5 DAYS TO PENTECOST

5 DAYS TO PENTECOST

TEXT:  1 THESSALONIANS 5:17-24

¹⁶ Rejoice evermore.

¹⁷ Pray without ceasing.

¹⁸ In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

¹⁹ Quench not the Spirit.

²⁰ Despise not prophesyings.

²¹ Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.

²² Abstain from all appearance of evil.

²³ And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

²⁴ Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.

KEY TEXT: 1^st Thessalonians 5:19 “…Quench not the Spirit…”

REFLECTION:  Listen to the Baptist, “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance. but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:”  (Matthew 3:11). 

That John compared the baptism of the Holy Spirit with fire should not be thought coincidental. The Holy Spirit himself inspired the comparison.

God appeared to Moses in a fiery burning bush (Exodus 3:2,3).  When the Law of God was delivered to Moses there was fire at the summit of Sinai (Exodus 19:16-20).  And then at the first Christian Pentecost, when the Law of God was written on the hearts of the disciples, there were tongues of fire that sat over the heads of the Spirit-filled.

Fire brings light—The Spirit enlightens.

Fire produces heat—The Spirit warms and invigorates the cold-hearted.

Fire consumes—The Spirit completely purifies

Fire attracts—The Spirit attracts and then demands attention

Fire spreads—The Spirit’s influence spread from Jerusalem to the uttermost parts of the earth

Without the Holy Ghost and fire, our hearts are cold, our religion is formal, and our influence is for naught.  It’s no wonder that the Apostle Paul was moved by the Spirit to warn the first Christians, “Quench not the Spirit.”   Do not “extinguish” the Spirit. 

And what is it that quenches the flaming Spirit of Holiness?

+ Disobedience to the will of God

+ Negligence of the Word of God

+ Inattention to the Voice of God

+ Disinterest in the Worship of God

+ Yielding to unkind or unholy tempers and permitting anger, malice, and revenge to rise

+ Loving the world –craving the lusts of the flesh, the desires of the eye and the pride of life.

+ Compromising to please ourselves or others

Every Christian is made a partaker of the Holy Ghost (Hebrews 6:4) and they who do not have the Spirit of Christ are none of His (Romans 8:9).  Do not quench the Spirit, rather stir up the gift that is you. 

Let the fire of the Spirit burn brightly on the altar of your heart, fueled by the oil of the Spirit, and fanned by the breath of God! 

William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army expressed the heart-cry of the Spirit-filled in the words of this great Salvationist Hymn:

Thou Christ of burning, cleansing flame,
Send the fire, send the fire, send the fire!
Thy blood bought gift today we claim,
Send the fire, send the fire, send the fire!

Look down and see this waiting host,
Give us the promised Holy Ghost;
We want another Pentecost,
Send the fire, send the fire, send the fire!

God of Elijah, hear our cry:
Send the fire, send the fire, send the fire!
To make us fit to live or die,
Send the fire, send the fire, send the fire!

To burn up every trace of sin,
To bring the light and glory in,
The revolution now begin,
Send the fire, send the fire, send the fire!

PRAYER: Our Father in Heaven, It is with profound awe that we come into your presence.  We are amazed by your love.  We are touched by your grace.  We are grateful for your mercy.  We thank thee for the bleeding sacrifice of Christ at Calvary.  We praise thee for the purifying power of the Spirit that was poured out at Pentecost.  We pray that the flame of Pentecost would burn brightly in our hearts today.  May thy Spirit consume all of the dross from our lives, perfect our love for Christ and for others, and establish us in true holiness and righteousness.  In the name of Jesus we pray, Amen. “Our Father, &c.”

6 DAYS TO PENTECOST

6 DAYS TO PENTECOST

TEXT:  EPHESIANS 3:14-21

¹⁴ For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

¹⁵ Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,

¹⁶ That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;

¹⁷ That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,

¹⁸ May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;

¹⁹ And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.

²⁰ Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,

²¹ Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

KEY TEXT: Ephesians 3:19 “…that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God…”

REFLECTION: 

With Pentecost fast approaching, we turn to the Prayers of Christ and the First Christians for inspiration.

Jesus taught us to pray, “Deliver us from evil.” (Matthew 6:13)  Can God answer this prayer?

Jesus prayed for His disciples, “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also who shall believe on Me through their word; that they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us; I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one.” (John 17:23) Can God answer this prayer?

The Apostle Paul prayed for the Thessalonian Christians, “The very God of peace sanctify you wholly, and I pray God your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thessalonians 5:23)  Can God answer this prayer?

And then the prayer that is our text today.  “I bow my knees unto the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may …know the love of Christ, which passes knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:14-19)  Can God answer this prayer?

“To be filled with God is a great thing;” writes one influential Christian, “To be filled with the fullness of God is still greater, but to be filled with ‘all the fullness of God,’ utterly bewilders the sense and confounds the understanding.”

Our Lord told his disciples that it was best (expedient) for Him to “go away.” His days on earth were numbered.  Then he explained. He, the Christ, was with them, but when the Comforter came, He, the blessed Holy Spirit, would be IN them!  (John 14:16-18).

What God fills with His Holy Spirit is cleansed.  He purges the heart so that sin no longer has dominion or authority where He abides.  What He begins He finishes!  Christ came to “destroy the works of the devil,” and by the Spirit of Christ (the name given the Holy Spirit in Romans 8) the work of full salvation is finished!  “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost which he shed on us abundantly…” (Titus 3:5,6)

In the context of these Scriptures, carefully read, and prayerfully seek:

Love divine, all loves excelling,
Joy of heaven to earth come down;
Fix in us thy humble dwelling;
All thy faithful mercies crown!
Jesus, Thou art all compassion,
Pure unbounded love Thou art;
Visit us with Thy salvation;
Enter every trembling heart.

Breathe, O breathe Thy loving Spirit,
Into every troubled breast!
Let us all in Thee inherit;
Let us find that second rest.
Take away our bent to sinning;
Alpha and Omega be;
End of faith, as its Beginning,
Set our hearts at liberty.

Come, Almighty to deliver,
Let us all Thy life receive;
Suddenly return and never,
Never more Thy temples leave.
Thee we would be always blessing,
Serve Thee as Thy hosts above,
Pray and praise Thee without ceasing,
Glory in Thy perfect love.

Finish, then, Thy new creation;
Pure and spotless let us be.
Let us see Thy great salvation
Perfectly restored in Thee;
Changed from glory into glory,
Till in heaven we take our place,
Till we cast our crowns before Thee,
Lost in wonder, love, and praise.        Charles Wesley

PRAYER: Our Father in Heaven, Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost!    God, increase our faith. Weaken, No!  Take away the sin that besets us.  Deliver us from the confusion of man-made philosophies and the hindrances of personal prejudices. Lord, Perfect your love in our hearts.  Fill us with all the fullness of God.  And may thy light, wisdom, holiness, power, and glory saturate our souls today, and everyday.  In Jesus’ name, Amen. “Our Father, &c.”

7 DAYS TO PENTECOST

7 DAYS TO PENTECOST

TEXT:  2 THESSALONIANS 2:13-17

¹³ But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:

¹⁴ Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

¹⁵ Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.

¹⁶ Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace,

¹⁷ Comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work.

KEY TEXT: 2 Thessalonians 2:13 “…God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit…”

REFLECTION:  The blessings of the Holy Spirit are many.  The workings of the Holy Spirit are manifest.  The Scriptures reveal the Spirit to be a teacher (Mark 13:11), a Comforter or helper (John 14:16,17), a force of conviction (John 16:9), and a guide (John 16:13).  He gives gifts and imparts fruit.  He witnesses to our adoption (Romans 8:16) and helps us in our prayers (Romans 8:26).  He is resisted (Acts 5:3), grieved (Ephesians 4:30), and despited (Hebrews 10:29), by those who dishonor Him.

In today’s Key Text the Apostle reveals the Holy Spirit to be our “sanctifier.”  Peter testified that at both the Jewish and Gentile Pentecosts (Acts 2 and 10) the Holy Spirit purified the hearts of the faithful.  (Acts 15:9).  Peter did not say that God called them pure.  Peter said, “God made them pure.” 

Under the Old Covenant, things that were sanctified were “set apart for a holy use.”  Altars were sanctified. (Exodus 29:37) Offerings were sanctified.  (Exodus 29:33).  The tabernacle was sanctified. (Exodus 29:44).  Priests were sanctified. (Exodus 19:22).

But as in so many other instances, sanctification took on a deeper significance in the New Covenant. (For example: The Old Covenant prohibition of murder became an injunction against hatred in the New Covenant)  Instituted by Christ and sanctioned by the Spirit, sanctification under the New Covenant means more than “set apart for a holy purpose,” it means being factually and actually “made morally and ethically pure.”

From the beginning (2 Thessalonians 2:13) God’s great redemptive plan has been to save repentant believers by cleansing them from all unrighteousness. Christ suffered “that He might sanctify the people with His own blood.” (Hebrews 13:12) So “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (I John 1:9)   This cleansing is wrought by “the sanctification of the Spirit” and is solely conditioned on our “belief of the truth.”

Sanctification begins the moment we are born of the Spirit. It is rarely, if ever completed at that moment. (We admit the possibility that God could save and entirely sanctify the heart of a believer in a single moment for “with God nothing shall be impossible,” (Luke 1:37) but like John Wesley we find that Scripture, reason, and experience imply otherwise.)

Indeed all those who experience “salvation through sanctification of the Spirit,” and enjoy the “witness of the Spirit,” and who are “walking in the Spirit,” are soon made aware and convicted by their impulses to pride, self-will, unholy attitudes, temper, and impure desires.

We have good reason and Scriptural evidence to believe that the same Spirit who brought “salvation through sanctification” continues to purify the hearts of the faithful.  Through Ezekiel the Lord promised, "Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. And I will put My Spirit within you, and ye shall keep My judgments, and do them. I will also save you from all your uncleannesses" (Ezek. 36:25ff). 

The Apostle Paul prayed that the first Christians would be “strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man…that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith…that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God,” (Ephesians 3:14-21).  He exhorted believers to, “Quench not the Spirit,” and prayed “that the very God of peace” would “sanctify [them] wholly,” so that their “whole spirit, and soul, and body, would be preserved blameless until the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Paul guaranteed the Thessalonian Christians, “Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.”  (1 Thessalonians 5:18ff)

We conclude: Initial sanctification (salvation) initiates progressive sanctification which culminates in entire sanctification. This is wholly the work of the Spirit, made possible by the cleansing blood of Christ, and conditioned only on living faith.  Those who doubt this possibility should pray like the man who came to Christ and cried, “Lord I believe, help thou mine unbelief.” (Mark 9:24).

Refining fire, go through my heart,

Illuminate my soul,

Scatter thy life through every part,

And sanctify the whole. (361)

            Charles Wesley

PRAYER: Our Father in Heaven: For the Love of God, we glorify Thee.  For the Love of God that gave himself to die for our salvation, we thank Thee.  For the Love of God that is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost who is given unto us, we praise Thee. We pray that the Spirit of Holiness would begin, continue, and complete His sanctifying work in us.  We pray that thy Spirit would so fill us with all the fullness of God, that we would be holy and wholly Thine.  May thy will be done, and only thy will be done, we pray in the name of Jesus, Amen. “Our Father, &c.”