriers: “your sons and your daughters will prophesy.”
This promise transcended age barriers: “young men will dream…old men will see visions.”
This promise transcended economic barriers as it included slaves.
This promise even overcame ethnic barriers because the words translated as “slaves” or “servants” were words reserved for Gentile slaves.
Joel’s prophecy anticipated a blessing which would know no boundaries and out of that came a church which continually crossed boundaries.
As the sun set on the Day of Pentecost, the newborn church had some 3,000 members from as many as fifteen nations. Within a few more years, the church rolls would include not only those born as Jews, but also those born as Gentiles.
In the middle of the last century church leaders concerned about racism in the church complained that eleven o’clock on Sunday morning was the most segregated hour in American life. Ironically, by the end of the first century, in the class-conscious Roman Empire, it could be said that the hour of worship on the Lord’s Day was the most integrated hour of the week.
This sense of unity had a practical expression. When the Jewish-Christians in Palestine suffered a great famine, the Greek Christians of Philippi, Corinth, and elsewhere contribute to their needs. They didn’t balk because there were differences in customs, language, and skin-tone. Writing to the wealthy Philemon about the runaway slave Onesimus, Paul dared to call them both “brother.”
How was such a phenomenon possible? Paul gives us a clue in his Epistle to the Ephesians. He calls on the Ephesians to “maintain the oneness of the Spirit in the uniting-bond of peace.” (4:3) Paul knew the Holy Spirit created the remarkable unity of the Christian church. Such unity was nothing short of miraculous.
Probably no other institution has done more to bring people together than the church of Jesus Christ.
III
WE NEED TO PRAY “LORD, PENTECOST US AGAIN”
BECAUSE THE SPIRIT
ENABLES US TO LIVE WITH JOYOUS FREEDOM.
B. L. Davis, former Director of Missions for the Amarillo Baptist Association was attending the Baptist General Convention of Texas that was meeting in El Paso. After one of the evening sessions, he got together with some fellow-pastors at the hotel restaurant for a bite to eat and some reminiscing. The longer they talked over their iced tea and coffee, the louder their laughter became. Finally, a waitress walked over and said, “Look, we’ve got lots of Baptist preachers staying here tonight, you drunks have got to quiet down!”
Folks who have trouble with worship becoming too enthusiastic, would probably prefer to forget this passage completely. Imagine the scandal, the participants in the first worship service of the Christian Church are accused of being drunk.
Sometimes we get so involved debating about “speaking in tongues’ we miss how an enthusiastic worship service became an evangelistic crusade. Praising God led to proclaiming the gospel. Joy roused the curiosity of the crowd.
The Holy Spirit energizes Christian worship. In Ephesians 5:18-20 Paul links being filled or submitted to the Spirit to joyous worship.
…be filled with the Spirit,
speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,
singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;
always giving thanks for all things in the name of
our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father…
When the Pentecost dynamic is at work, the Spirit informs our praying, drives home the message of preaching, challenges unbelieving listeners to respond to the claims of Christ, and sends believers into the world with a sense of God’s presence. Out of that sense of God’s presence should come an overflowing joy.
We’re told that our age is one without a lot of hope. It’s been that way for some time. Remember the term “beat generation?” I always thought it had to do with the kind of music popular in the fifties and sixties. It doesn’t. The “beat” generation was that generation which came to maturity following World War II, that generation which was emotionally and spiritually running on empty, exhausted, beat.
From the beat generation to the members of generation X that same emptiness and despair has been passed on from generation to generation. It doesn’t impact every individual in the same way but there’s still a great need for Christians to model the genuine joy which comes from their relationship with Christ, the joy which is a fruit of the Spirit.
IV
WE NEED TO PRAY “LORD, PENTECOST US AGAIN”
BECAUSE THE SPIRIT
ENABLES US TO FOLLOW JESUS WITH INTEGRITY.
Luke offers a sidebar on the day’s events:
AC 2:42 [The new Christians] devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the
fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer….
[44] All the believers were together and had everything in common.
[45] Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. …
They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere
hearts, [47] praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the
Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
The Twentieth Century NT renders “enjoying the favor of all the people” as “winning the respect of all the people.” That respect was won, in part, as the Christians lived their lives with integrity before the watching world. Even if we don’t always agree with someone, we generally admire integrity when we see it. Such authenticity is appealing.
In time, the crowds would turn against the church but that would be because of the false rumors spread about Christians by the authorities. Still, the impact of the average Christian’s life was amazing.
The Holy Spirit is sometimes called the Spirit of Christ. This title refers not only to the Spirit’s being Christ’s gift to the church, but to how the Spirit endeavors to make us increasingly like Christ. Paul speaks of how Christians are transformed “as the Lord’s Spirit makes us more and more like our glorious Lord.” (2 Cor. 3:18)
We live in an age when men and women who have not embraced Christ’s claims are disinclined to listen to our words. But these men and women who might never attend a church to hear a sermon are attracted to a life of integrity. Only after they have seen the authenticity of our lives are they persuaded to hear what we have to say. We have an ongoing need for the Holy Spirit’s help.
CONCLUSION
We recently sent a special book to our grandson Kieran. I hadn’t seen anything like it in years. It was basically a small flannel-graph. You remember them, you could tell a story by placing paper figures on a flannel covered board. Your imagination was the limit.
Some Sunday Schools are beginning to use flannel-graphs again. They have to dust them off but they’re using them. It seems these low-tech devices fascinate some children.
Now I believe a church should make use of every legitimate means to share its message but there is a lesson here. Sometimes we have to look back to discover how we might better do our work.
That’s true at a very fundamental level. The Holy Spirit, Christ’s parting gift to his people, is a Gift that has never become obsolete. That’s why we always should be ready to pray, “Lord, Pentecost us again.”
