Touched By God

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Pentecost Sunday morning the 9th of June, 2019 at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  Look for the video of our services on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

Today is what is known on the Christian calendar as Pentecost Sunday, but Pentecost is also a Jewish celebration.  The word “Pentecost” itself means “fiftieth day”,  Pentecost is the 50th day of the Passover, or 49 days after the Passover feast.  But on the first 50th day of the Passover when the spotless Lamb of God was sacrificed, something very special happened.  God touched His Son’s followers.

Listen and follow along to what the Apostle Luke recorded in his Book of the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 2, verses 1 through 21 and verses 38 and 39, and I’ll be reading from the New King James Version of our Holy Bible…

1 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

5 And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. 6 And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. 7 Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, “Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born? 9 Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabs — we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God.” 12 So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “Whatever could this mean?”

13 Others mocking said, “They are full of new wine.”

14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words. 15 For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. 16 But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

17 ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God,

That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh;

Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,

Your young men shall see visions,

Your old men shall dream dreams.

18 And on My menservants and on My maidservants

I will pour out My Spirit in those days;

And they shall prophesy.

19 I will show wonders in heaven above

And signs in the earth beneath:

Blood and fire and vapor of smoke.

20 The sun shall be turned into darkness,

And the moon into blood,

Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord.

21 And it shall come to pass

That whoever calls on the name of the Lord

Shall be saved.’

38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”

--Acts 2:1-21, 38-39 (NKJV)

Let us pray…  Father God, Your Son Jesus didn’t want us to be alone after He returned home to heaven, so He asked You to send Your Spirit to be with us always, and You did just that!  Thank You, Father, for giving us such a wonderful gift.  Please help us to fully appreciate and obey Your Holy Spirit as He guides us along our walk through this life.  Help us to never forget or take for granted this amazing gift You have given us.  Please speak to us this morning, Father, that we may hear and better understand Your message this day.  This we pray in the blessed name of Your Son Jesus.   Amen.


Power can be used in at least two ways: it can be unleashed, or it can be harnessed.  The energy in ten gallons of gasoline, for instance, can be released explosively by igniting it all at once, or it can be channeled through the engine of an automobile in a controlled burn and used to transport a person hundreds of miles.  Explosions are spectacular, but controlled burns have a more lasting effect, greater staying power.  The Holy Spirit works both ways.  At Pentecost, He exploded on the scene; His presence was like "tongues of fire".  Thousands were affected by one burst of God's power.  But He also works through the church, the institution that God began in order to tap the Holy Spirit's power for the long haul.  Through true belief, followers of Jesus are given God’s Holy Spirit.  Through worship, fellowship, and service, Christians are provided with staying power.

Sadly, though, the Holy Spirit is the person of God most often taken for granted or ignored.  Evangelist Francis Chan calls Him “the forgotten God”.  Yet the Holy Spirit is the most powerful force in all of God's creation.  He is the Force behind creation.  He is the Power of resurrection.  And He is our constant Companion and best friend.

In his powerful sermon that day, Peter points out how God had promised that the event of this particular Pentecost day would happen, long before it occurred.  Peter quoted the words of God spoken through His prophet Joel, from over 800 years before Jesus was even born, where God foretold of this blessed day.  And Peter also proclaims that the Holy Spirit is God’s gift not to just those in that place on that day, but to all people everywhere who repent and follow Jesus, from that day forward!

But note Peter’s last words: “as many as the Lord our God will call”.  God calls us to follow His Son Jesus.  He chooses those He will touch.  He chooses us.  But it’s up to us whether we choose to faithfully follow Jesus, obeying His voice, serving Him with our lives.


Just an interesting aside…  At the start I mentioned that Pentecost is the 50th day of Passover, or 49 days after the day of the Passover.  The Pentecost we celebrate this morning was 49 days after the Passover at which our Lord Jesus was nailed to a cross and executed.  Jesus’ body lay in the grave for two days while, as legend has it, He preached to the souls in hell.  On the third day He arose from the grave and then spent the next 40 days walking among us again, appearing to His disciples and over 500 other people before He returned to heaven.

49 minus 2 minus 40 leaves 7.  Seven days after Jesus ascended into heaven, God’s Holy Spirit descended onto and into those who followed our Lord.

Now my Bible Study class and all who ascribe to Biblical numerology know that seven is the number of completion.  It is the combination of three, the number of God, plus four, the number for mankind.  Seven appears often in our Bible, and denotes the completion of a work of God.  Seven days after Jesus left us to go home, God sent us His Holy Spirit so we would not be alone.

Jesus requested this for us, His followers.  The Apostle John recorded Jesus’ promise in his Gospel account, chapter 14, verses 15 through 17, where Jesus said…

15 “If you love Me, keep My commandments. 16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever — 17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.”

--John 14:15-17 (NKJV)

God will give us a Helper that will live with us forever.  The Spirit of truth that the world cannot receive because the world doesn’t know Him!  But we know Him, and He lives within us.

And again, right before He left us, during that 40 days when He visibly, physically showed us that He keeps His promises, Jesus reiterated the promise He made, the promise God made through Joel.  We see this earlier in the Book of Acts, in chapter 1, verses 4 through 8, when Luke reports…

4 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; 5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” 6 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. 8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

--Acts 1:4-8 (NKJV)

This points out the aspect of our resident Holy Spirit that so many ignore, or are unaware of.  We’ve talked about God’s Spirit being our constant Companion, our Helper, our Guide, our best Friend.  But here Jesus also promised that we will receive power when the God’s Holy Spirit comes to us!  The same Power that breathes life into all creation, the same Power that raised Jesus from death back into life, that same Power lives within us, is always with us!  What can we not do with the Power of God always at hand?!

But the problem is, we don’t really believe in that Power, do we?  Or more to the point, we don’t really believe that we can wield that Power.  And the primary reason for this disbelief is due to our unwillingness to let go of the world.

Family, we must empty ourselves of "self" so that God can fill us with His Holy Spirit.  We must empty ourselves, rid ourselves of worldly things and desires, to give the Spirit room to work.  D. L. Moody once said that "if we are full of pride and conceit and ambition and the world, there is no room for the Spirit of God.  We must be emptied before we can be filled."

We must be emptied before we can be filled.  What is it that we won’t let go of?  What is it that’s holding us back?  What part of this world still claims a huge stake in us that keeps the Holy Spirit from reaching His full potential within us?  We are the weak link in this chain.  The Holy Spirit is all powerful.  But He will only work through us if we let Him.

We who are gathered here this morning, we who truly believe in and follow Jesus, we have been touched by God as with tongues of fire.  We have been filled with God’s own Holy Spirit.  Now what are we going to do with that gift?

In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.


Let us pray…  Father God, You sent You own all-powerful Spirit to live within us, to always be with us, our constant Companion, Helper, and Guide.  Thank You, Father, for this beautiful blessing.  Please forgive us when we do not heed Your Spirit’s counsel, when we fail to follow where He leads, when we refuse to listen to His quiet voice.  Forgive us when we hesitate to act as He would have us serve You.  Please give us greater courage and help us to understand the enormous Power You have placed inside us.

Please hear us now, Father, as we come to You in the silence, praying from our hearts, promising to turn from our sin, seeking Your forgiveness and Your help…

Lord Jesus, You love us so much that You didn’t want us to be alone after You left this mortal plane, so You asked Your Father God to send His own Holy Spirit to be with us always, through each and every day, through all life’s trials and struggles.  Thank You Jesus for loving us so much!  Please help us respect and honor God’s indwelling Spirit and to do as He guides us to do.  May we always obey His voice and His urgings.  May we faithfully serve You and God, using the strength and power of the Holy Spirit to see us through.

This we pray in Your glorious name, Christ Jesus our Lord, our Master, our Savior.  Amen.