Sunday, June 8, 2014

THE HOLY SPIRIT DOWNPOUR

THE HOLY SPIRIT DOWNPOUR

Acts 1:8 & 2:1-4
Tim Kelley a meteorologist from NECN reports, “It seems like New England is getting a lot of thunderstorms, with heavy rain and hail lately. Many rainbows too! We can thank a seemingly endless cool pool aloft, known as an upper level low in the world of weather jargon. And there is no end in sight. June 1st is also the beginning of Hurricane season. We may have a tropical system moving out of the Caribbean Sea, into our deepening eastern trough at the same time. That will be interesting.”[1] Let’s take these reports with a pinch of salt.

Meteorologists get excited about predicting especially bad weather they hype up the public by pressing a panic button. Some times they are accurate and other times they are wrong just like on my daughter’s graduation party. Their prediction was that there was going to be a down pour of rain, we were even given a canopy in anticipation but in the end there was no rain.
I am not a meteorologist, but as a pastor I cannot help but to think about another kind of down pour predicted around 900 BC. That prediction was fulfilled up to the dot when a group of on the day of Pentecost. I call it the Holy Spirit down Pour. What was the purpose of that down pour, and how did that affect the early recipients? What effect does it have on the Church in the 21st century? Let’s take a look at some of the events that led to the down pour of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. Let’s read Acts 1: 8 & 2:1-4

As we recollect the story. After Jesus rose from the dead He spent about 40 days teaching His disciples about the Kingdom of God. One day He gathered them together and commanded them not to leave from Jerusalem but wait for what the Father had promised. He said, “for John baptized you with water but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” He went on to say, Vs 8, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

According to the command a group of 120 disciples including Mary the mother of Jesus met in the upper house earnestly seeking and praying for the promised gift of Jesus. The scripture says; “When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.  And they saw what seemed to be tongues as of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues (ethnic languages) as the Spirit enabled them.” (Acts 2:1-4)
The Apostle Peter who cowardly denied Christ three times before Christ was crucified, but when he was drenched in the down pour he became as bold as a lion and reminded the crowd about the prophecy of Joel. As a result 3000 people got saved that day. Billy Graham in his book “the Holy Spirit” notes, “In a real sense, the Day of Pentecost in the NT on which the Holy Spirit came was “a day of first fruits” the beginning of God’s harvest in this world, to be completed when Christ comes again. Pentecost in the NT marked the commencement of the present age of the Holy Spirit”[2]  God now is reaching out to the world through His Holy Spirit.

If we follow Church History from the day of Pentecost until today the world wide Church has seen several down pours of the Holy Spirit’s rain. New England also has seen such great moves of the Holy Spirit.  I would like to high light two such down pours. It was during (1703-1758) known as the first great awakening where Jonathan Edwards describes one such move of the Holy Spirit. “Many young people appeared to be overcome with greatness of divine things and many others at the same time were overcome with distress about their sinful state.

The whole room was full of nothing but outcries. It was common to see outcries, fainting, convulsions, with distress and joy at the same time. The second was the Cane ridge revival meeting in Kentucky in 1801. It was a large camp meeting that was held from August 6 to August 12, 1801. It has been described as the largest and most famous camp meeting of the Second Great Awakening, mostly led by Presbyterian preachers. Peter Cartwright a prominent revivalist reported, “People shook and lips quivered as many fell to the ground with shrieks and shouts. Sinners with a convulsive jerking all over, which they could not by any possibility, avoid and the more they resisted the more they jerked.”

An atheist, free thinker named James B. Finley who attended Cane ridge revival in 1801 noted, “The noise was like the roar of the Niagara. The vast sea of human beings seemed to be agitated as if by a storm… some of the people were, singing, others praying, some crying for mercy, while others were shouting loudly. While witnessing these scenes a peculiar sensation, such I had never felt before came over me. My heart beat rapidly, my knees trembled, my lip quivered, and I felt as though I must fall to the ground. At one time I saw at least 500 people swept down as if a battery of a 1000 guns had been opened upon them and then immediately followed shrieks and shouts that rent the very heavens. I fled for the woods and wished I had stayed at home.”[3]

What incredible stories of the down pour of the Holy Spirit upon a group of people? I was fortunate to be part of such a dynamic outpouring of the Holy Spirit in 1990. I was in a huge conference hall filled with several YWAM staff and leaders from all over the world. A simple, unassuming man of God from the Netherlands was ministering in that place. He made an invitation for people to come forward and then invited the Holy Spirit to come and fill the people. As we were waiting quietly, patiently in full anticipation all of a sudden there was laughter in a corner of the room which became contagious, people began to laugh uncontrollably. I was in the middle of a row where three people to my right were uncontrollably crying and sobbing and the people to my left were filled with joy and laughing hilariously. Soon I too was swept over in the ocean of joy. I will never forget that experience which changed my view on the power of the Holy Spirit. My life was radically changed forever after that experience.

No matter however the manifestations might look like, I noticed two things happening when there is a down pour of the Holy Spirit. First, there will be heavy conviction of sin and conversion of sinners. Secondly, believer’s faith and their love for God and his word increase. I know hearing these stories what some of you might be thinking. This business of the Holy Spirit’s baptism is nothing but just emotionalism and a bunch of gimmicks and tricks to seek attention. Not for me, I am a decent person, and I don’t want to make a fool of myself. You are not alone, I too once thought that way as I was raised in a Lutheran Church where this kind of thinking was predominant. We mocked the Pentecostals saying they were crazy, over the top, holy rollers. But when I saw myself was zapped by the power my thinking was changed.

Norman P Grubb a well-known evangelical Christian missionary to Africa.  A decorated war hero in World War I, though never spoke in tongues; he was full of the Holy Spirit; wrote, ‘The first Pentecost, forty days after Christ’s ascension an event He had told His disciples to await as “the promise of the Father” and taking the form of their “receiving power after the Holy Spirit has come upon you- came with electric effect on those waiting 120. Outwardly it was a rushing mighty wind and cloven tongues as of fire, and inwardly and upsurge of the Spirit which caused them to speak in other languages. Although not in such a dramatic form as that first Pentecost, many thousands of Christians today bear witness to a like experience usually accompanied by the speaking in other tongues and resulting in a radical change of life and a new enthusiasm for Christ by its recipients.”

Those of us who have been long enough in Christian circles can attest to the powerful down pour of the Holy Spirit in the 60s to 90s. Many of us were filled with the Holy Spirit. We are still seeing such mighty moves of the Holy Spirit in Asia, and Africa, but by large we are not seeing such moves in the American Church even more so in New England? Why I wonder!

Has God changed His mind? Has He become the respecter of persons or certain times in History?  Or is there anything to do with us, individual believers?  Who once tasted the love of God but not lost their first love? Have we become so callused in our hearts that we don’t desire or feel the move of the Holy Spirit? Have we become lukewarm in our faith?  Are we appearing to be lively but spiritually dead on the inside? I believe if there is anything hinders the move of God it is our skepticism and unbelief.
My bible tells me that our God never changes; He is the same yesterday, today and forever. The same prophecy of Joel in 900 B.C which says, “And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions” applies to our generation as well. Jesus himself promised that our heavenly father will give the Holy Spirit to all those who ask Him.

The Holy Spirit down pour that began on the day of Pentecost is still drenching people all over the world. From heaven Jesus still exercises lordship over us, though physically not being with us. The key is to follow Jesus’ commandment. You may ask why I need this rain of fire. Whether you are a new believer or a seasoned saint, we all need this rain of fire in order to live a fruit bearing and impactful Christian life.
On this Pentecost day do you want your life to be radically changed? Do you want to experience the power of God? All you need to do is to ask for it, seek it, and patiently wait for it and by faith receive it. My prayer is that no one in our Church will miss out on this incredible gift of God. So what are you waiting for? Come on now, and be drenched in the rain of the Holy Spirit. Please Lord send us the rain of the Holy Spirit today. Amen






[1] http://www.necn.com/weathernewengland
[2] Billy Graham, “The Holy Spirit” page 24
[3] http://peoplegetready.org/holy-spirit/manifestations-spirit-church-history/