Today is Pentecost Sunday, which in a sense, is the ‘birthday’ of the Church,so this is cause for celebration! While Jesus was on Earth, he made this promise to His disciples, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you” (John 14:26, ESV). Just before Jesus ascended into Heaven, forty days after His resurrection, He told the disciples “I will send you the One my Father has promised, but you must stay in the city (Jerusalem) until you are given power from Heaven (some translations say ‘power from on High’” (Luke 24:49, CEV). The disciples then had to wait, and thy did, even though they probably had no idea how long they would have to wait for. However, they spent this waiting period constantly praying, together with the women, Mary the mother of Jesus, and His brothers (Acts 1:14). A key lesson I learnt from this is that when God promises something, while waiting, pray, pray, pray!

Finally, after about 10 days of waiting and praying, the day finally arrived. “When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them” (Acts 2:1-4; ESV).

What a day that was, and what a transformation it led to! From fearful, doubtful, Jesus-denying disciples to bold, confident proclaimers of the Gospel, full of power and authority, ready to lay down their lives for the sake of the Gospel. They had been charged up, empowered by the Holy Spirit and were ready to do anything for God!

Have you ever watched the cartoon ‘Popeye the Sailor’? If you have, you might recall the change that happens to Popeye after he guzzles a can of spinach, and how he becomes so powerful he can do almost anything. One time, Popeye was holding a bent/broken sword and the energy infusion was so powerful, it even transferred to the sword, straightening it immediately. This might give you a small idea of what can happen following an infusion of power.

However, on a more serious note, back to the Pentecost, this was no cartoon, and the power of the Spirit was, and is, way, way more powerful than a temporary spinach-infused super human strength. It was powerful then and it remains powerful now. There’s something else I find fascinating about the day of the Pentecost. The Bible records that “what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and rested on each of them”. Why fire? Interestingly, before this, John the Baptist prophesied about this baptism of fire. In Luke 3:16, “John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.”” And what did fire represent at the time? Well, there were a number of things fire was/is symbolic of. In this post, I will focus on four things – God’s acceptance of a sacrifice, purification, passion, God’s presence and the power that accompanies it.

In the Old Testament, in some situations, when God was going to accept a sacrifice, He sent fire down. In the story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal in 1 Kings 18, despite Elijah pouring water all over the sacrifice, after he prayed, “the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.” God was demonstrating that He fully accepted Elijah’s sacrifice. This also happened in 1 Chronicles 21:26 to David’s sacrifice, and in 2 Chronicles 7:1, to Solomon’s sacrifice. In all these instances, God showed He was accepting the sacrifices by sending fire. As such, in a way, I feel that God was also saying that He accepts His church. We are not perfect, we still have spots and wrinkles, but He sent that fire down to show that He accepted His church, His new fledgling church at the time.

Fire also symbolises purification. The Bible makes reference in several places to a refining that takes place as silver is refined, which was by fire (Psalm 66:10, Proverbs 17:3, Zechariah 13:9, Malachi 3:3). God is pure, He is Holy, therefore evil cannot abide in His presence. Hebrews 12 talks about a shaking, and concludes with the declaration “For our God is a consuming fire” (verse 29). Jesus wants to “present the church to himself in splendour, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish” (Ephesians 5:27), and this will be done through the work of the Holy Spirit. In John 16:7-11, Jesus said, “Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send Him to you. And when He comes, He will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.” In Acts 5, we read about the instant judgement meted out to Ananias and Sapphira, which caused great fear to come upon the whole church and all who heard of these things (verse 11).

These instances of instant judgement rarely happen (thank God for His mercy), but we are admonished in Ephesians 4:30, “do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, He has identified you as His own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption” (NLT). When the Holy Spirit is at work in us, as we listen to Him and obey Him, following His prompts rather than those of the evil one, to do good and not evil, He refines us and purifies us. When we walk in love, spending time with and learning from the Holy Spirit, He purifies us… “For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love” (Romans 5:5; Also Philippians 1:9-10). This is an ongoing process, and will not happen in a day. For some of us (myself included) it is a very extensive process, but thank God for His patience and grace.

Fire is also symbolic for passion. This was pretty evident in the transformation in the disciples, as noted earlier. Their passion for the Gospel was unmatched. Zeal for God consumed them. They went everywhere preaching the Gospel, they suffered imprisonment, chains, public floggings and other shameful treatment, shipwreck, false accusations, you name it (Acts 5:40; Acts 12; Acts 16; Acts 22; Acts 24; Acts 27). There are also records of some horrible deaths most of the disciples suffered while preaching the gospel later on, and yet, they were not deterred. As Paul, Silas and Timothy note in 1 Thessalonians 2:2, “As you are aware, we had already endured suffering and shameful treatment in Philippi. But in the face of strong opposition, we were bold in our God to speak to you the gospel of God” (BSB). In fact, after one such flogging, Acts 5:41 records that they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonour for the name of Jesus. What a mindset, what passion, what zeal, all fuelled by the Spirit! Our emotions, disappointments, fears and trials may attempt to dampen our fire and passion for God and for the Gospel, but when we allow the Holy Spirit fuel our passion for God, this passion won’t fade. There may be times it may feel like it is a smouldering wick rather than a roaring flame, but as long as we are plugged into the source, it will not die. 2 Timothy 1:6 also encourages us to fan into flames the spiritual gift we received from God. This means we can also take action to remain passionate. We should not wait for the flames of passion before we step out to do what God has called us to, sometimes the flames are fanned in the process of doing.

Fire symbolised the presence of God. In Exodus 3, God appeared to Moses in a burning bush that was not consumed. In Exodus 13:21-22, after the Israelites had left Egypt, “The Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people.” One of the great things about the Holy Spirit coming is that He can be everywhere at the same time. When Jesus was on Earth as a man, He could only be in one place at a time, but when the Holy Spirit came, He could be everywhere at the same time. He can be in every single country, with every one of us, at the same time, all the time. Isn’t that amazing? In Matthew 28:20, as part of the great commission, Jesus promises “And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” The Holy Spirit is the manifestation of that promise.
God’s presence is naturally accompanied by His power. From their exploits, we know that the power of the Holy Spirit was definitely at work among the disciples. Their preaching of the Gospel was so powerful, people wanted to have what they had, so much so that Simon the magician offered them money to buy the power (Acts 8:17-24). Thank God that this amazing power is a gift from God, otherwise I don’t think any of us will be able to afford it!

Fire is powerful. Once you light a match, and there is fuel and the right atmosphere, it takes off. Remember that the Apostles were in an atmosphere of prayer and communing with God. After the disciples had been baptised by the Holy Spirit, they preached the Gospel and it yielded much fruit… it really took off (Acts 2:41; 4:33; 21:19-20). They healed the sick (Acts 3:1-8; 28:1-9), received guidance on where to go (Acts 16:6); cast out demons (Acts 16:16-18), raised the dead (Acts 9:40), and did so many other mighty works. The Holy Spirit is as powerful as ever, so as Christians, can you imagine the power we have through the Holy Spirit and the exploits for God we can do through this power?
However, a powerful equipment which is not plugged in will not work, no matter how powerful it is. We need to be ‘plugged in’ to the Spirit, we need to abide in Him. John 15:5 says “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” I hope to write on this topic one day, but for now, I pray that we stay constantly plugged into the Spirit, ever abiding in Him.

I pray that as we mark Pentecost today, and reflect on the gift of the Spirit, we will not forget that because of Jesus sacrifice on the cross, we are accepted by God, and loved immensely, and that He is always with us. May the purification, passion, power, that the Holy Spirit brings never cease from our lives, but instead may the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives draw others to Him, that they may also experience this acceptance, purifying, presence, passion, power, and in so doing, continue to build a powerful, passionate, spotless, wrinkle-free church. Amen.

Image source here.