Text: “
They were all filled with the
Holy Spirit and began to talk in other languages, as the Spirit enabled them
to speak.” Acts 2.4
The command of Jesus, before
He was taken into heaven, was quite clear and precise. He told the disciples to
wait, in
So, here is the first question - who or what is the Spirit ?
Well, Matthew’s gospel tells
us. In Matthew’s gospel we read that one Sabbath day, Jesus and His disciples
went to a synagogue. The Lord Jesus stood
up and read from Isaiah 61 the words of the prophet Isaiah, about the Spirit -
and Himself: Here are the words He read.......
1. The
Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to
preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to
proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners,
2 to proclaim the year of the LORD's
favour and the day of vengeance of our God, to
comfort all who mourn.........
After reading this Jesus sat down and said these words ‘This
has come true today.......’
He is the One on whom the Spirit rests -
the Spirit, the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus Christ Himself...........
This helps us to understand what happened that Pentecost day long ago,
The book of Acts declares that
about 120 believers, gathered to wait in a house in
the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus Christ Himself...........
the
life of Jesus, brought to them through and in His Spirit.
As Paul says in Galatians 4.20 “God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts”
The Spirit of Jesus......
And at that point, as you will realise, things changed big time.........
In two ways.........
First, this was the birth of the Church
The Holy Spirit
is poured out on the believers, shaping, creating them into the Church. Here in
that house in
In God’s
purposes, the apostles, the disciples, and the followers of Jesus were gathered
there in
The Lord
had gathered His people there, in those hours in
in that morning hour the
as
the Holy Spirit is poured out upon the believers……gathered there.
One central
matter of vital importance becomes clear here......... at the end of the day,
when all is said and done, the living
The Spirit of Jesus has always been, and forever will be the one and only source of the Church’s life, our life.
the Church is always born of the Spirit
And secondly something else was happening that day.........
and it’s this........
There were crowds in the
street outside, the thousands there in Jerusalem for the festival of Pentecost,
the thousands of Jews from many nations who lived in Jerusalem, men and women of countless nations and peoples
were drawn in and caught up in what the Spirit was doing. Those out in the
street say: We are from Parthia, Media and Elam; from Mesopotamia, Judaea, and Cappadocia, from
Pontus and Asia, from Phrygia and Pamphylia, from
Egypt and the regions of Libya, from Rome, Crete and Arabia, yet all of us hear
them speaking .... about the great things that God has
done ! Men and women of so many nations and peoples were drawn in and
caught up in these events on that day ? Well, this was
what was said of old in the promise made to Abraham.......... God made a
promise to Abraham, and the promise was, all the
nations of the earth will be blessed……… And what we see in
We could read, if we had time, how the Spirit moves, right through the whole book of Acts.............
We see the disciples, heading
out to all the lands round about, and their countless peoples, with the news of
what God has done in Jesus Christ, guided by the Holy Spirit................the
Spirit tells Philip ‘Go to that chariot and stay near it’ and he goes and
speaks to the Ethiopian court official (8.29), the Spirit tells Peter at Caesarea, the Roman city on the coast,
‘Simon, three men are looking for you’, and so Peter meets the Centurion
Cornelius who is converted, (10.19). The
Spirit sets Paul and Barnabas aside and they are sent off to the
Mediterranean world, the Spirit gives
wisdom to the Council of leaders in Jerusalem as they advise and encourage the
Church as it grows and blossoms all over Judea, and Samaria and beyond (15.28)
. The Spirit moves, and men and women hear about Jesus !
And that purpose of God, through the Spirit, which first unfolded upon the earth two thousand years ago, still continues............
That purpose will, declares the New Testament, come to span the whole earth and its history…
for God has a purpose for the whole world, God has a purpose for the people of all nations, for people everywhere. God has a loving purpose for the world, and it is this, that all will come to know Jesus Christ as their Saviour and Lord.
And this is exactly the case ! the Spirit is still moving among men and women,
opening their eyes and ears to hear the gospel, open their minds to understand
the wonderful message of the Cross and Resurrection of our Lord Jesus.
It is also clear, I think, that the Church of Scotland is beginning to face one of the greatest challenges it has faced over long centuries of challenges........
facing difficulties that may make the strongest heart fail,
difficulties that may make those who clasp their hands in prayer tremble........
difficulties that may bring tears to the eyes of those who love the Church.......
we have seen for several years now the dark clouds
once they were on the horizon, far away, but the sun still shone bright
where we were......
Now those clouds and their shadows are much nearer,
and the wind begins to blow colder........
Of course, this wearied,
troubled, hungry, sinful world......... has always been a challenge for the Church ......
But the questions have now become much more pressing........
where are our resources ?
where is our strength ?
where is our hope for the days ahead ?
I think we know, I hope we know, I know we know..........
in Jesus are treasured up all our resources, strength and hope..........
And what we have learned this morning is that just as the Holy Spirit was at work through all the early days of the Church, so the Holy Spirit is still at work The Spirit still is at work moving, crossing frontiers, crossing boundaries, , bringing men and women to life in Christ as of old. The Spirit of Jesus still comes in creative power creating new faith, new commitment, new life, in the world. How do I know ? How can I be so confident ? Because I have seen it with my own eyes ! So let us go from here, uplifted, with renewed expectation and renewed hope. Let us ask God that we may see the Spirit of Jesus moving, calling, drawing the lost to find all they have ever wanted or looked for in Jesus Christ !