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
