Arrival In Our Lives

"Arrival In Our Lives" – Acts 2:3-4 On the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit descended and began on earth something that was not natural but supernatural. The elements were unity and prayer, the rushing mighty wind, cloven tongues like as of fire, and the filling of them all; and that marked the birth of the church, the beginning of worldwide preaching and the fulfillment of the promise of the Comforter. But that same Pentecost arrives in each life on the day one repents and is converted. The message links that arrival with two fiery manifestations of the Old Testament: the burning bush that was not consumed, by which God called Moses (Exodus 3:2,6), and Isaiah 30:27, where fire stands for holiness, judgment, power and divine authority, in a warning to Judah for trusting human help rather than God.

I. The coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

A. The chief element was that they were all together: unity and prayer.

1. Jesus had gone, and the disciples no longer depended on His bodily presence.

2. It was a violent atmosphere: they were hunted to be killed; we have suffered nothing for Christ.

3. The rushing wind is the Spirit taking hold of each one when we repent and refuse the old creature.

B. Cloven tongues like as of fire: a visible manifestation of the Spirit.

1. They were not their own tongues: they come from heaven, given by God to those who believed.

2. Where God's presence is, life changes; if you do not change, there is no conviction of sin.

3. If you take the Word seriously, one dies; if we do not die, the Holy Spirit must depart.

C. Pentecost marks the birth of the church.

1. Men do not raise this up: dealing with people is an impossible mission without the Holy Spirit.

2. It is the start of worldwide preaching and the fulfillment of the promise of the Comforter.

3. The Bible is not whatever one fancies: there is not a drop of error in it.

II. It came into our lives the day we were converted.

A. Whether the Spirit remains depends on us: prayer is obligatory.

1. Grace does not excuse us from praying: grace leads to prayer and schools the spiritual life.

2. One does not pray when convenient: pray all day, to be strengthened for the hard day.

3. Your fight is not with this one or that one: it is with your own flesh.

B. The Spirit convicts and places in us a grief over sin.

1. If we do not grieve over sin, we have never known the Holy Spirit.

2. The believer's life should be a life of power, not a life of constant distress.

III. What happened, step by step.

A. A supernatural sound: a roar as of a rushing mighty wind.

1. It was for Israel first; when the disciples were persecuted, the Gospel reached the Gentiles.

B. A visible manifestation: cloven tongues like as of fire.

1. If we were mute we speak, if we were slack we become bold; no one can bind us.

2. To throw the stone and hide the hand is to sin against the Holy Spirit.

3. Blaspheming the Holy Spirit is the one thing for which there is no forgiveness.

C. The filling: they were all filled with the Holy Spirit.

1. They spoke languages they had not learned, to declare the wonders of God to many nations.

2. The rules of the law change and grace begins: joy comes not from keeping the sabbath but from obtaining grace.

3. Spiritual power brings courage, worship, proclamation and transformation.

D. God looks for willing people.

1. To reach the Gentiles it took a brave, wholly surrendered man: Paul, who made disciples because they were willing.

2. We look for places and positions; we do not look to be disciples.

3. Those once afraid preached with authority, because they had presence, power and purification.

IV. Three manifestations of fire.

A. The burning bush with Moses, the fire from heaven with Elijah, and the tongues of Pentecost.

1. In Exodus 3:2 the bush burned and was not consumed, because God's holiness surrounded it all.

2. God waited for Moses to draw near, and called him by name.

3. “Put off thy shoes”: it was foreign ground, but the Angel of the LORD was there, and He moved for Moses.

B. Whoever seeks God moves heaven in his favor.

1. Moses had no church, no leader, nothing to give him such faith: he had a good heart.

2. There God gave him his mission; do you know yours, or do you live only for yourself?

3. In Exodus 3:6 Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God.

C. Moses broke the tablets and could not enter the promised land.

1. He was a mortal like us: that is the fear we must have of God.

2. We have grace, but Judas had grace too; let us guard our lives.

3. The church is no joke and no campground: it is where God is glorified.

V. The fire that describes God (Isaiah 30:27).

A. A burning face, devouring flames: holiness, judgment, power and authority.

1. If you read the Bible it shakes you and schools you spiritually; the trouble is that it is not read.

2. In prayer the Spirit convicts and one goes to humble himself: that is how salvation is kept.

B. It is a warning to Judah for trusting human help, Egypt, rather than God.

1. Babylon was already overrunning everything and carried off the most gifted youths; there Daniel grew up.

2. Judah had to repent and humble itself; the trouble is pride, which God breaks for salvation.

3. Judah was the favored place and was destroyed: God is not indifferent to sin or rebellion.

C. The angels come to earth and the books of heaven are read.

1. “No one sees us”: the angels watched this morning whether you wanted to be at the service.

2. We live as the dead; what is broken has no repair and what is lost is hard to win back.

3. In whom have you placed your trust: in God or in man?