Pentecost and the state of the Sanctuary

It is time for Pentecost.  On this day Christians worldwide commemorate the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on ordinary human beings, to empower us to be witnesses for God in near and far places.  Nearly all denominations and churches have some form of celebration on this day. The Holy Spirit was poured out on a day that was a religious feast day in Israel, called Shavuot.  It was the day they celebrated in remembrance of the day God gave the law to Moses on the mountain.  From all directions people were coming to Jerusalem to attend the feast celebrations in the temple.  However, only a couple of weeks earlier Jesus had to cleanse the temple, lets read what He says about it:    

 

Mark 11

¹⁵ And they came to Jerusalem. And He went into the temple [area, the porches and courts] and began to drive out those who sold and bought in the temple area, and He overturned the [four-footed] tables of the money changers and the seats of those who dealt in doves;  ¹⁶ And He would not permit anyone to carry any household equipment through the temple enclosure [thus making the temple area a short-cut traffic lane]. ¹⁷ And He taught and said to them, Is it not written, My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations? But you have turned it into a den of robbers. ¹⁸ And the chief priests and the scribes heard [of this] and kept seeking some way to destroy Him, for they feared Him, because the entire multitude was struck with astonishment at His teaching.

The temple was supposed to be a place of prayer and worship, a place where the Son of God was supposed to be welcomed to be Emmanuel - God with us.  It was turned into a place of corruption and a place where schemes were devised to destroy the Son of God.  Jesus made it clear that the purpose of the temple was being so corrupted that the religious leaders of the day could not even recognize the day of their visitation - when God Himself came to visit them by sending His Son. 

Jesus cleansed the the temple of all this that year just before Passover, but there were no changes to the hearts of the people or their leaders and approximately fifty days later, when everyone was once again gathered in Jerusalem for Pentecost, the Spirit of God could not come to fill the temple.  Instead the Spirit of God filled the upper room where about 120 people were gathered in unity and - in prayer.  The temple of God had moved - the Holy Spirit moved away from the temple building and visited the upper room. 

Acts 1:13-14

¹³ And when they had entered [the city], they mounted [the stairs] to the upper room where they were [indefinitely] staying...¹⁴ All of these with their minds in full agreement devoted themselves steadfastly to prayer, [waiting together] with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.

Acts 2:2-4

² When suddenly there came a sound from heaven like the rushing of a violent tempest blast, and it filled the whole house in which they were sitting.  ³ And there appeared to them tongues resembling fire, which were separated and distributed and which settled on each one of them.  ⁴ And they were all filled (diffused throughout their souls) with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other (different, foreign) languages (tongues), as the Spirit kept giving them clear and loud expression [in each tongue in appropriate words].

The Spirit of God was poured out in a small residential building called the "upper room".  It was this building that was transformed into a house of prayer, and with the noise of a rushing storm, the Spirit of God, Who had left the temple years ago, now returned in full force - settling on each individual in the form of tongues resembling fire to make human beings The Temple of God.  In future He would fill the hearts of men and make us His temple.  We now are the house of prayer for all nations.  No wonder there were people of all nations that heard the news of God, their Saviour, in their own language that day.  3000 people responded to the message of the resurrected Christ and came into the Kingdom of God, being filled with the presence of the Holy Spirit.  And all of this happened outside of the temple - that was supposed to host this event. 

So let us ask ourselves - what is the state of the sanctuary of my heart?  Is my heart ready to receive and host the Holy Spirit?  Will I recognize the time of His visitation?  Can we gather the courage to ask Jesus to cleanse our temples and to prepare it as a house of prayer ready to receive Him when He comes? 

Come Lord Jesus, fashion a cord of discipline, clean out my heart's sanctuary, make it ready to receive your Holy Spirit.  Open my heart's eyes to recognize Your moment of visitation...

  Father's House Lament - Brian Doerksen