Last week we considered how the Holy Spirit\u2019s work was similar both before and after Pentecost. We noted that the Spirit has always been the source of life for those who believe; has always engendered a love for the character of God, and thus for His Law; has always been constantly with those who believe; has always enabled obedience in those who believe; and has always enabled perseverance in those who believe.<\/p>\n
But there are<\/u> major difference in the Spirit\u2019s work after Pentecost. We will list five, although we will consider the first two together.<\/p>\n
1) There is a New Extent to the Spirit\u2019s Work<\/strong><\/p>\n 2) There is a New Entrance into God\u2019s Covenant People<\/strong><\/p>\n Consider: Before Pentecost, what proportion of the Israelites had been made alive by the Holy Spirit? How many loved God\u2019s law?<\/p>\n Praise God, some did. Those who did, did so by His grace. But the people as a whole were stubborn. Rebellious. Hardhearted. The people as a whole broke the Covenant \u2013 again and again. Only a remnant was faithful. Only a remnant had the Spirit.<\/p>\n Jesus then lives and fulfills God\u2019s covenant perfectly<\/em> \u2013 He is the only completely faithful Israelite. He is the remnant. He is faithful Israel.<\/p>\n Now, after Pentecost, others can become part of faithful Israel by identification with Him. <\/em><\/p>\n God cleanses them in Christ, as prophesied in Ezekiel 36:25. This cleansing is the new entrance into Israel, into God\u2019s covenant people. You do not have to be born into<\/u> the covenant to be in<\/u> the covenant. United to Jesus by faith, you become part of the faithful remnant. Christ is the Israel of God, and since you are in Christ, you are in Israel.<\/p>\n Thus, after Pentecost the extent <\/em>of God\u2019s people cuts right across every tribe, tongue, people, and nation. As Joel prophesied and as Peter quotes in his Pentecost sermon, \u201cEveryone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved\u201d (Joel 2:32). Young, old, rich, poor, master, slave, Jew, Gentile, black, white, educated, uneducated – all<\/em> who say, \u201cBy nature I am an object of God\u2019s wrath. In failing to glorify God, I have violated the purpose of my creation. I deserve His punishment. But I believe that Jesus lived the perfect life, fulfilled the Covenant, and died on behalf of all who will trust in Him. I do<\/u> trust Him. He is my Savior, my Lord, my treasure \u2013 Father God, will you shower me with your mercy? Will you give me your Spirit?\u201d<\/p>\n All who turn to Him in that way are saved. That\u2019s the new entrance into His covenant people. That\u2019s the new extent of the Spirit\u2019s work.<\/p>\n 3) There is a New Power for Witness<\/strong><\/p>\n At Pentecost, 3000 people come to faith. Nothing similar had ever occurred. Two thousand years later, what started as a believing community of a few dozen covers the globe. That is evidence of a new power.<\/p>\n Now, in the first sermon on Acts 2<\/a>, I distinguished between the pouring out<\/u> of the Spirit on all believers \u2013 that is, the baptism of the Spirit or the sealing of the Spirit \u2013 and the filling<\/u> of the Spirit. Filling is a special anointing for a particular task. At Pentecost, the disciples are both baptized and filled.<\/p>\n It is good and right for us to pray for a special filling, a special anointing for witness. But we can have confidence that the Spirit is in every believer, always<\/em> empowering us for witness. Because of the change in entrance<\/em> into God\u2019s people and the change in the extent<\/em> of the Spirit\u2019s work, we invite others into God\u2019s covenant people differently than the Israelites. As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5, we are now entrusted with a message of reconciliation. We are God\u2019s ambassadors \u2013 God<\/em> makes His appeal through us: Be reconciled to God! Surely that happens only by His Spirit.<\/p>\n So, the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is available to us to raise the spiritually dead.<\/p>\n Think of the Great Commission in these terms:<\/p>\n Matthew 28:18-20 [Jesus says:] \u201cAll authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me\u00a0 (There\u2019s the power<\/em>). Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, (There\u2019s the new extent and the new entrance<\/em>) baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.\u201d<\/p>\n Jesus says, \u201cI, the one with all authority, am with you always \u2013 so you have the power to disciple all nations – even those held captive by false religions for centuries and centuries. My Holy Spirit will enable you. I will open doors, break down barriers, and bring nations to Myself.\u201d This is the new power for witness post-Pentecost.<\/p>\n I believe this is how we should understand John 7:38-39. Jesus says,<\/p>\n \u201cWhoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'” Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.<\/p>\n Rivers of living water will flow out of the hearts of believers in new ways <\/em>after Pentecost. He\u2019s not saying no one previously had had the Spirit working in his life. Rather, Jesus here speaks of this new power for witness that will flow through believers. His followers will speak and live out these truths by the Spirit\u2019s power in such a way that thousands and then millions will come to faith.<\/p>\n So there is a new extent, a new entrance, and a new power for witness. Those are all dramatic changes. The last two changes represent a difference in degree compared to what was true prior to Pentecost; the Spirit\u2019s earlier work increases many-fold. Furthermore, these last two changes will be true to a greater or lesser extent in different individuals. Some Old Testament saints reflect these truths in powerful ways. But after Pentecost, many more live out these truths.<\/p>\n 4) A Deeper Intimacy with the Spirit<\/strong><\/p>\n We said that before Pentecost, the Spirit was with believers. But as described in Romans 8, this intimacy deepens considerably after Pentecost.<\/p>\n For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, (Romans 8:15-16)<\/p>\n These pictures of adoption, of being in God\u2019s intimate family, are hinted at in the Old Testament, but become central to the teaching of the New. We can call the Holy God, the One in Whom is no darkness at all, our Daddy! For He loves His people with a tender love, an intimate love. He knows us and delights in us.<\/p>\n We can rejoice, post-Pentecost, in this deep intimacy.<\/p>\n 5) Additional Power for Living <\/strong><\/p>\n We noted that before Pentecost, the Spirit enabled obedience and perseverance in His remnant. But this is true to a much greater extent post-Pentecost.<\/p>\n Think of the disciples. They certainly believed in Jesus before Pentecost. But they give no evidence of power to live out His truths. Instead, they are fearful, hiding behind locked doors.<\/p>\n At Pentecost, all that changes. They are bold. Forceful. They no longer bicker over who is the greatest.<\/p>\n Jesus\u2019 comments in John 14 and 16 help us to see that this difference is not accidental. The Spirit\u2019s coming changes them from the inside. Jesus tells them:<\/p>\n And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you<\/strong> and will be in you<\/strong>. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. (John 14:16-18, emphasis added)<\/p>\n Do you see the distinction Jesus makes? Now<\/em> the Spirit dwells with them. He had to do that, for they could not believe apart from His work. But there is a change coming. An order of magnitude difference. The Spirit will be in them<\/em> in a new sense post-Pentecost. And we see that change in the book of Acts.<\/p>\n Jesus says something even more striking a short while later:<\/p>\n 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. (John 16:7)<\/p>\n That is: \u201cThe Spirit won\u2019t come and be in you until after I go away and send Him. His presence in<\/em> you is more important than My presence beside<\/em> you.\u201d<\/p>\n These verses help us to see that the Spirit\u2019s granting us power to live is heightened after Pentecost. No one could ever live a life pleasing to God apart from His power. But that power is more pervasive and more prevalent in this age. The disciples themselves show that clearly.<\/p>\n What, then, is the bottom line? <\/strong><\/p>\n Consider, then, all these changes \u2013 all the privileges and power we have today. If believers during Old Testament times loved God so much, lived such faithful lives, and accomplished so much by His power – how much more should we!<\/p>\n He gives us power to become what we were created to be: Healed, accomplished, useful, complete; living in His love, witnessing to His grace. He enables us by His Spirit to be loving, to be generous, to be patient, to be kind. He gives us the responsibility to bring others into His family – and He gives us the power to fulfill that responsibility.<\/p>\n Do you believe Him? Do you trust Him? Have faith in Jesus \u2013 and His Spirit will live in you.<\/p>\n [This is an edited, shortened excerpt from the sermon \u201dWhat Changed at Pentecost?\u201d preached 10\/19\/08. The audio is available here<\/a>. Part 1, last week’s blog post, is here<\/a>. The two previous sermons on Acts 2, \u201cThe Promise of the Father<\/a>\u201d and \u201cThe Crucified is Both Lord and Christ<\/a>\u201d are also relevant. John Piper\u2019s sermon \u201cHow Believers Experienced the Spirit Before Pentecost<\/a>\u201d is another helpful resource on this topic.]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Last week we considered how the Holy Spirit\u2019s work was similar both before and after Pentecost. 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