The King's Church in Ilford
The following is the text of the talk given on 14th March 2010 by Robin Hawkins
"Fire & Wind"
- Acts 2:1-4
God has an amazing sense of drama and timing. He gave the Jews these feasts which were to be a picture of the Good News. Most of us know about the Passover. This was the event through which the Hebrew slaves were protected when the Angel of Death passed through Egypt killing the firstborn in every Egyptian family. At 3pm a lamb was slaughtered, and its blood daubed upon the door frames. That night, when the angel saw it, he passed over those homes covered by the blood of the lamb. We know this was a drama foretelling the time, hundreds of years later, when the Lamb of God - Jesus - would be slaughtered at 3 in the afternoon for the sins of mankind. Now, everyone who chooses to be covered by His blood is delivered from the eternal judgement of God. What a picture! What a drama!
Pentecost is part of the drama. It comes fifty days (or seven weeks) after the feast of the Passover. That's why it's sometimes called the Feast of Weeks. But it's also known as the Feast of The First Fruits. It celebrates the ingathering of the first harvest. Israel is such good growing land that it could produce two harvests a year! The priest had to wave two loaves of wheat bread in front of the altar. Wheat has always been a picture of the people of the earth. Do you start to see the picture? On the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit brought in the first harvest of souls for the church - and what a harvest! 3000 people in one day!
The drama goes on. In Deut 16:12, Moses tells the people, that as they celebrate this feast, they are to remember that once they were slaves in Egypt. Now they are free. Once we were slaves to sin, but now through the power of the Holy Spirit we have come into liberty and freedom.
Moving on from the drama, I want us to think about where this took place. I struggle a bit with them being all in the upper room when this happened. It's difficult to see how they could have the impact they did on a crowd of 3000. David Pawson reminds us that being a feast day, they would have gone up to the temple for prayer. Solomon's portico was a popular place where people would pray and rabbi's would teach. In the picture here, you'll see it's the sort of place where 3000 could have gathered. If you want to gather a harvest, you've got to go where the people are - and on that day, the people were in the temple.
The dynamics of Pentecost were wind, fire, languages and praise. I want us to explore these, and it'll take us at least a couple of weeks. Wind and fire had long been symbols associated with the Holy Spirit. Jesus was leaving them in no doubt that this what He had promised them. Nor does He leave us in doubt. When the Holy Spirit comes upon us, we will know all about it too!
The Hebrew word for Spirit is Ruach. It also means a strong wind. It's a word that sounds like what it is - Ruach. God breathed His Spirit, breath - Ruach into Adam, and he became a living being. When the Lord spoke to Ezekiel and told him to prophesy to the dry bones, He told the prophet to prophesy to the winds, "Come breath, that they may live." These bones represented the people of Israel - broken and defeated. They needed the Spirit of Life to come upon them to revive them.
Jesus spoke to Nicodemus of the Spirit in terms of Wind. "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."
Nicodemus would surely have been there with the disciples that day as the wind started to blow with irresistible force. It blew among the disciples. More importantly it blew into their souls, blowing away cobwebs of fear, legalism, and uncertainty. But it wasn't just what it blew away. God doesn't merely cleanse us from sin and leave us morally neutral. He breathes into us inspiration - it's what the word means literally - it's to breathe in. He inspires us with new thought, new emotion, new choices. The Lord's people were being stirred up, quickened, and brought back to life as the Holy Spirit came upon them. It's what should happen to us when He comes upon us in power.
The second outward sign of the Holy Spirit is one that is much misunderstood. We speak of fire as an emotion - fire in his belly, a fiery temper, and so on. But actually it harks back to John the Baptist's prophecy: "I baptise you with water, but one mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and with fire." We say we all want the fire, but do we really want the reason for it? With all the zeal of an OT prophet, John goes on: "His winnowing fork is in his hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather the wheat into His barn; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire." (Lk 3:17)
This probably has a double meaning. John may well be talking of impending judgement where God will sort out Believers from Unbelievers - the wheat from the chaff. But in terms of the Believer being baptised in the Holy Spirit, he's talking about a purging of sin. It may sound fierce, but we need to take it as a great promise.
When I got baptised in the Holy Spirit, I didn't know much about anything other than a big battle I'd had with Jesus over some months about who was going to run my life. I'm pleased to say Jesus won! I had nobody to disciple me. No-one prepared me for water baptism some months later. I just wanted to be baptised. But then the Holy Spirit started discipling me. The purging started, and it was no joke. It was like a spiritual boot camp. He started convicting me of one thing after another. He made me go and confess things I'd done, taught me to stop being so self-centred, get right with people, give back the things I'd half-inched as a kid. He told me what clothes I couldn't wear, to stop going to folk clubs so often, get studying. This went on for years as He burned out the chaff in me - and then He started letting me sing about it, although it remains an ongoing process. I'm a bit reluctant to say that God gave me the songs - they're not that good! - But I..er..have one here...
"A Gentle Plea For Tolerance"
Today, I hear people talk often of the peace and comfort of the Holy Spirit. We want the good bits, but we're not too sure about the means of getting there! Peace is what He gives after we've become reconciled to God, and to others. It's what comes from a surrendered will. The original word for Peace is eirene, and it means harmonious relationships between us and God, and us and others. Comfort too, means much more than a feeling of well-being or encouragement. In Normandy, you'll find the Bayeaux tapestry which describes the Battle of Hastings. In it, there's a picture of King Harold goading his soldiers forward with his sword. Underneath is the caption: "Harold comforteth his soldiers"!
There's much more to the coming of the Holy Spirit of which we need to remind ourselves. Many of us have, for years, sought, and indeed, sometimes found, joy-filled experiences of the Holy Spirit. But as George Verwer once challenged someone, "Do you mean the Holy Spirit comes to you without His holiness?" How can He? He cannot be anyone but Himself in us; and His goal is to make us like Jesus. - And yes, there is the assurance of salvation that He brings, the love of God filling our heart, power and spiritual gifts, praise and proclamation - and these things, God willing, we'll have a look at next time.
In the meantime, remember that the Wind brings Life. Nobody promised it was going to be easy, but it is worthwhile - and I wouldn't trade this life for anything this world can offer. The Fire needs to purge us of sin, but it doesn't stop there. It produces a godliness in us that in itself leads to a joy-filled, peace-filled life - and again, that in itself is a powerful witness for Jesus. Dare to be different for Jesus - for if we're not different to the world why should anybody listen to us?
