A Holy Wind

This is a sermon used for Pentecost Sunday and is based on Acts 2, as well as Ezekiel 37.

Acts 2:1-17

Ezekiel 37:1-14

Introduction:

It was noted in the worship bulletin this morning that today is recognized as Pentecost Sunday throughout the worldwide Christian church. This is a day to celebrate and commemorate the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples following the ascension of Jesus.

The scripture reading earlier in the service provided the account recorded by Luke in the book of Acts concerning the event that took place in Jerusalem on that historic day.

The passage that I just read from the prophet Ezekiel relates a vision that God gave the prophet concerning the reviving of dead corpses.

In both of the scripture readings (Acts and Ezekiel), wind played a significant role in the stories.

In the OT, the words “breath”, “wind” and “spirit” are all represented by one Hebrew word (ruaḥ).

In the NT there is also a close association between the words spirit, wind and breath. There are different words used in different contexts, but some of them are clearly related.

In the prophet’s vision, the “spirit” that led him out into the valley of dry bones is from the same Hebrew word as the “wind” (KJV) that he prays for to come from the four winds (i.e. four directions/four corners of the earth).

On the day of Pentecost, the “wind” they heard is from the same word as “breath” in Acts 17:25 “…He gives to all life and breath and all things.”

Consider these words of Jesus: John 3:8 (NKJV) The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit."

In both the prophet’s vision and the Pentecostal event, there is a reference to wind, but in these and many other similar instances in Scripture, the true emphasis is not on the literal, physical phenomena of wind, but on the dynamic presence and power of the Holy Spirit of God.

With God’s help, I would like to direct our attention for a while to the Pentecostal event in order to learn some lessons regarding the importance of having the “holy wind” of God blowing into our hearts and our lives.

There is much to be said and much to be learned from Scripture regarding the Holy Spirit’s role in the lives of believers. Today I want to focus our thoughts on three lessons that we can discover from the Pentecostal event.

I.    The Spirit was promised by Christ.

II.  The Spirit was provided for all.

III. The Spirit produced dynamic disciples.

I.    The Spirit was promised by Christ.

On the day of Pentecost, when the crowds of people had witnessed the phenomena and heard the disciples, they immediately assumed that they were drunk.

Peter stands up and proclaims that these are not drunk, but they are exhibiting what had been prophesied by the prophet Joel: “‘And it shall come to pass in the last days,’ says God, ‘That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh…’”

Yes, this day and this event was predicted by a prophet hundreds of years earlier, but it was also predicted by the Lord Jesus Christ.

John 14:16-18, 23, 26 (KJV) ¹⁶ And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; ¹⁷ Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. ¹⁸ I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. ²³ Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. ²⁶ But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

John 16:7-8 (KJV) ⁷ Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. ⁸ And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:

Luke 24:49 (KJV) ⁴⁹ And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.

Dr. John Oswalt, in his book, Called to Be Holy, referred to this verse in Luke 24 and pointed out that when Jesus gave them this order to tarry in Jerusalem until endued with power, the disciples did not ask Him any questions about what He meant.

This was unusual because the disciples were often asking Jesus to explain the meaning of things He had said. Oswalt concludes that this command regarding the coming of the Holy Spirit was apparently one thing that the disciples expected the Messiah to say.

Oswalt continues, “With the exception of Isaiah 53, the connection between the Messiah and the giving of the Holy Spirit is considerably clearer in the OT than the references to His atoning death and resurrection.”

The Pentecostal experience which the disciples received that day in Jerusalem was an event that was predicted and promised by the Lord.

Jesus predicted His own sacrificial death and His own resurrection, then He fulfilled everything He predicted.

Jesus promised the giving of the Holy Spirit whom He would send from the Father, and He fulfilled His promise and poured out the Spirit upon the disciples.

Jesus is still able to fulfill His promise to each and every believer today in the 21^st century, just as much as He did then!

II.        The Spirit was provided for all.

When Peter declared that the Spirit’s descent on the disciples was the fulfillment of a prophecy made by the prophet Joel, he says this…

Acts 2:16-18 (KJV) ¹⁶  But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; ¹⁷  And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: ¹⁸  And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:

The point that stands out so vividly to me is the fact that this blessing of the Holy Spirit is not reserved for a few significant people, but it is promised for all flesh.

Theologians have often distinguished between the work of the Spirit in the OT and in the NT by pointing out that in the OT the Spirit is primarily giving special power and gifts or graces to select individuals for the mission or calling they had received from God.

On the other hand, the emphasis in the NT is that the Spirit is available for all people. No one is left out.

Just as salvation through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ extends to all people, whosoever will, so the promise of being filled with the Holy Spirit is available for every person that has trusted in Christ and completely surrendered to the power of the Spirit.

Friends, His power and His presence is not just for me or just for you, but it is for everyone who seeks.

III.  The Spirit produced dynamic disciples.

You can’t read the account of Pentecost and the subsequent activities throughout the book of Acts without being confronted with the changes that took place in the disciples.

Some people take this 2^nd chapter of Acts and they focus on the unusual phenomena – the sound of rushing wind, the cloven tongues like fire, and the speaking in tongues.

God often used various phenomena like wind, fire, lightening, etc. whenever He instituted something new or performed some great miracle. For example, we read of thunder, lightning, cloud, fire, smoke, and quaking all accompanying the giving of the Law at Sinai.

Many try to use one or more of the extraordinary phenomena mentioned here in Acts as the proof(s) of the Holy Spirit’s filling. The unusual wonders may be proof that God is doing something new and something great, but not necessarily the proof of the disciples being filled with the HS.

But, I would propose to you that the proof of the Holy Spirit filling their hearts was how it changed them and empowered them to carry out the mission of Christ in their world.

Samuel Chadwick – To the church, Pentecost brought light, power, joy. There came to each illumination of mind, assurance of heart, intensity of love, fullness of power, exuberance of joy. No one needed to ask if they had received the Holy Ghost. Fire is self-evident. So is power! (Draper's Book of Quotations for the Christian World.)

Jesus said, John 15:26 (KJV) ²⁶  But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:

The disciples didn’t emphasize the wind and the fire and the tongues everywhere they preached. No, they kept preaching and emphasizing Christ!

Oswald Chambers once said, “If the Holy Ghost is indwelling a man or woman, no matter how sweet, how beautiful, how Christlike they are, the lasting thought you go away with is—what a wonderful being the Lord Jesus Christ is.”  (Draper's Book of Quotations for the Christian World.)

But in the process of testifying and preaching Christ, the Holy Spirit empowered them and gave them whatever gifts were necessary for the performance and accomplishment of their mission.

The HS gave them boldness where before they had been timid and afraid.

The HS gave them personal victory where before they were prone to unbelief and failure.

The HS cleansed their hearts from every unholy affection that would turn them away from loving God with all their hearts.

The disciples took their world by storm and were described by their enemies as those who “turned the world upside down!”

Conclusion:

In closing this message today, I want to emphasize that this Pentecostal blessing is still available to every honest and sincere seeker today.

There is so much more that can be said about this experience, but we don’t have the time. But let me challenge you to seek the fullness of the Spirit if you do not have it.

Paul emphasized to the Ephesian Christians that they should “keep on being filled with the Spirit.” It is important to have frequent, fresh infillings of His Spirit in our souls. But, we can’t have more fillings if we haven’t had the first filling! God wants to do for each of us what He did for those disciples in Jerusalem.

Let’s let Him do it.

(Arthur, New Cyclopaedia of Prose Illustrations) Suppose we saw an army setting down before a granite fort, and they told us that they intended to batter it down, we might ask them, "How?" They point to a cannon-ball. "Well, but there is no power in that: it is heavy... If all the men in the army hurled it against the fort, they would make no impression." They say, "No; but look at the cannon."—"Well, but there is no power in that: a child may ride upon it, a bird may perch in its mouth: it is a machine, and nothing more."—"But look at the powder."—"Well, there is no power in that: a child may spill it, a sparrow may peck it." Yet [when] this powerless powder and powerless ball are put in the powerless cannon: one spark of fire enters it; and then, in the twinkling of an eye, that powder [becomes] a flash of lightning, and that cannon-ball is a thunderbolt, which smites as if it had been sent from heaven. So it is with our church-machinery of this day: we have all the instruments necessary for pulling down strongholds; [but] oh for the baptism of fire!  

I don’t know about you, but my heart and soul yearns for this kind of fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon each one of us today!

Let us close by singing the song listed in the bulletin:

Come, Everyone Who Is Thirsty