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The Day of Pentecost 26/05/2021
Derrick Harrison 26/05/2021
The Day of Pentecost
The Exalted Christ pours out the Holy Spirit on His Disciples “When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:1-4). We are struck by the suddenness and the magnitude of this first outpouring of the Holy Spirit as He falls simultaneously upon 120 disciples who are filled with the Holy Spirit and speak in foreign “tongues” - what follows are the outcomes of being baptized in the Holy Spirit which enables His disciples to live together in loving harmony and to engage in God’s mission. We need to take account of two things – firstly, God had prepared for this momentous happening from the moment our first parents rebelled against Him in the Garden of Eden and that those preparations took on a new urgency when Father sent Jesus to earth to accomplish His plan of salvation when the eternal Son of God was conceived in the womb of the virgin Mary and took on human flesh. The accomplishment of God’s purpose to save us took place at the cross where Jesus died, three days later He rose triumphantly, forty days later He returned to Father and 10 days later we arrive at today – the Day of Pentecost, the occasion of Jesus Christ pouring out the Holy Spirit on 120 disciples who were gathered together, waiting for God to fulfil the word He had spoken to them just before He left them,
New Life Radio – Talk No 33
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“He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now” (Acts 1:4-5). The second important factor that we need to consider takes us back again to God’s actions –to see what happened when Jesus got back to heaven! – and for this information we must engage with Peter’s Pentecost sermon, which was his way of explaining to the vast crowd which had gathered together what was going on. There is no greater sermon in the entire Bible than Peter’s Pentecost message which is focused entirely on JESUS CHRIST – His humanity, ministry, death, entombment, resurrection, ascension, exaltation, receiving Father’s enthronement gift of the Holy Spirit and outpouring the Spirit upon His disciples, “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know— Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; whom God raised up …” (2:22-24). Peter points to Jesus’ ascent from earth to throne, His receiving from Father the promised gift of the Holy Spirit and immediately He mediates the Holy Spirit through His own person to the waiting disciples, “This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. Therefore, being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy New Life Radio – Talk No 33
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Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear” (vv3233). This is exactly as it happened in sequence, in the great outworking of God’s plan. We must view the outpouring of the Holy Spirit as taking place in the context of the Godhead - between Father, Son and Spirit. In His teaching about the Holy Spirit in the Upper Room Jesus had said to the disciples, I will send the Parakletos to you” and then He described the Holy Spirit as “proceeding from the Father.” He described this procedure/procession, “But the Comforter/Advocate/Parakletos, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, HE will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you” (Jn.14:26). “But when the Comforter/Advocate/Parakletos comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, HE will testify of Me. And you also will bear witness, because you have been with ME from the beginning” (Jn.15:26-27). The immediate outcome of this procession of the Spirit from Father to Son and from Him to 120 disciples was that as a united group of 120 disciples they were simultaneously filled with the Holy Spirit, or to use Jesus’ expression, they were each one baptized in the Holy Spirit and also baptized into the body of Christ (1Cor.12:13). The experience and the manifestations that accompanied the coming of the Holy Spirit were as authentic as those actions which had taken place in the Godhead between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We are not used to the Holy Spirit falling on an entire group at exactly the same time, through our western individualism, we only expect one person at New Life Radio – Talk No 33
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a time to be filled with the Holy Spirit. It is not uncommon in revival for the Holy Spirit to move like a prairie fire through town after town as happened in America in the 1859 revival when people were simultaneously swept into the kingdom of God. It is not uncommon for a whole tribe to turn to Jesus within a very short time when the gospel is preached for the first time. We have read missionary stories of men and women who laboured for a lifetime with little success, but the Lord can equally work in a spectacular manner sweeping many souls into the kingdom of God. Who are we to suggest how the Lord should do His work? When the Holy Spirit came to the elders Moses had chosen, 2 of the 70 were still in the camp, but nevertheless, they were filled with the Holy Spirit simultaneously with the others (Num.ch.17). The same thing happened in Count Zinzendorf’s community at Herrnhut, when the Holy Spirit came to the gathered church, there were those who were out in the fields who were simultaneously blessed at the same time as those who were assembled together. This also happened in the Welsh revival when the Holy Spirit was poured out in different geographical locations at exactly the same time. Duncan Campbell, the man who was used by the Lord to spearhead the Hebrides’ revival, said that unique things happened in revival that do not take place under normal conditions. The power of God was such in the Hebrides that on one occasion the house where they were praying shook with the power of God (cf. Acts 4:31) – this happened several times with George Fox. More important than the house shaking was the fact that those intercessors with Duncan Campbell went out of their prayer meeting it was in the early hours of the morning and they heard the groans of many as they felt the weight of their sin bearing heavily upon them. This was the power of God that could cause the prayer house to shake but could powerfully impact the conscience of many people New Life Radio – Talk No 33
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simultaneously, in that community, to cry out to God for deliverance from the guilt of their sin. Duncan Campbell also said that in the revival he could often discern and predict things which happened in the following meeting he was conducting. One could spend a lot of time listing those marks and evidences of the Holy Spirit’s powerful presence in revival. When I use the word revival, I am using it in the context of Christian history, those occasions when God has chosen to outpour His Holy Spirit and I understand that Acts ch.2 was the first occasion of His outpouring and thus we are speaking about the results of Jesus’ exaltation and His mediation of the Holy Spirit. There is clear evidence in the book of Acts of further outpourings of varying numbers, compare the Jewish Pentecost (ch.2 and ch.4) with the outpouring in the household of Cornelius (ch.10) where the Holy Spirit fell simultaneously upon all that were gathered there and each one of them spoke in tongues as in Acts 2. Repeated refreshing’s are promised by the apostle Peter (Acts 3:19) – how we need these outpourings! In Acts ch.2, Luke’s records what happened in sequence on this day of the church’s birth: 1. The disciples are assembled in one accord and in one location (v1) 2. The wind from heaven (v2) 3. Tongues of fire on each of their heads (v3) 4. They are filled with the Holy Spirit and speak in tongues (foreign languages)1 to the various people groups present (v40 5. Devout Jews (from across the Empire) gather to see what is happening – some mock & others question what is happening (v5-13) 1
"xenolalia" to speak a foreign language unknown to the speaker.
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6. Peter’s immediate explanation of events expands into a full account of Jesus Christ. He charges the Jews assembled as guilty for the death of their Messiah (v14-36) 7. The Jews response to Peter’s preaching – conviction of sin, repentance & urgent desire for salvation (37) 8. The promise of the gospel response (v38-40) 9. Belief in the gospel & Baptism (v41) 10. 3,000 new believers (v41) 11. Life together - the church (vv41-47) Thus far Luke has described what happened in the city, what happened in the disciples, what happened when Peter preached and now, we get to see what happened in the church. Luke throughout Luke-Acts identifies every movement of the Holy Spirit (this is one of Luke’s primary interests). Luke has described the outward manifestations of the Spirit – wind, tongues of fire, speaking foreign languages to the pilgrims gathered for the Feast of Pentecost. There were of course, inward workings of the Spirit – the unbearable guilt of being charged with crucifying the Messiah resulting in conviction of sin and the urgent awareness of the need for salvation and the gladness of encountering salvation. These are clear indications of the Spirit’s presence and actions – they are the clear evidence of God’s presence in revival power. I have not described the triumphalism of Peter’s message or its authority and power which resulted in the salvation of about 3,000 souls. I want to show you the inward workings of the Spirit in the lives of those 120 believers who were joined by 3,00 devout Jews, most of whom had never heard about Jesus at all. Were they also filled with the Holy Spirit as well, following repentance, faith and baptism? Luke says that, “they were added unto them” (v41) words reminiscent of New Life Radio – Talk No 33
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similar words just a few verses on, “and the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved” (v47) in between those verses Luke describes the spiritual nature of their fellowship together as the church (2:42-47; 4:32-37). The next day, 5,000 more believers are joined to the church! This is followed by a second outpouring of the Holy Spirit (4:31) with the same outcomes. The spiritual transformation which came about through the baptism in the Holy Spirit, resulting in corporate fellowship (the church functioning together), “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. Now, all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. So, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved” (2:42-47). The first reference follows a description of the first ever recorded activities of the New Testament church, we consider that these things were as authentically the manifestations of the Holy Spirit’s actions as speaking in foreign languages or preaching as Peter had done with the Spirit’s anointing. The second reference follows the second outpouring, which produced the same inward results, “And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with New Life Radio – Talk No 33
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the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness. Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common. And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all. Nor was there anyone among them who lacked; for all who were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds of the things that were sold, and laid them at the apostles’ feet; and they distributed to each as anyone had need” (4:31-37). Note now what is happening in their corporate life together as the people of God – the church, (in contrast to the outward evidence of the Spirit’s actions which we listed earlier), 1) They continued in the apostle’s teaching as clearly stated in Peter’s preaching (see Paul’s apostolic teaching in Eph.4:4-6) which is based on the schema, Deut.6:4. By a survey of the preaching in Acts you would be able to bring together the content of the apostolic teaching. 2) “Fellowship” koinonia. The context of this word koinonia is found in the inter-relationship of the triune God, as they love, converse and worship –the holiness and truth of their communion together is called fellowship and for the very first time this same fellowship has become the experience of these Spirit filled disciples. The word speaks of intimacy and oneness of being/nature, character, and will/purpose. Jesus’ koinonia with Father during the period of His humiliation was marked by utter devoted love, total submission to Father’s will and full obedience to Him. What do these qualities of God, these character attributes look like in the context of fellowship in the corporate life of brothers and sisters living in community together? What we have here New Life Radio – Talk No 33
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is the koinonia of the eternal triune God reproduced in the fellowship of brothers and sisters in the church at Jerusalem. How was this possible? – only by the outpourings of the Holy Spirit from the heart of Jesus Christ resulting in men and women experiencing the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Being filled with the Spirit means that the nature of God is reproduced in my life, but this also means that when I meet together with other brothers and sisters in the body of Christ, we corporately reproduce the nature of God in our love for one another which is manifested in tangible acts of sacrifice. Things happen in Christ’s outpourings which are entirely the work of God, they have the unique stamp of God upon them. We can have out blueprint of what we understand as the New Testament church, but it is only the power of God that makes it a reality. It was the outpouring of the Holy Spirit that created the church and gave to it is unique corevalues and features. Not only must we have a blueprint of the early church, but we must also have a theology of the Holy Spirit’s power to create and reproduce what takes place in Acts. 3) Breaking of Bread, – this is also called the Lord’s Supper and in our next reference we read that they broke bread daily and from house to house. It is understood across the board by Bible teachers and scholars that the early church consisted of multiple house churches. Can you imagine their gatherings – informality is one of the features of small house churches, another is accessibility/flexibility - slave converts would have found it difficult to meet at set-times for meetings, instead these homes would have been constantly open for fellowship, Breaking of Bread, and prayer – John Mark’s home was a good example (12:12; see also 4:23). 4) Wide-spread Fear – was this fear in the believers or fear outside in the community/city? It certainly is not only a NT phenomenon, New Life Radio – Talk No 33
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because we encounter fear on the part of Israel’s enemies. There are further references to fear in Acts (2:43; 5:5, 11, 13, 26; 9:31; 10:2, 22, 35; 13;16, 26; 19:17; 23:10; 27:17, 29). Fear is one pointer to the presence of God evoked in the heart through the evidence of the supernatural presence and actions of God. The death of Ananias and Sapphira brought fear to the heart of believers and unbelievers alike. I remember Duncan Campbell relating how that when the Holy Spirit came to the Training Home in Edinburgh, everybody was afraid to offend the Holy Spirit’s presence – there is no place for familiarity in the presence of God! 5) Unity together is one of the marked characteristics of their fellowship. Unity of doctrine, - yes, but this unity is also one of love they were together. Who wants to be together except it be love that attracts and leads to sacrifice? At the heart of God’s love there is costly sacrifice, a depth of love that considers no sacrifice too great because of its love for others. It says an awful lot when we read that these loving believers sold their properties and lands to meet the extreme poverty in the church. I cannot imagine a greater proof of inward change wrought by the Holy Spirit in the hearts of these brothers and sisters. Luke described this so well, “Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions” (vv44-45; see Mk.10:2122). Later christian history gives us a useful expression to describe this phenomenon of people living together, calling it - “community of goods.” This came about through persecution, when the Anabaptists were stripped of their homes and lands, hounded, and killed by
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Protestants and Catholics alike.2 In no other N.T. church do we read that community of goods took place. Living together in rich fellowship was not living in a community which was apart and separated from the population of Jerusalem. To live in Christian community means that you do not segregate yourself apart from the world, but you live next door to worldly neighbours and your children go to the local school and as a family you live as close as you can to your church which is situated in the heart of a community. For the Anabaptists living in community included caring for their disabled, young, elderly and widows. It is very moving to read the history of these groups who originated in Europe in the sixteenth century, who sought to live by the core values of the early church as they lived together in loving community as the family of God and to see them as they were persecuted across Europe, Russia, and Ukraine, migrating from country to country, eventually ending up in America and Canada. 6) Preaching and teaching in every house, “And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ” (5:42). Looking, at the wider picture of the church we are immediately struck from the first day at the phenomenal growth experienced by the church. The real life of the church and the maturing of new believers took place in the context of the house, “And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart” (2:46).
2
http://www.hutterites.org/history/hutterite-history-overview/
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When Saul persecuted the early Christians, he knew where to find them, “As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison” (Acts 8:3). One of the primary keys to the growth of the church during the ministry of John Wesley was the vast network of class meetings he established; it was estimated that eventually more people came to the Lord in those house meetings than in the wider context of the revival. Many of his future leaders and preachers were nurtured and developed in these home meetings. It was not until the fourth century, when Constantine the Roman Caesar embraced Christianity and became the churches greatest benefactor and ally that the church was moved from the home to the public square and church buildings were erected modelled on the secular basilica. Suddenly, the church moved from obscurity to prominence, from persecution to official favour and sponsorship, from poverty to riches and from defencelessness to the protection of the Roman army – from the pastoral staff to the lethal weapon of the sword. Where is revival in the Constantinian church? If you wish to pursue the course of the Lord’s outpourings in the context of Christian history, I suggest that you read my document on Revival and Renewal Movements in Church History which you can access from my website). 7) Church Growth, 3,000 converted, baptized and added to them (v41); see also 4:4 where 5,000 are added to the church and later we read, “Then the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith.” One of the marks of the Spirit’s outpouring is New Life Radio – Talk No 33
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the remarkable success of the gospel and the vast harvest of souls added to the church. This happens in revival times. 8) “Signs and Wonders” by the apostles, the miraculous marks the progress of the church as it expands throughout the empire (2:43). Initially these miracles took place through the apostle’s ministry (Acts 2:43; 3:6; 4:30, 33; 5:12-16; 6:8; 8:6-7; 14:3; 15:12; 19:11-12; cf. Rom.15:19; 1Cor.12:10, 28; 2Cor.12:12; Gal.3:5; Heb.2:4). Stephen also encountered signs and wonders in his ministry (6:8) and Philip the evangelist experienced a powerful outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Samaria, accompanied by signs and wonders (8:5-8). Surprisingly, Ananias, an unknown disciple from Damascus prays for Paul to be filled with the Holy Spirit. 9) The early church encountered Persecution which continues throughout the history of the church through to today. The intensity of persecution is revealed in the book of Revelation. The churches of the New Testament were first persecuted by the Jews – see the opposition Jesus faced and His crucifixion by the Jewish authorities. Peter’s first sermon accuses the Jews of crucifying their Messiah. Throughout Acts we encounter Jewish opposition to the gospel. Later, the Roman overlords of Palestine persecuted the church as well as the Caesar’s in the context of the Empire, nevertheless the gospel spread – and it spread from the beginning by persecution and the gospel’s progress was continually accompanied by persecution (4:1-3, 5-22, 29-30; 5:17-42; 6:9-7:60; 8:1-4; 9:1-2, 23-25; 12:1-23; 14:19; 16:19-24, 35-40; 17:5-10, 13-15; 18:12-17; 19:23-20:1; 21:27-28:31). Paul was taken captive as a prisoner in Acts ch.21:33; and he remained so throughout the remainder of the book. On several occasions in Paul’s letters, he refers to the extent of his sufferings on account of preaching the gospel (e.g., 2Cor.11:23-33). New Life Radio – Talk No 33
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Outpourings of the Holy Spirit have immediate results, but they also have long-term outcomes and as we observe these, we begin to see the reasons for God’s outpouring. It would take us longer to piece together the outcomes of Pentecost than simply to identify the immediate results we listed from Acts ch.2; we would need to read the whole of Acts to see what God is doing. It is true that in all revivals and outpourings of the Holy Spirit we can identify the purposes of God in outpouring His Spirit upon the church. Revival initiates new chapters in the work of God, gives new insights into truths which have often been lost and gives new impetus and energy to the work of God in mission. Can we expect further outpourings? Of course, as we encounter endtime conditions as they were described by Jesus (Mat.ch.24) so we can anticipate end-time outpourings of God’s power to engage with men and women who are hostile to God and to face conditions which threaten the survival of our human race. 10) The church Engages in Mission, we can expect God to further outpour His Spirit when the church engages in mission, this happened in the early church, wherever the gospel advanced into new unreached areas the preaching was accompanied by signs and wonders as God poured out His Holy Spirit. Both Peter, Philip, Stephen, and no doubt many others including Paul encountered this. The missionary church at Antioch was begun by ordinary brothers and sisters from Jerusalem who talked the gospel to all, they had been scattered by persecution spear-headed by Saul of Tarsus who had been an accomplice in Stephen’s martyrdom. The same thing happened in the 1859 revival as took place in the outpouring at Pentecost, young men and women who came to the Lord in the revival became missionaries and as they pioneered among new people groups, as they preached the gospel and planted churches, New Life Radio – Talk No 33
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they experienced further outpourings of the Holy Spirit. Notice how Stephen and Philip were catapulted into a ministry of healing, deliverance and preaching having been filled with the Holy Spirit in the context of a powerful moving of the Holy Spirit at Jerusalem and how they took that blessing with them wherever they ministered. If we ask ourselves, what fuels revival? - we have plenty of material to answer that question from the story of the early church. But we must then ask ourselves, what puts out the fire of revival? Did the early church lose its fire and with its loss the momentum of mission and the manifestation of the supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit? Again, to answer these questions we would have to consider the state of the churches which had been founded mostly by apostles. We would need to examine the churches which Paul founded from the evidence of Acts and the letters he wrote to them. The state of the churches of Asia is shown to us in the Revelation when Jesus comes to diagnose their spiritual condition and to oversee their repentance and restoration. It was John Wesley’s view that the church lost its power in relationship to the manifestation of spiritual gifts due to its lukewarm condition. It is illuminating to read a letter written by him (it took 20 days to write!) to Dr Middleton of Cambridge University where he demonstrates from the N.T. and subsequent church history, his conviction about spiritual gifts (including tongues) and miracles in contradiction of the learned professor. 3 Long term results of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the book of Acts would require us to study the whole of the book, but to gain a New Testament perspective regarding the outcomes of God’s 3
John Wesley, “The Letters of John Wesley, Vol.2” (Epworth Press 1931) pp312-388
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outpourings is a much greater task. This will then lead us to examine the Old Testament for evidence of revival features and to a wider consideration of the phenomenon of revival in the context Christian history. I am still on that journey – it an exciting exploration but it is also a quest of the heart, a hungering for the manifestation of God’s Holy Spirit in revival power. It is a thoroughly biblical journey which is grounded in the nature of God and the truth of salvation. It is a journey of discovery which is to be found in the history of the church from Pentecost right up to the present time and prayer for further outpourings of the Holy Spirit in the future, “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord” (Acts 3:19). A prayer for personal & corporate outpouring “Holy Spirit bring repentance to our churches and forgive our lukewarm condition, our unbelief, our fearfulness, our worldliness, our materialism and pride. Transform our lives by filling us now with the Holy Spirit, enabling us to live in holiness and love before You. Transform our churches by outpouring the Holy Spirit so that in our fellowship together we reproduce the nature of God and fulfil Your will.” The promise of Jesus to His disciples “but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence” (1:5), and “you shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and you shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (1:8).
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