The Gift of the Spirit

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Sunday, the 26th of June, 2022, at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  Our YouTube streaming channel is: 

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDIz4WuP8igQstkEOq1AMTg.]

We know the story of the Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit first descended upon the disciples in Jerusalem and made His home within them.  Today I’d like to look at what is sometimes referred to as the Gentile Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit first came to dwell within Gentile believers as well.

A few weeks back, we looked at how the Apostle Peter was in the region around Joppa where Jesus healed a paralytic and raised Tabitha from the dead, all through Peter.  Our scripture reading this morning takes place shortly after that.  Please listen and follow along to this entire experience as recorded by the Apostle Luke in chapter 10 of his Book of the Acts of the Apostles, and I’ll be reading from the New King James Version of our Holy Bible this morning…

1 There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian Regiment, 2 a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always. 3 About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God coming in and saying to him, “Cornelius!”

4 And when he observed him, he was afraid, and said, “What is it, lord?”

So he said to him, “Your prayers and your alms have come up for a memorial before God. 5 Now send men to Joppa, and send for Simon whose surname is Peter. 6 He is lodging with Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea. He will tell you what you must do.” 7 And when the angel who spoke to him had departed, Cornelius called two of his household servants and a devout soldier from among those who waited on him continually. 8 So when he had explained all these things to them, he sent them to Joppa.

9 The next day, as they went on their journey and drew near the city, Peter went up on the housetop to pray, about the sixth hour. 10 Then he became very hungry and wanted to eat; but while they made ready, he fell into a trance 11 and saw heaven opened and an object like a great sheet bound at the four corners, descending to him and let down to the earth. 12 In it were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air. 13 And a voice came to him, “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.”

14 But Peter said, “Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean.”

15 And a voice spoke to him again the second time, “What God has cleansed you must not call common.” 16 This was done three times. And the object was taken up into heaven again.

17 Now while Peter wondered within himself what this vision which he had seen meant, behold, the men who had been sent from Cornelius had made inquiry for Simon’s house, and stood before the gate. 18 And they called and asked whether Simon, whose surname was Peter, was lodging there.

19 While Peter thought about the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are seeking you. 20 Arise therefore, go down and go with them, doubting nothing; for I have sent them.”

21 Then Peter went down to the men who had been sent to him from Cornelius, and said, “Yes, I am he whom you seek. For what reason have you come?”

22 And they said, “Cornelius the centurion, a just man, one who fears God and has a good reputation among all the nation of the Jews, was divinely instructed by a holy angel to summon you to his house, and to hear words from you.” 23 Then he invited them in and lodged them.

On the next day Peter went away with them, and some brethren from Joppa accompanied him.

24 And the following day they entered Caesarea. Now Cornelius was waiting for them, and had called together his relatives and close friends. 25 As Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him. 26 But Peter lifted him up, saying, “Stand up; I myself am also a man.” 27 And as he talked with him, he went in and found many who had come together. 28 Then he said to them, “You know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man to keep company with or go to one of another nation. But God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean. 29 Therefore I came without objection as soon as I was sent for. I ask, then, for what reason have you sent for me?”

30 So Cornelius said, “Four days ago I was fasting until this hour; and at the ninth hour I prayed in my house, and behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing, 31 and said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard, and your alms are remembered in the sight of God. 32 Send therefore to Joppa and call Simon here, whose surname is Peter. He is lodging in the house of Simon, a tanner, by the sea. When he comes, he will speak to you.’ 33 So I sent to you immediately, and you have done well to come. Now therefore, we are all present before God, to hear all the things commanded you by God.”

34 Then Peter opened his mouth and said: “In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. 35 But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him. 36 The word which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ — He is Lord of all — 37 that word you know, which was proclaimed throughout all Judea, and began from Galilee after the baptism which John preached: 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. 39 And we are witnesses of all things which He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they killed by hanging on a tree. 40 Him God raised up on the third day, and showed Him openly, 41 not to all the people, but to witnesses chosen before by God, even to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead. 42 And He commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that it is He who was ordained by God to be Judge of the living and the dead. 43 To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins.”

44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word. 45 And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. 46 For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God.

Then Peter answered, 47 “Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” 48 And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then they asked him to stay a few days.

--Acts 10 (NKJV)

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You for sending the wonderful gift of Your Holy Spirit to we Gentiles as well as Your chosen people.  Thank You for including us in Your great family.  And thank You for always being right here with us through Your Spirit.  Forgive us, please Father, when we don’t take full advantage of this gift You have so freely bestowed.  Forgive us when we look for help from and listen to the advice of our fellow man rather than seeking Your intervention and wisdom.  Please help us make better use of Your Spirit within us.  Help us put all our trust in You and the great power Your Spirit brings.  And help us be better witnesses to Your Son Jesus.  Remind us that it is because of Him that we were given Your Spirit in the first place.  And Father, please protect us from Satan and from those who carry out his divisive, evil works.  Please keep us strong in our faith, of one mind and one purpose in our love, worship, and service, and healthy and safe through these trying times.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit within us and better understand the message You have for us this day.  Help us do a better job of allowing Your Spirit to guide us in the path we must follow.  Show us how to better make use of this great gift.  This we pray in the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.   Amen.

Ralph Waldo Emerson once noted that, "The only gift is a portion of thyself."  God gave us a portion of Himself with the gift of His Holy Spirit.  That all-powerful Spirit lives within us to help us through each day, to always be with us, to guide us.  And most importantly, the Spirit reminds us of our commitment to Jesus.  He points to Jesus, shines the spotlight on Jesus, so that we can see and show others the Truth.

J. O. Sanders, in his book Enjoying Intimacy with God, notes that, "A walk in the Spirit will of necessity be a walk in accordance with the Word the Spirit has inspired.  In the writings of the Apostle Paul, the same results are said to flow from being filled with the Spirit and being filled with the Word.  To remain filled with the Spirit, and thus enjoy His continuing sanctifying work, will mean continuing to be filled with the Word.  The relationship is obvious."

Jesus is the Son of God, the true Word of God.  God’s word is also at our fingertips in our Holy Bible.  We have been filled with God’s Spirit when we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Master.  We need to remain filled with Jesus, fully committed to serving Him, to keep God’s Spirit active within us.

Even though he was a Roman, and a leader of Roman soldiers in Judea, Cornelius had come to believe in the God of the Jews, the one true God.  Luke describes him as a devout man who feared God, who gave generously to the people, and who spent much time in prayer.  One day his prayers were answered, when Jesus set in motion the actions that would lead to salvation for this Centurion and his entire household.

We heard the story of how Cornelius, under directions from his vision, sent his trusted emissaries to seek out Peter.  We witnessed the vision Peter was shown, and how Jesus instructed him that he should not consider anything that God has cleansed as unclean or common.  And we traveled with Peter to Cornelius’ house, where all the Centurion’s family and close friends anxiously awaited the Apostle’s arrival.

I can only imagine the crowd that greeted Peter.  Not only his immediate family of wife and children, but also grandparents and cousins and uncles and aunts and probably some in-laws.  And I’m sure the household servants would have been included, too.  And then there were the close friends, which very likely included devout Jews, even of the local priesthood and synagogue leadership, since Cornelius was widely respected among them.

Cornelius explained the vision he’d been shown, and how he reacted to it.  Luke doesn’t mentioned it, but Peter obviously put two and two together after hearing the Centurion’s story and pondering the vision that he himself had been shown, how well the two meshed together.  He realized that God shows no partiality, that He loves not only the Jews, but accepts all who fear Him and who work righteousness.

And so Peter opened up and told the gathering all about Jesus, His ministry, His death and resurrection, His sacrifice for the redemption of all who will believe.  And then, just as in Jerusalem, the Holy Spirit descended and entered into all those who had just heard the word, and by hearing, accepted Jesus as Lord.  The Jewish Christians who had come along with Peter were astonished, for the gift of God’s Holy Spirit had just been poured out on the Gentiles, too.  And all those present with Cornelius were baptized in the name of the Lord.

There were three events recorded in Acts that some folks recognize as Pentecostal in nature.  The first is the official Pentecost, of course, when the Holy Spirit fell upon the Jewish converts as recorded by Luke in Acts chapter 2.  The second occurred to the Samaritans as seen in Acts chapter 8, and the third we just looked at with the Gentiles in Acts chapter 10.

But there is also a 4th occurrence recorded, in Acts chapter 19, when some believers in Ephesus who had not gotten the full Gospel message were taught and baptized by Paul and the Spirit came upon them as well.  Please listen to how Luke described this in verses 1 through 8 of chapter 19 of his Book of Acts…

1 And it happened, while Apollos was at Corinth, that Paul, having passed through the upper regions, came to Ephesus. And finding some disciples 2 he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”

So they said to him, “We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.”

3 And he said to them, “Into what then were you baptized?”

So they said, “Into John’s baptism.”

4 Then Paul said, “John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him who would come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.”

5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied. 7 Now the men were about twelve in all.

8 And he went into the synagogue and spoke boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading concerning the things of the kingdom of God.

--Acts 19:1-8 (NKJV)

These believers and others that Paul spoke to would have been a mixture of both Jews and Gentiles.  Once they have received the Gospel message and accepted Jesus as God’s Son and their Lord, any and all – Jew and Gentile alike – are filled with God’s very own Holy Spirit.  We are all united, joined together as one church by the Holy Spirit.  He may be our Guide and Companion as individuals, but He is also the glue that holds Jesus’ body, His church, together.

There’s one last point I’d like to look at.  The words of the voice that Peter heard in his vision are printed in red ink in my Bible, meaning that those words were spoken by Jesus.  The voice was that of Jesus from heaven.  The Spirit within Peter directed him to go with Cornelius’ men, and he obeyed.

The Spirit directs us, too, when we let Him.  The question is, do we obey Him and go where He directs?  We have this absolutely amazing gift from God living right here inside us.  The greatest power in all the universe is at our disposal.  Why are we so hesitant to make better use of Him?

Family, God offers two truly wonderful gifts.  First He gave of His only begotten Son, that anyone who believes in Him and accepts Him as Lord will be saved and given everlasting life in heaven.  And then, for those who do believe, He gives of His own Spirit, to be their constant Companion and Guide.

We believers have this gift of God’s Spirit within us.  Let us show our appreciation by putting Him to work.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Almighty God, thank You for giving of Your Son to all mankind so that we might be saved.  All You ask is that we believe in Him as Your Christ, sent to redeem us, and that we accept Him as our Lord.  And then, when we do, You give us the gift of Your Holy Spirit to always be with us.  Thank You, God, for such wonderful gifts.  Father, sometimes we just don’t listen to Your Spirit, ignoring His guidance.  Sometimes we just don’t fully believe we have His power to call upon.  Forgive us, Father, when we fail to follow Your Spirit’s lead.  Forgive us when we hesitate and falter in our service.  Please, loving Father, reinvigorate our will.  Remind us that You are in us, You are with us, no matter what we go up against.  And Father, please help us remain strong, faithful, and true through all that we face in this age.

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment to speak to You through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more obedient to Your commands, and seeking Your help to do so…

Lord Jesus, first You allowed Yourself to be sacrificed so that we could be redeemed, washed clean of our sin by Your blood.  And then You petitioned Your Father God to send His own Holy Spirit to dwell within us.  Thank You, Jesus, for so great a love.  Thank You for such a wonderful gift.  Please, Lord, help us make better use of the Spirit within us.  Forgive us when we don’t listen to Him, whether out of fear or because of our human doubts.  Help us be better witnesses to You and to the truth of God.  Remind us that God’s power resides within us in His Spirit.  Show us how He can help us carry out our mission on earth.  And Lord Jesus, please heal the hurts that separate and divide us one from another.  Help us remain trusting and obedient no matter what we go through.  Help us keep our focus on the things of heaven and the needs of others rather than on what this life might offer.  This we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.