Pentecost

[Meditation Moment]

Meditation Moment #90
May-15-2002
http://www.bbc-cortland.org/medmoment/

In the previous article we considered the first of two significant but unheralded events in the history of the Church. That event is the ascension of Christ. Considering the magnitude of Jesus' ministry as our ascended Priest, Advocate, Mediator, Intercessor and Lord, it is a curious thing that His ascension plays a very minimal role at best in our yearly calendar. The second of those events is known as Pentecost. Although this event was historically a Jewish holiday mandated by the Law, the New testament book of Acts underscores it as a pivotal day with regard to Christians. Yet, probably the average fundamental or evangelical Christian could not even tell you that Pentecost occurs seven full weeks after Easter.

In Matthew 16:18, Jesus announced that He would use Peter and Peter's expression of faith as a foundation for the Church. Jesus' remark, "On this rock I will build my church," is especially significant in that it speaks of that building as a future event the foundation of which has only just now been introduced. In Acts 1:5, shortly before Jesus' ascension, He spoke of the imminent arrival of the Holy Spirit in whom He would baptize His disciples. Ten days later, on the feast of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descended on the gathered disciples in a signal way. From that point on we read of the church and its activities in its early days. 

For a considerable time the church was totally Jewish in Character. Then, unexpectedly, Peter is used to introduce non-Jews (gentiles) to the Gospel. What happened that day was a miniature replication of the Pentecost event. Shortly after that (Acts 11:15-18) Peter explained to a group of Jewish Christian leaders that the Holy Spirit had been given to gentiles. His remark is striking. He said, "the Holy Spirit fell on them, as on us at the beginning." Then he tied that "beginning" event with the promise made by Jesus in Acts 1:5. As a result we have a clear understanding that Pentecost was a "beginning," that the beginning is related to the church, and that the beginning of the church is clearly linked to the baptism of (or in) the Holy Spirit. Thus, Pentecost is, in fact, the birthday of the Church. This puts a serious cast to our neglect of including it as a part of our celebratory tradition.

The neglect of Pentecost may not be entirely accidental. There has been much abuse of the truth of Jesus' ministry of baptism by the Holy Spirit. When there is abuse in any area we tend to over compensate to avoid the abuse. In this case the abuses are basically three.

First, there is the abuse of precedent. Rather than realizing that the three overt descents of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2, 10, 19:1-7) are transitional in character, there have been frequent efforts to duplicate them. The role of Pentecost in the history of the church is analogous to the role of the crossing of Jordan and felling of Jericho in the history of Israel. They were threshold episodes with lasting consequences. As every Jew born on the west side of Jordan from that day forward was an inheritor of the Jordan crossing, so every person who embraces Christ by faith inherits the full rights and responsibilities of that baptismal work of the Holy Spirit. Thus, Paul in 1 Corinthians 12:13 tells us that we are all baptized into one body. He does not identify a group of believers in Christ who have not yet had that event. Pentecost was not a precedent to be repeated but an historical occurrence to be inherited.

Second, there is the abuse of supernatural revelation. Throughout history God revealed more and more of His will. That revelation occurred in climactic moments when He would send a prophet and would confirm the man's message through two tests: (1) its agreement with what had already been written; and (2) the presence of authenticating miracles. Once the truth was given the following generations were expected to know the record and respond in faith. With the coming of Jesus the Scripture gave a sense of finality to the apostolic era. Thus, in Hebrews 1:1-3 and in Hebrews 2:3-4 we read, "How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him. God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will." Subsequent generations have sought to reproduce the revelatory miracles while, at the same time, denying basic teachings that the Holy Spirit revealed in Scripture.

That leads to the third abuse. It is the taint of carnality. Beginning with the church at Corinth and oozing right on down to the present day, the focus on the miraculous manifestations has turned a singular, spiritual event into a much sought sensual performance. Paul identified the "spiritually gifted" church at Corinth as being "carnal" (1 Corinthians 3). In light of what happened at Corinth, it is not to be wondered at that, in this day of intensive drive for sensory experiences, the twenty-first century church is being inundated with a darkening sensuality that is manifesting itself in more and more scandal.

So great are these abuses that it is difficult to realize that the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the Church was and is intended to be something that makes love, joy, peace and a host of other wholesome virtues the deepening experience of each individual who has embraced Christ as Lord and Savior (Galatians 5:22-23). The Holy Spirit is here to convict and bring us to Christ (John 16:8), to form Christ in our character (Galatians 4:19), and to create a safe fellowship of people who walk humbly and reverently under the implications of the cross (2 Corinthians 5:14).

I believe that the time has come to return our attention to the empowering and enlivening ministry of God's Spirit. Not the sensual showmanship of Pentecostal mimes, but the spiritual enrichment of the Spirit of Holiness. This is the Spirit who is able to transform character and give us purpose and power. The purpose and power He gives agrees with the Word of God and functions in the real world. Until we do this we will continue to define success by the latest commercial paradigm, jump on the most recent bandwagon, spin the wheels of dozens of programs and return to our homes with the deep sense of dissatisfaction that comes from hiding behind bushes and wearing fig leaves (Genesis 3). 

May we interact with you on these things?

Pastor Comings


Pastor Comings
pastor@bbc-cortland.org