Certifying the Truth
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In recent weeks, our sermon messages have centered around the great commission and what it means to go out and show what it means to be free. As believers, we live in a freedom not shared by those that do not believe, yet we are commissioned to go and declare our freedom to those still searching to be free.
Today is the day on which we commemorate Pentecost. The fiftieth day after the crucification of Christ and what can easily be seen as the launching pad for the great commission. Some say this is the day that marks the birth of the church. But in reality, Pentecost marks the day the church became empowered. A day where a promise made by Jesus was brought to fulfillment, so that the church can be empowered and fueled for the mission in front of them.
To understand and appreciate the day of Pentecost, we must understand three things.
What was the promise Jesus made that was fulfilled on this day?
What empowerment is provided by that promise?
What is the mission we were commissioned and empowered to complete?
The short answer to all of these questions is truth. Jesus, being the truth that is the only way to life everlasting, promised to deliver the Spirit of truth. The Spirit of truth, the Holy Spirit, is what empowers us to embark on the great commission. And what we were commissioned to accomplish is to provide a testimony that certifies truth.
Simply put, Pentecost is the day that the promise of revealed truth became the moment of truth realized. And in that realization, believers were empowered to certify what is true.
Let’s pray…
In the Old Testament, God commanded the nation of Israel to celebrate certain times in the year.
Passover was a celebration in remembrance of the final plague in Egypt that led to the nation’s releases from captivity. The time where the angel of the Lord passed over any household marked with the blood of the lamb on its door posts. The next day, was the day the Israelites began their journey of freedom from Egyptian captivity. Passover was a celebration of freedom.
3 months into their journey, on or around the time we know as Pentecost, the people encountered God at Mt. Sinai. Here they were given the law that represented the covenant between the people of Israel and their God. It was on this day, a promise was delivered.
In preparation for entering the promise land, God commanded that the first fruits of the harvest of the new land be presented to the Lord. (Leviticus 23). They were not allowed to eat of any of this harvest until the offering was presented to God. Fifty days after the first fruits were offered, God commanded a new grain offering be presented.
Deuteronomy 16 places Passover at the time of the barley harvest and Pentecost at the beginning of the wheat harvest, that new grain. Passover, being a time to honor a promise delivered called for Pentecost as a time to acknowledge promises fulfilled.
The key to all of this is to know and appreciate that the day of Pentecost was no accident. God didn’t just select a random day on the calendar to deliver the power of the Spirit. The time frames of Jesus crucifixion and the delivery of the Holy Spirit happened in a precisely calculated manner. A precise calculation that was first instituted some 1500 years earlier.
The parallels to the Passover and the day of Jesus death on the cross are incredibly obvious. What started as freedom from the enemy of Egypt turned into freedom of God’s people from the enemy of death.
The empowerment of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost can likewise be seen as the beginning of a new harvest. A time for all people to become an offering to the Lord through repentance and acceptance of Jesus as Lord and Savior. A day of promise delivered leading us to an eternity where all promises will be fulfilled.
Not by accident or coincidence. All of this brought about through God’s perfect and pre-planned time frame.
With that backdrop in mind, let’s work through the three questions I presented in my opening statement.
#1: What was the promise Jesus made that was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost?
All throughout the Last Supper discourse, Jesus, in preparing His disciples for what was to come, spoke of the Holy Spirit.
“If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.
Here, Jesus promises that the Spirit of truth will come and through His coming, we will not be left as orphans. The indwelling Spirit of truth is provided so that we are not required to navigate a life without Jesus.
Later on in His discussion, Jesus further expands on the Holy Spirit’s role by saying
However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.
It is vital that we look at this passage for exactly what Jesus claims. He states that the role of the Holy Spirit, being the Spirit of truth, will be our guide into all truth. All the truth of Jesus will be declared through the Spirit of truth so that we may possess the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
What is delivered on the day of Pentecost is a path to know and understand the truth that Jesus is, so that we are capable of possessing and abiding in that very truth. The Holy Spirit is the promise of Jesus that delivers us the truth that is Jesus. The only truth that sets us free.
#2. What empowerment is provided by that promise?
In delivering what we call the great commission, the disciples were asked to wait on the delivery of the Holy Spirit.
“Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.”
We all know that there was a period of days between Jesus ascension and the day of empowerment known as Pentecost. What is often missed is the empowerment that occurred on the day of ascension that led the disciples into the day of full empowerment on Pentecost.
Then He said to them, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.” And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.
The disciples had understanding opened up so that the scriptures made sense. They could finally see beyond a shadow of a doubt how the life and ministry of Jesus perfectly aligned with the scriptures of the Old Testament. What a gift. To finally understand truth without confusion.
I have started to speculate that the days leading up to Pentecost could have very much been a bible conference on steroids. Through times of prayer and worship must have been times where someone was saying, check this out, the prophets told us exactly what we just saw happen.
Empowered understanding led them into full empowerment of the indwelling Holy Spirit. So how were they empowered on Pentecost you ask?
And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Full empowerment provided them to speak as directed by the Spirit of Truth. Yes, many signs, wonders, and miracles resulted from the empowerment of the Spirit. These are true and real demonstrations of the Spirit’s power. But the Apostle’s, I believe, were empowered in the greatest measure possible. To speak with authority about the truth they were given to utter. Every other miracle was not the empowerment but instead, the results, or to say the by products of being authorized to speak truth as the the Holy Spirit directed.
As a believer, speaking truth into people as we are directed by the Spirit of Truth is the real reason we should celebrate Pentecost.
Final question:
#3. What is the mission we were commissioned and empowered to complete?
Simply put, through the ability to hear and understand truth, we are set out on the mission to declare that very truth. In Peter’s first monumental sermon post empowerment, He concludes his entire sermon with these words
“Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”
Peter, in the sea of a confused crowd declared the truth that is Jesus Christ. He did not wow them with brilliance. He did not dazzle them with a spectacular show of force. He didn’t perform one miracle, sign, or wonder while on center stage. The first thing Peter did once he became fully empowered by the Spirit of Truth was to declare truth because he knew it was true. And thousands in the crowd, hearing the truth asked the most important question of their lives when they declared “Men and Brethren, what must we do?”
Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”
When let loose on the crowd fully empowered, Peter declared truth so a promise could be received. The significance of declaring truth cannot be underscored. To truly appreciate this significance, let’s look at two other examples that clearly show just how significant declaring the truth is.
At the beginning of Jesus ministry, John the Baptist was questioned by his own disciples. They asked him if he is baptizing people in truth, and this other guy is also baptizing people in truth, which one us is right? John the Baptist went on to show that he was purposed to show the way which was Jesus. He said that he must decrease so that Jesus can increase. And in this explanation, he says
He who has received His testimony has certified that God is true.
John at the ending of his first letter supports this very point by reminding us
And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.
As believers, we are empowered with the truth by the Holy Spirit, the very Spirit of truth. In speaking the truth as directed by the Spirit of truth, we are empowered to give a testimony that certifies this very truth. We are empowered to boldly stand and declare the promise we as believers share in, so that others may also receive and likewise find their freedom from sin and death.
So, what questions can you ponder over this week as you to take to heart the fact that we are guided by the Spirit of Truth?
Do you come to Church because it’s the right thing to do or to you come because God is true?
Do you accept the notion of Jesus as a means to get through this thing we have labeled life, or do you accept Him for being the Truth?
If you are struggling today with what to believe and you just can’t make heads or tails of the state of our world, can you willing ask yourself What in my life is true? What truth in my life am I clinging to for eternal salvation?
If you stand with me in full belief that God is true; and believe His Son Jesus died and rose again knowing that this Truth has set you free; then whether or not you like it, you been commissioned for the mission to certify that very truth.
We must be prepared at all times to give an account for the hope that is within us.
We must love one another in a manner that certifies the very truth we believe.
We must live out our life on this earth in a manner that testifies to and certifies the truth that abides in us.
Your entire life is a testimony. The real question is how does your life testimony certify the truth?
Let’s pray…
