Text: Acts 2:124

Topic: How the Holy Spirit "catches" us

Introduction

Good advice without power is bad news.

Illustration: In this brief illustration, Bell tells of a time his car battery was completely dead. A service station attendant offered this bit of "helpful" advice: "We can take care of it. Bring it on in."  

Scripture is full of "good advice" that we cannot carry out on our own.

• Old Testament Law and The Sermon on the Mount become "bad news," telling us what to do and what not to do, but giving us no power.

After all his miracles, Jesus told the disciples to do the impossible: "Go and do greater works than these."

Jesus knew his disciples needed more than precepts; they needed power.

Jesus told them, "You will receive power from on high . . . But you've got to wait for it."

If it weren't for the good news in Acts 2, we wouldn't be here today.

The disciples were filled with the Spirit.

The symbolism of the fire and wind used here, representing the Spirit, is important:

Jesus said the Spirit is like the wind, blowing wherever it pleases.

Fire represents the holy presence of God.

The Holy Spirit, with the gift of tongues, broke the communication barrier so that everyone could hear the gospel in his own language.

The people were amazed, astonished and perplexed when they saw these phenomena; something extraordinary had happened.

The sequence of events with Christ and Pentecost is also applicable today.

First, we take in Christ's teachings, then we are filled with the Spirit and are consequently equipped for his service.

Why isn't today's church as alive and powerful as the first church? Two reasons:

We have shut the Holy Spirit up in some quiet closet of our lives  

Many people are either ignorant of, or are insensitive to the Spirit's power within them.

Where Christ is lifted up, there you can be sure the Spirit of God is at work.

Pentecost reminded Christ's early followers that Christ did not leave them alone and still serves as a reminder for us today.

How do we catch the wind of the Holy Spirit?

We can't put it in a box; we can't leash it; we can't bottle it; we can't catch it.

We can receive the Holy Spirit when our sails are unfurled and we're ready to obey.

Conclusion:

We can't catch the wind, but we can be caught by it, by turning our life over to the Spirit.

Has Pentecost happened in your life?