Acts 2:1-13: Pentecost!

Father, we confess that your Church has made texts like this a battleground rather than food,

a place to cast accusations against others rather than a deep truth and a deep mystery to which we should enter into.

We ask, Father, that your Holy Spirit would do a gentle but powerful work in our midst this morning

and bring this Word from your Word deeply into our lives.

And we give, Father, permission.

In fact, we ask that this Word would not merely enter our lives, but that it would speak to our heart and rule in our heart.

And we ask this in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Saviour. Amen.

Please be seated.

Amen.

Thank you.

It's loud and dramatic and creates a fuss and a bother.

And it's like really, really, it's as if like if Hollywood was to do it, there'd be piles of noise and it'd just be very, very, very dramatic.

But the surprising thing is that theologians throughout the centuries have described the Holy Spirit as the shy person of the Trinity.

So for us, it should be a little bit of a shock that the shy person of the Trinity is introduced in such a dramatic fashion.

Each of you probably knows somebody who's quite shy.

So just imagine that you heard that when they, this very, very shy person, you hardly get a word out of them,

that they went to this gathering and they came in in outrageous colors, singing at the top of their lungs and dancing and doing cartwheels.

You'd think, what on earth?

That's just a, that's what happened.

Anyway, so that's what this is.

It's a, it's a remarkable and dramatic miracle that we're going to look at.

In fact, depending how you want to look at it, it's, it's a, it's a, a group of miracles, very dramatic about the shy person of the Trinity and God changing how he deals with humanity.

From that moment to this moment until he comes again.

So let's have a look.

In your Bibles, it's Acts chapter 2.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

We're going to be looking at verses 1 to 13.

If you didn't pick up one of these books when you came in, we have these very nice journal Bibles just of the book of Acts.

And if you would like to have one, just ask us.

We'd give it to you for free as a gift.

Allows you to make little notes and everything on one side, your prayers, your observations, maybe your questions.

And so here's how it begins.

Verse 1.

When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place.

Now, I just want to stop here.

Some of you know that I sort of do that.

You know, one of the things I pray for when I'm doing a narrative, especially a narrative like this, is that I would tell the story and that I'd be able to clarify the story and defend the story and connect the story.

But at the end of the day, trust that the one who tells the story, which is God, that he's going to do the work that only he can do.

So just one of the things which is really interesting.

This is on one level.

This story is about this mysterious third person of the Trinity.

And on one level, it's a text that you can meditate upon.

It's a very inward text talking about God's resting in you.

And we're going to sort of open all that up.

But at the same time that it's a miracle, it's also profoundly historical.

So, for instance, when it says here, when the day of Pentecost arrived, it doesn't say once upon a time, when the day of Pentecost arrived.

And Pentecost is sort of how Christians refer to it in the Old Testament.

It's referred to as the Feast of Weeks.

And our Jewish friends would call it Shavuot.

I don't think I pronounced that correctly.

My pardon to my Jewish friends.

Shavuot.

And that's how they would refer to it.

And it's the second of three harvest festivals that happen in the Jewish calendar where you celebrate God's goodness.

But here's the significant thing.

There's so many historical references in this ancient book and in the Gospels, which should really be understood as ancient eyewitness biographies,

that scholars can date when Jesus died on the cross, either one of two dates.

He either died on the 7th of April, the year 30, or the 3rd of April, the year 33 A.D.

And for a variety of reasons, I think the 3rd of April, 33 A.D. is probably the date.

And so what that means is this.

What they're saying is if you go through and you read Luke and you read this and all the different historical references which he has,

it means that on the 3rd of April, 33, Jesus died on the cross.

And on the 5th of April, in the year 33, Jesus rose from the dead.

The grave was empty.

They never found the body.

And at that point in time, he begins to appear alive to show that he's physically, bodily resurrected to a variety of people in a variety of times over 40 days.

And it means that the 14th of May, the year 33, Jesus ascended into heaven.

So that when you're reading the book of Acts, what sort of happens between Acts 1.1 and Acts, you know, about halfway through the book of Acts,

that's taking place between the 5th of April and the 14th of May in the year 33.

And then the text that we looked at last week, that happened sometime between the 15th of May and the 23rd of May in the year 33 A.D.

because on the 24th of May, 33 A.D., this event happened.

That's what Luke is saying.

Luke is saying if you went back in a time machine, if you happen to be a waiter in the house where there's 120 or so people,

you would see these things happen.

If you weren't one of those, but you're outside and you went back in a time machine,

you would see the things which are going to take place in a few moments.

You'd see this.

You'd see it.

So on one hand, it's profoundly historical.

On the other hand, though, of course, it's talking about the very, very deep mysteries of God.

And as we'll see in a moment, the very, very deepest things of the human heart and our very, very deepest needs.

And it's a fourfold miracle.

Let's look at the first aspect of the miracle, verse 2.

And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind,

and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.

So this is a miracle of the ear, of sound.

Now, some of you might, in fact, I was going to mention it.

This is my first Sunday wearing two hearing aids.

And actually, to tell you the truth, it's a little bit disconcerting.

Just because my voice is very loud in my head at the 8 o'clock service,

because my voice is so loud in my head,

I had to ask them just to wave at me if I was speaking too quietly.

But one of the things I discovered three years ago

when I had this rare virus attack my right inner ear

and give me moderate, severe hearing loss,

is that I lost the ability most of the time to identify where a sound was coming from.

So it's very disconcerting.

You're walking along, and you hear somebody, and you keep looking behind you.

And then I realize it's the person in front of me that I'm hearing.

It's very disconcerting.

Anyway, there's over 120 people here,

and most of them don't have severe hearing loss.

So they're able to identify that the sound was coming from up to down,

and the sound is coming from above into the room,

and it's turbulent.

It's noisy.

It's like you're hearing a hurricane.

It's not like a little breeze.

It's a tumultuous, loud, hurricane-like sound which fills the room.

So it's a miracle that the ear can recognize.

And then the next one is for the eye, verse 3.

And divided tongues, as of fire, appeared to them and rested on each one of them.

Now, this is a miracle of the eye.

It's something which they see.

Now, this is a very, very good translation,

but there's something even more profound in the original language.

I know there are many people in the room who speak multiple languages.

I've spoken sometimes in gatherings where I've had to be translated,

and in every one of those, you know, I've been warned,

and you have to try to keep the, you know,

try to have not more than about a dozen words at a time.

Even less is better.

And I try to get into a bit of a rhythm.

You know, you say, da-da-da-da-da-da-da,

and I almost even move my body,

and the next person says, da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da.

And occasionally, if you've ever been in that situation,

I would say, da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da.

I'd say my ten words,

and three paragraphs later, the other person stops speaking.

And it's because, as you know,

sometimes, like, the words in one language

don't fit very, very easily into another.

So when the Bible is translated,

they can't add, at certain times,

three paragraphs when there's six or seven words.

So what's going on in the original language is this,

that there's one fire that comes.

Just one.

So what they're seeing is they see one fire come into the room,

and then out of that one fire,

individual tongues of fire settle and rest on each person.

So in the original text, it's not as if, I don't know,

like Steve gets some blue fire,

and Stella gets some green fire,

and Louise gets yellow fire,

and Victor gets, you know, dark blue fire,

and it looks like we've all gotten different types of Holy Spirit.

No, it's very clear in the original language

that there's just one coming,

and then it divides and separates,

and there's a personal coming of the fire

to rest upon every person in the room.

And that's a miracle of the eye.

But the next miracle is the most significant one

that would make people realize it really is a miracle.

Look what happens in verse 4.

And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit

and began to speak in other tongues

as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Now, this is a miracle of our inner self.

You might think you had just been,

something was going on,

you hear a weird noise,

and I don't know, it's just a weird noise.

And all of us have maybe seen things

that we know can't,

we just misinterpret it.

I mean, I just,

just the other day,

a fellow that I went to his funeral,

like about six months ago,

for a moment I could have sworn

he was walking across the street.

And I just realized he just looked like him.

And maybe I need glasses,

not for distances.

I use my glasses for reading.

And so maybe you could think that.

But let me tell you,

every single one of you,

if you all of a sudden spoke,

if all of a sudden you started speaking Mongolian,

now that's a miracle.

We're speaking,

not everybody except Steve speaking,

and Anton speaking Russian.

Like, that's a miracle.

And that's something very, very deep

at the level of the mind, the heart,

everything,

that you can all of a sudden

speak another language.

And there's something else

which is in here

which is very, very interesting.

If you notice in verse 4 again,

it says,

as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Now, sometimes that can mean

in the original language,

ecstatic speech.

But it's more customary to mean

that this,

it's simple, emphatic speech.

And so what they're getting is

it's not so much that all of a sudden

they're just jumping up and down

and going crazy

and falling all over the place.

Not that there's anything

necessarily wrong with that.

But in this case,

all of a sudden what they're hearing

is simple, clear, emphatic,

declarative, easy-to-understand speech

with a type of power and boldness to it.

And that's the miracle.

We'll get to the fourth aspect

of the miracle later on in the text.

And the Holy Spirit is described

right in these things

in verse 3 and 4

that each individual flame

comes and rests on them

and it's filled.

And the other thing

which is in the original language

and it's only partially there

but it gets teased out

as you read the rest of the book,

that the Holy Spirit

comes upon each one of them

as a permanent possession.

That's why it marks a change

in how God is relating to His people

on His planet, in His creation.

That there's this sense

of it becomes,

the Holy Spirit becomes

a permanent possession.

Up until now,

the Holy Spirit has come upon people

for a moment or a season

but now it comes upon

ordinary people

as a permanent possession.

You see,

what the text is saying

is that

this is all part of God's plan,

that Jesus has sent this,

that

God sends Jesus

to rescue us,

to deliver us

so that our sins

will be forgiven.

And when He dies on the cross

and rises from the dead,

when we put our faith

and trust in Jesus,

our sins are forgiven.

And we are clothed

with the righteousness of Christ,

with all of His goodness

and purity.

We are clothed with that.

And it's not just that,

but we also become

God's children

by adoption and grace

as the Holy Spirit

comes within the believer

and rests or dwells

within ordinary people

like you and me.

And that's what the gospel is.

That's the invitation

to hear what Jesus has done

and what He did it for you.

And we share it

in the hope

that people will hear that

and say,

Lord, take me.

I want to be yours.

There's the news

and there's the hope

that the news

will be responded to

by ordinary people

like you and me.

And there's nobody

so far from God.

There's nobody so broken.

There's that God

will not do it for you.

And there's nobody

so rich and powerful

and successful

that does not need this.

It is a humbling

of us as human beings

to know that this,

what Jesus has done for us

is for us.

And the coming

of the Holy Spirit

is part of that forgiveness

and clothed

with the righteousness

of Christ

and becoming God's child

by adoption and grace.

And the Holy Spirit

comes upon us.

It's for ordinary people

like you and me

when we respond

to the good news.

It's so spectacularly wonderful.

Years ago,

I think it was

in the 1600s,

there was this sort of

odd man named

Blaise Pascal.

He was absolutely brilliant

and people will talk

about how, in a sense,

the beginning of computers

can be traced back to him.

All this brilliance.

But he was also

a very devout Christian.

And he wrote

these little pensées,

these little meditations,

and they didn't realize

he'd been writing them

his whole life

until they died

and they found it hidden.

And they pieced it together

and it's this book

of sayings of his.

And it's very,

very well worth reading.

If you'd like to read

just the part

that's sort of

the most relevant for us,

get Peter Kreeft's version

called

Christianity for Modern Pagans,

which is like,

he gives you the pensée

and he gives you

a little of some comments

to help you to understand.

It's an absolutely

brilliant book.

But one of the things

that Blaise Pascal said,

because he could already

see the cultural despisers

that were very present

in Europe in the 1600s.

And he said that

if you want to share

the gospel with somebody

as an evangelist,

to be an apologist,

there's two types of tasks

that you need

to take upon yourself.

One of them is the fact

that every human being

who's outside of the faith

has reasons

why the Christian faith

cannot possibly be true.

Everybody has them

who's outside of the faith.

And so as an evangelist

or as an apologist,

you need to figure out

how to answer those reasons

why, you know,

Christianity can't be true

because of this.

And so you need

to try to answer it.

But part of his

brilliant insight

was that there's

a deeper issue,

there's a second issue

going on.

And that is,

they don't want it

to be true.

They don't want

the Christian message

to be true.

I mean, that was true

with me before

I became a Christian.

I didn't want it

to be true.

Like, I just did not

want it to be true.

And so Pascal said

then the person

who wants to share

Jesus with others

not only has to think

of ways to answer

the objections

but also to pray

and use the imagination

and creativity

in such a way

that the other person

comes to the point

where they want it

to be true.

That they're not

wanting it to be true

starts to go

that, gosh,

maybe it's true.

God,

like maybe it's

actually true

in a way

that I need

to respond to it.

And that's

the whole thing.

Now, I mention

all of this

because

on one hand,

when we hear

that the Holy Spirit

rests on us

and fills us,

it's touching

on one of the

deepest fears.

I mean,

for those of you

who are outside

the faith

may be watching this,

it's an ongoing

fear for Christians

but it's definitely

for those outside

the faith,

it's a deep fear.

Why?

Because you see,

well, okay,

like I just told you,

give your life to Christ

and the Holy Spirit

rests upon you

and empowers you.

Well, that's sort of cool.

Like, who wouldn't

want to have a superpower?

Who wouldn't want

to have a buddy

with a superpower

that you could just

call them up

and say,

I have this issue?

Who wouldn't want

it that you're driving

and the person's

superpower could move

all the, you know,

the slow drivers

out of the way

so you can get there

on time

or just get you

there on time?

That's sort of cool

to have a superpower.

On the other hand,

many of us,

what we really want

of God is,

whether you're

a follower of Christ

or not,

is that we get

into big trouble

and we'd sort of like

for a moment

for Christ,

for God,

just to come in

and sort it all out,

just to shut this person out,

make this person

realize they're wrong,

you know,

help you get more money

to solve your finances

and we would just like

God to come in

and just fix it,

but if we're honest,

then we'd like him

to go away

so we can get on back

with our life.

Thank you very much.

And,

but the Holy Spirit

is the third person

of the Trinity

and he cannot rest

and fill you

without possessing you.

And that is our deep fear.

The deep longing

of our heart

is to own ourselves.

part of the problem

that we have

in our world

right now

is that love

requires self-surrender

and that's very,

very hard.

And,

you know,

we worship,

in a sense,

I did it my way.

You know,

we worship the idea

of being the captain

of our own soul

and the idea of,

you see,

we talk about

possessing the Holy Spirit,

but really what it,

what happens

is the Holy Spirit

possesses us,

the Holy Spirit

possesses you,

so you can possess

the Holy Spirit

and begin

to possess yourself.

And that's a very,

very deep fear

that we have,

that I am not my own.

Now,

um,

Augustine,

writing around

the year 400,

he has a very helpful line

to help us realize

where this idea

of being possessed

by the Holy Spirit

that makes us worried,

not just possessed

to help us

through this moment

of loneliness,

this trouble

in our life,

but a possession,

an entering in

to make his home

within us

that goes into

all eternity,

that he'll never

let us go

as to why this is good.

Augustine had a very,

very helpful quote.

He said famously

that,

God,

you have made us

for yourself

and our hearts

are restless

till they rest in you.

Others have talked

about how

for we as human beings,

since we were meant

to be connected

to God,

there's actually

a gap within us.

You know,

those of you

who've lost

a loved one

when they die,

it feels as if

there's part of you

that's just,

that's gone.

Those of you

who've experienced

the tragedy

of divorce

where you really

love the other person

you were betrayed,

it's as if you feel

that there's a part of you

that's just been ripped out

and now there's a hole there

and you're not whole.

And Augustine recognizes

that because we've been

created by the triune God

that every,

and we've rebelled

against him

and gone far from him

that every human being

has a part of them

and we try to fill it

with power,

with pride,

with money,

with sex,

with success,

but they never fill

that hole

that only God can fill.

And that's why he said,

Father,

you have made us

for yourself

and our hearts

are restless

until he rests in you.

So if you could put up

the first point,

Claire,

what we see here

in Pentecost

is the Holy Spirit

rests on you

so that your restless heart

can begin to rest

in the one

who made you

for himself.

The Holy Spirit

rests on you

so that your restless heart

can begin to rest

in the one

who made you

for himself.

It's a beginning.

The world,

the flesh,

and the devil

will keep on

getting us distracted

as part of the reason

why we need to gather

and worship

just to remember

these important truths,

to be in God's presence

with others,

to be accepted by others,

to begin to make friends,

to build community,

to make a difference

in the world

and just remind each other,

yeah,

you know,

yeah,

this is what's true.

this is what's true.

And

we begin to see this,

that it's not an annihilation,

but it's an answering

of the deepest longing

in our hearts

in a couple of ways

in the rest

of this particular story.

Of course,

it's all the way

through the Bible,

but even within this story,

we begin to see

two particular ways

how what I've just said

is true.

Let's continue

going to verse 5.

Now,

there were dwelling

in Jerusalem Jews,

devout men

from every nation

under heaven,

and at this sound

the multitude

came together

and they were bewildered

because each one

was hearing them

speak in his own language.

Now,

this is just

a very important

small detail

because remember,

Luke is claiming

that this is what

actually happened.

And so,

what he's saying is

because it's one

of the three

major festivals

where Jewish people

would come to Jerusalem,

and they've already

been there

for the first one

which is Passover.

Some have stayed

for the second one

which is now

and then there's

the third one

which is going

to come up.

And so,

the city is crowded

and what they hear

is this profoundly

loud,

destructive,

I mean,

they might worry,

like a hurricane

type noise

and so they gather.

So,

what's not happening,

it's not as if

there's a group

of,

you know,

15 people

in a quiet,

quiet room

and there's a little

bit of incense

and a candle

and maybe

the odd little gong

and everybody's

all meditating

and then,

you know,

after it's all over

they say,

you know,

I just really

had this feeling

as if there was

a noise

and fire

came upon us

and they all said,

oh yeah,

that's what happened.

You know,

I even felt like

I could be,

you know,

speaking other languages,

yeah,

that's what I all

felt like happened.

Well,

nobody saw it,

there's no evidence

for it,

it's just people

all talking like that.

No,

this is part of

the public aspect

of the miracle

that we'll find out

later that over

3,000 people gathered

because the noise

was so loud

and the other thing

about it

is that it helps us

to understand

how

this is all

happening in Jerusalem,

it's happening

50 days,

remember I said

that,

excuse me,

that this is happening

on the 15th,

14th of May,

sorry,

the 24th of May,

33,

and on the 5th

of April,

33,

Jesus rose

from the dead

in Jerusalem

and so,

you know,

nowadays,

there's just

in the paper,

somebody in Oklahoma

got the,

got executed

capital punishment

and it's reported

in the paper

but,

you know,

there's only a couple

of people there

who see it

but when the Romans

crucified people,

they intentionally

did it

in as public

a place as possible

because the terror

and revulsion

was part of the purpose.

The sheer

causing terror

to conquered

populations

into slaves

and low status

individuals

was in fact

not a bug

but a designed

feature

and so,

literally,

thousands of people

saw Jesus die,

literally,

thousands of people

would have known

that the grave

was empty

and,

you know,

this is a challenge

for our skeptical

friends.

Generally speaking,

skeptics don't actually

look at the evidence

for the resurrection.

They just dismiss it

but what else

could account,

we're going to see

in a few moments

that 3,000 people,

over 3,000 people

came to believe

that Jesus died

and rose from the dead.

Like,

what started

the Big Bang?

Right?

It must be true

because I found it

on the internet

when I looked

but according

to the internet,

2.4 billion people

on the planet

call themselves

Christians.

Now,

even if a large number

of those

aren't real Christians,

that's really astounding.

We have this small,

tiny thing

in Jerusalem

of a man

dying on a cross

and then

three days later

we have one woman

say she saw him alive

and then there's more

and then there's more

and then there's thousands

of Christians

and then there's Christians

in Samaria

and then there's Christians

in Asia Minor

and then there's Christians

in Rome

and then there's Christians

in Europe

and then there's Christians

in Africa

and it goes on and on

and on and on

and on and on

like a Big Bang

that goes from

this one explosion

and what can account

for that

other than

the real resurrection

of Jesus

and the power

of the Holy Spirit?

There is no better

explanation than that.

There is no better

explanation than that.

But what was the small thing

about our hearts

being restless?

Well it's sort of

look at verse 7

it's a small feature

that we might not notice

and they were amazed

and astonished

saying

are not all these

who are speaking

Galileans

and how is it

that we hear

each of us

in our own

native language

and it's going to give

the languages

which I'll read

in a moment.

So here's the thing

what they recognized

so Galileans

by and large

were rural

working class

people

who weren't educated

so when they heard

when the Parthians

and Medes

and all those

were hearing

their local dialects

and local languages

they were hearing

people speak

their language

perfectly

but with a working

class Galilean

accent.

So it would be as if

God gave me

the gift of tongues

to speak French

all of a sudden

and I'm not speaking

Parisian French

maybe I am speaking

Parisian French

but it's very very very

clear that I'm

an Anglophone

I have an Anglophone accent.

So that's one of the things

which is so beautiful

about this

you see as the Holy Spirit

doesn't come

and all of a sudden

try to make these

these Galileans

as if they're very very

well educated

rich

you know Jewish people

who've mastered

these languages

flawlessly

they've mastered

them flawlessly

but they still keep

their working class

sounding accent

when they speak

these languages.

You see the Holy Spirit

when he comes upon us

and fills us

he does not annihilate you

like as I said

the Holy Spirit

possesses us

so that we can possess

the Holy Spirit

and begin to actually

have self-possession

which of course

is one of the great

desires in our age

to have self-possession

we read things

about how to have

self-possession

how to practice

mindfulness

and all sorts of

other types of things

to try to give us

some type of

possession of ourselves

we go to

self-help gurus

who can talk about

how it's really

you know you can control

all sorts of things

but the hardest thing

to control is yourself

the hardest thing to have

is to actually

possess yourself

and that's what

the Holy Spirit does

and it doesn't do it

by annihilating us

but by keeping you

in your individual

in your individuality

and then the second

thing is this

just sort of as we

start to draw to a close

they start to tell

the languages

Parthians and Medes

verse 9

Parthians and Medes

and Elamites

and residents of

Mesopotamia

and just sort of pause

there's the Roman Empire

that goes like this

and then I guess

from your point of view

down here

there's another empire

called the Parthian Empire

basically Iran

and Persia

and so it's the Roman Empire

and this other

neighboring empire

and then the other thing

is that from the point

of view of all these nations

from Jerusalem's point

of view

it's north, south, east

and west

that's sort of how

it's

if you went on the map

and you saw it

that's what they're doing

not in a

you know

like a clock order

but just here

and here

and here

and here

and so

Parthians

verse 9

and Medes

and Elamites

and residents

of Mesopotamia

and Judea

and Cappadocia

and Pontus

and Asia

Phrygia

and Pamphylia

Egypt

and the parts of Libya

belonging to Cyrene

and visitors from Rome

both Jews

and proselytes

Cretans

and Arabians

we hear them telling

in our own tongues

the mighty works

of God

that's what they're hearing

and all were amazed

and perplexed

saying to one another

what does this mean

but others mocking

said they are filled

with new wine

which just goes

to show

by the way

that you can have

the most remarkable event

and the most remarkable

argument

and people can still

be flippant

and it's been that way

for thousands of years

that's sort of

what that means

so what's going on here

is that the wonderful

things of God

well here it is

if you could put up

the final point

that would be very helpful

the Holy Spirit

delivers you

from the crushing

burden

of proud

self-centeredness

to the glorious

liberty and joy

of humbly

praising

the true

and living God

the Holy Spirit

delivers you

from the crushing

burden

of proud

self-centeredness

to the glorious

liberty and joy

of humbly

praising

the true

and living God

see this

our hearts are restless

till they rest in him

and

well

you know

here it is

one of the important

things to learn

in life

and try to figure out

is when you're being

convicted of having

done something wrong

and when the voice

in your head

or the voices around you

are accusatory

voices

accusatory

is different

than being convicted

of doing something wrong

accusatory

is

you know

I'm ugly

I'm never any good

I'm a terrible person

like it

it just

completely

it's like a

a boot

kicking you

and a fist

pushing you down

and it can be hard

sometimes to distinguish them

but there's these

accusatory voices

and some of us

maybe we came here today

experiencing them

some of us

maybe in a long season

of it

all of us have had

at least some seasons

of these accusatory voices

you know

crushing us

and if you've been

in a season

of accusatory voices

or if you've gone

to some counseling

therapy about it

one of the things

that they often try to do

is to try to have you get

you see it's very

self-centered

and what you need

is something

that maybe will

help you to forget

yourself for a bit

and maybe some of us

have experienced this

and maybe it's

you go to a concert

or something

and all of a sudden

the music is just

really glorious

and for a while

you forget about yourself

and you're caught up

in the music

or maybe you go off

into nature

or something

and you realize

for a moment

that just

you've been enjoying

the trees

and the views

and for a brief moment

you've forgotten

about yourself

caught up

outside of yourself

and the accusatory

voices are gone

and you see

one of the things

and a secular counselor

will never tell you this

is that one of the things

that we need

I mean it's very good

of course

to preach to yourself

and say you know

you're loved by God

you're loved by Christ

he's adopted

he'll never let you go

but even more important

is to stop thinking

about yourself

and to praise God

and what we see

in this story

is this profound

self-forgetfulness

where they're caught up

in praising God

the true and living God

and this points

to what the Holy Spirit

is going to do

in our lives

is that not only

do we get comfortable

with the fact

that we really need

to be possessed

by God

and live in Him

and have Him

as our identity

that it's this

profound act of grace

that there's nothing

within us

that He's ever going

to discover

that He didn't already

know when Jesus

died for us

and to begin

to rest in Him

so that our

restless hearts

have rest

and to be taken

out of ourselves

more and more

so that we

not only are able

you see

it's also when you

are able to praise God

and taken out of yourself

that you can also

start to see

the needs of the world

around you

it's a

it seems

counterintuitive

but it's actually

very deeply intuitive

that if you sort of

get yourself out of

navel-gazing all of the time

and praise God

then you actually

also see His world

and you see

everything in the world

that can just

that can be done

to His glory

and honor

and that's this

profound work

of the Holy Spirit

and there's more

I want to say

but I'm going to

stop with that

and there's a

missiological text

which is really there

and it's just so

profoundly

I guess the third

thing about how

He doesn't crush you

to have you

possess you

is the fact that

your heart language

is respected

and that you praise God

in your heart language

it's what should

give us this

impetus

to realize

that what unites us

with other Christians

is our praising

of God

and to seek

to so share

the gospel

with people

and other

of every people

group

because we know

that God

wants people

from every people

group

to praise Him

in their heart

language

let's stand

please stand

just bow our heads

in prayer

Father

later on

in the book

of Acts

you're going to

tell us

that

that

the early Christians

were learning

to walk

day by day

in the fear

of you

and in the comfort

of the Holy Spirit

trusting you

to do your work

in the world

and use them

and we ask that

for ourselves

Father

if there are any

here or any

watching

who have not yet

given their lives

to Christ

Father we ask

that your Holy Spirit

bring them

to that point

where they call out

to you

that Jesus

would be their Savior

and their Lord

and Father

for us

you know

Jesus is our Savior

and Lord

and you know

how the world

and the flesh

and the devil

are bending ourselves

we're bending ourselves

out of shape

and the world

and the devil

is bending us

out of shape

and the crushing

burden of our pride

and of despair

and you know

Father

those of us

struggling

with shouting

accusation

deep into our hearts

and so Father

we call out to you

and ask Father

that you would

grip us

with this wonderful news

and that your Holy Spirit

Father

would move

in our hearts

so that we might know

that we belong

to you

and that our hearts

might rest in you

and that as our hearts

rest in you

that you will lead us

to this self-effacing

praising of you

and being able

to declare

your wonderful deeds

in the heart language

of all the people

groups in the world

Father

do this wonderful work

within us

and we ask this

in the name of Jesus

your Son

and our Savior

Amen

in the name of Jesus

of God

in the name of Jesus

thank you

and have three

for nosotros

and have

thank you

for their love

and I know

all the time

and the way

Dios

and the you

so I find out

as ours

we ask and

of all the people

to do this

for you

as well

as would

us

before

Gen�