Sermon Notes, WhitSunday, 12June 2011

Sermon Notes, WhitSunday, 12June 2011

St Andrews Anglican OrthodoxChurch



PRAYER



“ 1 And when theday of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenlythere came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled allthe house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, andit sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speakwith other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
5 And there were dwelling at JerusalemJews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. 6 Now when thiswas noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, becausethat every man heard them speak in his own language. 7 And they wereall amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all thesewhich speak Galilaeans? 8 And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we wereborn? 9 Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers inMesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, 10 Phrygia, andPamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers ofRome, Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues thewonderful works of God. (Acts 2:1-11(KJV)



This text today is aboutprayer as much as it is about Pentecost, for the matter is all wrapped uptogether in the wonderful manner of working of God, the Holy Ghost.



“And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with oneaccord in one place.” This is an example to us of how a church shouldbe – one accord, one place.



The common prayers of theApostles were joined together as one voice, and that voice was also the Voiceof God for, if we pray in His Will, the prayer is a repeat of His Word for us.Common prayer is strong in its effect and reception by God.



Prayer is not unlike an echo.It rises to Heaven and, if it be a Godly prayer, is resounds from Heaven with athunderous echo.



Prayer truly is an echo, onlythe echo is not God’s. It is our spirits echoing, in humble prayer, the will ofthe Lord. He thunders and we echo that thunder in our hearts.



Our truestprayers are but the echo of God’s promises. And our echoed prayer is answeredwith echo after echo from God – very much like two mirrors facing so that theresulting image advances into infinity.



We are nowabout to witness in the text an illustration of the working of that Spiritcalled Holy – the Holy Ghost! Please note from whence the sound of His Voiceoriginates:



“Andsuddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and itfilled all the house where they were sitting.”



From Heaven. No will of God originates onearth, but from heaven. That is why our prayers must ‘echo’ the will of God forus.


A rushing might wind: A symbol of the Holy Ghost,almost always working in the silent chambers of the heart, here is sopowerfully present in its coming that it resembles a mighty gushing wind oftremendous force. There is no corner of the house that is not filled with it.



It is likethe wind in at least four particulars:



In His —

1. Secret coming.

2. Powerful shaking.

3. Purifying blowing.

4. Soft refreshing.



Like themorning dew, no one can observe its coming, but the evidence of its presenceoverwhelms the company.



“And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and itsat upon each of them.”



Notice theHoly Ghost is like a FIRE!



In His —

1. Bright shining.

2. Genial warming.

3. Destructive burning.

4. Rapid spreading.



As MatthewHenry notes: “The Spirit, like fire,melts the heart, burns up the dross, and kindles pious and devout affections inthe soul; in which, as in the fire on the altar, the spiritual sacrifices areoffered up.”



Pentecost began with ferventprayer in the Wilderness, and so does the same occur here at our day ofPentecost following, by forty-nine days, the events of Holy Week.



“And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after thesabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; sevensabbaths shall be complete: 16 Evenunto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and yeshall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD.” (Lev 23:15-16 (KJV)



This isthe seventh week (or 49 days of the morrow) following the Sunday ofResurrection! Once again, fervent prayer is offered and the Holy Ghost answersthat call.



We note inthe events of this moment that the Holy Ghost had the efficacious benefit tochange the hearts of men instantaneously to believe on Him whom they hadpierced.



Let usexamine this effect:

And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, andbegan to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.



What dothese other tongues mean and how were they manifested to those around?



And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of everynation under heaven.



There werepresent representatives from every known nations at Jerusalem. They all spoke in ‘foreign’languages. This must have been a confusing moment?



Not so!



Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude cametogether, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in hisown language.



They wereconfused, not because they could noit understand the words spoken by theApostles, but because they COULD!



And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one toanother, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? 8 And how hear we every man inour own tongue, wherein we were born? 9 Parthians,and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, andCappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, 10 Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, andstrangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretesand Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.



I am sorryto tell you this, but all those so-called churches who teach that these tongueswere utterances of ecstasy that no one else could understand are teachers offalse doctrine. They are heretics or edon!



If a manor woman stands up in a church and begins to speak in a babble that no one canunderstand, does that edify the church? Does it please God? The word babblecomes from the Tower of Babble which, becauseof their sin against heaven, God confused their languages so that each spoke alanguage the other could not understand. It sounded like babble, babble,babble, or the language of Babel.



The HolyGhost will not come to you with an uncertain sound.

Pauldescribes this practice in 1 Cor 14:8-9

For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shallprepare himself to the battle? 9 Solikewise ye, except ye utter by the tongue words easy to be understood, howshall it be known what is spoken? for ye shall speak into the air.



Does Godintend confusion to be a reverent manner of worship?

Again Paulsays: “For God is not the authorof confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints. (1 Cor 14:33)



The HolyGhost is an agent of peace, goodwill, love, and obedience. If you hear HisVoice, you will not hear the voices of false friends calling you to dress in sensual or inappropriate ways. You will disregard the voices pleading you to go where you should not, or do things you should not do. Do you truly love God?Then obey His Holy Spirit and Word in your daily lives!