“The People of God Given His Spirit”
May 19, 2013
THE CHRISTIAN FEAST OF שבועות-SHAVU'OTH/PENTECOST
Acts 2: 1 – 11/Psalm 104: 24 – 30/1 Corinthians 12: 4 – 13/John 14: 8 – 17
His Eminence
The Most Reverend Archbishop Loren Thomas Hines D.D.
Archbishop of Manila
and
Primate
of the
National Church in the Philippines
and
the Territorial Church of Asia
International Communion of the Charismatic Episcopal Church
Several years ago, when we were encouraging everyone to have a ministry, someone came to me and said, “Bishop, I can’t do anything. I have no ability to accomplish any ministry.” I don’t belittle the person. I don’t put him down. It was a lack of understanding. God, having given His Spirit to us, His Spirit empowers us to be able to accomplish the commission that He has given to each of us.
We just read from 1 Corinthians how that to each a gift has been given. When God speaks in such a way, He does not mince His words and He does not speak diplomatically. He speaks with truth: to each a gift has been given. The purpose of that gift is building the Church. It is not for personal gratification. It is not for people to look at us and praise us, but it is for us to be able to minister in the power and in the ability of God unto others that the Church would grow.
In history, when Israel was in bondage in Egypt, after about 400 years, God brought Israel out of Egypt. The beginning of that journey was the slaying of the lamb, the roasting of the lamb, and the eating of the lamb. The death angel passed over and they were then taken out of Egypt. Fifty days later from the slaying of the lamb, at Mt. Sinai, God gave the Law to Moses and was written on stone. The Law was basically meant for correction, for care. It was correcting the issues at hand.
Pentecost came fifty days after the resurrection of Christ, not after His crucifixion. The Spirit that God gave was not given on stone but was placed in the hearts of man. There was a prophecy of old where that God said that He would turn the hearts of stone to hearts that was soft.
Pentecost is this fulfillment to us as God’s people. The Feast comes at a time in the Old Testament that was called the Feast of Weeks. It was also called the Feast of the First Fruits of Harvest. It was a beginning that which was giving emphasis to the fact that they are to take the sickle out and begin the harvest.
Pentecost is given to God’s Church today that as His Church, we can bring forth His power into the world. We can bring forth a harvest of souls that has been in bondage and slavery in darkness, in misunderstanding. Because of the power that God gives to His Church, we are to be the ministry to the world around us.
In the Book of Acts, when the disciples were in one accord in one place, it talks about unity. Unity perhaps is bringing forth the Spirit and the unity of God, which is a counteraction of that which took place in the tower of Babel. There was so much confusion that the Body of Christ was dissipated and pulled apart; but the Spirit of God now brings a unity to the Church.
Acts1:8 says, “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses.” It shows the importance and the actual ability of God shown and given to His Church. It is given in the spirit of unity. Acts 2 tells us that they were in one accord in one place. It was symbolic of the unity. There was oneness. It was the time of this oneness that the power of God could be made manifest upon man, upon the Church. The uncreated Spirit of the uncreated God shared with man; shared with mankind as the Body of Christ.
Perhaps, it is fulfilling the creation of man. When man was created, the consensus of the Godhead was that man would be created in the image and likeness of God. When God places His Spirit within man, does this not conform, does it not guarantee that man would be like God? Man has now His Spirit which fulfills creation.
Power – we think of power as something that can be destructive, something used for benefit. The actual definition of ‘power’ in Hebrew is an actual or potential capacity to affect something by virtue of inherent excellence. God has given to us an inheritance of His power and His ability. It is not what we think of power, but that which causes things to bow its knees, that which causes things to change. It comes from a rightful authority that when truth speaks, the darkness flees. When righteousness rises up, unrighteousness has to flee.
God has placed His Spirit upon His Church that His Church can be a witness. In many different ways, we have been empowered – a variety of gifts, but the same spirit; a variety of ministry, but the same God; a variety of effects from the same God. Each one is given a manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. Many different gifts that God enables us with and empowers us with that we can build His Church, that we can bring the unity to His Body. It is an understanding of His purpose in life and what He has given to us.
John 17 says, “I in them and Thou in Me that they may be perfected in unity.” In that unity, The Holy Spirit resides in that unity. The Spirit of God lives within us, bringing to fulfillment that which God has given to us.
When God gave the Law, the Law was basically dealing with terror. It brought fear into the hearts of man, but God gave the Spirit and it brought perfection. It brought into our lives justification. The Spirit could not dwell there unless there was justification. It equips the saints for the work of service, for the building up of the Body of Christ until we all attain to the unity of the faith.
This all comes because of God’s love of man. When we love God, His Spirit will be made manifest in our lives. We are challenged in Scripture to put on love because it is the perfect bond of unity. Walking in love as God loves. It is a commitment. It is not one that is dealing with weakness or sweetness, but it is dealing with diligence, with faithfulness, with loyalty, and with determination.
Ephesians 4 tells us to preserve the peace, the unity that God has given to us. We are to bring forth that provision in our lives so that God can bring forth His will in us. John 14:23-24 says, “If anyone loves Me, He will keep My word. My Father will then also love him. He who does not love Me will not keep My word. The word that you hear is not Mine, but of the Father who sent Me.”
In today’s life, as God’s people, we have no reason for weakness. The weakness we may maintain in this physical form is strengthened by the Spirit of God. He causes us to rise up. He causes us to stand firm. He causes us to defend the faith that God has given to us. The Spirit of God; the Spirit of Wisdom; the Spirit of Understanding; the Spirit of Counsel; the Spirit of Strength; the Spirit of Knowledge; the Spirit of the Fear of the Lord. These are there to assist us, to help us, to empower us, and to give us the courage that we need to recognize and to realize that even though we face the battles, He will give us the wisdom to understand how to handle a situation. He will show us with understanding how His promises work to the fullness. He gives to us hope and assurance that He will not fail us neither will He forsake us.
God’s love – He sends first His Son. His Son brings us out of bondage and out of slavery. He breaks the chains and opens the gates. He gives to us new life. Then, on the fiftieth day, He gives us the power to be able to bring all of those things given to us by Christ to fulfillment.
In the beginning, yes, we struggle. In the beginning, we take little steps, but as we begin to walk by faith, the Spirit of God begins to strengthen our steps. He begins to strengthen our voice and He begins to strengthen our actions – things that are contrary and different than the ways of the world. He shows us His way is higher. His thoughts are higher. Isaiah tells us that which He has given to us will not return to Him without accomplishing the purpose for which it was sent.
The Holy Spirit was sent to strengthen His Church. The Holy Spirit was sent to give us the ability to rise up and be His witnesses on the face of the earth that we are waiting until He takes us into heaven. It is too late. Heaven does not need a witness. It is here that we are empowered to be His witness. It is here where He sent Christ from heaven to be the witness to us as to this life we will do when God is with us.
Today, in the Feast of Pentecost, we celebrate the giving of the Spirit to the Church. It is the empowering of His people to bring forth His glory, to bring forth His honor, and to bring forth His praise upon the face of the earth. No one is exempted. As we are baptized, the Holy Spirit comes upon us. As that Spirit begins to mature within us, it brings forth in our lives the strength and the power of God; the wisdom of God; the understanding of God that we can rise above the circumstances around us. We no longer need to be fearful and anxious. We no longer need to prepare for failure because the Spirit brings us victory and hope.
It isn’t because of us, but it is because of God. It is because of His Spirit within us – His provision based on His love for us. As we respond in that love, it causes that Spirit that is within us to rise up. That Spirit within us, as it rises, brings us to a moment, a lifetime, an eternity of hope, an assurance, security, peace and love.
Some say that the Spirit comes because we love. Others say the Spirit causes us to love. Regardless of how it comes, it is the love of God who sent it. It is God’s love in our lives that allows it to flow. As it flows, we find ourselves strengthened. He comes beside us as a Comforter. Not to make things easier for us, but to give us the assurance that whatever comes our way, it will not destroy us. Whatever comes our way, He has the ability for us. He gives us the ability to conquer – more than conquerors.
This is the Spirit of God upon us, as His people. This is His Church, the glory of God upon earth. We are to rise to that task. We are to rise to that giving of God. We are to be His witnesses. We are to bring forth His glory, that spiritual knowledge, that insight that was unavailable until after Christ death and His resurrection.
This has now been made manifest to us; the mystery is unfolded. Now, we can come before God and we can bring forth His provision, His life, and His joy upon the face of this earth. One accord in one place in the Upper Room, the Holy Spirit came upon them. We see that after the Spirit came upon them, they went out into ministry. They went out to the places where before they were afraid of. They did the things that Christ did. They healed the sick; they delivered the evil spirits; they fed the hungry. All the things that Christ did were again being manifested in their lives because the Spirit that was in Christ was being shared with the apostles. It is shared with the Church today.
God today is the same as He was then. His provision to us is exactly the same. We are not God. We are like God. We function in the manner in which He functions. We do the things that He would do. This is the challenge that comes to us and it is the provision of God in our lives. It is His love for us. He does not leave us weak and alone. He does not leave us as orphans or as widows, but He sends His Spirit to strengthen us and to empower us; to give us the wisdom and the understanding that we need so that we can rise up and we can be His witness in Jerusalem, in Judea and even to the outermost parts of the earth. We can bring forth a witness of His provision.
That is yours today. That is yours when you were baptized. That was given to you. Maybe, we have not manifested it. Maybe, we have not brought it to its fullness, but God has given it to us. It belongs to us. It is ours and we, knowing what God has given, need to begin the steps of faith to manifest it and bring its glory into the world we live in today.
In the Upper Room, there was the sound of wind. There was the fire that set upon each of their heads. It was not a destructive fire; it was a fire of empowerment. It was a fire of cleansing, purification that the Holy Spirit might be able to function in their lives. God has done this for us. May we be aware of that which He has given. May we bring ourselves to that place where we are yielded to the Spirit, understanding His ways. Not in despair; not in fear; not in anxiety, but strengthened because God is with us and God will not fail us.
Today, you may be facing several things that bring anxiety into your lives. But with God, no need for anxiety or fear. He will strengthen you. In the midst of the conflict, He will be your answer, your strength. He will be your victory. Let us prepare our hearts to let Him work in us today. Let Him do His work in our lives that we can be the witness that He has intended us to be.
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