Pentecost Sunday, Pentecost: Receiving God’s Power (2021)

Good morning. Thank you for the opportunity to be part of your service this
"Pentecost Sunday". Let's begin with prayer: May the words of my mouth and the
meditation of our hearts be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord our Redeemer. Amen.

Let me ask you a question rhetorical in nature. Give it serious consideration before
you determine your answer. The question is this: If we had to forego the
celebration of Christmas, Good Friday, Easter or Pentecost, which one would seem
the least crucial? Take your time!

Most of us, myself included, would have a tough time picturing a year with no
Christmas, no Holy Thursday/Good Friday or no Easter. Many Christians, because
of the congregational and cultural emphasis of the first three, would probably say,
“Well, if I must choose, I can do without Pentecost.”
Absolutely not! The bottom line of what I’m trying to say from the Bible today is
that without Pentecost the other three would not be celebrated at all!

There could not have been a Good Friday without the advent of Christ’s coming
which we celebrate at Christmas. Good Friday would have been a meaningless
martyrdom without the victorious resurrection of Jesus Christ which we celebrate
at Easter. But it is Pentecost that enables the gift of faith by which you and I can
know that the birth, the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ are for us! Jesus
was not finished when He rose from the dead and ascended to be glorified. He
came back to give the greatest gift of all — the gift of His own Spirit to live in us.
It is with the excitement of this reality that we focus today on Pentecost, with our
theme from Acts 2 being “Receiving God’s Power.”

Let's look at four aspects of receiving God's power in: the promise of Pentecost,
the posture or attitude of Pentecost, the picture of Pentecost, and the practice of
Pentecost.

First, let’s look at the promise of Pentecost in receiving God’s power.

The promise is quite straightforward. Jesus gave it in His last words to the disciples
when He declared, “‘But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on
you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and
to the ends of the earth'” (Acts 1:8).
1
That’s the obvious promise. But there were earlier promises of the Spirit of God
coming in Pentecostal power. Hundreds of years before, the prophet Joel quoted
God as saying: in (Joel 2:27-32)

“Then you will know that I am in Israel, that I am the Lord your God, and that
there is no other; never again will My people be shamed. And afterward, I will
pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old
men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants,
both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days. I will show wonders
in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will
be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and
dreadful day of the Lord. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be
saved”

In case you question such reaching back into the Old Testament to find such a
future promise, I refer to no lesser authority than the Apostle Peter who in his
Pentecost sermon in Acts 2:16-21 quotes this prophesy of Joel verbatim.

You and I who have repented of sin and put our trust in Jesus Christ alone for
salvation are promised God’s Pentecostal power. This is not a divine energy that is
restricted to some movements and denominations that go by the label charismatic
or Pentecostal. How sad it is if we relegate to others that divine energy that God
wills for all of us.

Second, let’s look at the attitude or posture of Pentecost in receiving God’s

power.

The biblical record tells us that this is an attitude or posture of a people who are
ready to receive God’s power. Acts 1:14 tells us, “They all joined together
constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and
with His brothers.” Acts 2:1 declares, “When the day of Pentecost came, they were
all together in one place.” There is no substitute for Christian community!

We sometimes read the results of polls that declare that a high percentage of
Canadians are professing believers in Jesus Christ. Add to that the number of
people who claim to have a “deep spirituality,” and you will find that an
overwhelming percentage of our fellow citizens see themselves as the people of
God. Why then is there not a greater impact on our society and world?

2
I am convinced that there is a neglecting of this biblical profile of what is the
posture or attitude of a people who are open to receive the fullness of the power of
God’s Spirit and to continue to receive the fullness of that power. This posture has
at least four aspects to it.

One aspect is that of being together in one place. You can’t go it alone in the
Christian life. You need your brothers and sisters. So many people who claim
spirituality are pursuing it on a Lone Ranger basis.
A second aspect is the necessity of being in a spirit of prayer. We need times alone
in prayer. We need times together in prayer. We need to open our hearts to God,
allowing God to capture our attention. Some of us are so busy running around
doing things that we haven’t taken the time to listen, to be open, to receive that
divine power and energy that God wants to give us through His Spirit.

A third aspect is to be taking seriously what the Scriptures have to say. I’m
fascinated at the fact that during these days between the ascension of Jesus and
Pentecost this group of 120 close followers of Jesus heard the Scriptures taught.
Peter expounded on the Old Testament teachings to them. It’s a posture of
receptivity to God’s teachings.

And a fourth aspect is that they were waiting expectantly for God to act. Is there
that dimension of waiting in your life? We live in a culture of instant gratification.
If something goes wrong in our life we automatically tend to blame God, forgetting
that God can use those things that are so puzzling to us to actually get our
attention.

I listened to a tape of Elisabeth Elliot, some of you may have read about her in
Joan Thomas' book entitled "Five Wives". Elizabeth Elliot, is a contemporary
writer, who has faced a lot of tragedy in her life. She describes her first year on the
mission field in Ecuador. She faced three major blows to her faith. The informant
who was helping her with the native language was murdered. All of her language
materials, everything that went into the writing of a language that had never been
written down before, were stolen. And the station on which her fiancee, Jim Elliot,
had been working on went down the river in a flood. Now decades later, as one
who has had many more tragedies, including the murder by Aucas tribesmen of her
husband Jim, the death of her second husband and many other trials, she has a
track record of waiting upon God. In that same taped message, she declares:
“When I was 12 years old, I told the Lord that I wanted Him to work out His will
in my life at any cost. When He set about doing that, I was amazed. I didn’t think it
was going to be that way. We never do. The will of God is never exactly what you

3
expect it to be. It may seem to be much worse; but in the end, it’s going to be a lot
better and a lot bigger. What is your desire?”

Is yours a posture or attitude of being together on a regular basis with other

believers? Is yours a posture of prayer? Is yours a posture of having the Bible open
before you in personal, daily meditation and in corporate teaching environments?
Is yours a posture of waiting upon God, trusting Him to, in His time, fulfill His
promises in a way that you do not get overly self-impressed with the victories of
your life and/or overly discouraged at what appear to be the losses and tragedies
that come your way?

Let me assure you that if we are not in this kind of posture we will find other
postures that will quench the Holy Spirit’s presence in our lives.

There are all kinds of weird spirituality mesmerizing contemporary men and
women in our culture. I read a fascinating article describing persons who are hiring
experts to check the energy balance of their homes and offices. People hunger for
power. Deep within our hearts there is a need for energy and the right energy
balance. This article describes a “feng shui” practitioner who, for a hundred dollars
an hour, will stroll through your home and tell you what to add and take away to
bring the energy into balance. This priest comes into your home or office and
arranges items, moves doors, puts up mirrors and all sorts of other manipulations to
achieve “good chi.” It’s an endeavor to attract good spirits and repel evil spirits.

The posture of receiving God’s power is not through such pagan exercises as feng
shui, astrology, palm reading, and fortune-telling. It’s by gathering with brothers
and sisters in Christ in the spirit of prayer, with a Bible that is open and a heart that
is waiting and receptive to God’s guidance.

Third, let’s look at the picture of Pentecost with a people receiving God’s
power.

There were three great Jewish festivals to which every male Jew who lived within
20 miles of Jerusalem was legally bound to come. They were Passover, Pentecost,
and the Feast of Tabernacles. The name Pentecost means “the fiftieth.” And
another name for Pentecost was “The Feast of Weeks.” It was so-called because it
fell on the fiftieth day, after a week of weeks — 7 weeks, each having 7 days, after
Passover. Passover fell in the middle of April. Therefore, Pentecost fell at the
beginning of June. By that time traveling conditions were at their best. The rainy

4
season was over. Some scholars say that there may very well have been more
people in Jerusalem at Pentecost than there were during Passover.

The Feast had two main significances. One, it had an historical significance in that
it commemorated the giving of the law to Moses on Mount Sinai. Two, it had an
agricultural significance in that at Passover the first omer of barley of the crop was
offered to God, and at Pentecost two loaves were offered in gratitude for the
completed and in-gathered harvest. No work was to be done on that day. It was a
festive holiday occasion and the streets were filled with people.

Luke paints the picture for us in Acts 2:2-13. Let me read some of his words.
“Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled
the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of
fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with
the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them”
(Acts 2:2-4).
Luke goes on to describe how there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews
from every nation who heard the sound and came and gathered in bewilderment,
each hearing disciples speak in their own languages. Some, deeply perplexed,
wanted to know, “What does this mean?” Others made fun of the disciples
declaring, “They have had too much wine.”

The Hebrew word for spirit and wind is ruach. The wind had been an emblem of
the Spirit for the Hebrew people throughout the generations. This wind of God was
present at the creation. It was this wind of which Ezekiel spoke of in the valley of
dry bones in which a dejected, defeated people would be brought back to life
(Ezekiel 37). Jesus used the image of the wind for the Spirit when He was
describing to Nicodemus what it is to be born-again by the Spirit (John 3). In the
Upper Room, the wind was blowing, rushing with an irresistible force. Perhaps
Nicodemus was among those who heard and saw this undeniable evidence of the
wind. New thought, new energy, new vitality, new creativity, new emotion came to
life by this in-filling of the Holy Spirit. God was bringing to life His people,
individually and corporately. He was birthing His church.

Not only was wind part of the picture. Also tongues of fire were part of the picture.
The text says, “They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and
came to rest on each of them” (Acts 2:2). The fire of the Holy Spirit purges, burns
away the chaff, all that debilitates and prevents you and me from becoming what
God created you and me to become. Not only is the chaff burned away. The Holy
Spirit refines us, as does the melting process that burns off the dross bringing out

5
the pure metal. The Bible talks about the “refiner’s fire” that purges us and enables
us to live with the warmth of God’s Spirit emanating from our lives. This fire of
the Holy Spirit helps us to love others, being a people who are more giving, more
consistent in our Christian lives, more forgiving of others.

There is a third picture here. It is that of speaking in tongues. Some would

distinguish between tongues being the kind of ecstatic utterance that is not really
an intelligible language except wherein it is interpreted by someone who has the
gift of understanding of that otherwise unintelligible language. A second
understanding of tongues is literally the capacity to communicate with people in
ways that go beyond human understanding. Gathered in Jerusalem were men and
women from many different nations, speaking many different languages. Here
were these Galileans, not very sophisticated people, who were conveying the
Gospel of Jesus Christ in ways intelligible, and understandable to others.
How can I get across this picture of Pentecost? How does the wind, fire, tongues
apply to us today?

The best way I can summarize it is in trying to paint a picture of those times in life
when a person outdoes himself. Take the young football player who in the last two
minutes of the game, with the score against his team, runs faster than his legs have
ever carried him before, farther than he ever dreamed of running, and scores the
winning touchdown. When he comes out of the game, the coach says to him, “I
didn’t know you had it in you.” If he is honest, his reply would be, “I didn’t. I was
picked up and carried by something outside of myself.” That’s the picture of what
happens to you and me when we are open to the fullness, the power of the Holy
Spirit, allowing His wind to propel us, His fire to purify us, and His endowment of
communication capabilities to help us convey the objectivity of His truth and our
experience of our relationship with Him to others.

The danger of organized Christianity today is that it can become powerless! There
is nothing more boring than empty theological words. There is nothing more life-
sapping, than dry institutional religion that simply becomes a head trip and a
business. Jesus did not come to found a new religion called Christianity. Jesus said,
‘”I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full”‘ (John 10:10).

Fourth, let’s look at the practice of Pentecost of a people who have received
God’s power

6
Luke shows us four specific practices of a living, Holy-Spirit-filled church. Luke
records, as history, the practice in these words of Acts 2:42-47: “They devoted
themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread
and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous
signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything
in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as they had
need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke
bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God
and enjoying the favour of all the people. And the Lord added to their numbers
daily those who were being saved.”

Four practices stand out. One, it was a learning church. There were 3,120 people
devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching. They took the teachings seriously.
This was not some mystical experience that caused them to neglect theology. The
fullness of the Holy Spirit is not anti-intellectualism. Today we do not have the
apostles, but we do have the apostles’ teachings. We have the prophetic teachings
of the Old Testament, which the early church had, and we have the apostles’
teaching as recorded and preserved for us by the Holy Spirit in the New Testament.
A Spirit-filled church is a biblical church, committed to the Word of God.

Two, it was a caring church. They were involved in the practice of fellowship.
They came together in intimate groupings. They saw everything they had was
God’s, given to them to use. They shared with each other, as common, all that they
had. Some sold their possessions and goods. Not all did because it tells us later that
they met in each other’s homes. The sin of Ananias and Sapphira was the sin of
hypocrisy and lying which came out of covetousness. The church is not a Marxist
organization. You and I have to decide how we deal with what God has given to us
in a way that serves the greater good of the "Kingdom of God." We’re called to be
concerned about the poor, both within the church and outside of the church. We’re
called to have a sense of global concern, aware that one-sixth to one-fifth of the
world population lives below the poverty level.

Third, it was a worshiping church. These early believers met together regularly to
break bread and pray together. Their worship was formal in the Temple. And their
worship was informal, meeting in their individual homes. Their worship was both
joyful and dignified, celebrative and reverent.
And fourth, it was an evangelizing church. The teaching that nourished the
believers was balanced by a continuing emphasis on the truths that called others to
repentance and faith. “And the Lord added to their number daily those who were

7
being saved” (Acts 2:47). Evangelism is central to our work. You and I are called
to share our faith individually and corporately.

Let me conclude with the same question with which I opened this message. If we
had to forego the celebration of Christmas, Good Friday, Easter, or Pentecost,
which one would seem least crucial? As essential as is Christmas, as is Good
Friday, as is Easter, these three may not be celebrated at all if it were not for
Pentecost. Just as an incarnate God came in human form, and in the crucifixion
Jesus died for the sins of the world, and in the resurrection Jesus triumphed over
sin and death, even so in Pentecost God empowers you and me and His church
universal to live to His glory, and to do His work furthering the Kingdom until He
comes again.

I want to conclude my talk with the words the first verse of the hymn "Spirit of the
Living God", as a prayer. “Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh on us. Break us,
melt us, mould us, fill us, use us. Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh on us,
empowering us to be and do all you expect of us being and doing!” in Jesus' name.
Amen.