Lititz United Methodist Church Sermon Archive

Before the Risen Christ ascended to the Father in heaven, He said this to His disciples: “I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high” (Luke 24:49). What was it the Father had promised? It was the Holy Spirit! Before the disciples began trying to communicate the message of Jesus’ resurrection, they were told to wait until God sent power on them!

The gospel writer Luke also wrote the Book of Acts. In chapter 1 the same idea is expressed: “While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. ‘This,’ he said, ‘is what you have heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now’” (Acts 1:4-5). They were to wait for the promise of the Father – the Holy Spirit. They would be baptized, or immersed, in that Spirit!

Going on further, Jesus says, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

The disciples followed Jesus’ instructions. They stayed in Jerusalem, devoting themselves to prayer. On the Jewish feast day called Pentecost, the Holy Spirit gushed out on them, and this small group of ordinary people began to impact their world for Christ. These believers infused with the Spirit were so dynamic that they were referred to as those who “turned the world upside down” (Acts 17:6).

These Scriptures set the stage for a series of sermons on the Holy Spirit - who is He, what does He do? Actually these sermons are really teaching sermons.

Understanding the work of the Holy Spirit, and experiencing the reality of the Holy Spirit is essential if one’s Christian life is to be effective. I hope what I say today and in the next few weeks will stir up a yearning for the presence and power of God’s Spirit in each of us. So without any further introductory remarks, let’s get going!

I think a sensible place to start is simply to ask, who or what is the Holy Spirit? The
Holy Spirit is God – the third Person of the Trinity (Father, Son, Holy Spirit). He has always existed because God has always existed. Hebrews 9:14 refers to the “eternal Spirit”. Genesis 1:2 says the Spirit of God was present at the time of creation

I suppose one of the worst ways to start a sermon series is by talking about the Trinity! None of us can comprehend the Trinity! None of us can grasp what it means to say God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit are separate and equal, and yet there is only one God!

Part of the problem is that the ancient Hebrews looked on personality differently than we do today. We think of persons as separate and distinct personalities. But in the Bible, persons are not separate and distinct - they kind of flow into each other. For example, a man sort of lives on in his sons. So, to Hebrews, God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit flow into each other. The Hebrews didn’t struggle with a weird celestial math that says 1 plus 1 plus 1 = 1!

An important thing to understand is that the Holy Spirit is God - when we encounter the Holy Spirit we are coming into contact with God in action!

It is also important to see that the Holy Spirit is a “Person”. Not a physical person as you and me – the Holy Spirit will not walk in here in slacks and a blazer and engage us in conversation. He is “spirit” as God is a spiritual being. Nevertheless He is a Person in that He has a personality: He can think, feel, will, and reason.

For instance, in Romans 8:27 it says the Holy Spirit has a mind and intercedes for believers. He possesses a will – 1 Corinthians 12:11 says He apportions His gifts as He wills and chooses. Romans 15:30 teaches that the Holy Spirit possesses love. He can be grieved (Ephesians 4:30). He can be lied to (Acts 5:39). He can be insulted or outraged (Hebrews 10:29)

So, we should not refer to the Holy Spirit as an “it” or as some impersonal force. He is a Divine Person, the 3rd Person of the Trinity. He is God in action!

I said at the beginning of this sermon that the followers of Jesus were told to wait in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit to come. God had promised to send them the power of the Spirit. On the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit came!

Pentecost marked the beginning of a new age in terms of the Holy Spirit’s activity in the world. Let’s take a moment to see how the Holy Spirit worked prior to Pentecost, in the Old Testament period. In the Old Testament, the Spirit comes on some of Israel’s leaders and heroes and enables them to do spectacular feats! He comes on Samson and Samson tears a lion apart barehanded. The Bible says the Spirit of the Lord came on some of the judges so they can lead the people in battle for the Lord (judges like Othniel, Gideon, Jephthah). The Spirit comes on Saul and David and anoints their work as king. The Spirit of God comes on people and they prophesy. For example, in the time of Samuel and Saul there were roving bands of prophets possessed by the Spirit of God. The prophet Micah wrote: “But as for me, I am filled with power, with the Spirit of the Lord” (Micah 3:8).

By the time of Jesus (still before Pentecost), it is still only a few who are full of God’s Spirit: John the Baptizer, Zechariah and Elizabeth (his parents), and Mary, Jesus’ mother. So, prior to Pentecost, the Holy Spirit comes on just a select few. And, at least in some cases, apparently He comes and goes - staying just long enough for these individuals to do a specific task.

But gradually a longing, a prophetic vision, emerged in the Old Testament that God would pour out His Spirit on all of Israel, not just a few, and that He would put His Spirit within His people. The prophet Ezekiel expresses this. “I will take you from the nations, and gather you from all the countries, and bring you into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my spirit within you, and make you follow my statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances (Ezekiel 36:24-27).

But it was the prophet Joel who was moved to speak words that most accurately portrayed what happened on the Day of Pentecost. “Then afterward I will pour out my spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughter shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female slaves, in those days, I will pour out my spirit” (Joel 2:28-29). Simon Peter, in his sermon on the day of Pentecost, quotes from this prophecy of Joel, and says it was being fulfilled.

What’s the point? Pentecost was the beginning of a new age in which God was pouring out His Spirit on all flesh. Actually this was a sign that the “last days” had come.

All who believed in Jesus would receive the Spirit. Also, the Spirit would not come and stay a while, then leave. He would permanently dwell within the followers of Jesus.

Jesus said something that ties in here. Before His crucifixion, He told his disciples that He would send the Spirit. “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you” (John 14:16-17). Notice, the Father will give them another Advocate (Helper, Enabler) – we will look at these verses in a future sermon. He will be with them forever – in other words, He will remain. He will not just dwell with them, but He will be in them.

The good news here is that you and I are living in the Age of the Spirit, when the Holy Spirit is available to all humanity, and accessible to all who put their faith in Christ.

Peter made that clear in his sermon at Pentecost as the Spirit was coming on the large crowd gathered there. As he preached, the people were put under spiritual conviction, and asked Peter, “What shall we do?” His answer: “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38).

They are to “repent” – this means to change, turn around. They are to believe in the Lord (symbolized in baptism). If they do that, God has a gift for them: the Holy Spirit! In the end, the Holy Spirit is not a doctrine to hold, a mere topic for discussion, but a reality to be encountered and experienced! He is the actual presence and activity of God living in us. I love the description Jesus gave when He talked about the Spirit as “rivers of living water”.

“On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and proclaimed, ‘If any one thirst, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, “Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.”’ Now this he said about the Spirit, which those who believed in him were to receive; for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.” (John 7:37-39).

Jesus said this during the Feast of Tabernacles. Part of that ceremony had the priest go down to the Pool of Siloam, fill a golden pitcher with water, then take it back to the temple and pour it out on the altar. This was a way of thanking God for the gift of water, and remembering how God had provided water from the rock during Israel’s wilderness wanderings. For seven days of the feast the priest would go down and get this water in the golden pitcher. But on the last day, the eighth day, the priest would not get water, symbolizing that now Israel was entering the promised land, with its springs and water courses. John relates that it was on the last day of the feast that Jesus stood up and said, if anybody thirsts, come to Him and drink, and we can have rivers of living water flowing out of us! We are told that Jesus here was talking about the Holy Spirit, which those who believed on Him would receive.

See, we can have the Spirit in abundance – His own presence and power flowing in and through our life and the Church! To quench our deepest longings, to purify and revitalize us! The Spirit is like rivers of living water gushing out on us!

In the next few sermons we will be looking at the work of the Holy Spirit: His power to awaken new life in us, how He can lead us, the Spirit as our Helper and Advocate, the fruit of the Spirit and how He can empower us to make a difference, and the gifts of the Spirit, given to every believer.

Perhaps God is already creating a desire in you and me not only to learn more about the Spirit, but to possess more of the Holy Spirit and to have Him possess more of us! His fullness is available for you – and me – and for the church!

Peter’s Pentecost sermon tells us how to receive the Spirit! We are to repent, to turn from our sins and turn to God. We must be willing to part with all of those things that keep us from God and from doing God’s will. Then we need to be baptized. This means not only physical baptism, but baptism is a sign of our placing our faith in Jesus as Savior and Lord. God promises that if we do this, we will receive the gift of His Spirit.

Wait for Him expectantly. Allow Him to begin to fill your life and energize you with the very presence and power of God Himself!

“The Holy Spirit”