When God Came to Stay

When God Came to Stay

Pentecost Sunday 2024

My Bible; My Help; My Hope

Introduction

The Great Theme of the Bible: God coming to, and living among, his people.

It begins with God walking with Adam in the Garden.

Later, the story continues with God living among the people in the Tabernacle, then the Temple.

With the coming of Jesus, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” (John 1:14)

But Jesus was also taken from among us with his death and resurrection.

Yet the story climaxes with the great vision of Revelation 21:2-3, “I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.’”

How does this happen?

It’s important to remember that the great burden of the Bible is not how to go to heaven when you die.

Rather, it’s how to bring heaven to earth now.

That’s the Kingdom of God.

It’s why Jesus taught us to pray, “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

But again, how?

Main Teaching

Three stages of the change that was coming

1.Prophecy

Under the Old Covenant, the arrangement was simple: God would bless the people, and they would live the way he wanted them to. It didn’t work, because the people continually disobeyed.

But the prophets began to foresee something new on God’s horizon…a New Covenant.

1. Jer. 31:31-34 “The time is coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord. “This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”

2. Ezek. 36:26-27

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.”

Illustration: Backpacking. When you start off, you carry lots of water and provisions on your back, and they weigh you down and slow you down. But as you hike you take those provisions inside your body and they become the very energy that keeps you going. So, your pack becomes lighter as your energy becomes greater. It’s sort of like that with the Old Covenant vs. the New Covenant. The Old Covenant with its laws and requirements weighed us down and slowed us down, like a burden on our backs. But with the coming of the New Covenant the burden of the Law is not only removed from our backs, but we also have a new energy inside to keep us growing towards God. That’s why Jesus said, “My yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

2.Promise

1. Luke 24:44-49

He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms.”

Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”

2. John 14:18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” Verse 23 – “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.”

3. Acts 1:4-5 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

What followed was ten more days of waiting, detailed in Acts, chapter one. Then…

3.Power

Acts 2:1-4 - “When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues 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 in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.”

The text records three manifestations of the Spirit’s power:

1.Wind – Gk. Pneuma; Heb. Ruach This one was familiar:

- Creation – God breathed into the first man the “breath of life.”

- Ezekiel and the dry bones. (Ezek. 37)

- Jesus and Nicodemus: (John 3:8) You can’t see the wind, but you hear its power and see its effects. It’s the same way with the Spirit.

- Jesus with the disciples after his resurrection: (John 20:21-22) Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit…”

- Illustration: Wind filling sails. A picture of the Holy Spirit.

2. Fire—If wind signifies an exterior force, then fire symbolizes an interior one.

- The flame which cleanses, purges, burns away the impurities.

- The flame which warms our hearts and changes smoldering embers into a roaring fire.

- This fulfilled the prophecy of John the Baptist: “I baptize with water, but One is coming after me who will baptize you with the Spirit and with fire.” (Luke 3:16)

3.Praise

- These timid ones who had been huddled together in a room behind locked doors ran into the streets and began loudly and boldly to declare the wonders of God.

- They could not contain their praise. It was like a tea-kettle ready to boil: The steam will escape, wherever it can.

- Not even their own language systems could contain their praise. Everyone around heard them declaring God’s praises in their own languages; languages these unschooled Galilean fishermen had never learned.

The Real Power of Pentecost was not the Wind, Fire, or Praise.

These things were only demonstrations of the power, and they actually caused more confusion on the part of the onlookers. v. 12 “What does this mean?” v. 13 “They have had too much wine!”

Those looking in just thought everyone had had one too many mimosas that morning…

No, the real power of Pentecost was the Holy Spirit’s ability to completely change a man named Peter.

Think about the events of his life over the last 50 days:

- The Last Supper – Peter refuses to allow Jesus to wash his feet, revealing that he still doesn’t understand the nature of Jesus’ kingdom.

- The Garden – Peter cuts off the guard’s ear with a sword, revealing the violent character of his heart, which Jesus exposed by healing the man’s ear.

- The Trial – Peter three times denies that even knows Jesus.

- The Resurrection – Peter runs to the tomb but doesn’t find Jesus and comes away confused, full of doubt.

Even after seeing the Risen Christ, but still not understanding everything, he announces to the others in frustration, “I’m going fishing! Back to Galilee where I belong!”

Then follows the painful scene beside the lake when Jesus asked him three times if he loved him, recreating the scene of his denial. And Peter is deeply hurt. (John 21:17)

Talk about a wishy-washy, up and down, inconsistent Christian!

He’s just like you and me, only more so!

But on the Day of Pentecost, this same vacillating fisherman stood up, full of the Holy Spirit, the Pnuema, the very Breath of God, raised his voice, and addressed the crowd.

Peter was transformed by the indwelling presence and power of the Holy Spirit.

That is the real miracle of Pentecost!

Notice: It wasn’t the wind, or fire, or praise that accomplished God’s work that day.

That only got the people’s attention.

It was Peter’s sermon that was effective.

When he finished speaking the people were cut to the heart and cried, “What shall we do?”

Peter’s response: “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

Conclusion

Mary Magdalene was the first person to see Jesus after His death and resurrection.

Do you remember what she did as soon as she recognized Him?

She grabbed Him, and she wouldn’t stop clinging to Him.

Jesus responded, “Stop clinging to me.”(see John 20:17)

Why did Jesus tell her that?

Jesus was in effect saying to her: “Mary, stop holding on to me. There’s a new way to know me that’s different from what you’ve experienced thus far. Let me go. I must move on.”

A critical insight:

You cannot cling to the Christ you know today.

He will vanish from your midst.

Jesus Christ is an elusive Lover.

Seeking Him is a progressive engagement that never ends.

He doesn’t dance to our music.

He doesn’t sing to our tune.

He can’t be contained by our expectations, or domesticated by our programs.

We all want to cling to the Lord who we know now.

We all wish to hold on to the Christ who has been revealed to us today.

But mark my words: He will come to us in a new way we do not expect.

Jesus Christ is richer, larger and more glorious than any of us could ever imagine.

And He comes to us in ways that make it easy to miss Him, and tempting to reject Him.

When Peter, James and John saw the transfigured Lord on the holy mountain, Peter wanted to build a tabernacle for Jesus, Moses and Elijah and remain on the mountain to enjoy the encounter.

But God would not allow it. (Matthew 17:1-13)

There is something in our fallen nature that, like Peter, wishes to build a monument around a spiritual encounter with God and remain there.

But the Lord will not have it.

He will always break free from our frail attempts to pin Him down, box Him up and hold Him in place.

And He does so by coming to us in new and unexpected ways.

Pentecost records and celebrates the new way God is with us now.

And it is the fulfillment of all the prophecies and promises of the scriptures.

In Colossians 1:26-27 Paul discloses “the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations…it is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

Let’s pray together.