here is the link to an audio recording of this message
https://anchor.fm/hope-whangarei/episodes/23-5-21-Howard-Carter---One-Gift-For-All-e11d9qt/a-a5lbfi7
Today we celebrate Pentecost, A Jewish harvest festival but also the time when as the Church we celebrate the coming of the third person of the trinity, the Holy Spirit on those first believers on what is often called the birthday of the Church. What we want to look at today is the fact that God has given all who believe in Christ a gift. The gift of the Holy Spirit to dwell with in us and fill us with the presence of God. You see you and I are God’s spirited people. The very presence of God dwells within us. I love stain glass window art. I really like the dove in this window over here, which is a symbol of the Holy Spirit, from the gospel narrative where at Jesus baptism it tells us the spirit descended on Jesus in the form of a dove. I love the way the light shines through that window in the late afternoon and puts this wonderful kaleidoscope into the body of the church. The spirit of God poured out on us all, on all who believe in Christ.
Over
the period between Easter and Pentecost we’ve been working our way through a
series looking at the gifts of the Holy Spirit in the Bible and the Church
Today. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are the ways in which God is present with
us to empower us and enable us and equip us as the church to bear witness to
Christ through word and deed in the world. We did that by looking at the passages in the
Epistles which have a list of Gifts of the Holy Spirit. Each list different and
each list telling us something about the purpose and use of the gifts. No list
definitive but showing us the breadth of God’s gracious enabling of his people.
Not shopping lists or wish lists of things that could make us appear more spiritual
but to be humbly used for the benefit of all. We looked at Romans 12 and saw that all the
different Gifts were given so that we could effectively serve God and love one
another, many gifts one service, in 1 Corinthians 12 we saw two list of the
gifts and saw that while there were many Gifts they were given by the same
spirit, they were he way in which God was able to act and speak to and through
his people, Then we saw in the second
half of that chapter that there were many gifts but one body, we are all given
different gifts and they are to be used together for the common good. In 1
Corinthians 14 we saw that these gifts were to be used in love to build up the
church, and given some practical love soaked guidelines for their use in public
worship. In Ephesians four we saw that
God had given ministry gifts apostles, prophets, evangelists, and teachers and
pastors so that the church could grow into maturity in Christ, lacking in
nothing and being about the kingdom of God. In 1 Peter 4 we were encouraged to
use these gifts more and more for the glory of God.
sometimes
I think that our understanding of the Holy Spirit and the gifts the Spirit
gives is like one of the stain glass windows at St John’s in Rotorua, where I
worked. The gifts of the gifts of the Holy Spirit were represented by triangles
of different coloured glass in the windows at the top of the church. The sun
was supposed to shine through the upper windows and through the glass triangles
and down on to the congregation, symbolising that the Gifts the Holy Spirit
were for everyone, not just what was happening up the front. The problem as
that the sun never shone through on a sufficient angle for that to happen.
There was a disconnect between them and the congregation, which I felt was
symbolic for a lot of us of a disconnect between the gift of the Holy Spirit
and the gifts of the Holy Spirit and our own lives. What I want to do today is
use Acts 2 as a way of addressing a lot of the issues around that disconnect. I
want to do it in a very 21st century way. If you go on to websites you’ll often see a
FAQ page or frequently asked questions page and I want to provide us with that
today.
Let’s have a quick look at Acts 2
first. It is the story of the coming of the Holy Spirit as promised and the
start of the mission of the church as witnesses to Jesus. Basically it is split
into three parts. the first details the events that took place as the spirit
came upon those first believers gathered together. It outlines what
happened and peoples response. The central part of the narrative is Peter’s
sermon where he explains what is happening and preaches about Jesus. The third
section of the narrative is the peoples response, about three thousand were
saved and then a concluding description of how this new community, God’s
Spirited people, lived together being lead and empowered by the Holy Spirit.
The first frequently asked question is
‘Do all Christians need to be filled with the Holy Spirit? Is the Holy Spirit
for every one or just the certain chosen few? Is it essential or is just an
optional extra like leather upholstery and racing strips on a car?
While we’ve been addressing that
throughout this series, it is good to look at it again. The answer is yes it is
for everyone. Look at the flow of things in Acts 2 it starts by says all the
believers were gathered together (About 120), all of them were filled with the
Holy Spirit, men and women, in this case all of them spoke in tongues. When the
crowd gathers it is the apostles, Peter and the elven that stand up to speak,
that is the gift that they have been given, so they use it. They have been
training for this moment with Jesus, the narrative ends with people living in a
way that reflects the Holy Spirit’s presence in their midst, in all of them
with the love they have for each other.
The other important answer to this
question comes from the passage that Peter quotes from the prophet Joel, that
he says is being fulfilled that day. That God would put out his spirit on all
people, and it is a comprehensive list… men and women, regardless of
socio-economic status ‘on your men servants and women servants as well, all
would speak God’s word or prophesy… and regardless of age… young would see
visions and old would dream dreams, and you can choose for yourself which
category you are in.
WE are all to be filled with
God’s Holy Spirit. As Paul says ‘ he anointed us, set his seal of ownership on
us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to
come.’ 2 Corinthians 1:22
The second FAQ is ‘was it just for the
people then, just to get the church kick started you know and it’s not for us
today. I mean we have the New Testament?’… when it comes to the gifts of the
Holy Spirit the church is split along those lines, those who believe the gifts
of the Holy Spirit were for then and there but they’ve stopped now and those
who believe that it is for all people at all times.
Focusing on what we have read to us
today, Peter finishes his sermon by saying that those who repent and believe in
Jesus will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. That it is a promise for you
and your children and for all who are far off- for all whom the Lord our God
will call.’ Some have seen this as saying it’s for the first couple of
generations of Christians, which is a literal interpretation, but it is more
likely a way of talking about it being for all generations to come. For all who
God shall call.
People who talk of the gifts not being
for today often point to the second half of 1 Corinthians 13 where Paul talks
of tongues ceasing and prophecy ending… when the perfect comes. They see that
as meaning the New Testament scriptures. It is hard to write back into Paul in
one of the earliest letters which is included in the New Testament canon that
he would see a time when we had such a collection. He was writing to a
church that had people who believed that the kingdom of God had come in its
entirety and they were like heavenly spiritual beings and he has to remind them
that this is not the case; they are to look forward to a greater fulfilment
when Christ returns.
The fullness of the Holy Spirit, its
presence and the gifts are for us today.
Another FAQ is … when you talk about
the Holy Spirit we are bit worried you mean all the weird and wonderful stuff
that seems to go along with it at ‘those churches’. do we have to become like
them?
In Acts 2 there are very real
manifestations that go along with the coming of the Holy Spirit. The wind, the
tongues of fire everyone speaking in languages of all the nations gathered on
that day. This was an important event an epoch changing event. The wind and the
fire are symbols of the Holy Spirit from the Old Testament, the speaking in a
language that all could understand was a sign that this was God
pouring out his spirit so that the people of God could and would witness to all
the nations of the world, this was the revolution of God grace for all, so it was
appropriate. We do tend to forget that the focus of the narrative is on what
happened to God’s people and we see they had boldness to preach about Jesus.
The majority of this passage is about peter explaining the scriptures and
pointing people to Christ. The other thing is that it ends with a summary of
the life of God’s Spirited people in Jerusalem. The signs of the presence
and moving of God’s holy Spirit are not really all the weird and wonderful
stuff, but people repenting and turning to God, a hunger for God’s word, an
increase in a dedication to worship and prayer, unity and love; shown in
generosity and hospitality, a genuine and practical concern for the poor, a
renewed passion for people to come to know Christ, and yes that God does move
in signs and wonders.
I think we’ve just gotten to a point
where we are not used to God being God in our midst… in one edition of the
voice of martyrs magazine, one Syrian pastor who has stayed in Syria during the
war there, talks of the church being full, and many Muslims coming to faith
80-90% of them because they have had a vision or a dream… one man asked to
become a Christian after a dream where he was drowning in a river and a man
came along and hauled him out, he wanted to become a Christian because he just
knew it was Jesus… Closer to home.. My Mum, who was about seventy at the
time, shared a vision she had in church one day, she was in vast fields
of the most beautiful wild flowers, and she saw a man in the middle of them,
that she just knew was Jesus, and he looked at her and said, ‘I know all these
by name’. Affirmation that we are all known. But can I say that the most common
thing I experience when I pray for people to be filled with the Holy Spirit is
an overwhelming sense of God’s peace and love, which I think is the most
amazing and awesome thing… God presences himself with his people as he has
promised. Christ is with us to the end of the age as he said he would be.
Ok let’s move on our next FAQ is ‘Is
being filled with the Holy Spirit a one off experience that you need to be
prayed for to receive or is it an ongoing day to day relationship?”
In Acts chapter 2 it is a new
experience a new encounter with God. We don’t know what the experience of the
three thousand who came to faith that day. There are others like that in Acts,
when the gentiles receive the spirit in acts 10, and throughout history as well
times when God has met people and poured out his Holy Spirit in a new and fresh
way, the Pentecostal movement, look back to the Azuza street revival in 1906 as
the place where the renewal of the gifts of the Holy Spirit happened for them.
You could look at the welsh revival… there have been times of great revival and
outpouring of the spirit in our own Presbyterian Church as well. In fact one
church historian talks of the Presbyterian Church being born in the fires of
revival. However We receive the Holy Spirit when we become followers of Jesus
Christ. It is what brings transformation God comes and dwells within us. Paul
talks of walking with the Holy Spirit, an ongoing day to day encounter with God
through the Holy Spirit as the way in which the Christ-like fruit of the Holy
Spirit are produced in us. Even when he says ‘be filled with the Holy Spirit,
in the Greek it is in a tense which means be filled and keep on being filled by
the Holy Spirit.
Perhaps it’s best to leave the last
word on that to Jesus. We are so used to his words on Prayer ‘ask and it will
be given, knock and it will be opened, seek and you will find’ that we forget
that it finishes in Luke’s gospel by saying ’How much more will God give the
Holy Spirit to those who ask him’. When we pray for people to be filled with
the Holy Spirit it is that we want them to know that presence more and more and
have their lives filled more and more by God’s presence. When that happens in
our own prayer life or in a meeting or gathering, it is God’s good grace to
give it to us. In fact when we pray for that it is not the manifestations that
happen that are the important thing But that we can trust God keeps his
promise.
So I think the answer is yes, it can be
an experience and it is an on going relationship, ask and you will receive.
Keep on asking and receiving…
Lastly ‘How may I be filled with the
Holy Spirit?’
The answer is that if you love Jesus
Christ then Ask and you will receive. AS we’ve looked at the scriptures the
amazing thing about the New Testament is that because of what Christ has done
for us , God wants to live in us, God wants to fill us with his presence by the
Holy Spirit, it’s simply a matter of asking him and believing that he will do
what he has promised. God will give us a fresh touch of his love, empower
us to witness for him, fill us so much with his presence and reveal his word to
us that it will flow out of us. WE will be so filled with God’s love and
presence and joy that our vision of what is and what should be will be shaped
by that, our dreams filled and directed by Christ. Our actions and reactions
become more and more Christ-like, more and more Spirit enabled and gifted, and
Christ’s vision of the Kingdom of God will be our vision.
When I was preparing for this message I came across a white dove in the guttering of the Church. Sitting right above the stain glass window there. They fly round the street here all the time. Maybe we are happy with the Spirit out there, but God wants to pour out his spirit more and more on his people on us so we will know his presence and to enable us to live and witness to him in the world he loves.
I’m
handing back to Lorne now and we are going to respond to what we’ve heard by
bringing our tithes and offering to God, and praying for the world. Then I am
going to lead us in a prayer for ll off us. That we may be filled afresh with
god’s Holy Spirit, to enable us to live as God’s spirited people in this world
and to be about Christ’s mission in the world he loves. All of us.
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