Empowered From On High

5-11-08 message by Pastor Rich Doebler

People from a variety of experiences and religious backgrounds have come together in this church to seek God and to take the next step on their spiritual journey. Over the past few weeks, we've looked at several things you've all brought from your various spiritual roots. We've seen important contributions to the life and vitality of this congregation brought by Catholics, Lutherans, Methodists—and there are many others we haven't had time to mention.

If you want to go back and review what we've learned, you can find all the messages on our church website where you can download an audio file or read the sermon notes, whichever you prefer.

But there's a significant part of this church's background we haven't told yet, because about 1 out of 4 adults who attend here was raised in a Pentecostal setting. In fact, the Pentecostal roots are where this church itself began 80-some years ago.

If I ask you what the word, "Pentecostal" means, what do you say? How do you define it? What are the characteristics of a "Pentecostal" church? A "Pentecostal" Christian?

Say the word, "Pentecostal," and you'll likely get a reaction—sometimes favorable, sometimes not. The word itself carries some emotional baggage. Some people have preconceived notions about what it means to be Pentecostal. Others have had a personal experience that colors their perspective. The fact is, the word can mean many different things, depending on whom you talk to. Even Pentecostals themselves will disagree over what the word means.

Despite occasional excesses and sporadic weird behavior of some Pentecostals, despite negative stereotypes, the work of the Holy Spirit has had a tremendously positive impact upon the church and the world. But let's begin with what the Bible has to say about a significant promise God gave to believers...

Acts 2:1-4 (NIV) 1 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

Today is Pentecost Sunday. On the church calendar, it's considered to be the day the church was born, when the Holy Spirit came in power to 120 disciples in an upper room and launched them out to speak in the streets where 3,000 received Christ in a single day.

Fast forward from that time to the year 1900. America was brimming with enthusiasm for the future. The Industrial Revolution promised new prosperity. The western frontier was filled with opportunity, just as Horace Greeley had predicted in a New York Times editorial, "Go west, young man."

But in the midst of all this human activity and optimism, some were hungry for God. They desired God's presence and power. And so one day a young minister named Charles Parham gave an assignment to his students at Bethany Bible College in Topeka, Kansas: search the Bible for scriptural evidence of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. His students came to the same conclusion he had—that the power of the Holy Spirit is demonstrated through speaking in tongues.

At a New Year's eve prayer service to bring in 1901, Agnes Ozman, one of the students, asked the others to lay hands on her so she would "receive the Holy Spirit as she hoped to go to foreign lands." She believed the gift of tongues—speaking in other languages—would help her succeed as a missionary. As Charles Parham prayed for her, "a glory fell upon her, a halo seemed to surround her head and face" and she began to speak strange words—what several thought was Chinese. It wasn't long before half the school had spoken in tongues. [Christian History, 58:13]

That was the beginning of what has become known as the modern Pentecostal movement. But speaking in tongues and other spiritual gifts had never really disappeared. Irenaeus of Lyon described charismatic gifts in the second century. The Montanists experienced healings, prophecies, and tongues in the third century. Various groups through the centuries have emphasized the baptism in the Holy Spirit—which was often demonstrated through gifts of healing, miracles, special foreknowledge or wisdom, tongues, and interpretation of tongues. [Christian History, 58:40-41]

But now in the 20th century this experience had come to Topeka, Kansas—and not there alone. An even larger revival began in Wales. And in Los Angeles, William Seymour, a black holiness preacher who studied briefly in Texas under Charles Parham, began preaching the baptism of the Holy Spirit. That began in 1906 what has become known as the Azusa Street revival.

The Pentecostal fire didn't really have single leader like a Martin Luther, a John Calvin, or a John Wesley. It seemed to be fanned by the Holy Spirit as it cropped up in numerous places around the country, sometimes with no discernible connection to the other places. Unmistakably, God was doing something special. People repented of their sins. Miracles of healing occurred. Lives were transformed. Priorities rearranged. The church reawakened and energized. Missions efforts redoubled.

With so many personalities involved, however, the movement sometimes went a little off into tangents—unusual doctrines or bizarre behavior. Some preachers seemed to have more to do with hype and sensationalism and activities of the flesh than with the Holy Spirit.

Revival can be messy. When God is moving and people are responding, the devil also stirs things up. Where there is a genuine work of God, you'll begin to see counterfeits. The flesh tries to duplicate the work of the Spirit. Human nature asserts itself in things belonging only to God.

Nevertheless, God was working! And he still is! Sparked by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the renewal of the gifts of the Spirit, spiritual revival swept across the land and around the world. At least 11,000 different Pentecostal denominations were formed—3,000 more since the charismatic renewal—not counting thousands of independent, unaffiliated churches. Today, there are more Pentecostal or charismatic believers than any other kind of Protestants.

With more than 618 million (growing by 54,000 per day), the Pentecostal/charismatic movement has become, in just 100 years, the fastest growing and most globally diverse expression of worldwide Christianity. At the current rate of growth, some researchers predict there will be 1 billion Pentecostals by 2025, most located in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. The mind-boggling research by David Barrett and Todd Johnson reveals some surprising statistics about the movement:

   1. Pentecostals comprise 3 major streams and 59 diverse categories of worldwide Christianity.

   2. Pentecostals can be found within all 150 non-charismatic Christian traditions.

   3. Pentecostals come from 9,000 ethnolinguistic cultures and speak 8,000 languages.

   4. Pentecostalism is more urban than rural, more female than male, more majority world (66%) than Western world (34%), more poor (87%) than affluent (13%), more family-related than individualist, and more young than old.

   5. Pentecostals are an active presence in 80% of the world's 3,300 largest metropolises. [http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2006/april/7.30.html]

But let's go back to the Bible. The account in Acts read earlier followed after Christ's final instructions to his disciples. Before he ascended into heaven, Jesus told his disciples we would need the power of the Holy Spirit (John 14:16-17; 16:8; 17:15; Luke 24:49; Acts 2:8). So we could witness, fulfill our call to serve, minister to the church, and live victoriously over sin, Jesus said we would need the Holy Spirit. We would need to be equipped with spiritual gifts (1 Cor. 12:7; 14:26).

Luke 24:49 (NIV) [Jesus said] "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."

Acts 1:4-8 (NIV) 4 ...he gave them this command: "Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit." 6 So when they met together, they asked him, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" 7 He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 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 2:4 (NCV) They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they began to speak different languages by the power the Holy Spirit was giving them.

I see the significance of the Pentecostal message as being much more about the power and less about the tongues. We need more of God's power in our church, in our homes, in our lives.

One of the indictments against the larger church today—one of the reasons why some (especially young adults) drop out of church—is that the church is no different than any other institution in our society. It has become more about human activity than God's activity. More about human effort than spiritual power.

• Sure, it tries to do good things, but so does the government.
• The church helps those with physical needs, but so does the hospital.
• The church feeds and clothes the poor, but so do the welfare agencies.
• The church offers encouraging words for the discouraged, but so do counselors at the Human Development Center.

In other words, the church is like any other humanitarian organization. But people want to see something more—something different! For all its good efforts, the church needs more of God's power! Paul, the apostle talked about his ministry—done by God's power and not man's...

1 Cor 2:4-5 (NIV) 4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, 5 so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power.

1 Thess 1:5 (NIV) ...our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction...

If the power of the Spirit was needed in the first century when Paul preached, it's needed just as much today. People don't need another option. They don't need alternative ideas. They need to encounter the power of God! To find forgiveness for sin at the foot of the cross. To be radically transformed by Jesus Christ.

It's interesting that the Holy Spirit is described in Scripture as "breath" or "wind." The word used for "breath" or "wind" (pneuma) is also used for "spirit." And yet the Bible talks about the power of the Holy Spirit! It's an amazing thought: something as soft and light and gentle as a breath of air, if focused in the right way, can become an extremely powerful force. In fact, we use the word "pneuma" (wind, breath) in our common language today. Take the pneumatic drill, for instance—a jackhammer. It uses air as its source of power. You can break up concrete and pavement with air.

The Holy Spirit is like that—gentle, yet powerful! The Holy Spirit breaks up our hard hearts and destroys our old sin nature so a radical spiritual transformation can follow!

John the Baptist said, "I baptize you with water. But one more powerful than I will come, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire" (Luke 3:16, NIV).

People today need to see God. If people see the church as just one of many available options among a thousand other philosophies or programs, they haven't seen what God can do.

• People need a church that believes in the power of God, not one that's impotent, lethargic, anemic.
• People need to see the supernatural, not a church that operates only in the natural.
• People need to see Christians who overcome—not messed up with just as many problems as everyone else, stumbling through life, trapped in a substandard existence.

Throughout history, the church has been challenged and pressured by the culture. Often the church been influenced by the pressures of the world around it. Sometimes the church has relied on the power of God and stood its ground; other times it has caved in.

Whenever the church has become weak and stale or spiritually dry, there have always been a few who begin to thirst for a fresh flow of God's presence and the reality of his power.

David: ...my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. (Psalms 63:1)

Sons of Korah: As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? (Psalms 42:1-2)

Ezekiel: (To dry bones) The Sovereign LORD says: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life... 14 I will put my Spirit in you and you will live... (Ezek 37:14)

Paul: I pray... he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being... (Eph 3:16)

Also Isaiah (64:1-3); Joel (2:28-30a) and others...

In the early 1500s it was Martin Luther in Germany and other Reformers who threw off the baggage of legalism and escaped the limitations and corruption of the institutional church.

In the early 1700s it was John Wesley in England along with George Whitefield and others who urged people to repent of their sin and yield to God's work of holiness.

In the early 1900s it was a number of simple ministers in America preaching a message of the baptism of the Holy Spirit who awakened a slumbering church to the reality and power God.

Mark Galli (editor of Christianity Today), writing in the late 90s: "As a liturgically minded, theologically educated, decidedly non-charismatic Episcopalian...I'm impressed with Pentecostals. Mainline Christians like myself have managed to so tame the Holy Spirit, one can hardly tell the difference between ‘the divine presence' and a well-oiled liturgical service." [Christian History, 58:8]

In the early 2000s, in an era when we have so many human resources, so much knowledge and information, so many natural abilities, more than ever we need something supernatural. More than ever we need to experience God's power in personal, dynamic ways that changes us.

Too often the church has tried to tame the Holy Spirit—we've tried to contain the power in a nice, neat package. We want power without risk—but we undermine God's sovereign purpose in the process.

A battery has something in common with a power plant—both are about electricity, but that's as far as the similarity goes. I'm not afraid of handling flashlight batteries. It's not a big deal for me to change batteries in a flashlight. I'm not even afraid of the Energizer Bunny.

Electrical wires, though, make me nervous. It's risky for me to work with electrical wiring. One time I had to take out a three-way electrical switch in my house. I could have gone to the breaker box and tripped the switches for that room, but I wasn't taking any chances. Instead, I went out to the main electrical box and shut off all the power to the entire house. I wanted to take every precaution!

To this day I haven't figured out what went wrong, but somehow, even with all the power off, I managed to touch two live wires together. Instantly, there was a flash with a loud pop and a sizzling. Molten copper exploded through the air. Little drops of liquid metal hit my glasses and left little pock marks in my lenses. Stunned, heart pounding, I tried to regain my composure while the smell of ozone lingered in the air.

Listen! Encountering the power of God's Spirit can be like touching a live electrical wire. The dynamic power of God can be dangerous! It can reveal sin. It can destroy your prejudices. It can upset and redirect your life. It can move you out of your comfort zone. It can take you into a risky place. Encountering that kind of power can humble you and drive you, heart pounding, to your knees, where you must decide if you will surrender to God.

In the Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis pictures Christ as a lion. Lucy asks if this lion is safe—and the reply is, "Safe? No, he's not safe; but he's good." God is good, and we can always trust him. But his power may push us into dangerous areas where we would never choose to go on our own!

It is impossible to explain it all in such a short time. I couldn't explain quantum physics and sub-atomic particles in 30 minutes—even if I understood it. But I can get a glimpse of what happens when the power within the atom is released.

In the same way, I can't adequately describe the baptism of the Holy Spirit. I can't cover all the information, all the Scripture, all the theology that explains the power of God released to us in the Holy Spirit! But we don't have to understand everything about the baptism of the Holy Spirit in order to see and experience the power of God in our lives.

Do you need God's power in your life today? Are you tired of trying to fix things in your own strength? Do you need the Holy Spirit to give you supernatural strength? God gives us his Spirit so we can have the power to live a victorious, overcoming life in every situation. It's yours to receive today.

On the day of Pentecost, the people listening to Peter speak felt convicted and said, "What shall we do?" Peter replied, "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." (Acts 2:37-39)