SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON 27, April 25, 2010

The Holy Spirit #3
Repentance and the Gift of the Holy Spirit
Theme Verse: "If anyone thirst, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, 'Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.' Now he said this about the Spirit" John 7:37
Readings: Acts 1:1-5, 8, Acts 2
Memory Verse: "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." Acts 1:8 (Pre-K to grade 3)
Remember, when we talk about the Holy Spirit, we are talking about God himself, a personal God. He is not a thing or a "force", but God's own Spirit. It is true that we talk about wanting more of the Holy Spirit but what really happens is that He (not it) wants to have more of us, but only we can give God (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) more of ourselves. He gives us the choice. Are we willing for Jesus to be LORD -i.e. "in charge" or are we still wanting to be in control? He is trustworthy. He will not harm us or force us to do anything against our will, though he can be pretty active to persuade us!
The story of Pentecost begins with Jesus' instructions to his disciples after his resurrection. Remember how Jesus promised his disciples that he would send the Holy Spirit on them and not leave them orphans, but would come to them through the Spirit.(John 14:18). On the day he ascended to return to his Father in Heaven, he told them again to Wait for the gift God the Father promised and you will be baptized (filled, immersed) with the Holy Spirit. (Acts 1:1-5) Then Jesus said, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." (vs. 8)
This is a promise with a condition--waiting with expectation. So the disciples and other believers, both men and women, Jesus' mother and brothers waited "together, joining constantly in prayer" (vs.14), about 120 of them. Pentecost is the Greek name for the Jewish Festival of Weeks (a harvest festival of the "first fruits" of the wheat harvest-Exodus 34:22). It means "50" and occurred on the 50th day after the Passover Sabbath.
Look at what happened on the morning of Pentecost. They were "all, with one accord, in one place" (Acts 2:1) Notice the repeated emphasis on unity in prayer! . (Perhaps this was in the temple since it was a Feast day.). Suddenly a series of symbolic sounds and actions occurred which quickly drew a huge crowd. First: a sound like a "rushing, mighty wind"--Literally "rushing, violent breath". Remember "breath of God" is a term for the Holy Spirit. Second: they saw what seemed to be like "divided tongues of fire" sit on each one of them. Fire was sometimes associated with the presence of God: the burning bush Moses saw, the pillar of fire guiding them in the wilderness, fire on Mt. Sinai when the Ten Commandments were given, during Elijah's contest with the pagan priests on Mt. Carmel when the fire of God fell on Elijah's sacrifice, and when God said to Jeremiah, "Is not my word like a fire?". John the Baptist said of Jesus, "He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire." (Matthew 3:11) Third: Then the believers were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to "speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." "Tongues" simply means a language, in this case languages they didn't know.
All this noise attracted a huge crowd of Jews, who had come from many nations for the Feast and heard the believers praising God and declaring his wonders in their own languages! (vs.5-11) We will talk more about "tongues" next week but it is important to say that the purpose here was to praise God in prayer in a way that was a witness to non-believers. Also "tongues" are not a language known to the speaker but sometimes could be understood by listeners. This happened twice at Christ Church when someone spoke in a tongue and Akime Hio, from Okinawa, said the message was in Japanese! Once it was Huyland Bryant and once it was at a Women's Aglow meeting where I was present.
What did all this mean? It pointed to Jesus. When some accused them of being drunk, Peter, who was so fearful during Jesus' trial that he denied Jesus, gets up and tells them what it means. He quotes the prophecy of Joel (2:28-32). Read aloud. Then Peter tells of the miracles, signs and wonders God did among them through Jesus, who" you, with the help of wicked men put to death; but God raised him from the dead" (vs.22-24).
He told them that David, long dead, had spoken of Christ's resurrection and that God had made Jesus "both Lord and Christ." (vs.36)
How are we to respond?
Many were "thoroughly pierced" in their hearts and asked "What shall we do?" Peter's answer is simple, "Repent and be baptized ---in the Name of Jesus so that your sins may be forgiven, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." (vs.38) About 3,000 responded! A word received: "They were cut to the heart." I want my people to pray for that. That is a work I do through my Holy Spirit. I want them to desire my cleansing fire. A word received: They have to desire this.
What does it mean to repent? The word means to turn around and go the other way. Torre's computer illustration: when you hit the delete key the computer gives you a message--Are you sure you want to do this? Do you really want to get rid of this? If you hit delete it is repenting of what you wrote. Repentance is not remorse, just really feeling bad emotionally. Repentance may involve feelings but the important part is a change in actions, direction--an act of the will. But will-power is not enough. Notice what else Peter had to say. He said they must be baptized in the name of Jesus. To be free of our sins we must give them to Jesus and surrender our lives to him and receive the forgiveness he died on the cross for us. So commitment to Jesus and receiving him in our hearts is the second step. Then we can receive the Holy Spirit. All those who were baptized at the Easter Vigil received this forgiveness and the Holy Spirit.
At Pentecost Jesus was offering the gift of the Holy Spirit in power. Some of us long ago received Jesus as our Savior and Lord and the Holy Spirit but had never experienced the power of the Holy Spirit. Others may never have made a firm commitment to Jesus and really repented of their sins. Others may have received the Holy Spirit with power long ago but have grown weary and discouraged and need a fresh filling with God's Spirit and His power. God does not have a cookie cutter approach or a formula. There are several different ways of receiving the Holy Spirit in the New Testament. Some have a powerful experience. Others don't experience/feel anything but will begin to discover a real difference in their lives. The first two steps--repentance and commitment to Jesus--are necessary prerequisites to being baptized with the Holy Spirit's power. If you have not done this or are not ready to do this we will pray with you but not a prayer to be filled with the Spirit until you are ready. The goal is living life in the power of God's Spirit and not getting a certain experience or getting a "thing". Rather the Holy Spirit wants you.
Some words and ideas the Lord gave the teachers:
"'Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.'" (Acts 2:36) A reflection: We need to recognize the sin in our lives and our rebellion [means: "doing it my way" Frank Sinatra] against Jesus.

"Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, 'Men and brethren, what shall we do?'" (Acts 2:37) A word received: That is what I want for you -- that you will be cut to the heart in your repentance. I want you to pray for this.

"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.'" (Acts 2:38) A word received: Look to me; look to me for the fruit of repentance, of turning to me: the gift of my Holy Spirit. Every time you turn to me I want to give you more of my Spirit. Turn to me and receive with hands held out to me.

"'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.'" (Acts 2:39) A word received: The Prodigal Son was far off but I called him back to myself. There is no distance so great that I cannot call you back to me. Come to me, I AM waiting with arms open wide. Receive my promise; receive the Holy Spirit.

WHAT ARE YOUR QUESTIONS?

Some obstacles to receiving the power of the Holy Spirit
unconfessed sin, hidden sin
involvement in the occult
fear- of making a fool of your self or fear of opinions of others, of fear of losing control
unbelief
pride or shame
not having clearly accepted Jesus
spiritual attack

Some results those among us have experienced.