24 May 2015
I. Introduction
-- turn in
Bibles to Acts 2:1-4
Acts 2:1-4 (NIV)
1 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in
one place.
2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came
from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.
3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated
and came to rest on each of them.
4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to
speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
-- this morning
is Pentecost Sunday -- a celebration of the gift of the Holy Spirit to the
church of Christ -- after Jesus rose from the dead, the Bible tells us that He
spent a period of forty days with His disciples, teaching them from the
scriptures about Himself and about the kingdom of God -- and on the fortieth
day, Jesus ascended into Heaven from the Mount of Olives -- but before He left,
He told His disciples to stay in Jerusalem and wait for the gift from the
Father -- the coming of the Holy Spirit
-- and on
the day of Pentecost, a traditional Jewish holiday that occurs 50 days after
the Passover, we read that the disciples were all in one place when they heard
the sound of a violent wind and they saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that
separated and rested on each of them -- and at that moment, they were baptized
with the Holy Spirit and the presence of God filled their hearts
-- the
coming of the Holy Spirit was momentous -- this was the birth of the church of
Christ -- and it marked a new relationship between mankind and the Spirit --
you see, in the past, the Holy Spirit would come upon a person to gift them and
anoint them for a specific ministry or for a specific time -- but the presence
of the Spirit in their lives was not permanent -- He did not indwell them -- He
didn't live within them
-- He would
come and go, as we see in the story of King Saul, the first king of Israel --
God sent the Holy Spirit to Saul, but the Spirit left Saul when he disobeyed
God -- and even Godly men like King David would pray to God in the Psalms and
say, "Oh God, please don't take your Spirit from me" -- the Spirit
would come and go based on the relationship of the person with God at that time
-- but now,
because of Christ, we have entered into a new relationship with the Father --
the veil has been torn -- and the righteousness of Christ has been imputed to
us -- so that we are regarded as always holy in the sight of God -- and God has
gifted us with the Holy Spirit -- not to come and go -- but to come and live
within us -- to indwell us -- so He might enable us to live our lives with
Christ
-- the Holy
Spirit does many things for us:
-- He gives
us His power, that we might have the ability to walk with Jesus and obey Him in
all things
-- He gives
us His counsel, so that we might be wise and discerning and know what direction
we should go
-- He gives
us assurance of faith and reminds our hearts that we are saved by grace when we
sometimes doubt
-- He gives
us the words to speak to others and helps us to witness for Christ with our
lives
-- and He
intercedes on our behalf -- praying for us to the Father and advocating for us
even when we don't know what to pray
-- when I
think of the Holy Spirit and what He does for the church, I like to say that
what the Holy Spirit has done for us is to open our eyes to a new life and a
new reality
-- in 2
Corinthians 4:4 we read, "The god of this age has blinded the minds of
unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of
Christ, who is the image of God." -- the Holy Spirit has given us sight --
He has removed the veil Satan had put before us and opened our spiritual eyes
that we might see clearly for the first time the truth of God's glory and the
presence of Christ
-- it's
kind of like that old song that goes, "I can see clearly now the rain has
gone -- I can see all obstacles in my way -- Gone are the dark clouds that had
me blind -- it's gonna be a bright, bright, sunshiny day"
-- that's
the ministry of the Holy Spirit -- He helps us see -- He opens our eyes to the
presence of God in our midst
-- there
was a story on ABC News this week about a Pennsylvania man who had his eyes
opened in a special way -- Opie Hughes is colorblind, so he doesn't see the
world as it truly is -- he can't see the reds or the greens -- he can't see the
brilliance of God's creation -- he was unable to see his children clearly
-- but his
sister raised money to buy him a special pair of glasses that enable him to see
in color -- and when he opened the box with the glasses and put them on, he
almost fell to his knees at the sight -- it's just amazing to watch the video
-- can you imagine what it felt like for him to look around and see green
leaves and red flowers for the very first time? -- can you imagine how it felt
to be able to see his children in color and even see the color of their eyes?
-- it's like he went from a black and white movie into real life1, 2
-- that's
what Pentecost Sunday is all about -- when God sent the Holy Spirit to indwell us,
we became just like Opie Hughes -- the world becomes real -- colors become more
vivid -- and we become aware of a spiritual reality around us that we never
knew existed before
-- it's
like our eyes have been opened and we can see for the first time
-- if you
would, let's turn over the Old Testament -- to 2 Kings Chapter 6 -- I want us
to look at one of my favorite passages in the Bible that speaks to what it
means to have our eyes opened
-- 2 Kings
6, starting at verse 13 -- while you're turning there, let me set up the
context for you
-- this
passage takes place during the time when the Israelites were divided into two
countries -- the northern country of Israel and the southern country of Judah
-- Elisha served as the prophet of God to the nation of Israel
-- now the
country of Aram was at war
with Israel
-- but every time the Arameans set up an ambush for the King of Israel and his
men, God would tell Elisha -- Elisha would send word to the king, and the
Israelites were able to avoid the trap and defeat the Arameans
-- the King
of Aram was not happy with this turn of events, and so he decided to capture
and kill Elisha
-- which
brings us to 2 Kings 6:13 -- look at verse 13 with me
2 Kings 6:13-14 (NIV)
13 "Go, find out where he is," the king ordered,
"so I can send men and capture him." The report came back: "He
is in Dothan."
14 Then he sent horses and chariots and a strong force
there. They went by night and surrounded the city.
-- the King
of Aram got news that Elisha was in the city of Dothan, so in the middle of the
night, he sets up an ambush -- he sends in a large force of his men with
chariots and horses and they surround the city, ready to capture Elisha when he
tries to leave the next day
-- verse
15
2 Kings 6:15 (NIV)
15 When the servant of the man of God got up and went out
early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the
city. "Oh, my lord, what shall we do?" the servant asked.
-- early
the next morning, Elisha's servant gets up -- rubs the sleep from eyes -- looks
out over the horizon to see the sun rise -- and sees the city surrounded
-- a vast
army was there to capture Elisha -- men with swords and bows -- chariots and
horses -- there was no way for them to escape -- and he starts to panic -- he cries
out "what shall we do?"
-- how many
times in your life have you been in a similar situation? -- got up, looked
around, and it looked like your world was falling in
-- you sat
at that table staring at a handful of bills -- feeling surrounded with no way
out
-- you were
tempted in that same old way once again -- and you looked for a way of escape
but everywhere you looked you were surrounded
-- you
looked at your life and it seemed it was all too much -- the pain and the
loneliness and the feelings of inadequacy -- and you felt there was no escape
-- you got
up and went to work at a job you hated, for a wage much lower than you deserved
-- but you saw no way out
-- you
looked around for someone to help you out of this mess, but your so-called
friends are just on Facebook and no one was there to really support you or help
you
-- I don't
know what situation it might have been in your life -- but we've all been there
-- we've all gotten up just like Elisha's servant and looked around at a world
that seemed like it was just out to get us and we didn't know what to do
-- verse 16
2 Kings 6:16 (NIV)
16 "Don't be afraid," the prophet answered.
"Those who are with us are more than those who are with them."
-- there's
a big difference between Elisha and his servant -- Elisha had the Holy Spirit
with him -- Elisha's eyes were opened and he could see more than his servant
could
-- so Elisha
responds, "Don't be afraid -- there are more of us than there are of them
for the Lord our God is with us"
-- verse 17
2 Kings 6:17 (NIV)
17 And Elisha prayed, "O LORD, open his eyes so he may
see." Then the LORD opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw the
hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
-- Elisha
prayed and the eyes of the servant were opened and he saw the army of the Lord
encamped around them -- protecting them from the enemy
-- the
important thing to note is they were there the whole time -- the servant just
didn't know it because he couldn't see -- and because he didn't know they were
there -- because he lacked the faith of Elisha in God's presence and protection
-- he was paralyzed with fear and unable to trust and serve God as he should
because he wasn't looking at his situation with eyes of faith
-- when I
was a kid, one of my favorite stories was the story of Stanley and Livingstone
-- I'm not sure if they even teach about Livingstone any more, but David
Livingstone was an early explorer and missionary in Africa -- he is the guy who
discovered Victoria Falls and named it after Queen Victoria -- Stanley was a
journalist who came to find Livingstone and write an article about him -- and
after searching for him for weeks, finally found him in the jungle and famously
said, "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?"
-- because
of his ultimate fame and success, not many people remember that David
Livingstone had difficulties when he first began his ministry in Africa -- the
people were not receptive to white Europeans coming into their country and
taking it over -- and for that reason, they didn't like Livingstone being there
-- in fact, one tribe decided that if they killed Livingstone, that would send
a message and the Europeans would stop coming
-- so this
tribe began tracking Livingstone and his party through the jungle -- one afternoon
as Livingstone was setting up camp, he got word was that these warriors had
surrounded his camp and they were going to attack and kill everyone when it got
dark
-- in his
journal that night, David Livingstone wrote: "It is evening. I feel much
turmoil and fear in the prospect of having all of my plans knocked on the head
by savages who are just now outside the camp -- But Jesus said, 'All power is
given unto me in heaven and earth, and lo, I am with you always, even unto the
ends of the earth.' -- This is the word of a gentleman of most strict and
sacred honor, so that's the end of my fear -- I feel quiet and calm now."
-- and so Livingstone went to sleep even though he knew the warriors were right
outside his camp
-- but,
surprisingly, nothing happened -- they didn't attack Livingstone's camp that
night, and a few years later, Livingstone actually witnessed to these warriors
and many of them put their faith in Jesus
-- one
night Livingstone asked the chief of that tribe about that night they surrounded
his camp -- he said, "We had heard rumors you were going to attack
us."
-- The
chief said, "That's right, we were ready to attack the camp that night and
kill you and everyone else."
-- Livingstone
asked, "Why didn't you attack?" -- The chief said, "When we got
close to the camp, we looked and saw warriors surrounding your camp with swords
in their hands -- we got scared and so we didn't attack"
-- "the
funny thing is," Livingstone would later recall, "we didn't have any
guards or any warriors with us"3
-- does
that sound familiar? -- the exact same thing happened in this story with Elisha
and his servant -- they were surrounded by an army of angelic warriors who
protected them from those who sought to harm them
-- but they
couldn't be seen, until the Holy Spirit opened the eyes of those who were there
-- in Luke
24, we read the story of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus -- as you
remember, these disciples were fleeing Jerusalem after the death of Jesus --
it's Sunday morning, and they've heard rumors that Jesus has rose from the
dead, but they haven't seen Him themselves -- and they're not sure what to
believe -- it's hard to believe something like that unless you see it with your
own eyes
-- as Luke
tells the story, Jesus Himself came and walked with these two disciples on the
road, but they were unable to recognize Him until later that evening -- when
Jesus sat down with them for a meal and took the bread and broke it in their
midst, suddenly their eyes were opened and they recognized Him
-- that's
what the Holy Spirit does for us -- that's the reason for Pentecost Sunday --
He gives eyes to our faith and empowers us to press on for the glory of God in
our lives
-- as Erwin
McManus put it, the whole point of choosing to live an adventure is to keep
your eyes wide open and to soak in the beauty of the life all around you --
"Eyes wide open is exactly how God created us to live our lives -- And
this is exactly what [the coming of the Holy Spirit] has come to ensure, that
we are awakened to live life [with eyes] wide open as we move full speed
ahead."4
-- so as we
close this morning, let us pray that God might open our eyes through the
indwelling presence of His Holy Spirit -- let's ask that God would let us see
this world and the people of this world through His eyes, that we might love
them as He loves them and that we might lead them to eternal life through Jesus
-- let's
pray
---------------------------------------------
1
http://www.preachingtoday.com/illustrations/2015/may/1052515.html?start=3
2
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/trending-now/colorblind-dad-sees-color-for-the-first-time-184224953.html
3 http://www.sermoncentral.com/illustrations/sermon-illustration-sermon-central-staff-stories-intercessoryprayer-missions-79951.asp]
4 Erwin Raphael McManus, The Barbarian Way (Nelson, 2004), pp. 76-69
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