ACTS: The Outpouring of the Holy Spirit

 

I want to quickly remind you what I said last week in the introduction to the Book of Acts. We do not study the Bible just to gain knowledge about Christianity, or to learn a better way to live our lives, but so we can experience Jesus, or Savior. We will gain a vast amount of theology as we read and study through the book of Acts, but more than anything else, if we let it, the study of Acts will become for us an experience of a lifetime. 

 
And what should we expect to experience as we study and learn today? We should be aware of our physical feelings and any indicators that we can notice of the presence of the Holy Spirit; tinglings, warmth, power, awe, a desire to pray, praise, or even laugh out loud. 
 
Acts 2: 1 The disciples were still gathered together waiting when the day of Pentecost came. 2 They experienced a sudden loud and forceful wind filling the house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what looked like tongues of fire searching and resting on each of the different people in the room. 4 And they realized what the power of the Holy Spirit would feel like because they each one felt Him filling them and speaking through them in languages they did not understand. 
  
On Pentecost the people gathered for the celebration of the First Fruits Harvest, a time to offer the Grain Offering and various other offerings to God as a sweet aroma to their Lord. As such, the day was filled with readings from the Old Testament Scriptures, proclamations, and worship. God chose this special day of celebration to pour out the power of the Holy Spirit from on high. The disciples, sitting in the upper room, waiting for the promise to come, found themselves overwhelmed by the emotion and stirring of the Holy Spirit. They heard a loud commotion, a sound like a rushing wind, they saw fire upon each other’s heads, and they began speaking words they recognized as languages, but they could not understand what they were saying. 
 
Many of us might picture this scene in a dramatic fashion created by the graphic artists of Hollywood, hearing the sounds, and seeing the purposeful movement of fire throughout the room, landing on individuals yet never consuming their hair or skin. To those who experienced this outpouring it must have been a moment of excitement and fear. The excitement comes because this must be for them the fulfillment of what they were waiting for. Finally, after all the hours of praying and wondering, the Holy Spirit had come to empower them. 
 
Yet at the same time, the fear comes because they have never experienced anything like this in their lives. This was all brand new. They did not even have a Hollywood movie to relate to. Nothing in their lives ever responded like this. Yes, they had heard wind before and they knew about fire, but fire always consumed what it touched and here was a kind of fire that continued to burn without anyone, or anything, being harmed. What was God doing? What was this new thing that has come upon them? Where would this experience lead them in the future? What will now be required of them once they received this power? These would have been the questions that would have crossed my mind had I been in that room. 
 
Interjecting some speculation into the story it seems there might have been a number of reasons that God would use such a spectacular and demonstrative way to express the coming of the Holy Spirit. 
 
First, this became a clear, concrete answer to the promise. This demonstration obviously showed the disciples the power of the Spirit, the faithfulness of God, and restored within them the hope that all was not lost because Jesus died on the cross. 
 
Second, what better way to draw attention than to make a lot of noise, brighten the sky with fire, and at the same time perform a couple miracles where fire cannot consume things and uneducated people speak foreign languages. 
 
Third, this demonstration of power would sure cause the people to pay attention to the words the disciples were going to speak. And what they had to speak was the essence of what God wanted the people of Jerusalem to know at this moment in history.
 
Fourth, the disciples would surely receive encouragement from this in the midst of their doubts, fears, frustrations, and grief. This demonstration would empower them to do much they thought they could not do. It would also excite them to follow this God who can do anything. Jesus had told the disciples how they would do greater things than what He had done when the Holy Spirit had come upon them. 
 
Fifth, this would help mark the occasion with a clear sign so the disciples could look back upon that day and gain confidence in the work and plan of God. Jacob had built his altar on the spot where the vision of the ladder to heaven took place allowing the people of Israel to see the altar every time they passed by and remember the story and gain the needed confidence. The disciples could look back on the outpouring of the Holy Spirit as the moment of complete encouragement when the struggle would increase in the years to come.
 
Sixth, we might speculate that this moment in time did a lot to reverse the effects of the Tower of Babel in Genesis, where God confounded the languages of the people so they could not communicate as clearly with one another. Now, God is giving his people the ability to bridge the language barrier. 
 
And the seventh, speculation of what this all means, might also encourage us to realize that witnessing to the Good News of Jesus is best when it is done in the native tongue or in a “language” that holds deep meaning to the person we are talking to. Whether we are on the mission field in a foreign country or in our neighborhood talking with a friend, we need to find the language that speaks most clearly to the heart of the person we want to hear the Good News.   
 
So, we might say God was fulfilling His promise to the disciples, attracting the attention of the people in town, causing people to at least listen to the words of the disciples, encouraging the disciples in their faith, and giving them an event to remember much the same as the Passover or the crossing of the Red Sea.  The goal still settled in on the message of the mighty acts of God and the drawing of people to follow Jesus.  
 
Looking at the purpose of the dramatic outpouring of the Holy Spirit raises the question of the purpose of miracles in our lives today. Even though it is nice to see God heal a friend of ours from their illness, the goal of the healing might stretch way beyond the healing itself. The healing does demonstrate the glory of God, the power of His Spirit, and the truth that God is still active in this life for those who will believe. But it is important for us to remember most of this demonstration is based upon the witness we share with others about the healing. Someone was sick, we prayed, they were healed, lots of people get to tell the story. They can talk about it, those who prayed will talk about it, and even those who hear about it will talk about it. 
 
If no one tells the story, i.e., if there is no witness, then why have the miracle? Just to make someone feel better or have an easier life? No offense, I like being healthy and keeping my friends around and happy, but our goal is not to have a better life on earth. Keep in mind that we will have eternity to live with a perfectly wonderful body of God’s unique design. A few years on earth with a small or great malady is not much compared to that eternal happiness. But if a miracle in our life can be followed with our willingness to bear witness to the love, mercy, and power of Jesus, and that witness might draw some to faith in Him, then by all means the miracle has far more value than just the immediate happiness of the person helped.
 
I want power from the Holy Spirit in each of our lives. I desire for all of us to feel the presence of Jesus in all that we do. But I do not believe the power is for us, so much as for the attraction of others to faith in Jesus. While I believe that Jesus desires and makes a way for us to have an abundant life, the goal of this life is not just for our happiness, but to demonstrate to anyone who will listen and observe, that the power is from God, not from us. Paul said, “We are blessed in this life by God with a wonderful treasure, but we need to keep in mind this power does not come from our own beings but from our God. Because of His power, we are pressured from life and people but not squashed; we are perplexed, but we do not give up; people persecute us because of our faith but God is still with us; we are even struck down but that does not mean we quit; for we carry Jesus with us, He died for us, that we might let our lives reflect His life and glory. We accept His death so that you might find life in Him.” 2 Corinthians 4:7-12 EBV
 
I encourage you to seek the power of the Holy Spirit in your lives and for your loved ones, but I caution you to remember that the power of God is given to us so that we might be witnesses to the love of Jesus our Lord. It does not come our way so that we can hoard this power for ourselves. God’s design is that it flows through us so that the world can also know Jesus as their Lord and Savior. 
 
When you seek healing, or wisdom, or comfort, or whatever it is you need, do so with the goal of sharing the workings of God with others when the opportunity arises. Talk with them, offer to pray with them, pass on to them a blessing in the name of Jesus. 
 
Come Holy Spirit, fall afresh upon us, that we might bear witness to Your love and power so that others might come to believe as well.


May you be blessed with the presence of Jesus in your life, with the confidence to share your faith with others, and with the Holy Spirit flowing through you to draw others to Jesus, our Lord. 


Pastor Edd