Pentecost calls us to a heart purity. Peter made this clear when he addressed the first Christian council at Jerusalem: “And God who knows the heart bore witness to them, giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us; and he made no distinction between us and them, but cleansed their hearts by faith” (Acts 15:8-9).In essence, what Peter said was this: “Exactly the same thing that God did in our hearts on the Day of Pentecost, He has now performed in the hearts of the Gentiles.” And what was it God did? He “cleansed their hearts by faith.”
The word “heart” is used symbolically to denote the seat of our affections, emotions, desires, attitudes, and motives. Cleansing of the heart, therefore, refers to a radical inner cleansing of the center of our personalities. We need to get rid of our baggage and old clothes in order to make room for the Spirit to work in our lives. Clean out your heart. Everything must go that is not in line with the Lord's purposes!This cleansing was very evident in the lives of Christ’s disciples. Before Pentecost, on many occasions they manifested un-Christlike attitudes and reactions. For example, they exhibited pride. They argued among themselves who was greatest in the kingdom of Heaven (Luke 9:46). They manifested selfishness. They requested Jesus to grant them thrones on the right and on the left when He established His kingdom (Mark 10:35-40).
They also demonstrated narrow-mindedness. Once when they saw someone who was not of their group casting out demons, they sought to restrain him (Mark 9:38). The disciples at times reacted in anger. Once, while traveling through Samaria, when they were refused lodging and hospitality by the Samaritans, they wanted to call down fire upon these people (Luke 9:54-56). They exhibited carnal fear and cowardice. On the night of Christ’s arrest and trial, they fled and hid themselves. Peter denied his Lord three times (Matt. 26:56, 69-75).
At Pentecost the Holy Spirit performed radical spiritual surgery in the disciples’ hearts. Pride was replaced with humility, self-seeking with the spirit of service, narrow-mindedness with sympathy, anger with love, and carnal fear with holy boldness. Many present-day disciples of Christ need a similar divine operation in their lives.
The desire to be filled with the Spirit must be accompanied by the willingness to be made pure. The Spirit of God is fundamentally the Holy Spirit, and the Spirit is absolutely opposed to evil. To affirm that I want to be filled with the Spirit is to declare that I am willing to be emptied of all my unholy attitudes and spirit. Many of us pray with our lips, “Lord, fill me,” but inwardly we say, “Lord, not entirely! don’t expose my resentments; don’t disturb my comforts.” But God cannot compromise with sin. He puts His finger upon anything that gets between us and Him, and between us and our fellow-men. With the fire of the Holy Spirit, He wants to purify us in our innermost being.
An evangelist friend of mine was invited to conduct a preaching mission is a certain city and was entertained in the home of a middle-aged couple. When the hostess escorted the evangelist to the guest room, she said in a welcome voice, “Now, I want you to make yourself completely at home. Hang your suits up in the closet and put your other clothes in the drawers. This is your room.” The visitor took the hostess at her word, removed everything from his suitcase, and spread it out on the bed. But when he went to the closet to hang up his clothes, he found it jammed full of suits, dresses, slacks, and topcoats, with no empty hanger. When he opened the top drawer of the dresser, it was full of old clothing and rags. He tried the next; it was full also. Likewise, the bottom drawer was crammed with old picture albums and family heirlooms. There was absolutely no room for his clothes, so he put them all back into his suitcase.
When we say to the Holy Spirit, “Make yourself at home,” we can’t expect to keep anything hidden in the secret closets and drawers of our hearts. We must be willing to be emptied of all that is contrary to His nature and will. He must be more than a Guest; he must be Lord. This means He will do a thorough job of housecleaning and will rearrange the furniture to His own plan.
Yes, a major result of Pentecost is power, but it is power from on high. After the experience of Pentecost, the disciples displayed a stronger faith, a new spirit of confidence and courage. They possessed power beyond themselves to withstand persecution and temptation, and to witness boldly to the resurrection of the Lord.
How the Church today needs this supernatural power—power to reach out beyond the confines of brick and mortar, and to carry the spiritual offensive into the strongholds of society! The Church needs power to break out of routine and formality, and to perform exploits in the Master’s name; power to call people to repentance and true righteousness; power to transform individuals and change society!
Pentecost was not merely a historical event; it is a present possibility. It was not a fleeting incident, external to the real core and course of the life of the Church. It is a profoundly vital experience with abiding values and permanent principles. It was not only a particular day, but is an extended dispensation. The baptism of the Holy Spirit was not for the Apostolic Church only; it rests, as both obligation and opportunity, upon the Church of every generation.
Pntecost is age-long and planet-wide. Given a child of God utterly yielding, trustfully expecting, any room may become an Upper Room, any day a Day of Pentecost. Be filled with the Spirit and with power from on high!
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