Acts 1:4-5 - August 26, 2009

Acts 1:4-5, “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” NIV

Pentecost – Part III

In continuing our brief tour of Pentecost, we looked yesterday at the non-negotiable key to continual Pentecost: Repentance. Another non-negotiable key for a true move of God’s Spirit in a Pentecost-al way is Obedience. This follows very closely to Repentance. If God is asking his people to turn away from their sins and turn to him, doing so is an act of obedience to God: “Return to me and I will return to you” (Zech 1:2). God prizes and delights in our obedience to his voice more than anything we could do on our own (1 Sa 15:22).
If repentance is the first step, then continual obedience at every moment, in every thing, great or small, public or private, is the way of life for the Pentecost-al bound believer! There are two sides to living in Obedience. On the one hand, Obedience is obeying all of God’s moral commands. God is a holy God who wants to replicate his image in us by his Spirit. If we do not keep his commands, how can we possibly be the life-giving extension of God’s presence to the world! What part does darkness have with light?! In Psalm 51, that we mentioned yesterday, David knew that because of his disobedience, he himself had pushed away the Spirit. Yet, he knew that God would give his Spirit back to him if he repented and strove from his heart to walk in obedience – which is exactly what he did. Saul, however, who preceded David as king over Israel, did not repent and did not strive to walk in obedience to the voice of God. In fact he pursued his own agenda and path of disobedience and idolatry (1 Sa 15:19-23). The result was that God rejected Saul as king, and “the Spirit of the LORD had departed from Saul…” (1 Sa 16:14). This taking of the Spirit from Saul does not necessarily mean that he was beyond ultimate hope – God knows the heart. But it meant, practically in the present, as long he was bent on pursuing the idolatry of his heart, he would feel the loss of God’s presence.
On the other side, Obedience is also doing whatever God is asking you to do in a given moment. This goes beyond simply not disobeying God’s moral commands. Jesus told his disciples “do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised” (Acts 1:4). This wasn’t a question of not stealing, or not having a bitter heart…etc. This was a matter of trusting Jesus’ word and obeying. And the result of their trust and obedience was the massive outpouring of the Spirit and launching of the church. Just imagine if they had tried to go about witnessing on their own, in their own strength. They would have been a spectacular failure. But Peter, as with the rest of the disciples, had learned that Obedience goes hand in glove with the Holy Spirit: “the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him” (Acts 5:32). Jesus spoke in a similar vein as well: “If you love me you will keep my commandment, and I will ask the Father to give you another Helper, to be with you for ever, even the Spirit of truth” (Jn 14:15). Our Obedience shows God that we take him seriously. The result is that he takes us seriously. And that is a scary prospect in a good way! If we are seeking to have a renewed Pentecost in our sphere of existence then we need to ask ourselves: Am I doing everything God wants me to do? Am I tolerating a life of sin? Am I making room to listen to what God is saying? Am I hesitating or refusing something God has asked of me? If so: Repent! And Obey. And see what God will do!