“The Spirit Comes”
Pastor David Moore
Old Testament reading: Exodus 34:1-8 (NIV)
The Lord said to Moses, “Chisel out two stone tablets like the first ones, and I will write on them the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. Be ready in the morning, and then come up on Mount Sinai. Present yourself to me there on top of the mountain. No one is to come with you or be seen anywhere on the mountain; not even the flocks and herds may graze in front of the mountain.”
So Moses chiseled out two stone tablets like the first ones and went up Mount Sinai early in the morning, as the Lord had commanded him; and he carried the two stone tablets in his hands. Then the Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the Lord. And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet He does not leave the guilty unpunished; He punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”
Moses bowed to the ground at once and worshiped.
New Testament reading: Acts 2:1-13
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 one each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. Utterly amazed, they asked, “Are not these men who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs— we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”
Some however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.”
Theme: God’s promise – is explained today in the way God has been communicating with His creations during Moses time and at Pentecost. Today we see how the Holy Spirit is given to the early Christians to bring us into the promise of the future, the presence of God and the presence of people. ~D. Moore
The Holy Spirit does not support the law but refines it and builds on it. ~D. Moore
God communicated with the Israelites 50 days after the Passover event with Moses receiving the Ten Commandments. God communicated again with His people 50 days after the Resurrection at the feast of the first fruits with the giving of the Holy Spirit to God’s people. ~D. Moore
The Holy Spirit is the part of Christianity that helps as an experience and live out the already but not yet of faith. ~D. Moore
We Christians get a taste, a real taste of heaven. Heaven is where we see, and experience God face to face. The Holy Spirit allows us a slight taste of heaven. ~D. Moore
Humans need the transcendent God from beyond moving into our lives. All people, for instance, pray at some point, even if they don’t believe in God. Our country is the most technically advanced in human history, and yet there is a yearning for God. C. S. Lewis says that a yearning for what doesn’t exist is ridiculous, and the most likely answer is that God gave us this yearning for Him. So, the Holy Spirit teaches us about the transcendent God. ~D. Moore
The Spirit is giving truth about God Himself, it is an experience of truth. Christianity is a deep experience of a rationally held truth. ~D. Moore
God says He doesn’t want anyone to perish, but He won’t clear the guilty. Because He is goodness. God is all justice and all goodness. Conservatives have a tendency to say God is more a justice bringer than a love bringer, and liberals will say God is more of a love bringer than a justice bringer. God loves everyone, so everything is always cool with God. Both groups forget the cross, when they say these things, Jesus went to the cross to meet justice. Sin has consequences and was met by Christ’s death, because God loves us and saved us. ~D. Moore
When we try to justify ourselves to be over our Lord and save ourselves; chaos ensues. But when God is involved, He makes new people.
2 Corinthians 4:6. God gave us the light of the knowledge of the glory in the face of Jesus Christ, which demonstrated God’s goodness. Then cultural barriers come down, in God humans come together, we become brothers and sisters because we know and love the same Lord.
If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. C. S. Lewis
Babel Pentecost
Fear Hope
Fortress Intimacy
Self-Reliance Reliance on God
Uniformity Diversity
Anxiety Freedom
This week, meditate on how the Holy Spirit brings us into the future, into the presence of the Lord and into the presence of all sorts of people. God Bless.