As I am writing this, the thunder just roared outside my office window, and with a gust of wind much needed rain has come. Wind, rain, thunder … I was immediately drawn to Acts 2
When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Acts 2:1-2
The Holy Spirit is a disrupter of the status quo and a surprising distraction in our world. Can you hear Him? Can you feel Him? In Celtic Christianity the Holy Spirit is described as wild goose because His unpredictable nature. Luke, the writer of the Acts of Apostles quotes from the prophecy of Joel 2
And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit. And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Joel 2:28–32
The Holy Spirit will come and do just what Jesus said in John 16 …
… 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. John 16:7–11
Convict us of three things … sin, righteousness, and judgment. Isn’t just like the God to love us enough to disrupt our lives. Humanity is walking in pitch black night headed toward an abyss and He shouts from the heavens, stop!
The word convict means to point out for the purpose of change. The Spirit convicts us of sin so that we will repent and turn away from it. Most people struggle with admitting sin. They will talk about faults, foibles and even failures, but sin … that is against God. But acknowledging sin and guilt is the path to receiving forgiveness and salvation. The Spirit also convicts us of righteousness in two ways. First, it convicts us of the truth that Jesus was righteous and that apart from Him we have no righteousness.
And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” 1 Corinthians 1:30–31
The Spirit convicts us of judgement. This is the conviction about the truth of the resurrection of Christ from the dead. Satan, the prince of this world is judged, and like a convicted murderer waiting for his execution, Satan is condemned, judged and powerless to take what is God’s, His children … you and me. The Holy Spirit leads us into what is true so that we might believe and then join Him in the work of the Kingdom. Which begins now!
Take a minute and be still … take a posture of openness … now hold before the Holy Spirit your questions or anything that got stirred up in you from what you just read … listen to what the Spirit is saying.
-Pastor Jerry