Pentecost Sunday friends, is a pinnacle event in the church. We recognize where after the Death and Resurrection of Christ, he promised, a Comforter, a Guide , a Helper would come to the aid and in the life of all who believe and know Christ as their Lord and Savior.
The word Pentecost comes from the Greek word pentecoste, which means fiftieth; and on the Christian calendar, Pentecost is the fiftieth day after Christ’s resurrection. Pentecost originate in Acts 2, where the gathered disciples experience the presence and power of God’s Holy Spirit.
Even though friends, we each have access to the Holy Spirit, some people truly haven’t listened to him either by choice or just by passing and not knowing what to listen for.
There are so many aspects and descriptions of the Holy Spirit, I wouldn’t be able to cover them all, but let me point out a few things.
Many Christians are afraid of the Holy Spirit. The “Ghost” of the KJV sounds like a spook. The excesses of some have caused many of us to focus more on what we don’t believe about the Spirit than what we do believe. Pentecost reminds us that the reality of the Spirit’s coming is the birthday of the church.
The Old Testament said little about the Spirit in personal terms. The breath of God at the dawn of creation, the Spirit of God, is an occasional empowerment in the lives of selected heroes and heroines of Israel. Jesus words were “new” teaching in that they spoke of a whole new relationship with the Counselor—his word for the Holy Spirit.
So what can the Holy Spirit do for you?
He Shall Dwell with you and be with you always!
He Shall teach you all things that you need!
He Shall bring all things to your remembrance!
He Shall testify and guide you into all truth!
He Shall show you things to come!
He Shall glorify God!
He Shall take of Christ and show it to you!
He is sent by Jesus and comes from God. He “goes along beside” the believer. We should joyously embrace the Spirit’s ministry in our lives. Paul refers to the Spirit as the “earnest” of our salvation. He is God’s down payment and promise that he who has begun this good work in you will perform it.
The Spirit does not draw attention to himself. The gifts of the Spirit or other manifestations are intended to focus our attention on Christ. Any focus on the Holy Spirit that says more about the third member of the Godhead than about Jesus has missed the point of the Spirit’s ministry. Likewise, we are genuinely spiritual not when we draw attention to ourselves, but as our lives point others to Christ.
We have the obligation to preach and testify about that which we have seen and heard. But we cannot argue anyone into faith. In reality, the Holy Spirit of God must draw men and women to Christ. He is the one who lifts up Christ—the objective standard of God’s righteousness that reveals human sin and portends of divine judgment. We don’t find Christ. Rather, as Saint Thomas observed, Christ is like the hound of heaven who finds us.
Stan Telchin, a successful Jewish businessman, felt betrayed when his daughter, Judy, twentyone, called home from college to say, “I believe Jesus is the Messiah.”
To prove his daughter wrong, Telchin began an energetic quest for truth. So did Stan’s wife, Ethel, and their other daughter, Ann. When the search created friction between Stan and Ethel, they agreed to pursue their studies independently.
Months later, Stan accepted an invitation to attend a National Convocation of Messianic Jews. He planned to “work the convention” just like any other business, meeting with anyone he thought could help him.
After a series of meetings, Stan lay awake in his dorm room, realizing he had arrived at a point of crisis. If the Bible was true—and he had concluded it was—then he really did believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He also admitted that he believed in the Bible as God’s inspired Word. But he couldn’t quite say, “Jesus is the Messiah.”
He asked his roommate to pray for him. Art obliged, praying simply, “God, give Stan your peace, and resolve his inner conflict.”
The next morning at breakfast, a man at Stan’s table asked him to pray before the meal. Startled by the request, Stan bowed his head and said: “Praised be Thou, O Lord our God, King of the universe. I thank you for the fellowship and the friendship at this table. I thank you for what we have learned at this meeting. I ask you now to bless this food, and I do so … in the name of Jesus, the Messiah.”
For a moment, he sat there, amazed at what he had just prayed. The faces of others at the table were suddenly jubilant. “Stan,” said one of them, “you’re a believer!” One by one they got up from their seats and hugged Stan. Several cried with joy.
Stan began to weep too. He wasn’t sure how his wife would take the news, but he called her, blurting out, “Ethel, honey, it’s me. It’s over. I’ve made my decision. Jesus is the Messiah!”
There was a pause on the other line as Stan held his breath. Then his wife said softly, “Thank God! That makes it unanimous. We’ve all been waiting for you.”
Stan’s entire family—his wife and both daughters—had decided to trust Christ as the Messiah. Each had been praying and waiting patiently for the Holy Spirit of Christ to draw Stan into a relationship with himself.
—Story told in Stan Telchin,
Betrayed (Chosen, 1981
The whole family, the Holy Spirit helped each of them come to the ‘truth’ of the matter.
The focus here is on spiritual truth. The Holy Spirit is God’s mediated presence in the world. He communicates the mind of God to the believer. The test for all spiritual truth claims is: “Does this glorify Jesus Christ?”
In the New Testament we are urged to “walk in,” “be filled with,” and “live by” the Spirit. Stuart Briscoe has said: “All that Christ is, He is in us and all that He is in us He wants to be through us. The invitation of the New Testament is simply, ‘Let Him. ”
Just think about the story of Stan, if he did make a earnest effort, if he did not listen to the Holy Spirit, if he did not accept the guidance of the Holy Spirit, if he did not pursue the direction from the Holy Spirit, the story would have went into a much darker and different direction!
As Christians empowered by the Holy Spirit, we grow in a desire to serve God through service and mission. That means focusing not only on spiritual growth but also works of justice and peace and service to the poor, imprisoned, and suffering. When we witness or participate in such acts, we can be certain that the Holy Spirit is at work.
The joy of the spiritual life is constantly learning about God’s grace and God’s care. John Wesley’s emphasis on God’s grace illustrates his understanding of the work of God’s Spirit throughout our lives.
Prevenient grace is with us from birth and works us toward justifying grace when we are converted to the faith. With salvation comes our growth in sanctification (holiness), wherein God perfects us.
Wesley believed we must continue in grace in order to enter into the kingdom of God. In all these aspects of God’s grace, the Holy Spirit works in our heart, emotions, mind and will, helping us grow and transform. By “perfection,” not that we will never make mistakes or that we are never weak. It as a growth of love for God and one another and a removal of our desire to sin. Such growth, as individual Christians and as communities of faith, illustrates the dynamic and vital presence of God’s Holy Spirit. The Spirit is both the daily presence of God and the way by which we grow as Christians.
Pentecost Sunday is an excellent time to celebrate the presence of the Holy Spirit within us and within our churches.
I will close with this friends, from Isaiah 41
You whom I have [a]taken from the ends of the earth
And called from its remotest parts,
And said to you, ‘You are My servant,
I have chosen you and have not rejected you.
10 Do not fear, for I am with you;
Do not be afraid, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you, I will also help you,
I will also uphold you with My righteous right hand.’
11 Behold, all those who are angered at you will be shamed and dishonored;
Those who contend with you will be as nothing and will perish.
12 You will seek those who quarrel with you, but will not find them,
Those who war with you will be as nothing and non-existent.
13 For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand,
Who says to you, ‘Do not fear, I will help you.’
Trust in him friends, Let him be your guide, let him be your savior and always, always always remember, God does and knows what best for each of us, Amen.
In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen