My Personal Pentecost

In 1963 I had a profound experience related to the gospel message.  I had been brought up in a Christian home, attended Sunday School and other church based activities every week until the age of twelve.  During this time I had studied scripture, even memorising passages.  I had also met men and women who served God on foreign mission fields and read stories of others.  Then in my teens I deliberately abandoned church and lived an ungodly life.  Not until I was almost seventeen did I want to acknowledge God and any claim he had on my life.  But even then my faith was largely about mental assent and an intellectual acknowledgement that Jesus Christ was my Saviour.

On Easter Sunday I and some friends were to be baptised by immersion in front of a large congregation in the church where I had grown up and where my father was a (lay) deacon.  The night before I attended a meeting on Hastings Pier where a lady evangelist was speaking.  She had been advertised as working in London among strippers and prostitutes and as she told of her work I was fascinated, though my interest might not have been entirely holy!  Then she slipped seamlessly into talking about the cross.  During her talk she spoke movingly about every person who played a part in the crucifixion story, the one who betrayed him, the one who denied him, those who forsook him, those who manipulated and those who allowed themselves to be manipulated, and those who hammered the nails through his hands and feet.  In each I saw something of my own character but heard echoing down the centuries into my own heart words of mercy and forgiveness from the man hanging on that cross.

By the end of that meeting the gospel had claimed new ground.  It had not left my mind but now it had my heart, and with it my whole life in total surrender.  Witnessing through baptism the next day to my determination to walk with Jesus added to the event.  This was an Easter I will never forget.  Of course there was still much wrong in my life, but I was determined with God's help to live a life of obedience to him.  I soaked up scripture, grasped opportunities for Christian fellowship, and engaged in personal evangelism at every opportunity.  Along the way two things happened around the same time.  One of these was to meet up with Operation Mobilisation a primarily youth orientated programme of evangelism.  Within the OM philosophy was a strong emphasis on the importance of love as a motivating force behind all we are and all we do.  The other big event was a gradual realisation that God was calling me to be an evangelist.

Although I had been a Christian of some kind for much of my life it was only over the last year that God had begun to work powerfully in my life.  I was still only seventeen and the conviction of God's call in my life combined with a passion for reaching those who did not know Jesus amazed me.  Everything seemed to be moving very quickly.  Already I had been given opportunities to speak and to share the gospel.  As a result others had come to faith and I appeared to have a recognisable leadership role among my peers.  Things came to a head with an opportunity to join an evangelistic mission, first as a trainee and ultimately as a full time evangelist.

The mission I joined worked across Free Church denominations including Pentecostal churches.  The founder of the mission and other key people also came from a Pentecostal tradition.  This was before the charismatic movement had taken hold in the UK.  I was excited by what I saw and heard.  There was a dynamic in the lives of the Christians who testified to having been baptised in the Holy Spirit.  Prayers were answered, God spoke into gatherings through prophecy, miracles of healing took place before my eyes.  By now I had also studied the history of revivals and longed and prayed for revival in my own church and across the land.

In those days special prayer meetings called tarrying meetings were periodically held.  At these meetings people wanting the baptism of the Holy Spirit would meet with those who had already received this gift.  The intention was to wait before God until he poured out his Spirit as was promised in scripture.  One after another I saw my friends filled with the Holy Spirit, but I came away from the meetings disappointed.  Various reasons were mentioned in books and in such meetings as to why some might not receive this baptism, but none of them seemed to apply to me.  I was seeking to live a holy life in obedience to God.  I sought to live by the law of love.  Usually when people received this baptism they would be ecstatic in praise, speaking in tongues, and appearing drunk in the Spirit of God.  It happened to them but not me.  Why wasn't God keeping his promise?

To make matters worse the mission team occasionally took meetings for Pentecostal churches.  Sometimes there were saintly men and women who would grasp my hand and ask me whether 'I had received'.  Each time I had to say no.  It was embarrassing.  I used to pray that God would make me sick on such occasions so I would not need to go and be humiliated.  He always answered no.  Then one day we were booked to take the morning and evening services for an Assemblies of God church in the village of Ash, Kent.  The morning meeting was super but some anxiety began to build as the principal of the mission team passed me a note of the Bible reading I was to take that evening.

Immediately I knew what his message would be.  I had heard it more than once before.  His text, from Acts 20:20 would be "I have not shunned to declare unto you the whole counsel of God".  There were four points: Jesus is the Saviour, the Healer, the Baptiser in the Holy Spirit and the Coming King.  I had no doubt that everyone else on the team and in the congregation that evening were already baptised in the Holy Spirit.  That part of the sermon that evening was going to be preached at me.

As the sermon began I 'amened' through the first and second point.  As the topic of the gift of the Holy Spirit came round I reacted badly.  I was sure this was a pointed sermon preached at me.  In silence as I sat in a pew on one side of the church I informed God just how hypocritical the preacher was.  Indeed I knew him to be very unloving.  He had a bad temper and a viscous tongue.  Many times I had heard him demoralise others and I had been a victim on several occasions.  He might be a powerful preacher and had other notable abilities, but who was this unloving man to preach to me who only and always sought to live by the law of love!

Then a sudden and dramatic experience took place.  It was as sudden and dramatic as if the light had suddenly gone out in a dark room, or as if the light and warmth of the sun had been replaced with darkness and cold.  It seemed to me that God had left me in that moment, and I knew why.  Had you asked me whether I was actually aware of God's presence prior to that moment I would have had to say 'no'.  But now I knew that such was my state of heart he no longer felt at home there.  Perhaps I was not openly like the man in the pulpit, but I was committing exactly the same faults in the privacy of my own heart.

In that moment I prayed silently to God.  "O Lord, take away this bitterness, and baptise me in your love".  I did not ask for the Holy Spirit but what I received there and then was such a sense of God's presence it was overwhelming.  At the same time it felt as if a fountain of blessing was bursting upwards from the depths of my physical being.  "Praise the Lord" I murmured quietly, only to find that multiple fountains were erupting within me causing me to praise him more.  And the more I praised him the more the fountains erupted.

I spent the remainder of that sermon lost in my own world with God.  Then the preacher began to make an appeal.  Were there any who wanted to know Jesus as their Saviour?  As their Healer? And then, finally, as their Baptiser in the Holy Spirit.  Up went my hand but there was no response.  I waved it anxious to catch his attention.  Finally, the preacher acknowledged my hand.  A few moments later we were singing the final hymn but I could not rise.  My legs had turned to jelly and my whole being was revelling in this outpouring of love and joy.

Afterwards I was the victim of a group of well meaning Christians who took me into a side room, laid hands on me urging me to speak in tongues.  It was a worthless exercise.  But on the homeward journey I received my own evidence of what God had wrought.  The juior members of the team sat or lay along the benches in the rear of the minibus as it made its way south.  Senior members sat in the front and the man who had preached that night was verbally attacking a fellow senior team member who apparently was not as perfect as himself.  It was appalling behaviour but, strangely, I felt nothing but sadness and brotherly love towards him.  I was loving the unlovable, and I knew that was not a personal virtue.  It was God's love shed into my heart by the Holy Spirit.

A few weeks later, while praying in my bedroom at home I found myself praying in a language I had never learnt or even heard before.  It made no sense to my intellect but a deep sense of communication with God took place in which I knew his presence.  Other spiritual gifts have also occasionally been in my experience.  But it not any gift, nor even the momentary gift or baptism of the Holy Spirit that I value most;  it is the thrill of knowing his continuing presence - a treasure in an earthen vessel.  I would not want to preach or pray or lead worship or counsel another person, or tell someone the story of Jesus without consciously asking the Holy Spirit to come afresh upon me.  Of course I am not perfect.  I must sometimes grieve God.  I am not always filled with the Holy Spirit and not all my words and actions are inspired by his presence.  But I know my need and that counts for a lot.

Why did God make me wait.  I am sure that he did so.  All my longing at that time related to what I wanted to be for God.  But even the best I can be is worth nothing compared to what God can make me when I recognise my utter dependence upon him.  In 2014 it will be 50 years since I sat in that little chapel in Kent and met with the living God.  I treasure those days.  The charismatic movement has resulted in the work of the Holy Spirit becoming more commonly understood and accepted.  But I yearn for the days when there seemed a greater earnestness for God, a humble holiness, a passion for Christ and to win men and women for him, and a sense of his presence in meetings that left you filled with awe.  God save us all from accepting second best or worse.

Paul writing to the church at Ephesus urged them to be continually being filled with the Holy Spirit.  It is my prayer for you who read these words, as it is also my prayer for myself.

The Purpose of Pentecost

Once a year, seven weeks after Easter, churches around the world celebrate Pentecost.  But, tragically, there seems enormous ignorance about the person of the Holy Spirit and what Pentecost is all about.  I have often been dismayed to find churches celebrating Pentecost as the birthday of the Church, which it certainly is not.  In the process they seem to move the focus from the Holy Spirit to the Church.

There probably will not be sufficient room in this blog to be as through as I might like but I hope that what is written here will be of help.

One important distinction about Pentecost is that it isn't something locked into history in the same way as Christmas, Easter and Ascension.  Each of these annual celebrations recalls a specific once only moment in history.  Pentecost isn't the same.  While there certainly was an event that took place in Jerusalem at a specific moment in history, the book of Acts in the New Testament records several other occasions when the Holy Spirit came upon believers.  Furthermore, history records a vast number of occasions right up to today when men and women have experienced for themselves a personal Pentecost.

It is therefore vital that when we celebrate Pentecost Sunday we liberate it from being a one-time event in history to become marking the first of a continuing experience that has relevance for all Christians today and in days yet to come.

Another common mistake that disturbs me is to hear people stating that the Holy Spirit 'was released into the world'.  I have heard this erroneous concept developed into the idea that the Holy Spirit is present around us like the air we breathe and all we need to do is to breath the Holy Spirit in.  Certainly the Holy Spirit is present in the world, but not in that way.

Who is the Holy Spirit?
The answer to this question goes to the heart of how we understand God as trinity.  We have nothing in our experience to which we can liken God in any way.  We glean from scripture that God is essentially one. Yet we also see God as three persons, each distinct yet remaining essentially one.  God is also Spirit (John 4:24).  Jesus is called the Son of God, which is a New Testament concept.  Scripture tells us that he is one with the Father, and that he existed from 'the beginning'.  John's opening chapter sets out the divine nature of Jesus (the Word).

When the Word became flesh for us and our salvation he took on a new nature.  By his submission, his atoning death and resurrection he has been received back into glory.  But while he was on earth he revealed the character and purposes of God.  The things that he did he declared to be 'the works of his Father' (John 5:36 and 10:32).  In John 14 Jesus talks about his relationship with the Father, stating "I am in the Father and the Father is in me" (verse 11).  When Jesus talks about the fact that he was going to the Father, Philip said "Show us the Father and that will be enough for us" (verse 8) to which Jesus says that if anyone has seen him he has seen the Father (verse 9).

In John 14:16 Jesus says that after he leaves them the Father would give them another advocate.  The Greek word paracletos is better understood as an advocate than a comforter (AV).  However the old English understanding of comfort as strengthening is acceptable.  The one that comes will be there to strengthen but also as the advocate - not to plead on our behalf (for that is the high priestly ministry of Jesus in heaven) but to argue God's will in our lives.  It is God's cause that the Holy Spirit teaches and defends.

I put another in italics because the Greek work used in the scriptures here means another that is similar rather than one or something entirely different, for which there is a different Greek word.  Furthermore Jesus says that the disciples will know him for he has been with them.  In other words just as they knew the effect of the presence of Jesus they would recognise the presence of the one yet to come.  Both Jesus and the Holy Spirit share the same inseparable nature of God.  But when this other advocate came he would not just be with them but in them (John 14:17).

Another common error is to speak of the Holy Spirit as an agent of God.  he is God.  Just as Jesus Christ is God with us to do that which was necessary for our salvation, so the Holy Spirit is God with us to enable that salvation to become actual in our experience.

So what was the Day of Pentecost?
Jesus had told his disciples that they would become his witnesses (i.e. those who testify of him).  But they were to wait in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit came upon them (Acts 1:1-8).  Here he speaks of being baptised (the Greek word means immersed or enveloped) with the Holy Spirit.  We know that there were at least 120 believers at that time (Acts 1:15) and the author of Acts does not tell us whether the instructions to wait for the gift of the Holy Spirit was just to the eleven continuing disciples or to all.  It would seem unlikely that a room sufficient to accommodate 120 would have been available, but we cannot be sure.

When the Day of Pentecost (a Jewish festival) had fully come and they were all together in one place, the promise long before promised by the Father and repeated by the Son came to pass.  They heard a sound like wind and saw something like flames, they experienced being filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in languages they had not learned.  What they were saying was about the glory of God.

Attracted by the noise (here I am inclined to think it might well have been more than twelve in the room) a crowd gathered.  The twelve stepped forward and Peter spoke to the crowd.  Please note that there is no suggestion that the gospel was preached in different languages (yet another common myth).  He explained that what had happened was the fulfilment of a prophecy in Joel 2:28-32).  He went on to preach salvation in Jesus the Messiah to them, urging them to repent.  The evidence of the Messiahship of Jesus, Peter asserts, is the outpouring of the promise of the Father.

Peter further promised that to those who would repent and be baptised trusting Jesus for forgiveness of sins, would also receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  He stated that the promise [of the Father] is not only for them but also for their children and to those who are yet to be born in ages to come who would be among those that God would call.  About 3000 responded to his message, repenting and being baptised.  That these new believers also received the Holy Spirit in a similar way to the first is undoubtedly true because if Peter's words about the gift of the Holy Spirit were found false then the whole message would have been undermined.

But this was merely the first of several such experiences.  We read about it happening in Ephesus (Acts 19), Samaria (Acts 8), and in the household of Cornelius (Acts 10, specifically described by Peter as identical to that first Pentecost Day experience).  The promise was to all who would believe and it would seem that the experience of being filled with the Holy Spirit was the normal Christian experience.  It is also clear that this experience is obviously recognisable when it takes place.

I do not intend to address the gift of speaking in tongues here but it can be found on another post within this blog.


The best way to celebrate Pentecost Sunday
Since what began on the Day of Pentecost in Jerusalem was the beginning of empowerment of Christians so that they could effectively witness to Jesus Christ throughout the world, and that this is a continuing need and a promise to be experienced personally, we would best honour God by urging men and women of faith in Christ to seek earnestly to be baptised in the Holy Spirit.

Let's put away the balloons and party flags and have a serious celebration that focuses on what God has made possible and what the world needs today.  How about you?  Have you received this experience of being filled with the Holy Spirit and so empowered to be Jesus' witness?  If not are you willing to receive the life changing promise?  If the answer to that is "Yes" then please start seeking today.

The Last Rolo and the Good Samaritan

Some years ago an advertising campaign suggesting that giving someone your last Rolo (a tasty chocolate and toffee sweet) was the ultimate act of love was voted the second most romantic TV advert ever.  It was a clever idea linking the concept of genuine love with a sacrificial act. Sometimes I have publicly commented a man who truly loves his wife allows her to have the TV remote control!  Real love is always seen through actions.

Most people know about the parable Jesus told about a Good Samaritan but most probably do not know just how much the Good Samaritan did for the man he found beaten up by robbers.  Firstly, he risked his own safety by stopping to help.  Then he used his own resources to stop the bleeding and prevent infection.  Then he transported the injured man to a local inn (no hospital in those days) where he stayed up all night looking after him.  In the morning he gave the inn keeper enough money for the man to be looked after for around two months, and followed this by telling the innkeeper that if caring for the man cost more he would pay the difference on his next visit.  The irony is that normally Jews and Samaritans did not get on!

The story was told to illustrate genuine love for our ‘neighbour’, and reminds us of the amazing love God has for each of us. In a all too often selfish world in which parting with a last Rolo (or the remote) is a challenge, we could do with more loving deeds.  I imagine that the injured man would want to know the name and shake the hand of his generous benefactor.  Perhaps we too should find a way to express our gratitude for the act of love for us God the Son demonstrated on the cross.