Sharing Your Faith Relies on the Holy Spirit

Scott Hoezee

A car, a flashlight, a TV remote control, a cell phone; these everyday objects all have one thing in common, and that is that ninety-nine times out of a hundred, if they don’t work, it is because the battery is dead; or there are no batteries in the remote control at all because somebody swiped them to run some other little device in the house; but no battery, no go. No energy or no juice and the car won’t start, the flashlight won’t shine, you cannot make a phone call, you cannot turn on the TV. Well, the disciples turned apostles learned a similar lesson after Jesus rose again from the dead. If they did not have the right divine energy within them, they could do nothing. Today on Groundwork, we will think about Pentecost, and how the Holy Spirit is exactly what we need to share our faith with the world. Stay tuned.

0:00:55.0

Darrell Delaney

Welcome to Groundwork, where we dig into scripture to lay the foundation for our lives. I am Darrell Delaney.

0:01:00.0

Scott Hoezee

And I am Scott Hoezee. This is now the third episode in a four-part series that we are doing on sharing our faith; and so, in the first two episodes, we looked at the great commission, and also, we looked at the manner: How do we witness in the world? We looked at that in the second episode. Now, in this third episode, we are going to think about Pentecost, but before we quite get there, Darrell, we need to note some of the places in scripture where Jesus made it clear the disciples were going to need something extra if they were ever going to be able to witness.

0:01:31.0

Darrell Delaney

Yes, Scott; it is really interesting that…I mean…they hung out with Jesus and they saw everything that he did, but it seems that even though all that happened, they still needed some more umph, if you will; and I think about power and I think about the things we plug in all the time. If we don’t plug them in, they don’t work; and so, it is a conduit and an energy that is necessary in order to get that thing done; and this is what the Holy Spirit does for them.

0:01:56.5

Scott Hoezee

Exactly; you made an interesting point, Darrell. These men…these disciples…the wider crowd of disciples…men and women both…they got to hear the Sermon on the Mount in person. They got to see Jesus raise Lazarus in person. They were there, you would think that would be enough; but Jesus made it clear: No, you are going to need something more. Yes; being with me (Jesus) was good; that is an impressive thing to put on the resumé…you know, followed Jesus for four years; that is good on a resumé, but even at the end of the Gospel of Luke, Darrell, in Luke 24, Jesus appears to them in the evening of the day of the resurrection, and we are told, beginning at verse 45:

0:02:30.0

Then he (Jesus) opened their minds so they could understand the scriptures. ⁴⁶He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, ⁴⁷and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. ⁴⁸You are witnesses of these things. ⁴⁹I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”

0:02:53.5

Darrell Delaney

So, Jesus makes it clear these things are supposed to happen, but he also makes it clear they are supposed to wait; and it is interesting because he gives the great commission in another gospel…

Scott Hoezee

Right.

Darrell Delaney

But then he tells them to wait before they actually go. So, they don’t have everything they need to get this job done yet, but they have to follow these instructions so that they may receive it.

0:03:13.5

Scott Hoezee

Jesus said something similar in John 15. This is the night in which Jesus was betrayed: ²⁶When the Advocate comes, whom I will send you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me. ²⁷And you must also testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.

0:03:31.0

Darrell Delaney

He also says this here in Acts Chapter 1, it says: ⁴On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. ⁵For John baptized with water, but in a few days, you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.

He is like progressively revealing…

Scott Hoezee

Right.

Darrell Delaney

Each time that there is something coming.

0:03:54.0

Scott Hoezee

Yes; you know, what is interesting, Darrell, is clearly this was the plan of salvation all along, right? It is not as though the Father and the Son, after the ascension, said: Oh, boy; these disciples need help! I mean, they are clueless. We are going to have to figure something else out. We are going to have to go to plan B. Better send the Spirit. No; this was the plan from the beginning.

0:04:13.5

Darrell Delaney

You know something I always pray every time I pray, Scott, is that God is in complete control of every situation. He is not in heaven twiddling his thumbs, wondering what is going to happen next, but he knows exactly what he is doing. He had a date on the calendar for this very moment. So, the fact that God is doing this lets us know clearly this was always going to be part of the plan; that the triune God works together, and the Holy Spirit’s role is coming up right here.

0:04:37.5

Scott Hoezee

That is right. Sometimes this is called the economy of salvation, if you go to seminary. The economy of salvation…what does that mean? It means the arrangement of salvation. So, it is like the three persons in the Trinity each kind of had a job to do, if you want to kind of put it crassly; but right, the Father was going to superintend the whole project of salvation; the Son…the second Person of the Trinity…that was the one who would be made human, and the one we now know as Jesus…that was going to be his task; and then, the Holy Spirit’s job was going to really kick in in the era of the Church. Now, the Spirit has been active all along…

Darrell Delaney

Right.

Scott Hoezee

The Spirit descended on Jesus at his baptism. It is not like the Spirit was twiddling his thumbs either; but it is really the era of the Church where in that economy of salvation, the Spirit’s job really takes on a very prominent role.

0:05:23.4

Darrell Delaney

Jesus actually talked about this before the Spirit came…

Scott Hoezee

Right.

Darrell Delaney

He said when the Spirit of Truth comes: 1) He is going to guide you into all truth. 2) He is not going to speak anything of his own accord…

Scott Hoezee

Right.

Darrell Delaney

He is only going to speak what he hears…he is going to take from what is mine and make it known to you. So that, when Jesus goes, it is like: I am glad I am going, because when I go, I will be able to send you this gift that is going to help you with this next phase of the Church in ministry.

0:05:47.9

Scott Hoezee

Right; and that was interesting that Jesus was, as you just said, Darrell, kind of excited. It is good for you that I am going to go away. The disciples didn’t quite see it that way. They wanted to keep Jesus. I mean, you can understand, he was their friend, he was their teacher, they didn’t want to be apart from him; but for Jesus, he says; Believe you me, you will be better off without me with the Holy Spirit in you…

Darrell Delaney

Yes.

Scott Hoezee

You will still speak for me; you will still be connected to me; we will have a living relationship together; but it is going to be the Holy Spirit who is going to make that all possible. As well, as we said, Darrell, everything else that happens in the Church, right? Every gift, as Paul makes clear in like 1 Corinthians…every gift anybody has is from the Holy Spirit. We all have to grow the fruit of the Spirit; that is the Spirit nurturing that on the branches of our lives. Every time you or I or any other preacher, Darrell, preach a sermon, it is the Holy Spirit who works through it.

0:06:38.0

Darrell Delaney

So, the Spirit’s power is present and actively working because Jesus ascended, and he sent the Holy Spirit down here. So, not only does he give us the power to build those things, he gives us the power to endure suffering, persecution, and opposition. The Holy Spirit gives us the strength to endure, and gives us the boldness and the courage we need to persevere. So, not only is he doing those great things with gifts and power, but he has also given us the fortitude and the stick-to-it-iveness, if you will, to make sure that we do not give up our faith that he has given us; and he infuses every person all at the same time. That is something Jesus couldn’t do as a person. He could be in one place at one time, but the Holy Spirit can be everywhere at the same time.

0:07:20.0

Scott Hoezee

Yes; in fact, in the next episode in this series, we are going to delve a little bit into the book of Acts, where we are going to see that the Spirit pops up just all over the place; but that has been happening ever since the day of Pentecost. The Spirit is, as one of my teachers once called it, a holy blur of activity. I mean, nobody can keep up with the Spirit; nobody can predict what the Spirit is going to do next; nobody can really fathom how much the Spirit of God is doing right now…as you and I are recording this episode, Darrell, we cannot begin to fathom all the places within the Church and within the life of every single Christian believer…millions and millions of people on earth right now…oh, it is mindboggling to think about how much the Spirit is doing; talk about multitasking!

0:08:01.0

Darrell Delaney

That’s true, that’s true; and that all started with Pentecost; and that is what we are going to look at in just a moment, so stay tuned.

Segment 2

0:08:50.5

Scott Hoezee

You are listening to Groundwork, where we dig into scripture to lay the foundation for our lives. I am Scott Hoezee.

Darrell Delaney

And I am Darrell Delaney.

Scott Hoezee

And Darrell, let’s dig right back into scripture. At the end of the last segment of this episode, we said we were going to go to Acts Chapter 2, the day of Pentecost. So, let’s hear it.

0:09:06.0

Darrell Delaney

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. ²Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house were they were sitting. ³They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. ⁴All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. ⁶When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language begin spoken. ⁷Utterly amazed, they asked, “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? ⁸Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? ⁹Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, ¹⁰Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome ¹¹(both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” ¹²Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?” ¹³Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.”

0:10:17.7

Scott Hoezee

So, there is the story; and quite a litany of people there. I was glad you read that and I didn’t have to try to get my tongue around all those names; but we should notice that those people are all there that day because what we now call the day of Pentecost...they called the day of Pentecost, too…it was an established Jewish holiday—the end of what was called the Feast of Weeks—50 days after Passover. It was kind of like in the US or Canada, Thanksgiving Day…

Darrell Delaney

Yes.

Scott Hoezee

It was the end of the harvest, so you gave thanksgiving, but it was also a time for covenant renewal; the point being, it was a holiday for them, the same as Christmas or Easter is for us, so that is why there were so many people from all over the known world in Jerusalem that day.

0:10:55.0

Darrell Delaney

So, every good, practicing, Orthodox Jew goes to Jerusalem three times a year. They go for the Passover, they go for the Feast of Booths, where they remember they were staying in tents back in the day with Moses, and then they also remember this. So, every year, three times a year, Jesus would go up, as was his custom is what scripture says; and so, all of these people are there for this particular one that is fifty days after the Passover. That is why they call it Pentecost because that is what that means.

0:11:24.5

Scott Hoezee

Yes; and the first thing that happens with this international gathering of people was a reversal of the Tower of Babel that we read about in Genesis 11. There, the language was diversified so the people would scatter and fill the earth. Here, language is reversed; now language is no barrier. Scholars, Darrell, as you know, debate: Was this a miracle of speaking? Were the Apostles actually speaking all these different languages, or was it the miracle of hearing that whatever…maybe the disciples were still speaking Aramaic, but everybody heard it in their own language; or maybe it was a little of both. We don’t know; but the point being, every person there from every corner of the world received a gift that they could hear the gospel in their own language.

0:12:09.0

Darrell Delaney

You know, you brought up the Tower of Babel, and I was thinking that when they were building the tower, they were trying to build a name for themselves, and so they were all in this one language and they had this thing in common; and God is like: I am not going to let that happen, because you are trying to make a name for yourself. But then God reverses it here, and he wants to make a name for himself; God wants to make a name for God’s self…

Scott Hoezee

Right.

Darrell Delaney

And he will use every language to make sure that his glory is made known. I believe it is both. I think that it is hearing and speaking, where that blessing and power came, so that now the gospel can go out in the native tongue of whoever was there.

0:12:44.5

Scott Hoezee

And that is good, because other than the rush of wind and the tongues of flame, really the first thing that happens…and for all of us who are preachers, we kind of like this…the first thing the Spirit enables is a sermon. Peter…

Darrell Delaney

Yes.

Scott Hoezee

Just fifty-three days earlier, Peter had been so afraid that he had denied even knowing Jesus three times. That was fifty-three days ago…not quite two months ago. And now, the Holy Spirit comes, and let’s hear a few highlights of Peter’s sermon here from Acts 2, beginning at verse 14:

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¹⁴Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. ¹⁵These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It is only nine in the morning! ¹⁶No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: ¹⁷“In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old me will dream dreams. “Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. ²³This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. ²⁴But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. ³²God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it. ³⁶Therefore, let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.” ³⁷When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” ³⁸Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

0:14:38.0

Darrell Delaney

That first sermon that you just read…I actually encourage people to go back to read the whole chapter of Chapter 2 of Acts; but you definitely see the Spirit working; the Spirit is pulling scripture from the Old Testament. He has given them a cocktail to help them understand the history of what they did; he has also given them what they should do in light of the conviction that the Holy Spirit is bringing on the people; and you see the Spirit working all through this, and you know three thousand people were added that day—that is what scripture says happened because of the power of the Spirit working through Peter.

0:15:10.0

Scott Hoezee

Now, how did that happen, Darrell? I mean, did Peter, you know, find some inner courage he didn’t know he had? Did the disciples exchange knowing glances and they made some group determination that they were going to try something new? No…

Darrell Delaney

No way.

Scott Hoezee

No; this is the movement of God. This is power that could only come from above.

0:15:25.5

Darrell Delaney

This is the same power that Jesus actually operated in his person and work while he was on the earth; and this is the same Spirit that they are actually employing his power and authority. Just like Jesus said, it is coming to pass now. He is reminding them of everything he taught. He is teaching them and he is speaking, and the Holy Spirit is bringing them the exact words they need to do. It had nothing to do with human willpower; it had nothing to do with training; it had to do with the Spirit giving them exactly what they needed. That is encouragement for me, Scott, because I don’t know what I am going to say all the time. I don’t always have the courage, but the Holy Spirit can fill my words, and then it can be him working through us.

0:16:04.8

Scott Hoezee

And something you said just a minute ago, Darrell, is very important: He reminded them. That is what Jesus actually said in John’s gospel. What is the Spirit going to do? Bring you something you never heard before? No; he is going to remind them of everything they heard Jesus say. They already had the raw material. They knew; they had already heard from Jesus’ lips everything they needed to know. They just needed the Holy Spirit to kind of bring it all together in coherence and then open their lips to repeat what Jesus had said; and that is a very encouraging thing also for our witness. So, we are going to talk a little bit more about what this Pentecostal power means for us, even yet today. So, stay tuned.

Segment 3

0:17:15.5

Darrell Delaney

I am Darrell Delaney, with Scott Hoezee, and you are listening to Groundwork.

0:17:19.0

Scott Hoezee

And we are talking about Pentecost—the day of Pentecost, but now we want to talk about the ongoing effects of Pentecost. Darrell, when we get baptized into the Triune name of God—Father, Son and Holy Spirit now, we receive the Holy Spirit, too. We are temples of the Holy Spirit; and so, that means that some of what we saw happen on that day of Pentecost can still happen in our lives.

0:17:40.5

Darrell Delaney

If you just think through history, you would know that the Holy Spirit does work, and he has been working all over the place, in different countries and in different languages, because of the power of Pentecost and because of the people who, I believe, were there that day started taking that story home, but they also got saved. So, now he is living inside of the people who were there. They get to share their faith and their testimony wherever they go, and you see God moving; and you see it all over the book of Acts as well.

0:18:08.5

Scott Hoezee

We are going to look at this a little bit also in the final episode of this series, but if we jump ahead to Acts Chapter 10, Peter gets sent to a group of people he doesn’t really want to talk to because they are not Jewish, and he wasn’t sure that…

Darrell Delaney

Not kosher.

Scott Hoezee

Yes, they weren’t kosher. They were Italian Gentiles: Cornelius and company; but the Holy Spirit says to Peter: You gotta go to Italy; you gotta go to these peoples’ house. So, he does, and when he is there, he preaches a sermon very similar to the one he preached on Pentecost. It is kind of a shortened version of it; and we read this in Acts 10 at verse 44:

0:18:39.0

While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. ⁴⁵The circumcised believers (the Jews) who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles. ⁴⁶For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God. Then Peter said, ⁴⁷“Surely no one can stand in the way of their being baptized with water. They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.”

So, then they were baptized and Peter stayed with them, but this will keep happening, right? Every time the message of Jesus is proclaimed, the Holy Spirit…if the Spirit has blown in the room, Darrell, he is going to save more people.

0:19:13.3

Darrell Delaney

And that is exactly what the mission is. The mission is to go and make disciples of all nations. That is what Jesus told the apostles to do; and as that message continues to get out about what Jesus did…his person and his work…the Holy Spirit not only gives the messenger words, but he also falls on the people and their hearts are convicted and changed. It happened for me, it happened for you, it happened for a lot of people who are listening; and it continues to happen because Pentecost was the head where all that began, and God is continuing that work, even to this day.

0:19:44.0

Scott Hoezee

Exactly; from the Old Testament prophetic book of Zechariah, one of the minor prophets, there is one verse that many people know. You may not know much about the minor prophets, but a lot of people know this line from Zechariah Chapter 4. God speaks this word to the then king of Israel, Zerubbabel: ^6b‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.

And that is a slogan for us in the Church today, too, Darrell.

0:20:06.5

Darrell Delaney

It is not about how cool our slogan is, it is not about what kind of a gimmick we can come up with each season, it is about the Holy Spirit working through us. We ask him to make us vessels; we ask him to make us conduits by which his glory may work through; and so that means we get no credit, we get no honor, because God is the one who is working through us to make sure the people come to know him. We are privileged and we are humbled that we actually get that opportunity to do that, but it is the Holy Spirit who does that. As a preacher…I am a preacher, you are a preacher…we know we begged Jesus and we pray that he would fill us with the words that people need to hear. They keep changing and different people come in, maybe a visitor may come in; but God wants to speak to every person in that moment, and we need his Spirit to work through us, and it is encouraging every time he does it; because our sermons, they might not be amazing all the time, but God still can use them.

0:21:00.7

Scott Hoezee

That is right…well, and…

Darrell Delaney

I mean, from our stand...

Scott Hoezee

Of course; but you and I both have been thanked for things we didn’t say, right? I mean, people heard something in the sermon that we didn’t say. I mean, you could show them the manuscript…look, I…you know…no, don’t do that; but the Spirit said something to them through our sermon; or they apply it in a way that I as a preacher who had been living with the sermon all week, I wouldn’t in a million years have guessed that somebody could have applied it that way, but that is the work of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit works through us; and that is true for all of us. So, you don’t have to be a preacher, right? I am reminded of what you were just saying earlier. Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians, you know, that we have this treasure…the gospel…we have this treasure in earthen vessels…jars of clay. You know, we are weak, Paul said. We are weak, earthen vessels; and God has poured his treasure into us; but we though we are, the message and the Spirit who works through the message is powerful. So, we just have to say what we know is true, and the Holy Spirit will do the rest when we share our faith with other people.

0:21:59.5

Darrell Delaney

It is beautiful because sometimes we think we need to know just what to say or have this specific training. We have to remember, Peter and John were ordinary, unschooled people…

Scott Hoezee

Yes, fisher people.

Darrell Delaney

They didn’t go to seminary like we did, but they actually had the Holy Spirit working with them, because they were testified as people who had been with Jesus; and so, you know, God is into using regular, ordinary people to do extraordinary things, and we can trust that God will use his Holy Spirit, who is supernatural and extraordinary, to work through our regular words to help people.

0:22:32.7

Scott Hoezee

And that is reassuring, because we all sometimes, depending on the circumstance, where we can be shy about sharing our faith. Sometimes we are scared to share our faith or really hesitant; and sometimes the reason is because, well, yes, I don’t have the right words; I am not eloquent; but we can be reassured, it is not about us, in a sense; but that doesn’t mean we can just be quiet. We don’t ever say: Well, I don’t have to witness to my coworker because if God wants him to be saved, he will be saved. He doesn’t need… No, he might want him to be saved through you!

Darrell Delaney

Right.

Scott Hoezee

And through what you say in the breakroom. We are going to talk a little bit about that in the last episode of this series; just some common, everyday things we can do; but there is some…I find comfort, Darrell, in the idea that it is not finally about me. It is about the Holy Spirit working through me, and I don’t have to crank up eloquence; I don’t have to crank up rhetorical techniques; I don’t have to have a certificate from some evangelism school to do it. I just gotta be me and let the Holy Spirit take it from there; and we have great assurance through the witness of scripture that amazing things can happen when we let go and let God, and let the Spirit do what the Spirit does best.

0:23:40.0

Darrell Delaney

If we look at the story about the disciples, we realize that they have the raw materials already…

Scott Hoezee

Right.

Darrell Delaney

Because they have been hanging around Jesus and been listening to Jesus for the last three-and-one-half years in his teaching and everything; but then, the Holy Spirit takes that raw material to another level; and I feel like sometimes I have raw materials. I feel like I don’t always have everything that I need, but then I am reminded that the scripture tells us we have everything we need for life and godliness, thanks to the power of the Holy Spirit in us; and he is…coming back to what you started with…he is the juice, he is the power in order to get these things done, and we need that; and that is more than enough for us, thanks be to God.

0:24:19.0

Scott Hoezee

Thanks be to God. Well, thank you for listening and digging deeply into scripture with Groundwork. We hope you will join us again next time as we study passages of scripture that teach us how we share our faith and multiply disciples of Jesus today.

Connect with us now at our website, groundworkonline.com, to share what Groundwork means to you, or tell us what you would like to hear discussed next on Groundwork.

0:24:39.5

Darrell Delaney

Groundwork is a listener supported program produced by ReFrame Ministries. Visit reframeministries.org for more information and to find more resources to encourage your faith. We are your hosts, Darrell Delaney with Scott Hoezee.

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